Walk the Line DVD
The Big Oscar contenders are starting to make their way onto DVD for home viewing. Walk the Line —the critically acclaimed bio-pic about Johnny Cash is the latest hit from 2005 to make it to home video. The movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, tells the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Their performances earned both best actor and best actress Oscar nominations (the film also garnered nominations for best costume design, best film editing, and best sound mixing). The DVD is available in both a one disc basic version and two disc special edition. On the single disc version, the special features are fairly limited. You get deleted scenes and the obligatory director’s commentary. The special 2 disc version adds some extended musical performances by Phoenix and Witherspoon, and three short features about Cash and Carter. Buy them here in the Preferred Consumer Store.
Walk the Line (Widescreen Edition)
Walk the Line (Full Screen Edition)
Walk the Line (2-Disc Collector’s Edition)
Dungeons and Dragons Online
As if there weren’t already enough MMORPGs (Multi Man Online Role Playing Game) out there, Dungeons and Dragons is entering the fray in a big way this week with Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. Like your typical MMORPG, D&D Online offers a fully interactive world where you can interact with thousands of other players. The hook here, of course, is the venerable D&D franchise. It certainly makes sense that the thousands of loyal D&D face-to-face gamers might want their own online world, but delving into the online world turns D&D into just another online game. Competition in the face-to-face world is pretty much limited. Online, there are quite a few major players out there competing for gamers’ dollars and–just as importantly–time. If you’re looking to buy D&D online, you can get it here in the Preferred Consumer Store, here:
Dungeons & Dragons Online: StormReach (DVD-ROM)
iPod Hi-Fi
Apple has once again upped the ante in the iPod market. This time they’ve made a splash in the accessory market with the brand new Apple iPod Hi-Fi Home Stereo. The iPod Hi-Fi is essentially an iPod-sized home stereo that lets you play your iPod without having to connect it to the typical component stereo system. The Hi-Fi is only 17 inches long and weighs 14.5 pounds, so Apple also touts it as a portable stereo solution. That seems a bit heavy to tote along, but you can run it on 6 D batteries if you choose to go mobile with it (you plug it in at home, of course). In any case, the Hi-Fi also works with the Apple remote. It also has a jack for an external component such as game console or iPod without a dock connection. With only one jack, though, the Hi-Fi seems a little limited as your main stereo option. Apple would have done better to have multiple jacks here. For $349, it certainly doesn’t seem like too much to ask for. Buy it here in the Preferred Consumer Store.
World Baseball Challenge
It’s finally time to stop reading about if [insert your favorite star here] will or won’t play, what country [insert your favorite star here] will play for, and why George Steinbrenner thinks it’s a bad idea. The inaugural World Baseball Classic is set to throw its first pitch on March third. In case you haven’t been following this, it’s a new 16 team tournament featuring full squads of major league baseball players in major international competition for the first time. Naturally, not every big star is taking part (Barry Bonds bowed out citing his bad knee, and Steinbrenner cowed several Yankees into taking a pass), but the teams will feature most of the all-star big leaguers. There was some initial sturm and drang from the State Department, but even Cuba has made the field, so the baseball ought to be pretty good—presuming the players can be in shape this early in the preseason. It will be a little difficult to follow all the games as many of them are on ESPN Deportes, but most will be at least available on ESPN or ESPN2 via tape delay. Check out the TV schedule here.
Sopranos Returns
Finally—after only a break of about 15 years—the Sopranos is back on HBO. Well…almost anyway. Its official kick-off is March 12. This season, originally intended to be the show’s finale, offers twelve new episodes about our favorite New Jersey mob family. As it turns out, however, the show will return for another 8 episodes in 2007. Anyway, HBO has, of course, cranked up the hype machine, including a season preview “Making the Sopranos” airing for the first time on Wednesday March 1. Don’t worry if you miss it, HBO will show it quite often to make sure that we all get hyped up for the show. After an up and down season 4, season 5 brought back the drama, tension, and betrayals that marked the show’s best early offerings. Season 6 promises to be more of the same, so this is a good time to think about re-upping that HBO subscription—at least for a few months. You can read more about the show at HBO.
Abortion Rights Fail in South Dakota
The state of South Dakota took a bold step this week, one that will almost certainly face legal challenges, as the legislators attempt to make almost all abortions illegal.
Governor Mike Rounds has said he will sign the bill within the required 15 day period. Under this law, as of July 1, 2006, South Dakota doctors who perform abortions in the state could face up to five years in prison.
Abortion supporters say if the governor signs the bill, they will file suit to block it. Rumors are flying of an anonymous $1 million pledge to finance the legal challenge.
