Sweet! The Wii Forecast channel is live today and its not too shabby at all. The whole globe thing is pretty cool - it will at least be impressive for some people.

Even better, it sounds like the Opera browser will be available for download free starting this Friday to start surfing the Internet from the Wii. Download it right away before they start charging for it!

Wiimote straps

Apparently Nintendo is going to replace the Wiimote straps because too many of them have been flying out of people's hands and breaking tvs, windows, etc. Strap or not, but how are these things just flying out of people's hands. I usually don't strap myself in and I've never lost my grip. This is the silliest thing I have ever heard.

Oh its been a bit of a boring week for me..

The weather has been unseasonably warm, which does nothing for putting me in the Christmas spirit. So I suppose its a good thing I have all my Christmas shopping done already.

Call of Duty 3 took way too little time to pass - Easy level or not. This seriously bums me out - Bill has been playing that Zelda game for weeks now and still isn't to the end.

New Jersey passed a civil unions bill - thats pretty darn exciting. At least democracy is protecting minorities in one more state - but its not much compared to all the states with bans.

I have been playing with the Vox blogger community/engine. Its interesting and certainly looks good, but its not matching up to Blogger in features and convenience.

One more episode of Dexter left for the season and its going to be a real nail biter. How the hell is Dexter going to make it out of that?! Will Deb get chopped up?! Why do we have to wait until late 2007 for the next season?! Questions, questions, questions...

Funny Vid

This short just completely made my day - hilarious!

I have a question about this whole military coup affair taking place in Figi. Why the heck does Figi have a military? And why does the US send $2.5 million in aid for military weapons purchasing?

Two more episodes of deadly Dexter delight...

What?!! Only two more episodes this season already?! I don't want it to be over just yet, but then again it looks like things might be taking a turn to the darker side. And imagine what the darker side is when the show is about a serial killer.

Well we didn't get anything concrete about Dexter and Rudy being brothers, but I swear I heard Dexter's mother say "babies" rather than "baby." And apparently the books have the two as brothers anyway, but in my book it ain't real until I see it on the show. Now, is it me or is Dexter's apartment number 103? I think thats the "clue" left behind at the crime scene but no one figured it out. Oh, and the way Dexter took care of Paul - first of all I thought the bonk on the head was like a dream sequence - what a shock when it wasn't. His clean up of the 'situation' was really good - I kept thinking, "No, don't do it. You'll get caught." Sure enough, he came up with a better idea. But will it come back to bite him in the ass?!?!

Ok, I know Rudy has always been a little creepy - even before we knew who he was - but I'm getting a little 'scared.' I don't think things are going to turn out very well at all.

Bad "luck" comes in 3s

1. Appendectomy
2. Grama passed on Thanksgiving
3. Furnace broke at the start of our first real cold spell

Fun!!

Governors make for good Presidential candidates - so its exciting to have a Governor enter the race for the Democratic nomination for 2008. Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa has launched an exploration into running for the nomination - though admittedly he doesn't have much mindshare yet nationally. But thats ok, I think its great he's giving it a shot - a President from the Midwest could be a good thing. I would love to see a women in office, but I just don't feel like I can trust Hillary. And as inspiring as Obama can be, is he Presidential material just yet?! I'm not sure.

And the plot thickens...

I know lots of people are all a flutter over Battlestar Galactica, and why wouldn't you be - its chuck full of drama and political intrigue. I've been reading rumors of it moving to Sunday nights and maybe even over to the NBC mother ship - thats great and all but holy crap, Dexter is this season's winner hands down. With it's plot thickening twists, it just keeps getting better and better. You know Paul is going to get chopped up - I'm loving the anticipation of his ending. But what really takes the cake so far is the Rudy character - what is going on with him?! We know he's the ITK, but what we don't know his is past and how he knows so much about Dexter. I can't imagine a serial killer just dropping out of no where and suddenly discovering Dexter and his past accomplishments. One commenter suggested they might be brothers - that would be really screwed up but it might also tie up some plot lines as well. But I'm not thinking (hoping) thats the case at all - that would be below the writing we've seen thus far. I think it all depends what we learn of Dexter's past - what was Harry hiding? Wouldn't have knowing where he came from have helped Dexter know why he is who he is? I'm just asking, wondering, waiting for the next episode to reveal more. Man, I hope this isn't going to be a short season either - I want more. Besides, what might Dexter's reaction be to the impending news Rita is about to share? You know thats where she is headed with the kids. Hehe.

Google Office Widget

Oh this is bloody fantastic! Google launched a little Thanksgiving treat in the form of this little gadget for the Google Homepage to quick launch the recent documents created or modified in the Google Docs & Spreadsheets application. This is something I have been waiting for - though a dashboard widget would be really sweet too!

Dexter

Dexter has got to be my new favorite show of the season - not that Heroes and BSG don't have very high places of honor as well, but Dexter is stealing the show. Sunday's episode was fantastic, the kind that cements a show in the viewers conscience as being really damn good. The story comes together, the characters are better revealed and the plot sure as hell thickens. Hmm, hmm, good!

Apple has a new Shuffle commercial out on the airwaves. And somehow I missed it during Heroes last night:(

We have Wii!

Holy crap last night was cold (17-20F) - especially since we didn't fully plan on going out last night, at least we didn't have a plan for making it through all those hours. We ended up heading out at 3:30am to a Target that was said to have 200+ units available. We got there at about 70th in line and figured even if they had fewer than 200 units we'd be fine. I had never seen tents lined up outside a store before - all my line moments for the Apple Store were indoors.

Anyway, shortly before 8am we got our ticket, a Wii t-shirt, cookies and a little shopping card to select all the games and accessories we wanted. By 8:18 we were in the car and finally headed home to have a little fun and take one heck of a rewarding nap.

Canuck Hunks

Oh la la Paris links to the Calgary Sun's Sexiest Canadian Man Alive - apparently they weren't all that thrilled with Clooney winning again. When will his saggy ass go away?! I'm just sayin'. Anyway, Ryan Reynolds takes home the crown - gotta love that!! Ryan Gosling takes second place - yummy!

Game Console Weekend

Alirght, so who is going to be in line tomorrow morning for the release of the Playstation 3?! Wednesday afternoon at about 3pm I saw two middleage men curled up in blankets outside a relatively backwater Circuit City. It was surreal and stupid all at the same time. The PS3 is going to be nice for sure, especially after they get all the kinks worked out of it, but I can't help but feel the price is just too much to ask yet. So my money is going to be on the Wii Sunday morning. Bill and I are headed out early in the morning in hopes of getting placed well at a store - we'll have several to choose from just incase. I saw a commerical for the WIi and how the new remote is going to kick ass - that sold it for me right there. (If I can find the video again I'll post it here.) Its all about the remote, oh and its half as much!!

Cats make me laugh

CNN joins in on 'pushing' the Zune - sort of

CNN is hit or mishttp://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifs in my opinion, but this little clip of their Zune review is definitely a hit shall we say. Watch it through to the end for the real humdinger!!

Gay Marriage in South Africa

South Africa has become the fifth nation in the world to advance human rights and dignity to all its citizens, no matter whom they love. This is an amazing advance for a country where just two decades ago was steep in apartheid. I must admit when the news stories first came out about the possibility of this legislation passing I was quite skeptical - perhaps its my 'american' impressions of what Africa is really like.

Appendectomy

One sure fire way to ruin a weekend: have a bad meal at Thai restaurant, set off appendicitis, and have surgery. I had never gone under the knife before or stayed in the hospital overnight - so this was all sorts of a new experience for me to say the least. But the worst it over, it wasn't just blocked gas like I had thought for much of the day on Saturday, for the pain that is. The bill hasn't arrived yet and all expectations are for a big headache. Bill, coming for the land of universal health care to the north, is quite upset knowing a bill is coming for something he'd normally not know how much it cost. And just before Christmas too - no Nintendo Wii for this household.

Ah well, now I have plenty of time to catch up and get ahead on the homework front. I got an extension on the final, but I don't want to prolong that any longer than necessary.

Update: I did want to mention the fine treatment Bill received while he was at the hospital with me during this process. I think we've all read some of the horror stories about partners and boyfriends not being able to stay at each other's side in the hospital. Having not been a patient in a hospital before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Much to my relief the staff treated Bill with respect just as I would have wanted. We were both impressed that his presence was such a non-issue for everyone at the hospital.

One step at a time.

Rumsfeld Resignation

Original link via TUAW.

Rural Minnesota

I'm in rural Minnesota today, on the old homestead. Last night I went out with some old friends to a little bar/restaurant in a tiny little village. The whole place was full of hunters in from a long day and trekking through the woods trying to shoot stuff. Deer season is in full swing around here, and boy I sure don't miss it. (Full disclosure: I've been on those hunting excursion in the past when Dad still thought I could be a 'real' boy) I get nervous when I go into realms of super-manhoodism - I wonder if one wrong look on my part will change my life for good. I've never had any such problems, but I've read enough horror stories in the news to know better. Of course, I'm a nervous kind of fellow anyway, so that doesn't help all that much.

But I'm actually down here doing some last minute volunteering for a friend of mine running for re-election. I'm looking forward to Wednesday morning to read how all of the elections come out. I don't pay much attention on election night - I learned my lesson during the Gore/Bush election. I went to bed and everything was just fine, then I woke to hear my roommate shouting in glee as it was reported Bush won the election. This has certainly been an interesting election year - the republicans certainly seem to have a lot of skeletons in the closet, including themselves in some cases. I've been fortunate to be off most politicians lists this year - hardly a brochure in my mailbox and not a single phone call. Its been nice!

Ford Surprises

I am certainly no fan of Ford vehicles - the Mustang is a weak exception. Lately though Ford has been showing off its CUV concept - the Fairlane - and this morning Autoblog is reporting the production model will be almost identical to the concept model seen above. I'm not saying you'll ever see me owning one of these, I'm committed to Mini, but this is certainly an attractive new model. Its got a little bit of a Land Rover look to it, but I especially like the concave lines along the side.

Scrybe: Online and Offline

I just read this morning's downloadsquad review of the scrybe beta. Its yet another online office productivity suite of applications, but this one looks like its really going to stand out. First of all, it will work with Safari, which Google Documents (formerly known as Writely) isn't able to do yet. Secondly, and most importantly of all - you can go offline with just a couple of steps and no software to download. You just set your browser to 'work offline' and then log in to the system and go to work. I imagine it keeps a copy of all your work on your computer and keeps them in sync when you're online. This is huge, now there is really no reason to use Word or any other desktop application - unless you're a hardcore word processor I suppose.

I've signed up for an invite, can't wait to start trying this out. I have been using Google Documents quite a bit lately, its just so convenient.

Yeah! The new .mac webmail is here!

I had a feeling it would happen soon - I just needed to complain a little;) Its looking really good too - it even loads and displays image attachments just like Mail.app. I love that!

TUAW has a good review of the new service.

In the new .Mac webmail, you'll find:
• Drag-and-drop functionality
• A message pane
• Quick Reply
• Address Book integration
• Message previews
• Message flagging
• Keyboard shortcuts

My Dream App

Well it looks like the contest is over - and what a photo finish it was with the first runner up missing by just five votes. Ofcourse that application was my absolute favorite, Hijack is an application for online forums without the disgraceful interface of said forums. I could really use something like that for school - the constant reloading is getting on my nerves.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the release of these applications. Cookbook sounds pretty cool and Atmosphere will probably be fun to play with. Hopefully there will be a second season and maybe some of those other ideas that didn't make it into the top three find their way into a developer's hands.

Tick tock, tick tock Apple. Where the hell is the new .mac webmail interfaced we we're presented with? I re-upped partially because of the preview - ofcourse that was your plan all along wasn't it?! Damn you.

Hellbent

I've been seeing a few ads for Hellbent lately, and I think BPM on XM Radio has been playing a mix from the movie. Anyway, just wanted to note this is definitely a good movie - if you like the 'cheesy' horror movie genre. Its basically like any mainstream horror flick except the characters are all gay. Which works in my book.

This looks pretty darn cool - something fun and useful to do with all those songs you've got and haven't listened to in a while. Or, when you're in a mood and only certain songs will do.

It searches through your songs and combines those with similar beats to create a new playlist.

Road Trip

I love road trips, they go by so fast!

Up, up and away

Looks like Apple had a very good quarter, this morning IDC puts Apple's US marketshare at 5.8% and Gartner puts it at 6.1%. Not too shabby. I recall reading somewhere that each one percent gain was akin to $1 billion in revenue - something like that anyway.

