Those Gabby Guys And Starry Skies

Based on pure stereotyping and my own personal cell phone use, I would guess that females talk more on their cell phones than guys do. I know I definitely talk more on my cell phone than the average guy, mostly because I do not have a home phone and use my cell phone for all my gabbing - business and personal. According to the results of a recent survey just conducted by AT&T, this whole stereotype is thrown out the door - just barely.

The survey was done on a little more than 1,000 random users (50 percent men and 50 percent women), and the men average 458 minutes of monthly phone use, while the women average 453 minutes. The largest historical gaps since this survey’s inception in 2001 was in 2002 when men averaged 589 minutes and women only 394 minutes. Also, in 2005 men averaged 571 minutes and women only 424 minutes.

Additionally, the survey results indicate that 45 percent of wireless subscribers use the text messaging features on their device, 44 percent use the camera, 17 percent play games and 11 percent access their e-mail. Women use the gaming, camera and text messaging features more frequently and men use their device for wireless e-mail and accessing the Internet more frequently than the women.

Overall, both men and women continue to use their cell phones more than home phones on average (455 minutes compared with 394 minutes) - a trend that began in 2005. Unlike me, women usually spend more time on their home phones than men. Women talk for 532 minutes a month compared with only 237 minutes for men. The survey also revealed that women use the wireless phones more than men to talk to friends and family, but men use theirs for business conversations.

That’s just some food for thought the next time you pick up your cell phone. I thought it was interesting, especially since I figured the women would be talking on their phones more than the men. Gals, tell that to your man the next time you’re accused of talking on the phone too much!

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When I was kid I always slept with a night light on in the room, but I never had anything like this - a stuffed animal that can project the stars up on the wall or ceiling. It would have been so cool to have this as a kid. Our keiki can be so spoiled with this type of stuff these days, but you can’t deny this to a little one, it’s such a cute (and useful) little thing.

Not only is this adorable stuffed animal a turtle, he’s a portable planetarium that you can snuggle with (plush body, hard shell). He displays the sky, including eight constellations, from a projector within his plastic shell. A timeout feature automatically shuts his shell off after 45 minutes so you don’t have to worry about wasting the batteries. By then, hopefully your little one is fast asleep.

Obviously this is not your average plush toy. It comes in different shell colors: blue, green or amber. The constellations can be projected in white, green or blue. These were chosen for their relaxing, rejuvenating and calming qualities, so everyone can enjoy it. This is a great relaxing resource to teach your keiki about the stars when you’re not outside.

You can find the Twilight Turtle for $31.99 at http://www.amazon.com. You’ll need three AAA batteries (included) for operation, and it’s recommended for children ages 3 and up. It also comes with a guide to help you recognize the constellations.

A Blockbuster for Blu-ray Fans

Most of the people I know usually use online services from Blockbuster or Netflix for their movie rentals. I’ve personally switched between these two a few times, but at the moment I’m with Blockbuster. I like the fact that I can exchange a mailed-to-me movie for a movie off Blockbuster’s store shelves.

Although Netflix does have a shipping depot here in Hawaii, there’s no way you can receive that kind of turnaround time with it. With Blockbuster, you pick up double the movies for the same price. The only thing that disappoints me is the fact that there are no Blu-rays available at the stores here, and the selection online is very limited.

With that thought floating around in my brain, it seems that Blockbuster will make a huge dent in the Blu-ray / HD-DVD war. It announced last week that it is rolling out an expanded Bluray disc inventory for rentals to 1,700 of the corporate-owned stores by mid-July. I have not yet seen any Blu-rays here at the Hawaii Blockbusters, but I’m looking forward to it since I prefer Blu-ray.

Blockbuster will continue to offer both Blu-ray and HD-DVD titles through the online rental service, along with the 250 stores that already carry both high-definition formats. With the huge expansion next month, Blockbuster will stock more than 170 Blu-ray titles and will continue to add more as they are released from the studios.

I originally used Netflix because of the ability to drop the movies back in the mail without worrying about late fees. Then shortly after, Blockbuster dropped its late fees, and a little while after that added its online store. Thereafter, Bluray was born into the world, then those also became available on Netflix. I just loved that availability because the Blu-ray selection was more than decent.

