It's a shame that the Y2K "apocalypse" didn't happen; I was ready.

Pay it Forward - Great Concept, Promising Movie

Life; filled with surprise.

So I get a random blog comment. Wanting to see if it's spam or not, I check this link out, and it leads to a movie preview. Pretty cool. Granted, the concept looks cooler than the movie, but still.


[This is the preview I was talking about]

And this is a movie that I haven't heard of before, so rest assured this is new stuff.


I recommend you check it out. If not, then you'll still hear about it when the movie comes out. Just think; you could get a jump on pop culture.


Thank you, "dachu!".

I Imagine my Future Wikipedia Article

How to Lie Effectively

Two warnings. Firstly, the block quotes are not what they appear to be. Next, can you trust me? I may be talking like I know a bit about this, but that could all just be your gullibility.

Be consistent.

Make a story, and stick to it. If you contradict yourself, someone's going to know something's wrong. Then they might find your lie. Then you might be out of luck.

Don't lie.

This may seem counter intuitive, but try not to lie. Not about this thing, of course. But about other things. This will make you seem trustworthy. So when you tell this lie, someone's first instinct would be to trust you.

But wait, if people tell the truth just to later lie, how can you trust anyone? Congratulations, you're now a skeptic.

Secondly, it's a whole lot better to have a story and stick with it. So, tell the truth about littler things pertaining to your lie, that also don't give yourself away. There's nothing like the truth to establish a credible story. Just make sure to remember what you told the truth about.

Practice your poker face.

Some people believe they can tell when a person is lying just by their facial expressions. While this is hardly an effective way of determining if someone is lying or not, it could certainly lead to being found out. So try not to give someone a reason to think you're lying.

But, don't just use a poker face. If you never look like a stoic stone statue, then you probably don't want to break the pattern. Just look like you naturally do. No one notices your facial expression when it looks like normal.

Stay Sober

Alcohol lowers inhibitions. Alcohol plus liar equals confession.

Distraction

So someone knows that you're lying. But they don't know what you're lying about. So, distract them by revealing a fake lie. Or lead them on the wrong path.

If you're going to do this, make sure it really is a red herring. If they look into it and you get into trouble for something else, way to go. Also, if you're trying to implication fictional crimes in yourself, make sure they're fictional, or can be proved as such.

Gullible people

If you somehow have a choice of who to lie to, choose the most gullible person. That way, they'll believe you. Or not believe you, if your lie sucks.

Don't tell people where you learned this

While not necessarily a step in the actual lying, it'd be nice if people didn't know what exactly to look out for in a lie, eh?

Next, it'd be a whole lot better for society if the lying was kept to a minimum.

Hook, Line, and Sinker

So on Facebook, there's this application called, "How many 5 year olds can you take in a fight?" Just wait. It gets better.

On first glance, it looks like a normal quiz. You answer mildly odd questions which all seemingly relate towards the... subject material.

Then, when I finished the quiz, it asked me to invite 20 friends.

20 friends. To an application called "How many 5 year olds can you take in a fight?"

Which 20 friends wouldn't be morally outraged at this? Now that's a moral dilemma.

Who says life on the Internet can't be interesting?

Chiasmus Competition

So in my AP LAng class (short for Advanced Placement Language), we had a chiasmus competition.

Now, I'd like you all to observe this interesting phenomenon.

The theme was winter holidays. It was assumed that anything that did not fit the theme was kicked out.

So, I create three chiasmusi. "There is one Harish in our class, but no class in our Harish."

For those of you who don't know, Harish is a person. In my class.

Then I came up with this one. And another one, but I don't like that one so much. "Use wrapping paper on your gifts, but don't gift your wrapping paper."

Now, which one do you think would make it farther?

Apparently it was the mean and hurtful one. Even though it didn't even fit the theme.

So really people. Do we love hurting people that much?

Also, if you haven't figured out what chiasmus is yet, there's a website. www.chiasmus.com

Perk to Blogging

I'd have to say the biggest perk to having a blog is telling people to do things, then finding out that they actually did them.

Like, I told people to join my facebook ninja army. I look at my army weeks later, and there are 4 strangers in it.

Is that not a perk or what?

Now that it's winter break, the blogging hijinx can only get better.

Oh Gametap...

So I was reading some stuff on Gametap's website. Apparently they do reviews now.

I was reading this one review. It was of things released for digital download. Some of them were Gametap games.

Which is odd, because they gave some of them crappy scores. Which is weird, because companies usually try to be unusually favorable of their products.

And, if they're telling the truth, then why did Gametap pick such craptacular games to release?

Oh, Gametap...

Conspiracies about Conspiracies

Why do people not believe conspiracy theories? It's a conspiracy by conspiracy theorists.

If too many people believe conspiracy theories, then there would be a lot of infighting over who first came up with what conspiracy. If they're all unbelieved, there's none of that.

Wood Houses

Why are houses made of wood? It's a conspiracy by the people in Hollywood.

Houses made of wood; catch fire; need firemen to put out fire; firemen need firetrucks; people recognize, know, and like firetrucks.

Kongregate

I think you should all play some Kongregate.

Perhaps I am Infamous

I want you to read this title for a second.

"Missing Student's Body Apparently Found"

That came from the Guardian. It's a real article's headline. No, I won't give you the link.

What I really wanted you to see was the prominent use of the word, "apparently."

I use the word apparently a lot. Sometimes in titles.

I believe the only logical conclusion I can draw is that I'm infamous.

Barely More than 400 Posts

Recently I have broke the 400 post barrier.

Not that that means a whole heckuva lot.

Still, it's a milestone, and as such it deserves to be in the milestone label group.

It's something to look back on someday.

I like how other blogs can be very formulaic.

Nope, nothing consistent here. It's all different. You'll never know will come next.

An Interesting Economics Textbook Quote

From my Economics textbook;

Why is X-inefficiency allowed to occur if it reduces profits? The answer is that managers may have goals, such as corporate growth, an easier work life, avoidance of business risk, or giving jobs to incompetent relatives, that conflict with cost minimization.

Yeah, I had to do a double take too. But it's really there.

I can't tell if the author is being tongue in cheek or not.

High Score of Connor

It's the highest score ever, mind you.

College Bands of the Future?

Man, the things one finds online.



I got this from Game Tabs.com, who invariably got it from somewhere else.

Facebook Notifier

Say you were into Facebook, but you weren't into checking it every five minutes on your own.

Did you know that on your notifications page, there's an RSS feed?

Yeah, it might not work will all RSS feed readers, but if you persevere and make it work, then you'll have a nice, working feed.

So you won't have to check every 5 minutes.

Also, if you have Google Desktop, you get an additional hint; one of the RSS feed reading gadgets will work with the Facebook feed. Good lucking figuring out which one.

10 Mean (But Electronic) Gifts to Give Someone

Say you hated someone, but also wanted to give them a gift...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a paradox.

But hey, don't let that deter you from going to Wired's 10 Mean Gadget Gifts For People You Hate.

Portland Second Most Bike Friendly Place

Portland is the second most bicycle friendly place, according to Wired who said it was according to Virgin.

They probably based their results off of someone else, too.

Portland; I semi-kinda live there.

Plan for First Moon Landing Diaster

Apparently there was a plan for if the astronauts were stranded on the moon.

"Future"

We often hear this vague sounding word mentioned. "The Future," whatever could that be?

Well, it is what shall be.

And to recognize it's commonality, I shall be making a label for it, completely independent of any other label. ...Though it's likely that they'll be mostly "heh... 'news'" anyways.

So, without further ado, I introduce the "future" label.

Anti-Viral Lasers Future Maybe

First of all, I'm talking about viruses in your body. The ones that infect you. You know, like the flu. Not viruses in your computer. A standard industrial laser can destroy those viruses for you. ...At the cost of the computer...