Oh Red States, you're the greatest!

(reposted from Josh & Josh because its just too good not to share)

The Red States Say the Blue States are the Root of All Evil, But the Facts Seem To Say Something Else

From "Red State Babylon", Vanity Fair, November 2006, p.162-168:

If the blue states are sinkholes of moral decay, as right-wing pundits insist, how come red states lead the nation in violent crime, divorce, illegitimacy, and incarceration, among other evils?

*Nine out of the top ten states with the highest incarceration rates are red states, with Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas leading the pack. Delaware is the only blue state in the top ten.

*All of the top ten states with the highest incarceration of women are red states, with Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Louisiana leading the pack.

*The ten states with the highest number of executed prisoners are red states. Texas, Ohio, and Oklahoma are the top three states.

*The top fifteen states for highest rate of death by firearms are all red states. Alaska, Louisiana, and New Mexico lead the group.

*Fourteen of the fifteen states with the highest rate of suicide are red states, with Wyoming, Alaska, and Nevada at the top of the list. The only blue state to appear is Oregon.

*The ten states with the highest divorce rates in the United States are all red states. Nevada, Arkansas, and Wyoming have the highest rates of divorce.

*Nine out of the ten states with the highest rates of illegitimacy are red states. The only blue state in the top ten is Delaware.

*Fourteen of the fifteen states with the highest percentage of obese residents are red states, with Mississippi, Alabama, and West Virginia coming in as the most obese states. Michigan is the only blue state in the group.

*Meanwhile, eight of the ten smartest states (based on state education rankings) are blue states. Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts are the smartest states. Minnesota ranks sixth. Virginia and Montana are the only red states to appear on the list.

Uh oh! Air America files for Chapter 11. Its still going to be on the air, so thats good. Hopefully they can finally get thier financial house in order - its a decent network but I'm still pissed they didn't keep Marc Maron on the air.

Well, looks like the rumors are all finally true, Apple announced their PRODUCT(RED) iPod nano this morning. Oprah's show today is going to show her and Bono walking Magnificent Mile in Chicago to check out all the new red products from Apple and others. I had checked out the joinred.com website earlier when it was still just in the UK and saw the Red American Express card - now that would be cool.

Now, I love Apple as much as the next fanatic, but $10 per red iPod seems a little paltry. It might add up really fast into a nice chunk of change, but at the moment I'm skeptical. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Project Runway

Holy Cow! First of all, I don't think I've mentioned the show on here before, but I've totally been watching for the three seasons. This third one is certainly the best one yet, and it looks to keep getting better and better.

For those that have seen the last episode - What is going to happen with Jeffrey?! I'm not a fan, but I don't want him to leave either. The cutting in the preview really leads one's thinking towards his dismissal, but you just know they won't be spilling the beans like that. AHHH - one week to go!

All the sci-fi nerds in the house just relax now. The third season of BSG is now finally available in iTunes.

Speaking of BSG, that premiere was bitching. But that Captain Adamo has gotten a little 'soft' :(

Google 'Office'

Alright, its actually called Google Docs & Spreadsheets, but Google Office sounds better to me. Read/WriteWeb reports this morning on the merger of Writely and Google Spreadsheets (RIP Writely). I read through the comments and most people seem distressed at the disappearance of the 'lively' Writely interface in favor of the drab and cold Google one. The Writely interface was nice, but the merger of these two applications and the development of new ones is certainly going to outway the changes. Perhaps the most intriguing tidbit is the mention of Google dabbling with the possibility of desktop versions of their applications for when someone wants to work on a document offline. I'm just hoping a Mac version would make it into that dabbling.

Update: looks like the new Google Office has received a few integration points with Blogger as well.

YACA: Yet Another Calendar App

downloadsquad makes a good point about all the new calendar apps that keep popping up all over the net - Google Calendar works just fine. Now, choice is a good thing, but where is the business model for some of these calendar sites. Web 2.0 is all about do one thing, do it really REALLY well, build commuhttp://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifnity around that one thing and then monetize it. I'm cool with that, but find a new niche people - there must be a point of declining returns in this segment.

Each new online tends to have a 'cool' feature that sets it apart from the others, but I've been finding the Google family of products to be rather appealing. Especially as they all start to work with each other - having everything in one house is getting rather convenient.

Well look at that

Looks like Google might be getting a little more serious about its Mac support, which at times has been lacking. http://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

N Korea joins nuclear club

Awesome! I love the world we live in, seriously. Our leaders are doing such a great job.

The Green Office

Going green and being green are not only becoming chic, but getting closer and closer to being a necessity. I just read this morning of a study which suggested students tested better and workers were more productive in 'green' buildings. I'm quite looking forward to maybe getting a personal glimpse into this when the company I'm at moves into a 'green' office later this year. Just having a green building is only a part of the total footprint the office or school has on the environment. All of the furniture, materials, cleaning supplies etc also have a major impact. Finding these materials isn't also very easy down at the local office supply store, beyond maybe some recylced paper. Treehugger has posted about The Green Office, a website dedicated to suppyling an office with virtually all of its needs while providing accurate 'green' information on the products. What sets this site out among the others I've seen is their willingness to include and recognize products that aren't actually green. Some sites will only sell the earth-friendly products, leaving gaping wholes in their prodcut line-up and still creating hassle and extra work for the consumer. The Green Office looks like its covers all the bases - making it a one-stop shop for green office supplies and everything else you will need.

Its time for some learnin'

It has been four years, some good and some bad, since I walked up on stage and received my undergraduate diploma. And as challenging as school can be, with the deadlines and huge papers, I always liked learning. Since graduating I've known I wanted to continue with my education, and so I started graduate school classes this week. I am both nervous and excited about the adventure that lies ahead for me - but I'm boldly confident I will succeed.

I'm doing classes online, though not with the giant online school I shall not name. I wanted flexibility, both in time and geography, and also quality - which I think I've found. Its going to be an exciting two years!!

Its not all its Zune'd up to be??!!