Well, short of building physical stores around the country, it is difficult for Netflix to compete with Blockbuster’s in-store movie exchanges, so it offers Instant Viewing instead. This is a way for members to view streaming movies and TV series on their computer instantly. This was launched back in January, and there is no charge for the service. With this service, Netflix is hoping to take the lead in the movie rental market by adding “electronic delivery” to its existing delivery platform.

Since Netflix’s immediate viewing feature is streamed, you don’t have to worry about downloading a humongous file. It uses real-time playback, so as long as you have a high-speed Internet connection it’ll do fine. I still have a problem with this because I still very much prefer my high-definition (HD) Blu-ray. This streaming feature is very good, but it doesn’t do much for HD snobs like me.

So, thank you to Blockbuster for offering up more of these Blu-ray disks for me to rent! Blu-ray formatted titles are available from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, FOX Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment. They can be played on Blu-ray players, a Sony PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) or a Blu-ray compatible drive on your computer.

Check out Blockbuster’s plans at www.blockbuster.com - rate plans start at $4.99 per month.

If you don’t absolutely need the Blu-ray disk or in-store exchanges, the Netflix (www.netflix.com) plans also begin at $4.99 a month.

Making Money With Your Favorite Photos

So, do you think you take awesome pictures, and often receive compliments on your photos? If the answer is yes, you could be the perfect candidate to make a small side career off your pics.

This whole concept is called microstock photography, which branches off stock photography (photos that can be used for books, magazines, advertisements, web-sites, etc.).

This concept is nothing new, but it seems to be booming lately. I’ve always wanted to submit my photos to some of these sites, but never made the time. When the moment came to write this story, I went ahead and created a few accounts at various web-sites to test out the services. At the time I’m writing this, my work has been online for a day and a half with no purchases yet. It’s such a short period of time, yet I only have three photos posted.

I’ll just have to be patient and see if I actually make anything. I honestly don’t expect much since I just did it for fun. That in mind, microstock’s namesake indicates you’ll make very little per sale (compared to more traditional methods). However, if your images are exceptional, you could possibly make up the difference by selling large quantities. I’ve heard of individuals earning their entire income by selling pictures through these online avenues.


However, if you’re on the other side of things (i.e., with an agency or publication), you probably already know this venue of stock photography could save your company money and is an excellent resource to find good images for less money.

Each microstock site differs in pricing and payment setups. You can upload the same pictures on multiple sites (as I did) with no fee to post your photos. Note that before starting this whole process you need to be pre-approved by each site’s team of inspectors. Not everyone will be accepted and even if you are chosen, all your photos may not be accepted either. Your work is typically judged on technical quality, artistic looks and commercial merit. You can add-in keywords to your photo descriptions to help yourself stand out to potential buyers.

Here are the most popular microstock photography websites out there:

* iStockphoto (www.istockphoto.com): This is probably one of the first ones around and based in Canada. It’s available in 12 languages, and has an image download average of every 2.5 seconds. I saw these guys at a trade show earlier this year, and a video service has been added since then.

* DreamsTime (www.dreamstime.com)

* ShutterStock (www.shutterstock.com)

* Fotolia (www.fotolia.com)

* 123RF (www.123rf.com)

* BigStock Photo (www.bigstockphoto.com)

Additionally, Corbis (www.corbis.com) just entered the micros-tock photography market earlier this month. This should be interesting because Corbis was founded by Microsoft’s chairman Bill Gates, and he owns 100 percent of its shares.

A hard-core individual looking to actually make serious sales off this would probably want to submit at least 300 images to each web-site (as compared to my very few three for giggles). With at least the 300, you can probably make about $500-plus a month along with constant uploading of more and more pics to add on to your site portfolios.

Just a tip for the beginners, I heard ShutterStock and Fotolia accept more images. It’s hard for me to gauge at this point since I only have three images in (but at least I made them in!).

For the students out there, this could be a good alternative to a summer job. Have fun with this and good luck!

What's Surfacing At Microsoft

The world has had touch screen computers for a long time, but I’ve never seen one that recognizes multiple touches at one time, or one in the shape of a table. Microsoft’s latest creation, the Surface, is essentially a coffee table that may change the world. It’s the first commercially available surface computer that turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface.

Nothing like I’ve ever seen before, Surface is a 30-inch-wide “table” which is easy for you or small groups to interact with. It simultaneously recognizes almost all of your physical touches, gestures or actual objects that have attached identification tags (similar to barcodes). For example, if you place your digital camera on the Surface, you’ll see the photos you took spill out all over the tabletop like magic. You can then “grab” these pictures with your fingertips, stretch them out, or move them around the Surface. If that’s not enough, you can place your cell phone on the Surface and drag those photos to it. Voila, those photos are uploaded to your phone.

