I have to say, the idea of blogging from this device is kinda blowing mind right now.

Anyway. Of course I also installed Netnewswire since it’s my desktop client of choice. The ability to keep mobile and desktop clients synchronized is a key requirment for me.

Netnewswire happens to use Newsgator for this service.

But I’m having some sync issues which are not making me happy. And there are some pretty glaring deficiencies in the iPhone app (hello, no previous item button, just to name one).

Tried out Free RSS Reader but the sync issues were worse. Which gives me pause in shelling out 5 bucks for the Pro version.

Which RSS reader do you use on your iPhone? I have no wish to use Google Reader for synching, so I think I’m locked into an app that uses Newsgator.

Get Into It

WordPress won’t let me embed the above video. Boo!

But how cool is this? Nevermind that the movie below demos the “Zeldarian mode,” but get this: apparently it responds not only to your breath and multi-touch, but to the tilt of the iPhone as well. And you can actually listen to other Ocarina app users around the world.

Right now it’s 99 cents. ZOMG!

Ocarina in the App Store.

Image by *spacecoyote

Nalo Hopkinson came highly recommended from an all too brief acquaintance. What made it all the more unexpected is that I studied Caribbean women authors in college, along with a healthy dose of post-colonial literary criticism. But to learn of this kind of author writing in the sci-fi genre? And later to discover that she, too, was gay? (Right?!) That’s like hitting all of my buttons.

I wonder, even without all these affinities, if I would’ve enjoyed “Brown Girl in the Ring” as much. I think so. The writing is solid, the story is compelling and the voice didn’t come off as gimmicky. (For some reason I just flashed on Merle Hodge’s “Crick Crack Monkey” as another example of authentic-sounding Trinidadian patois.)

Here’s the thing, though: if you asked me why this is science fiction, I couldn’t tell you. But for the post-apocalyptic future setting, it came off to me like a straight up Caribbean diaspora narrative (OK, maybe not so typical, but still).

I’ve actually thought about the various definitions of science fiction lately, because a dear friend has never understood the appeal of it. But she’s interested in finding out. Immediately in my head I started queuing up movies and books to recommend, but quickly discarded them because nuanced gender politics are high on her list. I had to admit that to a newbie with such discerning tastes, most of what came to mind would be dismissed as unimaginatively gendered claptrap.

So I’ve been bookmarking and sending over articles to her on what sci-fi is, broadly. Maybe I should re-read them . Though, in truth, I’m not desperate to pigeon-hole Hopkinson’s first effort.

So much for brief. And I didn’t even write anything about the plot or characters. Oh well. Go read it! I’m gonna look for her second book at the library now.

Yet, I loved “SiCKO” (the juvenile poster notwithstanding), his latest offering that takes a look at the appalling state of health care in the U.S. This is my favorite of all his films that I’ve seen, and perhaps, one of the best films I’ve seen in a while.

I saw a sneak preview of “SiCKO” tonight and Moore was in attendance for Q&A. I wish I took notes, but I’ve tried to capture as much as I can remember. Since so much of the film’s narrative punch sits within much of the facts he reveals, I’ll try my best to not include any spoilers.

What makes “SiCKO” so effective to me, is the way it made me aware of my own incredulity at the details of universal health care in countries like Canada, Great Britain and France. I couldn’t even conceive of how such systems worked, even as it was explained to me by the citizens who benefited from them.

This cognitive bankruptcy, a sort of slave mentality, is such a powerful tool because it colored the air I’ve become so accustomed to breathing. Normally you don’t see it, or detect it with any of your senses. You don’t even think about it- your lungs and respiratory system just work, pulling it into your body. But that color gives it shape. It has weight and taste.

Things I was able to remember from the Q&A

Someone asked the inevitable question, “Well, how much do the French pay in taxes?” I forget the number Moore responded with, but it seemed a high percentage of their income. Ack! Didn’t seem so enviable to me anymore.

But he asked the audience to call out what they pay for:

• daycare – $800/month. A newborn costs $50/day apparently.
• insurance premiums – anywhere from $500-1,000/month
• school loans – $300/month

Just with this short list of typical debt, the amount came to approximately $20,000 a year. He said people would revolt if Bush announced that we would all have to pay this in taxes starting tomorrow.

Thing is, they are taxes. We pay them anyway and still get less than the French (watch the film and you’ll see what he means). They work less, and are more productive. They live longer.

