Tumblin' With Sofiane//

If I have to reprise one of the famous cartoons’ ending title, “That’s all folks, I’d say it would fit right for this post. 10 years and five months ago, Microsoft released Xbox 360 to the wild, well ahead the PlayStation 3.  The Redmond’s entertainment machine quickly become the household name if the gaming industry and now, 10 years and five months later, it’s the end of the line for one of the most iconic console ever. I was lucky to get an Xbox 360 Arcade Edition, which was released back in 2009, despite the fact, I’m not a hardcore gamer, but discontinuing the Xbox 360, it’s a little sad to me.  I remember, while in college years, when Microsoft expert watcher Paul Thurrott first reviewed the Xbox 360 when it came home, at the time when Microsoft was tweaking with Windows Vista. And now, it’s all a distant memory.

It should be noted that putting a final nail to the production of the Xbox 360 is reasonable as the E3 is getting closer for Microsoft to reveal a cheaper version of the Xbox One, since the original is still after a price cut still cost a hefty $ 350.

However, it should be noted that putting the end to the production of the Xbox 360 does not mean that its related services are dead.

Xbox Live. Xbox 360 owners will continue to receive Xbox Live services for their console, Microsoft says, including online multiplayer gaming and parties, access to the apps they use today, and Games with Gold and Deals with Gold.

 Xbox Live servers. The servers that support Xbox 360 services will also remain online and active, Microsoft says.

Games. Customers will continue to be able to buy over 4,000 Xbox 360 games or Xbox 360 accessories at retail and through Microsoft’s online Xbox Store, while supplies last.

 Xbox 360 hardware. Xbox 360 hardware remains supported.

 Backwards compatibility. Xbox One owners continue to be able to enjoy available Xbox 360 games through Xbox One Backward Compatibility at no additional cost.

Most people will have read the recent reports of how Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has had his personal net worth soar over 100 billion dollars and then drop down to 55 billion. He certainly knows how to make (and lose) money.

(Note: This article was written in 1998, Bill's Fortunes have dropped a touch since then.)

Consider that he made this money in the 25 years or so since Microsoft was founded in 1975. If you presume that he has worked 14 hours a day on every business day of the year since then, that means he's been making money at a staggering million dollars per hour, around $300 per second.

Which means that if, on his way into the office, should he see or drop a $1000 bill on the ground, it's just not worth his time to bend over and pick it up. He would make more just heading off to work.

We're assuming about 4 seconds to bend down and pocket the bill. Of course he can afford to hire people to follow him and pick up any $1000 bills he may drop. Not that he would, fortunately he doesn't quite think of his wealth or time this way. The rumours that when the $50,000,000 invoice for his new manor on Lake Washington came in, he simply said, "Melinda, could you get my wallet. I think it's in my other pants" are not true. It is ironic that a lot of that house is going to be underground; rooms built with Windows won't have any.

When I first calculated this, it was only a $20 bill, and then for some time it was a $100 bill. When I first wrote this as an article (it appeared in Upside and Harper's and was noted annoyingly without credit in the Wall Street Journal and Reader's Digest, it was a $500 bill. I remember speaking to him at a conference some years ago thinking, "$31 per second, $31 per second" as we talked. I didn't mention this. When I later came to explain the article was really about numbers and not him it was over $100 per second as he ranted to me about how mean Upside is to him.

It's perhaps more disturbing to look at the slope of his appreciation during some periods. In 1998 he netted some $45 Billion, meaning that at the rate he's went, if he saw a $10,000 bill, he would have been just as well to pass it by. (They do exist, but he won't see one until he buys the U.S. treasury -- they are not circulated. Salmon Chase, former secretary of the treasury and chief justice, is on it.) If it's a pile of cash he has to count, it's even worse. At $3,700 per second in 98, they would have to be mythical five-thousand-dollar Bills -- and he would need to have a quick hand -- to avoid him losing the money in wasted time while he's counting them. Counting $1,000 bills would be very unprofitable.

