Shmee.Me

September 30, 2013

Breaking Bad Is Over: I Am A Very Sad Panda!

TV has lost its greatest show. Breaking Bad ended perfectly last night, and I am sad to see it go. I am going to keep this wrap up spoiler free, but Vince Gilligan and crew did the impossible and ended the show better than anyone could have believed. If you don’t know what Breaking Bad is than you need to stop reading this get on Netflix and start watching it now. Trust me, it is worth it.

My greatest fear heading in to this final episode was the that Vince was going to fulfill his promise about turning Mr. Chips in to Scarface literally, and just have the show end in a hail of bullets, but as Vince has done all along he did something a little different. He gave us the perfect ending that no one predicted, but looking back it was the way it had to end.

I have to congratulate AMC for sticking with this show even when it wasn’t a ratings winner. Most networks (I am looking at you Fox) would have moved it to Fridays and than canceled it, but they stuck with it, and had what will be remembered as one of the best, if not best show of all time. I will miss it, and that is why I am such a sad panda today. If Breaking Bad doesn’t sweep the Emmy’s next year it will be a crime.

September 27, 2013September 27, 2013

Get Taken in by Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

With the dawn of Fall every network starts trotting out their new shows, but only ABC had one that I couldn’t wait for. It is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It would have caught my attention anyway by just being a prime time comic book live action TV show, but one that was created, written, and directed by Joss Whedon, I am in. So how did it do? It was very good.

The show follows the undead Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), most recently seen dying in the Avengers movie, as he builds a team to seek out the strange and weird, and either trying recruit it, or trying to keep it from killing people. As always the team is made up of the best people they can find, but the best don’t always play nice together.

The show got off to a good start, but like most pilots it gets weighed down explaining who everyone is and what the show is about to be truly great, so I think the best is yet come. The show is giving off a Warehouse 13 sort of vibe with its kind of campy charm, but instead of just seeking out artifacts the Agents could be searching out anything or anyone.

It was about time that Marvel made a live action TV show after DC has had a lot of success with their own recently, and a spinoff starring S.H.I.E.L.D makes a ton sense. It allows for smaller scale stories, but still all wrapped up in the same universe. I will be tuning in.

September 18, 2013September 18, 2013

Xfinity Is The Worst!

Comcast Xfinity has been driving me nuts lately. Well I should say that I have always disliked them, but recently they have been doing their best to get on my nerves. Yesterday gave me not one but two examples of how lame they can be.

My wife and I decided to setup a TV in our bedroom, and since we don’t need a lot as far as programing goes in that room, I decided to pick up a Roku 2 XS which is the previous generation’s top of the line streaming box. The apps I bought it for are Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Go. There are other channels and stuff, but I will get in to that when I do my Roku review.

The problem with this plan is that apparently Comcast blocks the HBO Go app on the Roku. Why? I don’t know, I guess they just hate having happy customers. They allow it on my Xbox 360, but apparently the Roku box is a bridge too far for them. Setting up HBO Go is already way to complicated for its own good, but hey, I have done it before, so it not a big deal, but no I can’t. Blocking it on devices that other cable and satellite companies allow seems horribly dumb, but maybe I don’t see the world through their idiot eyes, and it makes perfect sense to them in their lava filled throne room.

After that disappointment, my wife and I decided to sit down and watch the latest Breaking Bad episode on my Xfinity app on my Xbox 360, but low and behold their license server was acting up, so we couldn’t watch it. Luckily Amazon came to the rescue and we just bought that episode for a reasonable price, and I am glad we did because it was fantastic.

These are just two of the examples of why I hate Comcast/Xfinity, and if they didn’t have a monopoly in our market, and the only internet company in our market that supplies reasonable internet speeds, I would leave, but as it is now I am stuck. That does not mean I will not complain about it on the internet because we all know complaining on the internet is how stuff gets changed. Oh right, nothing happens, and Comcast just keeps on being a jerk.

August 16, 2013

Windows Phone Amber Update

Microsoft and Nokia are rolling out the Amber (GDR2) update. Since my phone updated without issue, I thought I would give my impressions of it for my Lumia 928.

The biggest addition in the Amber update for all Windows Phones is greater developer control of the camera. Nokia took full advantage of this by releasing the Nokia Pro Cam app that allows you to change the shutter speed, ISO, which flashes to use, and whatever else you would want to tinker with. This app is really for their 41 Megapixel camera on the Lumia 1020, but it is fun to have on this phone as well. Plus Nokia updated the auto setting on the camera to just take better pictures overall for us point and shooters.

The Lumia line (except the 520) now also has a feature called Peak, and what that does is when you look at the phone it shows the time without unlocking it. It is low power, so it is not a battery drain, and it is nice if you do not wear a watch. Peak also turns on when you are charging the phone, so you can see your phone’s charging status.

The last major update my phone got was the ability to filter phone calls and text messages, so now if I go to Settings, call+SMS filter, I can enter in numbers that I do not want to hear from.

I was bummed that I did not get the FM radio feature that most Lumia’s got because it would be nice to be able to listen to music when I don’t have a good data connection. Luckily Verizon’s LTE is just about everywhere so it is not major issue.

The rest of the Amber update is mostly bug fixes, an email update to better allow for the syncing of GMail, and better group texting, so all and all it was a good minor update.

August 14, 2013

Star Trek: The Animated Series

I always thought I was supposed to dislike Star Trek: The Animated Series because it wasn’t canon and the episodes could be a little silly at times, but after watching it, I have to say that I quite like it. Sure some of the episodes are not great, but in being animated they got to have far more extra terrestrial landscapes and characters.

The episodes range from pretty good to pretty bad, but still it was is another twenty-two episodes with the original cast and crew, so if you like Star Trek it is streaming on Netflix right now, and it is worth the bandwidth.