Brian T. Nakamoto

NeighborGoods

Shout-out to NeighborGoods, which launched nationwide today! NeighborGoods is a more organized and trusty way to share stuff with people in your neighborhood. Here's hoping they eventually produce a barcode scanner app for iPhone to make it easy to scan things like DVD's into one's inventory.

iPhone 4 Bumper

Apple's iPhone 4 Bumpers are a bit underwhelming. The $30 polished plastic ring includes metal buttons that cover the iPhone 4's corresponding on/off and volume up/down buttons. The Bumper seems like it'll help protect the iPhone's edges during a fall, and surface while laying flat. However, it makes the ring/silent switch more difficult to access, and doesn't work with the iPhone 4 Dock. It also fits a bit loosely around the frame, which takes away from the solid feel of a naked iPhone 4. Perhaps leather would be better Bumper material.

TomTom car kit Mod For iPhone 4

It turns out that it's pretty simple to adapt a TomTom car kit to work with an iPhone 4. This iPhone 4 user wound up spending more than a pound on some 3M Scotch Mounting Tape (1/2 in x 75 in). Applying two layers of tape to the part described in the video below has made it a worthwhile investment. Hopefully, it holds up in the summer heat.

Let the Right One In

Let the Right One In is an interesting little love story based on a novel by the same name. A boy down on his luck befriends his new neighbor, a girl who is also having a difficult time maintaining her low key existence. She has trouble staying inconspicuous while hunting human blood despite her vampiric powers. Fortunately, the Swedish police fail to connect the recent rash of homicides, which has got to be abnormal for a European country. This film will probably spawn an American remake if only because subtitles aren't popular in the US.

Rescue Dawn

Rescue Dawn is not recommended watching before bedtime. Werner Herzog's film, based on the true story of US Navy pilot Dieter Dengler, recaps Dengler's hellish fight for survival at the mercy of the Pathet Lao and the Laotian jungle. The movie doesn't really explain why Dengler ditched his survival radio other to imply that the Viet Cong used them as decoys to ambush SAR teams. One wonders what the Vietnam War would have been like had it been fought with modern technology considering the US has suffered a fraction of the casualties so far in the current War in Afghanistan.

Return to Futurama!

Comedy Central has brought us back to Futurama with brand new episodes voiced by the original crew! As if part of some cruel joke, the DIRECTV DVR didn't allow fast-forwarding through commercials for the season premier, and it almost failed to record the second show last night. Fortunately, the DVR has a big buffer. Looking forward to a summer filled with hilariously biting social commentary!

iPhone 4 Today!

FedEx was kind enough to deliver the iPhone 4 yesterday, but even more of the masses get to pick up their iPhone 4 today! The iPhone 4 is a phone worthy of the year 2010. The lack of a Verizon variant is the only factor preventing Apple from totally dominating the competition in the US. If you can afford AT&T's monthly iPhone service, you can afford the extra $100 upfront for an iPhone 4 instead of its predecessor.

Criminal Justice System Reform Day

The Innocence Project is asking supporters to contact their U.S. Senators today to recommend that they support S. 714, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act. This bipartisan legislation forms a federal panel to review our criminal justice system in order to make recommendations for improvement. In a country where capital punishment is legal, it's disturbing that the number of wrongful convictions are greater than none.

iOS 4.0 Software Update

All but original iPod touch and iPhone users who didn't pre-order an iPhone 4 got a free upgrade from Apple yesterday in the form of iOS 4.0, the latest-greatest version of the mobile operating system formerly known as iPhone OS. iOS 4 supports multitasking for third-party apps so Android fanbots can STFU while they wait for Flash Player 10.1 to actually ship.

New MobileMe Mail

The new MobileMe Mail exited beta last week, and launched with some new web app navigation that's pretty yet inefficient (too much unnecessary mouse travel). Apple also released a free Find My iPhone app so MobileMe members can use an iOS device to locate another one.