Kindle

Today's Sunday Times Culture section spurred me into researching Amazon's Kindle and establishing another dedicated aStore!

Obviously, as I'm a UK-based blogger, Kindle is out of my reach (unless someone at Amazon would kindly send me review hardware prior to a Pan-European launch)! Have you used Kindle? What's the end user experience like? Is it a viable portable platform when Apple dominates this space?

The Kindle Shop currently carries more than 100,000 books plus newspapers, magazines, and blogs. For your convenience, you can shop the Kindle Shop directly on Kindle or on your PC via Amazon.com. Either way, all titles are wirelessly delivered right to your Kindle for free. Amazon pays for the wireless delivery charges so you don’t have to. Buy a book and Amazon will auto-deliver it to you wirelessly in one minute.

The Kindle Shop provides the same Amazon shopping experience you're used to, including customer reviews, personalized recommendations, 1-Click purchasing, and everyday low prices. Check the store often; we're adding new titles every day.

Books
Whether you prefer biographies, classics, investment guides, thrillers, or sci-fi, thousands of your favorite books are available. The Kindle Shop offers more than 90 of 112 books currently found on the New York Times® Best Seller list and we’re adding more all the time. New York Times Best Sellers are $9.99, and you'll find many books for less. Can't decide what to buy? Kindle lets you download and read the beginning of any book for free. This way, you can try it out—if you like it, simply buy and download with 1-Click, right from your Kindle, and continue reading.

Cyber Monday

Yesterday's Sunday Times Business section featured an article on Cyber Monday! The term Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving and the ceremonial kick-off of the holiday online shopping season.

Similar to Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year when retail stores often offer significant discounts, Cyber Monday has in recent years become a busy day for online retailers, and one in which online stores offer similarly low prices and promotions. It has gained cache since the 2005 holiday season.

Unlike bricks-and-mortar, my online stores are open 24/7:

Disney Shop
Doctor Who Shop
PlayStation Shop
Wii Shop
Xbox 360 Shop

Looking for The Legend of Zelda merchandise? Here's Link!

Can I Have It Like That

After reading a 4 star review of Rachel Stevens' new album, Come And Get It, in Friday's Guardian. I procured a copy and it's the most audacious, chic and eclectic collection of pop songs since Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby! The Sunday Times concurs! An amusing anecdote. A photo of Ms Stevens adorned my Windows NT desktop at Dow Jones Reuters (before brand hegemony infiltrated every pixel) and a member of staff wondered if Rachel was my wife? If only...

Watching the Girls Aloud videography in iTMS, I noticed how much Cheryl Tweedy looks like Neve Campbell!

Added additional Doctor Who titles to the DVD collection. Claws Of Axos and Revelation Of The Daleks. The former is a by the numbers Pertwee yarn and the latter is a macabre masterpiece. Aside from the digital restoration and edible extras, the new disc art is welcome.

Version 2.0 of the Atari 2600 emulator has been released for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. This new version of Stella contains a wealth of improvements. Some highlights are listed below:

*Fully-integrated UI
*New ROM Launcher
*Integrated Debugger
*New Sound Subsystem
*Added ZIP Support
*Added Cartridge "Frying"

With the advent of Halloween comes Castlevania! This year Akumajo Dracula - Chi No Rondo (for PC Engine/TG-16 Super CD-ROM² System) should provide the requisite console chills. Considered by many as the definitive entry in the long-lasting franchise.

Behind These Hazel Eyes

American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is rarely off my iTunes playlist.

The Sunday Times Culture section contained an interview with rising star Bridget Moynahan. Her cinematic debut was in guilty pleasure Coyote Ugly (2000). Bridget's recurring role on Sex and the City, as Natasha, had her vilified by Carrie fans. I found myself 'attracted' to her in last year's entertaining diversion I, Robot (2004). Refreshingly Bridget didn't let her hair down!



Today Sugababes round-off a solid album quartet with Taller In More Ways. Cool cuts include the poignant Follow Me Home, Better, Obsession and Push The Button. Ignore the muted press reviews and savor the dulcet tones of Keisha, Mutya and Heidi. Janet Jackson and TLC would be proud!

