Chronicles of My Binary World

What to expect from the Apple tablet, and why it will fail

2010-01-26T22:31:00.000-08:00

What to Expect:

- 8-10 inch touchscreen
- Passive touch technologies in the screen, like a large capacitive screen on a phone
- Runs a modified version of the software that is present on the iPhone
- Emphasis on reading books and games
- Partnerships for book delivery from certain publishers
- 800-ish dollar price tag
- WIFI and a cellular connection provided somehow

Why it will fail:

An Apple tablet that follows the above formula is doomed to failure. And, if the current indicators are to be believed, it looks like we are looking at another AppleTV.

Let me start with the fact that this device is positioning itself in-between the iPhone and the Macbook. The issue with this positioning is that the above-mentioned tablet performs all the functions that you iPhone does (minus the phone) and really only shows any value in large screen applications like reading apps. On the other end, it doesn't perform half the functions of the base-line Macbook. But, it is going to be priced similarly to the Macbook. If you have a device that you need a bag to carry around, and you aren't going to be able to do half the things that your Macbook can do (for around the same price) why don't you just get a fucking Macbook?

Ok, so if Apple pulls a switch-a-roo and it ends up that they have adapted OSX in its desktop form to a tablet platform, it still has an uphill battle to overcome. That kind of experience needs handwriting recognition, and on an enlarged cellphone screen you aren't going to get a premium handwriting experience. Having owned tablets I can tell you that the only way that you can get a good handwriting experience is with an active touch screen, which will NOT be present in the tablet because it would make it considerably thicker. Remember, Apple is all about form over function. The tablet screen will have issues with interference when writing on the screen and wresting your wrist on the tablet. Apple also doesn't have any experience with handwriting recognition, and I highly doubt that they could write their own handwriting recognition engine in the time that they have been working on the tablet.

On the other hand, they could surprise us and it could be a device that is targeted at basic functions like e-mail, media, reading, etc. Basically, positioning itself in the same place that netbooks tried to position themselves against laptops. This may seem like a good idea for Apple, which has a platform where no device fills this area, but they would seem to not realize that that area is filled on every other platform, and very few people are living in a purely Apple ecosystem. Also, nobody except the fanatical are going to purchase a "netbook" that costs as much as a laptop and does so little.

Basically, Apple ends up with a device that is either an overgrown and over-expensive iPod, or and under capable and equally-as-expensive Macbook.

To touch on the other points, if they put an emphasis on games, them they will run into the issue where the device is so large that they might as well just use a laptop because it will have better games and it has better hardware. If they decide to put an emphasis on books, then they will run into the problem where someone can decide to get this device or get a kindle, and believe me, the Kindle will win every time because there is a 500 dollar difference.

So, in closing, when you are on the internet and people are talking about how whatever Apple announces tomorrow will revolutionize the way that people look at tablets, just remember that they said the exact same thing about the AppleTV. But, the Apple TV ended up being too expensive and and did too little to be a viable solution. It looks like, if Apple releases something that looks like what I described above, it will just end up falling into obscurity.

New Record, 21 Minutes

2009-08-17T21:22:00.001-07:00

Well, I just wanted to take a sec and report that I have set a new record for sitting through an episode of Hannity. I made it a whole 21 minutes until I had to turn off the television. Normally I can sit through a ton of bullshit and hypocrisy, but Hannity seems to revel in it. This episode, they had that idiot of a woman at Arlen Spector's town hall on to comment about the attacks that the "left wing attack machine" was targeting her with.

Just as a little bit of information, for those of you that don't know who this woman is. This woman basically showed up at Sen. Specter's town hall and ranted about how the government is "Dismantling the country" and how she doesn't want to see America turn into a "Russia" or socialist country.

They started the segment with a few quotes about how she appears to be uneducated and is the poster child for the uneducated right wing town hall-er. Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's true. She is a complete moron. Just listening to her made me cringe. And during this whole thing Hannity is just egging her on, lapping up the bullshit. Socialist, really? Have any people nowadays actually looked up what Socialism is? Anyone? If any of these idiots had, then they would know that this health care bill is not Socialism at all. I just wish I could show up to one of these shows and just ask them point blank if they know what Socialism is. But, Hannity literally turns to her and says "The reason that everyone is so worked up about what you said is that it resonates with so many Americans." Really? Earlier, I was really mad that people could be so stupid that they just repeat everything that they hear from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. But, after a while, I feel sad for them. They really do believe that they have the correct information. They really do believe that the government is dismantling this country. It's a sad thought. The even sadder thought is that these people vote.

People like Sean Hannity that bring people onto his show, and use that show as a platform to spread misinformation should lose their show. There are people that really think the Sean has their best interests in mind, while he truly does not. There needs to be some sort of law where people who spread this kind of stuff have to have some sort of truth disclaimer, or have to identify themselves at the beginning of their show as a "radical right wing commentator with a truthful rating of 0 percent." I'm thinking kind of like we do with sex offenders in this country where they have to identify themselves. People that tune into Hannity might be lead to believe that he is not lying to them, and people need to know that he is.

Now we end yet another post where I start on topic and end somewhere completely different.

Tea Parties...

2009-04-18T02:21:00.000-07:00

I seriously can't believe how people can believe that these tea-parties are not manufactured. It completely baffles me. The thing that really demonstrated this fact was seen in the interviews leading up to the tea-parties. Every person that came on in support of the parties plugged the word grassroots over and over. Almost like if they said it enough, it would become true. I mean, literally, they could be asked a question that had absolutely nothing to do with the tea-parties and they would find a way to mention the tea-parties and their "grassroots." That alone should be easy for people to see with little background knowledge.

Secondly, a vast majority of people in the protests are receiving a tax cut. So, when they come out and tell us to stop raising their taxes, WE AREN'T RAISING YOUR TAXES. Its amazing how ignorant people can be.

People had signs equating taxes to Socialism. I wish people would use a dictionary before they use words they are not familiar with. If you think taxes are the equivalent to Socialism, then you are a moron. There isn't a better way to say it. The Obama administration is rolling back the tax cuts to a Clinton-era level. Its even lower than the taxes were during the Reagan administration. So, are you all saying that we were living in a Socialist state under Reagan? That's what I thought.

People were also protesting taxes at all. They were saying all this garbage about how there should be no taxes at all. The hilarious part in all of this would have to be the fact that they were protesting in parks and public areas that are maintained with their taxes.

Also, it is disingenuous to argue that this protest was a grassroots movement. Fox News was plugging this protest every day. They literally were telling people where they were taking place, encouraging people to attend, and running ads about them. These events were sponsored by corporations. It was literally a protest arranged by the upper three percent of Americans who are getting tax hikes, and they are using the poor, uneducated masses to argue their case for them.

Thoughts on the DHS Report

2009-04-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

In my latest fit of sadism I decided to turn on Fox News and see what was happening in the parallel universe most of their staff lives in. To my surprise, Hannity was on with a special guest Michael Steele. So, they decided to talk about the Department of Homeland Security report on "Right-Wing Extremism." This report for some reason has become a sort of "battle cry" for Conservatives; but it doesn't look like they have read the report at all. Anyone who even glanced over the report would know that the report does not concern Republicans in America. The report does not have anything to do with average Republicans. They make it seem like the report was warning the public about Republicans. THEY ARE NOT. When they refer to "right-wing" they don't mean the average Republican. They are referring to neo-nazi groups, religious hate groups, etc. Also, for those of you that don't realize it, Islamic Extremists are considered "right-wing extremists." Just answer this question, are you a terrorist? Are you a racist? Do you want to harm the US because our president is black? If the answer to the previous set of questions is no, then the DHS report DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Ok, now that we have laid the ground rules, Hannity started talking with Steele about the DHS report and Steele actually said that he believed there were DHS agents taking down names to investigate people at the tea-parties. Wow. How stupid can you be. Well, thats it for this topic.

John McCain == Fail Whale?

2009-03-17T16:51:00.001-07:00

Check out the image for the John McCain big news page on Huffington Post.

'Nuff said.

Just More Proof

2009-02-16T15:51:00.001-08:00

Ok, I have been procrastinating my AI project for the last few days, and in my latest attempts I stumbled back to the website of one of my favorite bands, Electric Six. As I looked down the news page something caught my eye. They had a section of FAQ for 2009 that just blew my mind. I think that the first question really gives you an idea of who is actually in this band. Ill reproduce the question and answer here for all of you.

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Q. I am a music reviewer and I have just been given the responsibility of reviewing the new Electric Six album. I think Electric Six is a joke. Do you have any idea how my review should read?
A. Sure! Try this sure-fire template! It's worked dozens of times for people just like you:
Electric Six -- New Album
Aging Detroit pranksters determined to tell the same tired joke over and over again, even though it was never funny in the first place
You can imagine my surprise when I was told that Electric Six had a new record coming out. After all, their 2003 debut "Fire" should have been the only thing they were permitted to release and then they should have been taken out to a field and put out of their misery. Then imagine how surprised I was when I found out that they've had four albums come out since "Fire"! How?? More importantly, why???
Every song on this new album is just a watered-down version of their 15-minute-of-fame novelty hit "Gay Bar". Lead singer Dick Valentine sounds like a tired, bitter sideshow freak trying to be a third-rate Tom Jones. He spits out his inane, stupid lyrics with an idiotic bravado and he exudes an undeserved confidence that he clearly wouldn't have if he truly understood what a joke I think he is.
The rest of the band compliment Valentine's total lack of imagination. Every guitar riff on this new album is a watered-down homage to the repetitive twang of 2003 novelty hit "Gay Bar". Occasionally keyboardist Tait Nucleus chimes in with bleeps and blops designed to dupe the odd listener into thinking that these guys are capable of doing something interesting or intelligent, but no self-respecting music lover will ever take the bait. It's fine when the Killers, the Kills or LCD Soundsystem do it. It's not when Electric Six does it.
If there's any saving grace about this new Electric Six album, it is that it makes the listener profoundly grateful he is not in Electric Six. There's no way the people in this band are happier than I am. They think they are funny, but the joke is on them in the form of my review. I know about music. I know what's funny. And I'm going to call them on it. Somehow, some day, this review and others like it will put an end to Electric Six. Too much is at stake. What? No....mom...can it wait? I'm writing a music review....what? NO! I told you, I'll mow the lawn when I'm done with this....Jesus Christ, mom...I gotta finish this review and stop this band....mom, you know nothing about how important music is...I didn't get into knowing about music so I could mow your fucking lawn....Jesus, mom...and shut my fucking door on your way back upstairs....

What Will Happen Now?

