In a story full of great quotes, that was perhaps the greatest.
“The first thing they told me was, ‘Leave your cats and get out.’”
Written by Christopher Null on January 26th, 2012Dispatch from CES 2012
Written by Christopher Null on January 10th, 2012Best CES schwag ever: Radio Shack’s pre-charged, portable smartphone battery pack. No more worrying about my phone dying at 2pm.
Top 10 Movies of 2011
Written by Christopher Null on December 25th, 2011By popular demand… my personal (and completely subjective) top 10 for the year.
- We Need to Talk About Kevin
- Another Earth
- Martha Marcy May Marlene
- The Artist
- Margin Call
- The Way
- Hanna
- The Help
- Shame
- Rango
RIP Trade Shows, 2012
Written by Christopher Null on December 22nd, 2011With Microsoft abandoning the event (it’s hard to blame them; the company has launched anything new at CES for years), I have a sinking suspicion that this January’s CES will be my last. Ah well… the timing has always been horrible (who wants to announce new products in January?) and the really big news gets leaked in advance anyway to the major blogging outlets. I think CES actually began its death a few years ago when Apple announced the original iPhone in San Francisco, hundreds of miles away, reminding everyone that location and physical presence at an event no longer means much of anything at all.
CES, I’ll mourn you the same way I mourned Comdex, Networld+Interop, and all those other big computer shows that used to be matters of mandatory attendance.
The Supermarket’s Scourge Against Tall People
Written by Christopher Null on December 11th, 2011
What I Want For Christmas
Written by Christopher Null on December 2nd, 2011This.
Awards Season Is Officially Here
Written by Christopher Null on November 14th, 2011These screeners arrived today…
This Is How Hoarders Get Their Start
Written by Christopher Null on November 8th, 2011
Yes, that’s a kids’ shampoo bottle.
Fact Checking the Cadillac World Thorium Fuel
Written by Christopher Null on October 20th, 2011I’m writing about this here simply because I have nowhere else to put it: In the course of writing about alternate energy sources for autos, I’ve found (what looks rather obvious from the outset) that the much-reported-upon nuclear-powered “World Thorium Fuel” vehicle from GM is not a real concept vehicle but merely a 3D rendering from this fellow.
Somehow numerous outlets have convinced themselves that the “WTF” (red flag, IMHO) was “unveiled” at a 2009 auto show, that a laser-and-thorium-powered car was “introduced” at said show, and that it means that “nuclear cars [are] not science fiction any more” (that from a New York Times contributor!).
They’ve all been duped.
It’s just amazing how reportage feeds upon itself. It’s like a game of telephone. In the beginning someone probably noted that a guy that’s really good with computers mocked up a highly implausible Cadillac. Somewhere along the way the facts got lost, and by the time it hit the mainstream the WTF was a real prototype that you could tool around with and which would last for 100 years without a fill-up. I have no idea how the detail about the Chicago Auto Show came into the picture, but hey, what’s a good lie without something that sounds legitimate to back it up?
Here’s what Cadillac said in response to my query, just for the record:
We did not produce that concept. It was rendered by a freelance designer as a creative/visionary exercise. I don’t have a lot of details on the how’s and why’s of its creation….it just sort of appeared. We’re pleased that our Art & Science design was inspirational…..but outside of that, we don’t really have a view on it.
But What Are They Looking At?
Written by Christopher Null on October 7th, 2011I couldn’t imagine better “scared face” pictures… the Fear Factory must be doing something right. Wooooo — Halloween!
And Nowhere to Go
Written by Christopher Null on September 22nd, 2011Pretty much where we were five years ago… and the trend is bleak. Sigh.
Ildren-Chay
Written by Christopher Null on September 9th, 2011In a bit of a pickle as to how to surreptitiously communicate with other grown-ups in the presence of children, now that my daughter is old enough to figure out things that I spell aloud instead of say. Pig Latin seems useless.
I’m Never Clicking on Anything Again
Written by Christopher Null on August 28th, 2011Yesterday I fell prey to my first phishing attack in years. I caught it a minute after I clicked the link and provided my Twitter account info, but the damage was already done. It took nearly an hour to change all the relevant passwords. Had it been a more “secure” password that got compromised it would have been an all-weekend experience. Joy.
