What's on my mind?

Hear Starscream Speak (UPDATE)

2007-04-25T12:58:00.000-05:00

Starscream, in the upcoming Transformers movie, is a Decepticon who is Megatron's second-hand man. Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons. Throughout the series, Megatron and Starscream constantly feud because Starscream wants to overthrow Megatron and become the leader of the Decepticons. The rivalry in the cartoon is awesome and the good news is that it will be preserved for the movie.

SectorSevenOrg has updated with a 20 second .mp3 file of Starscream speaking.
1.First, go to http://www.sectorseven.org/remoteclient.ac1903.html. In case you need to log in, use FWIFFO.
2. On the bottom there are 5 circles. Click the second one (e-mail).
3. Choose Informants.
4. Look for the message with the subject COD3X. Open it and click the sound file.

I think the voice is awesome. It sounds very similar to Starscream's annoying voice from the original cartoon and that's great news. Some people are upset because the voice sounds too cartoonish and they want a more realistic voice. But I think it's a smart move to stay true to the cartoon and not try to reinvent the wheel. Now if only they could get rid of Optimus Prime's lips, then Michael Bay will have a lot of happy Transformers campers.

Update: Michael Bay's blog was updated with the news that the clip in which Optimus Prime speaks was a test shot and won't be in the movie. It wasn't even Peter Cullen's voice. Great news for fans who hated the lips.

Stephen Colbert is the Greatest Living American

2007-04-21T12:55:00.000-05:00

Go to Google. Search "greatest living american". Here, I did it for you: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=greatest+living+american.

Sweet.

3 is better than 2?

2007-04-10T20:15:00.000-05:00

What happened to second-world countries? The second-person point of view? Second-party peripherals for video games? I guess nobody likes 2 anymore.

Transformers Updates

2007-04-02T21:39:00.000-05:00

Holy freakin' cow!!! These pictures are so awesome!!!!!! That's Optimus Prime right there in the first one, probably kicking some Decepticon ass.

Also, IGN has two new TV spots that are 30 seconds apiece. They're worth watching too.

"Hidden" and "Destiny"

Letter to Pepperidge Farm.

2007-03-31T15:56:00.000-05:00

I was frustrated and decided to e-mail Pepperidge Farm. They never answered. This is the letter I wrote up:

Last week I went to my local Duane Reade store and went straight for the cookie aisle with hope that the Dark Chocalate Brownie cookies with the chocolate chunks in them are somewhere on a shelf. I was very disappointed to find that the cookies weren't there. I came back a few days later and to my deep disappointment the cookies were absent from the shelf yet again. I stomped my foot in anger and disbelief and yelled out an expletive that I choose not to say here. And yet several days later I came to Duane Reade again on my way from home and felt a twinge of hope that there may be, somewhere on one of the shelves of the store, there may be a lonely box of cookies waiting for me to bring them home. To my extreme misfortune, you can guess that the cookies were once again a no-show. So I write to you now, in hopes that you will hear my cry and plea, and deliver more cookies to the Duane Reade on the corner of Kings Highway and East 14th. (Yup, the weirdest block in Brooklyn, NY). Thank you guys once again, and I will be forever grateful to you if the next time I come to the store to find a box of cookies that I can finally buy to enjoy.

Maybe they didn't reply because I misspelled 'chocolate'.

Reciting the alphabet backwards

2007-03-30T18:10:00.000-05:00

I'm very baffled by police officers. I haven't been pulled over yet in my young driving tenure, but I've seen TV shows & movies and I heard stories that when cops pull over a driver they suspect is drunk, they will subject him to several tests, one of which is reciting the alphabet backwards.

I tried reciting the alphabet backwards once. I got up to V. I thought some more. Then I got mixed up somewhere around the R-S-T combo. I failed miserably. Maybe I was drunk.

Or maybe that test is ridiculous. A sober person would need to think hard in order to recite the alphabet backwards. The only way I could recite the alphabet backwards is if I carved it out on my forehead with a switchblade and used a reflective surface to read it back.

Cops might as well ask the suspected driver to bunny-hop across a pool filled with alligators on a unicycle while balancing a stick which has on the end of it a spinning basketball.

It's all nonsense. All they need is a breathalyzer and they could possibly ask a person to walk the length of a straight line. If they pass, they're sober. If they fail the straight line walk test, they're either drunk, or just plain stupid.

GTA IV Trailer

2007-03-29T16:50:00.000-05:00

Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer

The site is down now. I'm very disappointed with Rockstar. They should have been prepared for this.

USPS.com Makeover

2007-03-28T20:43:00.000-05:00

USPS looks completely different nowadays. They're celebrating 30 years of Star Wars by making their website totally awesome. I'm not a Star Wars fanatic (yet- I just started watching the movies) but that website looks pretty cool. If you refresh it, the image on the right changes.

TheForce.net also says that the postal service will be decorating mail boxes as R2-D2. I guess they look alright, if you want to feel like a robot that looks like a garbage can is eating your mail every time you want to mail a letter. [source]

Other news.

2007-03-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

Other stuff that happened recently:

:Adobe CS3 is priced. I'll give you a hint, it's expensive as hell.

:Yahoo announces unlimited storage by May 2007. 1GB is probably enough for me. How much more is infinity?

:Sony releases PSP firmware 3.30. When are they going to release something worth downloading? Download here.

:Harry Potter Book 7 gets a cover. Amazon

:A $1,000,000 (one meeleeon dollars!) laptop was created. I think it's so expensive because you can live in it, drive it, and it feeds you. No but seriously, it's because of a Blu-ray player and diamonds. Pfft. [Source]

Rachel & Monica Kiss

2007-03-28T19:59:00.000-05:00

I gotta figure out how to embed YouTube videos. It's not as easy as it looks. Anyway, here you go.

Probably the least exciting lesbian kiss ever. I would rather watch two turtles, both with broken legs, race uphill against a strong wind. No matter how boring it was, it was still every Friends fan's fantasy come true.

Getting back some hard drive space.

2007-03-27T14:37:00.000-05:00

Here's two ways you can get back some of your lost hard drive space. I did this and got (if I remember correctly) around 3GB back.

Recycle Bin
1. Right click on your Recycle Bin, and click Properties.
2. Where it says "Maximum size of Recycle Bin (percent of each drive)" with a slider over that, drag that slider to something like 1% or 2%. This essentially makes your Recycle Bin smaller, so it can't hold as much.

After you lower the percentage from 10% (I think that's the default) to say 2%, that means your Recycle bin will use up 8% less off your hard drive, meaning that space is now yours to use in other ways. My Recycle Bin is set at 1% because either way, when I send something there I'm going to delete it, so what difference does it make how much it holds?

System Restore
System Restore is a way for your computer to go back to a previous state in case of a failure[#]. Your system (I know this is on Windows XP, I don't know about other OS's) automatically creates restore points for your computer. But you probably don't need so many of them, unless you plan on going back to a point several weeks in the past. System Restore points take up a lot of space on your hard drive. Here's how to get that space back:

1. Right click My Computer, and click Properties.
2. Select the System Restore tab.
3. Under Disk Space Usage, there is another slider which I believe is at 10%. Drag it down to 2-4%. Mine is at 2% (637MB).

I checked how many restore points I have [Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore>Restore to a previous point] and I have around 12 in this month alone. That's way more than enough for me. Again, I got back around 2GB of space on my hard drive.

And that's all there is to it.

2 New Transformers Posters

2007-03-27T11:41:00.000-05:00

WOW. I can't wait for the movie even more!!!

Those are two side by side. Bigger version here.

The Official God FAQ

2007-03-26T12:53:00.000-05:00

This made me laugh.

The Official God FAQ

[Source]

Hugo Weaving = Megatron

2007-03-24T08:43:00.000-05:00

Another movie I can't wait for this year is Transformers. I just developed an obsession with it out of nowhere. I recently started watching the animated series, Generation 1, Seasons 1-4.

Today comes the news that Hugo Weaving will be doing the voice of Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons (the bad guys) Megatron. The announcement was made on the clandestine Transformers website, SectorSevenOrg. (By the way, this website shows up in the trailer during the playing of a recording at the Pentagon. The top right corner says Sector Seven Org).
When you get there, log in with NBETWO, then click the scorpion icon on the bottom, and read the newest e-mail.

I think this is great news for the movie. Hugo Weaving is a great actor, even when he's not on screen. His performance in V for Vendetta was amazing, even though we never even got to see his face. He was also very sinister and convincing in The Matrix trilogy as Agent Smith. I think that he'll do a great job as Megatron.

Also, check out the website for the Transformers video game, in which you can protect the earth with the Autobots or destroy it by being the Decepticons.

