Just Because iCan
November 3, 2009
Why no advancements in alarm clocks?
Go ahead and take a quick look at your alarm clock. If you're not home right now, close your eyes and visualize it for a moment. Don't worry, I'll wait. Now that you've got it, try to remember the alarm clock you owned before that one. Now the one before that. If you think about it, the alarm clock hasn't really changed much over the past several years. With all the technological progress we see every day, why have there been no significant advancements in alarm clocks?
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posted by Christopher Schnese
October 1, 2009
No turn on red, except sometimes
I’m not sure if everyone in the less traffic-heavy parts of the country have them too, but here in Southern California we have these intersections where you can’t make a right turn at a red light. It’s not every intersection, it’s just these specific ones. And I do get it. I understand that there are certain intersections which, due to heavy traffic during specific parts of the day, might not be the safest places to pull into traffic. The problem is that I’ve begun to notice these “no turn on red” signs showing up everywhere with little caveats attached to them, designating when you have to actually pay attention to them. This really annoys me.
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posted by Christopher Schnese
September 25, 2009
FlashForward: ABC’s new time paradox
When I first heard about ABC’s new primetime drama FlashForward, I just had to laugh. I would have loved to have sat in on the meeting this thing was pitched at. “Ok, so here’s what we got! Everyone. On the entire planet, right? They like all pass out at the same time, got it? And then, here’s where it gets good. They all have a vision of six months into the future. Hu? Hu? You feel me? Did I just make your brain explode?” It’s the very definition of “high concept” with, in my opinion, no where to go. But I’m trying to give it a chance. I’m willing to forgive it’s terrible premise, however, I cannot forgive the egregious time paradox established in the pilot episode.
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posted by Christopher Schnese
September 24, 2009
The Good, the Bad, and the ODST
Back in September of 2007, Bungie Studios took their beloved Halo series “Next Gen” with the release of Halo 3 for the Xbox 360. Making full use of the beefier console’s graphics capabilities and revamped controller design, the game revolutionized the way we battled the covenant. Now here we are, two years later, and Bungie’s done it again. Tuesday at midnight Halo 3: ODST went on sale to eager fans around the world. Overlapping events in both Halo 2 and Halo 3, this expansion takes the focus off of Master Chief and places it on a rookie Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST). Gone are the days of the Overshield, invulnerability to fall damage, and the seemingly endless supply of ammunition. Make no mistake about it, the game has changed my fellow soldiers. Which begs the question: Is this expansion worthy of it’s full retail price of $59.99?
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posted by Christopher Schnese
September 16, 2009
Scribblenauts: Write Anything. Solve Everything.
In the weeks leading up to E3 2009, everyone already knew what games they were excited for. They knew the big first party releases, they new the big sequels, and they knew exactly what they were going to be reporting on after each of the big press conferences. But if you watch or read any of the post-E3 2009 wrap-ups, you’ll find they all have one little thing in common. Just about every single one mentioned a beautiful little gem of a game called Scribblenauts. A game that came virtually out of nowhere to impress the pants off of everyone who saw it.
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posted by Christopher Schnese
September 15, 2009
Why do comics and graphic novels get such a bad rap?
Earlier this year, while the theatrical release of Watchmen was going closer, I ran out and picked up a copy of the graphic novel it was based on. To incentivize myself to actually finish it before the film’s release, I made the task one of my new years resolutions. I completed the book and have sought out a few more graphic novels because of my experience with it. I am now convinced that, in the right hands, comics and graphic novels have the potential to be a far better story-telling medium than most traditional text-only novels.
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posted by Christopher Schnese
September 13, 2009
Should all CG films go 3D?
This past week I saw Shane Acker’s latest film 9, a full-length reimagining of his 2005 short film (of the same name). Without a doubt the film is stunningly gorgeous. The miniaturized characters in their destroyed, post-apocalyptic world completely worked aesthetically for me. Unfortunately, there was still something missing. The entire film I just kept wondering why it wasn’t in 3D.
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posted by Christopher Schnese
September 6, 2009
The Film Gamer and it’s inevitable tie-in to Microsoft’s Project Natal
One of the big new stories coming out of E3 this year was Microsoft’s announcement of Project Natal; a stereoscopic camera input system for the Xbox 360 that provides gamers complete 1-to-1 full-body control over their in game characters. This past weekend, Lionsgate brought us the Film Gamer; a science fiction film set in a future where a game called Slayers gives it’s players control of another human being in full scale combat. Being that the film version of the game is control through gesticulation, it would be perfect for Project Natal.
View the full post on reelperspectives.com
posted by Christopher Schnese
August 31, 2009
My concern about the 3D in Avatar
If you’ve been to a theater in the last week or so, or if you pay attention to any of the chatter surrounding the film industry, you’ve probably heard about the James Cameron Sci-Fi epic, Avatar. This film has been promising to be the greatest demonstration of both CGI and 3D technology in any film ever and if you read any of the reports from people who have been lucky enough to see footage, it’s going to deliver on that promise. This weekend, however, I got my first glance of the trailer in 3D (attached to The Final Destination 3D) and I have some concerns about the quality of what Cameron will be bringing to the table.
View the full post on reelperspectives.com
posted by Christopher Schnese
August 19, 2009
The benefits of being an early riser
For years I’ve considered myself a creature of the night. I would regularly go so sleep after 2:00am and I’d always set my alarm for the last possible second I could safely wake up without completely destroying my schedule for the following day. This seemed like the perfect plan because I could enjoy whatever I wanted till as late as I wanted and just get up at the last second and rush to work (or whatever I had going on). Over the last several months, however, I’ve completely overhauled my sleep schedule to switch from a night owl to an early riser. So far, I’m absolutely loving it.
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posted by Christopher Schnese
About
Hello, my name is Christopher Schnese and this is my personal blog.
I'm a geek, encode audiobooks for a living, design product displays part time, love film, and host The Spoiler Warning podcast.
For a more in depth "About Me", head over to my personal blog.
Just call me JBiC
Likes(28)
Interests
Podcasting, Filmmaking, Photography, Music, Design, Writing, Philosophy, Debate, Creative Commons
Hobbies
Podcasting, Playing music, Filmmaking, Photography, Watching movies, Concerts, Surfing the Net, LAN parties, Creating content, Hanging with friends, Drinking, Going out for Sushi
Books
Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior
Music
I enjoy almost all music and I'll listen to pretty much everything. My favorites though (the stuff I play myself and go to concerts for) usually fit into the following Genres, Punk, Pop-punk, Powerpop, Screamo, Emo, Hardcore, Indie
Movies
(just to name a few), Brick, Green Street Hooligans, Snatch, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Amorres Perros, Pi, Requiem for a Dream, Garden State, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Following, The Final Cut, Hackers, Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Back to the Future Trilogy, 12 Angry Men
Television Shows
24, The Office, What About Brian, Heroes, Boston Legal, The Colbert Report, The X-files, Nowhere Man
Podcasts
The Spoiler Warning, 43 Folders, Ask A Ninja, commandN, Diggnation, GeekBrief.TV, Grammar Girl, MackBreak, MackBreak Weekly, MacCast, net@nite, Off the Hook, PixelPerfect, Sam Has 7 Friends, System, The Broken, the WEEK in MEDIA, this WEEK in TECH, Tiki Bar TV, You Suck at Web Design
moo - giving it another go, Feb 18, 2009:
we may be back but the only way I could find my profile was by going via a friend who I knew was following me, then clicking on my image. And that was the first I knew that there was a comment (yours) to approve. This is how I feel with new technology and it's really making me feel nervous.
intellijen, Jan 1, 2009:
happy new year!
starts fresh, Aug 17, 2008:
happy day after man =) sorry about my bad timing...
lauren., Aug 16, 2008:
Happy Birthday, older yet equally sexy twin!
moo - giving it another go, Aug 16, 2008:
Happy Birthday to my favourite honorary son-in-law - hope you have a great day Chris! (Edit: or should I say 'had' a great day, since this is now over a day later and it looks like you haven't bothered to visit your profile recently ... still awaiting approval...) Don't say you too are abandoning this place?
jo, Aug 13, 2008:
I'm getting an early start on wishing you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! *Sigh*...25? You're such a young pup. Hope it's a great one...
Brad, Jul 30, 2008:
Hi there, how are you?
WoozyChain, Jun 27, 2008:
so, well, how is you macbook pro? (i know it's amazing, but i just want to hear someone say it because i haven't gotten mine yet)
Stephen Hart, May 30, 2008:
That has to be one of the most open and honest "About me's" that I have read.
WoozyChain, May 24, 2008: