Skobbler for iOS is a great example of the advantages of open source (software). It’s a great navigation software, and at 1,59€, it costs almost nothing, especially compared to Navigon (89,99€) or TomTom (69,99€). The country you buy ‘Skobbler’ in is included, maps for other parts of europe or the world are a few euro.
I uses the OpenStreetMap catalogue, so the quality may differ. But considering Skobbler’s price, that’s a risk one can take.
I made two roadtrips with Skobbler, one to Bremen and one to Denmark. There were no errors, problems whatsoever. The audio commands just before you have to take a turn are very well timed 98% of the time. Those missing 2% are to be fixed, but I came across the same problem with a built-in BMW navigation system. You shold give Skobbler a try.

‘Gaddafi: The Endgame’ is a great report. I’m impressed by the courage Libyan exiles put into supporting the fight for their country, despite the comfortable life in their exile. Excellent work by Al Jazeera that really helped me develop a deeper understanding of this part of the Arab Spring.

By the way: Al Jazeera shows how a real TV channel does it in the 21st century: Broadcast content, and then make it available online without any restrictions.

##Comics Loved the graphic novels (You may also call them ‘comics’, don’t wanna get religious about that). I heard of the movie, heard of the books, got them all, didn’t touch them for half a year.
Then, I started to read the comics. When I was at the second one, I ‘liked’ them, but wasn’t sure why everybody was so excited about them. The next thing I remember is finishing the last (6th) one.
In case you didn’t hear of Scott Pilgrim before: I’m afraid I have to tell you that it’s - despite all the gaming references - a love story. Read it anyway. Get a preview here.

I laughed, loudly.

##Movie Yeah, well, first of all: I did like the movie. It’s a good movie, that’s set. It does a good job of implementing the comic’s own style - which is not just ‘comic-y’ so that makes sense and all.
But secondly, I have to say, and am sorry for that: Anna Kendrick (as Scott’s younger sister) does a terrible job, her acting’s bad. She just monotonously mumbles her character’s text, which in the first few minutes of the film is 1:1 the text from the book, what makes it even worse. I sometimes had the same feeling with Michael Cera and other characters. Maybe it’s just me, maybe watching the film two days after having read out the books does do that to you.
(Spoiler ahead, only read on if you’ve watched the film already or wanna spoil it real bad)
Then, there’s the ending. The film was made before the 6th book came out. The film guys exchanged ideas with O´Malley, but nothing more. So, originally, the endings differed from each other. After the 6th book came out and test screenings were conducted, people hated the film’s ending. So they changed it to fit the book’s. You can imagine how now the last fifteen minutes of the film appear a bit… schizophrenic. But I have the feeling the film’s original ending wouldn’t have been that good, either.
I feel sorry for that, because it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, even when you know all about it, and the choices considering a movie based on a comic/book are always hard to make. As I said, it’s still a good movie.

IMDb

During the holidays, I got some serious iOS gaming done. I’ve owned S&S EP since it was featured on wired, and from playing a tiny bit of the first chapter, I also knew it was good. But I didn’t expect it to be that good. So just in case you haven’t heard of Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP before - It’s a great game.
After I had reached 100%, I directly went to the iTunes Store and bought the soundtrack. The soundtrack? Yeah. S&S: EP ist an audiovisual entity. I can’t explain it better than this piece I found on the game’s website. It is:

• a brave experiment in I/O cinema.
• a fresh approach to adventure & action designed for Apple’s touchtronic machinery.
• a 21st century update to the pioneering works of Miyamoto, Mechner & Chahi.
• a crude videogame haiku about life, love & death.
• created with a broad, literate audience in mind.
• a choice cut of myth & dreams.