Transformers: The Game
Transformers Trailer

Source

Google Talk in your Firefox Sidebar

2007-03-23T19:14:00.000-05:00

Google Talk is a handy chat application, but I always hate cluttering up my computer with lots of programs. That's why Digital Inspiration posted instructions on how to use Google Talk, but in your sidebar in Firefox.

First, right-click on, and bookmark this link of the Google Talk online app. Then, go to Bookmarks> and right click that bookmark, then select Properties. Check off the "Load this bookmark in the sidebar" and that's it. Next time you click that bookmark it will load a Google Talk client in your sidebar.

Source

Downloading Music

2007-03-23T12:43:00.000-05:00

One thing I never understood about downloading music is why anybody would sign up for a monthly subscription. I always thought that was a foolish idea, and here's why.

Say for example you sign up on napster.com for $10 per month. By the way, I'm not trying to single out Napster. I could just as easily have used Yahoo! Music, AOL Music, Rhapsody, or Virgin Digital.

Sticking to Napster, you can download an unlimited number of songs and after a month is up, you need to pay the $10 again. So for a year of downloading unlimited music, that would add up to $120. Then say you get tired of Napster for whatever reason, be it the price, website, customer service or anything else. You want to switch over to Yahoo! Music. But now all the songs you paid for on Napster have DRM (Digital Rights Management) on them, and you can't listen to them anymore. Same thing goes for every other subscription service.

This is why I stick to iTunes and AllOfMP3. I buy most of my music on AllOfMP3. AllOfMP3 is a site that operates in Russia and they have been the target of the RIAA for some time now. Russia continually tries to shut down AllOfMP3 but it can't because AllOfMP3's lawyers claim they pay royalties to the artists and run a legitimate business. The reason I buy music from AllOfMP3 is because their music has no DRM, meaning it can be transferred to any media player and burned as many times as your heart desires. Also, the song are extremely cheap. iTunes charges a flat rate of $0.99 per song, while AllOfMP3 charges depending on the song's size. The bigger the file, the more expensive it is. But it's not expensive at all. An average 4 minute song (high-quality) for around $0.20. That's 20 cents. An album on iTunes could cost $10-$14 while on AllOfMP3 an album could cost around $3. AllOfMP3 also offers different file types for a song and different qualities.

The best part is that after you buy and download the song, it's yours to keep. None of that "pay a monthly fee to listen to music you purchased" nonsense.

Flying cars.

2007-03-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

What the heck is a flying car? Dictionary.com defines a car as "a passenger vehicle designed for operation on ordinary roads and typically having four wheels and a gasoline or diesel internal-combustion engine."

As soon as a car "learns" to fly, it becomes an aircraft, and no longer an automobile. The words flying car don't make any sense to anyone who thinks about them for 3 seconds.

So stop saying you can't wait for flying cars. It makes no sense.

Wii Baby

2007-03-22T18:31:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting today. I was busy all day. By the way, this baby is awesome.

I sometimes do that too while playing Wii Sports. Tennis though, not golf.

Woot

2007-03-21T18:20:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know about Woot, you're missing out.

Woot.com is a website that posts one item per day. There is a limited amount and it's different for each item. The item is a "woot," hence the name. Woot.com updates at 1am est, 12am cst. What's interesting about Woot is that nobody, (except the Woot staff of course), knows what the next day's item will be. It's something different every day.

A user can buy up to 3 of one item, to make it fair for other wooters. If the item sells out in a day, then everyone has to wait until next morning for a new item. If the item doesn't sell out, it's still replaced with a new item the next day and the old item can't be purchased again.

Sometimes the items are refurbished, but most of the time they're new. Woot doesn't always have the best deals either, but a lot of the time it does. There's also a side-deal at the top of the page that's directs you to another website.

To make wooting easier, there's a Firefox extension called Woot Watcher that has been made that creates a toolbar with information such as the day's woot, price, and whether the item is still in stock. You can download it here.

To use Woot you need to sign up, but it's free unless you buy something. Sign up here.

Superstitions

2007-03-21T12:50:00.000-05:00

One thing I never understood is people's obsession with the number 13. It's just a number. Just like 4, 82, 57, 129, and 3,231,414. It's gotten so strange that people leave out 13 in elevators of hotels or office buildings. The thing that bugs me about that is no matter which way you look at it, the floor after the 12th will still be the 13th floor by count. Call it the 14th floor, the 16th floor, the green floor, or the potato floor, but it will still be 13th by count. Apparently the number 13 can be a serious psychological detriment to people who see it, and they feel safer, or more comfortable, if it is omitted. Even if the floor is 13th by count, people feel better that it's not called that, and they don't think about it as much. I still think it's all bogus though.

Just like when a black cat crosses your path. Why are people afraid of that? What if a black dog crosses your path, or a black car, or a black anything else. People don't fear that. But when you combine the color black with felines, people get chills up and down their spines. What about the people that own black cats? Surely they should just sit still in a corner of their room since the black cats must be everywhere, lest they step in any direction only to have a piano fall on their heads.

Or maybe I should be more careful next time 13 black cats cross my path...

Hard to Find 800 Numbers

2007-03-20T13:47:00.000-05:00

Have you ever needed to contact a company, only to go to their website and not be able to find their phone number? Well, hardtofind800numbers.com takes care of that. They have phone numbers for all the popular companies like Microsoft, eBay, Amazon, PayPal and Yahoo. They have tons of other phone numbers to browse through by letter. You can ever submit a phone number if they don't already have it. This is a very useful site that I visit quite often.

POTC 3 Trailer

2007-03-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

This looks promising. I hope it's better than the second one. Lots of excitement and apparently Jack Sparrow isn't dead. Who would've knew...

300 2!!!

2007-03-19T18:48:00.000-05:00

First, read this: http://www.filmwad.com/another-300--1934-p.html

HOW AWESOME is thAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

I was so excited when I read that, that I was ready to go to a theater and get in line to wait for it.

Seriously though this is a great move in my opinion on the part of the studio. As of March 18, 2007 300 made $154, 365,656 worldwide [source]. Even though it got a bad rating on Rotten Tomatoes (something like 60% last time I checked) many people apparently like it or it wouldn't be making so much. Frank Miller might be directing the next one and I would love to see what he can do behind the reigns. Miller will base the next movie on a different battle, and I hope it's as exciting as this one.

Coming soon: I will be in Watchmen mode.

HP: Book 7

2007-03-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

First off, Harry Potter is awesome. I always thought it was for little kids, until my friend forced me to read the first book. Then I asked for the second book. 3 months later, I read through all 6 books and saw the first 4 movies. I can't wait until Book 7. I was thinking about how many pages it would have. I tried thinking really hard. I began grunting and turned red from all the thinking. I still don't know how many pages it will be. I'm hoping for somewhere around 2000 though. Hopefully it's textbook sized- that would be a dream come true.

What I learned from 24- Days 1-6

2007-03-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

I recently finished watching 24 Days (Seasons) 1-4. I saw Day 5 last year and the show is currently in Day 6. I learned a few things about the way the story lines are structured. The following will contain spoilers, so proceed with caution.

*Jack Bauer has more lives than a litter of kittens. Every time a terrorist has a gun to Jack's head ready to pull the trigger, something pops up and he can't do it. Each time, Jack is either rescued or escapes. During one season, Jack's heart stops and he still manages to survive somehow.

*It is almost a given that during the season, Jack Bauer will, to some extent, be captured by terrorists, and probably tortured.

*Chase Edmunds is awesome.

*Kim Bauer, Jack's daughter, is stupid and annoying. She does some dumb things without thinking them through, and she ends up getting herself into trouble. Yet in season 3, she ends up working at CTU and she's good at what she does. The transformation is perplexing.

*Jack Bauer, Tony Almeida and a few other people at CTU actually know what they're doing.

*Every season, Jack Bauer either doesn't want to work for CTU, or gets into trouble and isn't allowed to work at CTU. He still ends up working there, and is usually the only one who gets results. His office knows he's the only one capable of doing anything, yet they try to get rid of him every season.

*Given enough time, everyone will be killed off. This usually takes around 3 seasons for the big guns, 1 season for the little guys. Everyone that is, except Jack Bauer. He dies, show ends.

*Each season, there is a high probability of there being a mole in CTU. Sometimes, the mole is on the President's staff. It's usually not who you think it is.

*If someone has an idea and it's shot down, it's usually turns out that this idea would have yielded better results than what course of action was actually taken.

*Jack Bauer personally spoke to 4 Presidents in 6 seasons, a few of whom he befriended.

*CTU is the only government agency (it's fake, but I'm referring to in the show) that terrorists target. The NSA, DOD, CIA or FBI are never targets. So the only agency that doesn't exist in real life is the only one that concerns the terrorists.

