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More Useful and Interesting Things

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It’s the weekend so many of you are probably out doing weekend-type things. Good for you. Enjoy yourselves.

In the interest of enjoyment, or in some cases entertainment or information to enhance your lives, here’s another list of useful and/or interesting things I’ve found this week.

• I don’t know about you, but I loved arcades as a kid. In fact, I worked in one for almost a year while I was in High School. Games like Asteroids, Missile Command, Galaga and Pac-Man helped shape my childhood. It also cost me a hell of a lot of quarters.

But that’s okay, it was great fun and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Sadly, it seems future generations may not have the same opportunity for fun as I did. The Verge spells out the situation in a must-read article for anyone who loved these places as a kid.

• Once again the folks at Lifehacker come through with some good info. This time it’s what to do before and after a disaster.

• Do you blog? Do you have an iPhone or other iOS device? If so, you may want to check out this great piece of software called Poster. I’m trying it out now and so far, I like it. You might like it too.

• Tired of paying through the nose (or other orifice) for a wireless plan and smartphone? If so, you might want to check out Republic Wireless. It’s a very interesting approach and something I’m going to be looking into in more detail soon.

That’s it for now. Once again, enjoy your weekend. I know I will.

Some Cool New Trailers

First of all, this trailer for what will surely be my favorite game of the year, Modern Warfare 2, is now up at The Flickcast. In short, it looks awesome. Also, it looks better than most movie trailers I see these days. Curious. Anyway, like I said, its awesome so check it out.

And while we’re on the subject of movie trailers (we were, remember?), here’s the new trailer for The Killer Inside Me, based on the novel by one of my favorite authors, Jim Thompson. In this trailer, which is also up at The Flickcast with more info about the movie, you will see many things including Jessica Alba get spanked with a belt. Yes, you read that right. You’re welcome.

Uwe Boll, EA, XBox 360 and NDA’s

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Some of you may have noticed that I have changed the look of the site again. Yes, I had some time on my hands recently so I decided to mess around with it. I like the results now and will probably leave it this way for the time being. Really, its not the look of the site that matters all that much. It’s the content. But as I don’t have content that is all that stunning I thought it should at least try to make it look pretty.

In other news, I spent some time today at a certain video game company checking out and playing various video games that I can’t talk about yet. Yes, I had to sign one or two of those NDA things that prevent me from talking about the great (and not so great) stuff I saw today. That’s the way it works. You sign a piece of paper that says you will not talk about things until a certain date. In other words you are “embargoed” from talking about said things. I like that word “embargo”. It sounds interesting.

Suffice to say that the games were really cool (most of them anyway) and as soon as I can talk about them I will. It won’t really be that long so don’t worry. I think the embargo on most of them ends this weekend. See, not that long at all. What I can say about the games is that they were each very interesting in their own ways and some really stood out above the rest. I was particularly excited to see and play one game in particular that I know will be in my game console of choice as soon as it’s available.

Anyway, I won’t keep blathering on about things I can’t talk about. It’s really sort of rude. I’m sorry for getting all your hopes up and then not being able to deliver. So, let’s move on.

In other news of a video game sort that I can talk about:

Uwe Boll is apparently going to be allowed another opportunity to direct a movie. Lucky us.

Duke Nukem on Xbox Live Arcade has been discussed. Cool. I really like playing Galaga on XBLA so this could be fun too.

Over at EA Sports they are perfecting mediocrity, apparently. I like some of EA’s games but some others really kinda suck.

You can run Half Life 2 on a Mac without Windows. Or, you could run it on a Mac using Bootcamp in Windows. Which is what I do. Try it, it’s fun.

And, the kids of “Southpark” get a chance to play a little World of Warcraft. Oh Matt and Trey, you guys kill me. That reminds me, I need to write a review of the “Southpark” Season 8 DVD Box Set.

Oh, and if you are interested in comic books or comic book creators, my latest article is up over at comic book resources. It’s an interview with the guys who do “The Cross Bronx” comic book. The comic is really good. The interview is pretty ok too.

I’ll try not to pull something while patting myself on the back.

