I have consistently been a late adopter of technology. The last time I jumped on the techno band wagon from the get go was when I bought an mp3 player back before there was such a thing as an iPod (it was the equivalent of the Zack Morris cell phone). Needless to say I got burned and I learned my lesson. Since that time I have always waited and waited for new technology to go through a few iterations before I buy it. Last Friday I decided to finally jump on the iPhone band wagon, and although I wish I would have done it sooner I am glad that I waited for them to work out some of the bugs.
Anyways I have been trolling the app store looking for good apps and wanted to promote one of my favorite apps so far. The app is from BeamItDown Software and it is a collection of 150 Great Books (and counting). Usually I feel the same way about digital books as I do about new technology, I really don’t like it. There’s really nothing that can beat reading a real book, as opposed to the digital incarnation, but the price was right so I figured what the hell I’ll give it a try. Up until this point I have only really read research papers and the like in digital form, and those usually don’t exceed fifty pages or so, but even those few pages are taxing on my eyes. Now with all my complaining and griping about digital books you might be asking “well I thought you liked this app?” I do but I just had to get some minor complaints out of the way first.
Lately I have been packing–in preparation for my imminent move to somewhere, don’t know where just yet–and I filled up two twenty gallon plastic storage containers with my books. And when I went to move them into the other room I almost gave myself a hernia. Seriously books are fucking heavy and annoying to move. I had forgotten about that. So until the time comes where I settle down and have a room dedicated as my library I think I am going to calm down on buying books. Secondly, I went to do my laundry the other day and usually along with my colossal bag of dirty laundry, detergent, softener, and bounce sheets, I usually take my phone, iPod, and a book to read. Now instead I just grabbed my bag of laundry and my iPhone and I was off listening to my music during the long trek to the laundromat, and once there I dove into A Tale of Two Cities, which is a book I have been meaning to read for years. Despite my aversion to digital books I really enjoyed it and so far I haven’t really felt that I am missing that much by reading it off of my phone. Actually it’s pretty damn great, and bonus because there are so many choices of books to read I will never be without a book. And besides it’s much better than carrying my satchel (it’s not a man purse it’s a satchel) into the city filled with books and what not.
By the way the app is now 50% off and is only $4.99–which when added to the price of a new iPhone is cheaper than the Kindle, and the Kindle doesn’t play music or make phone calls (suck on that amazon). That $4.99 price tag is also cheaper than buying even one of the books on the list. Speaking of the list here are some of the highlights of what books are included on the app: a collection of Dickens, Twain, Doyle, Dumas, Hardy, London, Poe, and Wells. Oh but wait there’s more it also includes political tracts from Hamilton, Locke, Marx, Milton, Paine, and Plato. And there is a ton of other stuff including Epic Poetry, regular poetry, and fables. There is really a grip of worthwhile books on the list just begging to be read, and hey did I mention it’s really a phenomenal deal. The app itself works smoothly and saves where you left off in every book that you are reading. Instead of simulating a book and page turns this app works like a “teleprompter” which makes it easier to read. You can set it to move automatically so that you don’t have to touch the screen and can just keep reading. Personally I hate the mode because I either feel that I am being rushed or that it’s moving too slow–I haven’t found the “just right” speed yet–and besides I like to read well written passages over and over again so I can fully appreciate them. So I’d rather move the script on my own, but the option is there which is nice.
However, there are a couple add-ons I would like to see. One is a way to highlight, mark, or dog-ear certain passages. I have the tendency to write notes and bracket particularly good passages, but the ability to write notes is probably asking for a bit much so I would settle for a way to just highlight passages for reference later on. Secondly, I would like some kind of page reference that lets me know the approximate page number that I am currently reading. One of the benefits of reading books is noting the progress you make each time you sit down and read for a few hours, and that is really lost on this format. Other than those minor gripes the app is the tops and well worth the money. I don’t think I’ll ever go completely digital but being able to have so many good books on hand at all times is priceless (cliche I know, but also true).
