NVinNYC

Kick-Ass more than lives up to its namesake.

5 out of 5

For everyone looking for a more detailed review of the iPad; Macworld’s review is one of the best. I agree with most everything in the very detailed write up.

I’m still very pleased with my own; I read a book for a few hours last night on the device and I was very pleased with the reading experience. Viewing HTML5 video on the web is similarly nice; I certainly am not missing Flash support.

The iPad is not a substitute for a full fledged computer with a large hard drive, optical drive, keyboard, and mouse, but it certainly is my preferred lounging computer. Which is to say; I’d much rather use the iPad than a laptop or iPhone when I’m reclined on the couch or laying in bed. This is when the strength of the touch interface and form factor really shine.

I received my iPad today and I’m quite enamored with it so far. It does a great job serving as a little machine that you can pick up around the house to look up information on the web or check an email. Its best use so far seems to be as an ebook reader; I think it will be preferable to paper for just about anything you can find digitally. I even tried reading some PDF scans of magazines and was pleased with the reading experience, though the many full pages of ads were tiresome.

I think the iPad has some nice potential as a gaming device, if the touchscreen doesn’t interfere too much with your game environment. It even might be useful for productivity applications (if you don’t need to use the keyboard too much; I’m typing up this post with the iPad just sitting on my lap but clearly a physical keyboard would work better for longer typing sessions.

Overall I’m quite pleased with the iPad; it’s already more functional than my netbook and it’s a heck of a lot easier & much more fun to use. I think well be seeing them all over the place pretty soon.

I picked up the new This American Life Application for iPhone and iPod Touch this morning and I’m quite enjoying it so far (iTunes Store Link).  Ars Technica gives a good rundown of the app’s features, but, if you’re a TAL fan with an iPhone, I don’t think you could find a better way to spend 3 bucks.

The new Sherlock Holmes movie is not anything like you’ve seen Sherlock before. However, if you’re willing to accept the re-imagining, it ends up being an excellent show. There were some fun action sequences and great imagery of industrial era London.

For all the attention put into the action, Holmes doesn’t loose his exceptional powers of inductive reasoning, which he uses throughout the film. To the critics and naysayers complaining that this isn’t Holmes like they’ve read in the books or seen Jeremy Brett portray, isn’t that the core of the character? Remember how Batman Begins broke down Bruce Wayne to his fundamentals and pieced him together as something different and yet familiar? That’s what Guy Ritchie and co were trying to do, and, in my opinion, they have succeeded.

Verdict: 4.0 out of 5.0

PS: Once scene which played prominently in the trailer seemed to be missing from the movie. In it, Irene Adler, wearing a corset and stockings, attempts to stab Holmes with her hair pin. He defects the blow, they struggle, and then she knees him in the testicles instead. At least, that’s how I pieced together bits from this trailer.

Why don’t we see this in the film? It looks like a fun scene, I mean, look at his face! I guess we have some BD extras to look forward to.