In an article at the Herald Sun in which director George Miller praises Megan Gale’s screen test for Wonder Woman in the Justice League live-action movie, the following bit was dropped as well:
Initially slated to be filmed Down Under, Miller conceded production had been moved offshore, with a plan to resume filming next year.
In the 1800s, there was a certain logic–and a cool distance–to the formal calling card. Those who were part of, or sought a place among, the social élite would deliver a card with their name engraved on it to someone’s home to request a visit. But now that you can IM, e-mail or text pretty much anyone immediately, the Victorian practice seems laughably outmoded, right? Not so, according to a growing number of enthusiasts reviving the old-fashioned social-networking tool. “Is it technology fatigue? A colorful way of branding yourself? We’re not sure,” says Peter Hopkins of Crane & Co., where sales of the cards have doubled in the past two years. “But the demand is clear. They are our fastest-growing item.”
For a flagging stationery industry, calling cards–essentially nonbusiness business cards–have brought a welcome dose of energy. Some are teenier than standard business cards, others much bigger, and many come in bright colors that seem anything but stodgy. Among the buyers: playdate-seeking parents eager for a sane way to exchange contact info, retirees who miss having business cards to hand out (Memphis stationer Baylor Stovall calls them “cruise-ship customers”) and itinerant young professionals whose cell phones and e-mail addresses are their most reliable locators. Elaine Milnes, a stay-at-home mom in Grand Rapids, Mich., got fed up with searching for pens on the playground and made a card for herself (title: Caroline’s mom). She now operates a thriving online cardmaking venture, MommyBiz.net Ditto for nonparent Ilene Segal, founder of Baby iDesign, a four-year-old stationer in Manhattan. She thinks her playdate cards have caught on because they’re “a nicer way of connecting than plugging someone into your cell.”
For young job-hoppers, a calling card offers not only a sense of permanence but also a chance for self-expression. In June, Mitch Stripling, an emergency planner who recently moved to New York City, printed cards with cell-phone, e-mail and descriptor (“neo Victorian calling card thingy”) info for his 10-year college reunion in an effort to reconnect with people he knew he wouldn’t have a chance to speak with at length. “I wanted to get away from the whole status thing at reunions, so a business logo didn’t feel right,” says Stripling, whose card was a buzz-generating hit at Williams College. “Having my own little logo frees me up. It’s a way to be expressive of me outside of whatever job I happen to be doing at the time.”
Perhaps the biggest reason the cards have delighted jaded 21st century types is that they work. Says Stripling: “I can’t say for sure if it was the card or just the effects of a reunion, but I heard from around 30 people from school in the weeks after.” Some are even planning visits. (From Time Magazine)
This page is worth a bookmark: Hard to Find 800 Numbers. A site that makes it more difficult for companies to hide from their customers.
Apple today released iPhone Software 2.0.1, the first update to the iPhone and iPod touch software since the release of the iPhone 3G and the arrival of the App Store. According to Apple, the update contains simply “Bug fixes.” The download is 249.2MB in size for the iPhone, or 246.7MB for the iPod touch, and is available now for the iPhone, the iPhone 3G, and iPod touch units running software version 2.0 through the update feature in iTunes.
Marvel has released its trailer to “The Stand: Captain Tripps” and you can watch it HERE at Marvel.com
Something has gone wrong…terribly wrong. Imagine if what you thought was just a common cold ends up as an epidemic that has the potential to wipe out the entire Earth’s population! The apocalyptic battle between good and evil based on the classic best-seller by Stephen King, beginning in THE STAND: CAPTAIN TRIPS #1 (of 5) by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Mike Perkins, is almost here and now you can see an exclusive look at this breath-taking series in a new online trailer you can watch. As the anticipation builds to a fever pitch for this new series, Marvel is pleased to present this trailer! The Stand, often noted as Stephen King’s best work, will surely take fans on a breathtaking roller coaster ride of events leaving them craving more!
The next big Stephen King event starts now and be sure to watch the preview of this soon-to-be classic series before it goes on-sale September 10 at midnight openings across the country!
David Cook has promised to make a rock record that’s true to himself, and the American Idol winner has confirmed that the studio maestro tasked with helping him realize that goal is Rob Cavallo. The producer has already lent his talents to high profile projects from My Chemical Romance, Kid Rock, and, most extensively, Green Day, including their Grammy Award-winning album American Idiot, and Cook is confident that Cavallo is the right person for his upcoming release. “I think he’s a great producer with the kind of sound that I want,” Cook tells EW.com. “And in talking to him, he’s just a good guy. Like the song selection I had on the show, Rob just fit.”
The two are currently squeezing in studio time whenever the Idol summer tour allows, and Cook still plans to release the album in mid-November. As previously reported, Cook has had writing sessions with Our Lady Peace’s Raine Maida and Collective Soul’s Ed Roland, but there’s one person who isn’t involved with the album: industry vet Clive Davis, the man who executive produced all of the Idols’ debuts, but whose role at SonyBMG, where he’s currently Chief Creative Officer of SonyBMG Worldwide, has shifted. “I never heard his name brought up,” Cook said.