2009-01-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

So, I was browsing Engadget today and stumbled across a link to a ZDNet article. Someone decided to take the time and perform a fairly thorough performance analysis between Windows 7, Vista, and XP. When I was running Windows 7 on my HP Pavilion ZD8000 it seemed to be running faster than XP did, but I really didn't take the time to perform any benchmarks. Well, the tests that ran showed that Windows 7 was faster in over 90 percent of the tasks that were performed. That's really good news for Windows. Normally, the next iteration of an operating system brings bigger system requirements, and it seems like Windows 7 will run on older machines. Oh, also, the link to the article is below.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3236&page=2

Now, getting to my point. What will happen to the "I'm a Mac" ads? At the beginning, they were accurate and pretty funny. After the first handful of ads, they just became flat wrong and slanderous. What is going to happen when Windows 7 works with your devices out of the box (because the driver model between Vista and 7 are essentially the same)? What is going to happen when 7 doesn't run slowly and crash all the time because hardware has had the time to catch up to the software (also the fact that Windows 7 seems to run better on worse hardware)?What is going to happen when people learn that Microsoft has actually flooded an untold amount of resources into developing a solid OS? What are they going to have to complain about? I would hope that the ads would return to the olden days, where the ads told you the facts about Macs (they can run Windows, integration with Mac ecosystem, etc); but it seems that they fired the rational advertising people and they are hell-bent on just spewing slime on every competitor.

I hope that the ads continue, but take on their old tone (but in the back of my head, I can see new ads still bringing up Vista, even after 7 has launched). All the problems that they mentioned with Vista were really launch problems that occurred years ago and have been solved over the last few years in the first place. But, I would love to see the ads take on their old feel. Those ads lit a fire under Microsoft's ass and it looks like they are posed to release an awesome piece of software. See, competition is actually good for us.

AirTran is Officially the Worst

2008-11-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

Right now, I am writing this from a little nook I have carved out for myself in an airport in Orlando. So, this was supposed to be a nice little flight. I was supposed to leave Rochester at 2, arrive in Orlando at 4, catch a flight to Dallas at 6, then be in Dallas at 8ish. Well, Rochester went off without a glitch; but when I arrived in Orlando I realized that my flight to Dallas was delayed. The plane wasn't there, so I decided to watch an episode of Dexter. When I was done I saw that the plane had arrived. So, in preparation for a flight without any food I ran literally 100 yards to Burger King. I spent 10 minutes at Burger King (all I wanted was a large drink and fries). When I returned, the door to the plane was shut and the mildly retarded Cuban man working at the counter wouldn't let me on the plane. Now, I can understand the fact that once the door is closed, they aren't supposed to let anyone else on. I think its a security thing. But, the thing that pissed me off was the fact that they did not announce that they were boarding, or a last call for boarding over the intercom. AirTran KNEW that I was in the terminal. Its a connecting flight, they knew that I got on in Rochester, and that I got off in Orlando (that's what she said). I'm just very surprised that nobody though to page me at all. Also, how the hell did they board the plane in 10 minutes? Did they just call all zones? I'm also pretty sure that they shut the doors prematurely. Twenty minutes later, the plane was still at the gate.

Well, looking past the fact that it doesn't look like AirTran knows how to operate an airline on a physical basis, lets see how their customer service does. I walked over to the AirTran customer service desk only to find four Puerto Rican gentlemen at the desk already. They were having trouble getting on a flight to Puerto Rico (all that I could get from my broken Spanish). One of the attendants was dealing with them, while another attendant was just sitting in the chair next to her. About five minutes later the man finally calls me over. I explained my situation and asked what the next steps were. He told me that the only way that I was going to get to Dallas was by transferring to Georgia and then going to Dallas. So, I tell him to do whatever he has to do. He then informs me that the next flight that he can get me out to is at six in the morning. Also, he tells me that he can only put me on standby, and that if I want to be guaranteed a seat on the plane, I need to fork over an additional seventy-five dollars. What the hell? I payed to get from point A to point B, I shouldn't have to pay an extra cent to be sure that I get to point B. I've basically given up at this point and just tell him to print the standby tickets. I then ask him where the airline is going to put me up. This is where I got angry. He informed me that because I missed the flight, the airline is not going to pay for me to stay anywhere. Now, I could understand that logic if the plane was on time, and I was late to the plane; but when your plane is delayed indefinitely and you rush boarding and don't even page someone who you KNOW IS IN THE TERMINAL, it stops being that persons fault. So, broken and battered, I wander back to the terminal.

Now, for the sprinkles on the top. I started scouting out a good place to pitch up camp for the evening. I look around and soon learn that there are no benches or places to sit without arm wrests. So, basically, sprawling out across seats is no longer an option. There are no power plugs ANYWHERE near the walls, so I end up having to camp out between seats that are back to back. I piled up all my bags against a pillar and kicked out all the old McDonalds wrappers from under the seats. So, here I sit, hopefully able to get to Texas tomorrow.

AirTran is the worst, they don't care about their customers at all. I'm filing a complaint with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) in the morning. This simple journey has become a disaster.

Rebirth of the Grand Old Party (Hopefully)

2008-11-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

I consider myself to be a fairly right-leaning individual; but I have not been able to support a Republican candidate for president for a considerable amount of time. This is because the Republican party that I have seen since I became involved in politics is not the Republican party that we have seen in the past. The current Republican party would be indistinguishable to classic Republicans. Over the last eight years, we have seen the party of strong personal freedom, limited government, and strong state government preside over the largest restriction/violation of personal freedom, largest increase in our national debt, and largest increase in central government ever. The Republican party has been dealt a swift kick to the electoral balls last night and it is time for some soul seeking. The Republican party will not be able to exist in today's ecosystem in its current state, and it needs to begin making some big changes in order to compete in the future.

