Spot The Videogames

Subscribers to Edge magazine received a special gift with their copies of issue 203: a poster of a city rendered in pixels by long time Edge collaborator, illustrator Gary Lucken. Bursting with references to a raft of videogames, from Syndicate to Sonic, Doom to Dead Rising, it’s a gift that’s sure to keep giving for years to come. Click on the image to view a larger version.

Deadline

Here is a fun post-it-note stop motion film created by Savannah College of Art and Design student Bang-yao Liu.

Shutter Island Trailer

Paramount Pictures has released the new trailer for director Martin Scorcese’s Shutter Island, opening in theaters on October 2nd. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, the psychological thriller stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson and Max von Sydow.

The film is the story of two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Ruffalo), who are summoned to a remote and barren island off the cost of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from the island’s fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane.

The 2009 Zagat Fast-Food Survey

Over 6,000 fast-food fans have weighed in with their opinions on the best bets in burgers, salads, coffee and more. See their top picks HERE.

It Might Get Loud

What would happen if you put U2’s The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White in a room together? This is the premise of It Might Get Loud, a new documentary from Davis Guggenheim, the director of An Inconvenient Truth.

The film follows “three guitar virtuosos from three different generations” and shows them where they feel most comfortable: White writing a song in Tennessee, The Edge strumming in a Dublin studio, Page in the house where Stairway to Heaven was composed. It all leads up to a glorious meeting, where the musicians chat, play together and “teach each other songs.”

It Might Get Loud opens on August 14th. (From Pop Candy)

Fee-Free Weekends in Your National Parks

America’s Best Idea – the national parks – gets even better this summer with three fee-free weekends at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees.

Mark your calendars for fee-free weekends this summer:

-June 20-21, 2009 (Father’s Day weekend)

-July 18-19, 2009

-August 15-16, 2009

And to make the fun even more affordable, many national park concessioners are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors on this summer’s fee free weekends with the their own special offers.

Sub Pop Free Summer 2009 Digital Sampler

You can download Sub Pop’s summer 2009 Digital Sampler for free HERE that features songs from Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine  and Flight of the Conchords.

Apple iPhone 3GS Ad

Here is the new iPhone 3GS ad, directed by David Fincher entitled Break In.

First Look at Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2

In Iron Man 2, the scarlet and golden-metaled hero must face an adversary with technological upgrades of his own. Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) sports a power pack on his chest that looks similar to the one used by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). “The technologies are definitely related, and that’s part of the core theme of the film,” says director Jon Favreau. The character’s alter ego, Ivan Vanko, is a Russian who, Favreau says, “has constructed his own version of a suit.” Among the creative alterations: a pair of whips, powered by the suit’s glowing chest piece, expected to keep Iron Man cracking. Whiplash “is going to light them up,” says Rourke. This first image of the character shows the villain making an appearance at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. Favreau as usual is tight-lipped about plot points in the film, due May 7, 2010, declining to discuss whether Whiplash was, as in the Marvel Comics, a weapons designer who works for Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a competitor of Tony Stark/Iron Man. “We like to play into and against the expectations that people might have so, we mixed it up a bit,” Favreau says. Rourke’s performances in Sin City and The Wrestler “made quite an impression on me,” says Favreau. “Robert has a tremendous screen presence. So it was very important that the villain be as compelling as can be. … Once I thought of Mickey in that role, it made me understand how to shape the story.”

TomTom for iPhone

Turn-by-turn navigation is finally on its way to the iPhone. TomTom’s in-car navigation solution for iPhone consists of a TomTom GPS iPhone App ($TBA) and a TomTom Car Kit for iPhone ($TBA). The navigation software offers turn-by-turn directions and includes IQ Routes and the latest maps from Tele Atlas, while the car kit docks your iPhone to provide enhanced GPS performance, voice instructions, hands-free calling, and charging.

The New Issue of Rolling Stone: The Liberation of Adam Lambert

American Idol’s runner-up Adam Lambert opens up in the next issue of Rolling Stone, though he doesn’t think his revelations are particularly shocking. The new issue of Rolling Stone, hits newsstands this week.  You can read more and watch a video of the cover shoot HERE.

Will There Be A Saved By The Bell Reunion?

Artcyclopedia

The Artcyclopedia is the most effective guide to locate museum-quality fine art on the Internet. Indexed are 1800 art sites, and over 60,000 links to an estimated 150,000 artworks by 8,100 renowned artists. You can browse artists by name, medium, subject, and nationality. When you find your artist of choice, you can locate the museums that their artwork can be found.