*The crisis is always solved in exactly 24 hours.

*Despite what happens in Day 1 (I won't ruin this), and despite Jack always saying he can't have a real relationship, almost each season he has a girlfriend (the season usually starts out with him already in a relationship).

*If you begin to hate someone, the writers will probably make you like the person by the end of the season.

*Anyone who holds a gun knows how to shoot it, even if the person explicitly says they don't know how to shoot a gun.

*Jack Bauer is as hardcore as they get. Also, Chase Edmunds is awesome (Day 3).

So there you have it. I haven't finished watching Day 4 completely, but I'm more than halfway done.

Who likes free stuff?

2007-03-16T06:58:00.000-05:00

I know I do. That's why I go to the Absurdly Cool Freebie Finder! New freebies are posted daily and are country-based. Some are for Canada, some for the UK, and many of the links are for the USA. Here's the USA freebie site. After all, you got nothing to lose, and a lot of free crap to gain.

Changed my template.

2007-03-16T06:56:00.000-05:00

Decided it was time for a makeover. Since I'm not a designer, I chose this template which was already made. I hope it's easier on the eyes.

Ctrl-Alt-Del

2007-03-16T06:36:00.000-05:00

I began reading CAD comics and some of them are pretty funny. I started reading them from the very beginning, so it will be awhile until I finish them all. I did see a relatively new one that made me chuckle.

Too big to post as an image.
http://i17.tinypic.com/33zfjx5.jpg

Yeah, I'm in 300 mode right now.

300 Thoughts

2007-03-09T13:52:00.000-05:00

I saw 300 last night (or very early this morning) and I have mixed feelings about it. I really liked it, but I think it could have been better. I guess Zack Snyder couldn't stick to the graphic novel 100% because if he did, the movie would have lasted 40 minutes.

300 was a story about the Battle at Thermopylae when 300 Spartan warriors, led by King Leonidas (who was played by Gerard Butler), went to war with Persian King Xerxes. The Persian army was in the millions and the ground shook as they approached. The Spartans were outnumbered drastically, but they had an advantage by being some of the fiercest soldiers at the time. They were born to be fighters, trained to kill from a young age.

The visuals in this movie were amazing. The backgrounds and environments looked fantastic. There was a surreal feeling to the film, since it was filmed on a blue screen and the scenery was added on later. Also, the fight scenes were incredible and very well choreographed. Spartans fight as a unit, and each soldier protects the one to his left from thigh to neck. We saw this demonstrated in the movie when the Spartan soldiers held down the first wave of Persians, pushing half of them off a cliff, and thrusting spears into the hearts, and necks of the other half. There was a lot of blood in the movie, but it was a bit "cartoonish" and comic book-like. Even though the blood wasn't realistic, it blended in well with the rest of the elements of the film. I was impressed that Zack Snyder stuck to the story as closely as possible and didn't try to change too many things around, which might have made the movie worse. (Like The Da Vinci Code).

There was little I didn't like about the movie. One thing was that we could have gotten a few more fight scenes. The movie was about a battle, but the battle scenes themselves were relatively short, although they were were action-packed. Not much else that I didn't enjoy.

Overall, I would think people should see this movie, even though some may not like it.

Can't wait for 300.

2007-03-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

300 comes out this Friday and I'm so hype for it!! I read the graphic novel (comic book) by Frank Miller and it was awesome. The movie is going to be even sicker. I saw some clips and there's blood galore. Like here. You can get the hardcover book on Amazon for $18. It's a short story (relatively) but it's really interesting.

int YouTube (maxFavs==315);

2007-01-26T14:12:00.000-05:00

Apparently YouTube sets its maximun (whatever that is) number of videos allowed to be favorited to 315. I favorite videos all the time but I guess I gotta stop that now.

Larger image here.

M:I:III (Blu-ray) on the PS3

2007-01-11T13:44:00.000-05:00

I saw M:I:III in the movies twice. It's a great movie that everyone should watch. I didn't see the first two M:I movies but that didn't matter since this one wasn't affected by the first two.

Anyway, my HDTV can output at 480p, 720p, and 1080i. No 1080p, which is perfect for Blu-ray. I wasn't upset though because I play my games at 720p, and it's amazing nonetheless. I once called Sony asking them which is better, and the man said that 720p, in practice, looks better than 1080i because of the way the image is outputted.

Some basic output info for those who don't know what I'm talking about. If you know, skip to the next paragraph. 480, 720 and 1080 are the amount of lines on a screen. The more lines, the crisper, sharper and clearer the picture. P stands for progressive scan and I stands for interlaced scan. Progressive scan means when the TV shoots out the image, it shoots it out at every single line. So it would shoot out the 1st, 2nd, 3rd (and so on...) lines at the same time, at each frame. Interlaced means the TV shoots out the image, but at one frame, it shoots out the 1st, 3rd, 5th (and so on...) lines and during the next frame it shoots out the 2nd, 4th, 6th... This means that you get half the picture during the first frame, the second half the second frame, first half third frame and so on and so forth. If that was a bit confusing, there's a better explanation here.

When I connect my PS3 to my TV using an HDMI cable (High Definition Multimedia Interface) I could tell me PS3 what resolutions my TV supports, and I could check them off at one screen. I checked off 480p, 720p and 1080i. Since the PS3 sees my TV outputs at 1080i, it chooses that resolution. But I wanted 720p. So I manually unchecked 1080i, and now it can only output at 720p. It now thinks my TV doesn't even support 1080i.

When I put in M:I:III, which is a full 1080p HD movie, it started playing it at 480p. I was confused. Wasn't it supposed to output at 720p? Well, it should, but that's not the way Sony made it. If the PS3 sees a TV has 720p maximum (which is what I chose for it), then it will output Blu-ray movies at 480p. It's stupid, but it's something Sony can fix in the future with a firmware update. So I had to go back and check off 1080i as one of my TV's outputs. Then, when I put the movie in, it played in 1080i like it was supposed to.

Even though I would like to watch the movie in 720p, it's still amazing in 1080i. The picture quality is mind-blowing. I saw the explosions as though they were happening behind a window. The sound quality was astounding. If I closed my eyes I would have thought that Ethan (Tom Cruise) was in the room. The explosions were so cool that I think I have to write eXplosions for more emphasis. I only wish I had a 1080p HDTV to get the full experience. I'm very happy with the quality, just a bit upset about the initial setup. I also wish I could play the movies in 720p even though as of right now there's no option for that.

UPDATE: I just found out the reason it won't display at 720p. It's because Blu-ray displays in 1080p, 1080i, and 480p. At least that's what several people said.

Overall: 8/10

Pros: Great picture quality, sound. A lot of storage on a Blu-ray disk= tons of extras on the disks. Fix for downgrade possible in the future.

Cons: PS3 downgrades 720p TVs to show movies in 480p.

Playstation 3 Mini-Review

2007-01-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

I finally got my hands on a PS3 (60GB) from Amazon and I'm happy with it so far. In this review I won't be talking about games much, other than the free demos Sony offers through the online store and NFS: Carbon. Let's get started.

Unboxing

I took some unboxing pictures. Here:

The box

My hands are shaky from the excitement

I don't think I could have figured out how to remove the system.

Instruction booklet, controller, USB cable, Ethernet cord, power cable. (HDMI cable not included)

Everything.

Aerial shots.

The PS3 in some of its glory.

Design

The Playstation 3 has a sleek design. It's coated with a very shiny, scratch-prone surface that needs to be carefully wiped with a cloth or tissue every several days (or maybe once a week); but I don't mind taking care of it. The system is a bit heavy, compared to the PS2, but that shouldn't be a bother since it's sitting on the floor or a table somewhere anyway. I especially like the quick hook-up to my 1080i HDTV [pic]. All I needed to connect was a power cable and an HDMI cable and I was set. The power supply is built into the PS3 and isn't at all like the Xbox 360 power supply. One thing I want to mention is that the PS3 does heat up a bit since the power supply is internal. There's a vent for the fans on the back, and on the bottom of the front protrusion (under the memory card slots) [pic]. Also, kind of hard to see b/c of a dark pic, but these are the vents on the sides [pic].

The controller remained pretty much the same from the PS2 to the PS3. The new PS3 controller is wireless, and can be charged through the console via USB, but only when it's on, or it can be charged through any USB port [pic]. The new controller supports motion sensing, and has a PS button in the middle which can turn off the console [pic]. The controller is much lighter than it's PS2 predecessor, and feels very comfortable in one's hand. The PS3 supports up to 7 controllers through Bluetooth.

