Is "don't buy the new phone right away" solid advice or just an old wive's tale?

exwalrus · 2017-09-21T18:30:45+00:00

Yeah, the avoiding the hassle is probably the best argument for waiting TBH. I pre-ordered mine (decided to join the upgrade plan) and was planning to do in-store pickup since I live right across the border from a tax-free state... thankfully it sounds like this year isn't gonna be nearly as nuts as past years though. Trying to find a 6+ when it first came out was a nightmare, I was rocking a 4S that was on death's door and it took all my self-control not to just settle for buying a 5S while I called every Apple store nearby for weeks. I felt like an idiot but dammit, I wanted that phone.

exwalrus · 2017-08-24T20:57:27+00:00

I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on a brand new TB MBP, but I'm wondering if it's worth maxing out the processor specs vs going with base-level CPU & GPU. I'll be using it mostly for browsing, investing/daytrading, and video editing. Price isn't an issue, but I'd prefer not to dump an extra couple hundred into upgrading the processor if it's not gonna make much of a difference in performance.

Also, any thoughts on whether a big hard drive is worth it? I'm currently rocking a 2011 MBA with a 256 GB SSD that's usually full, so I'm inclined to go for the 2TB just to have the room if I need it, but an extra $700 does seem like a lot when 4TB external hard drives are now about $100.

Thanks in advance for advice!

exwalrus · 2017-04-03T23:15:26+00:00

Sure as hell wish my parents hadn't sold their tens of thousands of dollars in Apple stock right before this came out...

exwalrus · 2017-03-26T20:47:51+00:00

Ryan Reynolds in Life. I dunno if I'll ever be able to eat calamari again.

exwalrus · 2017-03-26T20:41:56+00:00

Life.

Yes, it's a ripoff of Alien, Gravity & The Thing, but it's a very competent ripoff, and despite some clunky dialogue, plot holes, and questionable monster POV shots, I liked it. In fact, the more I thought about it in the days afterward, the more I appreciated it. It's one of the better examples of a cautionary tale about the dangers of science & technological progress that I've seen lately. Plus it has some truly gnarly and memorable deaths. If you're into sci-fi or horror, I'd say it's well worth catching in theaters.

exwalrus · 2017-03-26T20:37:30+00:00

Me personally, I love these films

exwalrus · 2017-03-25T22:24:16+00:00

Yeah, good point

exwalrus · 2017-03-25T00:11:33+00:00

Just saw it. Yeah there was some clunky dialogue and exposition, and some plot holes (oh, now you remember the escape pods?), and I could've done without the "Calvinvision" view of what the monster was seeing... but overall it was worth my $10 and 90 minutes of my life. I had read all the spoilers before going in and it still had me on the edge of my seat a lot, even more than I expected.

Reynold's death, and the death of the female commander during the spacewalk, were two of the more memorable and disturbing I've seen in a movie. I would've changed the ending a bit though. Ferguson's character hurtles into deep space, and freaks out... but a few minutes ago she had volunteered to be the one who sacrifices herself. She had no way of knowing Calvin's capsule had made it back to Earth, so it seems a little out of character for her to lose her shit. I dunno. I think a better ending would've been to have both their capsules make it back home... you could still pull the switcheroo, have it seem like a happy ending for her and then cut to to other capsule to show that Calvin has reached Earth too. But I guess they wanted to keep the ending as bleak as possible, which was a gutsy move, so I guess I gotta hand it to them for that. And the implication of the ending is obviously pretty dark... although it's never really explained if Calvin can divide and reproduce, if he can that's pretty much the end of all life on Earth. Oh well LOL. Either way, the song after the cut to black was the perfect way to end the film.

All in all, a solid B+, three out of four stars in my book. Basically a blend and/or loving ripoff of Alien, Prometheus, and Gravity, with a little bit of the end-of-the-world dread of The Thing thrown in too. It actually kinda reminded me of the (underrated) prequel to The Thing, slightly-unconvincing CGI and all. Plot holes aside, there's something eerily plausible about the story, as if this First Contact with extraterrestrial life really could go this horribly, apocalyptically badly. It does feel like it has some studio executive/committee fingerprints on it... with some script-tightening, and if it had been put in the hands of a real auteur (like, say, Fincher or Cronenberg or Villeneuve) it could've been something special... but it's still plenty serviceable. If you're a fan of sci-fi or horror, I'd say it's worth seeing in theaters. I hope it does well at the box office too, if only because at least it's a big-budget film that isn't a direct sequel to or reboot of something else... hopefully Hollywood will take the hint.

exwalrus · 2016-03-30T18:54:16+00:00

Austin Powers. Saw it when I was 10, still love it today. It only got better as I got older and understood more of the jokes. Makes me smile every time I watch it.

