Cleaning the Windows

Fun tech article on Slate.com. It’s all about a little project were Mac users were asked to test out a new version of Windows that was being developed called Windows Mojave. Apparently they were very impressed by it and how well it performed! At least one commented that he was surprised they released Vista instead of Mojave.

Welll, joke’s on them. Turned out it actually was Windows Vista, which, as it turns out, isn’t as crappy as we’ve all been led to believe. This is what you get for taking all your tech advice from Justin “I’m a Mac” Long.

You know, I haven’t used Windows Vista. I tried installing it on my “Vista Compatible!” computer back in March of 2007 (I had bought the computer in January and it came with a free upgrade). Couldn’t do it. Wound up having to format my hard drive. It was an ugly, ugly day.

But if I had the chance now, I’d buy a computer that came with Vista already on it. I’m sure it would probably function just fine. Microsoft didn’t get to be where they are by putting out nothing but crap, after all. I’ve been quite happy with XP, Microsoft Word and a number of other programs.

I don’t know that there’s an overall lesson to this story. I just kind of liked it.

Seeing the Future

One of my favorite TV shows, At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper, is going off the air. The last show will air on the weekend of August 16th. It’s in a dreadful time-slot here in Phoenix (11:05pm on Sundays), but I always made time to watch it, or record it if I couldn’t watch it. Even after Ebert left the show following surgery back in 2006, it was still a great program and one always worth my time.

Now Disney, which owns the show, has announced they are “taking it in a new direction”. Ebert, Roeper and frequent guest host Michael Phillips have all left the program (taking the “thumbs up, thumbs down” with them, as it’s actually a trademark (!), owned by Ebert and the estate of Gene Siskel). In their place, Disney has hired Ben Lyons (who?), and Ben Mankiewicz, who I know from seeing him on TCM.

You want to know exactly what Disney is thinking with this? Take a look at this picture of Ben Lyons from E!’s website.

That's not my thumb that just went up!

Yeah, I’d hit that. Clearly Disney is thinking, “Oh, yes, we’ll hire a young pretty-boy, team him up with someone who at least doesn’t look fat or bald, and we’ll get that prized 18 – 25 demographic!”. Yes, cause no one watches film critizism shows at 11:05pm on a Sunday night quite as often as people in that pricessless demographic.

I’ll watch the show for the first couple weeks at least, but I have no faith. Mankiewicz is someone I know at least has some critical chops, but I don’t know squat about Lyons. Certainly neither of them is up to the level of Roger Ebert.

So let me peer into the future: Disney will probably call the show Ben and Ben, or something, cause “Mankiewicz” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It will run for one season and then be quietly canceled. People would make time for Roger Ebert, but likely won’t for these two unknowns. Unless they can get the show moved into a better time-slot in all the various markets, it just won’t succeed.

On the plus side, Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are, apparently, working together to create a new show, one that would return to using the old “thumbs” bit. I look forward to it, and when it’s on, I know I’ll make the effort to see it, no matter what time it is on.