The PS3 (60GB) also has a CF slot, a SD/miniSD card slot, a Memory Stick Pro slot [pic] for putting photos, videos, or music files on the console. One really cool thing is the power and eject buttons for the slot-loading drive [pic]. They aren't really buttons but are tiny "touch-panels" which are fun to press. It also has built-in Wi-Fi, which doesn't work too well (see next section). The system is big, heavy, but it isn't bulky or obnoxious (like the original Xbox was). It still manages to be a stylish addition to any home entertainment center.

Overall: 7/10

Pros: Stylish system, memory card slots available, slot loading for convenience, touch screen buttons are a plus, controller has good battery life.

Cons: Too heavy, get's hot fast, easy to scratch, attracts dust, can't charge controller with system off.

Network/Online

This is one thing that I really don't like about the PS3. I have a home network with several devices connecting to my wireless Netgear router without problems (a PC, a laptop, and a Playstation Portable [PSP]). When I turned on my PS3, I went to make a new network connection to get online. It scanned for my network, found it with a 55% signal, then I entered my WEP key in, and it refused to connection. I got a connection error. I searched online and came across several sites where the people are having the same problem. One fix was to disable my security, and then download a necessary firmware update (firmware 1.32). This took around 10 minutes with download and installation. I tried to get online again (this time onto my secured network), and it worked. I signed up for an account at the Playstation Store, and downloaded a demo of Gran Turismo HD (465MB- about 20 minutes), which I will describe later.

The next day, I turned on my PS3, and it didn't want to connect. It says that it can't detect the access point. I don't know if this is a problem with my router having a weak signal, or the PS3, but I have read in several forums that people are having the same troubles and I think it may be the PS3. Hopefully a future firmware update can fix this. A day later, I was able to connect as soon as I turned on the system, but then I restarted it and couldn't get online. I reset my network, which seemed to do the trick and I was online again. I managed to download 4 more demos- Motorstorm (around 600MB), Resistance: Fall of Man (865MB), Go! Sudoku (around 80MB) and Lemmings (142Mb), and right after I finished installation of the last demo, my connection dropped! Perfect timing.

Today when I was playing the Resistance demo, I kept seeing "Signed in.", then "Signed out." in the corner over and over, a status update of my connection to the Playstation Network. I hear that there should be a firmware update soon (can't remember the source) and maybe Sony can fix these problems everyone is having.

Overall: 5/10

Pros: Free demos available online, you can buy PSOne games to play on your PSP, massive multiplayer possible (40 players in Resistance multiplayer), free online multiplayer

Cons: Connections dropped, long setup.

Interface

The Playstation 3 features what Sony calls the XMB (XrossMediaBar). This is the same interface that the PSP has. It's very easy and quick to navigate [video][pic]. Nothing else about that. Getting used to the XMB is a snap and finding the option you want is a breeze. Also, the background gets darker as the day goes by, so at night the background is black with a white strip flowing around and in the morning it's a light gray with that write strip.

The loading times on the demos I tried are fast. Which brings me to my next criteria (after the ratings)...

Overall 10/10

Pros: Quick navigation to any item, cool effects.

Cons: None.

Gameplay/Graphics

The 5 free demos I downloaded are Gran Turismo HD Concept, MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, Go! Sudoku, and Lemmings. I also rented NFS: Carbon from Gamefly. Soon, I'll download GripShift, the newest demo that's available at the time of this writing, (although it isn't available right now).

Gran Turismo HD Concept has excellent graphics, even on 720p (It's a 1080p game). I get one car to race around a track. The car looked incredibly realistic. If the car wasn't surrounded by digital people but maybe put on a photo background, I would have thought it's real. The game is difficult to play because it's extremely realistic. The driving simulation is very accurate and you can except if you were to take the cars on that mountainous track. More coverage here.

Motorstorm is also a racing game, but this one is off-road. I get a choice of two vehicles. What's great about this game besides the environment, is that it supports motion sensing. If you turn it on, then the controller acts as a steering wheel. The analog stick is turned off and turning the controller the way you want your car to go works surprisingly well, although a bit sensitive. Probably takes some getting used to. Another interesting thing about this game is that if your vehicle gets into mud or dirt, it sticks. Very realistic indeed.

Resistance: FoM, is probably the most popular game for the PS3 right now. It's the highest rated PS3 game on IGN. The demo can be played as many times as you want. It starts out with the human soldiers taking on a resistance of aliens. I don't know what point in the game this is, but it's fun nonetheless. You, the character, get four guns, and grenades. After you take out the initial wave of around 30 aliens, the alien mothership drops down another batch of about 20 of 'em. Then the boss, a robot that resembles a spider on 4 legs, comes out and you have to take him down. I have yet to do so.

Go! Sudoku is a fun game too if you like puzzle games. I enjoy Sudoku very much so I think this game is very addicting. It features around 10 levels on various difficulties, and bright lights and sounds to grab anyone's attention. There aren't many features, but to be fair, it's a game that can be played on paper.

Lemmings is also a puzzle game with 5 levels. The goal is to transport these little creatures called Lemmings from one spot to another using items like making the Lemmings into builders to get to a higher platform, or digger to get to a lower platform. Not much to this game either because it's very basic, but the levels can get really tricky. 40 levels total in the full version.

NFS: Carbon has fast loading times as well. The graphics are amazing. I meet 4 people in the beginning and they look like they're real. Honestly, real people. But they're rendered by the PS3 because there are little hints of digital people. The cars look great too, but not as good as those in GT HD Concept.

The PS3 is backward compatible with every PS2 game, and plays most PSOne games perfectly with minor glitches in some of the games. I haven't tested every game so here's some more info on that.

Gameplay: 8/10

Pros: Awesome graphics, fast load times, downloadable demos, great games coming in the future, Blu-ray means more storage on disks, and therefore bigger games.

Cons: Weak launch lineup, can't think of any more.

Blu-ray

Sony was nice enough to include a booklet of coupons for various Blu-ray movies with the PS3. I ordered Mission Impossible 3 from Amazon because I really liked the movie the first 2 times I saw it in theaters, and thought it would look great in HD, considering its plethora of explosions and action scenes. Unfortunately, my order was delayed and I'll write about M:I:III at a different time.

Overall:

Pros: Blu-ray comes standard as opposed to a $200 add-on. Blu-ray means (see Gameplay: Pros:), every studio except Universal will make Blu-ray movies [here], spectacular video quality- HD rocks, and of course, coupons!!

Cons: System more expensive because of it.

Misc

One thing I didn't mention is, oh yeah, you can run Linux on your PS3! [Tutorial from IBM here] [gentoo tutorial] This opens up the homebrew scene. People who support Linux and the PS3 can make games that would run on Linux. Also, people have already created drivers for using the Xbox 360 controller with the PS3, and also the Wiimote. But that's only if you're a traitor and you don't like the PS3 controller!

The PS3 browser also has many features, even thought it isn't made by Opera or Mozilla, unfortunately [link]. If you don't like the built in browser though, you can install Ubuntu and then use Firefox with that.

Also, the PS3 supports a USB keyboard, and a USB mouse, but I don't except many people to use their HDTV as a browser (remember MSN/WebTV).

Overall: 9.5/10

Pros: Linux can be installed, many peripherals possible (HD EyeToy, Keyboard, Mouse, Xbox360 controller, Wiimote), solid browser.

Cons: Can't think of any.

Final Thoughts

Althought the Playstation 3 is still in its infancy, I think it can be a force in the future. Game developers are already saying that they haven't reached the full potential of the PS3, and aren't even close (here too). With the amazing graphics and online worlds of some of the games, that's pretty astounding. The networking on this system sucks though and that's one thing Sony screwed up on. Several isolated incidents are bad, but when almost everyone is having problems, you know that it's something with the console. I hope we see some sort of fix from Sony soon.

And don't get me wrong, $600 is a lot for a console. (I think of it as a solid investment for the future). But considering it also has a Blu-ray player is impressive, as the cheapest non-PS3 standalone Blu-ray player (that I could find) costs $700. The PS3 is cheaper than that and has HD gaming capabilities too. There aren't many games out for it, which I why I haven't purchased a game yet (still trying out the demos and renting), but in the future, the PS3 can expect Devil May Cry 4, GTA IV, Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Final Fantasy XIII, and other extraordinary titles. As of right now, the Xbox 360 is a better system because it had a year to mature and a year for games to be developed for it. The PS3 will be just as great if not better 1 year from now.

And as you can tell, I really like the system, because when I wanted to put together a mini-review, I ended up writing one that wasn't so mini.

Overall: 8/10

Pros/Cons: listed above under each category.