Reminder to self and everyone else: No matter who sends you the email, even if it’s your best friend in the world, and no matter how funny they say you looked in “this photo,” do not click the link!
The Power of the Movies
Written by Christopher Null on August 19th, 2011JOE BERLINGER AND BRUCE SINOFSKY IN COURT TODAY TO WITNESS THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR HBO DOCUMENTARY PARADISE LOST
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Filmmakers To Change Ending As Decision Is Handed Down
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Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols And Jessie Misskelly Set Free
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Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Set To Air On HBO Jan. 2012
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JONSEBORO, ARK., Aug. 19, 2011 – Critically acclaimed HBO documentary “Paradise Lost” filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky were in court today to witness the stunning conclusion in which, after 18 years in prison, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelly, known as the West Memphis 3, were set free.
The award-winning HBO documentary series “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” (1996) and “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations” (2000) spawned a worldwide movement to free the West Memphis 3 for wrongful murder convictions. Set to debut on HBO in Jan. 2012, “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” will have its theatrical premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, with a number of prestigious festival dates to follow this fall. This film tells the entire story, from the arrests in 1993 to the growing movement, through the entire appeals process and the uncovering of new evidence, concluding with their release.
As Damien Echols notes in the film, if not for the “Paradise Lost” documentaries, “…these people would have murdered me, swept this under the rug, and I wouldn’t be anything but a memory right now.”
On May 5, 1993, the bodies of three eight-year-old boys were found next to a muddy creek in the wooded Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Ark. A month later, three teenagers, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelly, were arrested, accused and convicted of brutally raping, mutilating and killing the boys. Fraught with innuendoes of devil worship, allegations of coerced confessions and emotionally charged statements, the case was one of the most sensational in state history. The films sparked a national debate regarding the innocence or guilt of the West Memphis 3.
With the support of HBO, the filmmakers have stuck with the story over an 18-year period, making these compelling films in order to continue to shed light, raise awareness and spur debate about the events that transpired at that time and in subsequent years after the convictions.
“Eighteen years and three films ago, we started this journey to document the terrible murders of three innocent boys and the subsequent circus that followed the arrests and convictions of Baldwin, Echols and Misskelly,” said director and producer Joe Berlinger. “To see our work culminate in the righting of this tragic miscarriage of justice is more than a filmmaker could ask for.”
Oblique Strategies
Written by Christopher Null on August 9th, 2011While everyone else is panicking and stuffing money under their beds, I’m investing in mattresses! Ha!
The Long and Winding Road
Written by Christopher Null on July 21st, 2011How my new ThinkPad made it to my doorstep in 5 days…
07/21/2011 2:36 P.M. Delivered To Customer
San Francisco, CA, United States 07/21/2011 3:56 A.M. Out For Delivery
07/21/2011 1:15 A.M. Arrival Scan
Oakland, CA, United States 07/21/2011 12:57 A.M. Departure Scan
Oakland, CA, United States 07/20/2011 9:14 P.M. Arrival Scan
07/20/2011 8:54 P.M. Departure Scan
07/20/2011 6:57 P.M. Arrival Scan
Louisville, KY, United States 07/20/2011 5:45 P.M. Departure Scan
07/20/2011 11:52 A.M. Import Scan
Louisville, KY, United States 07/17/2011 6:07 A.M. Arrival Scan
Anchorage, AK, United States 07/16/2011 8:23 P.M. Departure Scan
07/16/2011 6:46 P.M. Arrival Scan
Shanghai, China 07/17/2011 2:20 A.M. Departure Scan
Shanghai, China 07/16/2011 7:08 P.M. Export Scan
07/16/2011 7:02 P.M. Origin Scan
China 07/16/2011 9:48 P.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Written by Christopher Null on July 14th, 2011Approaching the bar between the 75-degree, all-sun South Bay and the 58-degree, rain-and-fog City of San Francisco. Like passing through an invisible barrier of ugly weather.
Road Tripped
Written by Christopher Null on July 10th, 2011After 850 miles on the road I can still feel the car moving. And hear all the bad radio.
Smaller Than Life
Written by Christopher Null on June 24th, 2011
Courtesy Sculpteo
