Snow fuelled thoughts

Ok. The snow is back which means more blogging it seems.

Generation Lost. This was one of those titles that I decided to buy just so I wouldn't miss any Brightest Day events or tie ins. I thought it might last a few issues. We are now about 12 issues in, maybe more but I have to say it is really very good. I wasn't overly familiar with the characters although Booster Gold I know from 52. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a well drawn, well told DC comic. In recent issues the tie in to the Kingdom Come DC future is pretty cool. This comic deserves some respect.

Cloud Computing. We are not quite there yet - where everything (and I mean everything) that you own can be accessed from any of your devices. I dream of this. I dream of the time that I am in NY lets say at a comic con and I have a few hours to kill. I really want to watch Kick-Ass. It is stored on my computer at home (and has been made available by me for any contact) and so without having to buy or rent it again, I can watch it on my iPad, iPhone, laptop... Whatever. Now with a bit of setting up I probably could do this now but it is not user friendly. I simply want to right click on my files at home and decide which ones I want to make accessible, or with one click make it all accessible. Obviously with a little protection. But you get my point.

It is an exciting prospect and one that looms ever closer. Never again do you need to spend time forward planning which files and folders that need transferred onto computers and laptops. It is all in one place and can be accessed as you need it. I spent a little time looking into it insofar as I wanted to access certain files on both my iPad and iPhone (i.e. they will essentially shadow each other). MobileMe seems like a popular choice but costs and I am not ready to go down that road as a PC user. DropBox seems like an excellent free version for both iPad and iPhone. I have downloaded it but am yet to experiment with it. I will blog my findings.

Formats. That word may be boring for some but for me it is a world of possibilities. There is always a battle. Betamax v VHS. Vinyl v CD. Atrac v mp3. .vid v .avi etc. You get the gist. Now, I am thinking that for the most part mp3 is here to stay. Yes there will be variations, but the basic premise for now will remain the same. You can get better quality formats, but they are harder to work and take up more space on your beloved HDDs or indeed your cloud space. As for movies, iTunes favours the .mov format, which is good, but not overly versatile. It means converting anything that isn't purchased through the store which is an arse. Now surprisingly Apple have made available alternative video players for the likes of the iPad - but from what I have seen so far they are pretty crap. So, I say - a format war is coming - 2011 - I think we will see embedded software like iPad videos being capable of playing more than just .mov.

Green Hornet. I saw the trailer for this and reckon that it looks pretty good. I find Seth Rogen a bit irritating - I think it's his voice (sounds like he has inhaled a full pack of cigarettes in one go) although Superbad is cool. Anyway, I have been reading Kevin Smiths' run on the Green Hornet comic and it has been excellent (it has just come to an end - I'd recommend you get your hands on it when it comes out in trade). My understanding was that when Kevin was tasked with writing a script for a Green Hornet film this was what he came up with. Things got a bit messy and the film never got made. So he made it as a comic instead and what an awesome comic it was. Anyway, that meant a new script was needed and that is what you have with the film. Rogen playing the Hornet, a young male Kato ( the young Kato is female in the comic). The trailer looks like a lot of good effects meshed with humour and of course a moral tale woven within (as is the case with all superhero movies, unless you are Mark Millar).