Today I drug myself to my computer to begin the process of writing more cover letters and to scour the internet for more jobs. It never happened though because I made myself a pot of coffee and turned on the TV and as I was searching around I saw that G4 was having their E3 coverage. Some days it is down right fantastic to be a nerd and today was one of those days. I spent the better part of the day watching Microsoft’s XBOX 360 E3 presentation. It was two hours chalk full of surprises that whetted my appetite for the fall releases. So for those of you that are gainfully employed here are some of my favorites (in no particular order).
The Beatles Rock Band–even though I generally suck at Rock Band I will think about getting this game just because it looks great and I love The Beatles. Besides how cool would it be to play Drive My Car in Shea Stadium in front of 50,000 screaming fans?
Modern Warfare 2–the first Modern Warfare was awesome and I didn’t even explore the multi-player features, a mistake I won’t make again. It looks like Infinity Ward upped the ante on this version and the level displayed at E3 looked great–especially when you get to drive and fight on a snowmobile, which had a Bond feel to it. The 360 version will also have two exclusive map packs.
Halo: ODST–Bungie is one of those developers that I will pretty much buy anything they make because they are one of the best out there. The fact that this is a new Halo game, which plays differently than previous incarnations, and you can count me hyped and excited to play this game. Also Bungie teased a prequel to the Halo series entitled Halo: Reach.
I have been wanting to change up the look of the site or awhile now as I was never really that down with the way it looked. Since I am in the middle of a semester studying for a big test I figured now was not the time to start learning CSS. So I spent most of yesterday scouring the internet for a new theme to use, and I have settled on this one. Eventually I hope to learn some CSS so that I can tweak it a bit (still need to create a banner one of these days too), but other than that I think it is a pretty good fit. But wait there’s more! There are a lot of new functionalities on the site now. Some are small and mundane while others are simple spectacular. If you haven’t checked out the pics from the Jimmy Eat World or The Black Keys show then do so now as the new photo feature is awesome and makes it much easier to look at pics. Also the threaded comments feature now works so take direct aim at those people who disagree with you. There’s plenty more changes on the site and there will be more in the future, so have a looksy around the site and tell me what you think.
Over the last two days I have been engaged in an epic struggle for life and limb. In the course of two days my kids have been take by Child Protective Services–because I murdered my wife, how lame–my other two wives have divorced me, and taken my kids, and I have finally and fully capitulated to the dark impulses that have haunted me. I know that I have ostracized friends and family, but I don’t care because I am now a person with one singular purpose, evil. I want to spread pain and terror to as many people as I can. I care not for the living or the dead, the young or old, guilty or innocent. I am a killing machine that’s murders unflinchingly and in my wake I leave death and despair. I am the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse.
I am currently doing research for a paper that will talk about the history and impact of id Software, and more specifically DOOM, on culture. In working on finding academic sources I stumbled upon the site how they got game, which is maintained by Stanford University. There is a lot of cool stuff there, and it is encouraging to see a major University look into the larger impact that games have had, and not just treat it as something trivial that only greasy nerds participate in. If you have time check out the site; it’s well worth you’re time.
They have a whole section devoted to machinima, which is where I found this video. A student made a short video about the Holocaust using Halo 3. It’s a good video, and worth a few minutes of your time.
The time has come to send in my shitty computer to get fixed, hopefully the third time is the mother fucking charm. So I will be falling off the grid for awhile as far as blogging, and eventually phone communication. Expect a Twitter update every once in a blue moon.
Today I dusted off my XBOX 360, and checked out some of the new games and demos. One game that I ended up buying for the arcade was Castle Crashers. So what’s good you say? Well, honestly, pretty much everything from top to bottom. If you can’t tell from the above picture it is an old-school side scroller that is slightly reminiscent of the old TMNT’s arcade game–complete with the retro cell animation look. The plot of the game is pretty simple. You’re a knight (of various colors, but there are a ton of extra characters that you can unlock) who have to go save four princesses who have been kidnapped. You will travel throughout all different kinds of terrains to look for them–volcano, desert, forest, ice et al–and all of the terrains have a distinct look and feel. They really did put a lot of details in all of the different areas–which brings me to the art work.
