Meticulo

This isn’t a top list per-say but it’s going to look like one. I was thinking about the best drama shows on TV right now and figured I would share my favourites. I might create a comedy list later. We’ll see.

Breaking Bad (AMC)

If you know me personally, you’ll know that I think this is quite simply the best show on TV. Period. Through a combination of amazing story telling and acting, Breaking Bad consistently offers the most entertaining and suspenseful hour of TV out there.

AMC has 16 (and final) episodes coming our way that look to be split over the next 2 years. You’ll see this show on my list every year until it’s over.

Game of Thrones (HBO)

Only HBO could pull off a show like this. The production value is insanely high and I would have called you crazy if you had told me a TV network would ever produce it. But, it is HBO and they have consistently raised the bar and Game of Thrones is certainly no exception.

The second season pace is quick and if you’re not paying attention for even a minute you’ve probably missed something important but… it’s just such a great story. To see a fantasy get treated with so much respect and care is a great sign for us science fiction/fantasy guys. You owe it to yourself to give this a spin.

The Killing (AMC)

A lot of people use the term “world building” and how good Breaking Bad is at it but I think The Killing is right in there too. The writers have consistently weaved an intricate story about some detectives solving a murder and the whole theme and execution has just been great.

From acting, to filming locations, to production and right down to the music. It’s great. I love stories like this. Who killed Rosy Larsen?

Sons of Anarchy (FX)

Sons is the longest running show on my list and yet, it has consistently delivered great performances with awesome writing season after season. Last season ended with a huge shake up and a little bit of a reset and if you’re a SoA fan you can’t wait for next season.

These guys get next to no credit at any award shows but they definitely deserve some acting attention. Superb.

Homeland (Showtime)

I wrote about Homeland once before and it had to go on my list. I can’t stress enough how good this show is. I was super skeptical but they sure pulled it off. Claire Danes and Damian Lewis are amazing.

The writing was sharp and went in some unexpected directions. I really like Homeland.

Honourable Mention

Justified (FX)

Justified sits in a weird spot for me. I was super luke warm after the first season. The premise was great but it just seemed to fall flat for me. I pushed through and got into about mid way of season 2 and then BAM! she hasn’t let up since.

Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins are perfect. Great acting going on here.

Fringe (Fox)

Fringe was renewed for a fourth and final season and we’ll get to see how all of this craziness ends. It’s been a crazy ride but no matter what, I think it’s super entertaining every step of the way. Science fiction doesn’t get much attention at this level.

There’s been a lot written about the iPad 3 so I will keep my opinions short.

I never owned an iPad 2 so my iPad experience is going from an iPad 1 and then surging ahead at warp speed to an iPad 3. There’s only 2 years between them but as soon as you feel it in your hands and open the first app, it feels like I just jumped ahead by 10 years.

The weight, thickness and feel are all improved. The battery life slightly. But the 2 things that I have really changed the way I use it are the speed and beautiful display.

First, speed. I can’t speak about the difference from an iPad 2 to an iPad 3 but holy shit is the difference between an iPad 1 and an iPad 3 huge. I mostly stopped using my iPad for daily tasks because it was just too slow. The bump in specs (processor and ram) are very noticeable. Safari can actually keep more than 1 tab open in memory. App switching doesn’t mean waiting for an app to re-open, it stays open!

Second, the display. Seeing 264 pixels per inch on a 10 inch display is simply breathtaking. Words just can’t quite describe this. You have to see it for yourself. Looking at every other display in my house (except my iPhone 4S) looks like rubbish. It’s just… amazing.

All in all, I’m super pleased with the upgrade. For my wife and I, the iPad is back to being the most used device in the house and with all the improvements I’ve found myself picking it up with no task in mind. I just want to hold it. That’s not weird is it?

Awake is a police procedural but with a bit of a fantasy twist—after surviving a car crash, Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) finds that after falling asleep he wakes up in one reality where his wife survives and then another where his son survives. It’s maybe (kind of?) akin to Memento but not really the same at all…

I could see the story being difficult to tell over the long haul but for a season or two, I think I’m in. I really like that (at least after one episode) the writers don’t treat us like we’re stupid. Things can get confusing, and yes, you might actually have to think about it. I hope it continues where the pilot left off.

P.S. This is the second show this season that Howard Gordon has his hands in that I really like. If you haven’t seen Homeland yet, you’re missing out on what I would call the best new drama this year. For reals.

