Wow!
I recently mentioned an article which stated that Commodore was coming back with new gaming machines...
This news was pretty cool. But now that I see what they're doing... I'm just impressed. Of course I'm a little biased, because Commodore is a name from my youth, and to see the company getting updated hardware and focusing heavily on current technology for gaming... it just feels right!
Europe's largest tech show, CeBIT, not unlike our CES, just took place. Commodore was there showing off their new machines, and according to what I've read, it was a jaw dropping experience.
I've never been a big fan of OEM PCs. The biggest reason is the amount of Spyware and Malware that comes bundled out of the box, not to mention the trialware and insertcreditcardnumberheretokeepmachinerunningware. PC manufacturers generally subsidize the cost of building machines by getting kickbacks from various software vendors for bundling their code in their machines. I understand the reasons why Dell, HP, and Companies like them do this: it's a cutthroat business with limited profit margins. They buy parts from the lowest bidders, and are not interested in give the end user the best performance. In all honesty, though, the machines you buy from your local retailer still have enough performance to do the basic stuff.
Worse, is that the cost of gaming machines from companies like Alienware (Dell now), and WidowPC is astronomical. The reason behind this is the better components, and less of that terrible software pre-installed. Gamers want power, and these companies are able to capitalize on that. And, they do provide something that the average user who would build their own wouldn't get: Support. Maybe it's outsourced to India, maybe there'll be a 3 month turnaround on repairs, but, you have some level of piece of mind you wouldn't get otherwise.
Commodore is entering into this world. The competitive world of gaming machines. But, they have something that none of the other companies have: brand recognition.
If you think about it, most people in their target demographic will likely remember the lofty heights to which their own machines were held. They were the pinnacle, at the time. Most kids at least knew someone with a C64, and if they were lucky enough to own one themselves, they knew they were on the cutting edge. Now, those kids are likely part of the working world, going around voting with their dollars. I imagine that those votes will be cast in the direction of Commodore's new offering, much like the new TMNT movie. In addition, the Amiga, one of the Commodore brands, has managed to keep a cult following, the Amiga OS just recently got ANOTHER upgrade, and is still catering to those people that love the brand.
So far, pricing is unknown, but I imagine the costs will be high. Apple high. According to their website, they'll be releasing machines with 2 letter codes: the XX, GX, GS, and G. The top of the line XX will be a Core 2 Quad with SLI'd Dual nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX's and 4GB of Corsair Ram, although, it's supposed to be customizable. The basic G system will be a lower end Core 2 Duo with 2GB of ram and an nVidia GeForce 7900 GS, which is still plenty of performance for most games these days (that setup is similar to what I'm running, and trust me, I do fine).
Adding to the joy that is Commodore power is the C-Kin case system. A set of interchangeable panels, and not cheap ones either, are going to be offered with their machines. There are TONS of options, and I imagine that, as your interest in a game wanes, and is supplanted with new hotness, you'll be able to order new panels to match your taste. There are several Commodore Classic designs, a plethora of Game designs, graffiti tag designs, art photographs and landscapes, as well as a slew of (not so plain) colours. Seriously, the options are actually almost inundating.
Thus far, it appears that these machines will be limited to europe... at least for the moment, and pricing has not been announced, but, I'm not too worried about that. I wouldn't, and couldn't buy one in the foreseeable future anyway. It's just great to see old brands making good moves.
In other commodore news, they are trying to saturate the market, it seems. They'll be releasing a series of devices they call 'Gravels'. There's portable media players with WiFi and Cameras, called Gravel in Pocket and Gravel Personal, and a GPS navigator, called Gravel in Car. All seem to have a really intuitive navigation schema by putting a joystick on the back, where your fingers rest. Why didn't anyone else think of that? (Besides me...) It looks like they'll be sparing no one in this new push for success. I just hope it pans out for them, I'd hate to see another name fall into obscurity again.
In other news: Searchles!
It's funny to me that I hadn't heard of Searchles, a really amazing social search engine, until I read an article about Sony's video site, Grouper, which I'd also never seen before.
