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Category Archives: Geek Review

Reviews of books, TV shows, movies, anything that a self respecting geek might be in to.

Review: In Plain Sight

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After some problems with my satellite dish, I finally got to see In Plain Site today on the USA Network. I’ll admit that it wasn’t quite as good as Burn Notice, but it was a lot better than Monk in my opinion. Burn Notice is a bit edgier, but In Plain Site has Mary McCormack’s boobs. So … there’s that. The first episode also had more in the way of family drama than Burn Notice. Note that — for me — Burn Notice has it just about right. These two factors sort of cancel each other out if you’re me, which you probably aren’t. Personally, I’m hoping for a crossover some day in the future. Kinda like that time when Magnum P.I. met Simon and Simon back in the 80s.

As Marshal Mary Shannon, Mary McCormack is fiesty and smart. Like many USA characters, she’s hard nosed and tough on the outside, but all caramel on the inside. Her partner, Marshal Marshal, (no joke) reminds me a little of the guy from NBC’s Life. Word on the net has it that NBC might “borrow” In Plain Sight for it’s line up and show the program on both networks. Must be nice to have a few other TV networks in your pocket than your own.

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Review: The Mist

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WARNING: SPOILERS GUARANTEED!

the mistI have never read Stephen King’s book, The Mist. I have no idea how it compares with the movie version of The Mist or how Stephen King felt about the movie. But this I know: if the SciFi Channel made the book into one of it’s weekend crapfest movies, then the DVD I saw couldn’t have been any worse. In fact, the SciFi Channel version would probably have been funnier because the special effects would have been embarrassing. It’s sort of like comparing Battlefield Earth (the movie) with the Star Wars prequels. Any of the Star Wars prequels. Battlefield Earth was just as awful … yet it was also hil-ar-rious! You really owe it to yourself to dust that puppy off once every couple of years and watch it. I dare you not to start rolling on the floor at the first closeup shot of a Psychlo! Sadly, The Mist wasn’t as funny as Battlefield Earth. But it was definitely funnier than the Star Wars prequels. So if you’re looking for a plus side … well, there’s that. And the fact that I’m going to ruin the movie for you now so you don’t have to see it doesn’t hurt either.
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Technology Geeks: Dish Network Versus DirecTV Part 2

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dish picWell, the installers arrived to hook up my new Dish Network DVR and satellite dish for my TV. (You can check out part one of my satellite dish review here.) I’m about to put myself through the process of cutting off my DirecTV service, which should be easy. (Not!) Meanwhile, I thought I’d tell ya what I think of Dish Network so far.

First, I noticed that this unit only uses a single cable despite being a dual tuner. DirecTV used two for their dual tuners. That means they would only need to drill one hole in my wall instead of two (if I didn’t already have two to begin with). When DirecTV added the extra cable back in January of ’07, they actually hit a line in the wall and cut out my refrigerator. (Again, I really didn’t like their installer.) I have no idea how badly mangled the wires are, but the fridge still works. I just had to hit the breaker to get it going again. At any rate, now I only have one cable to bury in the yard instead of two.
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Technology Geeks: Dish Network Versus DirecTV

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My Experiences With Both Satellite Companies

About a year and a half ago, I switched from Dish Network to DirecTV. Basically, I was broke at the time and wanted a nice dual-tuner DVR and DirecTV had started going after Dish Network subscribers in a bid to get us to switch. I had the impression that Dish Network was cheaper than DirecTV, but DirecTV had better equipment. This came from my time working at … uh, let’s call it Electronics City. (I now know that much of the training I got from the City was just salespitch spin, but didn’t know it back then.) When I compared versus the other, I thought they were roughly even and maybe I should the other guys a try. So when all these factors converged, I went for it and tried out DirecTV. So how’d it go? Who wins in the Dish Network versus DirecTV satellite battle?
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