While browsing the iTunes Store, I noticed that the App Store, which requires iPhone 2.0 software, is already up and running. In fact, there are 551 applications at launch. Here’s how I gain access to the App Store:

1. Launch iTunes
2. Type “Super Monkey” in the “Search iTunes Store” search box in the upper-right corner of the screen.
3. The “Super Monkey Ball” icon should appear in the middle of the screen inside the “Applications” box. Click on it.
4. Notice that the breadcrumb navigation menu located underneath the volume slider now displays “App Store>Games>Super Monkey Ball”. Click on the “App Store” crumb. Voila! You should now be inside the App Store. Click on the “All iPhone Applications” inside the “Categories” box. You should now be in the “ALL iPhone APPLICATIONS” page. There are a total of 27 pages with each page containing 21 applications except for the last page which only contains 5 applications. So, (26 * 21) + 5 = 551. There are too many applications to list. Here are a few of my favorites:

4 in a Row
Mahjong
Texas Hold’em
BlackJack
Solitaire
SuperPong
Ms. Pac-Man

In all, there are applications for Business, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Games, Healthcare & Fitness, Lifestyle, Music, Navigation, News, Photography, Productivity, Reference, Social Networking, Sports, Travel, Utilities and Weather. Out of the 551 applications, 134 of them are free.

Let me know if you can’t access the App Store. I’d be more than happy to try to help you get there. Otherwise, have fun!

Amrin

I have been following all the iPhone 3G rumors posted on various Apple-Computer-related blogs and websites for the last few months. After years of reading technology rumors as an insider, an investor and an enthusiast, I have learned to take everything with a grain of salt until I have the product, in this case the new 3G iPhone, in my hot little hands. Read more »

Tout va bien, on s’en va, is about the impact on three sisters of the return of their father, Louis, who left them 15 years earlier. The girls don’t only have different characters but they also have differing reactions to the their father’s return. Claire cant believe she’s having back her father but soon she realizes that she has to take care of him (he is suffering from losing the memory and that’s why he actually came back, to recognize them while he still can) and Beatrice (the careerwoman) for whom everything had been long over, there isn’t any reason why she should be remembering him again. The elder sister Laura didn’t know what to do (reject him or give him that second chance).

That pretty much sums up the plot - the film tries to present itself as a psychological study rather than a narrative. Unfortunately the main characters are difficult people and hard to like, and their reactions to their father’s return (ranging from total hostility to apparent acceptance) are hard to understand, as nothing is revealed about their former relationships. The film would have been much better if it had taken itself less seriously, and offered more to its audience - more plot, more background, and a more convincing exploration of its characters.

I admit that I didn’t understand why the ending was so. I even thought whether it was deliberate on the part of the director or not. Nonetheless, the movie was worthwhile.

I wrote this review of La Pianiste four years ago.

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A few days ago I saw a French Film, which my friend Levie gave me as a token from her recent visit in Hong Kong. La Pianiste or The Piano Teacher is one, if not the most bizarre foreign film that I have ever seen. It tells about a very prim, proper, and demanding teacher who holds a very deep, dark secret– she is obsessed with pornography and bondage. She lives with her domineering mother and manages to live a respectable lifestyle. Then a young, good looking student comes along and expresses a major interest in her. She resists at first, but eventually gives in and exposes him to her dark fantasies. However this only leads to tragic and ponderous results.

If you expect to see titillating sex scenes, then you’ll get disppointed by this film. Most of the sex scenes, particularly those in the bathroom and apartment, are dark and grimy, and mostly bring out the angst and cynicism of characters at the start of the movie. The film explores a good understanding of the torment and frustrations of one whose sexual fantasies are very strong and perverse and yet can never really be lived out.

There are interesting discussions in the movie about Schubert, Beethoveen and Bach. Watching the movie made me realize that playing any one of those mentioned should be done with great effort.

The one truly lasting image one gets from this film is not the sex nor the piano. It is the face of the main character. Michael Haneke (director) shows a good sensitivity for this. It is a unique face in that it at times seems very plain and middle aged and then at other times seems to have strong hints of youthful beauty. You literally SEE the tightness and coldness of the character and then at other times a softness. In one memorably quick moment you even see the look of playfulness and devil may care. Her face is shown a lot sometimes in extreme close up. Yet the more they show it the more fascinating it seems to become.