He recalled the summer in France when 10,000 of their elderly died in the heat wave that scorched the country. The French were shamed into taking action. They said it was their Katrina when Moore asked about it.

So what did they do? Each person gives up one day of pay a year so that every elderly person in the country has air conditioning in their home.

Moore cited the polls in how many Americans are dissatisfied with the war in Iraq, and with Bush. The film’s distributor screened it for Republican audiences and the response has been “through the roof”. He talked about how he was booed at the Oscars and how so many of these people have since come around and apologized, seen “Fahrenheit 9/11″ and question their conservative leaders.

He admitted to being an optimist, but said the time is right for a film like this to make a difference. It should. Health care is something that all of us, no matter what our political affiliation, can identify with. “SiCKO” does an incredible job of making us aware of the poisoned air we’ve been breathing without question or knowledge of its existence. Hopefully, it will inspire us to clear it.

“SiCKO” opens on June 29th. Go see it.

Ever stopped along the curb when there’s water streaming downhill to drop a leaf or a stick on top and watch it sail down to the bottom? Something about this always fascinated me.

On Sesame Street, they used to show a 2 min. or so video of a red ball rolling along what I can only think to describe as a mini rollercoaster. Accompanied by a spare drum soundtrack, it would trip little flags that popped up as it passed, along with other things I can’t remember. Eventually it would drop into a funnel and a kid would have their hand cupped underneath as it got churned to pixie dust that they would eat.

I LOVED watching this. Playing Kororinpa is kind of the same for me.

You don’t create the tracks that the ball rolls on. Gameplay consists simply of tilting the Wii-mote to roll the ball along the track (or board) to collect gems and reach the goal. Control is solid and there are no time limits, thank God – you get as many tries as your patience allows. I’ve never played Super Monkey Ball or LocoRoco but this mechanic strikes me as having similarities to both.

The level design can get quite creative. The board will sometimes need to be turned entirely upside down in order to progress. Very, very light puzzle elements here in trying to figure out how to orient it to keep rolling.

Music and art direction are cute. You can choose what kind of ball to use at the start of play, anything from a kitty to a basketball, a galaxy or a ladybug. They make sounds when they roll and bounce, with the latter emitting from the Wii-mote speaker. A subtle touch that I’m glad the developers added in.

Each ball rolls differently which is where difficulty comes in. But you can use whatever ball you like and each level is short and sweet; making this title friendly to casual gamers.

One potential frustrating thing: falling off the board places you at the beginning all over again. I wish they programmed in more “re-spawning” spots all over, but I can see how that would’ve made each level almost too easy. K stopped playing after a while because he’s not into games where a little trial and error is sometimes required to reach the goal.

A split-screen two-player mode is available. It’s as competitive as you make it – each player can go at their own pace. Though K and I quickly turned it into a race.

The game is short too. But I don’t hold this against it. Just about everything in Kororinpa is approachable and fun and I recommend it highly.

I’m not willing to pay full price for it, however, even with my GameFly discount. When it comes down in price, I think it’s a great title to own.

Right now, it’s movie time!

Waking up to a glowing slot this morning, I found a message from Nintendo announcing the availability of the News channel, a full day earlier than expected. Here’s some shaky cam footage of my first acquantence with it.

I edited together the movies hastily. The volume starts out low (sorry, it was still early in the morning) and I didn’t decide to do a bit of mumbling commentary until the last couple of movies–didn’t want to provoke the derision of K, still in bed, since I was filming Wii channels.

Some initial observations: parts of it struck me as very Mac-like. Specifically, the Zoom in and Out feature, and the Globe view. The way that words in the former, and news pages in the latter rearranged themselves reminded me of Exposé.

And I caught the Help cat! (Use the A + B buttons to nab it.)

Maybe it was the fact that I was trying to frame the footage correctly with one hand, while using the Wii-mote to navigate the News channel with the other, but the the interface for browsing headlines seemed a bit clunky. Perhaps this is what the Slide Show feature and Globe “browser” is supposed to alleviate.

Reading stories about the dumbass DJs and seeing quotes about “rabid video gamers [getting] help keeping in touch with the outside world ” via the News channel was very meta.

The background music needs to be peppier, though. It was a bit too downtempo and mellow for the early morning, which is when a lot of folks might check the news.

• Portable – You can email it other OSX users or post somewhere for them to download
• Personalizable – Drag and drop your own jpgs, gifs, pngs or pdfs
• Interactive – Shake it!

Thank you Freeverse for the fun toy. Happy Holidays from me!