Blogo: Not Ready for Prime Time

*Article Updated* When I heard about Blogo, I could barely contain my excitement. A blog editor just for the Mac that had full screen editing, full WYSIWYG control, multiple blog management, image resizing, Twitter integration and simple previews.

I could barely contain myself. When I raced to download the application for my 21-day trial I practically had my credit card in my hand. I almost bought my copy outright but stopped myself to give the software a try. I’m very glad that I did.

Though Blogo certainly has a lot going for it, advanced bloggers are going to want to keep away. It’s feature set is just to limited for people that require advanced manipulation of text and even basic posts are more difficult to post in Blogo than they are in the WordPress or TypePad editing panel.

However, those are the problems that can be fixed, there are other problems that seem to be a bit deeper into the development culture of the product. Read more

Review: Chamber of Horrors

For better or worse, the New Orleans haunt scene is dominated by the House of Shock. Though it is great to have an internationally-recognized haunt in the city, it brought with it the high ticket prices and conga-line style walkthrough that sours many on the haunt experience.

With no Chinchuba’s, Blaine Kern’s or Scream Factory this year, The House of Shock and The Mortuary are the only two professional haunts in the metro area with House of Shock being by far the best known. This has left a strange void of inexpensive and creative haunts that span the gap between home haunters and high-end professional establishments.

Fortunately, just outside the city in LaPlace, there is a smaller, lesser-known haunt called the Chamber of Horrors that sits in that gap nicely. Though clearly a professional haunt, it is not the big-budget movie set style you see elsewhere in the city. It is a middle of the road haunt that is half the price of its competitors.

But is the Chamber of Horrors worth the trip? It really depends on the type of haunt that you want. Read more

The Fall of Kimbo Slice: Good for MMA

The illusion that was Kimbo Slice came crashing down Saturday night. The YouTube phenomenon who made his name on the streets of Miami had a reputation for being one of the toughest men alive and his street fight clips only drove the point home.

Still, when he made his entrance into mixed-martial arts, most of the hardcore fans rolled their eyes. Though Kimbo was, and is, a very big, mean and scary guy, he is a brawler. One thing we learned from the early days of MMA was that brawling is to MMA what the windmill is to boxing. What works on your little brother doesn’t always work in the ring.

But EliteXC did something stupid. Not only did they take Kimbo on as a fighter, but they pushed him as star. Saturday night they paid dearly for that decision as the biggest name of their new promotion, and the headliner of two or their three nationally-televised events, went down in under 15 seconds to a virtual unknown.

Now it isn’t just Kimbo that has to look for a new direction, EliteXC does as well. However, Kimbo’s loss is MMA’s gain. With the specter that is Kimbo removed from the sport, we can now move on and focus on what the sport is supposed to be about, skill, athleticism and strategy. Read more

My Evacuation and Return From Gustav Pt. 1

Here is an understatement: Last week was a very long week for me.

However, now that I have had a few days back home, in relatively normal conditions, to reflect about what happened, I wanted to take a few moments to talk about the experience, what happened to me and why I found it so hard to get back to the city and back online.

So, if you’ve got the time and are interested, I’m going to tell my tale the best that I can. This is going to be a pair of long posts, for that I apologize, and they probably won’t be up to my usual writing standard. Still, I want to get this out and down on paper as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, I fear I might forget about what happened and may never really learn from it. Read more

Digital Television: It’s a Trap

My wife and I had been seeing the commercials for months. We were well aware that if we did not “upgrade our TV” by February 2009 that it “would stop working”.

Though the melodramatic commercials showed families using old televisions as flower pots and recycle bins, my wife and I were not amused. In fact we were, and are, outright angry that our preferred method of getting television would be cut off.

You see, my wife and I are both from the Internet generation. We’re of a mindset where spending $50 per month on high-speed Internet is a necessity, but spending just $15 on basic cable is a travesty and a waste of money.

However, you can hardly blame us, when your television viewing consists of a few episodes of Craig Ferguson, Leno’s headlines and maybe an episode or two of crime drama, we don’t really watch enough television to justify the expense.

But then I found out about a neat little Federal program that mails you credit card-like coupons for a digital converter. I decided to give it a try, only to find out that I had walked right into a trap. Read more