Using your smartphone to pay for something sounds like a cool idea, but I think LevelUp still falls flat in the push for mobile payments. You link up your smartphone (using an iOS or Android app) to your debit/credit card, and then use your phone to display your QR code and have it scanned. To me, the number of steps involved in pulling out your phone, bringing up the app (or using your browser) and scanning your QR code doesn’t offer any better advantage than taking out your wallet and paying with your card. It may involve less time, but a few seconds won’t kill me.

I don’t know why QR codes are so popular either (or so they seem). I don’t scanning them is a fun thing to do especially when a lot of them just open up a browser to point to a website (which could be a malicious one at that). When I told the representative that I have no smartphone nor a browser, he mentioned that LevelUp offers plastic cards that feature your own unique QR code. I nearly cringed. A plastic card with some representation of my account. Like the ones I carry around that say Visa or MasterCard on it.

That’s supposed to be a benefit for me? The abstraction of it doesn’t make the LevelUp solution any more attractive than using a credit or debit card. The QR code might be harder to steal or fake over a series of numbers, but it’s not as if QR codes are foolproof and stealing that data can’t be done. Some people might place more value on their phone than their wallet. To them, they’d always carry it around. For me, I’m not that kind of person. I’m not the right customer/user/target market for LevelUp (because I’m just weird like that, or just “old” person.

What I would rather see is something like what East Asia (specifically Hong Kong) has had for years way ahead of the United States. They used RFID smart cards for a variety of things like public transportation, convenience stores, parking, etc. I think LevelUp can hit that potential ubiquity at some point, but the RFID touch-and-go convenience advantage means I never have to pull my phone or wallet out. I can leave it in my bag or other holding and have it register just by being near a scanner instead of pulling something out and holding it up. There’s no visible risk of exposing your card to someone else. I’d take what’s available in RFID further and have it embedded in cell phones as hardware. I think that is a better future than using QR codes.

An all-time greatest hit of Geva Theater, Five Guys Named Moe is back on stage for its 10^th anniversary. Pamela Hunt directs the Clarke Peters musical with choreography from Mercedes Ellington. The basic plot revolves around Nomax, a guy whose woman left him for broke. Out of his radio pop five guys named Moe who then proceed to console Nomax on the topic of love. The moment we see Nomax and all the various incarnations of Moe, we instantly develop a love for their charming personalities and the life they bring to the stage through Louis Jordan’s music, song, and dance.

Darius Nichols plays Nomax who we first see sitting alone at a table and drinking. He is broke and his girlfriend left him. Nichols first leads us with a song about having the blues. He uses much facial expression to express the anguish and pain of his situation while also moving all across the stage to engage the audience. Once all five Moes take the stage, Nichols is thrown into the same position as the audience is – a state of confusion and wondering who these guys are – and remains consistent to the character throughout the first act. Nichols throws occasional glances and dazed looks to the audience and establishes a connection so that we can sympathize with what Nomax is feeling.

Big Moe is the biggest physical performer on stage. Played by Michael-Leon Wooley, his stature creates an instant intimidation yet he shows his soul during his various numbers. Big Moe is the best dressed of the ensemble. He sports a black pinstripe tuxedo with a silver vest that contrasts everyone else’s brightly colored suits. Wooley portrays Big Moe as the most cool, suave man out of everyone, an aura that we can sense from his dress. When Big Moe takes the stage, he commands it with respect and authority as we listen to his resounding tenor voice such as in his first number, “Beware, Brother, Beware.” From his first appearance down to the end of the revue, Wooley faithfully carries the air of Big Moe all throughout the production making him one of the most popular characters.

Randy Donaldson plays Little Moe, a complement to Big Moe. Donaldson is the shortest of all actors on stage that gives justice to the name Little Moe. What Little Moe lacks in height, he makes up for it in personality. Contrast to Big Moe’s slow and peaceful movements, Donaldson plays Little Moe with a high-energy spirit and lots of exaggerated movements. His high-pitched voice and quick stage movements create the sensation that he is ready to bounce all over the theater. His energy and excitement on stage flows over into the audience when he appears in a fruit hat and encourages people to join the conga line during the sing-along conga line song, “Push Ka Pi Shi Pie,” before segueing into intermission.

Four-Eyed Moe can easily be called the most popular of all characters. What does a nerdy, skinny Poindexter know about love and women? Apparently a lot. Four-Eyed Moe has so much charisma, and J. Cameron Barnett really takes advantage of it. Barnett shows off his character’s intellect on stage by flaunting it not just in Nomax’s face but also the audience as well. He speaks with a somewhat fast pace and a little verbosity that seems as though he could continue to talk forever. Barnett really shines through when Four-Eyed Moe interacts with the audience. He does not give up at all on the audience as he forces people to get up and dance at the end of the first act or sing to three ladies in the second act.

Jim Weaver, who plays Eat Moe, almost never garners a stage presence at all. We learn that he likes to eat, but that is nearly all to his character. Other than one solo song, Weaver almost never gives his character anything more than his apparent trait. No Moe, played by Darryl Reuben Hall, is a neutral and level-headed character. He never dominates anyone nor does he have any outstanding characteristics like everyone else. However, Hall marks his presence on the stage by being a voice of reason when he has the chance whereas Weaver does not. In the end, it appears that Weaver is only playing a secondary No Moe to Hall.

