Apple have added three new adverts to their Get a Mac campaign. Alongside the existing adverts are Out of the Box highlighting how quickly you can be up and running with a Mac, Work vs Home which is a predictable PC’s are only good for spreadsheets routine, and the most amusing of the bunch, Touché which is about Boot Camp. As before, you are advised to steer clear if you are a PC owner without a sense of humour!
Monthly Archives: June 2006
Big Love
After it was recommended in the Radio Times, we took a look at the first two episodes of Big Love, a new drama produced by HBO, and now showing on Channel Five in the UK.
The story revolves around Bill Henrickson, a polygamist who lives in a suburb of Salt Lake City with his three wives and seven children. Also playing a big part are his parents, who live in a fictional colony of the also fictional United Effort Brotherhood, and the leader of the colony known as the Prophet – who also happens to be the father of Bill’s second wife. The programme not surprisingly has proved controversial amongst mainstream Mormons who are concerned that despite HBO scrupulously placing a disclaimer on the end of the programme, are concerned that the controversial topic of polygamy will reflect badly on their organisation. However the practices portrayed at the colony are similar to those practised by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
One of the things that attracted us to the show was the pretty impressive cast and backing. Bill Paxton takes the title role, with Jeanne Tripplehorn in the role of his first, legal wife. Also included in the cast are Bruce Dern as Bill’s father, and Harry Dean Stanton as the Prophet. The show is also backed by Tom Hanks production company, with the man himself getting an executive producer credit.
Moving on to the drama itself, there are a number of parallel threads that make up the drama. Firstly there is the domestic drama, revolving around how Bill copes with managing his three families. Each mother and her children live in separate but adjacent houses, with Bill moving from house to house according to a rota. However, the whole family comes together for meals, and although in some ways the three houses operate as separate entities, in others it is very much one household. Barb, the first wife seems to very much be in charge, trying to keep the other two in line, and keep the household running smoothly. Nicolette the second wife comes across from the first two episodes as fairly calculating and a schemer, and certainly with some secrets. Whilst Margene, the third and youngest wife seems very insecure and unsure about her position. In general there is a lot of tension between the three wives trying to share the one husband.
Alongside the domestic thread, is the relationship between Bill and the colony on which he was brought up. Nicolette, his second wife is the daughter of the Prophet – the person in charge of the colony. Whilst Bill and his family live outside the colony, he has previously borrowed money from his father-in-law in order to start his business, but in return, the colony expects an ongoing share of his profits. There are definite similarities between the way the Prophet behaves, and some sort of Mafia Godfather. As a result of Bill’s decision to stop paying the money, this highlights a third thread, how the family relates to the rest of society.
In some ways, this thread is the most interesting. In general, the family try to keep the polygamy quiet. For example at the big opening of Bill’s new store, it is only his first wife and her children who are on the stage, the second and third wives remain in the crowd. Although the Prophet is effectively extorting money from him Bill won’t involve the Police for fear of drawing attention to the family. Also when his father falls ill, and is found to have arsenic poisoning, he is taken to a sympathetic doctor and hospital who will keep the polygamy quiet. Polygamy has been illegal in the United States since 1862. In terms of the family in the programme, only the marriage to the first wife is legally recognised. What appears to happen in the programme is that the family try to keep the situation relatively low profile, but have a network of sympathisers who allow them to live a relatively normal life. One sub-plot in the first two episodes sees one of the daughters making friends with a girl, but being very careful to try and establish the potential new friends position on polygamy before letting her guard down. It seems that even though the family isn’t imprisoned by living on the colony, the situation still imprisons the family from a truly normal life.
We certainly enjoyed the first two episodes, and will be tuning in for the next episode to see how the story progresses. News from the US is that the programme has been renewed for a second season too.
When Smart Ideas Backfire
You may remember last year the news that a company was marketing a device to combat anti-social behaviour that emitted a noise that only teenagers could hear. However whilst the box has now been turned off thanks to it’s indiscriminate effect, Ian over at Youthblog has reported that a sound only audible to teenagers has other uses, giving a phone a ringtone that is inaudible to adults. Indeed, the manufacturers of the device even have it available to download, and are really quite proud of it. As this article on the subject points out the ringtone will probably make more money for them than the device itself, just pity the teachers and youth workers who will be at the sharp end trying to deal with inaudible ringtones in classes, exams and discussion groups.
Another Cool Google Toy
Grabbing a copy of Google Earth today the download page pointed me in the direction of other things that I might find interesting, one of which was Google Mobile Maps. Essentially what it does is take the underlying database used by regular Google Maps, but put a J2ME front end onto the data so that you can access it from a mobile phone.
Of course with the volume of data that Google Maps chucks around, you’d expect the performance to not be exactly stellar, however I was really impressed by the speed with which it generated maps. I put in our post code and it zipped straight to our street. It even has the same choice as the full size Google Maps to switch to a satellite view – the shot above shows the satellite view of the Church.
But it’s not just the maps that have made the transition, it also hooks up to the search facilities to allow you to find local amenities such as restaurants and hotels. Coupled with the fact that it includes the Get Directions facility and it is a fantastic little package. Of course you’ll probably end up paying for it in data charges, but if you find yourself needing a map, all you need now is your mobile phone, nothing else. In fact the only feature it actually lacks, is the ability to work out roughly where you are but I suspect that may turn up at some point too. Even if it’s not something you’re going to use a lot, Google Mobile Maps is definitely a useful tool to have installed onto your phone for an emergency.
Scoble Leaves Microsoft
So the big geek news of the weekend was the shock announcement that both Robert Scoble and his wife Maryam have both resigned from Microsoft, and are heading off to a Silicon Valley startup called PodTech.net. The news was significant enough to register a front page listing on BBC News Online for most of the day, somewhat of an indication of the reputation that Robert has built for himself in the industry. As always, the Scoble effect came in to play, and PodTech.net found their site crashing under the weight of interested geeks checking out his new employer!
But is it really all that much of a surprise? True, Robert Scoble is synonymous with Microsoft, but remember that Robert’s blog, isn’t a Microsoft blog at all, it his personal blog which he had before he joined Microsoft. I have to say that when Scoble posted his ‘I’m going to Google‘, the reason it worked is because it was so believable. Whilst reading on through the posting you could tell it was a joke, as a headline, it seemed perfectly possible. The impression you always get from what Robert writes is that he is primarily a technology fan who happens to work for Microsoft – he doesn’t have some sort of evangelical tie to the company.
Amusingly, it wasn’t actually Robert himself who broke the news, it leaked out and was subsequently confirmed by Scoble primarily to deny all the rumours flying around as to why he had left. In reality it seems one of the big drivers has been wanting to spend more time with his son – who lives near Silicon Valley – Scoble mentions that in this posting. The other, is wanting a new challenge. In this posting he recounts how he was hired by Microsoft after standing up in a conference and telling Ballmer that Microsoft needed a more human face. He has largely achieved that. In much the same way he told the guys at PodTech.net that their stuff is too commercial and not interesting enough – indeed he goes as far as saying that he wouldn’t subscribe to it if he weren’t joining the company. After having given them 21 points on how to improve, team Scoble are now both going to work for them.
So how are things going to change. Sure Scoble won’t have the same inside knowledge that got a lot of people interested in his blog, but at the same time he has a lot of contacts, and his name is such that he will probably still be considered one of the major voices in the industry, and of course he is still the same person, with the same interests, so certainly it will be worthwhile keeping an eye out over at PodTech.net for what he and Maryam are doing. Lastly I’d like to wish them both good luck in their new roles. It is always a big step to change jobs, and I’ll look forward to seeing and hearing what they produce. I just hope the PodTech.net expenses budget will extend to flying them both over to the UK once in a while!