MikeBenton.org

This time I reviewed V2R’s ActiveUI. Check out the review here.

 

Short and sweet. The Simpson Movie is a great time filler. The script takes some quick jabs at the government but mainly is a storyline about Homer’s evolution from dead beat selfish dad to hero of the town. It is like an extended episode with several story lines going on like trouble between Marge and Homer and Lisa’s new crush. You can take the kids or a friend. Catch it in the afternoon if you have nothing better to do but don’t wait in long lines for it.

I reviewed Vito Technology’s AstroNavigator II recently. Pretty cool little program. You can read it at pocketnow.com

If you own a wireless device or phone with Java support you can begin using Opera Mini 4 beta today. In comparison to Pocket Internet Explorer in Windows Mobile it rocks. You will need java support on your device. If you are a pocket pc owner and you do not have a midlet manager or java micro environment download and install this. After installing the midlet manager, download and install the .jar file from the Opera site below. I really suggest trying it out. I am very happy with this new version.

Sample Screenshot

The original article about Opera Mini 4 beta is at PocketNow.com

Direct Link to Opera Mini 4 beta

Link to Midlet Manager.

I have another review up on pocketnow.com, this time I poured over PhatPad, a note taking application for the Pocket PC, I was very impressed by its function and usability. Read the review for the details.

This time I reviewed MuskokaTech’s PathAway GPS 4 Pro. Read the full story to find out how it did. For those of you who do not know what is going on, I am a contributing writer for PocketNow.com now! I am still very excited about it!

Okay, to spite any and all other movie reviews I will not mention any names or technical terms that most reviewers use. WHY!? Because we read reviews to decide whether to invest ourselves into something.

I give “300″ 5 out of 5 Mikes. Straight up. No ice, no water, just pure Sparta. Is it worth spending anywhere from 10 to 20 dollars to see? Yes. Is it worth your Friday or Saturday night? Yes. Is it worth ’shushing’ someone over? Yes.

The artistic style was fantastic, very epic feel to it. The ‘heroic’ aspect was monumental, very inspiring. The bad guys, as nasty as they could come (in good taste of course). There are elements that are done in ‘obvious’ style to portray the epic feel of the movie, but it is this style that makes “300″ a movie I will buy and add to my collection of Classics.

The thing is this, if you know Mike, you that Mike likes to live. If I had to choose between living in “300″ or living in “Gladiator” I would live in Sparta.

5 out of 5 Mikes

Everyone cheer for Mike! Hip Hip Hooray!

If you are wondering what all the fuss is about, my first review has been posted on PocketNow.com. Writing a full review on a piece of software had a learning curve to it. When I first started the review I took screenshots of every single screen and menu. I also recorded a voice walk through of the software. Mostly to become familiar with the inner workings of it. My first draft was tediously boring compared to the posted one. I put the walk through to the pictures basically. Although there are a few that might find it helpful, the reality is that it would take 30 – 1 hr to read the whole thing if I continued at that pace. Brandon, the Editor-In-Chief, played a great role in mentoring towards a great review. Thanks Brandon. It was a fun process and a great opportunity and I am anxious for the next.

Oh, if you want to read the review, you can find it here at PocketNow.com

Orb 2.0 installs on your home pc and indexes your music, video files, documents and TV tuner card. You can access all your content via a web interface. You can one file or a whole playlist. Search for that document you need and record TV shows. The interface works on any device with a webbrowser and internet connection. Since most of these devices (your phone) can also play music files you can stream the music on your home computer to wherever you are.

 This really beats needing a larger memory card to store more music. This even beats trying to synchronize your MP3 player with your desktop and then worrying about it being lost, broken or even stolen. If you are like me you probably have a couple movies on your computer, these are accessible as well.

 The whole program from install to use is seamless. There is a built in speed test when you access your content away from home. This tells your home pc how much quality the video or audio should be set to. Obviously, the greater network speed means greater quality. If you use Windows Media Player and are an URGE subscriber, any of the downloaded music requiring DRM licensing still work through Orb!

I tested this on my Pocket PC with my GPRS connection and it worked fine, the video size was a bit smaller but the stream worked great. When I connected to a Wifi connection the video was flawless. By the way, it works great on Vista.

In addition to media access the interface is Web 2.0 style. You can add Google Gadgets, RSS feeds and more to personalize your MyCast page on Orb. After using the web interface a few times you might even feel inclined to set it as your homepage. Check it here. It’s Free!!!

 

Set in a future society where the youngest person in the world has just died, this movie is designed to generate a feeling if not a following. Although the backdrop is Britain, there are many similarities and direct references to the war in Iraq. In one scene there is a man standing in a sheet, arms outstretched with a sandbag bag over his head. An exact replica of one of the many prisoner abuse photos from the Abu Ghraib scandal.

 

The story is touching and real. The side effects of no more children being born has been well thought out. As with any dire times, different countries can become the focus of refugees. The constant influx of people wanting a better life and how the government deals with it is very stark.

 

Without giving too much away, there is one scene that will tug at many hearts. A very realistic moment happens that shows, literally what it would take for people of today to believe in miracles.

 

I give Children of Men 5 out of 5 Mikes