My first problem with the current Republican party is that it has been hijacked by religious extremists. These extreme Christians believe that everyone that does not believe in their views are incorrect; and that they need to impose their values on everyone else in the country. These fanatics have a very strong set of views that they have somehow woven into the platform of the Republican party. They believe in outlawing Abortion, banning gay marriage / civil unions, teaching creationism in science classrooms, prayer in the classroom, and abstinence only education. The fact that they believe in these ideals does not make them dangerous, the fact that they believe that everyone should conform to these ideas is what makes them dangerous. There is no way that the party of Lincoln would think that their party should impose their morals on everyone. That's one of the things that I love about the old Republican party. They believed that everyone was entitled to their own different way of life. They understood that regional ideals are different and the only way that very different groups of people could be governed and represented appropriately would be to give power back to the states. This way, for instance, if there were states in the north like Massachusetts were in favor of gay marriage, they would be able to pass laws according to their views. On the other side, a state like Texas, which is very anti-gay would be against this, so they would be able to pass laws outlawing this practice. This basic idea works very well, and the Republican party knew it. The problem occurs when someone from Texas gets elected and decides to impose their values on the entire country. Allowing the current Republican party to be hijacked by the radically religious was a terrible decision. This infestation has shown to divide the nation which makes winning elections easy, but governing the nation impossible (See: George W. Bush). But now, even this system seems gimped. They can't even win now. This is because the way that they used to win was to get the evangelical voters pumped up and to have them show up in droves. But, as we saw during this cycle, when the country is in real economic trouble, people want answers to their problems and the argument that "they are going to let the gays get married" is not going to work anymore. The Republicans need to re-brand themselves as a no longer a radically religious organization. They need to be a party of individual rights and responsibilities.

Finally, the Republican party needs to re-brand itself as a party of solutions, not slime. Since I have begun to follow politics, the Republican party has been the party of dirty campaigns. Anyone remember the George W. Bush calls in South Carolina during the primaries last election cycle? Remember when he accused John McCain of fathering an illegitimate black child without actually accusing him? Remember the swift boat veterans for truth? Remember the Barack Hussein Obama smears? Islamic associations? William Ayers? Jeremiah Wright? You get what I mean. Last time, all these smears worked. This time, well, I'll let the electoral college do my talkin'. You know why they failed? Any idea? Its because the country was in the crapper. The economy was falling through the floor. Now, Obama didn't get his post-economy crash because everyone blames it on Bush, it was because McCain didn't seem to have any answers on how to fix it. There was this great political comic that I saw on the internets a little bit back. On one side there is a depiction of the Titanic, it is sinking and people are jumping overboard. On the side it says "US Economy." Then, to the right of the sinking Economy you can see John McCain and Sarah Palin in a row-boat. Palin has a megaphone and she is shouting "Did you know his name is Hussein?" Americans were hurting and wanted answers. Obama gave answers and was seldom negative. McCain and Palin ran a tremendously negative campaign. Americans wanted answers, not fear. Fear had worked in the past, but Americans were hurting and they went with the person who seemed to have answers to their problems. Answers will always triumph over smears.

The GOP is doomed to failure unless they can turn around this sinking ship. As of late, it seems like the Libertarian party is the true ideological replacement to the Republican party. Bob Barr was correct when he stated that he "didn't run from the Republican party, they ran away" from him. The Republican party needs to stand for smaller government, lower taxes, strong personal rights, strong state government, and level headed decision making. Until they cut off their radical religious mouthpieces and stop the negative campaigning; they will be doomed to failure.

How Does Yahoo Sort These Things

2008-09-23T20:38:00.001-07:00

Hmmm, something seems wrong here. I don't think one of these things has to do with "Singles & Dating."

Welcome to the (Almost) Future

2008-09-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm glad that John McCain has finally figured out that some of his supporters know how to use "the cell phones." I just wish that he had found a picture of a phone that wasn't around when I was in High School.

Movie Review: Death Race **1/2

2008-08-25T00:02:00.000-07:00

OLR (One Line Review) - As pure violent action this movie succeeds, but a story that no one cares about just keeps getting in the way.

So, Death Race is a story about a guy (Jason Statham) who ends up basically having the shittiest six months of his live. So, the movie starts out with a little background information in order to lay out what is going on. This was the first thing that sort of threw me off. I was expecting this movie to open with a massive explosion and some stereotypical prisoners wrecking some major colon (not literally) in front of a large TV audience. But I was wrong. So, the back story is that in like 2012 or something like that, the US economy collapses and the government outsources prison duties to major corporations (my Aunt turns to me at this time and whispers that its because John McCain is in office, tee hee hee). So, after the setup the audience learns that Statham has been laid off from his job as a steel worker. So, he heads home to his wife and kid. Soon there after, someone breaks into his house and kills his wife while framing Statham for the murder. So, he heads off to jail. It's at this point that we see our first real piece of action (or was it before the layoff scene? (I can't remember)). Oh well, in this first action scene I started to get back into the movie. There is this one guy giving off a massive Hannibal Lector vibe being chased by a large black man in a suped-up SUV. Guns are blazing and rockets are going off, aka life is good. The scene is over far too soon and Statham is finally arriving in prison where he is told that he needs to race in a three part race to the death because the Hannibal Lector guy got killed and people liked him. Also, Statham used to be a Nascar driver (yeah, that fucking came out of nowhere). Ok, so after this, Statham agrees to race and the rest of the movie is a big firefight except for the ending.

