Mike Benner

Vista, Not All It WAS Cracked Up To Be

Dec 27 by Michael Benner

So, PC World has been a little down on MS lately and I couldn't agree more. First, they came out and pointed out the fact that Vista ran fastest on a Mac Laptop and now they have come out and put Vista as the biggest disappointment of the year. I have to wonder what is going on in Redmond. I have had

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Happy Battlestar Galactica Weekend

Nov 21 by Michael Benner

This is the TV weekend I have been waiting all season for. Battlestar Gallactica Razor premieres on SciFi Channel this weekend. And while it is not the return of the final season, it is a start and is surrounded by reruns of the previous 3 seasons. Enjoy Razor with that that turkey sandwich.

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BUG

Nov 16 by Michael Benner

OK, so after the week I just had, I needed a night off and last night was it. I sat down on the couch with my wife and we pop BUG in the DVD player.

Wow, let me say,

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When Will I Learn My Lesson

Nov 13 by Michael Benner

OK, this post is going to be more of a rant, but sometimes we just need to let things be heard. Let me start by saying I understand I am a rare case for Microsoft, Xbox 360 and Live, but that doesn't make their handling of issues any better. You see several years back I bought a Xbox (before Live was around) and enjoyed it. Then

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"Mobile" Entertainment

Nov 8 by Michael Benner

As I sit here watching some clients play Halo 2, while I make some edits to their web app, I am reminded of somethings I have been using/doing lately and have failed to post. Sony Remote Play, Joost, iTunes, and catching up on some movies.

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Another Format War?

Sep 5 by Michael Benner

Way back in the day I remember a jumble of cables and boxes stacked on top of our TV. There was a dial for rotating the antenna on the roof, a box with the work "ON" written on it, another box with "Z TV" and even one that said, "HBO". What was interesting is that they where just switches that you flipped and boom a movie (usually already running) was on your TV.

This was the beginning of cable TV, except only one channel per box. Over time there were mergers and acquisitions and of course, no one remembers the others and everyone knows HBO.

But, what does this have to do with the current format war? Well, I propose that Blu-Ray and HDDVD

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That's What I Said

Aug 16 by Michael Benner

It appears that the entry I made last week wasn't far off. Ars Techinca reported on Tuesday that cable providers

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Take Break...

Aug 15 by Michael Benner

I AM
71%
OPTIMUS PRIMETake the Transformers Quiz

Then once you figure out who you are, follow up with a quiz on politics and your views, you may surprise yourself.

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Playstation 3, Blu Ray, and HDMI cables

Aug 6 by Michael Benner

So with the release of "300" I ran out and picked it up on Blu Ray to see its wonderful cinematography in glorious High Definition. The scene was set. I was done for the day and sitting down with my wife around 9:45pm to watch the movie. I powered everything on and sat back to enjoy.

Then after a few double takes and some setting tweaks I jumped up and ran out the door, sped to Target with 5 minutes to spare I grabbed the LAST HDMI cable in the store and raced home.

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Umm, No.

Jul 12 by Michael Benner

Michael Gingold,

You said, in reference to Turistas, "A better and scarier film than Hostel."

Not even close. Did you even see the same movie I did?

I just wasted a perfectly good 2 hours hoping for genius. I can vividly remember the first time I watched Hostel. I was on a plane on my way to Phoenix using my PSP and it scared the daylights out of me. I then proceeded to watch it 3 more times before I made it back home.

There are a few things that stand out. One Josh Duhamel can't act. He sucks in Las Vegas and he sucks in this. Acting aside, the story line is in Turistas is very predictable and is given away almost immediately. It is also no where near as sinister as what is happening in Hostel. In both movies you know bad things are happening (heck, you just paid for a horror film) and you aren't sure what they are, but when you find out in Turistas you are not nearly as horrified as you are in Hostel.

That is what made Hostel so brilliant to me. Yes both situations are possible, although I find Hostel to be more plausible. Maybe because Hostel involves a smaller group of people, maybe Hostel has better build up and anticipation, I am not sure. Maybe I am just biased having seen Hostel first. But something just makes it better.

Turistas is not bad, but it is by no means great. It is your run of the mill thriller that is made scarier but the reality that it "could" happen.

If you like horror/thiller films then you need to see both, but watched Turistas first, Hostel ruins all others for a long time to come.

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