Pathway: to better wikipedia research

Ok, now I won't disagree with anyone who says wikipedia shouldn't be used as a serious research tool. However, it can be a great place to start and you can usually find some great resources to other information. But if you've ever found yourself going from one topic to another and wound up in some strange topic not even close to the one you started - this is the tool for you. Pathway is a little application for browsing wikipedia, but its real value is the history function. Every entry to you go is tracked and your visit is graphically represented. At the end of your session, you can save your 'research trip' for review later on with a search function. So all those great tidbits of information you found will be right at your fingertips without any fuss.

I echo Scott on this one

Scott posted how much he liked the new show Heroes, and then I stumbled upon a re-broadcast of the show last night. Now guess what? I'm hooked too!

The pilot show was mostly a teaser and introduction to many of the characters, but the suspense in the plot is already quite heavy. Tivo is or catch a re-run as soon as you can. Seriously - go now!

iPhone on Cingular?!

Say it ain't so! I despise Cingular, and seeing Apple work with them on the ROKR was hard enough, but if the much rumored iPhone comes out as a Cingular exclusive - OH the humanity! Now although it is a rumor, it does mention the exclusivity will only last 6 months. But still, I'm ready for a new phone in February and as this rumor goes I'll be waiting a bit.

iTV could be even cooler

That is if the conjecture of Robert Cringley of PBS could have some validity. MacNN reports Robert suggesting the USB port on the iTV could be used for an iSight camera to offer living room video chatting/conferencing. Just imagine it, face to face chatting with family and friends from your sofa on your big screen television. Holy crap, life just keeps getting more and more exciting. http://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

I hate Bibliographies

Well, that was until I found ottobib. The site automates writing bibliographies, in accordance with several formats, all with the entering of an ISBN and you're done. This is pure genius!!

a blog all about Web 2.0

Oh this is just what I've been looking for: a blog talking just about Web 2.0 properties on the net. I get such a kick out of all the cool new thhttp://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifings people are doing with website. rev2.org is there to keep us all up to date.

My Vote for Best Widget

This widget should probably win awards. By far and away this must be the best way to keep your software up-to-date, which is something I love knowing. Out dated software always kind of drives me nuts - lately I've been using MacUpdate.com's WatchList to be notified of any updates that come out. But now the App Update widget does the work of checking the software and provides a convenient link to download the updates. Couldn't be any easier.

Speed up the wi-fi

Ok, so Minneapolis is getting city-wide wi-fi and apparently its going to take until fall 2007 for the network to be up and running. Which seems like a really long-ass time to put up a bunch of antennas. This is especially the case when you look to Toronto's new wi-fi network that is currently going up. As fas as I know, the network first came into the public's atthttp://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifention early this year and guess where they are now? The entire financial district has been lit up today with free wi-fi for the next 6 months. The network will be building out from the "One Zone" and expanding for at least the next three years to encompass over 700 square km. I'm just thinking Minneapolis should be able to get thier network moving along a little faster than 12 months.

Got BIG iMac?!

I can't even imagine how big this thing is - I thought the 20" was going to be the limit in size but I guess not. Oh, and it looks like the prices dropped on the backend!

The Rumor is looking true

This one seems to be legit, stating Apple has sent out an email inviting media to a special event on September 12th with the words, "Its Showtime".

Hmm, wonder what this event is going to be all about.

Electric Mini: 0-60 in 4 Seconds

Now if only they would sell this puppy to the American public. It seems a British firm has converted the already fantastic Mini into an electric hybrid with electric motors in the wheels. With the small internal combustion engine recharging the batter, the car can get about 80mpg.

A Googler in Apple

What will the future hold? What does it mean? Does it mean anything?! I might not know the answers, and I wouldn't make grandiose assumptions since it is just a seat on the board, but this does come as most interesting news. Espectially considering how Google and Apple are both shaping up to take on ever more of Microsoft's 'turf' and as Microsoft is setting to take over every conceivable market reagardless.

MacUpdate vs. MacZOT

Wowser, finding and buying software for the Mac just got easier and a little cheaper with MacUpdate getting into the mix and playing virtually the same game that MacZOT started. I like both sites, but I'm guessing MacUpdate will carry the day in this fight. For MacUpdate, this is a further expansion of their services for their users who already patron the site for software updates and exploration of new programs. MacZot does just one thing, and though they do it well, thats about it.

Minneapolis picks Wi-Fi firm

Well it looks like my account with Earthlink's test network is for not. I was rooting for them, mostly because they placed an antena right outside my house, but they've also played friendly with Macs as well. But it seems the local guy will be getting the contract instead. But what I'm most concerned about is the StarTribune's report that a "special wireless model for $75 or $5/month will be required" to connect to the network. What is that about?! Can't we just use our wireless cards to access it?! I hope its just a journalists lack of knowledge about the technology.

Yale Shmale

You got to love Canada!

Finally some good news in the North

Minneapolis police bust 'worst of the worst' gangsters

Multiple iPhoto Libraries

What an interesting little find, especially considering I found it while reading up on a $20 shareware program to provide management of multiple iPhoto libraries. Turns out you don't have to pay for a thing, just hold down the ALT key on launch. It totally works, and now I can use iPhoto to manage all sorts of images that don't necessarily belong with one another.

Writely is now OPEN

It took longer than some might have like to open back up Writely after Google purchased the site, but its finallu open to the public. I somehow finagled my way in a few weeks ago when the site started increasing the number of invites available. Its a very slick program - I would love to try out the collaborative features it offers. I think we're finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel when a user (probably not a power user) doesn't need a office suite on their computer, opting for the online alternatives. Writely is just a word processor among many on the web, some which are part of entire suites of office applications.

Looks like Dell is hurting a little bit, and this doesn't take into account that whole battery-on-fire recall.

Google finally updating Blogger

Honestly, I had forgotten Google had even purchased Blogger, but alas it turns out they're prepping an update. Looks fairly nifty, or atleast an attempt to stay up-to-date with current trends and technology. I'm still Blogger because its free and I'm generally lazy to switch, but yeah.

BMW unveils 2007 MINI

Its getting closer and closer to the all new Mini Cooper. BMW put out a press release with lots of pictures - I can't wait for the Paris Autoshow when its going to be shown to the public. This is going to be the one, I've been drooling over the Mini since 2001. This is just fantastic - what a great way to start the day.

Hollywood Studios OK burning movie downloads

Sweeet Jesus!! Might this mean we will be downloading movies and burning them to DVD to watch in our living rooms, backseats of minivans, at a friends, place, etc?!?!

