TVs are cheaper and better than ever before but buying one can still be pretty confusing!  Here are some good links if you need help picking out an HDTV.

Tips From CNET

Tips From ZDNET

LCD or Plasma? via Consumerreports.com


Matix HDTV Accessory Kit
$96 - Utah Wal-Mart Stores

An Orem company, Matix, is selling this all-in-one HDTV accessory kit for under $100.  It's a great deal for what you get, a wall mount, a 10ft component cable, a 10ft optical audio cable, a 10ft HDMI cable and a screen cleaning kit.  You'll pay $60 - $100 just for a set of cables!  Don't overpay, you probably won't notice the difference.  A kit like this one from Matix is perfect for most people.  The wall mount is pretty easy to install and the cables work great.

More Info About Matix Accessory Kit

The new line up on Fox totally blows. I have been a faithful fan over your channel for years and years. So have my kids/other than family guy of course. When the fox t.v. channel came out it was risky and daring to not be like the other channels.

so we have news all morning, then STUPID four hours of judge shows. Are you kidding me? we lose TMZ which was a wonderful after school take a minute to relax b4 dinner and baths and schoolwork and no king of the hill. What the heck did you do to your station. thanks for being the same as everyone else. blah blah. i'm going to tell everyone I know not to watch your channel anymore. you suck!!!

Is anyone else voting for Cloris and Corky on "Dancing with the Stars?" All in all, she isn't the best dancer, but for her age, she is doing pretty good. I like how she adds some entertainment into the routine. That makes it even better. I also like how she is trying. I say that it is better to try than to give up. I'm rooting for Cloris & Corky and Cody & Juilanne.

Hope Misty May is okay too. She is out for the season, so I wonder what this will do to the show.

I have a T.V. that has more than one channel.  "At any rate", It happened to find American Idol Rewind a couple of Sunday mornings ago like it had done on previous Sunday mornings, but I was was baffled because it was on another station!  Was does this mean?  I hope it doesn't mean that the regular American Idol is going to show up there too!  Oh well, that's still a few months away, but Fox13 needs American Idol- we need American Idol on Fox13!  -Please

I've always wanted to blog, so great happy day!  I'm here blogging once more, and it's rivvetting and compelling!  Mad props to all that's goin down, if your somewhat interested on what this blog is about, it's about political views.

Me myself, i'm a liberal, I care alot for my surroundings, like the city I live in,  social politics, ethics, and education!  We, should all care, do our part, and things will change. 

I wrote a poem to show how I beleive!

It goes like this:

"Rittle me this, rittle me that, whose the man with the master plan.

It's a thugged out person like me.   Happy go lucky person with a chip on his shoulder. 

Good man with a master plan.  shasta".

I hoped you liked it.  If you liked it, please blog and say yay, or nay,!  word to a homie on friday night, drinkin a beer, miller high lite, the high life!  go jazz!

Apple this and Apple that.  The only media players we seem to hear about these days are the iPods.  Don't get me wrong, Apple makes great little players but there are also other options out there that are worth taking a look at! 

Creative Zen Mozaic
2GB - $60
4GB - $80
8GB - $100
16GB - $150

Zen Mozaic On The Web

 The Zen Mozaic is a hip little player with a *little* price tag.  The buttons felt a little "plasticy" to me but that's just me nitpicking.  It's a great little player with a TON of features for the price.  It does music, video, photos, FM radio, voice recording and more.  Since it has a built-in speaker, you can even use it as an alarm clock!  Pink is cute but it also comes in black and grey.

 

Creative Zen X-Fi
8GB - $150 (no Wi-Fi)
16GB - $200
32GB - $280

Zen X-Fi On The Web

 The Zen X-Fi is Creative's newest entry into the high-end sector.  It's similar to the Creative Zen player with a bit of re-design and the addition of wi-fi!  Plus it has the X-fi chip built-in too, hence the name.  The X-fi chip is designed to make your mp3 music sound better.  It's a feature that can be turned off.  It actually seems to make a substantial difference.  Especially since the player comes with some REAL in-ear headphones, not those cruddy 50-cent earbuds that you typically get with mp3 players.  The X-fi includes the slew of features we've learned to expect on Creative players, FM radio, voice recording and of course music, video and photo playback. 

The newest feature on the X-fi is the built-in wi-fi.  I had a few folders shared out on my PC at home so I decided to see what would happen.  Low and behold, it recognized them and I was playing music and videos from those shared folders within minutes.  It worked well although album art doesn't work via the network.  Creative also includes some chatting abilities but it's pretty much useless with the keypad.  You have to use it like a keypad (press #2 3 times to for "c".)  You can imagine how long it would take to tap out an actual message!  T9 is not an option.

The new sleek look is great and the Zen X-Fi keeps the Creative features I like while adding a few new ones.  Plus, the SD slot makes it expandable which is always a good thing since I never seem to have enough space.  The price isn't bad either, $199 for 16GB with wi-fi. 

Paul Newman was the kind of actor that we wish was more common in Hollywood. Not only was he talented but he was grounded in a way that seems unattainable for many Hollywood stars. How many Hollywood luminaries can say that they have been married to the same person for fifty years?  How many would even have a chance at that record? When asked about infidelity he said, “Why go out for hamburger when you can have steak at home?”

Newman is also a major figure in auto racing. Since the early seventies he has competed in such events as 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 hours of Daytona, and the Baja 1000. Not only has he competed but he has been a winner on the track. At the age of 70 he won his class at the 24 Hours of Daytona making him the oldest driver to win a major sanctioned race.