So, I will say that this movie had some awesome action sequences. Things were blowing up and you never really knew what was going to happen. There are definatly some really good moments where you are just ready to applaud. But on the other hand, these pluses are cut short whenever the story kicks in. I DON'T CARE, AND I DON'T THINK ANYONE ELSE WHO WAS IN THE THEATER CARED. When the plot decides to come out and play its got more leaks than a breast implant installed by a back alley surgeon in Tijuana. I'm not even going to take the time to point out any of them, it would take up the entire internet. You know what would have made this a much better movie? Open the movie with the first fight scene, then have Statham get arrested for his wifes murder (but leave the kid out of this). Then they discover that Statham can race and he takes over for the guy that dies at the beginning. He then beats the other racers over the head with his massive erection and ends up finishing up the movie with the last action sequence. It would be just what the audience wanted. So, in short, if you want to make a good action film, go ahead. Please just don't try and throw a brain into a movie like this when one isn't needed (or wanted).

Please don't go see Disaster Movie

2008-08-23T22:25:00.001-07:00

Jesus Christ. I just saw an ad for "Disaster Movie," which is the latest in the un-funny circle jerk that is the epic/scary/superhero movie series (also Meet the Spartans). This is just like the Saw movie series. These un-funny asshats will continue to make these movies if you idiots keep going to see them. Please, don't go see this movie. If this movie flops it will restore my faith in humanity. So, please, don't see this movie. If you want to see it, please just pirate it. It's called BitTorrent and isoHunt.

Thoughts on Clinton Supporters

2008-08-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so today Barack Obama announced that he will be taking Joe Biden as his Vice President. Most of the news channels were talking about the impact that this will have in the race for the White House (with the Exception of Fox News which was just airing an exclusive John McCain ad over and over). One thing came up that I found to be pretty interesting. A former Clinton strategist was talking about how this pick will end up infuriating her old supporters. Did anyone actually think that Hillary Clinton had a chance of becoming Vice President at all? Anyone? I thought that a majority of the Clinton supporters would have come to terms with the fact that their candidate would not be anywhere near the ticket at all. But, I guess I was wrong.

Come on. Do any of you have the slightest idea why she was not looked at seriously? I knew that there was this very thick veil over the faces of the most die hard Clinton supporters; but I was not aware that this veil extended over most of her supporters. Do any of you realize that you supported one of the most divisive people in the race for the democratic ticket. People had already made up their minds about Hillary Clinton and those preconceptions would carry over to an Obama ticket. Also, the ticket would inherit Bill Clinton. Now, I like Bill just as much as the next person; but there is a lot about Bill that the public doesn't know. For an example, Bill would have to release his contributions to his presidential library which might contain some information that could be detrimental to their campaign.

Even more so, the fact that Hillary Clinton seems to lack the ability to play second fiddle to anyone is a negative. She is a spotlight whore. There would be no rally or news cycle that she would not try to dominate. Just a little side note.

So, back to the fact that the Hillary Clinton supporters felt betrayed. I just don't understand. Clinton came out today and said that she was Joe Biden's biggest fan. Doesn't that mean anything? Over on Fox News there was someone who was saying that this pick is going to cause many of these supporters to switch over to John McCain. Are you serious? You all... do you even realize that John McCain believes in practically the opposite of everything Hillary believes in? Do you? Why the hell would you even say that? Are you really that ignorant? Perhaps it's just me. I would think that if your candidate was out of the race you would want to vote for the person who was the most similar. I don't know, sometime I just don't get people.

Why do people not investigate anything?

2008-08-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

So, I just got one of the typical GOP talking points e-mails forwarded from my Grandmother. *sigh* How do people believe any of this crap? It seems like GOP voters are the most gullible people on the planet. In all seriousness they could have sent out an e-mail that says that Barack Obama frequently defecates on the homeless in public and most people would believe it. Does no one research anything at all? I may be a die-hard Obama supporter, but if I got an e-mail from someone about anything (even something John McCain might have said/done) I would look into it before believing anything told to me through e-mail.

Oh, I forgot to tell you what was in the message. It contained the quote "Remember Obama said in his book 'Audacity of Hope', 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction'.....what better place for the Muslins[sic] to control our country, than in the office of the President of USA."

No matter how infallible the holy platform of INTERNET MAIL is, I thought something might be wrong here. So, I opened up the good ol' Google and typed in "I will stand with the Muslims." The first link was an article that said the same thing that the e-mail my Grandmother sent me said. At the top of the page was a correction that stated that the quote was incorrect. The second link was to FaceCheck.org where they provided the correct quote. So, I replied-to-all on the e-mail my Grandmother sent out and provided the correct quote. For those that are interested the quote is "Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

I sent out the message and received some replies from the people that my Grandmother had been forwarding this trash to. One of them was really surprised and has vowed to start taking everything that they see on the internet at face value. I felt satisfied with my good deed for the day until I got a response from my Grandmother. She said that she thought that I was seeing things differently because of my point of view. She said that she had researched the quote and did not find anything wrong with it (which was discovered to be untrue because a simple Google search would have cleared up the confusion). She also thought that I was mistaken because the people I talked to are one sided. I still don't quite understand how the correct quote from the book can be one sided; but I guess that there is nothing I can do to reason with her. *sigh*

Movie Review: Transsiberian ***1/2

2008-08-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this will most likely be a new thing on my blog. Whenever I see a film (starting now) i'm going to do a little write up. So, expect more of these.

So, Transsiberian is a little independant film about an American couple that just finishes up a church humanitarian trip to China and is on the way back home. Now, the husband is a train-nut so they decide to take the trans-siberian railroad across Russia. They run into another couple on the train and end up getting stuck in the middle of this drug smuggling operation from one end of Russia to the other.