Wizards, Witches & Wallets

Almost forgot to pre-order Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The buzz suggests that J.K. Rowling's sixth entry in the Potter phenomenon could become the fastest-selling book release of all time. Scholastic Inc., the Potter books' American publisher, reports shipping 10.8 million copies of "Half-Blood Prince," the largest release in history. And booksellers Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble have accepted pre-orders in the millions for the hardcover book and its audio version, performed by actor Alan Dale.

According to The Sunday Times, the BBC failed to secure the lucrative audio book rights for this and the final book. Bloomsbury have retained the mellifluous tones of Stephen Fry for the UK market. In the summer of 1999 I briefly met Stephen Fry as I disembarked from a train at Paddington Station. He was most genial and wished me all the best with a job interview at Bloomberg.

Hm, I'm reminded of a Daily Mail editorial that criticized the abundance of Star Wars merchandise! The opposite page showcased a Harry Potter shop window display that equaled, if not surpassed, George Lucas' licensing ambitions.

The Sega continues...

Over the weekend MAME developers continued to make strides in arcade emulation and added further Sega sweetness to the mix. Also. Atari fans will be delighted to see the inclusion of Exidy's Max-A-Flex, an 8-bit arcade system utilizing licensed Atari 600XL (eXtended Line) home computer hardware.



In 1983 the 600XL (based on the Sweet-16 project started in 1982) was a well-designed, thoroughly debugged machine with an outstanding specification at a reasonable price (the cost of software and peripherals made it a luxury item however). Its stylish and sleek footprint outshone Commodore and Spectrum rivals on retail shelf space. Atari envy was infectious!

It appears that James Cameron will return to mainstream theatre screens with not only The Dive, but also a 3D movie based on Battle Angel Alita (according to The Sunday Times). For a while Winona Ryder was attached to the project if I'm not entirely mistaken!

On Saturday, whilst perusing the shelves of Exeter's MVC store with a friend, we spied the BBC's inaugural DVD release of The Box of Delights (1984). A family drama deserving of classic status. Clearly the gatefold cover art was inspired by New Line's LOTR trilogy.

Brand slam

Sony sweethearts Destiny's Child and JLo are recording their fourth studio albums, which are released to retail during the lucrative Holiday season.



Is there no limit to the JLo brand extensions? From perfume and apparel to movies and records, she's a multi-platform phenomenon. Now add a lingerie line (available only from Figleaves). Wonder if JLo will promote the iPod mini in her next promo video?

The Sunday Times Culture section includes an interview with the ever-engaging Jennifer Garner. Her movie, 13 Going On 30, has received positive reviews. Whilst it's certainly no landmark in movie making, it's replete with plenty of pop, fizz and chutzpah. I'm toying with the idea of purchasing the R1 DVD!

Coming over all geeky now. Mac OS X 10.3.5 is nearing final candidate release. The update sees improvements in Core Graphics, Audio/Sound, Bluetooth, OpenGL, Video drivers, Mail, FireWire, NFS and Safari.

Stand by Me

Ever had one of those weeks where you were vindicated for 'standing alone' against popular opinion? This happened to me and it's "cold comfort"!

My "crush" on Jennifer Garner continues unabated! Her 2004 MTV diary rocked my world! The MTV cameras followed Jennifer around Sun-Kissed California for a week, and it was refreshing to see an actress who was genuinely engaging and self deprecating! Please have my baby!

Keira Knightley is featured in a photoshoot and interview in today's Sunday Times style magazine.

Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 won at Cannes. Incidentally, my final year dissertation was based on Moore's TV Nation! Go Michael!

I'm currently preparing my first über software backup to DVD-R!

Show me the money!

Discovered today that my ISP (blueyonder broadband) has increased the speed of my cable connection from 512Kb to 750Kb at no extra cost! The broadband wars have begun in earnest!

The Sunday Times Business section includes an insightul article concerning HP.

LucasArts continues to mine their richest licence! Star Wars Battlefront and Republic Commando are due for release later this year from Pandemic Studios and LucasArts.

Star Wars Battlefront is an online multiplayer shooter, that traverses pivotal movements during the movie saga! And promises revolutionary Artificial Intelligence (AI)!

Republic Commando is a First Person Shooter (FPS) utilising the Unreal2Engine and Karma physics system, which more accurately captures the consequences of combat!

I hope that Aspyr will secure the Mac ports!