Virtue Is Knowledge . com

Really Cool & Useful Apps for the iPod Touch or iPhone

Brad Newton — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:07:45 +0000

Touch Mouse by Logitech is a simple app that makes your Touch a trackpad/keyboard to control a computer via wi-fi. You download the app to your Touch/iPhone and install a small applet on your computer available from Logitech.com. This is perfect in my living room for switching between Windows Media Center, Hulu, YouTube, and the History channel website. Most wireless or bluetooth keyboards won’t work beyond a few feet from the computer and who wants a keyboard mixed in with their remotes anyway. I cancelled my DirecTV and get all my TV from the Internet now. I stream audio and video to my AV receiver and old SD 32″ TV while my PC sits in the other room. I was stuck in Media Center which is fine for Netflix and IPTV selections Microsoft offers, but that is still pretty limited. Now I can switch applications and manipulate the screen from my comfy chair like I was in front of the computer. It’s free, simple to set up, and can work on Windows or Mac.

If you listen to audio books, you probably are a member of Audible.com and if you aren’t, you should be. Audible released it’s iPhone/iPod Touch app this week and it’s great. The Touch or iPhone will play audio books through it’s media player and it’s fine. The Audible app gives you more flexibility with the playback by letting you go backward and forward in 30 second increments and allows you to bookmark a spot for future reference. It allows you to access your Audible library through wi-fi, so you can get away from iTunes , wonky syncs, and the whole computer, if you choose. Just open the app, connect and download anything from your Audible library online. Of course it also knows what is already on your device and you can play it from the app. There are stats on usage and some silly social badge things you can earn. I don’t really care about that stuff, but others might think it cool. It has the ability to tweet and post things to facebook and twitter and hooks into YouTube for videos of Authors and readers. I see I have 26 books and listened for 3 hours 29 minutes today ( I had to drive to Harrisburg). Another cool app for my Touch. I like it!

Documentaries on Netflix

Brad Newton — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:50:15 +0000

This is a great film capturing a slice of the legendary Earl Scruggs’ life in 1972 when he was going through a musical change of life. This focuses really on his sons and his family. We see them playing with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Byrds and most amazingly Doc and Merle Watson as well as the Morris Brothers and Bill Monroe. This is a 1970′s low budget documentary that really captures a strange period of time when rednecks and hippies came together to make some great music. The fashions displayed are wonderful too. I remember us all dressed that way.

How do you make a documentary about Led Zeppelin and have no Led Zeppelin music in it? Obviously, someone couldn’t get or couldn’t afford some permissions. What a let down. I’m glad I didn’t pay to rent this. To be fair, there is some interesting content from producers, managers, and groupies that give some insight into the individual personalities of Plant, Page, Bonham and Jones. There is various interview footage of the band members from a variety of sources pieced together to give a sense of credibility, but overall this is a waste of streaming time.

The Last Airbender:Where’s the slime?

Brad Newton — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:04:21 +0000

M. Night Shyamalan is avisionary director. Hitting us with smart and memorable films like The Sixth Sense and Signs. He has earned the trust of Hollywood and can make any movie he wants. So, what happened here? He wrote and directed this massive turd. The marketing machine did it’s job with this one. The trailers and commercials promote an adventure in a mystical world. Good versus Evil and all that. Nowhere did I see mention of Nickelodeon Movies. So a kids TV network has a film branch, could it be that bad? Yes it could. I was vaguely aware of the story. The book series is supposed to be pretty good and the animated series is very popular. I don’t get it. This Aang the Avatar kid(Noah Ringer) is fairly good at Wu-shu, but may be a worse actor than Will Smith’s son in The Karate Kid. Dev Patel should have stayed a slumdog. This won’t be on his future screen credits list. I’m sure M. Night told him it would be alright and who could believe Shyamalan would turn out a turkey like this. May be the worst part is the sequels they have set up. Hopefully, this won’t make enough for the producers and they’ll kill any more of this crap. Unfortunately, the kids this is aimed at will probably wring enough money out their parents around the world to pay for the future disasters this film predicts. I feel like a bucket of slime has been poured on my head by seeing this movie.

Knight and Day: Better than I expected.

Brad Newton — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:50:43 +0000

The spy vs. spy movie is nothing new and Summer action movies have been hit and miss. So. I had rather low expectations going into movie. I actually like Tom Cruise and know he puts a lot of effort into his projects. Cameron Diaz I’m not too fond of and the thought of the two together had me worried. Well, I was pleasantly surprised and rather entertained by the entire production. This is a simple innocent girl bumps into a spy story and we are not supposed to know is really the bad guys until the end. There’s lots of actions and guns (look for the cameo appearance of the Taurus Judge revolver )and explosions and car chases and motorcycle chases and exotic locales. Everything you expect and have seen before. What makes this work is the chemistry between Cruise and Diaz and the humor injected through Cruise taking his character over the top without becoming a parody. This isn’t an Oscar winning movie with Oscar nominating performances. This is simple action/adventure that is entertaining and clever enough to make you smile and chuckle between gun battles and chase scenes. Knight and Day is worth a look.

Summer Hiatus

Brad Newton — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:25:27 +0000

The group finished with The age of Wonder and several interesting discussions. The impact of science and technology has changed Man’s place in the universe and that has lead to all kinds of metaphysical and philosophical debates over the centuries. The Conversation continues.

After our summer hiatus we will take up The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain (and Charles Dudley Warner) since 2010 is the centennial of his death. We shall see if his views have any relevance for us now.

Jonah Hex: Cursed and like being in the belly of a whale.