Now, let me just start this off by saying that this movie is intense. There is very little action (except toward the end) in the film; but I found myself biting my nails and practically screaming at the screen. This movie should have just been called "A Series of Bad Decisions in the Middle of Nowhere." The wife in the couple is possibly the dumbest character in the entire world. I'm pretty sure that Sean Penn from "I Am Sam" could make better decisions. I won't give anything away, but whenever any challenges present themselves the woman just decides to do what no person would ever do. I sat there in the theater with my hands over my face in frustration while she made bad decisions. I couldn't even imagine why she was acting that way. Then I realized what was happening (or this is at least what I think). I think that the reason that she was acting so dumb was to bring in the audience. When someone is acting so irrationally, you can't help but pay attention to what is happening and look at how the situation is unfolding.

Ok, now that that little rant is over, the rest of the film was really good. I couldn't take my eyes away and grew to care about what happened to some of the characters. Something like that is really rare nowadays. Also, Ben Kingsley plays a Russian narcotics investigator and he is amazing. It just reinforces the fact that he can play anyone. In the past he has been everything from a hitman, to a retired Iranian military officer, and now a Russian narcotics officer. Also, I think his next movie has him in a relationship with Penelope Cruz (awesome).

Ok, so now you know that the acting was top notch, and the story was intriguing; but what was lacking? The reason that I can only give this movie ***1/2 stars instead of the **** is because of the stupid choices. I understand that they got me involved in the film and that without those dumb decisions there would be little movie left. It's just that when the stupid decisions happened I got really frustrated. Like Call-of-Duty-4-on-veteran-difficulty frustrated. It is only for this reason that it lost half a star. Other than that, the movie is really solid and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in seeing a genuinely good thriller.

Beware, film geekery ahead---------------------
Another thing that I really liked about the movie was the use of foreshadowing. There were times where the camera would just linger for a moment on objects and the director did a great job of drawing your attention to things in the movie. Like, did you ever see "Crank." There was that scene where Jason Statham is running through the kitchen and the camera practically stops on the butcher knife. It was there for so long that I was expecting the director to pop up and point at the knife and then make a cutting motion toward his other hand. The cinematography was really well done, great sweeping shots of the terrain and really up-close claustrophobic shots on the train. It did a good job of keeping the audience in the scene.

Soul Calibur's Biggest Problem

2008-08-21T01:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, let me be the first (possibly) to say that the person who decided that it would be a great idea to allow players to use custom characters in ranked online matches needs to be executed. In every ranked match that I entered tonight I was greeted by some custom character with 200 percent attack, defense, and HP. How unfair is that? Its like I have to take on two separate characters EVERY MATCH. It is impossible. Then, if I actually do start to whittle away at their two bars of HP they just resort to spamming one move over and over and over. I might as well just toss my controller on the ground because once they start their onslaught, it never ends and I can't even get ONE HIT IN.

Now, I can understand that the makers of the game want you to be able to build your own character and show them off online. That is all well and good, but when you are playing in a RANKED match it should be a show of SKILL, not just who has the most HP at the beginning of the match. If you want to show off your character, play on the PLAYER matches circut, get the hell out of the ranked matches. Most of the characters are well balanced (with the exception of Yoda) and a good match between two people who are very familiar with two stock characters is a thing of art. The last thing that all the serious Soul Calibur players want is some n00b that has been playing since the game came out and decides to show up to the fight with some unbalanced character. Its not fun. You just sit there while the other character spams one move that does double damage while they have double health and take half as much damage.

So, back to the point and in closing, if you want to show off some cool character that you have created (like my very own A-MARYcan Poppins *a Mary Poppins character in red, white, and blue, that fights with an umbrella sword* ) then go play in player matches, where the outcome doesn't matter. Please don't enter a ranked game at all. This is something that the game creators should have fixed. I blame them, and now I need to get to the hospital because I gouged my eyes out after playing against 10 of these 5 year old asshats that think its cool to bring their own custom characters into a match against my stock characters.

I hate people in general.

The 25 Movies You Need To See Before Oscar Night

2007-01-24T17:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't looked in the mail in a while and was plesantly suprised to find six weeks of Entertainment Weekly built up inside. Included in the most recent issue is their list of the 25 movies that you have to see before the Oscar's start. Below is the list complete with a + (I have seen) and - (I have not seen) notation. I am going to start plowing through the ones that I have not seen and hopefully you will as well!

+ The Departed
- Dreamgirls
+ Babel
- The Queen
- Letters From Iwo Jima
+ Little Miss Sunshine
- United 93
- Little Children
- Notes on a Scandal
- Flags of Our Fathers
- The Last King of Scotland
+ The Devil Wears Prada
+ Borat
- Blood Diamond
- Volver
- The Persuit of Happyness
- Venus
+ Children of Men
+ Pan's Labyrinth
- Half Nelson
+ Thank You For Smoking
- The Painted Veil
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Hollywoodland
- For Your Consideration

8/25

Why I don't feel the need for a Wii anymore...