Or, if you’re at a restaurant, say the Surface is your table - you can order food off the menu by just clicking and dragging the desired food and beverages from the screen. Then when you’re finished, just placing your credit card on the Surface will pay for your meal with RFID (and even have the option to split it among multiple credit cards when dining with others).

All this is done with your hands, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.

This whole concept is called surface computing (hence the name Microsoft gave its new gadget).

It’s a new way of working with computers that moves beyond the traditional keyboard and mouse experience. It’s a natural user interface that allows you to interact with digital content the same way you’ve been interacting with everyday items such as photos, paintbrushes and music your entire life - with your hands, with gestures and by putting real-world objects on the surface.

Surface computing opens up a whole new category of products for you to interact with.

The guts of Microsoft’s Surface is almost the same as what you would find in a regular PC - a Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM and a 256 MB graphics card. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability, and uses Windows Vista. If you were to pick it apart, the Surface has a diffuser that turns its acrylic table-top into a huge touchable screen that’s capable of receiving and processing your multiple touches. Its “vision” operates in the near-infrared spectrum, using an LED light source that is aimed at the screen you see. The light is reflected back and picked up by many infrared cameras, then gives you the picture you see with its digital light processing (DLP) engine found in many rear-projection TVs.

In the near future, you’ll see Microsoft’s Surfaces appearing at restaurants, hotels, retail establishments and public entertainment venues. Confirmed partners so far include Starwood Hotels & Resorts (Sheraton) and T-Mobile stores. And, if you take a trip to Vegas, you’ll see these at Harrah’s Entertainment’s properties (including Caesars Palace and the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino). At the moment, the units sell for $10,000 each (not available to us consumers), but will definitely come down in price the day you and I will be able to buy these. Check out http://www.microsoft.com/surface for more information, and make sure to watch the video demos.

Singing the Praises of iTunes Plus

As much as I use and love iTunes, up to this point in time what I’ve been able to do with the music content has been somewhat limited. That’s not the case anymore since Apple launched its new iTunes Plus a couple weeks ago. This version allows you to download music tracks that are free of digital rights management (DRM) issues, meaning you can do whatever you want with this music (for personal use). iTunes Plus songs cost $1.29 and come with a high-quality 256 kbps Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) encoding for audio quality almost indistinguishable from the original records. It launched with EMI’s digital catalog of recordings, including singles and albums from Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Joss Stone, Pink Floyd, John Coltrane and more than a dozen of Paul McCartney’s classic albums.

“Our customers are very excited about the freedom and amazing sound quality of iTunes Plus,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We expect more than half of the songs on iTunes will be offered in iTunes Plus versions by the end of this year.”

The iTunes you currently know and love will continue to offer you its entire catalog, with more than 5 million songs at the original 128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM at 99 cents per song, alongside the higher iTunes Plus versions when available. iTunes Plus automatically searches through your existing library and looks for tracks that are upgradeable from previously purchased EMI content. If you choose to upgrade, the charge is 30 cents per song or $3 for most albums.

The upgrade process is very easy. The first step is to make sure you have iTunes version 7.2. You then can sign into the iTunes Store, click on the “iTunes Plus” icon, and then “Upgrade My Library.” This does a sweep of your library and tells you how many of your tracks are eligible for an upgrade. After going through with the upgrading you’ll see a message that says “Your iTunes Plus music is currently up-to-date. There is nothing more for you to upgrade. Check back often as iTunes Plus music is continually being added.”

After doing this, you’ll definitely see a difference in the song sizes. For example, one of my 128 kbps songs is about 3.5 MB, but the 256 kbps encoding nearly doubles it to a 6.7 MB size.

Also note the file extensions change from .m4p (128 kbps) to .m4a (256 kbps).

The best part about this new iTunes Plus is that you can download tracks from your favorite EMI artists without limitations on the type of music player you use or the number of computers on which purchased songs can be played.

EMI music videos are now also available in iTunes Plus versions with no change in price.

The iTunes Plus songs you purchase from the iTunes Store will play on all iPods, Mac and Windows computers, widescreen TVs equipped with Apple TV, iPhones (soon to be released), and just about any other digital music players.

