Month: May 2010

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Apple iPad 3G first impressions

Last week the iPad 3G landed at my house as a present for my wife.  After several days of use here are my initial impressions.

It has quickly become the most popular device in the house, displacing the iPod Touch and iPhone.

Out of the box I was slightly disappointed.  I expected it be bigger, the iPad feels like a scaled-up Touch.  After a few days of use, I began to appreciate the larger size of the iPad.  I love my iPhone but the larger screen size of the iPad makes web browsing easier and watching videos comfortable.  The iPad screen keyboard is very accurate compared to pecking at the iPhone/Touch keyboard.

As an entertainment device, the iPad is a clear winner.  For many people it also is a competent laptop replacement if you limit yourself to web applications.  You don’t want to write a novel on the device, but it’s fine for composing short documents and email.

There are a few chinks in the iPad armor.  The well documented lack of Flash support is annoying but not a deal breaker.  Another problem is that there’s no support for Google’s Chrome web browser.  If you go with a 3G model and Apple Care warranty the price easily exceeds budget laptops and netbooks.

I expect the iPad to will decimate the netbook market and take a good chunk out of the budget laptop market.  Since most people in these segments are buying a device to mainly browse the internet, it will be an easy decision to upgrade to an iPad.

Compared to the now discontinued Windows XP Tablet edition, the iPad is a far superior device.  Once again Apple has taken a form factor with a great promise, shed extraneous features, and created a slick streamlined device for the masses.

With rumors of a Google tablet in development, the iPad may soon have some competition.

But for now the Apple iPad rules the tablet space.

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Battlestar Galactica- Stay on target…

A few years ago I got my hands on the Series Bible for Battlestar Galactica (BSG).  As a huge fan of the show and writing it was a huge deal for me.  How did it come into my possession?  The tried and true relative of a friend with connections route.  To protect my sources, I was reluctant to write about but now since it’s been leaked to the internet and seeing that I’m re-watching the series on DVD, now seems to be a good time.

What is a series bible?  A series bible is a document written to guide for directors of episodes as they move through the Galactica universe.  Producers Ronald Moore and David Eick can’t oversee every element of show development and the series bible is particularly important at the beginning of a series.  Once a show a has run for 15 or 20 episodes it’s much easier for a directors to know the tone of the show and understand what it’s about.

Ronald Moore made his name with Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG).  He was responsible for some of my favorite episodes that delved into Worf’s dishonor and redemption.  He also worked in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) and briefly on Star Trek: Voyager (Voyager).  Star Trek starting to lose me during the run of the DS9 and completely lost me during Voyager.  But what I remember the most about Moore, was his self- criticism during the DVD commentary of Star Trek: Generations.  While commentary tracks gloss over problems, Moore was candid that limitations from the studio greatly hampered the screenplay.  It was refreshing to hear a writer speak so candidly about a high profile project.

When I heard that Moore was helping to develop the new Battlestar Galactica for the SciFi channel I had high hopes that is wouldn’t be the typical schlock peddled by the network.

I was not disappointed,  The BSG miniseries was everything that the original Galactica wasn’t- serious, edgy, and relevant.  But could the tone be maintained?  The series bible helped the the early episode “stay on target” and continue to deliver.

Right out of the gate Moore sets the bar high, “Our goal in nothing less than the reinvention of the science fiction television series.”

Over the next 49 pages sets out the BSG back story and indentifies the elements that will drive the show.

Character driven stories.  No techno-babble.  No alien of the week.  The characters of BSG “…are you and me.” 

The people of BSG “…[are]  deeply flawed, deeply human characters.  They are not, by nature, innately heroic or noble creatures.”  Their actions will have repercussions that carry on from one episode to the next- there is no magical reset switch in the BSG universe, a constant gripe about various incarnations of Star Trek.

Looking back on BSG, I believe the series bible was a key element in its success.  If you’re a BSG fan I highly recommend you track down a copy.

If you’re a writer I recommend you read it to see a great example of how to set boundaries for a project.

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Battlestar Galactica- The missing dvd THE PLAN found!

I was a huge fan of both the original Battlestar Galactica (1978) and love the re-imagined series (2004-2009).  Recently I purchased the box set of the full series and have decided to review the episodes and re-watch the show from beginning to end.

I was excited to finally purchase this set at Best Buy when it was re-released last month (April, 2010).

The only bad news was that I couldn’t find “The Plan” although it was advertised to be included in the set.  I fired off an email to NBC Universal to find out what the deal was.  A few days later I got a reply:

Subject
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Battlestar Galactica Complete Series DVD

Discussion Thread
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Response (Jeremy) – 05/10/2010 03:52 PM
Dear Phil,

Thank you for your email. Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

I have been informed that “The Plan” is in fact included on this set on Season Four, Disc #4. I sincerely apologize for any confusion. If you need any further assistance, please let me know.

Best regards,

Jeremy
Customer Service

So I checked and lo and behold the season four, Disc #4 case was a double dvd box with “The Plan.”

So to summarize, The Plan IS included in the new series box set but is not listed on the outside packaging.

I hope this helps everyone!