That $45B in 12 months is an astounding rate at which to make money. That's higher than the entire gross domestic products of Chile and Egypt, and he's done twice as well as Guatemala, 4 times better than all of Sri Lanka or the Dominican Republic, 6 times better than Costa Rica, El Salvador or Panama, 8 times better than everybody in Brunei, including the Sultan, and 23 times better than all of Bermuda. That's right, in 1998 Bill's made much more (before taxes) than the entire population of Kuwait, all the Emirs, oil wells, Sheiks, millionaires and peasants -- everybody.

And forget about companies. Nobody -- even G.M, Exxon, Ford, IBM and Intel combined -- has earned what Bill's did in 98 by holding onto that MSFT stock. His profit/month is more than all the sales of Lockheed Martin, J.C. Penny, UPS or Intel, and all but 25 of the largest companies on last year's Fortune 500. In fact, in 1998, his stock has gone up around three times Microsoft's entire sales -- not just profits -- for 1996.

When General M. Bison takes high-ranking hostages and demands $20 billion in ransom, he pushes an already incendiary crisis to the brink of global conflict. Meanwhile, Colonel William F. Guile’s rescue mission remains stalled until the hostages’ location can be determined. Guile and his British intelligence officer, Lieutenant Cammy, must recruit two unlikely heroes, small-time hustlers Ken Masters and Ryu Hoshi in an audacious plan to locate the sadistic general’s futuristic secret fortress. But their entire plan is nearly derailed at the last moment when GNT news correspondent Chun-Li Zang, who wants much more than a story, intervenes. For more about Street Fighter and the Street Fighter Blu-ray release, seeStreet Fighter Blu-ray Reviewpublished by Martin Liebman on July 9, 2009 where this Blu-ray release scored 2.5 out of 5.

'Street Fighter' assembles its armies (yeah, the movie has more army-on-army action in it than it does fighter-on-fighter action) on Blu-ray with a 1080p. 2.35:1-framed transfer. Ranging from “acceptable” to “ugly,” 'Street Fighter' begins poorly with a fair amount of shimmering over the opening credits and never really improves from there. The image often appears overly sharp and processed with some edge enhancement plaguing some scenes. Featuring anything but a true film-like appearance, 'Street Fighter' features a few artifacts here and there and plenty of noise in some places while appearing terribly smooth in others, sometimes differing not between scenes but between shots. The image often takes on an incredibly hazy appearance that diminishes colors and details, and to such an extent in a few scenes as to practically wipe the screen clean of all but the most basic structure of the displayed imagery. Detail and color reproduction aren't bad in the better scenes. Outdoor shots hold up well enough, the film's colorful palette coming to life in both the dusty streets of Shadaloo City and in the rich, jungle-like areas outside of it. Colors on the Allied Nations Uniforms stand out nicely, particularly the bright blues, and the finer details to be seen in the uniforms — flag patches and other adornments — look rather good. The 1080p transfer does reveal some of the shoddily-constructed sets and props; close-up shots sometimes reveal unnatural seams or bad paint jobs. Fortunately, there's no major problems with banding or blocking, but even in the relative absence of these issues, 'Street Fighter' never looks all that good.

'Street Fighter' pummels Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Loud but somewhat muddled, this aggressive presentation excites the senses but never really satisfies them, the track delivering all the makings of a first-rate soundtrack but not quite managing to squeeze enough clarity or realistic ambience out of the material to create a seamless environment. Sound is often tossed all through the listening area with only moderate regard for precise placement. Sure, a cage fight in chapter three features cheering crowd noise pouring from every speaker, but there is more a sense of phoniness than realistic immersion in the moment. Such scenes place most of the emphasis across the front with only a few cursory sounds thrown into the rears. A soundtrack need not offer a full-throttle back-speaker assault to be good, but this track uses them in such a way that they don't generally serve their primary purpose of delivering good, supportive atmospheric sounds, both small and large. Action sound effects — punches, gunshots, explosions — pack plenty of heft and tend to deliver the goods. Dialogue is also consistently reproduced adequately. Not a bad soundtrack but sounding more like a preliminary effort rather than a final, finished product, 'Street Fighter' sounds good but not great on Blu-ray.

