Year: 2006

The Godfather on PlayStation 2

A few of days ago, on my way home, I bought a couple of new games for my PlayStation 2, one of which was The Godfather by Electronic Arts.

I’ve basically been playing the game ever since I popped it into the console. It’s so good, I went to bed yesterday thinking of what I’d do in it today when I get back from work.

The game is closely tied to the story of The Godfather, and even has bits from the film that you unlock while playing.
It puts you into the action of the legendary films, letting you relive the defining moments of the Corleone family. After starting out with some small-time jobs and petty thefts, you are accepted into the Corleone family. Then it’s up to you to carry out orders, earn respect and make New York City your own.

The game reminds me of Grand Theft Auto, only the whole story behind this one makes it so much more engaging and enjoyable to play.

I totally recommend this game for fans of this genre. It’s very well done. The controls are easy and practical, the graphics are really good, the missions and options available are quite cool.

My rating for this game would be: 9/10.

Joseph Attia Wins Star Academy 3

So, for the first time in the history of the Arab Star Academy show, someone who really deserves the title has won; Joseph Attia from Lebanon won the title last Friday night.

The three finalists, competing for the title, were: Hana Idrissi from Morocco, Hani Hussein from Egypt and Joseph Attia from Lebanon.

The guest stars for the final prime were: Wael Kfoury and the one and only Tina Arena.

Tina was awesome as usual, as always better live than on tape, which is something we can’t say for that many singers in the world.

I felt that the show organizers wanted Jpseph to win, giving him some extra pushes and shining the light on him a bit more.
But in any case, he totally deserved the title, and I’m quite happy for him. I wish him the best of luck in his career.

Apple Boot Camp, Macs Do Windows Too

bootcamp.jpg

Ever since Apple machines started using intel processors, hackers have been working away to try and get Windows running on them. They did get to do that eventually.

But well it seems they didn’t really have to go through the whole fuss; Apple has launched a new piece of software called Boot Camp, which will allow people to dual boot Windows XP and OSX on their intel based Macs.

The software even includes Mac specific drivers for networking, graphics, audio, Airport wireless, and bluetooth (amongst other things).

Apple stock rose 8% to the news, and everyone is all excited about this news.

Personally, I think this is a smart move by Apple, opening up their machines to the masses who use Microsoft’s Windows and are tied into it for some reason or another.
Now those people will be able to make the switch and keep Windows for the few cases where they really need it.

Maybe it’s still early to predict, but this just might push up Apple’s market share a bit.

I also agree with Ahmad who thinks this could solve the problem of the unavailability of Microsoft Office for Apple’s OS, which is hampering adoption of the platform.

Anyway, this doesn’t mean Apple has gone all soft on Microsoft; in fact, their boot camp page takes a couple of cracks at Microsoft, like the following which is quite funny:

“Macs use an ultra-modern industry standard technology called EFI to handle booting. Sadly, Windows XP, and even the upcoming Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS. But with Boot Camp, the Mac can operate smoothly in both centuries.”

[More: Apple, TUAW]

PayPal Goes Mobile

PayPal has launched a new service called PayPal Mobile allowing purchases via cell phone text message.

From now on, consumers can look for its “Text 2 Buy” logo in magazines and newspapers or on TV, billboards, posters or Web sites. When they see the logo, they then key a product code into their cell phones.

The service will also allow people to send money to each other through text messages.

I’ve been hearing about how PayPal and others, like Google and its supposedly upcoming PayPal killer, have been working on this feature, and I think it’s a natural and practical development for them which is also quite simple to do technically.

links for 2006-04-05

Memoirs Of A Geisha, The Movie

One of the movies I got to see in Paris was Memoirs Of A Geisha, a movie I’ve been wanting to see ever since its release and even more after reading the book.

Anyway, even though the movie was a good one, I was a bit dissapointed. Maybe the book is just too good for its magic to be caught on film. I don’t know, but it just didn’t match the way I saw it all in my head while reading the book.

One thing I’m sure of though is that the movie didn’t develop the characters well enough, only giving quick insufficient hints. Ok, I know they can’t get into as much detail as the book, but I think there’s a bare minimum that they didn’t reach.

I also felt that some points were skipped, changed or not given enough importance, minimizing their effect and weakening the story a bit.

Still the acting, cinematography, photography and soundtrack were beautiful, and I truly enjoyed them.

