I'm Back

I hope everyone had a great and fattening Thanksgiving and an equally happy Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In light of this, I expect many people to have shiny new HDTV's sitting in their homes that they can't wait to use to their fullest, which is why I am giving you all a link to a great explanation of HD resolutions and the like. This may help you to understand what the 1080p on your TV means and why those resolutions even matter.

1080p explained

Thanks to Jason for the link.

A Few Quick Hits

As I have been quite busy of late with school, gym and training for work and all, I have not had much time to post! I will try to pick it up again really soon... well as soon as I figure out my work schedule and plan my time accordingly.

Just to keep all 2 of you readers satiated until I come back, here are a few links to either sites or news stories I find worthy of sharing. Enjoy!

A-Rod forever a Yankee!!

Nissan GT-R - My future Supercar

More Shiny Cars

Black Friday deals!

Coolest Headphones EVAR!! - I want a pair


Oh and if I dont see y'all before next Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving! Go easy on the turkey so you dont end up like this after dinner...

The End of My Apple Posts

It would be best for me to avoid the conflict of interest in posting and responding to Apple rumors and news. So thats that. If you do still need info on Apple check out their website here!

Apple

Bungie Working Hard on Halo DLC, Future Titles, Halo 4

The newly-independent Bungie Studios is still hard at work. They are currently plugging away on downloadable content for Halo 3, as well as future original titles. The interesting part of this development is that Bungie Studios head, Harold Ryan, mentioned that they were working on future Halo titles as well. The staff at Bungie grew more than double for the development of Halo 3 and is obviously full of Halo fans. Ryan says that they would not and do not have a problem making more Halo games. I think a few of these games they are talking about may not be full fledged console blockbusters like the previous Halo's but at least one has to be, right? Right? Haha, well, I wouldn't hold my breath for Halo 4 just yet if I were you but we can all hope. I for one am excited by this information and am looking forward to original IP's from Bungie, including the as-of-yet untitled/unannounced Peter Jackson project and maybe a revival of the original Mac classic, Marathon. No worries, you still have Halo 3 to tide you over for a couple more years.

[Via DevelopMag]

BLACK FRIDAY!!

It's almost that time of year when after our tryptophan-induced comas (read: turkey make me sleepy) we bargain hunters set out to shop for the best deals on the hottest products. Black Friday is only a couple of weeks away and lots of big name stores are putting out their ads and sale prices already. This should allow you to set a plan of attack and prioritize that big-screen HDTV over sleep on turkey day. Check below for a couple of sites devoted to black friday shopping. They do a VERY good job of finding, categorizing and posting the sale information and even actual circulars of many stores before anyone else. Most of the items even have pictures taken straight from the ads that you will otherwise see in stores soon.

Hit these links for my 2 favorite black friday ad sites.

Black Friday Ads

GottaDeal.com

Also, check out the forums on each site for more info, including last-minute sales, local sales and even freebies.

Be ready for something like this...

Another Apple Post

Apple is reportedly releasing yet another update for the iPhone. Version 1.1.2 will be released tomorrow with usual fixes and such, but will also include extra language support, presumably because of tomorrow's UK iPhone launch. The UK iPhones will come with the 1.1.2 software pre-installed, but those of you want to update should watch iTunes over the next coming days. My question is whether this update will do the same the last one did and turn hacked/jailbreak'ed iPhones into paperweights again.

UPDATE: The new update will put an end to your unlocked iPhone.

UPDATE2: As of approx. 9:40pm est, the iPhone firmware update has been rolled out and is available to all, even though iTunes apparently is not aware of it. The jailbreak hack will not work anymore but this new update has already been hacked!! Right now its 1:41am, it has not even been 4 hours and according Erica Sadun over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog a hacker by the name of "planetbeing" has already managed to hack the iPod Touch. So maybe by tomorrow morning, everyone can have their iPhones hacked again!!! 3rd party apps for everyone!

My Future 2nd Home

Apple is set to open a third retail store in the Meatpacking district of Manhattan this year and its rumored to be the store to rule them all. Located in a trendy area of Manhattan known for it's boutiques and night life, this new flagship store on 14th street and 9th ave should do quite well and continue with Apple's formula for rapid growth and success. Notable additions to the store include a suspended glass staircase similar to the ones in the Japanese Apple store and a floor plan that measures its 2 main floors at over 17,000 square feet each! The store is set to open before the end of the year and I would not be surprised if you could walk right in and marvel at its beauty well before Christmas. Keep checking back for more details as they become available.

