After years of waiting, I’ve just ordered my copy of “The Naked Prey” on DVD. The new, restored high-definition digital transfer was done for The Criterion Collection and will be released on January 18, 2008. I can finally retire my old VHS copy!
This classic tale of survival is one of my all-time favorite films. Very limited dialog, yet compelling from the first scene to the last. From what I recall, lead actor & director Cornel Wilde was not given full support by the backers of the film, so he also had to take over the producer role to get this project completed.
The DVD features:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by film scholar Stephen Prince
- “John Colter’s Escape,” a 1913 written record of the trapper’s flight from Blackfoot Indians—which was the inspiration for The Naked Prey”read by actor Paul Giamatti
- Original soundtrack cues created by director Cornel Wilde and ethnomusicologist Andrew Tracey, along with a written statement by Tracey on the score
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Michael Atkinson and a 1970 interview with Wilde
If you’re a movie lover — Buy “The Naked Prey” on DVD.
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Thought I’d post this before a blog spammer does it for me :)
Now, for only $9.99 - Viagra, Cialis, Gettimbiggasucka, and Suparector in 5-gallon buckets!!!
Delivered promptly to your door by singing mokeys wearing plaid shorts and tiny boots with oversized tassles.
To take advantage of this limited-time offer call now. Operators are standing by. Except Mary. She missed her AA meeting and fell off the wagon. In her drunken stupor she then fell off her chair while talking to a customer. He’s still waiting on hold. We don’t have the heart to tell him Mary is dead. He grew quite fond of her during their short time on the phone together. Poor Mary. Poor guy on the phone. Poor us for the burden we now carry. Okay, we’re over it.
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Found this little gem within the Publisher Agreement over at the DivX Stage 6 site:
“Please read the remaining sections carefully. It’s very important stuff, but we’ve found it impossible to re-write it in plain English. If it helps you get through it, imagine a lawyer standing next to you and reading it to you. When the text is in ALL CAPS, imagine the lawyer yelling.”
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Google recently released a mobile application for their great maps interface. I don’t know about you, but this year Google Maps on the web has become my defacto mapping tool for getting from point A to point B around the United States. Now, this tool is available for download in “Beta” release at http://www.google.com/gmm.
I discovered the “My Location” feature of Google Maps for Mobile accidentally on my Samsung Blackjack using the AT&T network. I installed the Google Maps beta after seeing a link on a standard Google search for a local business on my mobile browser. When I brought up the map app for the first time I was amazed to see it pinpointing the area where I was standing…this shocked me since my mobile device does not have GPS and I wondered if Google had finally decided to add “human tracking” to their array of applications. After a moment of awe I realized they were using the cell towers near me to approximate my wherabouts and I was comforted to know that big brother GOOG wasn’t tracking me after all :)
I used this application thoroughly this week in the Southern California area. The app proved itself to be a handy reference guide on the major freeways. The feature that really stood out for me in the horrendous Los Angeles gridlock was the “traffic” visibility. Using the “My Location” feature and then clicking “Show Traffic” helped be get around a couple of nasty accidents by using alternative routes.
The application is quick and responsive on the Samsung Blackjack, providing speedy redraw as you scroll around and zoom in/out of the maps. In addition, basic search info for businesses is displayed when you search for an address. I found this quite helpful when trying to locate a store and not knowing if they were still open. Right on the map was a linked phone number for the business and I just clicked the link, my phone dialed the number and I was connected to the business — all within the Google Maps for Mobile interface. Well done Google!
You may be wondering, “can I use this instead of a GPS?” While I wouldn’t call this a “GPS replacement” I do consider this a decent alternative in three specific cases:
- You’re driving in an area you know fairly well and just need a reference map
- You don’t mind stopping to reference your map’s directions — Google Maps doesn’t call out turn by turn directions and trying to read your tiny mobile device screen may distract you enough to crash and become a red zone on Google Map’s “Show Traffic” feature!
- You have someone next to you hold your mobile device and call out directions (sort of a humanized GPS)
Overall, an impressive application that I will continue to use. I encourage you to download the free application for your mobile and give it a try.
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You know the drill…you worked hard on a fabulous design and now it’s time to unveil the project to the client. Your heart and soul is wrapped up in the presentation, but the client hits you with something like “but I’d rather have the icon in cornflower blue.”
Eric Karjaluoto’s blog ideasonideas has a great set of 10 disarming retorts for difficult client requests.
link: http://www.ideasonideas.com/2007/10/disarm-10-difficult-requests/
Update: Eric recommended this resource for forms, suggestions, and othe resources for creative professionals: http://www.creativebusiness.com/
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The friendly folks at 37 Signals are looking for a Rails Developer. They certainly know how to ask for what they want and tell you about their corporate culture in one simple paragraph:
37signals is searching for another full-time Rails programmer to work on (mostly) existing and (occassionally) new products. You should be comfortable working from home — we have an Chicago office, but mostly work remotely — and be strongly self-motivated and driven (we don’t have dedicated project managers). Strong Rails chops, good software habits, and open-source involvement are a given. We also prefer good writers. In return, we offer a flexible working environment: as long as you get the work done,it doesn’t matter too much from where or at what time of the day. Pay is competitive, health-care included, 4-day work weeks over the Summer, and A Life Outside Computers is encouraged.
Very cool.
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Today on the way to work I was greated with a wall of smoke and the flickering of flames as I tried to find a path around the large brush fire that engulfed a good portion of the area along the 241 toll road and Santiago Canyon Road. The fire touched portions of the cities of Irvine, Tustin, Lake Forest, Portola Hills, and Foothill Ranch.
Traffic was horrendous this morning due to road closures. I stopped briefly and snapped a picture of the Foothill Town Center Wal-mart in Foothill Ranch.
At night, across the street from my house the hills were still burning.
See more fire photos I took.
Here’s the area of the fire (courtesy the Orange County Register)
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Interactive Map of San Diego, California Wildfires:
View Larger Map
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A very thoughtful set of gestures from a good and decent company. Read more about one woman’s receipt of extraordinary kindness from a rather special business.
“With hearts like theirs, you know they’re good to do business with.”
By the way, the good and decent company happens to be Zappos (the shoe & accessory web shop).
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