New Business and some old New Business

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we are considering many alternatives and are getting together a new business venture that promises to bring many exciting things (at least for us). we are working hard and are not ready to reveal all the sordid details as of yet. however, it will be pretty cool and has the potential to make some pretty good returns. so, anyone out there want to be our angel? (sorry, shameless plug but really, we could use some more startup dough).

in other news if you have a TiVo Series2 box connected to your home network, you’ve likely noticed that TiVo is testing a new feature that allows you to download programs to your TiVo box over broadband. as part of this test, they’ve got a special offer for their network-connected subscribers: a free movie! can TiVo Netflix be far behind? sign me up.

also, popular science magazine showcases their 18th Annual celebration of innovation or best of what’s new for 2005. a.k.a. the 100 most impressive technologies of the year. check it out. i like some of the choices but the airbus a380 does nothing for me. besides, their french.

and, the first reviews for Xbox 360 games are starting to hit the web. 1UP has reviewed Kameo, Project Gotham Racing 3, FIFA Soccer 2006, NBA 2K6, and Amped 3, while IGN has reviewed Madden NFL 06, Kameo, and NBA 2K6.

last but not least, the battle for the new DVD standard still rages. here’s a summary of the arguments and features in favor of either. go nuts!

People are crazy and other news of the world

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this is sad. its a shame what people are willing to do to save some money. i love the mac too but really, get a grip people. and i have to wonder if the Richmond Police slept through the lecture about crowd control at the police academy.

in other more positive news and tidbits from around the web:

the Xbox 360 is about ready for production (i want mine)

want a Dell computer? here’s how to get the best deal on a new piece of Dell technology from a guy who should know.

Intel (my new fav chip maker) is going to deliver dual core chips sooner than expected. now if only Motorola and IBM could have delivered something earlier (or even on time. 3Ghz G5 anyone?).

run Windows on your PSP. wasn’t that supposed to be impossible? much like running IntelOSX on non-Apple hardware was supposed to be. but that didn’t take long either.

an interesting take on the future of gaming on the mac, especially with the pending switch to intel chips. personally, i hope the switch leads to more games for the mac. and really, it should be easier to code now that we are all one big Intel family. maybe we will even get games released on both platforms at the same time? i can dream, can’t I?

and, hurry before this is gone. if you want one of the cool, black Motorola Razr phones for free (after rebate) check this out at Amazon.com. looks like its Cingular only but still, free is pretty cool.

Up again but working on it

It’s earlier than it usually is when I do this. It’s only about midnight so I’m making progress in the fight against insomnia. If only their wasn’t such quality television or video gaming to be had. That also tends to keep me up later than I might wish.

One of the things I used to like to do after a long day in the entertainment trenches was to come home and watch a little Tech TV. I really liked a show called “The Screensavers’“. It’s a show devoted to all things tech and also served to educate while it entertained. All in all a good program with appealing people hosting and doing segments.

One of the people that made the show especially interesting was Morgan Webb. She did Windows tips and various other bits of info and has progressed to become co-host of another show, XPlay. This show is devoted to video games and the like. Her on-air skills have improved. She has come a long way.

But, just so people don’t think she is too much of a geek, she posed in the most recent issue of Maxim Magazine (on newsstands or in your mailbox now). Here’s one of the shots:

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My friend ADD will appreciate this as he is a big fan of her (so am I). She has brains and looks. A great combo.

In other news, i caught both interviews with President Clinton recently. One with Dan Rather and one with Oprah (don’t say it). I must say he comes across pretty well and seems to be fairly sincere in his apologies and in his quest for forgiveness and redemption. Good for him. We could all use a little of that now and again.

I have to wonder though, was Monica the only one? If you believe the rumors he really had trouble keeping his dick in his pants for most of his life. I guess it’s easy to believe the rumors so some people will criticize and judge. I don’t know if he ever got busy with any other interns, staffers or sheep for that matter. It really doesn’t matter.

What matters now is what is happening to this country today. For the first time I don’t feel so good about calling myself an American. Some of the things we do and some of the reasons we do them seem very suspect to me. One big example is the abuse of prisoners in Iraq by our Marines.

We have the Geneva convention for a reason. We need to follow it. Always. Without exception. If we don’t how the hell can we expect other countries or terrorist organizations to even think about following it. It’s simple, they won’t. As we are the leader of the free world (self-proclaimed as it is) we must live to a higher standard.

Because make no mistake, the whole world is watching. 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. 365 days a year. Watching and waiting for us to do something incredibly fucking stupid and have video tape show up on tv.

It makes us look like assholes is what it does. And I don’t want to live in a country with a bunch of assholes. I only hope it isn’t too late. I don’t think it is but then again, I’ve been wrong before. The next few months and years should prove quite interesting. if we last that long.

Later.