I've been watching my new Mission: Impossible... The Complete First Season DVD set whenever I can. It's amazing how well the series holds up after 40 years. I was totally addicted to the reruns when I was a kid, then hopelessly disappointed by the Tom Cruise films as an adult (M:I is supposed to be about TEAMWORK... TEAMWORK!). It's pretty sweet to see that the original show is just as good as I remember... and Barbara Bain is just as smokin' hot as I remember (literally, she smokes cigarettes constantly).
I've decided I don't feel like writing tonight. To explain myself, I offer this...
Why are people are still listening to this crazy asshole? If God is truly talking to Pat Robertson... how could he ever be wrong in his predictions? Wouldn't he have to be right 100% of the time for people to actually believe his shit? When he says "sometimes I miss" doesn't that imply that GOD is missing too? Or maybe... just maybe... he's a total nut-bag fraud. Anyone? Anyone?
Argh. Time for another spoonful of Pepto Bismol and bed.
But before I go... Over New Years, I reorganized and catalogued my DVD collection with a program called "Delicious Library." I've owned the program for almost two years, but never had the ambition to actually use it until now. I ended up loving the way it works so much, I've decided to review it in an extended entry...
When you are a DVD whore like me, it is sometimes hard to remember what you have in your collection. More than once I've been away from home when I catch wind of a massive DVD sale, place an order, laugh to myself at the huge bargain I just found, then discover I already own the DVDs I just bought when I get back home.
Enter Delicious Library.
This Macintosh-only program has won tons of awards and critical praise, and is the signature product of a company called "Delicious Monster." It can catalog your DVDs, Books, and CDs just like the hundreds of other "library" apps out there, but it has nifty-cool features that put it in a league of its own. And, if that weren't enough, it's beautiful to look at...
You can zoom out to see more of your collection, or zoom in to see a close-up view...
The "shelf view" renders each of your DVDs as keep-case covers (just like your CDs are rendered in jewel cases and your books are rendered as, well, books). It's probably more efficient to use the "list view," but the shelves are so cool-looking that I can't help myself. Mac users are accustomed to having beautiful software, but this is downright amazing.
But the hands-down most useful feature of this program is its ability to use your iSight camera as a bar code scanner! Just hold your UPC code up in-between the red "scan lines" and ZAP! Delicious Library goes out to Amazon and retrieves the artwork, description, and details...
This makes cataloguing even large libraries an easy chore, and keeping your collection up to date with new purchases is easy... all without having to buy a pricey barcode scanner.
Once your data is in Delicious Library, there's all sorts of things you can do. You can enter your personal review and rating for each item. You can manage borrowers to keep track of who has your stuff (and even automatically pop a due-date reminder into iCal). You can print a booklet of your collection or export the data in XML to use in other programs. You can even export your collection to your iPod's "notes" so you have a list of your collection wherever you go. The data handling in list view is highly customizable, and you can sort by any field you want (I find it interesting to view my collection based on my personal rating so I can see how many horrible one-star films I've somehow purchased for my library!). Still other tools allow you to see similar items for sale at Amazon (with all referral fees going to charity) or email item info to somebody so they can check it out. There's even a Dashboard Widget to search you collection without having to start up the program.
But the true miracle of Delicious Library is the price. Just $40. For software as full-featured and realized as this, that's quite a bargain. If only they could come up with a program for comic book collectors that could grab cover images and data from the Grand Comics Database. Hmmmm...
Sheesh. How is it when I decide I'm not going to write it ends up being a longer entry than on days I do?
UPDATE: Holy crap. That was quick... it's not by Delicious Monster, but it is a scanning comic book program!
Wow - that is one cool piece of software. Gonna have to buy that Mac laptop one of these days...
Dave: Daaaaaaaavvvvve! You look like you're going into Lime Coke Withdrawal in that headshot my friend!
:: Note to self: Buy Dave an iIV so he can just pump the stuff directly into his bloodstream while blogging ::
Posted by Kapha on January 04, 2007 | Reply
i found you in google about a year back when i started reading...
Posted by Gary on January 04, 2007 | Reply
You're killing me with the cans of Coke with Lime. I love it but can't get it. Coke Light was just put on the market here. I did find imported Dr. Pepper the other day, exorbitantly priced (of course).
I can get daily doses of Pat Roberson, but no Coke with Lime. Doritos and Oreo? Only on a good day.
What a world!!!
Delicious Library does sound brilliant.