Apple MacBook Pro Unibody Family

Apple introduced an all new MacBook Pro lineup today. The MacBook Pro Aluminum Unibody Family ($1,200-$2,500) gains a 13-inch model, while the 15-inch and 17-inch models get upgrades across the board. All models now have up to 40% longer battery life thanks to a built-in notebook battery that lasts seven hours on a charge. The family also shares LED-backlit displays with better color, the Multi-Touch trackpad, an illuminated keyboard, a new SD card (13 and 15-inch) or ExpressCard slot (17-inch), a FireWire 800 port and new NVIDIA graphics. The whole lineup can be upgraded with up to 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive or a 256GB solid state drive. The 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros can also be beefed up with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

iPhone 3G S

The new iPhone 3G S ($200-$300; June 19) was announced today. Packed with performance updates (the S stands for speed), the new iPhone is up to twice as fast as the iPhone 3G and features a 3-megapixel autofocus camera, video recording capability, longer battery life, and new hands-free voice control. Running the new iPhone OS 3.0 (available June 17 as a free update for your current busted iPhone), the 3G S also features a built-in digital compass, Copy & Paste, MMS, Spotlight Search, a new Find My iPhone feature, 3D graphics, and Nike + iPod support. It will come in 16GB and 32GB capacities in the familiar black and white.

Pixar Confirms Monsters Inc Sequel?

At the licensing fair in Las Vegas, Pixar revealed to buyers behind closed doors that they have yet another sequel in the works. Despite what Brad Bird said on stage at WonderCon two years ago, Pixar is now in the sequel business. Cars 2, Toy Story 3, and now Monsters Inc 2. According to Jim Hill, buyers who attended these limited preview sessions were sworn to secrecy by Disney officials, but several have confirmed that Pete Docter will be following up “Up” with a sequel to Monsters, Inc.

A Monsters Inc sequel has been rumored for some time now. At Comic-Con 2008, director Pete Docter responded to an audience question about the prospects of a sequel by admitting that “We’ve thought about it… We’ve got a couple ideas.” And now that it is quasi-confirmed, when should we expect to return to Monstropolis? Pixar has announced all their films up until 2012, so could a Monsters Inc sequel be in store for 2013? (From I/Film)

NeatDesk

Get rid of the paper trail with the NeatDesk ($400). This compact ADF (automatic document feeder) scanner helps you declutter your desk and empty your filing cabinet, leaving more room for important stuff. With one-button scanning, the NeatDesk scans up to 10 receipts, 10 business cards and 10 documents at once (or a single 50 page document), and then organizes the copies and extracts the info for digital use. You can scan in a stack of business cards and populate your address book, or scan in a pile of receipts to auto-track your expenses (export to Quicken, Excel or Quickbooks), or scan in a document and turn it into a searchable PDF. With versions available for Mac OS X and Windows, you’ll be able to organize your office no matter if you’re a Mac or PC.

The Strange Early Jobs of 23 Famous People

Summer is here, and that means so are summer jobs. While lots of young people find work as lifeguards or camp counselors, just as many are forced off the beaten path to find their first paychecks. Don’t worry if you get stuck with an odd job that might not totally dovetail with your life goals, though. Lots of wildly successful celebrities have had some strange jobs before hitting it big. HERE are just a few quirky vocations held by some of your favorite famous people.

 

How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live

The one thing you can say for certain about Twitter is that it makes a terrible first impression. You hear about this new service that lets you send 140-character updates to your “followers,” and you think, Why does the world need this, exactly? It’s not as if we were all sitting around four years ago scratching our heads and saying, “If only there were a technology that would allow me to send a message to my 50 friends, alerting them in real time about my choice of breakfast cereal.” And yet as millions of devotees have discovered, Twitter turns out to have unsuspected depth. In part this is because hearing about what your friends had for breakfast is actually more interesting than it sounds.  Read more HERE.

Stop…Hammertime

To promote MC Hammer’s upcoming reality show, Hammertime, A&E sent a bunch of Hammer-Pants wearing dancers to flashmob a clothing store.

Eddie Murphy: Delirious 25th Anniversary Edition DVD

Travel back to the days before Eddie Murphy became synonymous with crappy family comedies with Eddie Murphy: Delirious 25th Anniversary Edition ($27). This 70-minute stand-up comedy classic features a 22-year-old Murphy uncensored and uncut, railing on everything from the ice cream man to modern entertainment, and also includes a making of clip featuring Chris Rock, Katt Williams, Cedric the Entertainer, Chris Tucker and others. The DVD is due in stores on June 2^nd, 2009.

Thank You…Thank You Very Much!

Today THE FIRE WIRE received its one millionth hit in a little over one year.  I am flattered and somewhat surprised at this milestone. 

I am so appreciative of everyone’s support! A heartfelt thank you goes out to my family, friends, the casual reader and the frequent visitor.  I hope you enjoy reading the blog as much as I enjoy posting fun and interesting articles.  I also want to thank the generous publishers, studios and companies who sent me review copies of books, DVD’s, CD’s, gadgets, etc. 

Should you have any suggestions, areas of improvement or comments regarding the blog, please let me know.  Again thanks.

Palm Pre Commercial

The Future of Your Tube By Stephen King

Stephen King’s specialty channel proposals in which the author discusses creative development in the TV world, or lack thereof.  Read it HERE.

 

Is Charlie Returning To LOST Next Season?

I’m not sure what to think about this one. Does it mean that Dominic Monaghan’s Charlie is returning to LOST its final season? You can check him out in this new ABC promo for the fall season that also includes the network’s stars Patrick Dempsey, Courteney Cox-Arquette and Ed O’Neill.

Spoiler Alert: Mystery solved HERE.