That may free up Cook to make his own decision about whether to include his Idol finale single, “The Time of My Life,” on the album. (Being forced to include a generally-sappy but familiar song on a decidedly rock debut had been a bone of contention for one previous winner, Taylor Hicks, who reportedly resisted having “Do I Make You Proud” on his album.) Cook hasn’t yet made the call about the single. “It’s not like there’s any resistance to [the song],” he says. “My goal is to make a cohesive record, and I don’t want any song to stick out like a sore thumb. But in every meeting that I’ve had with 19 [Management] and RCA [Records], they’ve been very supportive of what I want to do with my record.” (From Entertainment Weekly)
It’s already a groundbreaking phone and digital music player, and now Apple’s iPhone is emerging as a popular gaming device as well. Of the 1,300 add-on programs currently available for it, about a quarter are games — as are seven of the 10 most popular selections in the Apple App Store, which opened on July 11. That kind of demand, along with plans for more and better offerings, could launch the iPhone into a whole new stratosphere of mobile gaming.
The cell-phone gaming market is ripe for the picking. While millions of people play games on the portable Nintendo DS and Sony PSP every day, fewer than 10% of cell-phone users in the U.S. do the same on their phones, according to Nielsen Mobile. What’s more, the average cell-phone gamer spends just $8 a year on new games, versus an estimated $45 a year for users of the PSP and $65 yearly for DS players. The iPhone — with its gorgeous touchscreen, wireless delivery of applications and hundreds of entertainment titles — is poised to bridge that gap. The Gartner Group research firm projects that iPhone games will help propel cell-phone gaming revenues in the U.S. from $845 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2011.
Part of the reason cell-phone gaming hasn’t caught on yet is that the games tend to be simplistic or crippled versions of games made for PCs or the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. “You find a lot of rehashed titles. The gaming experience is poor, and it’s hard to discover the games,” says Matt Murphy, who heads the iFund, a $100 million investment fund established by venture capital powerhouse Kleiner Perkins to bring iPhone apps to market.
But more enticing titles are around the corner. Asphalt 4 from Gameloft will be the iPhone’s first multiplayer, wi-fi game when it debuts on Aug. 15. And Spore Origins, a special version of the most anticipated video game of the year — Will Wright’s evolution-themed Spore — will go on sale Sept. 7. It won’t be as elaborate as its PC counterpart, but Spore Origins will feature 18 levels of game play and an “arena” mode for competing against others around the globe. It’s titles like these that could bring the iPhone into the same league as the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.
San Francisco–based start-up ngmoco is betting on that promise. Founded by former Electronic Arts executive Neil Young and aimed solely at publishing iPhone games, ngmoco (which stands for “next generation mobile company”) announced on July 31 that it had received an initial round of funding from Kleiner Perkins’ iFund. “We want to be the definitive publisher of games for the iPhone. We think there is a tremendous opportunity,” says Young, who says he will develop offerings for both casual and core gamers that tap into the iPhone’s processing power, built-in GPS and excellent graphics.
Key to the iPhone’s success as a gaming platform is a deep portfolio of titles that take advantage of the device’s coolest attributes, such as its tilt sensor. The most popular application in the entire App Store today is the free maze game Labyrinth, created by Illusion Labs in Sweden, in part because it responds satisfyingly to even the slightest hand movement as players direct a virtual ball through various mazes. Another sought out game, Sega’s $9.99 Super Monkey Ball, works similarly — players tilt the device to navigate a series of increasingly precarious platforms. And the $0.99 ColorTilt by IMAK Creations lets you create paintings onscreen using your fingers as a brush; shifting the iPhone ever so slightly adjusts your brush color.
But can a cell phone ever really compete with dedicated handhelds like the Nintendo DS? Game developer Young says yes. “You have a DS, and you have a telephone. Why not buy just one?” he says. What’s more, a third of all iPhone owners are already the video-game industry’s best customers, aged 26 and under. And there is no reason why game play can’t be as rich on the iPhone as it is on the most popular handhelds. “The iPhone has excellent hardware in it. It is as capable as the DS or PSP,” says Greg Yardley of Pinch Media, which builds free tools for iPhone developers.
It remains to be seen, however, whether iPhone games actually evolve beyond the amusing, lightweight titles available now. “The games that you currently have are very appealing, but that doesn’t last for long,” says Ronan de Renesse of global media research firm Screen Digest in London. Once the novelty of the first wave of iPhone titles wears off, committed gamers are likely to look elsewhere for a more absorbing experience, notes de Renesse.
But if all goes well, elsewhere may be just a click away at the App Store, the virtual storefront that makes finding and trying new games easier than ever. Not even the DS or PSP, both of which use physical cartridges for their games, can top that. (From Time.com)
Hey, we needed something to do while we wait for Larry David to write season seven. How else would we get our fill of Larry and his social awkwardness? If you’re craving the show like we are, check out this Curb Your Enthusiasm quiz. It’s pret-ty, pret-ty good.