Sometimes sad news hit your face. I was saddened when I read an article on the internet announcing the sudden death of the Canadian-born actress Alberta Watson who died Saturday at age 60. 

The actress, who was best known for her roles on "24" and "Nikita," died in the arms of her husband after battling cancer, her talent agency confirmed."It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of the luminous Alberta Watson," the Gary Goddard Agency said in a statement. "Alberta died in the arms of her beloved Ken on Saturday March 21st at Kensington Hospice after a long and incredibly courageous battle with cancer."

Over a nearly 40-year career, Watson appeared in dozens of TV shows and feature films, including TV series King Of Kensington, Hill Street Blues, The Equalizer,  Law & Order, and hit cable series La Femme Nikita. But it was her role on the fourth season of Fox’s 24 that she is best remembered. As Driscoll,  the new director of the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit, one of her first decisions was to fire Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland).

Following 24, she played Sen. Madeline Pierce in the The CW’s Nikita in 2011-12. That turned out to be her final acting role.

Mark your calender, Alberta won’t be returning to TV anymore. Not in 24 nor in Nikita. May She Rest in Peace and May Her Soul be a Source of Joy and Happiness Forever...

Should we call it iCar ? or iDrive  But one thing is sure is that Tim Cook, the head of Apple Inc, is on the road to revolutionize the automotive industry. The company is indeed working on on an all-electric vehicle that apparently "resembles a minivan" in its current iteration and has a team of several hundred people working on it. They hope to compete with Elon Musk's Tesla. 

It's not totally clear why Apple would be looking to make such an enormous leap from its core competency — building great consumer electronics — but there might be a simple explanation: the company's explosive growth will eventually peter out unless it expands to new markets, and there's no question that transportation would fall into that category.

This video uploaded by Virgin Australia shows how they repaint their airplanes. It took 11 days, 18 painters, and 260 liters of paint to remove the previous paint and repaint it by hand. My favorite part is when the paint melts, I could spend hours watching just that.

Just see this impressive video courtesy Virgin Australia...

It has been long while since I haven't  published a post on my blog. To my audience, I'm so sorry for this long absence, as I was super busy these last months. Aside, from good news like The Mentalist would be renewed for its last season, another news is that Tom St. George, who was the executive Producer of the Mentalist has been promoted to the highest rank in TV business as he becomes the showrunner, replacing Bruno Heller who stepped down from his previous postion as the show's boss to focus on his brand new crime opera's Gotham.

It's just like passing the baton I guess. And St. George's premiere episode is entitled : "Orange Blossom Ice Cream".

CBS has announced their 2014-15 season and it's going to be a tight schedule. According to 'Deadline Hollywood,' CBS CEO Les Moonves announced the following shows that will be renewed in the fall: "NCIS," "NCIS: LA," "Criminal Minds," "Person Of Interest," "Elementary," "CSI," "Hawaii Five-0," "Blue Bloods" and "The Good Wife." However, "The Mentalist" was notably missing from the announced list, suggesting that the show will not be renewed for a seventh season.

"The Mentalist" is one of CBS' longest running dramas. However, despite it's high ratings during the Red John saga last year, "The Mentalist" is not owned by CBS, thus not actualy profiting the network directly. "The Mentalist" is actually owned by Warner Bros, who have a strongly vested interest in the crime drama. It is therefore likely that Warner Bros will be making a strong fight for the show to be renewed for another season - fans will have to wait for more news on that later.

In other concerning news, "The Mentalist" creator/showrunner Bruno Heller is expected to leave the show in order to run his new series "Gotham" at Fox and is therefore not expected to be heavily involved this season. The show took a severe ratings beating post-Red John, and the season's second premiere episode was seriously overshadowed by  the premieres of "Cosmos" and "Resurrection." CBS has not officially announced the show's cancellation - expect more news soon.

Here is a very interesting fact :

Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, or just King Abdullah for short, is among the expanding league of world leaders who choose to 'think different' and use Apple products.

In the picture aov, King Abdullah is seated on the right, in front of a 30-inch Cinema Display. His highness was monitoring the procession of the hajj in Mecca, the holy annual pilgrimage.

The writer, director and actor Harold Ramis, who has died aged 69 from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, was responsible for one masterpiece and several influential smash-hits. In each of his creative capacities, he was the eternal quiet man. In front of the camera, his blithe and undemanding presence often disguised his comic skill or made it appear effortless; he seemed happy to hang back and surrender the limelight to more demonstrative and dynamic collaborators, such as his Ghostbusters co-stars Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. In his writing and directing he was adept at capitalising on an audience's love of coarseness without resorting to cruelty or sacrificing his compassion.

Much of his work – including National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), Meatballs (1979) and Ghostbusters (1984), all of which he co-wrote, and Caddyshack (1980), which he co-wrote and directed – changed the course of US film comedy, even if the prudish might argue that it was not for the better. For those movies alone, he would have deserved a place in the history of popular cinema. But in the early 1990s he shepherded to the screen a film that is still cherished and admired two decades later and which looks certain to only increase in stature: Groundhog Day (1993).

For his part, Ramis was never heard to trumpet his own abilities: "It's not like I'm going to leap from Meatballs to 8½," he once said. Except that with Groundhog Day he became responsible for one of the most ingenious and affecting films ever made, a movie that can hold its own alongside the work of Luis Buñuel or Billy Wilder. Ramis's generous, unshowy direction, far from being "nothing special", gave the demented ideas and set-pieces the necessary room to breathe.

He was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Nate and Ruth, shopkeepers who owned and ran the Ace Food and Liquor Mart, where the young Harold worked at weekends as a child. He attended Washington University, St Louis, where he began writing comedy scripts, then worked variously as a teacher and journalist. After avoiding military service in Vietnam by lying on the admission form – an experience that would later provide comic grist in his script for the military comedy Stripes (1981), in which he also starred – he joined the Second City improvisational company in 1969.

When a fellow company member, the raucous rising star John Belushi, went to New York to work on spin-offs the irreverent National Lampoon magazine, among them The National Lampoon Radio Hour, he urged Ramis to accompany him; Murray, another Second City member, also went to National Lampoon. From there, it was a natural step for clowns such as Belushi and Murray to move into the furnace of the high-pressure, late-night TV sketch show Saturday Night Live. Ramis worked instead on SCTV (a television spin-off of Second City) and with a co-writer, Doug Kenney, on the screenplay for the frat-house comedy National Lampoon's Animal House, which would be directed by John Landis.

The film was a box-office hit, helped no end by a kamikaze performance from Belushi as the ultimate party animal. Later imitations such as thePorky's series took the bawdiness of Animal House to a new level of explicitness, but overlooked the genuinely innovative aspect of the movie: its sophisticated frankness about rebellion. The characters are not countercultural icons so much as self-serving thrill-seekers whose escapades happen to antagonise the establishment.

Ramis is survived by his second wife, Erica Mann, and their two sons, Julian and Daniel; and by his daughter Violet, from his first marriage, to Anne Plotkin, which ended in divorce.

Is the photo at right of a man known as Adolph Leipzig none other than der Führer? A Brazilian researcher as been granted permission to conduct genetic testing in an effort to prove her theory.

 The Daily Mail reports:A startling new book claims Adolf Hitler actually escaped his hideout and died incognito in 1984 in a small town near Brazil’s border with Bolivia – and it can be proved by a picture.The author believes the Fuhrer fled to Argentina before settling in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso to hunt for buried treasure – with a map given to him by Vatican allies. As part of his elaborate ruse to escape detection, he also had a relationship with a black woman called Cutinga.Post-graduate student Simoni Renee Guerreiro Dias has outlined her bizarre theory [in her] book, titled ‘Hitler in Brazil – His Life and His Death’.She claims he may have lived as Adolf Leipzig in the small Brazilian town of Nossa Senhora do Livramento. Simoni says Leipzig was known locally as the ‘Old German.’ Simoni is now planning to use DNA tests using a relative of Hitler living in Israel, after been given permission to exhume Adolf Leipzig’s remains.