But that brings me to another point. What should happen if you used such a laser on a human? Bah, you sick minded fool! You weren't supposed to imagine it!

But yes, such a result does not seem very pro-health.

So that's why the people mentioned in this article have decided to make a laser that pulses. In addition to pulsing, it kills viruses by exploding them, rather than burning them off of the face of the Earth.

Since I'm only pretending to explain this, you might want to check out the article just to see what's happening. I'm telling you, there's a chance that this could be big.

Urban Challenge Soon to be Underway, Chance for Robots to Prove Themselves

But don't hold your breath. Nine competitors were barred from competing due to exceedingly dangerous cars.

Macs Finally Have Become Big

Now if only that wasn't determined by the fact that someone has made a Tojan virus for Macs.

Article

Sony to Heavily Advertise New 40GB PS3

Because apparently a cheaper and better PS3 won't just sell itself.

Article

Dualshocks to be Scarce

The PS3's new rumble reader controller will be scarce.

Because apparently it's hard to make rumble compatible controllers.

Truly a Professional Gamer

Sure there are game testers, but is there really a person who gets paid just to play games all day? A person whose game playing skills were so awesome people would pay him to play games?

They call him Shinya Arino.

I learned about him from this Wired article, and now you can too.

And the decidedly not-feature-article Wikipedia article can be found here.

Missing Names on Manhunt Credits

Apparently the producer of Manhunt 2 (prior to it's transfer to another studio) is crying foul that the studio hasn't received credit for working on Manhunt 2.

Which is funny, because if I had worked on Manhunt 2, I sure as heck wouldn't want credit for it.

Article

Join my Facebook Ninja Army

I'm giving you the exclusive chance to join my Facebook Ninja army.

http://apps.facebook.com/piratesninjas/?i=661417328

Coolpedia Tome of Reason

"The Japanese always want a strange thing."

So true, Chinese google-translated to English version of Coolpedia, so true.

Quick Economics Lesson

I feel it's time for a quick Economics lesson. Central to economics is the idea of marginal benefit and marginal cost.

Applied to actions, marginal benefit is what you stand to gain and marginal cost is what you have to lose. It's also what you give up by doing that one thing, but do I really look like an economics teacher?

Anydangways, a real life example can be observed. Apparently American diplomats that don't want to go to Iraq will be forced.

Abstract studies you learned about in school; not just for school anymore!

JK Rowling Kinda Sorta Doesn't Break Promise

You know, her promise to not write any more books about Harry Potter or company.

Instead, she went out and wrote "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". Which, while technically not about Harry Potter, is still kinda the same idea.

Though she does gain points for (a) it not being a real book and (b) the proceeds from the limited editions are going to charity.

Also; One of my first "This week in news" happened to cover the reveal of the name of the seventh book. Hey, it was news then.

Yeah, if you were interested enough, you'd check out my rants page. Just watch out for the spiderwebs.

After All, it's a Fat World

Apparently people are getting too fat to even ride the "It's a Small World After All ride.

Another article to back this up; http://www.area51.org/its-a-fat-world-after-all.

Super Swing Golf 2?

Bah, I was fine with Mario Golf. For gameboy. That's gameboy color, kiddos.

Or even that one golf game for the neo geo pocket color, in a pinch.

The Golden Compass...

Maybe it hit you out of the blue, but I've known about it for at least three months. Maybe even more.

One day I was stumbling and I found the official site, complete with trailer.

Alas, not interested then, not interested now.

Say you and your friend were reading a book. Now say you finished the book before you friend, and told them that it had a twist ending.

Now, would this be grounds for a spoiler? Would your friend have a right to get angry?

Could you really not see a twist ending coming? I mean, not from the story, but since so many books seem to have them nowadays?

And when will it get so bad that it's surprising when the book doesn't end on a twist ending?

Google's Badware Testing

So I was searching for something off of Google. And I clicked on a search link. What should appear but...

...A warning that the site I was trying to go to was infected with badware?

While this may or may not be a false positive, I'd rather not bet my computer to find out.

And on that warning was a link to here.

It should still be noted that I could have gone to the site if I wanted, so this isn't some conspiracy to eliminate free speech or anything.

So take this as news with me as a primary source; Google does "badware" testing on sites. And if you're headed there from a Google search, it'll warn you.

"I only got 6 hours of sleep this morning."

Founded by Geoff Smith

Stumebleupon was founded by Geoff Smith. That's my dad's name!

But it has to be a case of hilariously mistaken identity. I mean, it's not like my dad founded Stumbleupon or anything.

Misinformation Wins Again. Darn You, Crafty Foe.

Check this out.



That's what happens when you try to steal a link from Snopes. But they're not bad people.

Now check this out.



Now would you believe me if I said this was located somewhere near Denmark and Sweden?

Well, apparently you shouldn't.

As if you couldn't figure it out, the link leads to Snopes. They claim it's in Virginia. And I'd bet a green unhappy face that they're right.

Still, the photo's pretty cool.

Google Eats France for Breakfast

I like how when I search Google for "best french college" I get USNews.com: America's Best Colleges 2008: Majors: French Studies as the first thing to pop up.

Rest assured, the second thing was french college related.

Also, for those of you who came here or looked at this just for the title, sorry for letting you down. Feel free to enjoy the rest of the blog.

I do not recommend ever taking the space bar off of your laptop keyboard.

Better Than a Rumble Pack

TN Games is making a vest that would let you feel the impacts from shooter games.

Now, one would think the appeal of playing shooting games is to not feel the impact, but hey, to each their own.

Actually, judging from the video, it looks about as dangerous as a poke happy friend.

But if you still want more realistic feedback, there's always a place you can go.

Source

So it would seem that my website's maximum storage is being increased to something like 1 gb.

Seeing as how it's prior max was 25mb, I'm impressed.

If there ever was an incentive for me to use my website, that would be it.

"I'm not going to let my son play a game like that," she said, referring to her robot dog.

From; ZDNet

Tulane is Looking For You, Connor

Taken out of context.

...I hope.

Phones Maybe Going to be Allowed on Planes

Yesterday, it was announced in the UK that mobile phones may possibly be allowed to use in airplanes sometime in the future. Currently mobile phones are not allowed to be used on airplanes, due to the proven fact that they can interfere with navigation systems. But planes could be modified with a system that would create a small mobile phone network just large enough to encompass the cabin, nullifying the effect to navigation. Were this system to be implemented, though, phone calls made in the air would be more expensive than phone calls made on the ground. However, regulator Ofcom says they will prevent excessive charging.

Even though this is something that is happening in the UK, competition between businesses is global nowadays. If such a system created a big incentive to fly, then US companies will adopt such a system, in order to make more profit. In favor of cell phones on planes, it would allow people to use their cell phones on planes, which usually have more features than an onboard plane (Can an onboard plane text?) By adopting this system, it might also pave the way for using wifi on the plane, which is also a possibly desired service. However, against it, the prices are higher than what they would be on the ground. So, it might be that the air phone is the better deal. Also, this isn't exactly a proven market, so the plane company is taking a bit of a risk on expensive technology with ambiguous payoffs. Finally, cell phones are currently outlawed on planes for a reason, and there's always the potential for something to go wrong somewhere and crash a plane.

Personally, I'm a bit against this. It's annoying to have people yakking it up on cell phones on the ground; would it be any different in the air? Especially in an enclosed space with few distractions. Also, there's always the potential for something to go wrong. In addition to all of that, I don't even have a cell phone, so I have nothing to gain. While it may be a great triumph of technology, it may also be a great triumph against peace and quiet.

Source; BBC

Dang. My blog actually got no views yesterday.

As always, I use Google Analytics for all my website stats needs.

Facebook Messes Up

Facebook Messes Up
Originally uploaded by Cyoshio

Did anyone ever say that Facebook was faultless?