2006-11-29T10:59:00.001-08:00

I'm most likely not the only person that knows that they don't want to buy a Wii, but a little part of them feels like they need one. I mean, it's hard to justify a $250.00 price tag for a console that only has Twilight Princess, Trauma Center (coming), and the newest Super Smash Brothers (even though every release after the original on the N64 is actually just the original game with new skins and like 3 new powers, but I digress...). Three games hardly justifies a new console, but still, there in the back of my mind I wanted one. Do you know why? One word, GoldenEye. The Wii has this thing called the Virtual Console where you can purchase old games from the classic Nintendo/Sega consoles and play them on the Wii. Now granted, there aren't many games that came out eons ago that I am willing to fork down any amount of cash on but GoldenEye was another story. But today I can tell you that that little spark in the back of my mind is gone. I just realized that Rare created and published the two best games on the N64; GoldenEye and Perfect Dark. Now, Rare is basically owned by Microsoft so I see the chances of GoldenEye hitting the Wii to be slim to none. If anything, I can see it as being released on XBOX live arcade. There is no way that Microsoft would accept almost any amount of money to allow Nintendo to put GoldenEye or Perfect Dark on the Wii. That would move a good amount of consoles and Microsoft doesn't want that. So, the only reason for getting a Wii is totally gone now and I won't have to worry about a $250.00 hole in my pocket. Well, the only way that I could see it happening is if it released on XBOX live arcade, then they sold them limited rights to the game and they published it afterwards. But even in that case, I still have it on my 360 and that's all that matters. :P

REVIEW: Microsoft's Zune

2006-11-29T00:20:00.000-08:00

Alright, lets get to the point. Everyone out there seems to either love the Zune, or hate the Zune. Personally, I love it and I'll explain exactly why by listing reasons (not necessarily in order of importance or anything).

INSTALL: Many people on the internet have complained about the install process on the Zune, and their recollections of the events leave me baffled. Here is a little excerpt from the Chicago Sun-Times review on the Zune.

"The setup process stands among the very worst experiences I've ever had with digital music players. The installer app failed, and an hour into the ordeal, I found myself asking my office goldfish, "Has it really come to this? Am I really about to manually create and install a .dll file?""

The real question that you should be asking yourself is "Do I have Down Syndrome?" The answer to that should be yes if you have any sort of problems installing the Zune software on your machine (unless it is Vista). The installation went like this for me. Put the CD in the drive. NEXT>OK>NEXT.. wait while installing.. connect the Zune ... done. Wow, that was so difficult. The most difficult part of the installation would have to be registering a Zune account. But for me it was easy because I have a XBOX Live account so it literally took like 3 steps. But seriously, even a 2 year old paraplegic with dyslexia could finish the install and sync their music. What's your excuse Sun-Times?

PLAYS ALL MY MUSIC: That's right, every re-god-damn-diculous bit of them. They abandoned their plays-for-sure partner stores so actually none of the music you bought from those stores such as Yahoo Music, or iTunes will work on the Zune. So, once that was announced people far and wide began to bitch about the fact that Microsoft had abandoned their partners. You know why they abandoned plays-for-sure stores? Because they sucked. Now don't start with your "But Dylan, I took out a loan for college but instead bought five grand worth of Yahoo Music albums, so that means that the Zune sucks." No, that means that you are a tool. Anyone who purchases music off of Yahoo Music or iTunes is a tool and don't actually deserve to use the same media player as I do. Hell, I know a Mac enthusiast that doesn't even buy music through iTunes, and he is hardcore Mac user.... seriously. But yeah, plays my music, goodie goodie gumdrops.

THREE INCH SCREEN: Nuff said. Some people will complain that since it is the same resolution as the iPod, that stretching will occur and the picture looks bad. That is so wrong. I put television shows on my Zune and they look fabulous. I actually put a movie on that had subtitles and the subtitles looked readable as well, unlike the iPod or the Zen Vision M (which I love so much). I <3 three inch screen.

NO TOUCH WHEEL: Praise be to zombie Jesus, there is no touch sensitive pad anywhere. So, goodbye carpal tunnel, hello accuracy. Want to go up a song? Click the wheel up. Wanna go down one? Take a guess. CORRECT! Click the wheel down!(If you actually guessed something different then please don't get a Zune because you will be one of the aforementioned people that will have trouble installing the software and then bitch about it on the internet.)

EFFICIENT DESIGN: Thank you Microsoft/Toshiba for realizing that TWO-FREAKING-THIRDS of a mp3 player does not have to be the control scheme. The wheel plus two buttons literally takes up less than one third of the face of the device and that means that there is more room for the most important part of any media device... the screen. Also, there are no annoying buttons or scroll wheels on the sides of the device. Just a simple HOLD button. Nice, clean, efficient.

INCLUDED HEADPHONES: Let me tell you, this is the first ever pair of earbuds that I was ever satisfied with. They stay in my ears all the time and don't slip out like Apple or Creative bundled headphones. Seriously, if I had a penny for every time I would get out of the shower, then dry off and leave for class but on the way my earbuds fell off because of the moisture in my ears I would be a millionaire. Those Zune earbuds cling to my ears like it's their job, and guess what? It is. Also, they feature a magnetic clip so the earbuds stay back to back in your pocket to reduce the tangle factor.

THE PLAYER ITSELF: The Zune is amazing. This player feels more at home in my hands than a Vision M or an iPod ever has. This might sound weird because it is a small bit bigger but if you don't trust me because you know that my hands are larger than the average persons hands just ask most other reviews (www.cnet.com) and they will agree with me. The Zune comes in two great time tested colors (black and white) and one very civil-war-ish divided in opinion color (Brown). Personally I like the brown but that is one of those colors that people either love or hate. Some say that it even looks like muddy swamp water, but to each his own.

THE SOFTWARE: This is where the Zune really shines. Microsoft is a software company and if the UI sucked I would have worried. The UI has a very media center feel, and moves through menu's smartly and quickly. For example, from the music tab you can choose albums, artists, playlists, songs, or genres. All of these options are streamed across the top of the window, with the contents below it. So, since it starts on the Albums option, below it six albums are displayed below it with their album art and all. When you press the wheel left or right you change the category and the lower options change based on the category. Then up and down will help you select the album. Simple, clean, and neat. Also, the UI looks amazing and active instead of the obligatory bars and swoosh animations that inhabit the drives of most players. The Zune also allows you to change the background or theme whenever you want which is a big plus. It also features a nice left to right gradient from transparent to white on the selection bar that looks really classy.