“I told you so!”, media centers (Smart TVs) are getting the experience wrong. Apps are not the future: gizmodo.com/5887808/everyo…

— David McLeod (@Mucx) February 24, 2012

A tweet and article about the current state of televisions got me thinking how much I agree with the points about wanting a dumb TV.

I have a fairly new Panasonic TV with all the bells and whistles. 3D, Internet connected, apps and a whole bunch of other useless shit I have never used. If there was one guy in the world who might play with this stuff you would think it would be me. I bought the TV to display things. I spent extra money to make sure it displayed these things better than average. That’s all I have invested here.

You could argue that since I am a passionate media centre user that maybe I’m experiencing all these features there, on that platform—but I don’t. I watch TV and that’s all. I have never once opened a 3rd party app in XBMC. Oh wait—I tried the Flickr app once. It sucked.

Maybe, at the end of a long day all I want to do is sit down and watch an hour of TV. I don’t want to be frustrated for an hour by a slow and useless interface that makes me hulk out. Maybe I’m not alone in this idea after all.

The horror genre is not something we get to see very much of on network television so when a show like American Horror Story comes along, I get pretty excited. Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have done a great job at telling this story. Personally, I love what’s going on here and can’t wait for season 2.

While American Horror Story might not be my favourite TV show or anything, it’s unique and unlike any other show I’ve seen in the past few years. If you’re a horror or suspense fan in the least, I encourage you to give this show a spin.

I spent some time this past week during my downtime to upgrade XBMC to the “Eden” beta and found this beautiful skin called reFocus.

It’s absolutely stunning in my opinion and was quickly rolled out to both media centres in the house. Sometimes the Internet is a truly amazing place. To think of the amount of work that’s gone in to a skin like this and then multiply that by a thousand for XBMC itself is breathtaking. Keep up the good work guys, your work is being massively appreciated.

I haven’t logged in to MSN in close to 2 years. This isn’t because I don’t IM anymore but primarily because everyone I care to talk to is on GTalk. If they aren’t on GTalk, we have a private chat. My point is that in my life, direct messaging hasn’t gone anywhere.

While visiting my sister I saw that she was logged in to MSN and had only 1 person online. I remember when she would normally have 20+ people online at any given time. This looked so wrong that I thought Adium hadn’t connected properly. Then she asked me if it was possible to add Facebook chat to Adium. You can, so I did and BAM, 20+ people showed up online.

I would love to see the downward chart of chat networks (MSN, AIM, GTalk). It must just be an astonishing decline.

I watched the first episode of Homeland last night and I liked it. I was legitimately interested in Claire Daines characters and I have always really liked Mandy Patinkin. The guy is just awesome ya know?

I’m a little leery of it heading into some stereo-typical anti-terrorist ra-ra America type stuff but if they can keep it at bay and focus on making the story interesting I’ll be there for the long haul.

You can catch Homeland on Sunday nights on Showtime.

I wasn’t totally sold on replacing my iPhone 4 with a 4S but I logged into Fido earlier this week and saw that they let you reserve a phone online. When you take away the friction of trying to get an iPhone I thought it was worth it so I reserved one. Last year I had to wait in line for hours to get my iPhone 4 and I had already decided it wasn’t worth it if I had to do that again.

I started in position 1321 on Monday afternoon and as of this morning I’m in position 158. I don’t think this could have been easier.

It’s a little weird to be writing about a thermostat. It’s also strange timing that Nest was announced because I had just finished nerding out on thermostats about 2 weeks ago.

We recently moved and our new house had your standard mercury thermostat. We also had a discrete humidity control right above it and that bugged the shit out of me. I knew there were thermostats out there that could control both in 1 and that’s what I wanted. I ended up purchasing a Honeywell VisionPro IAQ and am very happy with it.

Nest is a very nice looking product but if you compare it to higher end models from Honeywell or Carrier you’ll see that they have the same features and then some. This isn’t meant to be a rift against Nest—it’s pretty as hell, it just doesn’t do enough to make me buy it. The main reasons I bought the Honeywell for example are not available with the Nest. A few simples examples:

1. I just bought an outdoor temperature sensor that works with my Honeywell. This information can be displayed on screen and can be used to help keep the temperature in my house comfortable and consistent.

2. Now that winter is on its way, the Honeywell also has a very cool auto humidity feature to keep it as high as it can without fogging up the windows.

It’s features like this are valuable to me. Regardless though, Nest sure looks pretty. It’s perfectly marketed to people like myself and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna kill it.