I was asked which comic books I’d recommend for someone who hadn’t really read many but wanted to enjoy them. After some thought and going thru my collection, I came up with the list below.

For a comic to make my list it had to meet certain criteria, primarily:

• No prior knowledge would be needed to enjoy the story (not everyone has 20 years of comics history and they shouldn’t be punished because of it)
• They had to be comics which the reader could get — I chose only comics which can be purchased from Comixology (the premiere digital comics distributor) so a new reader wouldn’t be intimidated by all the goofs at the comic shop or frustrated by things being out of stock
• Stories which I enjoyed, not just one’s I’d heard were good

Now, before you read the list and immediately start to say “Hey! What about…?” let me just state that I am mostly a DC Comics guy so my collection (and this list) are slightly tilted that way. If you have something you’d recommend, please let me know. I’m always looking for good stories to read.

So, without further delay, here is my list of comics from my collection which I think a new reader would enjoy (in alphabetical order so you don’t think I’m picking favorites):

1. All-Star Superman -  http://shar.es/WeElC
2. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - http://shar.es/WeEAk
3. Ex Machina - http://shar.es/WeEzf
4. Hellboy - http://shar.es/WeEiV
5. Irredeemable - http://shar.es/WeEE4
6. Justice League (2011-) - http://shar.es/WeE8U
7. Kingdom Come - http://shar.es/WeEOp
8. Planetary - http://shar.es/WeE9J
9. Red (series, not movie tie-ins) - http://shar.es/WeEQs
10. Starman - http://shar.es/WeEFV
11. Superman: Secret Origin - http://shar.es/WeEBJ
12. Superman/Batman (1st 13 issues esp) - http://shar.es/WeEja
13. The Walking Dead - http://shar.es/WeEqk
14. Who Is Jake Ellis? - http://shar.es/WeEtS
15. Young Justice (2011-) - http://shar.es/WeEuq
16. Ultimate Spider-Man - http://shar.es/WeE42

‘Njoy!

Overall this is a great case for the new iPhone 4. The hard plastic outside paired with the rubber shock absorbing inside work well to protect the phone from standard drops/falls. The Rubber corners are nice since they tend to be impact points. It does add a little bulk to the phone since it’s larger than most cases. The phone is comfortable to hold in your hand so I don’t see that as a problem. I can still slip the phone in and out of my front jeans pocket without any major issue. They had the foresight to line the camera opening with a black rim so you don’t get any flash refraction when taking photos like I’ve had with other cases. 

I can only see a few negatives with the case. If you have large fingers the mute switch could be a bit of a challenge since it’s so recessed. The rigid plastic dock opening can be snug for the older style dock cables and some third party cables. And finally, this is not designed for frequent insert and removal of the phone. Once it’s in the case, it’s much easier to just leave it there. 

Overall, I am very please with this case in terms of aesthetics, feel and protection. I would definitely recommend it, especially if you are prone to dropping your iPhone.

Link: Speck Products

I picked up the Compass iPad stand by Twelve South this week. I really like it. It’s solid aluminum so it has a good weight to it and has non-skid rubber feet so it won’t slide around on your desk. The design allows for you to have it in movie viewing position (upright) or at a lower angle for typing. They also include a nice faux-suede pouch so you can fold it up and easily carry it in your laptop bag without taking up too much room.

There are really only two negatives I can see. In upright portrait mode there is barely room for your dock cable. It fits but requires you to bend back the wire some. The other is it isn’t cheap. Retails for $39.99. So you will pay a premium but it’s one of the best portable iPad stands I’ve encountered. 

All in all I’m very pleased with it so far and recommend it if you don’t mind spending the money for a solid, good-looking iPad stand.

Link: Twelve South

I have a Silicondust HDhomerun networked tv tuner which I use with my Windows 7 Media Center. And I absolutely love it. I use it with the Clear QAM on Comcast to record all my network television in pristine HD. And it works great…provided the Media Center doesn’t lose it.

I noticed a curious and slightly frustrating issue with the tuner. About once a week, a show(s) doesn’t record (usually it’s something I really wanted to watch). The MCE says the tuner is busy and I need to stop a currently recording show to continue. Needless to say, nothing is recording. The only way I was able to get the tuner to work again was a reboot of the Media Center box. As I said, very frustrating.

After digging around on the forums I discovered a fix. Launch the HDHomeRun Setup app. Then click on the Advanced tab. About halfway down you will see an option in the Windows Media Center section titled “Windows Media Center background channel scan”. This option is checked by default. Apparently, this allows MCE to access the tuner when it’s not recording anything. Unfortunately, when it does, it can’t record any previously programmed shows — so you get an error instead of your TV show.

If you simply uncheck this option and click OK (you may want to reboot just for good measure) then Media Center won’t arbitrarily abscond with the tuner and you’ll get your shows as expected. It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve changed this setting and I haven’t had any issues since.

Hope that helps some fellow frustrated HDHomeRun owners out there.

Now go record something!