“This is a tremendous milestone for digital music,” said Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group. “Consumers are going to love listening to higher-quality iTunes Plus tracks from their favorite EMI artists with no usage restrictions.”

The iTunes Store is still my favorite, and offers you the world’s largest catalog with its selection of more than 5 million songs, 350 television shows and more than 500 movies. It’s hard to believe that the iTunes Store has so far sold more than 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows and more than 2 million movies!

If you’re picky about your sounds, Apple’s iTunes Plus tracks are definitely worth the extra 30 cents, but it’s all up to you and your musical preferences. If you don’t have iTunes yet, check it out at www.itunes.com.

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iTunes U On another iTunes note, Apple also announced iTunes U, a dedicated area within the iTunes Store that features free content for students. You’ll see course lectures, language sessions, lab demonstrations, sports highlights and campus tours provided by top U.S. colleges and universities (i.e. Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University and MIT).

Even if you’re not a student, the iTunes U feature allows you to easily access useful educational material from multiple respectable universities and colleges. iTunes U was created in collaboration with these schools and is downloadable onto your iPod.

Mahalo.com

Living in Hawaii, mahalo is a word we all know and love, and probably use every day. This latest mahalo isn’t what you think. I’m not writing about an airline or the word itself, but about a new website search engine that launched a couple of weeks ago.

Sure, there are tons of search engines you can use, but this one caught my attention purely for its name.

What makes Mahalo.com different from Google or Yahoo! is that it operates using human labor. In other words, Mahalo’s employees, referred to as Guides, manually dig through the Internet to look for quality sites. They weed out spam sites, pages with deceptive or overbearing advertising, and sites that repeat information with no source/have an unknown origin.

Of course humans cannot possibly create as many search results as a machine (or go as deep), but we can create better, personalized results. The Guides use Google, Yahoo!, Ask, MSN, Flickr., Delicious and other services to handcraft for you the cleanest possible spam-free search engine results page (SERP). Currently the site can deliver results for 4,000 of the most popular search terms. By the end of the year, Mahalo hopes to raise that to 10,000.

When I first heard about Mahalo.com, I thought it was created here in Hawaii, but it was actually launched by a young serial entrepreneur, Jason McCabe Calacanis, along with a group of investors that include Sequoia Capital, Elon Musk (founder of SpaceX, co-founder of PayPal and chairman of Tesla Motors), NewsCorp, CBS Corporation, Hubert Burda Media, Allen & Co., David Bradley, Gigi Brisson, Sandy Climan, Mark Cuban, Matt Coffin, Ted Leonsis, Jonathan Miller, Mark Pincus, Ryan Scott and Fred Wilson.

Calacanis’ stated Mahalo mission is plain and simple: “To help people - a lot.

“We want to help people find what they’re looking for and discover cool things they weren’t looking for,” he says. “We want to create the best search results available on the Web for the most common search terms. Now, we know we can’t hand-write all of the search terms in the world, but we can do the most common ones, and that will help people ... a lot!”

The site is focused on the top English-language search terms - travel, products, news, entertainment, sports, food and health. “Google’s mission is to index the world’s information; our mission is to curate that wonderful index,” says

Calacanis. “It’s my belief that humans can play a significant role in the development of search results, and we’re going to try to figure out exactly what that role is over the next couple of years. I am really looking forward to hearing what people think of the Alpha (the version that Mahalo is currently on),” he adds.

The Guide’s Choice symbol is a cute shaka sign to show that one of the Guides really likes the link. If you hover over shaka with your mouse for a while, it tells you what Guide recommended it and why. The exclamation mark symbol indicates a warning, and the question mark icon is placed next to sources that may not be familiar. It’s fairly straightforward.

What I admire about Mahalo is that since it does use the human factor, you will not generally see annoying sites that are filled with ads or phishing. It also only goes to websites that have been operating for at least one year, have a clean layout with a decent amount of ads, or sites that are considered authorities in their field.

To experience this new form of mahalo, check out www.mahalo.com.

An entertainment boost from Joost TV

As much as I like to watch TV, I just don’t have the time to sit down and watch all my favorite shows. Sure I have my digital video recorder (DVR) to catch everything at home, but when I’m out and about with my laptop, that doesn’t help me much. There are many Internet TV options useable out there, but I haven’t seen anything quite like Joost before.