Pro-lifers hope this frontal assault on the 33-year old law, Roe v. Wade, will cause the law to be overturned. If that happens, abortion supporters say, American women would return to the days of “back alley abortions” performed with coat hangers. But in reality, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortions will revert to being a matter of state law rather than federal.
Many on the pro-life side, including Governor Rounds, feel this action is too soon and too direct. They believe a more gradual approach, such as requiring parental notification, spousal notification, and waiting periods, would be a better way to discourage abortion.
Abortion opponents may feel emboldened by President Bush’s recent appointment of two conservative judges to the Supreme Court― John Roberts and Samuel Alito. But neither Roberts or Alito has stated how they would vote in abortion cases, saying instead that it is their duty to vote based on the facts of each case.
Some Rebates May be Fake
If a mail-in rebate is the final incentive you need to buy that computer, TV, or other electronic gadget, think again. Consumers love the idea of a cash-in-your-pocket rebate, and retailers love them too, because even though they may represent the deciding factor that causes a consumer to buy only 50-70 percent of us redeem the rebates (according to NDP, a provider of retail research).
But also, some rebate companies have come under fire for delaying payments and worse… for making the rebate requirements so complex and restrictive that a lot of them are ultimately rejected. And by the time the consumer gets the news of the rejection in the mail, the offer has expired. Many consumers give up at that point which may be what the retailers are hoping for.
If you think you’ve been scammed by a mail-in rebate offer, you may want to call their bluff, and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on this website:
In response to a flood of consumer complaints, some states are working towards greater regulation of rebate practices. And some retailers, to protect their reputations are giving up offering mail-in rebates altogether. Best Buy says they will eliminate all mail-in rebates by 2007, and opt instead for instant savings.
Industry analysts say consumers may be sorry, because if mail-in rebates go away, some great deals could be lost.
TOPPS Uses the Past to Celebrate the Future
The 2006 Topps Heritage Baseball Card series will be released tomorrow. Now in its 5th year, the Heritage set has quickly become one of the card-producing icon’s most popular items.
Each year, the Heritage series uses a card design from a past year to depict current players. This year’s set will bear the design of the 1957 card series which, incidentally, was the first set to feature color photographs; previous sets used hand-colored black and white pictures. There are 485 cards in this year’s Heritage series, including Veterans, Rookies, Managers and Team cards.
However, even though TOPPS is stepping into the past, the features modern-day collectors look for, such as chrome and refractor parallel sets, will remain. And as an added bonus, collectors will find autographed reprints of some of the original 1957 cards sprinkled throughout the set.
Each package will contain eight cards as well as the requisite stick of bubble gum. The suggested retail price is $3 per package.
Resume Writing: Stick with the Facts
When it comes to putting together a resume, there are probably few who have not been tempted to insert a little creative writing here and there. They’re certainly not alone.
The CEO of Radio Shack has done it. A former Notre Dame University football coach has done it. Even a high-ranking member of the U.S. Olympic has done it.
How big of a problem is it? According to one source, 20% of the resumes reviewed for accuracy contained some sort of falsehood or embellishment.
In another study conducted by ResumeDoctor, a Vermont-based national resume-writing service, 42% of the 1000 resumes studies contained at least one significant misstatement. Twelve percent of the resumes contained two or more inaccuracies.
Given these statistics, it’s safe to say that honesty is still the best policy when it comes to deciding what information to include in a resume. With technology increasing the ease and speed by which employers can check up on a prospective employee, the chances of being caught in a misstatement have increased as well.
Insurance Hikes May Depend on Your Zip Code
You’re a good driver, therefore you pay less for car insurance than bad drivers, right? Maybe.
If the California Department of Insurance (CDIC) has its way, all California drivers will pay higher rates beginning later this year, especially those who live in rural areas who may pay an additional 40 percent or more, regardless of a spot-free record. Fighting the attempt to punish rural drivers is Ron Taddei, representing the California Farm Bureau.
The CDIC, headed by insurance commissioner John Garamendi would make driving record the number one factor, which is good. But the number of miles driven annually would also weigh heavily in the calculation.
How does this punish rural drivers? Because as the CDIC states, residents of rural areas may have to drive farther to take the kids to school or buy groceries. Taddei and the Farm Bureau argue the obvious point that extra miles driven in a rural setting are far safer than fewer miles driven in the heavily trafficked city, which explains why rural drivers have far fewer accident claims that urban drivers.
George Joseph, founder of insurance giant, Mercury General Corporation, says the change will mean that people living in rural and suburban areas will be subsidizing those living in urban areas, where wages tend to be higher.
People who live in rural areas choose to do so in spite of generally lower wages. Now, it appears, rural dwellers will be smacked again while higher-earning urban dwellers will catch a break.