Borat: CLoAfMBGNoK

2007-01-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan or the unabridged title "Borat: Cultural Learnings and Stimulating Experiences of United States America on Behalf of Kazakh Ministry of Information for Purpose Educate and Consequent Make Benefit Glorious Central Asian Nation of Kazakhstan" is a mockumentry made by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in which he plays Borat Sagdiev, a Kazakh reporter who is homophobic, sexist, and racist (he calls black people chocolate-face and white people vanilla-face in the film). The movie is very funny and got good reviews from almost everyone.

I was reading a comment in a forum that said something like, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Borat was mocking Kazakhstan's culture." I thought I would write up my own opinion about that.

Actually the genius of the movie is that Sacha Baron Cohen is NOT mocking Kazakhstan. All of the he says about Kazakhstan is obviously a lie. Homosexuals don't wear blue hats in Kazakhstan (he says this during interviews), more than 5 women are allowed to be in the same place at once, women are treated as fairly as men, and they probably don't make fun of mentally handicapped people like his brother Bilo. The irony of the movie is how clueless some of the Americans in the movie were.

For example (POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW) when he was talking to Pat Ha, the humor coach, he asks him if people find mental retardation funny in America. Then he tells the story of how his brother Bilo is crazy crazy behind his cage while his sister says "You will never get this! La lala la la". Then the humor coach says, "No, that would not be funny in America." What's ironic about that, at least in the theater I was in, everyone was laughing their heads off. And also, it's funny because the humor coach probably believed that they put mentally handicapped people in cages. Obviously they don't. But he was too stupid to understand that.

Another part when he was mocking the American culture was when he was talking to the man in charge of the rodeo and he went to kiss him, because it's something that Borat does. The man says that kissing other men like that is homosexual. Immediately, Borat sees that man is closed-minded about homosexuality and says that in Kazakhstan, they take these people to jail and finish them. And to his surprise, the man says "Yeah, take 'em to jail and hang 'em. That's what we're trying to get done here."

It's incredible that people in America think they're such free rational thinking, when in fact, most of the people interviewed in the movie were either racist (in the gun store he says "What is the best fun to defend from a Jew" and the man gives him 9mm or a .45 without hesitation), sexist (the guys in the trailer were asking him whether women are slaves, and that woman are inferior to men), homophobic (the man at the rodeo), or just plain didn't have a sense of humor (ironically, the humor coach).

Even the daughter of the Kazakhstan's PM defended Borat. She obviously knew that he wasn't being serious and was just exploiting the American public's weaknesses. [source]

Your thoughts?

Edumacation- Who's to blame?

2006-11-13T19:02:00.000-05:00

If don't know already, I'm 20 years old, and I go to college. I never thought of myself as a genius, but in junior high school and high school I always did my homework, classwork, did well on tests, got E's (Excellent- equivalent to a 95) and some G's (Good- equivalent to an 85) on my report cards (I never went to schools where there gave out As, Bs, and Cs). I always felt that high school and junior high school were easy and I never knew why. My mom told me that she spoke to her friends and their kids always got a ton of homework and their grades were always lower that mine. I spoke to my friends in junior high and high school and they were always amazed that I had a 93 avg. Their averages ranged from a 60 to a 75. I was equally surprised that they weren't performing better while getting such easy work. My mom, like any good mom, always told me I'm so smart, and I'm this and that and I always thought she was just trying to be nice and give me a confidence boost.

So in my first year of college, I expected to be challenged a bit more. I go to a private university. Before I started attending, I was accepted into the honors program so I was very pleased about that. In my first semester, I got 3 A's and 2 A-'s. After 3 semesters, my GPA was a 3.72. I don't want to sound like I'm showing off, but I'm very proud of myself and a bit surprised actually. The classes are harder than in j.h.s. and h.s. but still manageble. I used to hear stories of people not having any time for anything except homework in college and I always thought my life was going to be over. I even heard stories of people committing suicide because of all the work and pressure that was put on their shoulders. That amazed and scared me all at once. I knew deep down there is no situation in which I would kill myself, no matter what, but that's for another blog post.

So this year, last month actually, I began tutoring a young girl in mathematics. She is in 4th or 5th grade (based on the work she's getting, that's just an approximation.) It's actually very sad, but when I started tutoring this girl, I quickly understood, she can't multiply. And not huge numbers- she can't multiply 3 x 7 without using her fingers. We were going over an algebraic equation that required her to multiply 3 by 7, and she did it out loud, also being assisted by 7 of her 10 fingers. First, she multiplied 2 by 7 and came up with 14, and then she added, one by one, 7 more to that answer. I'm not even exaggerating. She physically counted 7 more fingers on 2 hands. Later on, we were going over another equation and she had to multiply 2 by 3. Sadly, it took her several seconds to come up with the answer. I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. I told her she needed to work on her multiplication tables, and she answered, "Oh, that's not on the test." Apparently her teacher gives the class a short quiz each friday.

I came back to tutor her on another day. This time I made up an example for her that had pi in it. I asked her if she knew what pi was, and she said of course she knew. She assured me that we needn't go over it. So as she was doing the problem, I realized she may have heard of pi but she didn't know what it was. I told her I could quickly explain it, and once again, she answered, "It's not on the test." She still didn't know how to multiply at this point.

What I go from my experience is this: The teachers go in everyday teaching one thing and telling the students it will be on the test. The students don't have any initiative to maybe learn about things that won't be on the test on their own. If it isn't on the test, then the student thinks they shouldn't learn it. Well, why should they, after all, they aren't being tested on it. It's not as if any of this stuff can come in handy in the future! But students in junior high schools don't realize that what they're learning is the basis of everything they will be working on in high school and college, and possibly even at their jobs. And the thing is, after their test, the students just forget everything they learned that week, and begin preparing for next week's test. I don't understand. If the teacher sees that the student, in this case the girl I tutor, isn't doing well on tests or can't multiply single digit numbers, why doesn't the teacher talk to the parents. I remember learning the multiplication tables with my mom in like 4th grade. I would follow my mom around and she would shoot out numbers, "6x7", "42", she says "7x4" I say "28" and so on. I knew the multiplication table up to 12 within 2 weeks.

Either kids these days are like drones, just learning things that willbe tested, only to forget them after the exam, or these kids just don't want to learn anymore. Your thoughts?

Table Tennis

2006-11-07T22:50:00.000-05:00

One game I can actively partake in during any part of any day is ping pong. So since I don't have a ping pong table at home, I do the next best thing- play on the internets!! Miniclip gave me some code to paste so it might have an ad in it somewhere. Enjoy it though. It's really fun once you get the hang of it.

Table Tennis

Amazingly realistic table tennis game!

Play this free game now!!

Coaches on fire.

2006-10-21T00:04:00.000-05:00

Now, first off, I know I'm not a football coach, baseball manager, basketball coach, hockey coach, or any other person of high importance on a sports team. But when I hear knews that a manager or coach will be fired because of a bad year that the team had, that just pisses off the hell out of me.

This has been on my mind for several years now but I finally decided to type it out with the recent news that Joe Torre of the New York Yankees may be fired. And for those who don't know, they're keeping him.

But, for other cases, why should the coach be fired if the team's piss-poor performance led to an atrocious season? I don't see the manager out there on the field pitching to batters giving up home runs or striking out at the plate. I'm pretty sure that's what the players are doing. Why should the manager lose his job, when the team's play led to a dismal year without making the playoffs or even winning more games than they lost? The manager goes out there every day, he trains his team during workouts, he gives them advice, words of wisdom and other tidbits of information that make them want to play harder, he beats them to the edge and flirts with pushing them off of it, and he even laces their gatorate bottles with steroids! Well, maybe not the steroids thing, but I can't imagine a manager going out there and telling his team they suck and telling them stuff like "You're probably not going to win this game, so just go out there, throw the ball however you can, and don't be afraid to strike out. It's only a game, not a big deal if we lose one. We got 161 games left to go."

Let's take the Yankees for example. In 10 seasons with the Yankees, Joe Torre won 1079 games and lost just 699 losses. The team reached the World Series 6 times, and won 4 times. He also won 2 Manager of the Year awards. I mean, this guy does everything in his power to make the Yankees play well, but this year, they were upset by the underdog Detroit Tigers. How that's Joe's Torre's fault I have no idea. But there were rumors that he would get fired because the Yankees didn't advance past the first round of the playoffs. It's not his fault his team, with the exception of a few players, decided to get cold bats when the playoffs began. If Joe Torre could have done something more, he would have.

And to really show how pissed off I am about Joe Torre's name being tossed around with the word 'fired' like a salad, I don't even like Joe Torre! I admit he's a good manager, but the guy's happy face looks like he's just been to a funeral. I don't think anything could make this guy smile, unless his team won 162 games in a row to start the season, and then 12 more wins to start the playoffs.

So, what I'm saying is, managers and coaches (this applies to other sports too) shouldn't be disrespected the way they are. It's not they fault that the team isn't playing how it should be.