[Via AppleInsider]

Microsoft Giving Parents More Control, Breaking Noobs' Hearts Worldwide

Today, Microsoft announced their new parental controls for the Xbox 360. Previous controls allowed parents to restrict their kids from playing certain games by blocking games according to rating and also restricting online play and activities. This was an effective way to make sure your kids didn't play mature rated games or profanity-laden multiplayer online games without your permission. The new controls take things a little further. The one that I think will incite civil war in many homes is the Parental Timer, which will allow parents to restrict the amount of time per day or week that their child can play. They will also be able to set curfew times on the Xbox 360 as well, so the kids don't play too late. I am sure I dont have to explain to you how badly some kids are going to take this, but I really worry for the parents haha. Of course there will always be those people that will blame all of kids bad behavior and penchant for violence on video games. I am an avid gamer and only occasionally feel like meleeing people in the back hoping to instantly end their life and my anguish. I would not attribute that video games though. Absolutely no correlation.

There have already been at least 2 stories the past week that were outlandish. One child actually attacked his mother after she detached the wireless networking adapter from his Xbox 360 and prevented him from playing Halo 3 online. He chased her around the house looking for the adapter and when he could not find it, proceeded to punch her in the face. She called the Sheriff over and when he and his deputies showed up, they had trouble getting into the boy's room. When they finally got in, the boy punched one of the deputies right in the face before being subdued and handcuffed.

The second story is a little more serious. A kid from southern Maryland tried to hire a hitman to kill his parents after they confiscated his Playstation and banned him from watching TV. Little did 16-year-old Cory Ryder know that the 'hitman' was an undercover cop recruited by his mom for some sort of sting operation. Apparently, Ryder offered up his dad's pickup truck as payment for the deal. Now one would think that video games would be to blame here but apparently this child had a history of bad behavior, just nothing THIS bad. You gotta love those Playstation fanboys...fanatical commitment.

See now this kid has some problems. Not even cheaters in Halo 2 can bring out the devil inside of you like this. Warning: This video contains quite a bit of cursing.

Apple

What self-respecting tech blogger would dare to leave Apple off their pages? Not a one. Let me start out by being honest and to say that as a life-long Mac user and future employee (I start work soon), I am biased. Anyway, here is my take on recent Apple rumblings.

iPhone

First up, the infamous iPhone. Its been a busy past couple of weeks for Apple's newest baby. News of international launches, future access to development kits, new data plans and an easy method to unlock your iPhone AFTER the update, has done nothing but increase the popularity of probably the most loved and yet the same time hated phone in the world. I had been on the fence for a while but have decided to wait for the next iPhone. Maybe I am just not cool enough or maybe its just that as sexy and cool as the iPhone is, it falls short in a few areas. Here is the quickest iPhone review you have ever seen:

Good - Sexy, iPod, Touch Screen, Awesome Internet Browser
Bad - No 3G, No Physical Keyboard, No MMS (pic messaging)
Verdict - Wait for iPhone 2

If you still plan to buy one or have one already and would like to unlock it check out this link,
Jailbreak

Check out this list of features we would all like on the iPhone courtesy of the guys over at GadgetLab


Leopard

Next is the launch of the highly-anticipated update to Mac OS X, 10.5 Leopard. Apple says that it contains over 300 new features and tweaks, lots of which will be visible to the normal user. One of these new features is the incredibly useful and gorgeous Time Machine. Here is Apple's description:

Time Machine is the breakthrough automatic backup that’s built right into Mac OS X. It keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on your Mac — digital photos, music, movies, TV shows, and documents. Now, if you ever have the need, you can easily go back in time to recover anything.

The consensus is that Leopard is more evolutionary than revolutionary but is still the best, most innovative, and easiest to use operating system out. Check it out at www.apple.com/macosx/ .
Apple reports that Leopard is now in the hands of over 2 million customers. Whether or not all these people even wanted Leopard is still under debate. See, the problem some are having with these numbers is that they include all new hardware purchases that have Leopard pre-installed. This begs the question "Did people buy their shiny new Macs for Leopard?" There are a few scenarios to consider here. For example, I purchased my MacBook Pro at the beginning of October. It had Mac OS X Tiger 10.4 pre-installed. Luckily, I was within Apple's 1 month launch window and received the opportunity to upgrade for no more than a shipping and handling fee. Should I be considered one those 2+ million? Yes, I should. I made a conscious decision to upgrade and the fact that I bought my Macbook before the launch shouldn't hurt me or Apple. Now lets say I had waited a month to buy my Macbook for any reason except that I was holding for Leopard, should I be considered one of those 2+ Million? No. Leave it to the 'haters' to try to knock Apple down from its pedestal by diminishing its stellar numbers in contrast to Windows Vista's launch numbers (not so hot). Apple did not use its words very carefully and expressly said that it had sold over 2 millions copies of the software. I guess we will just have to believe them for now.