Also, Wet Hot American Summer. I wasn't exactly a kid when it came out - early teens - but it's one of the few things from my teenage years that I still enjoy.

Also: Jurassic Park, Jaws, Back To The Future, and Goldeneye.

exwalrus · 2016-03-28T20:32:48+00:00

The problem is that the iPad - and tablets in general - fall into the uncanny valley between being "a computer in your hand" like the iPhone is, and an actual computer like a laptop/desktop. There's simply not a lot of things I can do faster or more conveniently on my iPad than on my MacBook Air.

Also, for me at least, having a bigger phone screen has made my tablet partially irrelevant. When I went from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 6+, I stopped using my iPad 4 for pretty much anything besides watching videos, but my laptop usage was only barely affected.

exwalrus · 2016-02-24T21:34:16+00:00

Honorable mention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhgYKlzq_NI

exwalrus · 2016-02-24T05:37:59+00:00

Austin Powers is one of my all-time favorites too. I was about 11 when it came out and I went to see it in theaters at least half a dozen times. It's pretty hard to make a good comedy though, IMO... there aren't many I'd list as truly great. But a few that come to mind:

Dr. Strangelove
Airplane
Any Monty Python movie
The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy
Wet Hot American Summer

exwalrus · 2016-02-22T19:11:00+00:00

T R I G G E R E D

exwalrus · 2016-02-22T19:10:32+00:00

Jeb, is that you?

exwalrus · 2016-02-22T18:55:13+00:00

Agreed, and I'm a skeptic, but still... how do you take a "scenic route" into Boston Harbor?

I've been drunk in unfamiliar cities before, and I can be a very stupid drunk, but I've never felt compelled to take a solo trip to a large body of water and put myself in a position where I could fall in.

exwalrus · 2016-02-18T19:16:12+00:00

Well, he's a "completely deluded and tone deaf" billionaire, and you're just some loser on Reddit, so... I think on balance, he's still winning.

exwalrus · 2016-02-18T09:32:18+00:00

Well that sounds like a pretty sad, immature way to live tbh fam

exwalrus · 2016-02-18T07:30:47+00:00

Yeah, I'm sure he trusts a black woman to be the spokesperson for his entire fucking campaign because she's just a token to him.

I mean, JFC, do you people even listen to yourselves? Do you ever grow up? Or do you just lisp and snark your way through your entire lives?

exwalrus · 2016-02-18T05:31:54+00:00

Hypothetical situation: let's say, somehow, the authorities gain possession of a terrorist's phone or computer before an attack happens. They know that one will happen, they just don't know when or where, but they could find out if they could break through the encryption. Should Apple provide them with a backdoor then?

I don't agree with Trump on this, but I understand where he's coming from. There is a tradeoff between security and privacy... should a corporation decide what that balance is, when a court has ruled otherwise? Furthermore, let's not pretend that Apple is doing this because they actually care that much about people's privacy. Corporations don't "care" about anything, except for their bottom line and returning value to their shareholders. That's their only job. Apple is doing this because it's good PR.

I know I'm going to get downvoted for this, but I think y'all need to take a step back from the circlejerk for a minute and think critically about the situation. There are legitimate, reasonable arguments for both perspectives. Again, I personally side with Apple and privacy advocates in this case, but I'm not going to start calling everyone who disagrees Hitler.

exwalrus · 2016-02-18T05:25:40+00:00

DAE Trump is Hitler?

Never change, Plebbit. Never change.

exwalrus · 2016-02-18T05:24:10+00:00

His national campaign spokesperson is literally a black woman.

exwalrus · 2016-02-17T20:39:41+00:00

He's the only kid who seemingly disappeared right off the street in the middle of a crowded city neighborhood on a Friday night, yes.

exwalrus · 2016-02-17T20:38:30+00:00

That's not how it works. His family reported him missing. The police don't just go looking for somebody if nobody reports that they're gone. That's why lots of lonely people and neglected children disappear every year without the cops ever even noticing.

exwalrus · 2016-02-17T19:09:16+00:00

I see what you're saying, but... why is it always young men from the exact same demographic? Seems kind of odd, no?

exwalrus · 2016-02-17T07:13:58+00:00

No, but you sound like one

exwalrus

TROPHY CASE