Yahoo Phishes

2006-10-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

So I was roaming around Yahoo when I had a sudden urge to go check out the APIs. Good thing I have the new, and also trusty, Microsoft Live Toolbar installed. As I entered the Yahoo Developer Center, an at first semi-transparent pop-up opened on my screen. I gasped, then realized the pop-up was my friend.

here
mirror

Even Roboform knows that the site is a real Yahoo site, but apparently Microsoft is still trying to put Yahoo out of business.

My Birthday!

2006-09-23T16:21:00.000-05:00

20 years ago today, I was born. Throughout my life, I have learned to ride a bike, I'm learning to drive a car, I went through kindergarten, 3rd grade, 4th, 5th, 6th all the way up to my first year of college, and now I'm in my second year in St. John's University. I'm now sitting hear, writing this post, waiting until 8:40 when me and a couple of friends go to Manhattan to Planet Hollywood, which is one of my favorite restaurants, and then we'll go see Jackass Number Two. I know none of them want to see it, but hey, it's MY birthday, and I want to see it.

We could have stayed in our borough, but we've been to the restaurants here many times and it's time to go to a new place to eat. One of my friends is giving me difficulties though, because he doesn't want to see the movie, but I know he's going to end up going.

Tomorrow we're having guests over my house and then Sunday, we're going to an Italian restaurants with other friends and relatives who can't make it on Saturday.

So, I'm getting ready to leave now. I'll make a follow-up post tomorrow for an update on how it went. =)

Next-Gen console wars.

2006-09-23T16:16:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of news about next-gen consoles, and mainly Sony's PS3, the mistakes Sony has been making, the high anticipation of the Nintendo Wii, and some news about the Xbox 360. I thought I would give my take on the issue, and say what systems I will probably purchase and why. I will admit I am a fan of Sony, but I will try to be as unbiased as I can.

The Xbox 360 was released November 22, 2005 in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and later in other countries.It had a lot of problems. One of the major issues were with the console overheating because of the large power brick. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_Technical_Pr...] Another problem was with disks being scratched up when the system was standing vertically and it was moved to a horizontal position, or vice-versa [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_Technical_Pr...]. I think Microsoft released the Xbox 360 too early. They could have released it a month after that and it might have had more success. They rushed it out, and it had too many problems. Some people may think 2 problems is nothing, but if I buy a product from a huge company like Microsoft, I expect it to be perfect. If it's any less that perfect, then why are they selling it?

The Xbox 360 wasn't all bad though. The graphics are great, Xbox Live is really popular and huge. The selection of games is also really good, and the system even has a sleek design- much better than the original Xbox. But the reason I didn't get an Xbox 360 was because I thought when I get a PS3, I won't be playing the 360 anymore, and it would be a waste of $400.

The thing I didn't like about what Microsoft did, was the artificial shortage. There is of course no evidence but that's the way it really seems. Xbox 360s sold for $1000+ on eBay [http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/02/guaranteed-xbox...]. It could have been Microsoft employees selling the Xbox 360's on eBay, but who knows?

About the Nintendo Wii, I think it will be a very successful system. "A major feature of the Wii is the console's wireless controller, the Wii Remote, that may be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect motion and rotation in three dimensions. The controller also contains a speaker and a rumbling device to provide sensory feedback, and can be used to turn the Wii on and off" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii]. The system will have 21 launch games with many more planned for the future. It's also a great idea for Nintendo to have an online marketplace. Games will sell for points, and points will sell for $.01 apiece. NES games will sell for $5.00, SNES games will sell for $8.00, and N64 games will cost $10.00 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii#Wii_Channels]. With the Wii's 512mb of built-in memory, users will be able to purchase many games for reasonable prices. Not much else could be said about the Wii. Nintendo is getting a lot of positive publicity and the general consensus is that everyone likes the system and is eagerly awaiting it.

A couple of bad things about the Wii are it's graphics, and it's lack of DVD playback. The graphics have been described as being a bit better than Gamecube graphics, but still old-gen. It's lack of DVD playback is attributed to Nintendo saying that most people have a DVD player in their homes, and putting DVD playback in the back would just inflate costs and cause Nintendo to lose money. It's a smart idea, but for me for example, the DVD player that's in my room is my PS2, and if I get a Wii and a PS3, the PS3 will be in my living room hooked up to my HDTV and the Wii will be in my room. Then I won't have a DVD player in my room, and I'm upset about that. Still not a major reason for me not to acquire the Wii.

And now the grand-daddy of the next-gen systems, the Playstation 3. The Playstation 3 will be released on November 17, 2006 in the US, for $499 on the low end, and $599 for the high-end system. The $599 system will come with a 60gb hdd and the $499 will come with a 20gb hdd. In my opinion, the PS3 will be the best of these systems in terms of graphics and overall gameplay. The PS3 controller will have built in motion sensing technology. Another great feature of the PS3 will be Blu-ray playback. Blu-ray movie (and game) disks are capable of storing up to 50gb of information, and movies that are stored on blu-ray disks will be in high-definition. Standalone Blu-ray players will retail from about $1000. This is a reason that the PS3 is so expensive. Sony contends that people are actually getting a really good price on the console, because of all the technology that's packed into it.

I am upset with the PS3's price, even though the Blu-ray player is included in it. Sony could have made the low-end version of the console blu-ray-less, and sold it for $300. I'm disappointed with all the delays that Sony is putting us through, and also the fact that the system will launch with only 400,000 units for the US. Sony will thinks it will have 4 million units by December '06, and 2 million more by March '07. Sony first said it would release the system by Spring '06 [http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/entertainment/ps3-i...]. But that obviously didn't happen.

I'm still greatly looking forward to the PS3, and also to the Wii. I think they'll be the two best consoles, better than the Xbox 360. If Microsoft released their system maybe half a year later, worked out all the issues, then it would have been a contender in the next-gen console wars. But now the hype for the 360 died down, and people are only talking about the PS3 and the Wii. I'm probably going to buy both of these systems, albeit not at the same time (maybe 8-9 months apart). Whatever happens, I'm still looking forward too seeing which console will come out on top in the end.

Is Bin Laden Dead?

2006-09-23T14:02:00.000-05:00

Time.com reports that a Saudi source told the magazine that Bin Laden has become seriously ill from contracting a 'water-borne illness', namely typhoid fever, and it's very possible that he has died last month. There is, however, no concrete evidence to support this claim but there is a 'high probability' that this is true.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1538...

Paradise

2006-07-21T14:27:00.000-05:00

Made this in Photoshop. Wow, I wanna be there. :D

Leaving to Alaska.

2006-06-27T19:35:00.000-05:00

I'll be gone this week from June 28th until July 9th [I'll be back on the 9th =)]. I'm going on a cruise to Alaska. I'm also going to be in Seattle for 2 days and Vancouver for a day. I'll take plenty of pics so I'll make sure to share them when I come back.

For those of you thinking, "Why are you going to Alaska, isn't it like 20*F?" I say to you, "No, it isn't." It's going to be 65*-70*F daily and even warmer in Seattle. Can't wait to be back! =D

Greasemonkey

2006-06-19T19:38:00.000-05:00

Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that runs little snippets of code called scripts in your Firefox browser. You can find a Firefox download button on this page.

The code is a .user.js file that people like you and me can create to make browsing easier, more appealing, and ad-free. I have a total of 20 scripts installed even though I don't use all of them all the time. Whenever I see a new script that I like, I can install it in seconds.

There are hundreds of thousands of scripts available online and these two websites are my two main sources of scripts:
UserScripts.org
and
SiteSpecific Scripts

Userscripts.org alone hosts over 900,000 scripts.

What are some examples of scripts? Well, say you don't like the way Google looks anymore and you like the way Andy Rutledge redesigned it. This Greasemonkey script when installed will change the way the default Google homepage looks to the one Andy designed. The same man also redesigned eBay and there's a Greasemonkey script for that too made by the same user who made the Google Redux Script.

Some other useful scripts that I use are:

Greased Lightbox

Go to the site for a short flash movie demo of what the script does. It basically pops up a black opaque screen in your browser window whenever you click an image on sites such as Google Image Search, DeviantART, Flickr, Wikipedia, Facebook and MySpace. It also allows you to cycle through the images on any page with the <- and -> arrow keys.

YouTube to me

This script works with the popular video-sharing site YouTube. The script adds a Save Flash Video as... bar to the top of any YouTube page with a flash movie on it in case you want to save the video to watch later. You can then play the videos with VLC Media Player.