One of Leopard's new visually stunning features Time Machine.


Hardware

As far as hardware goes, rumors have been spreading about a possible MacBook Tablet or u.p.Mac (ultra-portable Macbook) using Apple's multi-touch technology that debuted with the iPhone. Many including myself are skeptical of this as the market for ultra-mobile computers isnt exactly large. There is a balance between portability and productivity that this section of the computer market has yet to create. You want to be able to take your work on the road without having to sacrifice the performance you need to work efficiently. If you can't work efficiently then the advantage of working on the road can be offset. Who knows, maybe Apple will be the one to do it. The Tablet PC is a bit more established but still experiencing a few of its growing pains. Tablets aren't the most portable systems out there but the practical and business applications for them are more promising than the standard laptop fare. The touch screens allow for more detailed media manipulation and might be a boon for artists that are used using a separate tablet to work with. The downside to these computers is that they arent known for packing much punch when it comes to processing speed, which kinda rules out the artists, since they need that power to create and edit. Ever try to open Photoshop on an a PC with an average processor? Yes? Did you bring a snack? Take a nap? You could probably read this long ass post in the time you waited for it to load. Since, Macs are already known as the premier platform for graphical, video, and musical work, a tablet Mac would make sense for those that need to work on the go. One worthy note, these two segments cater more to professionals. Thats not to say that normal consumers wouldn't benefit, but that balance of portability and productivity I mentioned earlier comes at a premium price.

Check out some concept pics below from Factory Joe and Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo.





OK, thats enough Apple for now. Phew, that was long.

Clarification

The name of the blog is Life on the Bleeding Edge. It was originally intended to be a news site for the absolute latest in personal technology and gaming. While it will still contain these subjects, its harder to quantify whats bleeding edge (newer than cutting edge) for other subjects such as movies, music and entertainment. I will do my best to keep things fresh.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and a couple of other things

I am in the process of playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Xbox 360. As soon as I am done with it I will post my impressions and an in-depth review only you could appreciate. If there are any other games you would like to be reviewed, just ask. A couple more games I will be reviewing soon: The Orange Box (360), Guitar Hero 3 (PS2), Assassin's Creed (360) and many more. I might also post reviews for some games that are already out that could contend for Game of the Year on lots of gaming sites.

I would like to invite all of you to join me in my weight-loss endeavors. I plan to lose about 30-40 pounds over the next few months. I will post my progress as well as workout routines, tips, and meal ideas for you all. You know that guy that always tells you what exercises to do and what you should be eating? Well I have had a lot of that info since high school football but never used it. As a result, I have ballooned up to 255lbs, 268lbs at my heaviest. It will be a long and arduous process, but well worth it.

I will try my best to bring you interesting content everyday, but if not, at least a few times a week. I am only human you know. School, work and play only allow for so much internet time. I am toying with the idea of mobile blogging, from the gym, the club, the bar, and other place I get the urge. I am also thinking of having guests come on and share some advice or info that you might find interesting.

Signing off.

Well...

First post. What to say? Hmm... Well, I have created this blog for people who can not be bothered to search hundreds of internet sites for information that is relevant to the things that excite them, people like You. In the coming days and weeks, I will hone my blogging skills to damn near perfection and bring you the absolute latest and greatest in tech, movies, music, pop and not-so-pop culture, cars, video games, new york city night life and all things internet, to name a few. This will all of course be served to you hot and fresh, ranging from tasty morsels to full-blown 7-course meals of delicious info ready for consumption. Do I sound hungry? Geez. Anyway, do yourself a favor and bookmark the page or commit LifeOnTheBleedingEdge.blogspot.com to memory.
If there is something that you would like to read about or want my opinion on, feel free to send me suggestions and/or questions, but please allow at least 48 hours for a reply... of "no." Seriously, I would love to hear from all 5 of you out there reading this. I would encourage you to leave comments or email me. I will post my info shortly.
Thanks for coming out to the bleeding edge to visit me!
Ryan aka eL duRo