What's interesting about Searchles is that they've got a new feature called "Searchles TV", which allows you to embed a mash-up of videos into one player which can then be embedded into your Blogger, MySpace, or personal website. The videos, though, don't come from one source, but can actually come from Google Video, YouTube, MySpace Video, Grouper, and a few others. It's also dynamic, so that whatever you add to your channel on the Searchles sites, automatically propagates out to wherever you've embedded your video.
It's interesting... I just don't have time to fuck with it. Maybe you do.
Tar Baby!
On Friday, Republican Presidential Candidate, Senator John McCain used the term "Tar-Baby", and immediately knew he'd made a mistake. I'm not a fan of McCain, he's always contradicting himself and making horrible flubs. He can't seem to think on his feet. There's no shortage of people who don't like him. The problem is, he used the term correctly. Seriously, it was originally used to describe a spade of tar used on ships in the 19th century, it was hella messy if handled incorrectly.
What he said was:
"For me to stand here and … say I'm going to declare divorces invalid because of someone who feels they weren't treated fairly in court, we are getting into a tar baby of enormous proportions and I don't know how you get out of that."
Now, people generally associate the term "tar baby" to being a derogatory term for African Americans, such as Nigger, Porch Monkey, Coon, and the like.
Now, what he was referring to was this, the lovable (and banned) Disney character, who is sticky and causes no end of trouble for the poor Br'er (brother) Rabbit. It's an old story, very old, passed down for years and years until Disney turned it into part of Song of the South. The Uncle Remus stories that it's based on, are basically African American folklore and oral storytelling, which were written in the mid-1800's and were revolutionary for their time. Now, however, they're racist.
This is one of those frustrating things. Black people used to tell these stories. They are derived from even older African tales of characters like the trickster Anansi. They used to use these words and talk about these things, it's part of their culture. Just as much TuPac as rapping about "coming up", and "shootin' da nigga", or Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream". It's a sad world where we can't talk about this stuff in an open forum. Why is racism a problem? Because no one can let it go. Innocuous comments like this, which aren't meant to be derogatory, become huge issues. Now, if he'd said this while wearing a white sheet... perhaps then I might be convinced of it's negativity. But, seriously, I'm more racially offended by Coca-Cola's portrayal of Black people drinking their products on some of their more recent commercials. Everyone knows they don't drink Coke, just Orange Soda.
Seriously, though, the problem remains that we still insist on seeing color. And that will never change, but until we can embrace the fact that each of us has a unique culture, and that there is always going to be differences, we'll never truly be able to move forward, together.
Now, as I looked around at the various bits of info for Br'er Rabbit, and Song of the South, I did come across a couple of videos that I think are somewhat funny... well, sorta. They are 'banned' from regular view due to their 'questionable' content.
The first is Popeye in "You're a sap, Mr. Jap". Clearly, this is Max Fleischer and Kings Feature's way of showing support for the war effort (WWII). Obviously, a dark part in our history was rounding up Japanese Americans and putting them into internment camps for fear on an on-soil attack. And, just as clearly, what we have is a very racially biased video. It wasn't the first time "orientals" were portrayed in this way...
The next video, however, is quite a bit darker. Disney's "Education for Death". It is somewhat disturbing to watch, but, it's also very interestingly artistic. It's obvious why this one has been 'banned' from general viewing. Disney has had a lot of bizarre allegations alleged against him from being communist, to a Nazi sympathizer, and of course, there are the rumors that he's been cryogenically frozen, and his body is interned at Disneyland, awaiting the day that there's a cure for lung cancer. There are equally strange allegations against the old Eisner as well... but, that's neither here nor there.
The mood on this blog may have dropped slightly...
So, check out Wedding Thriller
If ever I bother to get married again... I might have to do something like this. Though, perhaps instead I'll have use do a scene from West Side Story.
Funnier still is... Indian Thriller! (Dot, not feather)
And this is just hilarious...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment