"The segment with Molly 'playing' video games was horrible. The 360 was upside down and the game playing was Resistance, which is a PS3 game."
Er. D'oh. Yes. Yes, all that is true.
How to screw up a perfectly good Buzz Report joke.
(Credit: CNET TV)Now, let me explain. I am using my Xbox 360-to-PS3 adapter. See, I love Resistance: Fall of Man, but I have an Xbox 360, and I just really prefer that controller. So, I use my adapter to play cool PS3 games. Oh, no, I didn't buy it anywhere. I made it myself out of parts I got from Radio Shack. So, don't try to find one. It's custom. No, I won't sell it to you on eBay.
OK, OK, let me explain for real. See, I write the Buzz Report script, and I just toss in totally unhelpful edit notes like, "supercool-looking game plays on screen." And right before we shoot, I run around like crazy trying to rustle up some props to go with whatever crazy scheme I've cooked up for that week's show. This time, I was like, "OK, I know we have a PS3 and an Xbox 360 in-house, but the PS3 is in Mark's office, and he's in a meeting, and the 360 is in Tom's office, and he's right there!" So, I get the Xbox, and then I'm like, "Wait! Need a game!" So, I get in touch with the Gamespot guys, and they very kindly loan me Gears of War, and I'm thinking, "Sweet. This is going to rock." But by then it's 1:45, and we shoot at 2, and my producer, Bonnie, says, "It's silly to plug in this whole thing and get the game all set up and running, especially since you don't really know how to play, and it'll look a lot cooler if we just fly in some game footage to the monitor so that it matches what you're saying a little bit better." So, that sounds fine, and we're scrambling around to get everything set up, and Bonnie plops the Xbox in there, and I don't look at it, and we're just worried about how, when we turn it on, there's a blinking red ring around the power button, so we decide to just unplug it, because really, who's going to notice? (Um, all of you, apparently.) So, we do the shoot and just pretend there's some cool video of an awesome game in the monitor, because, dude, games aren't that boring.
So, then, it's the next morning, and we're getting ready to edit the Buzz Report. And my editor, Kelly, comes in and says he needs some game footage to illustrate that bit. Now, at this point, the Xbox is back in Tom's office, the shoot is the farthest thing from my mind, and I'm thinking, "Hm, what's the coolest looking game I've seen lately? Oh, yeah! Resistance: Fall of Man!" So, I go to Gamespot, download the footage, send it off to Kelly, and boom. We look like total idiots.
So, there you have it. But hey, on the plus side, if it hadn't happened, I never would have discovered and downloaded my new favorite thing, FotoTagger! And the rest of the show is awesome this week ...
Have your heard Rihanna yet? She of "Umbrella" fame, her hit collab with Jay-Z that's been all over the charts, radio, and Web lately. You can stream it for free on Download Music--and this week she's also the star of our ongoing Best New Music video report, a collaboration with our buddies over at CNET TV. Watch and listen as Anngie Dehoyos gives the lowdown on what makes the song so gosh-darn great. Then catch Peter Gavin's take on indie heroes Blonde Redhead and my own shakedown on the haunting new album from Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of French icon Serge and a well-known film actress to boot (think Science of Sleep).
Watch the show on CNET TV.
Things we Crave
Insider Secrets
Jeff to cnetlive at cnet.com - ""All the GPS talk confuses me. What exactly is GPS. I know it's satellites but how can it know where you are. That scares me. Is there any way to stop it from knowing where you are?""
Special guest, Mark Williamson from Dash Navigation.
Download of the Week
Report from E3
Veronica Belmont reports on the best of E3 2007.
Best of the Web
Crsusher for online invitations.
Your calls
What is "SpeedBooster" in the Linksys Router? It's some technology that speeds up the connection if, and only if, everything else ont he network you're using is also Linksys with SpeedBooster.
Batch converters for audio available from Download.com. Also try VLC media player and Audacity. For converting recordings to WMA from Audacity, try recording in WAV and converting to avaoid sound quality loss.
DirectX 10 won't be dominating games anytime soon. Rich Brown spoke with Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, who backed up that feeling.
How do you record a phone call for a podcast? You can try HotRecorder4Voip, or buy some equipment, or even try the old alligator clips on an old telephone.
Apparently, going smaller also means going more spread out. I don't think I went to a meeting or a shoot in the same location twice! From the Fairmont Hotel (valet parking was full, I had to double-park blocks away to pick up my registration pass) to the Barker Hanger (which we found by following landing airplanes), getting there was always half the battle.
It was not a huge announcement year, even for the "Big Three" of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. The Microsoft press conference (video clips here), at least, had a great live performance of the Halo theme to kick it off, and some hilarious moments with Peter Moore accidentally pausing Rock Band midsong. Hey, it happens to the best of us. Nintendo had a few new controllers to show off, as well as the promise of great games on the horizon (hooray for Mario Kart and Brain Age 2!), as well as the unveiling of Wii Fit! The most surprising moment for me came during that Nintendo briefing: they were showing a video montage of Web clips about the Wii and the Nintendo DS, and suddenly I appeared, 20 feet tall, babbling on about the DS in a Prizefight clip! Ironically, the DS lost that battle, but things were a lot different back then!
The winner of that episode, the Sony PSP, was the main topic of the Sony briefing yesterday. It's getting a slight redesign, and the ability to output high-quality video. Not bad, I guess, but definitely not Earth-shattering.
And that was truly the general feel at the conference this year--nothing too explosive, mostly upgrades to existing products, or confirmation of titles that we already knew were coming. But if you want to see the things that were pretty neat, check out my video wrap-up of the show here.
Also, a special thanks to Gamespot, who let me hang out at their headquarters on the Santa Monica pier (snacks and Wi-Fi rule!). And don't forget to check out all the great coverage and gaming previews on Crave.
Since we launched the show CNET Live, many many folks have asked us how to get old episodes. We've also been asked if we could make it into a podcast.Well both questions can now be answered yes.
Old episodes of CNET Live can be found in the CNET TV archives at CNETTV.com. Just search for "cnet live".
CNET Live podcast
But we're most excited about the CNET Live podcast, which can now be found as an RSS feed, as well as in iTunes. Just go to CNET's podcast central, and scroll down until you see the CNET Live entry.
Thanks to Jason Howell for making it happen.
Watch the show on CNET TV.
Things we Crave
Iconic computer innards as art
Outdoor lighting that sounds good
Insider Secrets
Spencer wrote Maynyrd writes to cnetlive at cnet.com - "I am looking for a tip or trick to use my music as ringtone. I got the drivers, the USB cable, and the memory card, and actually uploaded my songs on to the memory card in my phone. But I cannot, figure out how to use them as my ringer. I feel as though I'm the child who has spotted the cookie jar, gotten up to it, even opened it, with hand inside, but no cookie. Please tell me there's chocolate chip in there."
Special guest, The Guitar Zeros.
Download of the Week
First Look
Kent German and Donald Bell review the iPhone.
Your calls
Keep the Mac Book running on an external monitor with the lid closed.
DVI to component video adapter.
Jason He identifies the mouse software causing Brian's mouse-whacking mystery. Congrats on the fleece Jason!
Last week, Brian turned the tables--he asked the audience a question. Every time he smacked his mouse on the table, his PC went buggy. Don't worry, Brian has been enrolled in PC anger management sessions. And luckily, one viewer even found the answer to his query (a natural cure)! We will have the winner of the contest on the line to discuss the outcome of this tricky conundrum.
CNET Editors Donald Bell and Kent German will be featured in this week's juicy Insider Secrets, discussing the gadget of the moment--the Apple iPhone. Plus, the boys will reveal what tech they have been craving and their Download of the Week.
As always, Tom and Brian will be all ears when it's showtime. So, give them a call at 1-888-900-CNET, starting as early as 12:40 p.m. PT, to be the fortunate first caller!
Tune in to this Thursday's rockin' CNET Live at 1 p.m. PT, on CNET TV.
When I saw that first iPhone ad pop up on TV a few weeks ago, I stopped in my tracks. While I had seen lots of pictures and read lots of write-ups about the phone and its features, this was the first time I had seen fingers on the screen demonstrating its capabilities.
The smooth, flowing nature of the interface is what struck me as the most interesting. Could this phone really operate this beautifully? After all, just opening an e-mail application on my Moto Q could be a minutes-long affair, waiting for the program to load. Never mind multitasking or switching to another program to check out a (mobile) Web page. The longer my regular cell phone was on, the slower it would get. All bets were off if I was playing music at the same time that I was doing anything else.
Maybe now you know why I was so skeptical that the iPhone would really work as promised in the four ads that aired in pretty heavy rotation leading up to its launch. So I present you with this video: my version of a magician's "continuous camera shot." While the fancy fingers in the ads do their part, I'll attempt to run the same tasks. See for yourself if there was some fancy editing on Apple's part, or if the ads were the real deal. I think you'll be somewhat surprised.
Okay, The Queue went on a short hiatus so I could deal with all of the iPhone madness...but I'm happy to report that I have my iPhone in hand. While I like it for the most part, there are a few things it doesn't do at the moment that I'm hoping Apple will fix in a software update...onto the Queue.
The latest episode is now live for your viewing pleasure.
Watch it here: http://www.cnettv.com/9710-1_53-28160.html
Verizon makes mobile e-mail easier; a solar jacket keeps you charged up; picking a paid Wi-Fi provider for your iPhone; and the Simpsons take over 7-Eleven stores.
Verizon Wireless mobile e-mail
iPhone Wi-Fi
Boingo
T-Mobile HotSpot
AT&T Wi-Fi
The Beta
Cellfish
Play and share anything on your phone.
Write to us:
thequeue-at-cnet.com
Ways to watch the Queue
CNET TV
RSS Feed
http://www.cnet.com/i/pod/thequeue.xml
iTunes
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=250484661
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