Pop culture is poised on the precipice of a mid-season replacement lineup as networks get ready to roll out their latest offerings, hoping millions will tune into their channels. Many will watch in the hopes of sharpening their punch line delivery skills or getting a hearty chuckle.
But few viewers realize that the laughable and lovable characters we welcome into our homes once a week can actually teach us some valuable lessons about managing money and protecting our credit.
Whether they're fiscally frugal or free-spending, here's some practical advice from a few classic characters.
Here�s a good catch by CNN from this White House video that provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Obama administration�s cabinet meetings.
While it appears almost the entire cabinet uses BlackBerry as their smartphone of choice (I think I see one Razr in the pile � really?), all devices are to be left at the door before meetings begin.
As you can see, the relatively low-tech way of keeping track of which phone belongs to which statesman is fairly amusing. It also appears that United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice needs no less than three BlackBerry devices to remain connected.
We get it, Amazon Kindle App: you've just become available in over 60 countries, you're something of a jet setter now. But you don't have to go around and rub it in our faces. So what if we've only been to Mexico that one time by accident and can't sync books and page placement via Amazon's Whispersync technology... that doesn't make us any less valuable as a person. Oh, and you're coming to the Mac and BlackBerry "soon," huh? Well, aren't you special.
What do you do when you're the U.S. government and you need heaps of computing power, quick and on the cheap? You snatch up 300 Sony PlayStation 3's of course. We've seen researchers use the gaming consoles before to crunch numbers and study gravity, and now the Air Force wants in on the Cell processor-powered action.
What exactly the Air Force plans to use the 300 PlayStations for is unclear, but the branch of the armed forces is getting price quotes from resellers.
Knowing that the PS3 is less a gaming machine and more a super computer in disguise, all we can say is we're glad it's the Air Force and not the NSA.
The good news: It doesn't matter how much you make, because you can spend as little as $5 to get happy. But there's a catch: In order for your money to make you happy, you've got to spend it on others. Not yourself. Sounds like the perfect reason to pick up a little "extra something" for a loved one or co-worker.
What's the link? The connection between your wallet and your happiness isn't as complex as you might think. "We found that while it might make you happy 'in the moment,' despite popular belief, spending money on big ticket items like new cars, jewelry or on vacations doesn't contribute to sustained happiness," says lead researcher, University of British Columbia assistant professor Elizabeth Dunn, PhD. And, using a year-end or holiday bonus to pay off bills isn't the path to happiness either.
The trailer we've placed below the break for XBLA's Zeno Clash: Ultimate Editiion is a failure. It's not that you won't get a good idea of the first-person-brawler-slash-shooter's gameplay -- you will. It's that the clip doesn't come within a million miles of communicating just how skin-crawlingly creepy the experience of playing Zeno Clash is.
Just for the record, it's kind of like taking a shower in Neil Gaiman's bathwater after its been filtered through David Lynch's birth certificate. Cr-eepy.
Maybe they're feeling a bit of pricing pressure? Whatever the reason, TomTom just released a stripped down version of its Navigation app that leaves out Canada. Oh my.
This USA-only version sells for US $49.99, [iTunes link] which is half the price of the version that includes our good neighbor to the north. Like the big brother version, this app includes turn by turn directions and lane guidance, and 2D and 3D driving views.
This holiday season there is no shortage of choices for getting directions to your holiday destinations, and TomTom is pitching aggressive pricing and a strong feature set. The last few weeks we've seen several of the GPS apps cut prices temporarily to get some customers motivated, but this move from TomTom looks permanent and will undoubtedly force other vendors to follow suit.
This app requires an iPhone or iPod touch running 3.0 software, or older iPhones and iPod touches can work with the software ONLY if users purchase the TomTom car kit with a built in GPS receiver. Thanks to Dubbs for tipping us to this holiday treat.
While America's biggest banks may still be kicking and screaming about their need to make compensation decisions without interference, the bailouts they took from the government could impact their freedom to hand out excessive cash compensation for years to come. Even the hiring of a CEO for Bank of America (BAC) is proving a challenging negotiation, according to a report in the The Wall Street Journal Monday.
Bank of New York Mellon Chief Executive Robert Kelly has emerged as the front-runner to replace Kenneth Lewis, but the Journal reported that the pay package may be a deal-breaker. Even though Bank of America has paid back its TARP money, it remains sensitive to possible public outrage about its new CEO's compensation.
Apple today filed a countersuit against Nokia for patent infringement as a response to the lawsuit Nokia filed against Apple back in October. The countersuit is over the 13 patents that cover many different communication technologies that are used in the iPhone, which Nokia clams to hold the patents. These patents cover the GSM, UTMS 3G, and Wireless-LAN standards used in the iPhone since early 2007.
Bruce Sewell, General Counsel and senior vice president for Apple stated: "Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours."
We'll post any more details on these lawsuits as this develops, so stay posted.
Update #1: Engadget's Nilay Patel has, of course, pointed out some interesting things. Notably: while this is about patent infringement, the majority of claims are around some insane licensing terms Nokia felt it was entitled to. Read his post for the breakdown and a PDF of the paperwork.
And now, 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community.
Brian Reynolds is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and will speak at the D.I.C.E. Summit in 2010. After working with Sid Meier at both MicroProse and Firaxis, Reynolds went on to create Big Huge Games, where he served as CEO until the sale of the company to 38 Studios earlier this year. He now heads up the newly established social gaming team at Zynga East in Baltimore.