I still would recommend seeing this movie, but I recommend reading the book even more.

Overall I’d give this movie a 6.5/10, although I gave the book a 9.5/10.

Plot for Spider-Man 3 Movie

I just came across this following plot for the next Spider-Man movie on imdb.

Third film in the highly successful “Spider-Man” series sees several new villains and a new woman enter Peter Parker’s life. With his secret now revealed to both Mary Jane and Harry, Peter must face the consequences of his actions and his new life together with Mary Jane as they finally form a relationship.
Yet their newfound open display of love has yielded some unfortunate results, not the least of which is Peter’s upset boss determined to make his life hell for causing his son emotional distress. Not helping is a young investigative reporter named Eddie Brock who Jameson has hired to find out why Mary Jane dumped his son for Peter – what’s Parker’s secrets?

At the same time an escaped prisoner hiding out on a remote beach is caught in a dreadful accident and finds himself turned into a shape-shifting sand creature. Peter’s investigations into the past of this ‘Sandman’ brings him in contact with two very different things that will inevitably alter his life. The first a young woman named Gwen Stacy, daughter of the city’s new police chief who is developing a soft spot for Peter. The other, a black substance from an accident scene which ‘merges’ with Peter’s costume and gives him new found abilities.

Things come to a head however when Harry Osborn, determined to take revenge against Peter for his father’s death and now equipped with what he needs to pull it off, teams with The Sandman in a new variation of his father’s Green Goblin guise and causes mayhem.

In the ensuing chaos lives are lost, including people very close to Peter, whilst the black substance covering his suit separates from him and merges with a distraught Brock to form something else entirely – a creature unlike anything he’s ever faced. A ‘Venom’ that he may not be able to stop.

So it’s looking like we’ll be having 3 villains in this movie: Sandman, Hobgoblin and Venom. Sounds very cool. I can’t wait.

Disney Mobile Phone Service

Walt Disney Co. will announce a phone service designed for 10- to 15-year-olds and their parents, dubbed Disney Mobile, at the CTIA Wireless trade show.

The features of this service are mostly about letting parents monitor and control how their children use the service, and the main ideas are:

– A parent is the designated “family manager,” able to set monthly spending limits (via the phone or a computer) on kids’ voice and text message usage and on ringtone and other downloads. The manager is alerted when a kid bumps the limits and can raise them. When kids exhaust their allowances, they still can exchange calls with their parents and other designated numbers and can dial 911.

– Parents can set the times and days of the week when kids can use the phone.

– GPS technology will let parents map the location of the kids’ handsets from their phone or PC.

– Families can exchange custom text alerts or pick from a menu, such as “Can U Get a Ride?”

Disney plans to offer two camera phones, from LG Electronics and Pantech. Unlike some other Disney electronics, such as PCs with Mickey Mouse ears for speakers, the cellphones will look rather conventional.

Well, I think that this is a good solution for parents who want to give their children phones in order to stay connected with them and make sure they’re safe and doing well, without letting the kids abuse it and overuse the phone.

I’m seeing a lot of people in Tunisia who are starting to get their kids mobile phones, even though I’m not sure they’re all doing it for the right reasons. And I think a service like this would be good for them to get the most benefits of their kid having a phone without falling into the negativities of it.

[Source: USA Today]

Angels & Demons (Dan Brown)

Today in the lunch break, I finished reading Angels & Demons by Dan Brown.

For people who have already read The Da Vinci Code, this book by the same author isn’t really that different. In fact, the structure of both stories and how they are told is pretty much identical.
So, if you liked one of them, it’s sure you’ll like the other.

This book has a bit more suspense and more twists in it, which I found really cool. In The Da Vinci Code, I was able to guess who the bad guy was pretty early in the story, in this book, it’s harder and more complicated.
That’s something I appreciate in books like this, keeping you on the edge of your seat till the very end, thinking of so many different options.
Still, maybe The Da Vinci Code had some cooler ideas and more symbology which makes it just a bit better.

I’m guessing that if The Da Vinci Code movie does well in the box office, a movie for this one will follow closely, and I hope it does.

I really like Dan Brown’s style of writing and am thinking of going for a third book by him soon, maybe Deception Point or Digital Fortress, although I think a reader once told me the latter wasn’t that good.

Anyway, if I were to rate this book, I’d give it a: 8/10.