Uploading stuff to Flickr is so unimaginably awesome.

So, I was trying to find the approximate market price on KHP (Potassium Hydrogen Pthalate), but I couldn't find it.

So, is there a way to find the price of anything easily?

Or does anyone happen to know said price?

Also, don't ask why I'd want to know the price of KHP. I'm a man of many mysteries.

2 Million Keystrokes!

The thing that strikes me most about "Amung Us" is that there usually are more than one person reading a site at a time.

I mean, when I surf the web, it's a solitary experience. I don't think about being part of a horde accessing a web site, I imagine myself as being alone. But with Amung Us, you can see just how big the crowd is, looking at the site.

Whenever I use stumbleupon to stumble onto something, I feel like I'm the only person who has discovered it. But as is more becoming the norm, many people have already seen it. And if it's especially cool, it might even show up in the news.

Whatever happened to the days when I was a solitary web surfer, and when my stumbleupon discoveries really were discoveries?

Apparently my stereo can identify some Cd's. I'm not exactly sure as to how, because it isn't connected to the web or anything like that.

Also curious is that is can only identify two Cd's; both are part of an AC/DC two live disc set.

Too bad it's too tenuous to turn into a conspiracy theory.

Few Fall For Phishing

For quite some time I've been fantasizing about sending out a fraudulent e-mail and seeing how many people would be fooled. Or to see what people would say back to me. Sometimes I reply to those with sarcastic remarks; would anyone else?

Well, as it would turn out according to this article, Microsoft found out the percentage of their users that fell victim to phishing. While it's hardly the same thing, it's the same idea.

What is that percentage?

.4% or 4 out of ever 1000 people.

That's a pretty small number. Go humanity.

2007 Ig Noble Prizes Awarded

Just read the article.

Ever since I connected my Xbox 360 to the Internet directly by Ethernet cord, I think it's been in gaming heaven.

Which is nice to hear, because it was a bit of a hassle having to tape up the Ethernet cord so no one would walk on it.

It wasn't a hassle so much as it was hard, it was a hassle because that was time we couldn't spend on Halo 3.

Now, a week or so later, half of the tapings have fallen down. So it goes.

X-Wing Replica Launched

So apparently someone made a model of an X-Wing (you know, from Star Wars?). Now it also seems they've launched it.

Check out this blog post for the video.

"What they don't know can't hurt them."

Aren't those usually the things that hurt them the most?

What? Randomly posted margin notes?

Sounds like a Pyrimid Scheme...

By the way, does anyone want to join Gametap?

Man, those current event things take a whole lot more time than I ever expected.

LinkedIn to Allow Pictures

LinkedIn is going to allow its users to post pictures of themselves. LinkedIn, if you're not familiar with them, is a social network geared towards business. They very recently allowed users to post pictures of themselves. According to LinkedIn, the primary reason was because it was a very requested feature. They also denied rumors that they added the feature just because rival social network Facebook was becoming more used as a business social network.

As LinkedIn attempts to keep an air of professionalism about its site, allowing pictures was a reluctant move, as pictures are associated with more informal social networks. LinkedIn also does not want to encourage discrimination. One the other hand, it's nice to be able to see someone. And LinkedIn has enabled the ability to flag pictures that are innapropriate, lessening the blow of informality. In addition to that, they recommend a professional looking headshot for pictures. And finally, they are allowing HR reps to turn off images, to counter the possibility that images will influence hiring.

This is quite the interesting little dilemma. A social network is being forced to compromise because its users want it to. In addition to that, they're approaching the picture idea quite a bit differently than any other social network. Rather than allowing its members a little place to further express themselves, it is allowing them nothing more than a simple picture. Granted, the networks' purpose is for business. With that in mind, it's an interesting look into the inner workings of business and proffesionalism.

Raisins are a ploy by the bug exterminator companies to fool people into mistakenly thinking they have a bug infestation when all they have is a messy eater.

Second Coming of the Current Event Day

Well, it's that wonderful, joyous time again. Seems it's time for a Current Event Day.

In addition to that, it seems I will need to do a sort of current event for another class. Unfortunately, the assignment is significantly different enough that I could not kill two birds with one stone. But, just a warning.

You know those computer generated creatures that you occasionally see every once in a while?

Don't those creep you out?

I started stumbling when I was 13.

(Stumbling on Stumbleupon, that is)

Free Music on the Internet, Just No Downloading, It's Deezer

Ever wanted to listen to a certain song on the internet, but didn't want to search Youtube for what could be an inferior copy?

Actually, I've known about what would later become "Deezer" for quite some time. When I found it, it was called Blogmusic, but it was still the basic concept. It did have a cool interface, though; it tried to be the online Ipod.

So, Deezer is all about sharing music to the world. One can find a song online for free and listen to it. They can also share it with friends and the like. They get revenue from the advertising and distribute the wealth to artists and producers, according to their "About Us" page.

The cool thing is, you can share music easily with your friends. If you have a website, blog, or something else that has HTML access, you Can embed a little music player.

Just like that.

You can also share the link.

For example, http://www.deezer.com/?urlIdSong=4775.

Or, if you're one of the aforementioned people with access to HTML, you can hyperlink it (just like you can with all links...)

Song

So, what's my angle? Eh, I just found something cool and am sharing all its cool things with you. Since it's a free product, I can't have an agenda, right?

No, for reals. They don't pay me a cent.

And if you were wondering, the song is "Mother" by "Danzig." It's a great song, and if you haven't given it a listen, you owe yourself to.

UPDATE; Yes, I realize the links don't work. Silly me, assuming some service given out by a company instantly works. Well, you can still listen to free music online, and that's enough of a something to keep this site in "website noteworthy."

First Impressions and Commentary on Kidnation

So yesterday was the premier of CBS's Kidnation. And, while it doesn't quite live up to my previous expectations, it still is an interesting show.

But first, more on the dashed expectations. I was expecting this show to set out a bunch of kids out in the wilderness, with them assumedly forming their own society. However, after watching this show, I came to the epiphany that such a show probably would never come to fruition. Watching those kids fall apart with no cohesion contributed to that sentiment. It does not seem like kids are capable of creating a society with little or no guidance, Lord of the Flies be contradicted.

Another interesting thing about the show is the adult “interference.” With a name like Kidnation, one would expect the show to center around the children. And it does. However, one would also expect the role of adults to be greatly under emphasized. In my prior unrealistic expectations, the adult interference would be next to nil. However, such a thing could not happen, at least not if you wanted to see all the kids at the end. Still, it does seem odd to me in having the kids do all these seemingly survivor inspired events.

But as my dad remarked, “It's like kid survivor.” However, this is simply not true. Sure, there was a tiny bit of a survivor element to it. But whereas in survivor the rules are forced upon the contestants, in Kidnation the kids are coaxed into it. And, with their apparent enthusiasm for everything, it seems as though they enjoy it. To clear things up, the kids were split up into 4 teams, then later participated in a competition; this being the extent of Survivor's influence. However, the game was not to see who survives, a la survivor, but rather to determine classes. Yes, this will need a whole 'nother paragraph. Also, there was a town hall meeting, but that was just like a normal town hall meeting and not like the trial by tiki light characteristic of Survivor.

One of the more interesting elements introduced to the show was the concept of “class.” In the first game, there was a large goal that would be granted were all the teams to finish within a set amount of time. But in addition to that, there was a competitive element; one's “class” would be determined by the result of the team, the with first place being most desirable and then on. First place was the “upper class,” with the highest pay ($1) and few if any concrete responsibilities. Next were the merchants, who were paid ($ .50) and were to operate the store, where children could spend their money. Then there were the cooks ($ .25) with the job as titled. Finally, there were the laborers ($ .10), who were assigned the so called dirty jobs of hauling water and cleaning toilets. And if you were wondering, the grand prize for all of them was either 8 more toilets or a tv. Not surprisingly, the council chose the toilets.