AIAS: What's your favorite part of game development? Brian Reynolds: The last 25% of the project, when you're polishing and tuning the thing to make it perfect for release. Of course it's never actually "perfect," but the game starts to feel like a real game rather than a prototype - all the parts start working well together and you finally realize "hey now we have something I want to play!"
What game are you most jealous of? Half Life 2 - totally wish I had meaningful skills for making games like that. It's got such an amazing combination of good writing, good technology, good level design, and just overall great craftsmanship.
There's been an immense amount of crosstalk, speculation, and just plain noise over the past 48 hours about a device allegedly called the Nexus One, or as it's more commonly known: the Google Phone. We've heard all sorts of reports about the HTC-made device, and figured it might be helpful to put together a little roundup about what we know -- and don't -- on one of the potentially more exciting devices we've seen recently. Read on for an exploration of what this device could mean, as well as a little editorial perspective on some of those "confirmed" stories of the day!
Last year was a bad one for former NBA star Latrell Sprewell who saw his yacht, the 70-foot "Milwaukee's Best" repossessed and his $405,000 home in River Hills, Wisconsin facing foreclosure (Sprewell later settled this debt). This year doesn't seem to be bringing Sprewell much more luck. His Purchase, New York home is scheduled for a sheriff's sale at the Westchester County Courthouse on January 7, 2010. LoHud.com reports that Sprewell purchased the 3.3-acre property in January 2000 for $2.3 million. He got a 30-year mortgage from Washington Mutual Bank for $1.612 million in 2004 and first failed to make payments starting in April 2008, around the time his other financial troubles began. The home was the site of an alleged domestic dispute in 2006. Sprewell was accused of attacking his girlfriend, Candace Cabbil, in front of their four children but prosecutors agreed in 2008 to drop the charges if Sprewell stayed out of trouble for a year.
A listing on Sotheby's Realty has the house at $3.8 million. It has seven bedrooms, a complete gym, pool and spa, basketball court, four-car garage and a recording studio. Listing pictures reveal large televisions, spiky metal sculptures and large open spaces.
There's hardly a spokesasshole in the world of tech who doesn't throw around some kind of tagline. And that's fine because it's his job, but there's no reason for you to repeat those taglines. Especially any of these seven.
Droid Does
Verizon's Droid commercials haven't been around very long, but I already keep seeing various combination of "iDon't" and "Droid does" being incorporated into everything from tweets to articles. (Hell, even we couldn't resist it once or twice.)
I can sort of forgive occurrences of the tagline slipping into reviews or posts about the actual gadget, but several days ago I found myself overhearing a fellow practically reciting the first Droid commercial to mock his buddy's iPhone preference. I seriously hope that I was in some sort of bizarro coffee shop or that maybe this guy was just an oddity. Please just skip this tagline, because I assure you: That guy sounded like a complete asshole.
There's an App for That
C'mon. Be honest. How often have you slipped this gem of a tagline into a comment? And how often have you groaned or rolled your eyes because you saw someone else remark that there is in fact an app for that? It was barely funny the first few times, but at this point even your grandma is using it and that oughta tell you something.
And no, changing a word doesn't make you sound like less of an asshole.
Think Different
Once upon a time, Apple's "Think Different" commercial made me smile at its cleverness. Then I saw the commercial a second time and I cringed. It's actually kinda cheesy and the tagline isn't much better. No matter what the concept behind it is, it basically feels like it's a nicely cut down version of the trite and overused "think outside of the box" and hearing it used feels just as irritating.
Can You Hear Me Now?
Unless you're genuinely wondering if the person you're talking to can hear you, there's no way to not sound like an asshole when using the "Can you hear me now?" tagline. Not even in an ironic look-at-me-I'm-so-cool-that-I-can-say-this-to-mock-it way.
Besides, while I'm certain that he's a nice fellow, do you really want to associate yourself with the slightly dorky-looking Verizon Guy?
It Keeps Going, and Going, and Going...
Last weekend I asked a friend how her date went. She remarked that he was like an Energizer bunny. And, as she thought I was confused by the expression, she continued to explain that he "kept going, and going, and going..." and it took me quite some willpower to not break down in tears on the spot. Someone so clever and lovely insisted on using a reference and a tagline so incredibly cliched that I'd initially thought I'd heard wrong. Please. Think of a better description for these things. (Especially since it's probably inaccurate in that scenario since hardly gentlemen really manage to keep up with that darned bunny rabbit.)
Where Do You Want to Go Today?
Oh, as much as Microsoft's good old "where do you want to go today?" annoys me, I actually crave to hear it sometimes. Such as in place of that grunt and nod I get from cab drivers. As with the "can you hear me now?" tagline, this one should only be used when you mean it literally and aren't attempting to make an allusion to the commercial.
Intel Inside
I've seen "baby inside," "beauty inside," "goddess inside," "whiskey inside," and who-knows-what-else inside tshirts, bumper stickers, and undies. Unless I'm seriously mistaken, those are spin-offs to the ancient "Intel inside" and they're not exactly funny anymore. I doubt that anyone can show me a single example of play on that tagline that won't make me roll my eyes (but feel free to try). In the meantime: Let's just not add to the ridiculousness.
Pop culture is poised on the precipice of a mid-season replacement lineup as networks get ready to roll out their latest offerings, hoping millions will tune into their channels. Many will watch in the hopes of sharpening their punch line delivery skills or getting a hearty chuckle.
Maybe they're feeling a bit of pricing pressure? Whatever the reason, 
While America's biggest banks may still be kicking and screaming about their need to make compensation decisions without interference, the bailouts they took from the government could impact their freedom to hand out excessive cash compensation for years to come. Even the 
Apple today 
Last year was a bad one for former NBA star Latrell Sprewell 
