Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Teaser Trailer

Ricky Gervais on 60 Minutes

Lesley Stahl profiles Ricky Gervais, the creator of the hit television program “The Office,” which has opened other doors to the stage and screen for the British comedian.

The Fire Wire Holiday Gift Guide – Nintendo Wii Game Console

This is what video games should be: fun for the entire family. The Wii game console with the included Sports package ($199) offers five distinct sports experiences, each using the Wii Remote controller to provide a natural, intuitive and realistic feel. To play a Wii Sports game, all you need to do is pick up a controller and get ready for the pitch, serve or that right hook. If you’ve played any of these sports before, you’re ready for fun!

Wii makes you feel less like a player and more like you are immersed in the game. With the Wii’s unique freehand controller, Nintendo puts you right in the middle of the action.

Play Tennis, Baseball, Golf, Bowling and Boxing in the comfort of one’s living room. No ball boys scurrying about, no oil from the alleys to get players dirty and no rain to keep anyone from a day at the court, park or course. Use the Wii Remote controller to mimic the actions of swinging a racket, bat or club, roll a ball down an alley or bring the left jab.

Players can use their own Mii caricatures in the game and play them against their friends’ Miis for a more personalized experience. As players improve, their Miis’ skill levels will increase, so that they can see exactly how much better they’ve become.

People of all skill levels can pick up and play any of the games in the unprecedented Wii Sports package, making this truly a title for everyone!

The Fire Wire Holiday Gift Guide – McSweeney’s Quarterly

If there is someone on your holiday list who is a voracious reader that can spend hours in their local independent bookstore, then this is the perfect gift for them.

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern is a literary journal, first published in 1998, edited by Dave Eggers. The first issue featured only works rejected by other magazines, but thereafter the journal began to include pieces written with McSweeney’s in mind. McSweeney’s has since published works by many notable writers, including Michael Chabon, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King and T. Coraghessan Boyle.

The journal publishes on a quarterly schedule and each issue is very different from the last. One issue came in a box, one was Icelandic, another was held together with magnets and one looks like a pile of mail.

Their current issue is # 33 which is a one-time only, Sunday-edition-sized newspaper—the San Francisco Panorama. It has news, sports, arts coverage, comics (sixteen pages of full-color comics, from Chris Ware, Dan Clowes, Art Spiegelman and many others), a magazine and a weekend guide. The 300 plus page newspaper includes journalism from Andrew Sean Greer, fiction from George Saunders and Roddy Doyle, dispatches from Afghanistan, and much more.  You can purchase this issue HERE for $16, an annual subscription HERE for $55 and past issues HERE for $5 – $24.

New Photo From Toy Story 3

Here is a new photo from Pixar’s Toy Story 3, opening in 3D on June 18th, 2010. Directed by Lee Unkrich, the sequel features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, Jodi Benson, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt, Whoopi Goldberg, Kristen Schaal and Blake Clark.

The Fire Wire Holiday Gift Guide – Elmo Live Encore

My daughter Eliana absolutely loves the Sesame Street character, Elmo so this gift was a holiday must-have for her. Building on the huge popularity of the original Elmo Live, and to celebrate Sesame’s 40^th Birthday, Elmo Live Encore ($59.99) is jam-packed with brand new content and the same silly humor as the original Elmo Live.  Elmo Live Encore features 60+ silly surprises including new songs (Sesame Street classics: “Elmo’s World” and “Sunny Days”), new jokes, new stories and a new trick – tongue twisters – for even more fun.

Watch Zach Galifianakis: Live At The Purple Onion Online

A master of the one-liner with an absurd rambling style, Zach’s sharp, resonating humor makes his show at the famed Purple Onion in San Francisco one of the funniest performances in recent comedy.

The Fire Wire Holiday Gift Guide – The Cuisinart Vertical Rotisserie

Today’s Fire Wire Holiday suggestion is for the calorie conscious foodie in your family. The Cuisinart Vertical Rotisserie (CVR-1000) seals in nutritious juices and drains away unwanted fat for healthier meals. To keep the temperature consistent, a removable chrome insert reflects heat as the rotisserie turns, and a 3-hour countdown timer with auto-shutoff ensures perfect timing. Its programmable electronic touchpad controls have 5-preset oven temperature settings.  The device includes an 8 piece skewer set, roasting rack, poultry tower, multipurpose basket, drip tray and recipe book. The rotisserie roasts up to 8 pounds of poultry, beef or fish. The interior in nonstick for easy clean up and the brushed stainless steel exterior will compliment any kitchen. The measurement of this countertop marvel is 14-1/2 x 13-3/4 x 15-7/8″H and it retails for $199.

Free 20 Song iTunes Holiday Sampler

iTunes has holiday cheer, with free festive songs for you. Get 20 free holiday songs from artists including Weezer, Sarah McLachlan, Rascal Flatts, and more. The sampler will be available for one week only!