But who is this “council?” At the beginning of the show, there were 40 kids gathered all in one place. The one present adult explained to them how it would all work out. Then he laid out the announcement that their leaders were coming to them in a helicopter. Now, I don't know what you were like when you were 8-15, but that would be pretty darn impressive. Out from the helicopter came 4 people, introduced to the 40 kids as their “council.” The leaders got their first trial of getting all the wagons to their city. During that time, and soon after, there was a bit of tension regarding a certain leader's performance, “Mike”, who was accused of being too much of a supervisor. Initial impressions on the group of 40 weren't entirely positive, either. However, as time went on, such resentment went the way of the dodo. Of note, the aforementioned leader redeemed himself by beating the odds and winning the first competition.

No, I will not comment on the individual children. I'm not watching this show like a fan watching survivor, I'm watching this show as a self styled psychologist and social commentator. I mean, if the actions of a particular kid were to be essential to the social commentary, then yes, they shall get their mention of fame. However, I will not list my “favorites” on this blog. That is not my point.

One interesting and seemingly psychological thing I noticed was the tendency to not help another team. In the competition, the first two teams were neck and neck. The next two seemed like they could be close, but weren't. When one had finished, there was just one team left and about 5 minutes to go. Even though there was a large prize to be had were all the teams to finish within the time limit, no one went out to help the last team. Granted, they egged them on with their shouts as best as they could, but they all kept their physical distance. Quite a statement about human nature.

Another interesting social phenomenon I didn't notice was the outright resentment at one's job. It was briefly hinted at, but never mentioned afterwards. Then again, only four days had passed. But still, the current conditions do not look favorable for a “dictatorship of the proletariat.” Granted, the job disparity isn't quite as extreme as real life. And, there might be a feeling that they “earned” the job they got, as it was decided by their placing in the competition. So it is too early to tell why they don't feel resentment, or even if there will be a revolution or not.

Another interesting social phenomenon was when a girl named “Sophie” began dancing in an effort to raise money for herself. As she was a laborer, she had little money of her own. She also wanted a bike, valued at $3, which was far out of any single person's wallet, especially a laborer's. So she started dancing in order to earn donations. And she was effective in raising the money and purchasing the bike. When she finally did get it, it was met with much fanfare from the other kids who were present, leading me to believe that begging does not quite have a negative stigma with children. Either that, or they sympathized with her “plight.”

And while there's undoubtedly more I haven't commented on and could, I bet you wanted to see less here. So, until the next episode of Kidnation, that's all for now.

Palestinian Economic Despression

“I can’t sleep at night,” Mr. Bowab said. “I can’t go on like this. I have more than 140,000 pieces [clothes] I can’t deliver. More than $25 million, and it sits here in Gaza City. Our products have seasons, and all these goods are for summer, and summer is over!” he said, starting to shout, then banged the table. “Summer is over!”

For more on a Palestinian depression, go to The New York Times Article on the subject.

Superbad Good?

Apparently Superbad is a good movie?

From my initial impression of Superbad, I would not have seen it as a worthwhile movie. I wholly predicted it would be a sort of flop.

But based on various people I know's opinions and this online review, it kinda sounds like a good movie.

Of course, feel free to note I have not seen the movie nor do I plan to.

Why does Blogger offer spellcheck for the body of a post, but not for the title of a post? If something's misspelled in the title of something, I think I'd want to know about it.

30 Year Old Chinese Man Found Dead After Gaming Binge in China

Well, a 30 year old Chinese man died while gaming for three days. This also happened in China.

So, yeah, to all your impressionable readers at home, this is what happens when you play video games for more than 3 days. In fact, this is what happens when you do almost anything fun for 3 days.

You die.

So, please enjoy life in moderation.

Source;
PC World

Gamestop Manager Starts Controversial Policy, Later Suspended

Earlier this week Brandon Scott, manager of a local Gamestop store in Austin Texas, started a controversial new policy change called "Games for Grades." This policy change was limited to just the store he managed. "Game for Grades" changed the policy to require an adult to vouch for a student's good grades before purchasing a game, with poor students unable to buy games. Scott believed this was a good system.

"This is a socially acceptable, responsible thing to do," Scott says. "These kids, they are our future, especially if you sell products to kids," he said.

Earlier this week he had a live CNN interview. Gamestop voiced their opinion of Scott by later suspending him, although it isn't clear for his policy or because he went public about it. In an e-mail, Gamestop said they were evaluating Scott's policy. It should also be noted that his policy has drawn criticism from bloggers and web commentators, but has also garnered community support.

In Scott's defense, he is acting out for what he sees as the greater good. By refusing to sell games to poor students, he is creating an incentive for children to become better students. On the other hand, no one likes to be refused service, for whatever reason. And with a safeguard so easily circumvented as a parent vouching for a child, the effectiveness of this policy can be debated. As Gamespot claimed to be evaluating Scott's policy, perhaps it will come into effect some day. Were it to ever come into effect on a national level, it would more than likely raise education, though by a small bit. It would also add yet another incentive to working hard in school.

While Scott's policy does have some merit, it also has some disadvantages. For instance, good students would need to bring in a parent to vouch for them in order to get games. Even though I am a good student, it could still affect me negatively. If this were to ever become official Gamestop policy, I would advise a more effective checking strategy. I recommend forcing the students to show their student id's when purchasing games. Then their name would be checked on local "bad grades" lists, offered by schools. In this way, students would not be burdened by their parents when purchasing games. And, if other companies were found wanting to implement a similar system, then a "bad grades" list would already be in place.

Sources;
Slashdot
KVUE

New York Times Articles Now Free

On Monday, The New York Times announced that many of its online articles are now free to view. Prior to this, they could be accessed by either purchasing the article or having a subscription to The New York Times. Articles that are not available include articles from 1923 to 1986. Articles prior to 1923 are in public domain and offered for free. They offered so many articles for free with the intention of promoting interest in their online website. Their income has also changed from subscription to advertising based. This change will not affect jobs.

On one hand, this is good for the people who might have stumbled upon an interesting sounding headline from The New York Times, but were dismayed that they would have to pay to read it. On the other hand, this is bad news for other competing newspapers. This change could lead to other changes throughout the world. Bloggers that link to articles might now start linking to articles from The New York Time. The New York Times website could also become a very popular place.

As far as I'm concerned, this is unabashedly a good thing. I've been the person who has found my way to a New York Times article but was later dismayed that I would have to pay to continue reading it. For that reason, I have tried to avoid The New York Times, in order to curb any desires to purchase articles. But with it now free, I can look all I want. And The New York Times does have some pretty interesting articles.

Sources;
Reuters
Slashdot

Edit; If The New York Times hits you with a page that prevents you from accessing an article, then you need only register with them. Registering is free.

Would you buy a shirt that had this on it?

If so, then head over to Diesel Sweeties and buy yourself one.

And on a related note, I had nothing at all to do with the creation of that picture at all. I just found it on the internet and thought it was cool.

WikiFur, the wiki so legit it has an ad banner down its right side.

Wii Sword Game Yes Actually

You know how the Wii promised to have many games focused on sword fighting and the ilk? And how most of the ones that have come out aren't that swordfighty?

Well, here comes "The Force Unleashed," a Star Wars game. But whereas other console versions focus on the force powers and other revolutionary features, the Wii version will focus on lightsabering.

Here's hoping it's real lightsabering and not Twilight Princess swordfightery.

That's right, I made up two words in this article. And as a fellow afterthought, here's the link to the article.

Zazzle; Customized Shirts

Here's something interesting; www.zazzle.com.

It's a website that allows you to create your own personal t-shirts. Specifically, I hear you can add your own photos and text to shirts.



Here's a linked image, because I bet you're more likely to click on this.