Police will target 3 gangs on north side

Its about frick'n time the city of Minneapolis starts to take action on the grotesque number of crimes and homicides that have been taking place in North Minneapolis. The deaths have been so senseless and ridiculous - its frustrating to learn of a new death in the same neighborhood time and time again.

Startribune link

WWDC

Ok, I'm as disappointed as the next fellow that Jobs brought us no new-fangled gizmos and gadgets for our tech-pleasure - our collective tech-lust was no satiated by any means.  But we did get some new Mac Pros and Xserves - all well and good.  The preview for Leopard - what we got to see anyway - was rather interesting but not particulary earth shattering.  I must admit though I can't wait to get my hands on these new little features, but I'm raising my hopes (perhaps too high) that the secret features for Leopard are going to be kick-ass.  

Let us just remember however that WWDC is all about the developers, the people who actually by MacPros and have actually seen an Xserve in use.  The iPods and iPhone stuff is all about consumers, so you got to know there will either be some exclusive media event in the coming weeks like as happened before, or MacWorld SanFrancisco in January is going to be stratospheric in announcements.  Well it better be at least - here Apple is with the market in its hands and its time to pounce hard.  People are frothing at the mouths for anything Apple right now - especially iPod/iTunes related - but increasingly Mac related.   

Mac OS X Leopard. Redmond has a cat, too. A copycat.

Its finally here!

WWDC. Be there.

For the procrastinator in all of us, with a little less guilt.
workFRIENDLY

PS. I don't condone surfing while at work.

Google scores a homerun!

It seems XM Radio is going to start airing commercials on its non-music related stations and guess who is going to be running those ads?! Google. They had recently purchased dMarc to do radio commercials as they've done with web ads - but I guess they weren't going to just stop there.

Link

Walmart Leaves Germany

Treehugger: Walmart Leaves Germany: Blame Smiles, Love or Plastic Bags?

Holy crap! There is reason to have hope. The world's largest retailer is packing its bags and leaving the fatherland - partially because they just couldn't compete on price and tradition and partially out of America arrogance. Apparently smiling at strangers is a bit of a no-no - and office romances are totally legal and expected.

Way to go Germany!

The wagons are circling as rumors continue to mount that Windows Vista will be delayed yet again. It went from this holiday season to next spring, and now they might be looking at the second-half of 2007.

On the other note, Apple will be showcasing next month upcoming new features of OS X 10.5 Leopard. How many times will Apple have released significant updates to its operating system in the time it took Microsoft to issue one?

Lance Bass: I'm gay

The gays knew it as soon as he appeared on Kathy Griffin's show. CNN.com - Lance Bass: I'm gay - Jul 26, 2006

Who wouldn't like a little Sven?!

I must admit - if I'm flipping stations and stumble upon Svenomenon giving the news I'm certainly paying attention. Though maybe not to the weather! And I certainly check out his blog on KARE 11 for all the lastest and greatest weather chat and every now and then some good pics find their way to the site - nevermind that he has a pet goat

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What are they thinking?!

GigaOM : » Cablevision Has A Million VoIP Customers

I don't know about CableVision, but I do know Time Warner charges $39.95 per month for their VOIP service.  Apparently TW now has over one million customers signed up for their service, and so does CableVision.  Do people not price compare?  Or do they think since 40 bucks is less than their landline phone bill, then it must be a good deal?  I'm just wondering - Vonage does all the same things, and offers free long distance to several European countries for just $25.  Makes sense to me.

Blogged with Flock

'Yo, Blair!'

Just imagine the things we'd hear if he had a microphone on him all the time.
: "'You eight hours? Me too. Russia's a big country and you're a big country. Takes him eight hours to fly home. Not Coke, diet Coke. ... Russia's big and so is China. Yo, Blair! What're you doing? Are you leaving,' Bush said."

born different, norman the dog who moos

born different, norman the dog who moos

Check it out - very interesting.

Its going to be a HOT weekend

Coincidentally, did you know? More Minnesotan's die from heat related illnesses than from cold illnesses in our harsh winters. Count that as your surprising factoid of the day.

Treehugger: 800 Watt Hours A Day! The Most Efficient Modern House?

I want this house!

Wil Shipley offers $10,000 bet to Gates that Vista doesn't ship by January

Wil Shipley offers $10,000 bet to Gates that Vista doesn't ship by January - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

A pretty little butterfly

Way to go Firefox!

Looks like it just passed the 15% marketshare in the US. In Germany, it has 39% marketshare - thats pretty damn cool. I guess Microsoft and IE really aren't invincible afterall.

Here it was Quicktime's fault

Immediately after installing 10.4.7 and QuickTime 7.1.2 I was no longer able to play Rise of Nations. The game would crash just as soon as I'd touch a button. This is really the only game I've played in like a year or two - I'm not much of a gamer I guess. So it was extremely disappointing for it to no longer work. That was until now! Go to the bottom of the post for instructions and links to install an earlier version of Quicktime. Now, Macsoft just needs to patch RoN to work with the more secure version of QT.

Ken Lay is Dead

And we were so close to finally seeing this crook get sentenced after such a long wait.

Kenneth L. Lay, Ex-Chairman of Enron, Dies - New York Times

Ever hear a cat being electrocuted?!

Unfortunately I have.  Very early Sunday morning Xavier decided he needed to chew on a cord near our bed - he typically does this to get me up in the morning.  Now, kitty has been chewing on cords pretty much the whole time he's been with us and he never seems to get schocked at all by it.  Well that all changed this time, unfortunately for him the cord became stuck in his mouth.

Fortunately he was right next to the bed so we could react quickly, but it took awhile to realize just what was going on.  We couldn't find the light switch and he had bounced around so much the cord had completly wrapped around him.  I'm sure the little table had hit him when it fell.  

He is back to him normal self now, except he's pretty freaked out by the area where it all went down.  He mostly just sits in the doorway and looks towards the corner.  

Free calls to Europe

This is pretty darn sweet, Vonage is offering free calls to Europe to their unlimited plan members. Now, if only I had someone in Europe to call.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

.