The Fire Wire Holiday Gift Guide – The iP88 Clock Radio for iPhone & iPod

Every day from now until Christmas, The Fire Wire will showcase some great gift suggestions for your entire family.  Today’s Holiday gift idea is perfect for a college student, teenager, techie, music lover or sleepyhead.  It combines a clock radio with a dual iPod/iPhone charger/player.

The iP88 is an innovative clock radio for iPhone & iPod that features two docks allowing you to charge both your iPhone and iPod simultaneously. The iP88 has several unique features, including a remote control, digital AM/FM presets, EQ controls, and even 3D sound for an enhanced audio experience. The iP88 also allows you to wake to your custom iPod playlist at different times on different days with our 7-5-2 feature, programmable snooze settings, and triple alarm. You’ll also enjoy phenomenal sound around the clock with our Reson8 stereo speaker chambers. Another great feature is the time sync button which automatically synchronizes the clock with the iPhone/iPod time.

The iP88 is sleek and easy to operate.  The device retails for $149.95 and you can find more information about this great product HERE.

Iron Man 2 Poster Featuring Whiplash

Rolling Stone Ranks The Best 100 Albums of the Decade

A panel of more than 100 artists (from Coldplay to Metallica to Lil Wayne), critics and industry insiders name Radiohead’s 2000 masterpiece “Kid A” the greatest LP of the 2000s. See where Springsteen, U2, Dylan, Arcade Fire and M.I.A. rank in Rolling Stone’s official countdown.

Dave Eggers’ One-Day-Only Newspaper

The San Francisco Panorama from boutique publisher McSweeney’s is now off the presses and on the streets, hoping to generate enthusiasm for the print medium as the New York Times and others tout market signs of improvement.  You can order the paper HERE.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) iPhone App

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), an Amazon.com company, has just released a free iPhone app that puts the power of the huge repository of movie facts and trivia into the palm of your hand.

I use IMDb regularly, so when I saw that the app had been released, I downloaded it immediately. Upon launching, the app will ask if you wish to let it use your location — this is used to display show times and movies for local theaters.

The first page of the app displays three major areas: Movies, TV, and People. There’s also an Application area, which is used only to display information about the App. The Movie section is subdivided into Showtimes, Coming Soon, US Box Office Results, MOVIEmeter, and the Top 250 Movies. Tapping Coming Soon brings up details about upcoming movies releases, including trailers that can be viewed on the phone. I love the Top 250 Movies, which is a list of the movies rated highest by IMDb readers. It’s a treasure trove of information about many of the classic movies of all time.

IMDb’s TV section is split into US TV Tonight, which is a schedule of upcoming shows on the major networks, and US TV Recaps, which provides full text synopses of what has happened on top TV shows during the previous week. Under the People heading, there’s both STARmeter, which shows a listing of the top 25 stars as measured by the number of times that they’ve been searched for on IMDb, and Born Today, which lists actors (living and dead) who were born on the current day.

If you love movies and TV, or searching trivia about roles, actors, and directors, then you probably already spend a lot of time with IMDb. The iPhone app is just the icing on the IMDb cake, and as a free app it should be on the home screen of every movie fan’s iPhone. Click HERE to download the app and delve into some Hollywood history.

Robot Alphabet (ALPHABOT) Print

This creative image is printed on 100% recycled card stock in either metallic silver or cobalt (pictured). It measures 19.6″ x 27.5″ and is screen printed in England. Robot Alphabet is $62 and available now HERE.

Win a Ton of Gear From Spy Optic

Click HERE to enter!

Ustream Releases Live Broadcasting App For iPhone

Ustream today released its free live broadcasting application for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, allowing iPhone users to stream and broadcast live video from the iPhone over either Wi-Fi or the 3G network. Ustream Live Broadcaster provides the ability to broadcast a live stream via the Ustream servers or record video locally on the device, even on the iPhone 3G. Videos are streamed or recorded at a maximum resolution of 320×240 and recorded videos can be viewed within the Broadcaster application on the iPhone itself or uploaded to Ustream, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter for sharing. Live Broadcaster also provides the ability to send out a notification via Twitter when you start a broadcast as well as interact with your audience during a broadcast through chat or a Twitter feed via Ustream’s Social Stream service. Ustream Live Broadcaster requires an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS running OS 3.1 or later and is available as a free download from the App Store.

Tron Legacy Poster

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward Team Again On She & Him’s ‘Vol. 2′

The country-folk duo of M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel known as She & Him is slated to return in 2010, proving that the 2008 collaboration wasn’t just a one-off affair. Aptly titled “Volume 2,” the 13 song set is due March 23 on Merge and features 10 originals and two covers, NRBQ’s “Ridin’ In My Car” and Skeeter Davis’s “Gonna Get Along Without You.” Deschanel wrote the originals with Ward producing and the pair spent time recording over the last year in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

While most actress-to-musician crossover albums don’t translate into sales, She & Him struck a chord last time around, with a formula that included Ward’s signature, washed guitar sound and Deschanel’s crystal clear vocals. According to Nielsen SoundScan, “Volume 1″ has sold 176,000. In a live setting, the group utilizes a full band and stages successful club tours as well as major festival appearances such as the Newport Folk Festival, South By Southwest and the Virgin Festival.

