Windows Vista Instructions

I could be crazy, but I think this is an indication as to how good the operating system must be : Windows Help

Online Reviews – Not Support

Hear ye, hear ye!

The product review section of online stores is not for asking your support questions!

I always love it when I see entries like :

“4 stars, a great product!”
“2 stars, I didn’t like it.”
“I can’t get it to work, has anybody seen this error before?”

Way to go Einstein. Yeah, I’d think that a link labeled “Reviews” actually means “Ask your dumb question here when you should actually RTFM” too.

Superman II – Richard Donner Directors Cut

My brother let me borrow his copy of the recently released Superman II Richard Donner Director’s Cut DVD. As a kid, I loved Superman II. What kid wouldn’t like 3 super villians fighting Superman? As an adult, the theatrical release of the movie is almost unwatchable.

Here’s a little back-story for you : You see Superman I and II were filmed simultaneously as Richard Donner as the director. The Superman project ran into some schedule and budget problems though, so at one point Superman II production was put on hold to ensure that Superman would be completed at a more acceptable time frame, and budget. When Superman I was released, and was a hit, Superman II was revived, but not with Richard Donner. The producers of Superman I and II, the Salkinds, had a falling out with Richard during the completion of Superman I, so the Salkinds brought in a different director for Superman II. Because of this change, the feel of Superman II took a campy turn. (As did all the remaining Superman sequels.) There was a large amount of footage that Richard Donner shot for Superman II (almost a whole movie’s worth) that never saw the light of day because the new director had his own vision for the film.

The Richard Donner version of the film, is a MUCH BETTER MOVIE. Gone are the campy squeeks and whimpers of Non, the large bafoon villain. Gone is the lame bystander dialog during the Metropolis fight scene between Superman, and the Super Villains. (In the original version at some point Superman is knocked into someone’s wind sheild and the person inside the car states “he’ll pay for it!”) Gone are the lame sight gags during the fight scene including someone getting an ice cream cone in the face, a man’s toupee being blown off, and a guy on roller skates wearing a sequin vest being blown down the street.

The most important change, in my opinion, in the Richard Donner version is the removal of the horrible fight scene in Superman’s fortress of solitude. In the original version, Superman and his enemies mysteriously gain powers that Superman has never had, like the ability to shoot beams from their fingers, teleport, and in Supermans case throw a Suran Wrap “S” at his enemies to disable them. This horrid scene is gone in the Donner Cut.

As a whole, the Donner cut is a more serious movie. It’s more consistent with Superman I in regard to “feel.” If you liked Superman II as a kid, but can’t sit through it as an adult, I highly recommend you check out the Richard Donner cut of the movie. It’s much better.

Enter Sandman…Please?

Oh how I love insomnia. I’m writing this blog entry at 2:30 in the morning. Since I have to get up at 7:30, you can guess how much this sucks. I really need to go the doctor about this. I just don’t get enough sleep any more. This probably happens at least once a week now.

On a more pleasant note, I got a new digital camera on Saturday! It’s a 7.1MP Canon Powershot SD1000. It’s a really great camera. It’s pocket sized, and has a really fast auto focus, and image processing speed. My favorite feature however is the red eye removal. After you’ve taken a picture, and notice that there’s really bad red eye (like I’ve got right now) you can view the picture on the camera’s playback mode, and use the thumb pad to draw a box around the red eye area of the image and remove the red eye. This way, I can remove the red eye while I take the pictures, and not later in bulk when I upload the images to iPhoto. Take a look at the latest pictures in my Flickr library to see some of the SD1000’s handiwork.

Sweet dreams everyone!