Joost has been out for a while in a beta format, but launched commercially last month. It’s a new way of watching TV on the Internet since it’s the world’s first broadcast-quality Internet TV service. It combines the best of full-screen TV entertainment with online interaction, and it’s based on a state-ofthe-art, secure, peer-to-peer streaming technology. Basically, as long as you have a good high-speed Internet connection and a decent computer, you can thoroughly enjoy it. Viacom is a key content partner with Joost, so you can enjoy a full range of programming from its MTV Networks, BET Networks and Paramount Pictures divisions. It is powered by a secure, efficient, piracy-proof Internet platform that enables you to have premium interactive video experiences while guaranteeing copyright protection for the content owners and creators.

With that in mind, Joost gives you free access to thousands of programs and channels that are not readily accessible on the Web. It’s the first online global TV distribution platform that brings together advertisers, content owners and viewers in an interactive, community-driven environment. You can customize your Joost interface by picking your favorite channels and plug-ins, such as instant messaging, news tickers and message boards. You watch what you want at your convenience. There are no schedules - just select your channel/show and go (and watch it as many times as you want with no hassles). Also, flipping through the channels is just a few easy clicks of your mouse.


There are more than 150 channels available in different genres, including cartoons and animation, entertainment and film, sports, comedy, lifestyle and documentaries and sci-fi. There are too many to list, but some of the highlights include MTV, Comedy Central, CNN, Reuters, National Geographic History & Exploration, GameStar TV, GI Joe (cartoons), Warner Bros. Records, and a whole channel of one of my favorite cartoons from my childhood, Transformers.

Joost was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, digital entrepreneurs and creators of the popular peer-to-peer Skype (Internet telephony) and Kazaa (file sharing) networks. Its biggest competitors are probably Google Video, Yahoo! Video and AOL’s In2TV, since those are advertising-supported video websites. Expect to see 30-second TV spots when you’re watching Joost. However, Joost is not competing with companies selling online content such as Apple’s iTunes store (charging $1.99 per TV episode).

Joost will not completely replace TV, but it’s a nice way to entertain yourself if you’re away from a TV, or there’s nothing good on. It’s perfect now since all my favorite shows have reached the end of the season. When Joost first came online a few months ago, the streaming quality wasn’t the greatest, but since then it has greatly improved. The entire time I wrote this column I had the Warner Bros. Records channel playing in the background with its music videos sans problems. As a whole the selection of programs is not as comprehensive as what you would find on TV, but is excellent for the price - free.

Check it out at www.joost.com. The only drawback is, much like Gmail a couple years ago, you need to be invited to join and download it. Anyone who has a Joost account can invite you, but just in case you don’t know anybody with one, go to www.joost.com/presents/techcrunch. This link will take you to a registration page where you can sign up for an invite.

Soaring Around The 3-D World

Last month, 3Dconnexion, a Logitech company, announced its line of 3D mice supported by Google Earth 4.1. Using SpaceNavigator, you Mac users can now experience superior navigation control in Google Earth with more fluid and intuitive soaring around the world. I remember playing with this SpaceNavigator at Macworld, but I wanted to test it out a little bit more than just on the show floor, especially after this latest announcement.

The SpaceNavigator does almost exactly what its name says. It’s a 3D mouse which you use to navigate space. This is absolutely perfect to use with Google Earth, or for those of you who deal with rendering software on a regular basis. The device itself is fairly physically heavy (for a “mouse"), but it’s built that way so it has enough counter weight to pull up on for zooming out. Using this definitely gave me a whole new take on Google Earth, adding in a 3D experience that cannot be matched with just a regular mouse and keyboard.


To control the SpaceNavigator, you can push, pull, tilt and twist its controller cap to go in the direction you please. This movement simultaneously pans, zooms and rotates your 3D imagery easily. Using Google Earth (still one of the best free pieces of software out there), I flew throughout Oahu. I soared in detail through the Koolaus, through various neighborhoods and ended up at the beach. I then moved on across the Pacific Ocean to various points on the Mainland, all within a minute timeframe.

In addition to Google, SpaceNavigator is supported by more than 100 of today’s most popular 3D applications, including Adobe Photoshop CS3, NASA Word Wind 1.4, Adobe Acrobat 3D, Autodesk Maya, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, CATIA, Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks or Google SketchUp, just to name a few.

Google SketchUp is another one of Google’s wonderful free programs. It allows you to easily bring one of your ideas to life in 3D. You can model just about anything from buildings, cars, landscapes, your kitchen or even people. You don’t need to be a professional designer to use this, but the $495 SketchUp Pro 6 gives a little bit more options to the experts.