That's it. It's an end of an era. 2014 brings it first taste of bad news. And what a bad news. The Mentalist and the Good Wife are officially upgraded to a Toss-Up, a term which designates whether or not a network would keep or throw a TV Show if the rating would drop.

Once again showing that predicting the fates of TV shows isn’t all that easy, the tide seems to have turned for CBS’ Friday and Sunday dramas. Last week, The Good Wife already saw a big spike in the ratings for its midseason finale. Now, Sunday companion The Mentalist continued growing for the third week in a row.

Honestly, The Mentalist being cancelled and going away is a little sad to me. I started watching the show way back in April 2009, almost five years ago, when the show was nearing the end of the first season. Actually at the time I was not a big fan of TV Shows, but after getting a first taste of 24, I thought I'd give a try to The Mentalist. The mystery that lies behind the show, RED JOHN, being unveiled as the mild-mannered Napa Sheriff Thomas McAllister, was what hooked me. But now, five years later, it's quite understandable. Bruno Heller, after writing off Red John's arc, decided it was time to turn a brand-new immaculate page, hence giving to the show a flesh blood and a brand new look. But after all, the audience was looking for the identity of RJK, that was the goal. I thought that Heller should have stopped the show after RJK was caught and killed. But anyway,  The Mentalist was and remains a great TV Show. I'd love to rerun it from the Season 1, going back in time, when Jane and Lisbon were so naive, thinking that RJK was an easy catch, and see how it evolved from a serial killer into someone who a powerful net of followers. That's great. I think Heller hand a brilliant idea of creating that show. I wish the upcoming ones made in Heller will be great. If now Greater.

Well, I have a heartbeat for this car. How do you call that in french ? a "coup de coeur" or a "coup de foudre" (//:35 am).  Yes, I have a coup de coeur for this wonderful sportcar named after an Island near Spain and made by the Spanish automaker Seat, whose trademark figures under the umbrella of Volkswagen Group. And on the eve of acquiring it, I decided to write a small blurb about it. Because "she" really deserves that.

Before going to Ibiza, I went to Les Champs Elyssee. 

Before I'd opt for the Seat Ibiza, my initial choice was the french automaker Citroen which released a brand new "no-frill" car named after Les Champs Elysee and baptized as C-Elysee. It is a low-cost car but it does not appear to be a low cost one. Yep, it all feels and look like an American Sedan. I was indeed looking for a vehicle that was fully featured, being fuel efficient and most of all attractively affordable. Well, The C-Elysee fulfills all of these promises, but the catch is : the Elysee was targeted for Family Fathers.

Come one Sofiane, look for another one.

But it did not take so long to browse through an auto magazine and had my eyes glued on a Seat Ibiza. What does it have to be a special ?. Well, a lot. 

Let's first start from the exterior.

The new Seat Ibiza was the first Seat designed under the direction of Luc Donckerwolke, formerly of Lamborghini. The car represents something of a change of direction for Seat, upping the ante to fulfill Seat’s emotive, dynamic ethos.

The Aggressiveness is so kind and so sweet.

There’s meant to be more aggression to the front end, with a low grille and headlights. Certainly, the sharper edges to the side strakes give it more tension than Seat’s other monobox-style designs. Arguably the look is better suited to the three-door model than the cooking five-door. The sharply-styled standard headlights are good, but optional adaptive bi-xenons come with daytime running lights and are worth the extra money.

Underneath, the Ibiza utilises the Volkswagen Group’s PQ25 platform. This was its first application; it also forms the basis for the Volkswagen Polo and and Audi A1.

The interior of the vehicle have a minimalist design. I was not looking for a car which got a touch-screen or a bizarre dashboard filled with switches here and there. The Ibiza presents a very straightforward and clutter-free design, with switches that are smartly arranged. 

Seat Ibizas used to get lumbered with interiors derived from other VW Group products. Not any more. The latest Ibiza has its own trim, and very distinctive it is too.