So yeah, if you possible wanted to make a shirt, maybe here's the place.

But, no disrespect to Dysfunkk.

Announcement of Current Events Days

So I will be adding a new feature to my blog.

For one of my classes, possibly social studies related, I will have to submit a current event.

Yes, this does sound like just my normal news. However, it is not.

For you see, the style I do my version of the news in is very vague, conversationalist, and mostly opinion based. But for the current events, I have to follow a style. More on that later. But the upshot is, I'm going to do the news in a more professional style.

That style is, First paragraph; who, what, when, where, why, and how
Second paragraph; two sides to the story and or the significance of it.
Third paragraph; this is where my opinions will be.

So every once in a while a "current event day" will be declared. On that day, I will make multiple reports, based off of that style of writing. I'll choose the best on and turn that in to my class, while the others and the chosen one will stay on the blog forever, waiting to be read.

However, do not think that this will replace my normal news covering. Those will return after the current event day. In fact, because the current event forces me to open up my news aggregator, it might even result in more news in my "signature" style.

Also, a little side note, the labels for the current event days will be a little funky; they will all start with "z." This is so I can keep them separated from all my other, more important labels.

Stephen Wiltshire's Amazing Talent

Who better deserves the label, "peerless display of skill" than Stephen Wiltshire?

Who is this Stephen Wiltshire? You're only a movie away from finding out.



Amazing, I know.

Did I ever tell you that my college offers seem to have dwindled?

Well apparently I was lying. They seem to be making a comeback. Sarcastic Whooh.

Did I ever mention that I think I might have an Asian double?

Well, every time I search Google for "cyoshio," I find these sites in what could be Japanese. By the way, Cyoshio is my username/handle/name.

It's weird. Also, they're not as popular as me, as they always seem to be pretty down there in the ratings. But they're still there.

One time I went to their website. It was some pseudo blog in Japanese. I'm guessing it was a girl.

Well, at least it's not some company that will sue for copyright infringement if I ever make it big.

So, I had this idea.

I was going to start a new thing around here. I would Google search for some random word, and then list all the cool, non word related sites I found.

So I go out and search for "rabbit."

Then I realize that I really don't want to say some of the stuff I'm getting.

So I think this plane crashed without making liftoff.

Poor Site

Check out http://geekt.org/.

What does it say? You're going to have to go there and find out for yourself.

Yes, it will be funny.

And if you're looking to find out more about http://geekt.org/, then you might have to look somewhere else.

Not About AOL Layoffs

So apparently my blog is receiving a surge of people searching for, "AOL Layoffs."

I come here to tell you all that this blog is not about AOL Layoffs. Not at all. We just mentioned it one time as a pseudo-news story.

This blog is mostly news oriented, although there are occasionally a few wacky other things that pop up every once in a while.

And how do I know all about who comes to my site? If you're asking that question you probably are new to being a webmaster. But still, it's a valid question. I use Google Analytics, for both this site and my website.

Well, that concludes that.

"There are many things a liar can lie about, but not having a butt ugly face."

Girl Grooves Wildly

So I was online watching random online movies. And I found this video of a girl dancing to a song. And I recognized the song.



So, I decided to put this into the "peerless display of skill" label. I'm not too sure entirely what the skill is, but it sure is peerless.

Some of you might recognize the song as being done by Daft Punk, the people that made that one music video with all the blue aliens getting attacks.

No, not Blue.

And, to defy all the rules... I'm also going to post another movie, just to show you what I mean.



Doesn't that just jog your memory?

Well, if it doesn't...

Here's the music video to the song that the girl dances to.



Connor Smith; blatantly defying the law of one youtube per post.

Remember that one post where I had a balloon exploding played in slow motion? Well here's a balloon not exploding in slow motion.

So for the month of August, I had 25 posts total. For September, I already have more than 25 posts. And it's only the 6th.

Man, it's going to be a busy month.

Did I ever say that I would post every day?

I specifically remember NOT saying that.

Heh, Nick English

Oh man, the random names Football Manager comes up with.

Actually, Nick English was our nickname for a certain British-accented foreign exchange student.

Hey Nick Husdon, if you're reading this, give a shout!

OMG! ERROR!

Kidzbop Conspiracy

What's the conspiracy behind Kidzbop?

Kidzbop is a conspiracy to lower the average age of musicians, which would allow music companies to bring back older pros under the guise of, "raising the average."

That Man Does it Again with Hilarious Wacky Story

The madness that sprouts of this man's mouth...

I Sure Outraced Them

Listen to Rapture: Because it just wasn't enough to give us BioShock, 2K Games has also made its musical score available for download. It's always impressive when a game's score is worthy of a listen on its own. Even better, it's free and can be found here.

So where does that come from? This Week in Xbox, circa Aug 29-Sept. 5.

So what's so funny? Well, they just realized the Bioshock music is available for download.

And yes, it is.

Oh man, time to tell an embarassing story. That just happened.

See, I thought I had downloaded the Bioshock music a way long time ago. Turns out I downloaded the System Shock music a long time ago. So apparently I didn't outrace them.

I also got the music for a certain game whose name is a bit hard to mention. But it does involve Cherenobyl.

What's That Weird Color on my Wikipedia?

What's that weird color on my wikipedia?

Well, it's none other than a fact checking program. It's there to figure out the trustworthiness of various statements. The darker the color, the more untrustworthy the statement.

So yeah, if you haven't already checked out wikipedia, then you really should go.

Personally, I'd give you a link to my wikipedia article right about now, but I don't have one. (hint hint)

But yeah, don't get the impression that the fact checking program actually checks facts. No, it asseses that based on people's reputations, how many times its edited, and possibly something else.

Heck, there's chance the phases of the moon might affect it. A very small, almost nonexistent chance, though.

Of course, since this system has flaws, teachers probably won't let you use wikipedia for projects.

Then again, ANYONE CAN WRITE A BOOK!

Article

So apparently there's a new html tag for italicizing. It's "em" now, instead of "i."

Em, you know, like emphasize.

Still, I like the old one. It's spunky. It still works. And it's shorter than two letters.

Black People College Football Game

Did you know that there's a black college football league?

Well, there is, and they're making a videogame based on it.

By they, I mean Nerjyzed Entertainment, Inc, a name so foreign to me that I had to copy and paste it. So yeah, if you're having trouble believing me, then this might be the final nail in the coffin.

In what is unmistakeably not a quote from the corporation,

Black college football has a long and thriving history, and this game attempts to fuse you with it. And there's music.

And if you're on the fence as to whether this is real or not... The Escapist article that I was originally going to get this story off of seemingly doesn't exist.

So I has to get it from Yahoo News.

Trust me, I do not nor could I make this stuff up. Well, except for the quote.

Ipod to go Cheaper

Now here's some ridiculous news. The new prices of ipods.

Article

They're actually kinda cheap!

A 160gb Ipod! For $349!

That's very ridiculous! Who would devote 160 gbs of their hard drive to music?

Still, that lowers the price of the 80 gig one to $249. That's about the price I paid for my Ipod mini way back in the day. That's 80 gigs versus not even 8.

Maybe this is my golden chance to get an Ipod...

Oh, and the Iphone dropped price.

Also, they unveiled something called the Ipod touch; it's like the iphone but works over wifi.

But I'm not going to go more into it because hey, if you were really interested in Apple stuff, why would you come to here for news?

Tiny little addendum; Blogger spell check doesn't consider
"ipod" a word. Silly spell check.

AOL Layoffs?

Just a little rumor.

AOL is planning some massive layoffs.

Reader Mail Accepted

Oh, did I ever mention that I'm open to receiving e-mail? So, if you have something to say and want me to say something back, then my inbox is the place to go.

If you just want to tell me something with little or no chance of my responding, the comments are there for you.