“Volume 2″ is said to expand on the first album’s 1970s style aesthetic and production, this time including strings and guests spots from Tilly and the Wall. The duo most recently contributed a cover of the Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” to the soundtrack for “(500) Days of Summer,” also a Deschanel film. Ward’s most recent solo release is 2009′s “Hold Time,”  and he also appeared as part of the Bright Eyes/Jim James quartet, Monsters of Folk.

Here is the “Volume 2″ track list:

“Thieves”
“In the Sun”
“Don’t Look Back”
“Ridin’ In My Car”
“Lingering Still”
“Me and You”
“Gonna Get Along Without You Now”
“Home”
“I’m Gonna Make It Better”
“Sing”
“Over It Over Again”
“Brand New Shoes”
“If You Can’t Sleep”

TruePower UCS Power Outlet With Built in USB Ports

There have been numerous times we have wished we had a usb port near by to charge our phones and plenty of other electronic goodies. The good people over at Fastmac, are taking orders for their TruePower UCS Power Outlets with built-in USB Ports ($10). Whats great about these outlets are that they give you two ports in addition to your two standard three-pronged ports on your wall outlet. The best part is that they are very convenient, inexpensive and will are able to be installed on any existing wall outlet. These outlets are currently waiting on final UL Approval but are scheduled to begin shipping early 2010. We have a feeling that these outlets will become a standard.

New Video Game Releases For Dec. 7th – Dec. 13th

The new releases are thinning out as we crawl toward the start of the new video game quarter, so consider this a perfect time to catch up on some older games that you may have missed.  Even though things are slowing down, it doesn’t mean there aren’t a few spots of light on the horizon.  There are three games of note this week:

The Saboteur is the big release.  The swan song for the now-defunct Pandemic studios, the game is set in and around Nazi-occupied Paris and offers two-fisted action and open world exploration.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for Ninetendo Wii is also in stores this week.  Something about using a Wii mote as a flashlight in this survival horror game strikes me as a fresh take on what is normally a stale series.  I’ll definitely be taking a look.

Finally, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks arrived on Sunday for the Nintendo DS.  The game takes the same classic NES-style Zelda dungeon exploration that you grew up with as a kid and mixes with innovative touch screen controls.

There are 16 games in all this week.  Although it may seem light on content, with the aforementioned titles, it definitely won’t be light on fun.  And if you’re in the mood to give the gift of game this year, remember to check out our Xbox Holiday Guide <here>.

Monday (Dec. 7)
Flowerworks (Wii)
Rec Room Games (Wii)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)

Tuesday (Dec. 8 )
DiRT 2 (PC)
East India Company: Battle of Trafalgar (PC)
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game (PSP)
Playmobil 2 Pack (PC)
Puzzler World (DS)
Salon Superstar (DS)
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)
Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God (PC, Wii)
The Saboteur (PC, PS3, 360)
Your Shape (PC)

Thursday (Dec. 10)
PixelJunk Shooter (PS3)
UDF: 3D Tactics IP

Saturday (Dec. 12)
Hello Kitty Online (PC)

Dragon Dictation For the iPhone

Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages. In fact, it’s up to five (5) times faster than typing on the keyboard.

With Dragon Dictation, you can text or email your friends, update Facebook status, send notes and reminders to yourself, or tweet to the world… all using your voice.

So when you are on-the-go, turn talk into type with Dragon Dictation – from short text messages to longer email messages, and anything in between.  You can download the app for free HERE.

DC Unveils Earth One

You’ll be seeing a pretty big announcement later this week regarding the DC Universe in 2010. But until then, here are some early sketches of Superman: Earth One and Batman: Earth One. Two of DC’s most iconic characters will have their first year stories retold in a completely new way. J. Michael Straczynski will write Superman: Earth One and artist Shane Davis will give us his take on the man of steel. Geoff Johns will take the reigns of Batman with Gary Frank on visuals.

Best Gadgets of the Decade

Time magazine ranks the best gadgets of the decade HERE.  See if you agree?

Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2009

Every year since 1952, the Book Review has asked a panel of judges to select 10 books from among the several thousand children’s books published that year. The judges this time around were Adam Gopnik, who writes regularly for The New Yorker and is the author of two novels for children, “The King in the Window” and the forthcoming “Steps Across the Water”; Jillian Tamaki, a teacher at the School of Visual Arts and the recipient of a Society of Illustrators gold medal; and Lisa Von Drasek, the children’s librarian of the Bank Street College of Education.  HERE are the winners.