Creative Suite Tip & Tricks - Collected

I mentioned PixelGroovy the other day for being a great digg-like site with all sorts of designer focused tips. But before I found that site, I was using Google Notebook to quickly and easily assemble any Creative Suite tips Creative Suite Tips I came across on the internet. I've mostly just taken down notes for things of interest to me, and since I work mostly in Indesign thats where most of the tips are focused. One can never seem to get enough tips and tricks when it comes to this stuff.

Craptastic

This is just great.  The one game I ever play, Rise of Nations, won't load anymore and I think a few recent software updates might have something to do with it.  Maybe I will look into getting Civ IV - but then again do I want to go down that road again.

quikmaps.com

There is a new Google Maps mashup on the street, and this is one 'cool' kid.' Next time you need to give someone directions, etc - just send them a quikmaps map with your directions and notes.

I just love all this new web 2.0 stuff that has been coming out lately, I just want to use it all.

Verizon Wireless finds soul, wants to prorate early termination fees - Engadget

It seems Verizon is planning to prorate early termination fees for its customers. Since I'm not a Verizon customer, I'm seriously hoping this gets approved and spreads through the carriers quick fast and in a hurry. Its no fun paying those fees!!

Pixel Groovy

If you're familiar with Digg.com and you do any kind of design stuff, ie web, page, graphics, etc, you are going to like Pixel Groovy. Same digg kind of layout, but its all on articles, and tutorials for designers of all sorts. Its still pretty new and fresh, but it seems to be pretty darn active so it won't take long for its library or tips to be built up.

Parallels Desktop for Mac

Not that I would, but this is pretty darn sweet. One computer, many OSes.

We're going to ba catcing Kathy Griffin tonight.  I'm super excited - especially after watching her show on Bravo.  She is absolutely hilarious - I hope she has lots of 'fun' things to say about recent politics.

Nick Lachey axe commercial

8 long hours at Valleyfair.  25 cent cottoncandy or not, my dogs are barking loud!!

Mall of America

Six long damn hours and I only bought three shirts.  We took the out-of-town family to visit the Mall of America, and boy what a long visit.  But, when we were arriving, police we're picking up a twitching, semi-alive person who I could only guess had jumped off the parking ramp.  wtf

Note to Republicans: The party's over
Ineptness has ruined the GOP
Garrison Keillor CHICAGO TRIBUTE June 7, 2006

People who live in mud huts should not throw mud, especially if it comes
from their own roofs. As Scripture says, don't point to the speck in
your neighbor's eye when you have a piece of kindling in your own.

I see by the papers that the Republicans want to make an issue of House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the congressional races this
fall: Would you want a San Francisco woman to be speaker of the House?
Will the lectern be repainted in lavender stripes with a disco ball
overhead? Will she be borne into the chamber by male dancers with
glistening torsos and wearing pink tutus? After all, in the unique world
view of old elephants, San Francisco is a code word for g-a-y, and after
assembling a record of government lies, incompetence and disaster, the
party in power hopes that the fear of g-a-y-s will pull it through in
November.

Running against Pelosi, a woman who comes from a district where there
are known gay persons, is a nice trick, but it does draw attention to
the large, shambling galoot who is House speaker now, Tom DeLay's
enabler for years, a man who, judging by his public mutterances, is
about as smart as most high school wrestling coaches. For the past year,
Dennis Hastert has been two heartbeats from the presidency. He is a man
who seems content just to have a car and driver and three square meals a
day. He has succeeded in turning Congress into a branch of the executive
branch. If Mr. Hastert becomes the poster boy for the Republican Party,
this does not speak well for them as the Party of Ideas.

People who want to take a swing at San Francisco should think twice.
Yes, the Irish coffee at Fisherman's Wharf is overpriced, and the bus
tour of Haight-Ashbury is disappointing (Where are the hippies?), but
the Bay Area is the cradle of the computer and software industry, which
continues to create jobs for our children. The iPod was not developed by
Baptists in Waco, Texas. There may be a reason for this. Creative people
thrive in a climate of openness and tolerance, since some great ideas
start out sounding ridiculous. Creativity is a key to economic progress.
Authoritarianism is stifling. I don't believe that Mr. Hewlett and Mr.
Packard were gay, but what's important is: In San Francisco, it doesn't
matter so much. When the cultural Sturmbannfuhrers try to marshal
everyone into straight lines, it has consequences for the economic
future of this country.

Meanwhile, the Current Occupant goes on impersonating a president.
Somewhere in the quiet, leafy recesses of the Bush family, somebody is
thinking, "Wrong son. Should've tried the smart one." Five years in
office and he doesn't have a grip on it yet. You stand him up next to
British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a news conference and the
comparison is not kind to Our Guy. Historians are starting to place him
at or near the bottom of the list. And one of the basic assumptions of
American culture is falling apart: the competence of Republicans.

You might not have always liked Republicans, but you could count on them to manage the bank. They might be lousy tippers, act snooty, talk
through their noses, wear spats and splash mud on you as they race their
Pierce-Arrows through the village, but you knew they could do the math.
To see them produce a ninny and then follow him loyally into the swamp
for five years is disconcerting, like seeing the Rolling Stones take up
lite jazz. So here we are at an uneasy point in our history, mired in a
costly war, a supine Congress granting absolute power to a president who
seems to get smaller and dimmer, and the best the Republicans can offer
is San Franciscophobia? This is beyond pitiful. This is violently
stupid.

It is painful to look at your father and realize the old man should not
be allowed to manage his own money anymore. This is the discovery the
country has made about the party in power. They are inept. The checkbook
needs to be taken away. They will rant, they will screech, they will
wave their canes at you and call you all sorts of names, but you have to
do what you have to do.

To go or not to go

This Saturday, Apple opens its fourth store in the Twin Cities at Ridgedale Mall, and you know what that means.  T-shirt time!!  Though I'm definitely not interested in getting up early or waiting in any lines.  So I'm crossing my fingers they'll still have the goods at least past 10 am or so - at least.

Vonage

The service may be great, but the IPO was complete crap.  The shares were issued at $17 even though a number of analysts priced the stock at under $10 - which is generous given just how much money the company has lost and continues to lose.  But this does raise the question: how many users will quit if they lose big on the stock?  Tags: Vonage, VOIP

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Enron jury reaches verdict

Its about blessed time these asses get found guilty. Sentencing in September can't come soon enough.

