Some geeky thoughts.

Geeky thoughts.

Firstly, I have just discovered a new comic shop in London. I think it might have been there for a while. I'm not sure why I have never been there before. Anyway I happened upon it and it is pretty sweet. It looks like they have a considerable amount of back issues which is always good. Unfortunately I didn't have sufficient time to properly investigate - but I will. Orbital Comics.

Iron Man 2.

Watched it last night for the first time. I was disappointed. The effects were good, the cast were good, Scarlett Johansson looked hot, but it didn't strike the right tone for me. I really enjoyed the first one. I think Favreau nailed the Marvel character both as Stark and IM. The second, just smacked of 'we are doing this film because it is the sensible thing to do.' Not because there is a good story to be told. War Machine is a cool character, but not as cool as Iron Man. The film should really have been called War Machine. The scene where they team up is nice, but I just felt that I wanted something different. The Avenger related scenes however did get the right tone, so I do look forward to the coming Avenger related films.

Crumpler.

Weekend manbag! Interestingly, on the train last week, the missus pointed out a fellow male commuter who had 'manbag envy'. That made me laugh, especially as it was my bag. Anyway, that is a side point. I needed a new weekend bag, to carry the iPad, comics, wallet etc. I couldn't resist visiting Crumpler, with their bags with the 'third leg'. Much hilarity was had with the female sales assistant and myself. Anyway, they have a lot of cool options, all covering the usual laptop, iPad, document conundrum. I've gone for the ' Super Snipe' option, which will ensure I'm covered at the weekend.

Due 25th November 2010

Batman And Robin #17
Batman Odyssey #5 (Of 13)
Batwoman #0
Detective Comics #871
Gotham City Sirens #17
Green Arrow #6 (Brightest Day)
Justice League Generation Lost #14 (BD)
Kevin Smith Green Hornet #10
Secret Avengers #7
Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #4 (Of 6)

I have a lot of catching up to do. I reckon I am about 2-3 weeks behind on comics I need to read. Oh well! It'll keep me busy over Xmas I suppose. Note: Batwoman begins this week. If it is anything like the Detective Comics run, then it should be pretty good. Cleverly written, dark tones and basically a new exciting character.

The interweb for dummies

In its never-ending quest to "Not be Evil" - or should that be: In a continuation of the company's founders' maxim "Don't be Evil"*, Google has come up with a nice, if somewhat patronising explanation of the interweb.

So if you're confused about these browsers and apps and what-not, read on.

* followed by a long clarification.

Due 18th November 2010

Avengers #7
Batman #704
Batman Incorporated #1
Batman Streets Of Gotham #17
Batman The Return #1
Brightest Day #14
DC Universe Legacies #7 (Of 10)
Deadpool Corps #8
Flash #6 (Brightest Day)
Green Lantern #59 (Brightest Day)
Green Lantern Corps #54 (Brightest Day)
Superior #2 (Of 6)
X-Men #5
Zatanna #7

All the new Batman stuff is kicking off this week - sweet!

Batman Live

So, I am not quite sure where this all came from! News started spreading on the net that there was going to be a live action Batman show. But where? How? Was it a musical? If so, I am not interested. Of course I signed up to the Batman Live web page which contained absolutely no information - until yesterday that is. Yesterday, much... not all, was revealed. 

It is a live action stage based show, with an original Johns written story and live acting, video screens and a plethora of well known Batman characters and villains. I have to say I am excited. It plays at the London O2 in late August, September next year and tickets are already going fast. Will you check it out? With all the hype of the third Batman movie, surely DC are onto a winner with this. I'm keen!  

Digital v Print

As any avid reader of this blog will know I am a comic fan... lover... collector. I'd like to think that in the future, with a family and old age I will still collect these prize possessions. They are fun. Escapism. Fantasy. When they are beautifully drawn and magnificently worded, my fantasy world becomes a very special place.

"Giles" in Buffy was a great exponent of books. He liked the smell. He thought they were smelly. Computers seemed rather too un-human for his liking. I don't remember the season (it was an early one) but I remember the scene well... Because even though I love technology and I love anything forward thinking, I do get his point. I agree with it. Ok I am thinking comics and he is thinking books but the rationale is the same. I do like my books and comics as hard copies.

