A great web tie-in for LOST! fans

An interesting web tie-in for fans of T.V. show LOST! ahead of the launch of Season 4 the creators of the show have convinced ABC to create a specialized website:  Find815.com.

(Warning - if you're a LOST! fan this site is addictive and you'll end up sinking a significant amount of time into exploring this parallel story).  This site lays out an intriguing spin-off story line where LOST! fans get to be pulled further into the main story. The premise behind the site is laid out in a series of chapters and videos that document the efforts of Sam Thomas the significant other of a missing stewardess Sonya from Oceanic flight #815.  What is interesting about this Adobe Flash based site is that its very well designed with 5 separate chapters detailing the efforts of Sam to find out what happened to flight 815. Each chapter follows the same structure with a video recap, a video clip, a user challenge which involve a Flash based game that the user must win to continue with the story, a clue hunt that leads to a special preview of Season 4, and finally a video diary entry made by Sam.

Overall the site is very well designed and thought out and serves to draw you further into the story line and build buzz around the premiere of Season 4. My expectation is that we'll see more of these types of satellite websites in the future as networks seek to build and maintain an audience.

"The Seventh" by Richard Stark

Another in the series of Parker novels takes a different twist over previous books. While you still get the background on the heist that Parker pulls off in this case the robbery of the gate proceeds from a football game at a stadium while the game is still in progress. However the interesting twist that Stark (aka Westlake) adds into this novel is that the focus is on a double cross. When Parker returns to find the woman he was holed up with dead, the money gone and the police closing in on him the action really heats up. I'd say that like the other Parker books this is a fast and easy read and while a 155 page novel isn't a short story it in many ways reads as quickly. What I found interesting about "The Seventh" is the interesting series of switches that the reader is setup for as we follow Parker on his hunt to find the killer and recover the money. 

I'll hold back on going into more detail here on the plot and the nature of the story to avoid handing out any spoilers. Suffice it to say if you like the a quick fast moving mystery "The Seventh" should fit the bill quite nicely.

This book also carries the title "The Split" depending upon where your copy of the book was published. 

MacHeads the Movie - A story about a community

Just got a heads up on "MacHeads the Movie" a documentary about the Mac community which is due to be released shortly. The movie promises to cover a history of the Mac and features interviews with a number of well known MacHeads including:

Raines Cohen, Co-Founder of the first Macintosh user group BMUG,
Guy Kawasaki, former Apple Evangelist and savior,
Bruce Damer and Galen Brandt, owners of Digibarn Computer Museum,
Shawn King, host of Your Mac Life,
Adam Engst, publisher of the first Apple newsletter,
Leander Kaheny author of Cult of Mac,
Andy Ihnatko Chicago Sun-Times' technology columnist,
Daniel Kottke Mac engineer and the first official employee of Apple Inc,

Having read a range of books on Apple and the development of the Mac this documentary looks like it could offer an interesting twist on the topic of what makes Apple and Mac such icons. Simply put it seems like the team at Chimp 65 Productions is onto the answer which is the community of Mac users. Having been a Mac user since the beginning and having been involved in Macintosh User Groups and bulletin boards in the mid-80s the reality is the thing that has always made Macs different are the devotion of the users. I'll write a post once the movie gets released and I have a chance to watch it - in the meantime check-out their site.

A better rechargeable battery?

If you're like me and have grown weary of swapping out other rechargeable batteries or worse still using disposable regular AA or AAA batteries in your gear this will hopefully offer a solution. Sanyo's Eneloop rechargeable batteries are one solution that I'm currently testing as a way out of my current battery woes. I found that a number of different big name brand rechargeables don't seem to hold a charge terribly well and for a short period I was stuck using Duracell disposables. When they finally gave up I purchased a package of Eneloop's after reading some commentary on the web regarding their performance. Basically Sanyo has developed a brand of rechargeable battery that offers the following claims:

• Longer life with slower drain
• No memory effect meaning that you don't end up with rechargeables that need to be thrown away in less than a year
• Ability to use any quality NimH charger to recharge the batteries.

So far so good - I'll keep you updated with how well the Eneloop's hold up over time.