So, that e-mail address is cyoshio @ comcast . net .

It's been spaced out to reduce spam, but it still works.

Ah, the first week of school. There is no joy like having easy classes and just worrying about catching up with old friends.

'Tis truly a shame that it must come to an end.

Thankfully, I have two more days until that happens. In the meantime, I shall be enjoying my utter lack of homework. Along with updating my blog. See you here.

According to Sony, the PS3 will hit its prime in about 4 or 5 years.

Now, assuming that were true, why the heck did they produce the system already? It's currently not any better than the Xbox 360.

Source

China didn't hack the Pentagon.

A Nice Message to Take Home With You

So, according to this article, parents can now more or less control what their children do on a cell phone.

As in, they can limit times when kids can call, set limited on how many calls, who can call or who they can call. A whole bunch of goodies. If you're interested, go to the article.

But the real thing that caught my eye was the final message. It was the article warning that it's not a catch all solution. Then it ends with a mother essentially saying that kids are better than their parents at technology.

It's just kind of funny, a parent admitting it so candidly. And if it's not funny to you, then it's just funny to me.

Special Batteries to Ruin the Combustion Engine?

Apparently a Texas start up has filed for an interesting patent. I couldn't do it justice, so here's a section from the source article.

An Austin-based startup called EEStor promised "technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries," meaning a motorist could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without gasoline.

By contrast, some plug-in hybrids on the horizon would require motorists to charge their cars in a wall outlet overnight and promise only 50 miles of gasoline-free commute. And the popular hybrids on the road today still depend heavily on fossil fuels.

So, how radical does that sound to you? A car battery that lasts incredibly longer than anything out there?

If one could not see, this is almost obviously going to replace the combustion engine and gasoline as the engine duo of choice. Instead, it would be replaced by a battery and electricity, two very clean alternatives.

This almost reminds me of the mordern era in Civ, when everything starts getting a whole lot cleaner.

It would seem that it sounds incredible to quite a few people. There are many skeptics. And with something so fantastical, one cannot resist being a skeptic. To add to the skepticism, this is a company that has mostly flown under the radar.

However, as is the creed of almost any skeptic, "I do not believe. But I would love to be proven wrong."

Trouble at Cardiology Summit

Did you read the title?

Specifically, a woman died of a heart attack.

That's right, a woman died of heart attack at a cardiology summit. Now there's irony.

To lessen the blow, though, she was a wife to a cardiologist and not actually a cardiologist.

The short article.

Human DNA Not So Similar?

Apparently humans don't share 99.9% of their DNA.

An Article tells us that researchers have done another map of the genome. And this time, it's different.

But to be fair, they did it a different way. Instead of looking at both chromosomes, they only looked at one. So if one looks at both sets, then there's a lot more difference.

This should be helpful in personalizing medicines to one's DNA. By having a more detailed map of their DNA, then they could make better medicine.

Still, to me, this is most interesting because now I know that I'm not really 99.9% like everyone else. I know, once again, that I am unique.

Picture from WikiCommons, the free source wiki.

Well, there goes the first day of school.

It wasn't so bad. Of course, it is just the first few days. There was some foreshadowing.

And, in case you were wondering, my schedule is (in no particular order);
AP Chemistry
IMP Iv
American Studies 11
AP Stats
AP Lang
French IV
AP Econ
And Early Release.

School Starts Tomorrow

School for Westview starts tomorrow. Here's hoping I'll have a good Junior year.

A Limit to Human Sociability

Did I ever tell you about the Monkeysphere? It's essentially the limit on the number of people you can care about.

As in, there are your friends. Then there are your closer acquaintances. Then there might be people you vaguely remember. But the rest of the world is just a large unknown.

If this sounds interesting to you, I recommend you read the Monkeysphere Article.

And even if it doesn't sound that interesting to you, I suggest you read it anyways. If not because you will find it interesting, then because it will help you learn something about yourself as a human.

And, if you're really into this Monkeysphere business, I've found another article based on the same concept. It's from my favorite online magazine, The Escapist.

It's weird what kinds of things one can find on the internet.

Enterprising 17 Year Old Girl

Man, this makes me jealous. It's another one of those, "relatively young child has successful business."

what's more, this girl had almost nothing to start with. Granted, it was mostly luck she has to thank for getting her this far. still, she has something. And that's quite a bit more than what I can say.

So, the details are that she made her own site that distributed myspace layouts. She started getting a whole lot of traffic, so she switched to private web hosting. She has trouble making up the payments, so she gets google adsense. That's advertising that pays. Her first check she recieved? $2,790.

And now for the obligatory sources.

www.whateverlife.com, the website the girl in question made.

The Guardian Article that first alerted me to all of this.

And finally, The article that actually told me everything I needed to know.

And now I'm back.

I am now leaving for a new vacation. I shall be gone until further notice.

And in the event that I do post here while I'm on vacation, it shall be terse.

You know, I find it crazy that all the promotional pictures from Nintendo feature the DS Lite. It's not like the regular DS's stop working as soon as a new model is released.

I should know. My awesome Mario Kart Red DS is working just fine.

BibMe - The Ultimate Bibliography Maker

I shall now introduce you to BibMe. The ultimate in lazy person bibliography makers.

It's best feature is the ease in which you can make a bibliography. No more slogging through it with the Citation Machine, then having to copy and paste. No, this little bugger will make the bibliography file for you.

Of course, it doesn't really fill in all the details. Being used to Citation Machine, I frequently think, "Isn't there more to add?"

Still, with the ease which one can use to make bibliographies, it certainly deserves a mention.

UK:Resistance

I feel I must give a shout out to UK:Resistance, a video games blog.

They may be obsessed with Sonic, deep haters of all things Sony, British, not making a difference, and vying for more games that include blue skies, but they are quite funny.

So for that, they have earned my respect.

Even though I'm not posting, I'm still having thoughts. Don't worry about that.

Homemade Lemonade

Give the gift of homemade lemonade!



Courtesy of facebook.

Airplane Liquids Ban Conspiracy

I now know why the TSA is eliminating liquids on airplanes. It's so that they can eventually phase out airplane bathrooms.

Counterstrike Gun Conspiracy Theory

I finally figured out the conspiracy about why the guns in Counterstrike all have fictional names. It's so that when you search the web for a particular fictional gun, and the results will just be Counterstrike related.

Politics All Encompassing?

This is a nice and happy Article. It harmlessly lists various facts British people have found about sleeping. The title is a bit off, though. "Could you Cuddle a Cameron?" Would expect it to be a pun on sleeping or something.

But then, three paragraphs till the end, it starts including political allegiances. Now, I can see how that might be a legitimate variable for sleep studies.

But then, final paragraph, Bam! It just drops the bomb. The whole article was about politics. And, strangely reminiscent of a Simpson's episode, it's hard to tell where it started from by looking at the end.

Man, the things people blog about. Actually, the thing.

New Airline to Contend for Title of Coolest

Virgin Airlines launched their new Airline, and from the looks of this Article, it sounds awesome.

Now, if only I could somehow get onto it...

Personally, I think this ranks pretty high up there in terms of cool airplanes. Still, the Concord is pretty darn fast. No matter how user friendly Virgin Airlines is, it can't compete with speed. Whoosh!

UFO's Allegedly Caught on Tape

I use the word "allegedly" because with UFO's, can there be any other word used?

So, the details. Apparently it's a home video of some sort, and it was posted on LiveLeak, then later Youtube.

Attempts to contact the poster by e-mail have failed.

Still, the photo afforded with the Article looks pretty realistic.


Why not have a little look-see?

WOWIO the Book Website of Choice

The other day I made a great discovery.

www.wowio.com

It's a website that gives you free eBooks. That means they're like real books, but in PDF format. I think that makes them cooler.