I think I'm going to have to create a new category in my monthly budget just for Dave-approved products.
Posted by Jon on January 04, 2007 | Reply
Oohh, I want one of those catalougers for my make-up!
As for Crazy Robertson, have you considered that God is just letting off some steam? Like, telling Pat all this outlandish stuff, and then at the pearly gates he's going to bring Ashton out to tell Pat he's been punk'd all along? I'd like to think God is a practical joker. How else to explain the platypus?
Posted by francesdanger on January 04, 2007 | Reply
Man, I want that software. Oh yeah-I have to buy a Mac first. Wah! I hate Bill. Won't I get a discount at the Apple store if I say that? (You should make a "Kicked in the Nuts by Windows" shirt...I would totally buy it.) Wait...you still have nothing for sale, right? But my pots get cold in the window. Wah. I want a Daveshirt.
(A little whiny today, no?)
Posted by hot coffee girl on January 04, 2007 | Reply
It's really only for Mac? I've been looking for a program like that to catalogue my books, CDs, and movies for a loooong time.
And there is a comics program, called ComicBase, which I own. It has cover images and tons of details for thousands of comics. I even have a bar code scanner to scan the UPC codes. I don't know if they make one for Macs, though.
What is that U-NO bar? I've never seen that before, and I'm one of those people who has to try new candy as I see it.
If I ate like that, I would be so fat I couldn't get out of the house!! Damn your lightening fast metabolism! (shakes fist)
That DVD organizer is cool! And...is that Red Dwarf that I spy?? Anyone who even KNOWS about Red Dwarf gets a special place in my heart, but those that actually own it...well, those are certainly few and far between. :-)
Nez... Sadly, I can't get to sleep any night. :-(
Anthony... Usually "pretty" programs like this don't measure up in the features department... much to my delight, this one does.
Gary... A year? Happy Blogography Blogiversary to you!
Timothy... Yes, but can you trade your Pat Robertson for a can of Coke with Lime? I sure would.
Jon... Hey, even I can't afford half the stuff I think is brilliant! If you have the budget for it, my next "Dave Approved" is going to be a BMW Roadster Convertible... can you send me one too? :-)
Frances... This proves beyond a doubt that God has a sense of humor... because, if it were me, I'd be totally smiting his ass!
Troy... Or you could just buy a Mac...
Jenny... It's my favorite candy bar. Whipped, fluffy chocolate is blended with tiny, tiny bits of almonds, then covered in chocolate. It's one of those chocolate products that every once in a while gives you a tiny bit of "salty" with your "sweet" and tastes ever so delicious. Something for you to try while at TequilaCon!
Hot Coffee Girl... Sadly, I can't open the store until Blogiversary 4... but now I totally want that shirt! Awesome idea!
Karl... They're "faux" lasers... they just show up on screen so you can position the bar code properly. Nothing actually shoots out at you, but wouldn't it be cool if it did?
Avitable... I tried ComicBase a while ago, but it was on my crapy Windows PC, and I need something Mac. Wow... if only the people who make ComicBase would get together with Delicious Monster... how cool would THAT be? Of course, the $299 for access to all the covers is kind of extreme. I want a $40 program that grabs the covers from GCD for free! :-)
Jeff... And Cinnamon's looks! She distracted a new evil dictator every week!
Diane... Oh yes... I am a huge "Red Dwarf" fan. Have been for years! Though the last two seasons were kind of lame, they really hit their high-point in 5 and 6, which were the best sci-fi on television (and funny!).
Chase... OMG! WHERE WILL THIS DUMP OCCUR? WILL PEOPLE BE KILLED BY THE DUMP?? :-D
Rick... I do! But I want a library program that works with it that looks as cool as Delicious Library! I want Delicious Comics!!
dave, i am concerned. there are no vegetables in your food. nor a whole grain. nary a fruit! this can't be healthy. :)
Posted by ms. sizzle on January 04, 2007 | Reply
I really hate to say this, because the software is in fact a blatant rip-off of Delicious Library, but Windows users can get MediaMan for the same sort of thing. I had to go with it because it's all we Windows users have, though I loathe giving money for a total rip-off of someone else's ideas...
Holy crap! You're right... it IS a total rip-off of Delicious Library...
That is pretty disgusting... what a bunch of assholes! They just had to copy Delicious Library EXACTLY?? Why couldn't they have at least TRIED to come up with something unique?
