Spoiler alert: I am going to be talking about plot elements so if you haven’t seen it yet you might not want to read the rest of this before seeing the movie.

I saw Skyfall, the newest member of the James Bond franchise, on the weekend. Overall, I give the movie a score of 8/10.

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Assuming Rogers doesn’t once again change the eligibility date for a hardware upgrade, I should be eligible for a new phone in a couple of days. Currently, I have a BlackBerry 9700 Bold, which I’ve generally been happy with, but there are now other types of phones available that weren’t viable as options when I got my first smartphone a few years ago. These include iPhones, Androids, and Windows 7 phones, along with various other propriety almost-smartphones. There are also newer BlackBerrys to consider.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I’m looking for in a phone (besides the basic functionality of placing and receiving phone calls) and I’ve come up with a list:

• The screen must be larger than the one in my BlackBerry 9700: While the display on the Bold is fine, having more screen real estate would make it easier to use. The BlackBerry Torch has a larger screen.
• The screen must be a touchscreen: I’ve gotten so used to interacting with my iPad by touching the screen that I even find myself trying to zoom and scroll à la iPad. When I let other people use it, they try to scroll by touching the display, even when I tell them as I hand it to them “it’s not a touch screen” and “don’t poke the screen” — even other people who have identical phones to mine. iPhone owners are completely baffled if they try to use my BlackBerry that I eventually take pity on them. Some of the newer BlackBerrys have touchscreens, even if they have a screen similar in size to the 9700.
• Forward-facing camera: It would be nice to have the ability to make video calls, possibly with Skype. iPhones and Androids have them, but I’m not aware of any BlackBerrys that do.

Given that most phones these days have large touch screens, it’s really the forward-facing camera that’s starting to influence the decision. But it’s the next two that are the deciding factors:

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The final issue of the Dark Matter mini-series was released this past Wednesday. Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie of Stargate fame, the series has taken us from when the crew of a spaceship wakes up with amnesia in the first issue, to learning about who they were in DM #3.

At the end of Dark Matter #3, the crew was split into two groups: one that was on a planet making a delivery and the other which had to leave them on the planet to avoid getting into a battle with another ship.

In Dark Matter #4, our heroes manage to get back together without getting blown to smithereens. They also manage to save the settlers on the planet before riding off into the sunset, so to speak, with an implied “to be continued”. (If you want more details then you’re going to have to visit your local comic book shop and pick up a copy for yourself!)

Overall, I enjoyed the series and I’m sad to see it end. It’s well-written and the drawing it top-notch!

Joseph Mallozzi has mentioned on his blog a number of times that Dark Matter is being pitched as a television series. Personally, I’d like to see it on tv, but I hope that Dark Horse Comics decides to sign Dark Matter up for a long run, too!

Read my review of Dark Matter #3 here.
Read my review of Dark Matter #2 here.
Read my review of Dark Matter #1 here.

I picked up Dark Matter #3 by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Scullie this past Wednesday from Silver Snail along with a couple of other titles. The third in a series of four, this is the issue where our amnesiac crew comes to grips with their rather checkered pasts, which they have discovered in the ship’s computer. At the same time, they have to contend with threats from another ship that showed up at the end of Dark Matter #2 while some of them are on a planet delivering weapons to some settlers. (Of course, there’s a bit more than just a delivery run, but you’re going to have to read the issue to find out what I’m not telling you!)

Discussions between the two ships ensue with ultimatums being issued. The result is that the crew on the ship have to leave immediately, leaving their crewmates on the surface behind.

Duh Duh DUH!

I’m still enjoying the progression of the story. It continues to have the feeling of elements of Joss Whedon’s Firefly combined with the uncertainty of Stargate Universe along with elements from other sci-fi stories I’ve read over the years. The writing is tight and the artwork is dark and gritty, which is perfect for the story.

I’m a bit sad that there’s only one more issue to come in the series because it’s a great medium for a story like this. Joseph Mallozzi has said in various entries on his blog that there’s serious interest in a Dark Matter television series, which would be great and I would like to see come to fruition. However, though I’m by no means an expert on the industry, I suspect that a comic book series would be much less subject to arbitrary cancellation unlike a television series. (For proof of this one needs look no further than Stargate Universe, which was effectively scuttled by Space, or Firefly, which was cancelled by Fox. Neither series was really given a fair chance and both were top-notch television.)

There’s probably nothing precluding having both a television series and a comic book series in parallel, so hopefully this is something the Joe will entertain. I don’t believe he’s really said anything about this one way or the other on his blog. (Care to comment, Joe? )

So, it you haven’t picked up Dark Matter #3, what are you waiting for? And if you haven’t read any of them, then get in touch with your local comic book shop and order them today!

Read my review of Dark Matter #2 here.
Read my review of Dark Matter #1 here.

Dark Matter #2 by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Scullie was released yesterday, so I dropped by Silver Snail at lunch and picked it up along with a copy of Green Lantern #6. The second in the four-part series, #2 picks up with our heroes 40 seconds away from being blown up by missiles shot at them by another ship that they know nothing about. Fortunately, they make it out of the encounter safely so we get to learn more about the ship they’re on and where they’re going.

Their robot companion has been able to recover some information from the ship’s computer and they determine they’re en route to a planet. When they arrive, they meet quadrium miners on the planet who are happy enough to help them repair their ship, but curiously would like them to do so very quickly before some aliens known as the Raza show up and kill everyone. The miners are waiting for help to arrive, but the Raza are going to arrive first, so things don’t look too hopeful. (more…)

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s new comic day. And today it also means that it’s Dark Matter #1 release day, which regular readers will remember me writing about in the past. Accordingly, I headed out to Silver Snail at lunch and picked up the disturbingly large pile of comics waiting for me. I got back to the office in time to read Dark Matter #1 before having to head to a meeting, so I thought I’d post a quick review.

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I mentioned the WordPress app on my list of essential iPad apps recently. In my write-up I noted that the editor was very basic without any formatting controls. This morning I checked the AppStore and found that an update for the WordPress app has been released. And lo and behold, they’ve added some formatting controls to the editor to make it easier to markup text.

Now, instead of having to manually enter HTML tags to bold something, for example, I can highlight the text and poke a markup button. This is long overdue and makes the app much more useful. There are still some tweaks they need to make, such as allowing you to specify whether a link opens in the same window or new one, but this is a good start.