Another area that Newman excelled in was philanthropy. Through his “Newman’s Own” brand of salad dressings, pasta sauces, and salsas he has raised more than $200 million for charity. One of the charities that has benefitted from his work is his Hole in the Wall Camps which Newman founded in 1980 after the death of his son, Scott, from a drug overdose. The Hole in the Wall Camps has helped thousands of children overcome the threat posed by substance abuse.

Paul Newman was more than a talented actor, he was a renaissance man. Not just that, he was a fine human being. He will be missed. Below you will find a list of some of his major movies. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a hard time finding them at your local rental store for the next while, but they are all well worth the effort to see. Thanks for the memories, Paul.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

The Hustler (1961)

Hud (1963)

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

The Sting (1973)

 The Towering Inferno (1974)

Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)

Absence of Malice (1981)

The Verdict (1982)

The Color of Money (1986)

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Road to Perdition (2002)

Cars (2006) as the voice of Doc Hudson

So I just skimmed the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly.  It talks about Daniel Radcliff, that kid who plays Harry Potter, being nude in some play.  It's a quite a story.  I just have to wonder a few things.  Didn't he do this last year?  I don't know, but I guess there has been a lot of negative feedback about it.  They think it's wrong that this childrens icon would appear nude.  I don't really think people should judge him for it. 

 Sure he's Harry Potter and all, but I think those kids in the movie worry about that being all they will be remembered for.  He's just trying to prove his adulthood. He's not that twelve year old with glasses. Most people typically don't use that as their solution, but he has been growing up in the public eye for the last eight years.  I'm sure it was fun to go through puberty for all the world to see. 

Most teens, older teens,  and young adults do stuff like that just for the shock value.  Young people are very naive about stuff like that.  They say they smoke, get piercings, sleep around, dress a certain way, and pose nude because that's what they want to do.  No!  They do it because they want to be shocking and because they are morons! I think his motives are different though. 

Plus he probably appreciates art. Physically he really has grown up.  There were still shots in the magazine.  That guy is ripped.  I'm sure he has mentally matured to especially with a high pressure job like that.  That girl who plays Hermoine thought about resigning her role because she thought that would be all she would be remembered for, and that kid who plays Ron was in some other movie.  Sadly that probably will be allthey are remembered for in the public eye.  That Hermoine girl should just finish out her role.  They are making so much money of off it.  If they  save some of their millions they'll be multi-millionaires by the time they retire.  Honestly they could work fast food the rest of their lives and still be rich when they retire. 

So what if that's all they're remembered for?  Someone did an exercise with me a few years ago.  The lady asked me a whole bunch of questions as to whether I knew about these people making these huge accomplishments.  The next set of questions was about people I love and people who influenced me.  My loved ones were the only ones I could name.  No one else in the group knew the names of those big shots either.  Really when you die it's  going to be the people you love and the lives you've touched that remember you and appreciate you the most.  Sure people have influenced the world and names are remembered, but it's really most important to look at the lives you personally touch.  They will honor you the most.  Not to say that you should not try to do things for society because everyone should do their best to give something to the world, but  that's how I would look at it in their situation.

My wife and I both despise eating contests.  With the obesity problem we face and the self esteem issue involved.

Big Budda my wife is over 300 pounds.  And the way you roll.  Is destructive and childish to yourself and your fans who look to you to be a roll model.

Want my approval?  Do the Big Budda diet and exercise program and have people love you for that, not just because your the big jolly guy.

People need motivation .....you're a motivator

After months and months of blurry pics and speculation, the "Google Phone" is official.  To the rigth is a picture of the T-Mobile G1 Google Android phone by HTC.  (You think there's enough brand names in there?)  It's a touch screen phone, about the size of the iPhone, with a slide out keyboard.  Understandably it's a bit chubbier than the infamous Apple iPhone.

The phone is made by HTC (a very large phone maker), sold by T-mobile and running the new Google Android operating system.  It'll go on sale on November 22nd for $179 with a 2 year contract.  You'll have to sign up for a data plan too, that'll run $25 or $35 (with unlimited text messages.) 

From what I've seen so far, it looks pretty slick.  The touch interface looks is impressive and it's running a package of Google apps.  Obviously you can expect Google mail, calendar, spreadsheets and talk to be integrated.  The G1 appears to lack a bit when it comes to media playback options.  There is no headphone jack on the phone itself, you'll have to plug an adapter into the plug on the button.  Also, there's no video player included.  You'll have to download that from the "marketplace."  It's free.  Despite the disapointing media player Amazon has built an app that lets you buy music directly from the device (only when you're on WI-FI.) 

The G1 has T-mobile 3G (only available in certain cities, no SLC), Wi-Fi, GPS and even a compass.  You may have seen the cool mashup of the compass combined with Google Streetview, if not, see the video link below.  The slideout keyboard looks pretty nice, as does the trackball on the front of the G1. 

Overall, I'm pumped about the G1.  Software issues (lack of video player, subpar music player) can be fixed with updates from Google.  Plus, Google is hopeful that the marketplace store on the device will fill up fast with new applications you can download.  Hopefully we'll get our hands on the G1 soon to give you a full review.

Oh yeah, what if you're not on T-mobile?  Well, for now, you're out of luck.  Google helped form the Open Handset Alliance, a group of companies coming together to form Android.  The only other cell phone provider that is a member of the alliance is Sprint and for now the company is only providing this statement:

"As a charter member of the Open Handset Alliance, Sprint is actively engaged with the Android community (see press-release link below).  We may introduce a phone using the Android platform, but we do not have any specific plans to announce anything at this time.

As I like to say, it is what it is.  Let's hope Sprint and others jump on the Android train!

Official T-mobile G1 Site
HTC G1 Site
Google's Android Site
Video Demo Of G1 (Including Google Streetview)