Marvel, DC and independents all seem to be carving a bit of a market for themselves. The iPhone, the iPad - computers generally, all seem to be nice and sexy platforms for comics. I'm on the fence! Crap, I know. What do you think? Will digital replace print?

iPad - it rocks!

So this is my first blog post on the iPad. After a false start I have to say I am kinda in love... with the iPad. I love my gadgets. I make no secret of that. But I do like justifying each gadget and indeed everything has it's use. In the past, the problem for me with the iPad was that as someone who ultimately loves using a good word processor for both work and enjoyment (Project number 1) the iPad wasn't a viable option - no keyboard!

Well in the same way that I gave up a Nokia mobile phone years ago for a touch screen version it looks like for my mobile life I can quite happily give up a Netbook keyboard for a touchscreen... Apple style.

I have mixed feelings about Apples products in general but have always hailed the iPod and iPhone as excellent gadgets that deserve some serious love and respect. The iPad was something that looked cool but actually, I couldn't see where it would fit in my life... that justification again.

My first experience was not a good one - in the new Covent Garden Apple store and as I was passing I popped in to have a play. It was nice but nothing special. It was a large iPhone and nothing else. I tweeted that I was disappointed and would not be purchasing one. Oops.

My second experience was a very quick play with a good friends new iPad (Simon - who I know reads this blog avidly and indeed loves the many comic book lists I produce). I explained to him my concern over the usability of the device on the basis of a lack of keyboard. He showed a couple of pieces of work that he had happily typed on the device without too much bother. After a quick play around I found that actually it was quite easy to type... As I am now. It is not the same as keys but maybe having spent almost 2 years typing on a Netbook I am used to using small keyboards.

So I buy one. Top of the range. It's a cool gadget, but is it just a really bloody expensive photo frame? My first weekend with it was a bit of a false start. I got the missus to get it in the US for me ( she was there anyway) and of course when I put a o2 sim card in it, it had a bit of a fit. We were in Leeds so I popped into a local Apple retailer, plugged the iPad in and tried to set it up. lt was fine from a wifi point of view but I could not get the 3G to work. I spent a weekend trying to get it working and absolutely no joy. This was not the fault of anyone in particular, it was circumstances conspiring against me. What was evident was two things: without Internet, the iPad has little to offer (unless you have already whacked loads of content on it) and secondly without another computer, it has little to offer (again unless you have already whacked loads onto it).

Eventually I got the bad boy plugged into my home pc (Buffy) and I had iTunes do a full restore in the hope that it would get things in line as far as the UK was concerned. Thankfully there was little in it and after the download my iPad was fully UK compliant. Inserting the o2 sim immediately brought up the necessary screens for signing up to 3G. All was good and before you know it I had a fully functioning iPad.

Now, what to do with it. One minor fear I had had before purchasing the iPad was whether or not it would make my iPhone redundant. Thankfully so far that has not been the case. I have begun to realise that there is little I can do in life without Google ( the android argument is a whole new issue and one for a whole fresh blog). My gmail account contains pretty much everything I need in life as far as online content goes. My gmail, bookmarks, docs, calendar. Without these simple tool I wouldn't know where I was suppose to be. These are essential tools and the fact that I can access them form any computer, iPhone or iPad is pretty awesome. I can type something on my phone and it is almost instantaneously on my iPad ready to be amended, sent etc. The Internet experience is excellent.. But the apps, I have yet to form an opinion on. There are quite a lot and they tend to be a little more expensive than their iPhone counterparts. That is to be expected. I guess I have to play around with the store a bit more. There are plenty to choose from.

So how do I wrap up this initial blog? The iPad is cool. Agreed. Having Internet access on a sexy shiny screen is equally cool. Having instant access to Apple App store is nice, although costly. Having another computer is absolutely essential! If you load the iPad up with stuff and go on holiday to a destination that has wi-fi, you will have a lot of fun. If it isn't loaded up and you don't have Internet access, then it is just a really expensive digital photo frame. But I love it.

Due 11 November 2010

Avengers Prime #4 (Of 5)
Batgirl #15
Batman Return Of Bruce Wayne #6 (Of 6)
Birds Of Prey #6
Justice League Generation Lost #13 BD
Red Robin #17

Due 4 November 2010

Batman And Robin #16
Batman Catwoman Follow The Money #1
Brightest Day #13
Red Hood Lost Days #6 (Of 6)
Tron Original Movie Adaptation #1 (Of 2)