WIFI: The ability to send things wirelessly is a fun new feature. I have sent albums to my friends and the 3 by 3 rule really isn't a problem. When you are looking at an album that you might be interested in then do you really need to listen to the song more than 3 times? I hope not. Plus, three times is better than the zero times that every other player on the market allows you. Also, as of the time that I write this there is a hack out (very easy to do) that allows you to transfer files without the protection and transfer any other files that you want regardless of the type. See what the magic of community will allow :P Also, Ballmer has promised that there will be Video sharing soon in a firmware update.

THE FUTURE: The Zune is being handled by J Allard. One of the brainchildren behind the XBOX360. If we can expect the kind of support or addition of features that the 360 has seen, than this is just the beginning of what the Zune can do. An article was recently released saying that the Zune right now has the hardware inside to run decently graphical games (not FEAR or anything... but Diablo-esque) and has the processing power to process and output (not to the screen currently) a HD signal. So, Microsoft has taken the time to put all the hardware inside right now, and in the future, as the market determines the features that they want, Microsoft is in the position to just unlock the feature through firmware. Remember the look on all the Sony-fanboys when Microsoft announced that in the last Fall update the 360 would do 1080p? Well that is the power that a software company with a forward looking strategy has. Being a software company also means that when they want to add a feature (like HD output or a web browser (not that it would be useful but whatever)) you wont have to buy a new Zune, unlike that new iPod you had to buy when they decided that you wanted to watch videos on it. So yeah, just wait, if the Zune hasn't impressed you yet, just give it some time.

INTEGRATION: Right now Microsoft is looking into a unified network for all their products. Currently they are working on the Live initiative which means that all their products Vista, XBOX, Zune will be able to communicate to each other. Eventually to the point that if you had my Live tag (GamerTag) you could be on your 360 playing Rainbow Six Vegas and look at your friends list to see that I am on my Zune listening to 105.3FM (with WiFi that would be very possible. Yet again, laying the stepping stones). Cool right? Also, it integrates seamlessly with my XBOX360 so I can stream video and music from it to my television.

MICROSOFT POINTS: The currency in Microsoft Land previously pissed me off because they only worked on my 360. Then I would normally buy a metric-fuckton of them in one go and after I bought Doom, and Frogger, and that theme I really liked I always have some points floating around. Now, since the Zune Marketplace takes Microsoft Points a person like me who normally does not purchase music off the internet can do so hassle free because the points transfer over seamlessly. Also for all those people who are like "But I have a PS3 so that doesn't matter, because then I have to buy the Microsoft Points for the Zune Marketplace and cant use them anywhere else." It doesn't matter in this case because if you bought a PS3 then you wont be able to use your credit card to purchase anything online until you pay off the second mortgage you took out to buy that piece of shit console. Also, if by the off chance that you have a Wii, then you most likely should stop reading as well because the language gets worse from here on and only people between the ages of 3 and 10 own a Wii. Don't want to hurt your virgin eyes.

CONS: Yes, I am going to include some cons because Microsoft listens to the community and if I pick them out, there is a chance that they will be fixed. My big complaint is with the click wheel. I know, it was one of the reasons that I recommend the Zune. I am not referring to the function of the click wheel, I am referring to the material of the Wheel. The wheel looks like it is made of cheap plastic and would look nicer if it was made of the same material that the frame of the screen is make of. Also, give me the ability to record radio just like my Vision M did. That was a feature that I ended up using alot. That's about it. Also, since I had some fun picking at the Chicago Sun-Times report on the Zune by Andy Ihnatko I thought that it would be appropriate to end with a personal message to him. In his article he writes

"Result: The Zune will be dead and gone within six months. Good riddance."

Ill see you in six months Mr. Ihnatko. If Allard's track record means anything, be prepared to eat your words.

Inaugural Frustration

2006-07-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

Ok... Ive procrastinated enough and have finally decided to start up my blog again after the inevitable clensing that had to occur on my old blog. Im going to open up with a question to anyone who has ever played the king of all games... Geometry Wars. But seriously, if you havn't heard of this game you should most likely just crawl back under your rock or whatever, because this post doesn't really pertain to you. Ok, back to my main point, is it just me or did the game just recently, like today, seem alot harder than it was yesterday. I am freakin' addicted to Geo Wars and I play it most every day, and on those days where I don't play, my amigo Chris Mattera is over here playing it(Poor boy doesnt have a 360 of his own). So, in playing it every day I have definatly seen that it is much harder today than it was yesterday. Yesterday I hit 1,234,345 points, and today I could only hit 313,214 points. Everywhere I turned there was another black hole, and every corner was always packed with more snakes then even the great Samuel L Jackson could take on. But yeah, frustration occured and I was about to put my smooth XBOX360 controller through my television. My friend Chris had hinted at the fact that the game might learn, like it might know what you hate from past experiance throw as much of that at me as possible. Chris hates the purple diamond bastard pieces, and he always seems to have to fight them. I hate the snakes with a passion, and I am always flooded with them. The black holes seem to be non-discrimatory and we are both being equally raped by them. Well, I was just wondering if anyone else had experianced this phenomenon as well.

Here is a quick clip where some guy fights off an ungodly amount of snakes.