Brad Newton — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:46:24 +0000

Josh Brolin is turning into a pretty good actor. I loved him in No Country for Old Men. John Malkovich is one of our greatest actors period. Megan Fox shouldn’t be allowed on film and playing a whore may not be a stretch for her, but she doesn’t do a good job at that. Movies based on cultish comic book characters are all the rage lately and Jonah Hex is not a bad character to start with. However, this movie is just a mess. The opening minutes try to relay the origin of Jonah Hex and it is virtually incomprehensible. The subsequent plot is absurd and really embarrassing. Brolin does his best to sell it and carries the film the best he can. Malkovich gives a lackluster performance and Fox made me almost burst out laughing she is so horrible. Don’t waste your time or money on this cursed movie.

MacGruber: Exactly what you might have expected.

Brad Newton — Sat, 29 May 2010 00:32:51 +0000

Lorne Michaels has made millions from SNL and has launched the big screen careers of a number of cast members. Some are rather successful like Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and some not as in: Joe Piscopo, Tim Meadows, Rob Schnieder, Chris Farley, Seth Myers and Molly Shannon. Where will Will Forte fall? Probably not in the success category, but let’s not be too judgemental. MacGruber is an extended parody of a sketch parody of Macgyver that recurs on SNL. It is really just a reinterpretation of Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther movies. This movie is so over the top with it’s bits and SNL cast cameos that you wonder if anyone in the production ever made a movie before. Now there are some off the wall funny scenes, if you like crude sophomoric humor. Everyone, but Forte, is the straight man and that is the only way to play it in this type of film. Val Kilmer is the villain, Powers Booth the general and Ryan Phillipe the competent side kick. How they got these guys together for this film must be a case study in Hollywood deal making and studio greenlighting. Will Forte has some comedy chops and displays them, but the final product isn’t up to the caliber of some of those mentioned earlier.

Robin Hood: Epic or Epic Fail?

Brad Newton — Thu, 27 May 2010 00:28:58 +0000

How many Robin Hoods can you name off hand? Douglas Fairbanks, Patrick Bergin, Daffy Duck, Frank Sinatra, Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Cary Elwes to name a few (for extra credit tell me the movies and cartoon) and now Russell Crowe. I like Russell Crowe. I like epic movies. I like medieval warfare. This movie has all the elements for greatness, yet it left me scratching my head wondering why it didn’t work. The Story is simple enough, but not gripping since we know the characters pretty well. The acting is pretty good. The action is not bad. Cate Blanchette and Crowe have some chemistry and they look good together. Maybe the problem is their are too many movies here and not one new one. It seems Ridley Scott, and maybe the producers, thought it would be box office gold to take other successfull movies and “Robin Hood” them. Sort of take from the rich and hope the parts added together will make one big blockbuster. Unfortunately, they stole from the good movies and gave us a poor one. Let’s see…this was Braveheart, Gladiator, and Saving Private Ryan wrapped into a mess. The invasion scene was bizarre with WWII landing craft appearing to be skinned with wood and oars added. I thought Tom Hanks in armor was going to come out of one. The editor had his hands full I’m sure to make some sense out of it all. There were obviously cut scenes/footage waiting for a director’s cut or DVD filler. It was entertaining at times and some will overlook the technical horrors and enjoy a sort of romantic story that is the main interest overall. What might have been we’ll never know. Wait for it on Netflix if you must.

Ironman 2: The second best Ironman movie.

Brad Newton — Sat, 15 May 2010 01:26:55 +0000

This is a fun and thoroughly entertaining movie. You should see it just to find the Stan Lee cameo and the secret after credits scene. Robert Downey Jr. is excellent as Tony Stark. He’s funny, sexy, and brilliant. He may have gone a bit overboard, but I’d blame that on Jon Favreau’s direction and the script more than him. I don’t really care for Gwyneth Paltrow, but she is fine as the love interest and every superhero has to have a love interest. Scarlett Johannsen is nothing but eye candy and her action scenes are well done. Sam Jackson as Nick Fury was a good invention and keeps adding to the hype of an Avengers franchise (He’s in a 9 picture deal to play the head of S.H.I.E.l.D.). Sam Rockwell is a good weaselly bad guy. The biggest disappointment is Mickey Roarke as the super villain. He is kind of wasted here. It’s a good role, but I think Favreau under utilized it. Maybe there was just too many characters and not enough screen time. The effects were great and the settings too. New York, Malibu and Monaco are quite scenic. So, it is a fine movie, just not up to the excitement and vision of the first. Let’s see if they can throw enough money at Downey to do a third and kick it up a notch.

Oceans: Classic Disney nature film

Brad Newton — Sat, 01 May 2010 12:37:13 +0000

If you grew up in the sixties and seventies, you remember The Wonderful World of Disney. The nature films were the best and really opened up new worlds for us at the time. Disney is still doing this kind of work in their Earth Day series. Last year it was Earth, this year is Oceans and next year is African Cats. Oceans is classic Disney nature stuff. The cinematography is excellent, the footage beautiful and often spectacular. These films seem to specialize in showing animals doing things in very human appearing ways. This helps us identify with the animals and promotes environmental concern. Thankfully, the politics is downplayed in this film and I don’t remember the term “climate change” used at all. Pierce Brosnan narrates and his cultured voice is cool and friendly. I wouldn’t call this educational, but informational. They show many vignettes of the life found in the oceans, but this isn’t a documentary like an episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. This is meant to visually inspire and communicate the diverse and exotic worlds found beneath the seas. You will be inspired and entertained and you might even learn a little in the experience.