Reviews
Been a long time since I've given some reviews, so here's a big list of stuff:
Apple iPhone
95% - will go to 96% when they finally release Leopard and then add support for syncing notes and to-dos. (Both are built into OSX Mail in Leopard). The other 4% is from Apple killing 3rd party apps. Apple is certainly not behaving like the underdog us fanboys have come to love lately.
DirecTV HDR20-700
80% - Having been a long-time Tivo user, I hated to leave the platform, but I was tired of antenna problems when trying to record local programs in HD, so I needed to upgrade to the MPEG-4 capable receiver. While it's not nearly as horrible as some of the reviews I had read, it's not as nice as Tivo. There's no 30-second skip, just a 30-second "slip" where it just fast forwards for 30 seconds. It only takes about 2-3 seconds, but it's not as nice as the skip feature. Plus, it's not nearly as easy to swap back and forth between 2 football games. Extra points off for DirecTV's over compressed HD video.
Apple's New Keyboards
98% - I love this thing. It preferred typing on my laptop to typing on the Apple Keyboard until now. The new keyboard is even better than typing on a laptop. I'm indifferent on the new media control keys, since I do most of that with triggers in Quicksilver, but after getting one off of a new iMac from school, I went out and bought one for home. 2% deducted for not having a full-sized bluetooth version. The bluetooth version lacks a numeric keypad and the home, page up and down buttons. I would love it if they would integrate a trackpad into it instead too.
The New Pornographers - Challengers
This one is on my short list for my favorite album of 2007. Somewhere in that list is also The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army. I'm already working on my Best of 2007 Sampler. Other recommended releases: Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.
Halo 3
100% - I'm still in the middle of it, but so far this really feels like the thrilling conclusion to the trilogy. The level design is really nice so far. Whereas previous versions felt like you were taking part in several skirmishes, this one feels like you're in all-out battles. The only drawback is not having a bunch of my college buddies with it, like with Halo 2. We had some fun playing that online.
Alabama Crimson Tide
68% - While I didn't get caught up in the irrational exuberance a few weeks ago, I did feel like we would be a competitive team in our bigger games this year. Now, I'm not so sure. There are some problems with this team. DJ Hall seems to be taking some plays off, especially when the ball isn't coming his way. He's not selling the play. We're still having some problems with our O-line. Our defense is a little better than I expected, but I don't think the offense has any heart right now. Our record for the year will probably be about where we all thought there were going to be 6 months ago.
Cold Sores
0% - I've got a massive one on my chin. I get one about once a year. Doesn't hurt, but it's a nuisance. My beard covers it up pretty well though.
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