DuggMirror

For those of you who use Digg, you probably heard of the "Digg Effect". This effect is essentially what happens to a website whose link is submitted as a story to the popular technology site, digg.com. Many times, the site that is dugg is overloaded by visitors from Digg. This is where DuggMirror comes in handy. This script adds a DuggMirror link to every Digg story and all it does is provides a 'mirror' or a copy of the website hosted on another server in case the original site goes down. It also provides 4 other mirrors in case DuggMirror goes down too.

MySpace Ad Skipper

Just like the title implies, this script removes the annoying MySpace Ad that takes up a whole page after you login. Very handy.

Flickr Add Camera Images

This is for you Flickr fans and photographers who are interested in seeing what camera the person used to take their photo. Click the link above for a full description and to see how it works.

Advanced Greasemonkey Use
There's another Firefox extension called Platypus. This extension allows you to edit a webpage using a WYSIWYG editor (What You See Is What You Get). You can remove ads off websites, move columns around, change the url of the website, and customize it to your liking. Then you can save your changes as a Greasemonkey script. So far I haven't played with this extension around much, but I did remove some ads from cnn.com. :D

So, I hope you guys and girls can try out Greasemonkey and fall in love with it like I did. Give Greasemonkey a chance since it's a very powerful and underrated Firefox extension. Now go and find some useful scripts, and share them with the rest of us. :)

GoMeebo

2006-06-18T21:30:00.000-05:00

What is Meebo?
Meebo is Web 2.0 AJAX-rich website that allows you to sign on to AIM, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, Jabber, and Google Talk. Yea, all on one site.

I visit Meebo daily because it's just so much more convenient than opening AIM or MSN, signing on and having an extra window clutter up my desktop. Meebo runs in your browser and if you use Firefox like me, it can run in a background tab when not being used.

But is it safe you ask? Well, all passwords are encrypted with 1024-bit RSA keys. What that means is, it's gonna be really hard for a hacker to get your password. :P

Meebo allows you to sign on to multiple services at once. For example, you could be on MSN while chatting to your friends who have AIM at the same time. And all your buddies are displayed on one buddy list for easy viewing. Just like a desktop instant messaging program, Meebo supports adding buddies to your buddy list, and removing those you don't like. ;) You can view a buddy's profile by simply hovering your mouse over their screen name. New features are constantly being added and one recent one that I really like is the ability to create a chatroom. And Meebo is available in 49 languages, including 1337-speak for computer geeks like myself.

Registering with Meebo allows you to "sign into all of your IM screen names at once, save your preferences (like sounds and appearances), and if you'd like, store your IM conversations in meebo chat logs!".

How much does this service cost? Well, I probably forgot to mention that, but it's completely free. There are no ads on the site to get in the way of your chatting either.

In the rare instance that you do encounter a problem, the Meebo forums are always there for you to get help with whatever you're having trouble with. So, what are you waiting for, head over to meebo.com and try it out today!

Microsoft France Hacked

2006-06-18T12:58:00.000-05:00

http://experts.microsoft.fr/default.aspx
Microsoft France was hacked today. The guys say they're going for microsoft.com next.

read more | digg story

Fold.com?

2006-06-16T00:15:00.000-05:00

Don't ask me why, but for some reason I decided to go to fold.com to see if the website was purchased yet. www.fold.com now has a countdown that is at approximately 51 days and 3 hours and it says "Everything you read about Fold is wrong." Hmm...

http://www.fold.com

Flock Test Post

2006-06-15T23:08:00.000-05:00

I just downloaded and installed Flock and I like what I see. I actually signed up for the Flock alpha stage when it was first introduced as a web browser and I tested it. I didn't like it very much because there were too many bugs and all sorts of issues with it crashing and such. But now I'm using it and I see a big improvement from what I saw 4-5 months ago. Congrats to the Flock team for making a solid blogging and social browser.

Blogged with Flock

How you know you live in 2006.

2006-06-02T18:01:00.001-05:00

You know you live in 2006 when...

1. You go to a party, sit down and take MySpace pics.

2. You havent played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. The reason for not staying in touch with your friends is that they don't have AIM/LiveJournal/MySpace.

4. You'd rather look all over the house for the remote instead of just pushing the button on the TV.

6. Your evening activity is sitting at the computer.

7. You read this list, and keep nodding and smiling.

8. You think about how stupid you are for reading this.

9. You were too busy to notice number five.

10. You actually scrolled back up to check if there was a number five.

11. And now you're laughing at your stupidity.

Send this to your friends if you were fooled. :P

Play bust-a-move online

2006-05-20T23:57:00.000-05:00

Bust a Move or Puzzle Bobble is a nice little game that has made it´s way to almost every console system that has been released in the last ten years.

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PS3 Preorders in October

2006-05-19T09:01:00.000-05:00

According to a post at Evil Avatar, GameStop and EB stores won't be accepting any PS3 pre-orders until early October. No further information such as expected launch units, possible bundle requirements, etc.

read more | digg story

Opera Product Page Hacked?!

2006-05-17T02:01:00.000-05:00

Instead of "we" there is "Wii" and a link to a website in the product description. More publicity for Nintendo? ;-)

read more | digg story

Gadget's now and then- part 2

2006-05-14T14:07:00.000-05:00

'A week ago I published the first part of Gadgets now and then - here’s the second part featuring new products from the golden years.'

read more | digg story

PS3 hits US November 17

2006-05-08T21:26:00.000-05:00

PS3 hits US November 17, $499 for 20GB version, $599 for 60GB

read more | digg story

Gadgets, now and then

2006-05-07T18:38:00.000-05:00

A funny article about gadgets from the 70's & 80's compared to gadgets of today. Amazing that you can fit 25 000 5 1/4 diskettes on one 8GB compact flash...! And the phone then...11.5 pounds...! Hehe

read more | digg story

Top 5 Laptop mods.

2006-04-30T00:44:00.000-05:00

Some interesting ones here. Worth a look.

read more | digg story

Test Post

2006-04-25T14:48:00.000-05:00

Schooooom.

Signature Contest Suggestion.

2006-04-25T14:27:00.000-05:00

Hmm.. Sorry about the last PM Patriot. Maybe it was too long. So I decided to write it up here. It's not going to sound as good as the first time I wrote it so bear with me.

So I was on my way to school and I was thinking about the PSU forum :P when an idea popped into my head for a new signature contest.

I understand you or the other moderators don't owe us anything, and I appreciate the contests that you did hold. But since a lot of people didn't like the previous contests, I thought of a new idea.

You could hold this contest once a month or so and it would last for several days at most. There would be a set number of entries. So for example, 5 people enter a sig and also a stock (render- the image they used to make the sig). You (or whoever is in charge of the contest) would pick a sig based on anything- it could be random, it could be one you like- doesn't matter how you pick it. Then you would start a thread and post the signature (and the render) that you chose.

I realize I didn't tell you the point of the contest yet- I'm building up to it. :P

So the point of the contest would be, whoever can duplicate the signature you chose and posted closest to what it really looks like would win. It seems simple, but it's very difficult because the contestants don't know the steps to make it exactly like that. This would really put their Photoshop/GIMP skills to the test. Whoever is closest to the original, they get that custom rank. Make 'em work for it, ya know? :P

You could limit the sigs to choose from by saying the first X people who send you a sig get a chance to have their sig picked to be the model. Also, you could limit the amount of days people have to enter to 3 or so. This contest altogether would take about a week to host and if you hold one once a month, it would give people a break from it and they would be able to learn some new techniques between contests.

I know there are lots of holes in the idea, but it's still in its beta stage. =P
One flaw I thought of is how to relate it to Playstation. In that case, you could tell people to send you sigs that somehow relate to Playstation and it could be a loose interpretation of PS. It doesn't have to have Sony written all over it. Also, how do you check which sig entry is closest to the model sig you choose? Well, in a graphics program like Photoshop or The GIMP, you could lower the opacity on the top layer (the entry) and then match it up with the bottom layer (the model sig). Whichever contest entry is closest, wins.

Well, thas'all. Sorry for the long read. It's ok if you don't like my idea; just wanted to get it out there. =]

Create art from your DNA.

2006-04-16T17:28:00.000-05:00

DNA11 creates unique DNA portraits through an extraordinary combination of science and art. The process begins with the DNA being collected from your saliva then stained with a fluorescent dye and illuminated by UV light, which then glows, giving off a fluorescent signal.

read more | digg story

Think you know you know your science?

2006-04-15T00:34:00.000-05:00

Recently, several science gurus -- Nobel Prize winners, institute heads, teachers and others who spend most of their time thinking about science -- were asked, "What is one science question every high school graduate should be able to answer?" Take their quiz and see how you do.

read more | digg story

ajaxLaunch makes a new AJAX app.