Costumes help set each character’s nature when we first see them. The raggedy blue t-shirt with cut-off sleeves and worn-out blue jeans complement Nomax’s mood throughout the first act. He is depressed and brooding and the atmosphere of the stage is lit by a blue hue. Little Moe’s oversize clothes add more to illusion that he appears smaller than he actually is and makes his personality even more giant than it already is. All Moes sport colorful, loose-fit suits, with the exception of Big Moe and his dark tuxedo, that unite to create a jocular, collaborative group.

Once the second act commences, Nomax is dressed more stylishly in a nice shirt, jacket, and pants. He is more upbeat after his education, and the five Moes change into tuxedo garb with a flashy purple jacket. The atmosphere becomes more high-spirited as the stage practically turns into a jazz nightclub. The jazz musicians in the rear, who are largely ignored during the first act, take life on stage as an essential set piece while all five Moes act as lounge singers.

There is more to Five Guys Named Moe than just the plot or the characters. Music is a vital part to the whole production. The shuffle and boogie rhythms will have your toes tapping and hands clapping to the beat. You will be singing along and dancing in the aisles. There is both humor and story in the songs, and even the somber tunes carry a little beat in them. Regardless of whether you pick up entirely on the plot or not, high spirits will be teeming all throughout the musical. The most important part is to enjoy it and have fun.

If there is one word that I would use to describe Comic-Con, “overwhelming” would be that word. There is so much to see. There are panels going on from the start of the convention until the end. There are screening of films in the late evening. There are many, many, many booths ranging from big company names to comic writers, artists, and vendors. Anything you can imagine (related to comics) is probably there. And then there is the sheer number of attendees that I hear grows larger and larger every year. That is why the convention was moved to the San Diego Convention Center many years ago.

There are some things that could be better about it though. The first night I arrived in San Diego, I met up with Brooke Burgess, the creator of Broken Saints. He gave me some pointers about what to see at the convention — to check out the smaller panels, take lots of breaks, go outside, and basically just have fun. The next day I talked to him again after spending much time wandering around. He told me about the later days to just pick quadrants and check out the stuff in each area like the artwork section. He also mentioned to stay away from the center floor. I was taking all of this in for the first time, but I didn’t really understand it until I really opened my eyes.

One thing I said to Brooke was that the middle floor was just one big advertisement. I didn’t elaborate on that point, but he understood. In the center floor were big name, top brand companies who probably paid big amounts of money to have enormous amounts of floor space. With all the fancy big displays, flashy lights, and high traffic area, it’s not surprising to see everyone crowd and concentrate in one area. I remember walking around all these people and asking myself, “What is so special about this stuff?” You can play video games any time of the year. You can basically find all the merchandise on the Internet.

At the Broken Saints panel, Brooke mentioned how a lot of things out there are crap and praised everyone attending the panel. He condemned people waiting in the Hasbro booth line, and that you shouldn’t feed consumerism to these companies because they will continue to produce crap. Even some of the panels were like that. It’s too bad that the majority of panels I attended were for big media productions like LOST, Family Guy and American Dad, Sony (for Ghost Rider and Spider-Man 3), TV Funhouse, the Blade TV series, and Warner Bros. I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy them. I probably could have spent my time looking at the things no one else is looking at. I could have made my experience more educational than entertaning.

There were vendors on end of the convention center, and artists and illustrators on the other end. In between were numerous comics booths. Some were from webcomics, some were independent, others were larger reputable publishers. I started to go around and just take my time to look at things and occasionally strike up a conversation. Everybody’s main reason for being at Comic-Con is to basically sell something. During one of my random conversations with a random comic I had never heard of, I ended up buying the first issue. The comic is called The Descendants. I should have bought the second issue while I was there. Comics are an investment and you have to pay in order to keep up with the story. Aside from that, there was a letter at the end of Issue 1 from the creator of The Descendants, Joe Andrade. He described his passion for comics and why he does what he loves. After reading that letter, I realized that it epitomizes everyone’s reason for being at Comic-Con. It is a place for people who love comics to convene and share their love with fellow nerds.

Retrospectively, all I knew about comics was Marvel and DC. These two giants overshadowed everyone else. In a way, it sparked a small interest in comics in me, to seek something new and interesting. Even if comics can cost a little money and even if the story or art may not be all that great, that is a risk one would have to be willing to take. That was one factor stopping me from investing in other comics. I had no idea what they were about, and I had to pay to find out. Most of the independent, smaller comics writers and artists seemed shy and introverted. They would give me glances, but most wouldn’t necessarily talk to me unless I made the initiative. I feel like I should have taken some more risks, and dived into the world and culture of comics.

Isn’t it obvious that new hardware will always outperform other hardware? This is so commonly done with graphics cards that it’s just a waste of time to benchmark them. Of course the new hardware is going to be fantastic! Anyone with a lick of hardware sense can just pick up on it immediately. I know I’m being overly general here (not all new hardware is the greatest), but the basic idea is just too prevalent.

A new, faster processor is coming out? Wowza!

What I propose is that hardware reviewers post a review after using the hardware for an extended period of time. Nearly all reviews out there are too immediate. You could test a product in a day, write a quickie review, and then forget about it. Reviews are nothing more than advertisements to make a profit for the manufacturer. The problem with testing hardware over time is that the planned obsolescence will come in and take over.

So back in March 2006, I purchased a Razer Copperhead gaming mouse since my old Logitech MX1000 died (the battery reached the end of its charging life). I was happy for a while until my mouse died only two months after use. I’ve contacted Razer tech support three times about the issue and they have not contacted me back at all. It’s not exactly fair to say that my hardware failure is a result of bad hardware reviews, but I want something more than fanboy enthusiasm full of hypothetical claims.