If you’ve never used 3D to navigate before or are scared to, don’t fear. There’s almost no learning curve with the 3Dconnexion Configuration Wizard. It’s an interactive tool that uses animation and images to guide you through

SpaceNavigator’s controller cap movements and helps you configure your preferences. It also gives you demo applications so you can start using it right away.

I wouldn’t buy this to replace your everyday mouse, but it’s definitely fun to use to fly around the earth with. I would buy one if you’re a Google Earth enthusiast or again, if you need one of these for your profession. Additionally, having nothing to do with the product’s performance itself, but it has a pleasant blue glow, which is relaxing to look at on your desk, especially in the dark.

For what it can do, the SpaceNavigator is cheap with its $59 price tag for your personal use or $99 for commercial use. The Personal Edition offers you online technical support only, while the commercial Standard Edition gives you online, e-mail and phone support. Upgrade SpaceNavigator Standard Edition licenses are available for $40. It’s compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista PC, Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later, and Linux SuSE 9.0 or greater. Find it at www.3dconnexion.com, CDW (www.cdw.com) or PC Mall (www.pcmall.com).

Spinning Webs With Spider-Man 3

As with many others, I’ve always been a huge Spider-Man fan, and look forward to watching the releases on opening day and then viewing them multiple times. So, when the Spider-Man 3 movie came out last month, I was disappointed that I was unable to catch it on opening day because I was sitting on a plane, on the way across the country for a weeklong work trip. Although he had already seen it while I was gone, thankfully my husband took me to see it the day I flew back home, otherwise he’d be in big trouble.

Anyway, with a big movie like this, there’s usually a video game to go hand-in-hand with it. Based on Sony Pictures’ creation, Spider-Man 3 (the game) was developed by Treyarch and published by Activision Inc., and hit the shelves the same day the movie graced the theaters. This is the fourth Spider-Man game, but the very first to be playable on today’s next generation consoles.

Throughout the game you’ll hear the same familiar voices you hear in the movie. You’ll see some of the same villains as in the movie as well: Sandman, the New Goblin and Venom. You’ll also encounter The Lizard, Scorpion, Mad Bomber, The Kingpin, The Arsenic Candles, The Apocalypse Gang, Kraven the Hunter, Calypso and The Dragon Tails. Most importantly, you as Peter Parker will eventually see yourself obtain the infamous black Spider-Man suit (in reality, a living alien symbiote).


If you’ve played any of the previous Spider-Man games, this one is very similar, so you’ll feel right at home. Swinging through New York City is probably the most entertaining part of the game, and your swinging around is what helps you find missions as well. There’s a city map that displays the mission icons, and unlike the previous games, you don’t have to complete random side missions (i.e. crime-fighting tasks) to unlock story missions. In other words, the story and side missions are completely separate from each other.

Going through some of these missions reminded me of the game God of War with the different button combinations you have to use (i.e. trying to stop the speeding subway with your webs). I thought it was weird that Spider-Man would be tasked with disarming bombs. This was a very small part of the game, but a really cute side mission was carrying Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man’s girlfriend) on your back and swinging her through the city to her appointment while you collect a bunch of hearts.

Or as Peter Parker, you can be sent off on photography assignments for various things. Regardless if you’re on assignment or not, you’ll always have the ability to take pictures with your camera.

Overall, the best thing about the game is being able to swing around New York City with your webs and climb all over walls, ceilings and the sides of buildings. Plus, the graphics are nice and detailed. On the downside, the counterattacks can become frustrating to use at times, the people in the game have strange-looking buggy eyes, you’ll hear the same phrases repeated frequently, and sometimes the frames are glitchy. There were a few times I was stuck in a gray screen with the music going, or I was trapped in a wall, and I had to restart the game. Despite that, I enjoyed Spider-Man 3 because I’m just a huge Spidey fan. I do recommend this for other Spidey fans out there because it’s definitely fun to play.

I played it on my PS3, but it’s available for just about all platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, PSP or PC. Depending on the platform, prices range from $29.99 (PC, DS, Game Boy Advance) to $69.99 (PS3 Collector’s Edition).

Note: If you do buy the Collector’s Edition, you can play as the New Goblin! The game is one-player, and is rated T for Teen and you can find it at your nearest GameStop (www.gamestop.com) or CompUSA (www.compusa.com).