Fit and finish is certainly good and there are enough soft-touch surfaces, though there’s a slightly bewildering mix of trim graining. The traditional, random leather-like texture is still on a few surfaces, but the Ibiza also features what manufacturers like to call a technical grain. Then there’s the steering wheel, which has four different textures, so it’s anything but a dull cabin.

What model do you choose ?

Well, in Algeria, there are four variants of the Seat Ibiza you can choose from.

The entry-level ibiza is called the Fully because it's fully featured in term of options that encompasses. And super affordable. For some extra money, you can opt for a Fully w/ a sunroof.

The Ibiza iTech is just like a Fully version, except that as its name suggest filled with some useful and high-tech gadgetry but there is no sunroof which is darn disappointing. You got also a GPS touch-screen too.

The Ibiza Sport, which is the one I want is a version of Ibiza that is cross between the entry-level Fully and the high-end FR. The car dealer SOVAC asked Seat to make a Sport Edition available to the public due to the price gap that existed between the Fully and FR way back in 2012. However, don't be fooled by the moniker Sport. The marketing guys at Seat decided to give it the moniker of Sport Edition due to its exterior aggressiveness design that closely resembles the FR.

In the nutshell, The Sport inherits the facial features of the FR, including the headlamps with the boomerang-styled LED as well as some gadgetry from her big sister but misses the USB-Box, which going to force me to use my iPod + aux line-in to listen to my playlist.

The Ibiza FR is the best has everything car. It is in a simple word, a high-end version of Seat's strong-selling car. It is powered by a diesel engine and features all the options that are available for the Sport plus a Bluetooth  as well as the regrettable functions I wanted to see it in the Sport Edition called : Coming/Leaving Home as well as USB Box.

What would be mine ? Well, I opted this time for the Sport Edition. 

As 2013 is winding down, leaving room for 2014, changes are bound to happens. Well, everything changed, the song, the lyrics, the music and even the dancefloor. And the Mentalist is no exception to the rule. In this short video, Bruno Heller and Chris Long, the show's bigwigs are talking about the changes that occurred during the post Red John-era. Heller focuses on a brand-new life that awaits Patrick Jane as well as the change of sitting, from California to Texas, and from CBI to FBI, giving more freedom and more places for Jane  to explore. Jane is no longer haunted by his past and no longer has to think on how catch Red John, as his obsession wounded down, the moment he struggled the madman who was responsible of the death of his wife and daughter. I would preferably let you watch this short video and see how the showrunner's creativity comes to fruition. 

The Mentalist is now just getting better and better. But sometimes, I do have a feeling, a strange feeling that Red John will re-appear pretty soon.

If you pay a close attention to this video of the The Mentalist's 100th Episode celebration, when the man asks the writer Tom Szantgyorgyi how much he would bribe him to reveal RJK's ID, at a certain moment, Tom replies : "Double L" which is a hint for McAllister.

For those who are living under the rock, Xander Berkeley who has just deserved a place in a pop-culture not because he appeared in TERMINATOR 2, killed by the T-1000, but because he revealed himself as Red John, is married to the actress Sarah Clarke. The couple wed on May 2002 and they met during the set of 24 Season 1. 

Not just a coincidence, but both Xander and Sarah played the Nastiest Villains in the TV Show history transpire. Clarke played Nina Myers in 24 who was revealed to be the mole inside the CTU until the end of the first season. Same thing for her sweet hubby, Xander who has been releaved to be Red John.

Ironically, both 24 and Mentalist' showrunners did not get in the mind these two sweet people to play villains, until they picked them up during the season's run. Bruno Heller, The Mentalist's creator said that he did not get the idea of "who is gonna be Red John" before, but he picked up Xander Barkley just a year ago to be the prime candidate to portray RJK.

Oh, yes, one last thing. This is really an irony. Sarah Clarke played Nina who is known for having screwed up with the entire CTU, but also, because she killed Bauer's wife. Xander, on the other side, killed Jane's wife and daughter...too.

Irony, they really play nice villains these two :)