Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Movie Review: The King’s Speech

By

On May 3, 2011

In Movies, Reviews

[rating:5]

Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush

Synopsis: Grace and elegance are required characteristics for any King of England and that was no exception for King George VI. Unfortunately King George VI, who was most famously known as Prince Albert, suffered from a debilitating stammer. This is the story of his rise to the throne and the man that helped him to deliver one of the most important speech’s in England’s history.

Biggs’ Review: This movie won the four of the top five major awards at the Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Actor (Colin Firth) and Best Original Screenplay and it deserved every one of them. Colin Firth was fantastic as Prince Alber/King George VI; there were even times when I forgot that it was Colin Firth. You don’t have to be an English historian and this isn’t a high-brow film.

If you are looking for a film that has some humor, some inspiration and a story of personal triumph, I would definitely recommend The King’s Speech.

I hope you find this movie as enjoyable as I did.

Also, if you found this review helpful or you have suggestions on how I can make movie reviews more helpful, please leave a comment and let me know.

I hope you enjoy the show.
Cheers!

The Cogitation Drought

By

On May 2, 2011

In General Cogitation

It has been a while since I have posted anything new for my imaginary readers to ponder and it has mostly been the result of too much going on. I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t admit that it is also likely the result of the lack of topics.

I have been training lately; I purchased the iPad 2 as a tool for advancing my career therefore I have been learning the language and software necessary for designing and developing apps. I feel that I have been catching on fairly well. I have also been exploring jQuery more and I also hope to develop a jQuery plugin as well. Finally, I am also trying to find the time to work on my MCPD training so I can finally be a Microsoft certified professional.

The weather, while rainy, has been getting warmer out which means the outside work has moved higher up on the priority list. This past Saturday we were finally able to mow the lawn and do some early spring maintenance. The pain in my back, knees and feet illustrate two points to me. One, I’m out of shape and two, physical labor should be illegal for programmers. We work with our hands but at the end of the day we don’t have blisters and callouses.

**This post written and published from my iPad**

Biggs On: The Tethering Conspiracy

By

On April 4, 2011

In Apple, Biggs On, Technology

I was excited when I first heard about the personal hotspot feature in iOS 4.3. I knew that I was getting the wi-fi only version of the iPad and I thought the personal hotspot was the solution to limited wi-fi availability. Of course, as many of us predicted, AT&T said “not so fast!” and decided they would charge us an additional fee to use the personal hotspot.

As you probably know by now, that started a huge flame war on the Internet. Personally I think cell phone carriers deserve all the hate mail they are getting.

I can see no reason, from a technical perspective, why additional fees are necessary. I bought the phone, I’m paying for the data plan, why should it matter to AT&T how I use my data?!? AT&T has turned into the tethering Gestapo, seeking out and punishing all that are jail breaking their phones to avoid the service charge. The motive to charge this extra service fee is obviously driven by leveraging the growing tablet excitement to turn a profit. Greed is a powerful motivator.

I won’t be jail breaking anything, I enjoy my gadgets too much to risk getting branded by the Gestapo, but I will be supporting the effort to reduce it’s abuse by the cell phone companies.

**This post written and published from my iPad**

Feedback

By

On April 2, 2011

In General Cogitation

Hello all,
I know I have given some of you the URL to this blog because you expressed interest in reading it. I am curious if any of you have visited and have read any of my posts. I am interested to know what topics you find interesting.

Do I talk about things that you expected me to discuss?

What are some of the things you would like for me to post about?

Thanks for your time.

Cheers.

Biggs On: More Microsoft Shennanigans

By

On April 1, 2011

In Apple, Microsoft, Technology

It’s really sad to see a grown monopoly pout. Microsoft has lost their innovative edge on the industry, they are grappling to keep up with all the new kids. The unfortunate thing about Microsoft is when someone beats them to the punch, they don’t take the high road and try to take the next innovative step, instead they sue you.

Microsoft hasn’t come up with something truly innovative in years; Apple, Google, even Barnes and Noble have been leading the industry with their innovative gadgets and tools. So instead of trying to think for themselves Microsoft decides they deserve a piece of everyone’s pie which can only be acquired with a lawsuit. Microsoft’s new paradigm is “if you can’t beat em, sue em!” First they start with Barnes and Noble who is being sued by Microsoft for patents violated with their nook e-reader. Barnes and Noble laid a golden egg with their nook (and the new nook Color) and since Microsoft didn’t make a successful e-reader they want a piece of the nook’s success – an e-reader from Microsoft probably would have sucked anyway! The part that disgusts me the most is that Microsoft will probably win their lawsuit, after all it worked with the iPod and now Microsoft receives a small royalty for every iPod sold.

The best is yet to come. Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against Google in the EU for anticompetitive search technology. It’s laughable that Microsoft is actually filing an antitrust suit and we all know they will win because the only thing Microsoft is good at anymore is antitrust law.

Microsoft should change their name to Dewey, Cheatum & Howe.

Its frustrating to be an IT professional, developing software using .Net when the manufacturer of your tools and technology is an embarrassment. When will we stop playing such petty games and get some real work done?

In closing, to add additional emphasis to the tone of my previous post, this post was completely written and published using the iPad 2! 🙂

iPad 2 – One Week Later

By

On March 31, 2011

In Apple, Technology

iPad 2I have had my iPad 2 for about a week now and I’m sure many are wondering what I think so far. I could sum up my experience thus far by simply saying I’m an Apple hater turned fanboy. If you are looking for a more in depth analysis I will certainly oblige.

I have not put any of my music nor have I put any movies on my iPad. I didn’t buy it to be a toy, I bought it to be a tool for work and, so far, that has been what I have primarily used it for (though having a browser at my fingertips while sitting in my recliner and watching a movie is handy). I installed an app called Penultimate and bought a stylus from Best Buy. It is a great app. Penultimate has replaced the need to ever use a paper notebook again. I am using that app religiously at work now to take notes in all my meetings and to record my notes for my research.

Actually I have put very few apps on it and the only game is Angry Birds (because only real iPhone’s or iPad’s have Angry Birds). I’m saving the space on my iPad to develop my own apps – hence the research I alluded to above.

So far the iPad 2 is worth every penny I spent on it. It has already improved my productivity and soon it will improve my skills. I am very excited to start developing some of my own apps, though I hear Objective C can be pretty awful. The smart cover brings my iPad to life immediately, so I never have to wait to start using it. The display quality and graphics are superb, though I don’t intend to use my iPad for movies, I may watch one just to get an idea of the visual quality of movies on the iPad. The quality of the pictures the camera takes is pretty decent and the camera is a feature I hope to take advantage of when I am developing apps.

So yea, I love my iPad, its pretty sweet.

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