Though I guess it's only fitting that since the Windows OS steals stuff from the Mac OS all the time that Windows software developers would steal from Mac developers. Gag. I've never been so glad to own a Mac in all my life.
I didn't bother to see if they copied all the cool features along with copying the look... somehow I doubt it. People who can't even bother to innovate their UI probably don't know how to innovate in their code either.
I want to taste U-NO !!! I don't know what it is...
I understand your point of view about religion when I see Pat Robertson and when I read what he said...
The program "Delicious Library" is so cool !!!
P.S. You have a very good taste about movie, TV...
P.P.S. Luc Besson, Quentin Tarantino... Code Quantum was so great !!! I loved this serie. And Field of Dreams, the best movie I have ever seen... Très bon goût, j'insiste !!!
P.P.P.S. What is this bill of "the fifth element" ? I prefer the french one.
I don't have any opinion on religion. I think that everybody should be free to worship as they choose, and have studied many religions so that I can understand people better.
I do, however, have a problem with dumbasses who claim to talk to God and then call for assassination of foreign heads of state, condemn people who are the victims of natural disasters or health problems, bash people because of their sexual orientation or social status, or terrorize elderly people into handing over their money so he can "save" them. He's reprehensible, irresponsible, hateful, and downright insane.
Laurence--I do like that cover better!!
I've never been able to give Fifth Element a fair shake. I saw it in college with my then-boyfriend who acted like a 12 year old every time Milla was on screen. And then he went on and on and ON about her (teeny tiny) breasts all the way home in the car.
Grrrrrrr...
In an odd turn of events, I did buy Milla's specialty lipstick from L'Oreal, but only because I like the color.
Le Cinquieme Element is one of my favorite films of all time, and one of the most fun sci-fi films ever.
Luc Besson (a true god of cinema) released a book about the making of the film that is fascinating. I was amazed at the amount of effort that went into the production of it, and the struggles he overcame to make it.
Alas, Besson is claiming to be retired from directing now, which is heartbreaking. Still, I always remain hopeful that the planned sequel to "The Fifth Element" (called "Mr. Shadow," or so I heard) will one day be made.
Sorry for telling you that... But Luc Besson would be able to produce, write, or anything the sequel to "the Fifth Element". But he stopped directing... I could cry while I am writing that !!! :-(
His last movie is "Arthur et les minimoys". Site officiel here.
I do not think that it would be quite the same to have somebody else direct "Mr. Shadow" - but certainly if he were to write and produce the sequel it might still be good!
I never realized how many movies he's produced and written that were not his films... but it is quite a few!
dvd profiler isn't bad for the windows platform - i use it with my $7 cuecat scanner from ebay. It's free (with ads) or $29 if you purchase with extra features. It is crippled in that it doesnt store all the upc characters (drops the outer two) so it is hard to export to different software such as mediaman (which I also tried on the windows pc)
Another free program is open media db which will do more than just dvd's.
Andy... Well, I guess it's an option for Windows, but I wouldn't trade Delicious Library for anything! :-)
Kyra... Oh I absolutely do NOT watch Pat Robertson. If I were forced to watch "The 700 Club" I would probably shoot myself. Every time he does or says something insane (which is about every-other-month) the news services pick it up and I see it in my newsfeeds. That's about as close to listening to this freakshow as I ever want to get! :-)
I wanna watch season one of Mission: Impossible!!! But I'm guessing I'll be very busy watching my new 16-DVD-set of Monty Python's Flying Circus to watch anything else.
And I definitely need that DVD organizer. I've done the same thing, grabbing a DVD on sale only to find out I own it already (in my defense, I share a DVD library with another movie buff like myself, so I might not realize we already have it because I wasn't the one that bought it originally, you dig?)
Holy crap...just looking at your Classic Concentration puzzle of junk food makes me reach for the Pepto!
This from someone currently indulging in her once a year "substitute half and half for milk on my big bowl of sugary cereal" treat. Hear that? That's the sound of my arteries hardening...
Fifth Element was a great movie, but what really sets you even slightly higher in my opinionometer is Real Genius -- what a great flick! And ever so quotable....
One of my faves, for sure.
Now, as good as any software might be, it should be turned into an online tool anyway. Whatever it does locally on a mac or otherwise should be able to be done via the web. Even the scanning part, via java or something. I want my stuff online so I can get to it anywhere, and maybe even exposed via the ol' blog.
Posted by Wayne Hall on January 26, 2007 | Reply
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