Twinsville Ballpark

What an interesting turn of events this last state congressional session brought us. Seems like just a year ago the state had to cut and cut just to pass a budget in the black, and now we suddenly can afford to build not one, but two parks - and a third wasn't all that far away. WTF?!

But I'm torn. I really like the looks of the new Twins ballpark in the Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis. What a great view, and a seriously great location!! Especially since I live on that side of downtown, and if you've ever been you know its certainly not the prettiest side. Though I do live just beyond the crud - I'm really looking forward to the area seeing some real development and improvement. Condos, transit stations, restaurants, retail, etc - this stadium might actually have a great impact on the city and people than the Metrodome ever did.

But seriously, our legislators better not complain next session about not having any money to educate our kids, police our streets, etc.

Trader Joe's is now in Minneapolis, and Minneapolis is at Trader Joe's.  The check out lines pretty much filled up the whole space - we were able to walk through the produce section and that was about it.

Who steals a plant?

This is totally a serious question. Sometime Friday night or early Saturday morning, someone took our rather large elephant year (two bulbls actually) from our front step. WTF?!



Our best guess is someone thought it'd make for a nice Mother's Day gift. I just hope it dies now - those fuckers.

FYI: Minneapolis Police require that two (2) plants be stolen in order for an incident report to be filed. WTF!

AIM Pages

I felt compelled by the release of AIM Pages today and had to fill out a profile. Why oh why?! I feel compelled to fill them out - especially if it has some buzz associated with it, and from the reviews I had read AIMpages is supposedly going to give MySpace a run for its money. Which is probably a good thing.

Second Life

Anyone playing or played?  I read about it in BusinessWeek, and it sounded like it might be fun.  But so far its been totally lame - maybe I'm missing something.

Dandelions

I can see it now - I'll be the old crazy guy on the block meticulously analyzing his lawn for dandelions and all manner of weeds.  I fear I may become obsessed.

Exxon CEO says screw off

At least that is how I read his comments. There is a mention that Exxon is spending $20 billion over the next five years to develop new sources of energy. You can be certain all of that money is being spent to preserve their dominance based on oil - not a revolutionary change in energy sources. But all in all this country's energy usage is appalling - fuel efficiency requirements are entirely inadequate and so low that several states are suing the government to raise the bar. Vehicles that get less than 20 mpg should be flat out illegal - and that bar should be raised to 30 mpg by the end of the decade. And don't try to tell me it can't be done - I simply don't buy that sh!t. Make it happen - chop! chop!!

Speaking on energy conservation - electricity use is just out of control. Recently Ontario reduced (or eliminated) their energy subsidies that has allowed residents to purchase electricity at reduced rates. As I was listening to the news and they were talking about ways residents can reduce their hydro (electric) bill by shutting off appliances and using energy efficient light bulbs, I couldn't help to think that its not the residents who are energy hogs. Though certainly most of us can make a few changes - its office buildings and factories, etc. Look around your downtown at night - can you honestly say all those office towers are full of people. Hell no! - but yet lights are on all over those buildings. How many lights need to be on in Wal-mart - where are the windows?! Lighting stores - do they need all of their displays on 24 hours a day? Couldn't they be shut off late at night?

Saying residents need to reduce their electricity usage is like saying children should eat less so their fat elders can have more to eat. Bull shit!

Hehe - I got into the Yahoo Mail beta this morning and all I had to do was log on from a Canadian IP address. It looks pretty cool, but it seemed a little slow but who knows why that was. I just hope I still have access once I get back to Minneapolis.

Its growing season

This years vegetable garden is in - and this year we got mint so we can make our own mojitos with fresh mint.  The water fountain is out again, the tropical plants got to be outside for a day, but they're inside for the nights until it starts to warm up consistently.  

Unfortunately, growing season also means mowing the lawn - which will be in need of being done very soon.  But I'm going to put that off until after our trip this weekend.

What is macZOT!

Minneapolis Farmer's Market

Its open!!  I just drove by on my way home from Starbucks.  I didn't see a whole lot of produce just yet, but the vendors were out and a whole shit load of flowers were on sale.  All the geraniums you could want in nice container arrangments.  Maybe I'll go tomorrow when the weahter is nicer - right now its only 50, but tomorrow should be 75.  Wahoo!!

A little wi-fi magic

Last weekend Earthlink installed a wi-fi antenna just outside our house - as part of the selection process for city-wide wi-fi in Minneapolis.  The connection doesn't seem to be working just yet, but I think they are still in the process of setting up the network.  We in the trial area - but apparently Earthlink is only planning a 1MB connection - versus up to 3MB by the other guys, who also happen to mention supporting Wi-Max.  Though I suppose it doesn't really matter who wins, just as long as its up and running before Comcast takes over our cable internet connection and dramatically increases the price.  Its frickin' outrageous of them charging $10-15 more than Time Warner.  Outrageous - enough that I'd take the lower connection speed not to deal with them.

Blinking Yellow Lights

The city is thinking about taking out some street lights by where I live - and in the decision process they wanted to shutdown the ligth cycle and just let them blink.  So the main street got blinking yellow lights and the side street got blinkng red lights.  The study was supposed to last two weeks, but ended up lasting only 4 days because too many stupid drivers don't seem to understand blinking yellow lights.  More than half of the cars stopped and behaved as if they were at a four-way stop.  I was going NUTS.  I never honked my horn - but my hand was wavering over it. Now hopefully they just remove the damn things and get on with it already.

Spring Blooms

Spring is really starting to show itself around here in Minnesota. I grabbed this shot before heading to work this morning. I didn't even know this tree bloomed.

"I'm the decider"

Vista delayed yet again. What is that - four years of delays now?

AXE

The new iPod ad is insane. Sick, as some might say but I just missed that generation terminology development.

I've got that ominous feeling.

Just a few days ago I was out grilling dinner for the first time in months, and now we have an approaching storm that some estimates say could dump up to 11 inches of snow overnight. Craptastic!

MINI competition?

I'm not about to give up my intent to get a MINI Cooper S convertible, but this is one sweet looking ride. If its as stylish and invigorating as a MINI, then this is going to be a car to watch out for. I love it!

Toronto goes Wi-Fi

Its going to be huge! Toronto Hydro is installing Wi-fi atop 18,000 utility poles all over the city. I love the idea of cities offering city-wide internet access, and especially offering reduced rates for low-income families. The internet has become almost necessary for households. I can't wait for Minneapolis to get its network up and running, but that might not be until next year because the government is just so damn slow. Hurry up already, before Wi-Max totally takes over for goodness sakes.

