CKOHLER

That poor tree is swamped by presents at the traditional Kohler family Christmas Eve celebration.

Whether it’s books, movies or TV shows, I’m a fan of time travel stories. I’ve seen most every movie about the subject and I’ve even done some non-fiction reading about time paradoxes from experts like Kip Thorne and Stephen Hawking. Yet, no matter how entertaining a movie or show might be in depicting reverse time travel it usually gets one or more fundamental details wrong. Thankfully, I’ve been fortunate enough to learn about a little gem of a movie that was released in 2004 that I’m sure went under most people’s radar called Primer.

Primer is an independent film that won great critical praise at the Sundance Film festival for both its innovative concept and astounding micro-budget of only $7000. I’ll refrain from trying to explain the plot because I would not do it justice. The movie so successfully demonstrates the inherent confusion of time paradoxes that even after two viewings I’ve yet to fully comprehend what all occurred. Let me just say that the film depicts a couple of hobby physicists working out of their garage who accidently create an actual functioning time machine of sorts. As the characters come to grips with understanding their bizarre invention, the movie explores the moral and ethical ramifications of possessing such a device.

So, what makes Primer such a fantastic movie about time travel? First up, it has a totally original method for how reverse time travel might work. “The box”, while certainly confusing in operation, does well to explain the more curious aspects of time travel such as spacial location and duplication that most time travel movies overlook. Secondly, as is to be expected with a good movie about time travel, there are lots of twists and changes that occur that make you really scratch your head. It’s the first movie I’ve seen about time travel that puts the topic under an electron microscope and really focuses on the subject and not just as a plot device.

It also sits along side such movies as Donnie Darko and 12 Monkeys where the viewer is given very little exposition to understand what is going on and instead is left to figure it out on their own. I personally love movies like this as it makes for a much more believable narrative. If you decide to give this flick a viewing (good luck finding it) I highly recommend it. Just expect to be confused… a lot.

Microsoft has released the Fall 2007 Dashboard Update for the Xbox 360 which brings with it a set of great new features. One interesting new feature is the ability to attach detailed personal information to your Live profile including your real name, location and even a short biography. Clearly Microsoft is looking to turn live into more of a social network than it already is.

When I saw this, it got me thinking… what is the next logical step? I started to think about other kinds of content you could attach to your profile like a personal photo gallery and such and then it hit me like a bolt of thunder. What Microsoft should add to the next Dashboard update is a universal, system wide screenshot taking ability!

Imagine, for example, that you’re playing a game. You press the Xbox button on your controller and out slides your normal Personal blade on the left. One new option could be “Take Screenshot”. Pressing this would close the blade and immediately snap a high-res, digital perfect screenshot of whatever happens to be on the screen at that moment. This image is saved to your hard drive (or MU) and is later uploaded to a file space hosted on Microsoft’s servers as part of your Live subscription fee.

Now, the next time you’re in the Dashboard and you’re viewing someone’s Live profile there could be a new option called “Screenshot Gallery”. Clicking this would allow you to view all of the screenshots that person has taken in full screen, high-definition glory. Furthermore, those same screenshots could also appear on the web as part of your profile on xbox.com making sharing memorable game moments, tips, and secrets with your friends both inside and outside of the Xbox Live network a breeze. Hell, even game reviewers would find such a feature a boon when they need to quickly capture screens for game reviews. It would be a killer feature.

Now, I realize Halo 3 already does this in its Theater mode but why limit ourselves to relying on the game developers to incorporate this kind of functionality? Microsoft should go a step further and simply make taking screenshots a core feature of the 360’s Dashboard and underlying OS so that it works with EVERY game! You know they have the ability to do this and along with the recent changes they’ve made behind the scenes to allow games like Halo 3 to support network file storing, the technology is already in place.

As an early adopter and subsequent beta tester of the original 14 hour TiVo, I’ve been a long time fan and supporter of the preeminent DVR brand for almost eight years now. With the advent of HD television, I like many have waited and waited for the company to develop a unit capable of handing HD content. Now that cable companies are mandatorily required to offer their digital channels to third party devices through the use of the CableCARD standard, TiVo has been able to finally release units that offer HD recording.

Their first unit to come out almost a year ago, the TiVO Series 3, was a feature packed device with a far too hefty price tag. At over $800, it was well out the the price range of even the most devoted TiVo fan. Thankfully they have released the lower priced TiVo HD that has almost all of the same functionality for less than half the price. My brother was kind enough to get me one for this Christmas (and early to boot!) and I’m happy to say it’s everything I’ve been waiting for. Read on to find out why the TiVo HD is the best HD DVR solution you can use.

Read the rest of this entry »