The art work and character design is completely rad, with characters that look new but also familiar (personally I’d say some Futurama, Simpsons, and Ren & Stimpy influences–and probably even more that I don’t get). The gameplay is furious. It is not quite a straight button mashing game, but there are times where it is close, and after a few hours of playing you will be hard pressed to use your hands for anything but the most pedestrian of tasks. There is also a ton of items that have to be collected and found, which some people don’t like, but I have always like collecting items in games. I’m weird like that. Also there is a ton of humor, and hidden easter eggs throughout the game. Stuff that you might not catch until your secon or third time through.
One of the best parts of the game, however, is that you can play 4-player online co-op. More games need to include this feature, because it adds immense replay value to the game. I’m already looking forward to some long seshs hacking and slashing my way through the game whilst drinking some nice cold Colorado Kool-Aid. Besides the main game–that has 20 levels–there are a couple of mini games that it comes with. One is “All You Can Quaff” which is a game where you have to mash buttons to eat food faster than the other knights–this game absolutely kills the hands. The other game is an Arena fighting game where you have to fight a bunch of enemies. Each round you play they increase in number.
So that’s pretty much it. It’s a great game, and if you have a 360 you should definitely buy it because it is worth it. Castle Crashers is a great addition to you XBLA, and it’s an even cooler throwback to the old side scroller days. Go get it…now.
I hope you can see this, because I'm doing it as hard as I can.
Ok in honor of the X-Files coming out this week, I am going to post this story via AICN. This is a conversation between Dr. Edgar Mitchell, a former Apollo 14 astronaut, and someone from Kerrang radio, in which Mitchell claims that aliens exist, and that the government has been covering it up for 60 years. Cool stuff or maybe the ramblings of a Professor Farnsworthesque crazy scientist. Who knows maybe walking on the moon for over 9hrs just completely makes a person insane, or maybe he has seen shit that we only think exists in the X-Files. Story here, and more news coverage here, here, here, and here, if you’re interested.
Ok so the NY Daily News is reporting that a bunch of youths went on a Grand Theft Auto style crime spree:
It’s “game over” for six teens who were inspired by a violent video game to go on a crime spree early Thursday, police said. Three of the youths mugged a man in the parking lot of a New Hyde Park supermarket late Wednesday, Nassau County cops said. Emulating best-selling bloodfest “Grand Theft Auto” and armed with bats and crowbars, the posse marched through the streets just past midnight. They stole a pack of cigarettes from a woman in a car and smacked a van with a bat, cops said. The woman called police.
Brandon Cruz, 15, Stephen Attard, 18, and Samuel Philip, 16, all of New Hyde Park, Dylan Laird, 17, of Southborough, Mass., and an unnamed 14-year-old were charged with robbery. Jaspreet Singh, 17, of New Hyde Park, was charged with possession of stolen property.
Now what I’m trying to figure out is where in all of this did they get that the youths were influenced by GTA? Is it because they are young and GTA was recently released? Where is the proof? This is the type of tabloid, sensational journalism that pisses me off. They provide absolutely no proof that GTA influenced these kids. How about giving me a statement where the kid says, “I just wanted to copy GTA.” Nope. Instead they just lay the blame on video games, because god knows that kids are soooo influenced by video games, TV, and movies. There is no such thing as kids who are just bad seeds, nope not at all. Now if they print some sort of proof then ok, but they don’t, instead they just make a random claim without any sort of evidence. Whatever happened to integrity and research? Gone the way of the dodo I guess.
I have consistently been a late adopter of technology. The last time I jumped on the techno band wagon from the get go was when I bought an mp3 player back before there was such a thing as an iPod (it was the equivalent of the Zack Morris cell phone). Needless to say I got burned and I learned my lesson. Since that time I have always waited and waited for new technology to go through a few iterations before I buy it. Last Friday I decided to finally jump on the iPhone band wagon, and although I wish I would have done it sooner I am glad that I waited for them to work out some of the bugs.
