Steady Clappin'

The Muppets are an American treasure. Seriously.

¡Hodor!

Hey guys, science is cool.

Ladies. I will be in the great wilderness (specifically the actual location of the above picture) for the next few days, so I won’t be able to reply to all your sexy haiku emails. My apologies.

Edit: Now that it’s been a few days, and I’ve actually watched the keynote (I had just followed a live text feed of the event), and saw how rushed everything was, I don’t think Microsoft fully understands what they’re doing. They announced a product with no shipping date and no price, didn’t give any software demonstrations, or let any of the press use any Surfaces with the keyboard cover they were so excited to talk about. It’s not ready, and neither are they. But I’m excited to see how it all pans out.

The new Microsoft Surface is a pretty interesting concept. It is an exciting prospect that there are hardware/software products like this coming out of Redmond. Windows 8 is a bold move by Microsoft and it’ll be interesting to see how the public reacts to such a radical departure from the beige they’ve learned to love deal with. I’ve doubted the viability of Windows 8 using the classic desktop experience in conjunction with the Metro experience—it’s two completely different user experiences and philosophies—but it might just work with the hardware Microsoft just revealed.

I’ll leave all the technical details of the tablet to all the real websites out there. You can go read all the nitty gritty right chyeah. The simple details are these: It’s a 10.6 inch tablet (slightly larger than an iPad) that runs two different versions of Microsoft’s new operating system. It is sold along side of a cover that snaps magnetically to the tablet much like Apple’s smart cover. The great thing about it is that it doubles as a multitouch keyboard, essentially turning the tablet into a laptop.

The smart cover/keyboard is a really neat idea that really sells the whole thing for me. If I actually needed a Windows machine in my house, I’d absolutely look into a solution like this. It’s fairly good-looking, seems to be well-made, and was designed with the software in mind.

Microsoft is really trying to change its culture and public perception; that they aren’t this corporate blob of middle managers copying Apple and coasting on the revenue from their Office software. There is a lot of Apple-ness creeping into Microsoft these days. That’s a good thing. They are still super bloated and dorky right now. The video above is trying way too hard with the dubstep soundtrack and abstract magnesium droplets. Apple’s commercials are effective because they show the consumer how using the product affects them. Not that their product is made out of shiny. They also didn’t announce pricing or availability, which is a bit of a red flag. There is still a lot of old Microsoft up in Redmond. But Windows Phone, Windows 8, and this new Surface are certainly steps in the right direction.

As a consumer, you should be excited for this changing Microsoft.

Dude is painting Bladerunner, frame by frame, in watercolor.

Everyone in this video is so sexy.

What’s that shot called?