Now, you do have to jump through a few hoops to sign up. But it's nothing that costs money. You're best off with having your own unique e-mail. That specifically means none of the common stuff, like hotmail or g-mail. You can also get away with other things, but those involve credit cards.

Next, you need to fill out something that resembles a survey. But really, I've taken worse on Myspace. And this leads to free books. So really, it's all worth it.

And, there is one last catch. Limit of 5 a day. But that's all. Other than that, have fun with it.

I know I'm enjoying it.

But hey, don't take it from just me...
This person and this person too both liked it.

Lego Man Found at Sea, Presumed to be Giant

A giant, smiling Lego man was fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort on Tuesday. Workers at a drinks stall recovered the 2.5-metre (8-foot) tall toy which had a yellow head and a blue body.

Just think, other people made more of this entry than I did. Oh well, that's blogging the news for you.

Article

Encyclopedia Britannica is Featured on Wikipedia

As many of you are aware, Wikipedia always has an article of the day running. These are the best and the brightest of Wikipedia stock, the featured articles.

Now, the actual news is that Wikipedia featured Encyclopedia Britannica.

As I had just learned, the encyclopedia was critical of Wikipedia in the past. Well, take that.

I also shall add that I no longer use Encyclopedia Britannica, rather I depend entirely on Wikipedia. Not only is it more convenient, but made with that human touch that so few other encyclopedias can claim.

An Interesting Thief

Finally, some cool news.

My good men at Wikinews have uncovered this gem, an Indian thief swallowing a necklace, then he gets caught.

Like and good liar and a cheat, he lies and says he didn't eat it. Of course, he's a liar and a cheat, who would believe him? X-rays showed it was in him.

So what does the owner do?

They decided to force feed him bananas until the thief poops the necklace out. They got this advice from a doctor, that bananas were laxatives. However, it didn't work out so well. So maybe it's something to add to Snopes.

Either way, the thief pooped it out eventually. The necklace's owner hired someone to find it in the poo, and made the thief clean out the toilet.

Then the thief begs for mercy. And the necklace person says no.

His court date is the 6th of August.

Racism in Resident Evil 5?

First of all, some facts. Resident Evil 5. Just another Resident Evil in a long line of zombie shooting and killing fun.

However, there's a little something different to the fun this time. The game takes place in Africa. Naturally, the zombies are Africans. I'll leave you to work out the rest.

Then, Russ Pitts at the Escapist, decided to comment on all of that. Now, I'll let his words be his.

But I'm going to add something. Just a tiny little comment.

Doesn't this seem a bit like that one episode of South Park? The one where Chef (a black man) declares the flag of South Park racist? Now, hear me out. On the flag, there were white figures hanging a black man. As the episode progressed, the main kids eventually had to give a debate that would determine the course of events. The kids for keeping the flag the same argued that killing had been around for a long time and that it was natural or something like that. Then Chef accuses them of missing the point. He then tells them that his problem with the flag was that it was racist. The kids for keeping the flag gasp, then explain that they never really saw it as racist.

If that explanation of the episode falls short, the wikipedia version is pretty good, too.

I just have one more thing to add. A link to a more facty-ish article covering this thingy.

Oh Great, Another Warcraft Expansion

Well, there's another Warcraft expansion pack in the works.

However, I've long since quit playing, so I didn't even bother to read the press release.

American Military has Cyberwarfare Covered

In an Article from Wired, they reveal that the U.S. Military has it's own cyberwarfare division.

The 262nd.

Oh, this bizarre world we live in. Still, it seems like life is now like that one Civ 3 game you once had where all the nations were about equal and were in peace.

Of course, then the clock struck 1980 and everyone declared war on everyone else.

New Xbox Arcade Lineup

But I have Gametap, so I don't care.

Still, you gotta admire them for trying.

Article

Wii Gets New Channels or Something... But I Don't Care

So the Wii got a new channel or a hardware update or something. All I know is that there's an Article on the Escapist that mentions something like that and my Wii's blue light was on.

Of course, I don't really care about all of that. It's been a good, long while since I last used my Wii.

Edit; I got onto my Wii, downloaded the update, then updated my system. I don't think I can tell what changed.

360 Lowers Prices... The Unorthodox Way

According to my Source, the xbox 360 is lowering it's prices.

But, it's not doing it by the normal cut of a $100. No, it's going to lower it by a smaller amount.

And get this! There are three different price drops! One for each "style" of "system."

Man, this makes me glad I already have one. No worries about prices from where I stand.

Oh, I won't actually list the new prices. You'll have to go somewhere else for useful news.

Games not that Special After All?

So a person over at the Escapist (to me, it's just the editor lady, Russ Pitts, the guy who made Paranoia, and all the other contributing peeps) just said that games shouldn't really be viewed as art but rather for how well it makes money. Or something vaguely like that.

I'm going to say duh.

Because where else is anything made for consumers considered a success for it's "artiness?"

Just paintings. And even then, I'd be willing to bet that the common man would never have appreciated something like Picasso without first hearing the prices his works have commanded.

So really, are games any different from any other medium? Sure they're interactive, but they still "works of art" (meant to be read as "human" from the phrase, "but they're still just human."). They're bought, reviewed, enjoyed. Even though it's a different experience, it's not really a different thing.

Well, that concludes my misguided ramblings on something. I'm sure there's a point in there somewhere.

And here's a link to the original Article. Be sure to pay my respects to the writer of it for me.

From now on, I think titling all the important articles with what could pass off as a bad tabloid headline will become a necessity.

Weird Looking Bridges to Haunt Future

Wired just released a blog entry regarding the future of bridge making.

In short, things are going to look crazy.

Now, to explain. It seems the rules for bridge making are now irreversibly changed. Gone are the simple designs of old.

No, it's going to look pretty crazy. While no pictures were available for example, I'm just going to go off and imagine some pretty cool but crazy bridge on my own.



Article

P.S.

I'm back.

Connor is now on vacation. Real vacation.

I'll let you know when I'm back.

For those of you not in the know, there's currently a heatwave of sorts affecting the Pacific Northwest.

In even more obscure news, it's currently raining in my part of Oregon.

Heatwave + Rain = Yay!

That's a good thing.

Well, I've been getting spam on my blog.

Either that, or really weird people.

But, I'll take it as a good sign. If my blog is big enough to get spammed, I must be doing something right.

KidNation on CBS

Finally, some real news to blog about.

I just saw a commercial for CBS' KidNation. Now, I obviously know very little about it, as my inside source was just a TV commercial.

Still, I did get that it's 40 kids let loose in a town with no adults.

Now, this is inherently interesting. It's just so funny that something like this has never been done before.

Will America's current system of government be faithfully reproduced? Will they resort to Communism? Anarchy? Tyranny?

Will it be like Lord of the Flies?

Oh, man, I am looking forward to this. This is one heck of a social psychology experiment.

Secret Ratatouillie Motives

Let me be the first to suggest Disney chose to develop the movie "Ratatouille" because they wanted a new brand for their Disneyworld restaurants.

P.S. I spelled Ratatouille all on my own. No spell checker help. Why yes, I did get an A in French class.

Almost Time for the Simpsons' Movie

And what better way to celebrate than by turning 7 elevens into Kwik-E-Marts?

Well, there might be a few better ways, but that doesn't make this any less cool.

Article

Octosquid? What the heck?

Found in a pipe in a lab, it looks half like a squid, and half like an octopus.

Kind of like this.



And, if stealing the picture from the article doesn't satisfy your appetite to see the real deal, then follow this link.

Man, if you thought Guitar Hero was cool, wait 'till the one with a whole band comes out.

Move over, old seven wonders of the world, there's a new batch.

Voting for the new seven wonders has been going on since 1999, but you really just want the list.

