Apple Story

So my iPhone melted.

Yeah, not too good. The over zealous wall charger apparently slagged the luxurious all-leather interior.

Here's why Apple is cool- I walked into the Apple shop on 5th ave and plunked my phone down on the Genius Bar. Then they handed me a new one. Easy, easy, easy. I've been in plenty of situations where I've been told 'they' would have to try and fix whatever broke first, before they would hand me a new one. I guess stock '1 year parts and labors' aren't all created equal.

Thanks guys- you rawk.

The Goose is Getting Fat

Wow, it just hit me that Christmas is in seven days.

Oh boy do I have a lot of shopping to do.

My kingdom for an update...

Is anyone getting sick of the constant updates on the Playstation 3?

I've seriously used my PS3 about four times since I got it last January. It seems like every time I sit down to play a game it needs to be updated. The result? The 360 gets fired up yet again and I forget about the DustCollector3 for another few months.

The 360 and Wii may need updates a few times a year but that's a far cry from the seemingly once-a-weekers the big black box gets.

Please, Sony, give us one or two meaningful updates a year. It's getting to be overkill for God's sake...

Forest Hills Celebrity & Entertainment magazine is out now!

So go check it out. You'll find my top five gadget gifts for 2007 inside it's carefully crafted pages.

This is awesome...

http://kotaku.com/gaming/mods/rock-band-drum-mod-keeps-music-silent-like-it-should-be-327498.php

Rock and roll party a-go-go

If you own one of the big three systems and have any interest in pretending to be a slammin bangin rock god, then you owe it -owe it I say- to yourself to go out and buy Rock Band by EA Games. This thing rocks like nobody's business.

In the bundle pack (which is gigantic, so clean out your car before you get it) you get a guitar, a microphone, and a set of drums, along with the game of course. All this stuff is pretty much full size too- it's not chintzy or embarrassing to play around with at all.

The other night I had a 4 player game going- lead, singer, drums, and bass (I used my GH3 guitar for the bass- works perfectly with RB). I had everybody in the same room but you can get a game going over the net too. I haven't tried that one yet but it sounds really, really cool.

In my opinion, Rock Band's head and shoulders above Guitar Hero. We were up till about 2 in the am playing 'Learn to Fly' and 'Creep' over and over. Un-freaking-believably fun.

Zune is the new Wii

Or something like that.

The new 80gig Zune was released on November 14th and is just about as hard to find as the Wii has been all this year. The reasons for the shortage are few and far between, in fact the only scuttle I've been hearing about it is that the manufacturing was started too late in the launch cycle to have a solid amount available right off the bat.

I'd hate to think that's true as it would tell me that Microsoft has very little confidence in the media player for the holiday season. Not something I would have thought as the original Zune sold quite well.

The other option is that the units are being shorted deliberately. This is a very real possibility that doesn't sit all that well with me. Nintendo has done it all year with the aformentioned Wii and Sony has done it with the PS2 and PS3. I know it's supposed to build a demand for the products but really, it's just frustrating for the consumer.

And these are quality items by the way. Microsoft would do well to get them out. The 4 and 8gig Zunes are terrific and the 80 looks to be of the same mold. The Zune 80's audio and video are actually better quality than the iPod classic and the screen is way bigger at 3.2" over the 2.5" display of the 'Pod. It even has some really neat built in podcast (audio and video) support.

Now all Microsoft has to do is get the product into the stores. Now.