CL2

I don't know what kind of name that is, but apparently its the long awaited online-calendar app from Google.

You can do a lot with iWeb

So here I am reading the news about the opening of a new club in Minneapolis that I was interested in, Level. At the end of the article I hit the link to the club's website expecting to see the usual crap. But alas this was not the case, and much to my surprise the bottom of the page as "Made on a Mac" so prominent. Holy crap! But at first, I figure the webdesigner was just a fan, but then I clicked on the blog page - straight out of iWeb, down to the RSS subscription button. Oh snap! It dawns on me exactly what this is, and a quick check of the source code confirmed it. I knew a person could make their own templates, but I had yet to see one. Well, now I've seen one.

Its new to me

This probably isn't new to anyone, but I just noticed it. Seriously, I know its probably been there for like years, but its new to me. On the side of the Target plastic bag, is a little logo that says 'Reuse" and under it is a list: "10 ways to reuse your Target bag"

1. Tiny Trashcan Liner
2. Doggy Duty
3. Water Ballon (I'll have to try this later - somehow I don't think it'll work well)
4. Roadtrip Rubbish
5. Soggy Laundry
6. Ice pack for head lump
7. Toiletry tote
8. Kitty litter liner (Just what I was doing when I noticed this list)
9. Tomorrow's lunchbag
10. Care package pading

My Dashboard

Ok, so maybe some widgets are pretty worthless. Some just sit there and look pretty without doing anything, but others can provide some good information and improve workflows. Though I wish I had more of the latter. Anyway, here's my dashboard - I use it all the time - even if its a little crowded sometimes. I switch out a few every now and then depending on its usefulness.

First of all, we have to have the weather, and since I'm a visual person I insist on having the weather rada as well - which can be expanded twice that size. Below that is of course the new Blogger widget - I had been using DashBlog or something, but it stopped working. The wikipedia and dictionary widgets come in handy on occasion - great for that quick reference. There there is the widget for taking pictures of different things, the screen, windows, icons, and widgets - makes for ease of use instead of trying to remember those short cuts.

Widget Update shrinks way down to a little cirle - its supposed to tell me if any of the widgets are outdated. It doesn't seem to always work, but its a good idea and has been useful. I love getting new software, doesn't matter how small it is.

Calculator - so much faster than loading the calc app. Then there is that little iTunes Album Art retreiver - just incase I have any songs that don't have the accompanying art. Oh, then of course I need to monitor the currency exchange with Canada. The widget does all sorts of currencies, but I pay the most attention to the Canadian dollar. I mean, sometimes its not always cheaper for me to buy shoes or Starbucks in Canada, and I gots to know that.

The Calendar one is kind of pointless, but it just makes sense to me to leave it there. The to-do-list is a must. I have terrible self-motivation and lists seem to keep me focused a bit. Though of course I need to keep the to-do list updated -- I need a to-do for that!!

And then the stock widget rounds it out - I just like watching a few different stocks. I guess its interesting - satiates my left brain.

Samsung t809

I am finally rid of that huge Sidekick.  Alright, I liked it when I had a data plan, but I couldn't justify the expense, especially when I didn't have reception in my workplace.  So I've upgraded to this new beauty and got a new mobile number to boot.  I was thinking PEBL - because its damn cute, but the flip mechanism wasn't as smooth as the commercial made it out to seem and the 'keep credit cards awat' was a bummer.  This beast comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera!!  Beat that PEBL!

I never thought I'd like a slider, never liked the concept, but this phone has a real nice feel to it and its just a tad bigger than the RAZR.  Now, if only it would sync with my iMac.

Google Macintosh Dashboard Widgets

Sweet! Some widgets straight from the Googleplex. They look nifty - but I'm on a PC at work right now so I can't quite tell just yet.

Just take a guess what it is

Terranaut

A new dining room light

Its a new light, courtesy of IKEA, which means it was a pain to install, looks unlike anything from Home Depot and maybe requires a sacrifice from the ideal. By which I mean we’d much rather have it a bit higher off the table, but I think it makes for a nice intimate glow for everyone sitting at the table. Making it go any higher will mean cutting wires and hoping for the best.

But whatever, I’m loving the light fixture, and though this picture doesn’t do the illumination justice it really is intimate at the table.

Underworld- Evolution - Friday!

Underworld- Evolution

This Friday! Woo hoo!

Now I'm a real alumni

They finally got me. Some sweet Junior called me up and asked for money to help new students pay for the outrageously high price of going to school there. I've passed on giving anything for four years now, but I just couldn't pass it up this time. It would be irresponsible for me not to help student out who genuinely need the assistance. Tuition has broke 30k - and thats just for a regular bachelor of arts and a place to stay on campus. It was in the low-mid 20's when I went through. Ouch!

Apple now worth more than Dell

What more is there to say?

Na nana na nana!

MacWorld '06

Umm, was that frackin' fantastic or what. Not only did Apple kick ass in the last quarter - selling 14M iPods, but they've been busy working with Intel. You have to check out the new Intel iMacs and ofcourse everyone is ga-ga about the new MacBook Pro. Who can blame you, they are amazing laptops.

But obviously I just got a new iMac a few months ago - so there won't be any new hardward changes for me for a little while at least. So what excited me the most was certainly the software announcements. I already pulled out the credit card for my own copy of the new iLife '06.



I can't wait to get my hands on iWeb - just what I've been waiting for. iPhoto is going to be fantastic to use and play with. You can bet I'll be sending out a few personalized postcards and maybe a calendar or two. Hehe!

Sci-Fi Friday

Does anyone else feel the end of Stargate SG-1 is just around the corner? It doesn't have the same excitement anymore - I'm betting this will be its last season. Atlantis must have gotten all the good writers, because its kicking butt.

Battlestar Galacticca - why haven't I been watching this from the beginning?! Its frickin' good - the drama they built up in this episode is nail-biting. Damn!

One more day to wait... today

We just have to wait until this evening for the second half of the seasons for Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and new to my Tivo but not to most of yours, Battlestar Galactica. Ooo! I can't wait.

Wicked Audi

New Audi Commercial