Great Wall of China - You know, that big wall in China

Christ the Redeemer - Brazil, a giant statue of Christ

Macchu Pichu - Sounds like Pikachu (of Pokemon fame), ancient ruins in Peru, created by the Incans

Petra - Jordan, a place with many statues carved into rock

Chichen Itza - Ancient Mayan ruins

Taj Mahal - A large, spectacular, and significant palace in India

Colosseum - You know, that big thing in Rome

And here's the article, if you just need to know more.

Water Balloon Popping in Slo Mo

This is a video where you can see what actually happens when one pops a water balloon, in slo motion.



I got this from Tokyomango, who in turn got it from some person named "Annie."

Soup or salad? More like super salad.

"The conversation with you never dies, it just fades away."

Ah, the constant boom of firecrackers. I think we all know what time it is.

Someone once said that, "We should not mourn the passing of those that died, rather we should celebrate that they lived."

There's only one thing that makes more sadness than reading all the articles from a defunct website.

Learning that genius behind the articles is dead.

The person and place I'm talking about specifically is Netslave and Steve Gilliard, anti-respectively.

Obscure Nonexistent Book Found;

"Using Sensory Adaptation for Fun and Profit"

Dude, people get to my rants page via some crazy searches. I need to post this the Google links page or whatever whenever.

NFL Europe, or NFL Europa ceases to exist.

It wasn't the best league; it's basic purpose was to "farm" NFL players. Still, it had that sort of underdog charm. Plus, it was real humiliation to beat someone with an NFL Europa team in Madden. Also, it was the land of kickers.

Goodbye, you little champ. May you play games eternally in the great beyond for retired leagues...

Article

Civilization Revolution? What is that, some sort of adaptation of Civilization to consoles and handhelds or something?

Hearing that makes me want to start recording my games of Civ Three somehow. Kinda in the vein of my Football Manager summaries.

I don't know if they'll be more interesting, but there might be pictures.

Oh, right, the article that finally egged me on to write this.

So I did a Google search for, "penguins in popular culture." I was expecting to find a Wikipedia article or something.

And I did find one.

However, I still haven't found what I was looking for. Does anyone know the name of the penguin that's used to advertise modern TV dinners or something? They're sold with a particular bend towards children.

Anime Bunny Girl HTML

So I'm going to try something new. If I find a really good video, I think I'll share it. I'll just embed it in the blog and be off with it. I think that's what Youtube was meant for.

So, here goes. Like the title implies, an anime bunny girl done entirely in HTML. Specifically, in tables.

I was just reading a post from an RSS feed I subscribe to, and I just realized something. There were way too many acronyms. I didn't even know all of them.

Once you start using three or more, you might as well just give up.

But, in the techno-moderny world, even writing out what the acronyms stand for doesn't work.

Why can't they give things nice and easy names to remember? Like Dog.

Australia must be some sort of alternate dimension.

My proof?

The PS3 is outselling the Wii.

Now, I'm not a fanboy or anything, but everywhere else the Wii is outselling the PS3. Except in Australia.

A New Mexican security camera has caputed something that is, "unexplainable."

When asked, ome people think it's a ghost. But there is a clear distinction that needs to be made. This isn't like UFO "unexplainable," it's being contacted from beyond the grace "unexplanable."

To me, I can't really make anything out of it.

But why don't you try?



Article

Video games are the wave of the future. Why do I say this?

College librarians are being told to play video games, so they can think like those who do.

Now, is that cool or what?

Also, I better give props to the Slashdot article that led me here.

Xerox unveils a cool new search. One that works by understanding what you said, not just matching it blindly.

Too bad the link leads to the article where I heard about this!

Xerox hasn't actually released this tool to the public yet! Man! And this sounded pretty cool, too.

But, if you really want it, it comes bundled with Xerox software. Not available for standalone purchase.

From "Interesting Thing of the Day";

Breathing Liquid
The frontiers of human respiration

Reduced to its base components, the article talks about the very cool world of breathing liquids. Yes, you do need to go to the actual article to learn more.

Iwo Jima renamed Iwo To

But it's not actually such a big thing. Both names are "spelled" the same. (In the Japanese writing system, anyway) They're just pronounced differently.

This led to the mistaken name, Iwo Jima. The name, "Iwo Jima" came from the mistaken reading of a map or two.

So, Iwo To is the correct name, as far as history and the locals are concerned.

So perhaps you should count this as a good thing.

Article

OLPC's goals shady

I've been reading the One Laptop Per Child's independent blog, and it really seems as though this project is just a little misguided.

Negroponte (big cheese of OLPC) claims that it's all about the education, but the pieces on the OLPC blog make me question that.

In particular, this one.

But most of them point out that just releasing the laptops alone would be a travesty. And it would be. Big changes really do have to happen before it all works out.

But on a different note, if you view One Laptop Per Child as a laptop project, then it is succeeding wildly.

Oh, this confusing world...

Fans getting a chance to create their own Doritos game?

Doritos, from the user created commercial fame, is now extending that to video games. They want people to submit their creations, and the best one will be picked.

Heck, the winner gets their game included on Xbox Live Marketplace, so you know it's official.

Article

North Korea and America getting along?

According to my source, North Korea agreed to speed up removing their nuclear facilities after a surprise visit from an American diplomat.

It also seems the conversation went well.

Who knew?

How long until mankind has the ability to move things with our minds?

Alright, so it's not telekinesis I'm talking about.

Japanese scientists are in the process of making or have made something that can detect certain patterns of brain thought. When a certain pattern is detected, it can be wired to do something else. Like, run a toy train.

Now, don't get too excited. From my vague reading through of the article, it seems that this is limited to vague types of brain thought. Such as "problem solving."

In other words, it can't be told to go whenever you think about what you did on Jevember 31.

Although, I could be wrong. Just read the article for the details.

What do you do if your plane's landing gear doesn't work?

You still land it, duh!

And that's what happened. Hardcore.

Article

Nelipot;

One who walks barefoot.

Thanks, Futility Closet.

PS3's cost to become reasonable.

Did I say reasonable? I meant less ridiculous.

Article

While no price is given, it's obvious that it will be lower. With all of my experience in electronics combined with Sony's previous price, it will probably be around $500 (drop of $100). This is still ridiculous. And, keep in mind, but this is pure speculation of the most uncertain kind. I'm not even an expert in anything.

Connor's cult
Join us!

-Be mercifully exploited by a charismatic leader
-Abandon friends, family, and all possesions
-Help us recruit
-Achieve oneness (or some crap like that)
-Lose your sense of identity
-Free uniform!

"There's a small problem.

It's (frog) covered in cheese."

Apple's next product; it can play music, play videos, watch tv, cook toast, talk to relatives, beat you at chess, and finally, wake you up in the morning.

The product's name?

The iMpossible.

It's funny how I remember the joke promises and forget the real ones.

Welcome to Connor's Blog.

Update schedule; "usually"

I like how Myspace makes you double check when you're leaving a comment, posting a bulletin, or replying to a message, but it doesn't make you double check when you reply to a bulletin...

And now, the most relaxing website ever.

http://www.soundsleeping.com/drums_small.html

Sweet seagull dreams.

I think I might eschew reading anything for my podcast in favor of having a computerized voice do it. It would be so much cooler.

For like the first few times. But then it would get unnacceptable. So I'd have to step in. Still, this can be an interesting tool...

But more importantly, a fun toy.

Someone searched for "mylip glass" and found my webpage.

So, I need to add that to the search terms page.

(Commenting on an self driven car)

In Soviet Russia, car drives you!

Posted by: ce | Jun 15, 2007 8:59:47 PM

Schools' almost out for summer! Just one more day!

But, since we're a high school that does half day finals, it's like a half day. But since I get out of one of my classes early, it's like a quarter day!

Listening to three music tracks at once. Pandemonium at its finest.

"Vizzini: He didn't fall? Inconceivable!
Inigo: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. "