Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

Early iPhone Reviews Spur The Mania Onward

As if the iPhone mania wasn't crazy enough. Early positive reviews by some of the big guns in the media have launched things into the realm of complete insanity. That sound you hear is of folks scrapping together enough change to afford one of the new wonders. Funniest line I've heard in awhile on this: Jesus came back and he's now a phone.

Oh, my.

Of course it is interesting that the release is timed to hit after the stock market closes on Friday of a long holiday weekend. Brilliant? We'll soon find out. 

iPhone Mania

The hype is turning into mania, lines are starting at stores, Walt Mossberg has already reviewed the iPhone, and seems to find it to his liking. Pricing plans are being announced and yes, you've got to have a contract. You can also activate it at home as it now appears, so that you won't have to spend your holiday weekend standing in line.

Of course there is great fun to be had has well. John Dvorak is being cranky and wants to be awakened when the whole thing is over. And this site has come up with the iSmudginator, which lets you simulate getting all those greasy fingerprints all over the iPhone.

This is proving to be quite a show.

Another Day, Another Dust Up In the Blogosphere

See, I go away and get busy and all kinds of hootin' and hollerin' breaks out in the  blogosphere. And once again this is over disclosure and who gets paid, and who says what because they get paid. Mike Arrington is pretty hot over the whole thing (and I tend to agree with his points.) Dave Winer has chimed in. Some have apparently capitulated out of fear of their cred being diminished, which raises interesting questions in and of itself. And I'm guessing this one will blow over by the weekend, and then pick up again, in a week or so. All that iPhone coverage needs to get blogged you know.

Internet Radio Day of Silence

I'm starting to get back into the swing of things after an intense period of work and playing a little catch up. Today was a Day of Silence for Internet Radio in protest about the ludicrous new royalty structures imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board at the behest of the RIAA. Read more about it here, and here. 

While this may be a protest now, I think we'll unfortunately see more days ahead because of the greed involved.

We're Open

Well, we got the season and the new theatre open at Wayside Theatre in what by all accounts was a smashing success. I'll be blogging much more about this shortly, once I recover a little bit. In the meantime, here's a picture of the wife and I at the opening night festivities, wearing our matching Forever Plaid accessories (courtesy of Wayside Theatre's costume shop) and a link to a Flickr feed of pics from the show

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Final Countdown to Forever Plaid Opening

We are in the final hours countdown to Wayside Theatre's 46th Season Opening, which opens a new theatre, and our production of Forever Plaid. We had two great previews yesterday and still have some work to do today to tighten things down on both the new space and the show. It was great to hear the audience comments about both the show and the theatre. Everyone is pleasantly surprised by the theatre itself and it was a real treat to see audiences moving about yesterday and enjoying the grounds of the facility as well as the show.

Not everything is perfect yet, but it felt good. Tonight is the real test though and we are sold out. Expectations are high.  And I love these challenges. Here we go.

Time For An Audience

We'll we are down to it. We preview Forever Plaid and try out the new theatre space with a real audience today. It is both nerve wracking and exhilarating at the same time as we rush to complete things. Here's a link to a news clip from a local news station.

 

Follow this link.

Final Push

We're down to the last 48 hours or so before we open the new theatre space in Front Royal, Va. It will be a constant push to get the show and the space ready. Here's a link to one of the local papers covering the story (registration required.) Hope to see you there soon.

I Need Actors With This Kind of Timing

Too funny. Click the image for the video.

 

 

Via BoingBoing

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday morning reading to share.

Lots of things sink in the mud and muck of Washington DC, but it appears that the Jefferson Memorial is now one of them.

The FBI is trying to crack down on spam and bots and malware and is contacting more than a million computer owners in the process. Turns out this is fodder for a new scam, so according to Greg Hughes, make sure you check the ID of that agent knocking on your door.

The good old USA is now prepping for a cyberwar against China. Why do I think that the real CyberWar is going to be against a ring of teenagers somewhere? Ask Estonia.

The RIAA is having lots of fun playing the tyrant's role these days. They went after a professor who expressed his "opinion" by linking to some info about the RIAA's scurrilous practices, because he works for a state funded university. Via BoingBoing.

Yeesh. Stan Lee is developing an animated series for MTV starring Paris Hilton. Say it ain't so, Stan. 

I blogged about getting older yesterday from a totally non-tech perspective, but turns out there is a little snit going on about age and innovation happening in the blogosphere as well. Check out Dave Winer and Kent Newsome.