Life - Josh Benson

Life

May18

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Adios, DVDs

Posted in: Life, Technology

Remember cassette tapes? Or ‘Walkmans’? They were great inventions and served us well. But no more. When was the last time you’ve seen a Walkman? I think I still have one back at my parent’s house up in the attic. And I know there’s a copy of the Top Gun soundtrack cassette tape nearby. That, I’m sure.

"Say man, can I snag that Tears for Fears tape for a few hours?"

But as we fondly remember the cassette tape era, could it be that DVDs are the next in line to be a distant memory? For those of you with the massive DVD rack you bought from the SkyMall catalog loaded with your favorite DVD movies and music CDs, brace yourselves. I think the end is near. Start offloading them.

My girlfriend sent me an article from 9to5Mac.com that really shouted something about laptops, specifically MacBook Pros, “what’s the need for a combo-drive anymore?”.

Basically, there’s news that Apple is soon to launch a new MacBook Pro. And it WON’T have a combo drive. There’s no need. They have the app store. I couldn’t believe it.

But then I quickly could believe it. When was the last time you stuck a DVD or CD into your laptop? Really. It hasn’t happened much, I bet. So in order to make the sleekest, hippest, and most technological laptop, they wanna burn the drive. Here’s a blurb:

As the MacBook Air pioneered, and the latest Mac mini models have followed, the new 15-inch MacBook Pro loses the optical drive in order to reach Apple’s new standard for notebook thinness. Apple has made it clear that professionals could lose the optical drive in favor of the wildly popular Mac App Store for software installations. Take Final Cut Pro X or Aperture for example. For those few who still need an optical drive, Apple has been selling a USB Superdrive since the first-generation MacBook Air launched.

Mockup of new MacBook Pro without a Combo Drive.

Sure, this new MacBook Pro will have a ton of new features. It’ll be much faster (USB3, Thunderbolt?) and a Retina Display for crisp graphics, but that’s for another blog post.

So just as every other trend has come and gone, I fear that DVDs and CDs are about to enter the fold. You can trust Apple has a pretty good eye on ‘what’s next’.

Speaking of which…I feel that Apple will get into the ‘television’ game very soon if not within the year. Others agree. Imagine Apple creating an interactive TV. That will be sweet. And everyone will want one. And have no fear, it’ll most likely come with several inputs so you can keep that Pioneer DVD player you have and the SkyWall of DVDs you own. There may even me an audio jack to connect that sweet Walkman of yours. Crank up Enya to 11!

Geez.
Jul3

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Minnesota (Not So) Nice?

Posted in: Community & Events, Life

AMERICAN SCENE: Minnesota: A State That Works | August 13, 1973

I’ve always been very proud of my home state of Minnesota. I follow the news there just as much as I do the news here in Orlando. In fact, my home page on my internet browser is a Minnesota newspaper. I guess it’s because I view it as a pure and healthy place to raise a family devoid of pretension, pollution and shady leadership. It seems that’s the way it always used to be. I haven’t been there full-time in more than six years. When news headlines don’t contain the word ‘Minnesota’, things are normal, quiet and peaceful. No news is good news, they say.

I became concerned when I saw the article Minnestoa Nice tu rns nasty on Politico.com’s website. Things seem to be changing a bit. The government shut down Friday. As I type this, it’s been shut down for 2 days, 20 hours and 24 minutes according to a counter on Startribune.com. Minnesota is just one of five states that has shut down in the last decade. Legislators can’t agree. I understand hard times come and go – but it’s a far cry from what things used to be. Hopefully ‘Minnesota Nice’ can be restored and allow Minnesota to hide from the headlines. Again, the way thing used to be.

Once upon a time, Minnesota was featured in TIME magazine (beyond a short headline) for what else? Being a state ‘that works’.
Jun13

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Chipotle: Fail

Posted in: Bizarre, Life

I hit up Chipotle for dinner tonight. The place was busy. So I waited, excited to dump half a bottle of the green Tobasco sauce on my perfectly-wrapped burrito. I placed my order and noticed the lady threw the tortilla in the press to heat it up. When she pulled it out, I noticed the tear. A tiny tear in the corner. Disaster was near.

It was onto the next guy in line who slapped in the chicken, mild and hot sauce, black beans. Next guy confidently drizzled sour cream on the contents and tossed in the cheese. But then he looked distraught. He was adjusting the burrito in all directions in an attempt to roll it, but couldn’t figure it out. Because he saw what I saw. The tear. He knew it could be disasterous with the amount of goodness he was about to lock into the silver bullet. It was already too full. How could he do it? Would he do it? Well, he did. After very clever trickery, and a some sleight of hand – he quickly folded, spun, wrapped and tightened the burrito. He no longer held the responsibility. The responsibility rested with me.

I grabbed the Tobasco and took my seat. Carefully, I unwrapped the burrito. First bite, second bite thir….Bam. Destroyed. It was irreversible. The tear grew, the contents shifted. Fell. It was too late. I was the guy who had to grab the FORK to finish it off. It kinda irked me, because I was looking forward to enjoying and not working to fill the void in my stomach.

I guess you won’t understand why I’m blogging about this until it happens to you. It’s just disappointing. That is unless you like the BOWLS…then, well, you wouldn’t understand this at all.

Just beware of the tear. I’m telling you, disappointment awaits.
Apr6

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Breaking and Entering

Posted in: Bizarre, Life, TV News

Today my photographer Dan and I were on a shoot for an upcoming story. We stopped by his house after the shoot was over and I apologized to his neighbor. Let me tell you why…

Last week while Dan and I were rushing to finish up a story, we had to stop at his house to get a special camera. I was on the phone. He ran in to grab the camera. I had to use the bathroom. I finished up the call as I got out of the car and walked into the house, happened to find the bathroom (since I’d never been there), made a quick ‘pit stop’ and was out of the house in under a minute or two.

What was strange was that I yelled ‘hey’ when I went inside – no answer. Dan was nowhere to be found. Also confusing was the female pink razors in the bathroom. I didn’t think Dan had a roommate. As I was walking down the stairs of the back entrance, I see Dan coming up the other end of the driveway.

I turned whiter than I am already.

“Ah, isn’t this your house?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “Whhhhhy?”

“Oh my God. We gotta go, NOW!”

And with that we pulled out of the driveway. I just used the bathroom in his neighbor’s house.

Horrified.

While Dan thinks it’s the funniest story of the year – I continue to play over the vision of me walking into a shotgun barrel or a ravenous parakeet for that matter.

So today was a day to come clean and apologize to the woman who lives in the home with her husband – who were both gone at at moment in time. Luckily.

I’m thankful to be alive. And I was glad I used the bathroom – because clearly the afterthought would have been enough to for me to wet my pants.

The neighbor? She just laughed.

The end.