2006-04-14T21:28:00.000-05:00

From the makers of ajaxWrite, comes ajaxxls dfor Excel documents. Check it out.

read more | digg story

Surviving the Digg effect.

2006-04-11T20:07:00.000-05:00

How my website survived the "Digg Effect"

read more | digg story

How to put videos on the PSP.

2006-04-09T13:34:00.000-05:00

A lot of people have been asking me how to put videos on their PSPs. So I'm making this tutorial for those who are unclear as to what to do.

Before you start, plug in your PSP, and create a new folder in the root directory named MP_ROOT, and then make a folder called 100MNV01 in there. So your .MP4 files (that we're going to make from the videos) should go into E:\MP_ROOT\100MNV01, where E:\ is the drive letter of your Memory Stick.

1.First you're going to need to download the 3GP converter.
Program Site
Direct Link

2.Unzip (if you don't have Winzip, get it here) the file to where ever you want to (such as your Desktop).

3.Next, double-click the setup.exe file. A screen will open with a bunch of weird characters. Choose English in the language menu.

4.Now, scroll down to the bottom of the 3GP Converter Setup window and select the English button, and select Customized: MP4, for PSP (Direct, renamed) the then press Apply.

5.Now the 3GP converter should be open. If not, double click the 3GP_Converter icon.
Click [select] to choose where you want the new videos to be. You can just choose the Desktop (C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop).

6.The program may ask you for Quicktime Authoring. Just click Do It Now.

7.Next from the drop-down menu select one of the settings. I'm using
"QVGA/15fps/384kbps Mono/48kbps"

8.Next, drag and drop the video you want to convert into the white box of the program, and it will start converting it.

When the program is finished converting the video into MP4 format, the program will rename the file to M4Vxxxxx.MP4 (where xxxxx are 5 random numbers). There will also be a .thm file made. You don't need that one for the video to work. Don't rename the M4Vxxxxx.mp4 file to anything else, or it won't work with the PSP. If you want to name you video file, then change the name before you convert it.

9.Now, with your PSP plugged in, and USB Mode selected, open the folder that you made when you started. It's going to be something like E:\MP_ROOT\100MNV01. Copy your .MP4 video(s) over, and then disconnect the PSP USB connection by pressing the X button.

10.Finally, scroll over to Video in your PSP menu and select it by pressing the X button. Select the video you want to play and press X again to start playing.

There are four screen display modes, which you can choose from by pressing the triangle button. Scroll up to Screen Mode (2nd from left on the top row) and use the O button to scroll between Normal, Zoom, Full Screen, and Original modes.

And that's all there is to it. It seems like a lot, but it's really simple after you convert your first video. If you have any questions, ask in the comments area. :)

Did Jesus walk on water? Or ice?

2006-04-06T19:11:00.000-05:00

One of the best-known stories in the New Testament, related in Matthew 14 and in this Gustave Dore print, tells how Jesus walked on water. Now a scientist says rare patches of ice might have formed on the Sea of Galilee's surface in Jesus' day.

read more | digg story

The sixth sense -- your place in space

2006-04-04T19:38:00.000-05:00

"In addition to the familiar five senses...scientists know of a sixth sense called proprioception. It's the sense of where your body is in space that allows you to touch your nose even with your eyes closed. Proprioception (PRO-pree-oh-ception) also informs balance and how to put one foot in front of the other to walk without looking at your feet."

read more | digg story

How I Work: Bill Gates

2006-04-04T19:36:00.000-05:00

Quote - "I get about 100 e-mails a day. We apply filtering to keep it to that levelâ��e-mail comes straight to me from anyone I've ever corresponded with, anyone from Microsoft, Intel, HP etc. And I always see a write-up from my assistant of any other e-mail, from companies that aren't on my permission list or individuals I don't know."

read more | digg story

NTT developes smellivision.

2006-04-01T22:08:00.000-05:00

A Japanese man sniffs perfume wafting from a globe-shaped aroma generator, developed by Japanese precision equipment maker Mirapro Co, which created a special scent based on information provided through an Internet website operated by Japan’s NTT Communications

read more | digg story

New look google talk

2006-03-31T21:15:00.000-05:00

New google talk out, with display pictures and chat 'themes' - great new version, check it out.

read more | digg story

First Interview

2006-03-28T20:46:00.000-05:00

THE HOT SEAT

A SIT DOWN INTERVIEW WITH UNDER FIRE COMMISSIONER MAX BRONFMAN:

Adam: I’m going to get right to the point...

You have come under fire recently as being corrupt, what do you have to say to your critics?

Max: A commissioner's job is very difficult. One is constantly bombarded with requests for trades that are unfair, and could be poor for the league's well-being. It's easy to say that the commissioner is corrupt, but if someone else tries to take on the task, they will see the difficulty in the position, and some of the decisions they will make will seem to be the right ones, yet they will still be called bad and corrupt decisions. Bottom line, there are always critics and always will be. You can't please everyone

Adam: As a former commissioner I am aware of the pressure you are under.

Adam: Another question why are you so strict on the message boards?

Max: I try to keep the message boards clean. It starts out with cursing, then it could escalate to people having message board sex.... *wakes up out of trance* Wait wha.. Next question please.

Adam: Message board sex what kind of things are you thinking about.

Adam: What goes into your trade vetoing decisions?

Max: I look at the trade from all angles. I decide whether a player had just one good season and is being overrated in the trade, or whether a player had a good career and had a recent slump (last season or so). If I feel that a player is too good to be given up for nothing from the other person, then I would be inclined to reject the trade. I will also ask the managers involved in the trade (sometimes) whether they know they are being ripped off, and if the manager says he knows and still wants the trade, then I would probably accept it.

Adam: True but everyone’s career has to start somewhere and a breakout season last year doesn’t mean it was a one time thing. A great example is Derek Lee.

Do you feel Derek Lee is overrated in trades?

Max: I do think Derek Lee is overrated in trades because he has been having mediocre-good seasons all his career and last year was a true breakout year. I don't think anybody expected him to have as great a season as he did. Just because he had one breakout season, doesn't mean he will have the same season this year. It also doesn't mean that he won't have that same season. But it's easier to assume he'll go back to his old form when he had good but not great season than having another superb year.

Adam: But who are you to assume lets say someone feels he will b that good again and you think he wont would you veto a trade if Derek Lee was being traded for a marquee guy like Tejada

Max: That is a situation in which I would talk to the commissioner and ask him whether he truly wants to have Derek Lee on their team. I will express my opinion that he is overrated and it's not guaranteed that he'll have a similar year to last year. And if the manager still wants to take that chance of having Derek Lee on their team, I would 99% accept that trade- of course, if both managers agreed to it.

Adam: There has been anger between you and Ganley. Where did these problems originate?

Max: There was never anger on my side towards Ganley. The thing is, it's very simple to get on Ganley's nerves, and who can pass up an opportunity like that. If I had to pick one moment when it really began, I would say it was this one time, when Steven, Ganley, Peter (Lim), and I were walking to Kings Highway and we hit a red light on Avenue P and east 16th (right next to the train). I told Ganley that he couldn't throw the ball over the train, because his arm is too weak, which it is =P. So he got very angry about it, and I believe that's because he knew he really couldn't throw it over the train tracks. He wanted to demonstrate that he was capable, so he was just about to throw it, when I said, we need that football for a game the next day. He got even angrier, and didn't throw the ball over the tracks, and since then, he thinks it's my fault that his arm is weak. pfft.. =p

Adam: That sounds like a mockery of Ganley but I can't lie I also enjoy pushing his buttons.

Adam: Sunday starts the regular season and in one word tell me who is going to win the World Series.

Max: Hmmm...(I think that's one word)

Adam: I mean just say the team.

Max: I know I tried to avoid the question. =p

Max: Boston.

Max: But as far as I'm concerned, every team has an equal chance, until game 7 of the World Series.

Adam: Thank you but I am completely objective and sucking up to me won't change my reporting.

Max: Then write that the Royals will win.

Adam: Thank you for your time Mr. Bronfman.

Hopefully a week like this will not happen again.

Max: Wait!

Adam: Yes?

Max: After my Royals answer, write *Alex says to Max on the phone, "WTF are you talking about, the Royals don't play the Yankees 162 times"*

Adam: Who do you feel will win this year's fantasy league?

Max: I think there will be an 8 way tie for first. ;-)

Max: No More Questions Please!!!!

Adam: That is unacceptable

Adam: Please just be honest it is the hard questions that bring the readers.

Max: Try asking Bud Selig who will win the World Series this year. I think Steven will give it a good run because he has a solid pitching staff. But I think Los Titans is going to win just because a player he drafts always has a career year. *right Peter?*

Adam: I can't say I disagree with the Peter statement especially now since he has 3 first round picks.