My landlord is unlocking the cage on my kitchen window. My apartment is on the second floor of our building and outside of my kitchen window is a small piece of roof. My other two beautiful bay windows face across an alley at the adjancent building about seven feet away.
Our apartment doesn’t get tons of natural light but it gets some. More than some basement apartments. At least we have tall ceilings.
I just got a new Chase amazon.com visa and had to activate it. After the automatic activation I was connected to a woman with a great british accent. As she was giving me spiel after spiel on balance transfers to identity theft, I lost track of what she was saying and wondered who was this person I was talking to.
I figured she worked in India because I called at 7:40 pm PST and she had a very clear proper english accent. She spoke very clearly and quickly, as well as any professional sales person. Here I was, pacing my apartment and not listening to her but wondering what the hell is someone who is such an eloquent speaker selling me balance transfers so that I can buy a new digital camera or whatever. That person is probably much more driven, and frankly smarter than me, and she’s using some of the oldest tricks in the book without skipping a beat. As I mention being familiar with the points system and identity theft, she responds starting with “I’m glad to hear we have such learned customers at Chase.” She used embedded commands and was pacing me. She also properly used the word ‘well’ in place of ‘good’ and just generally gave a great impression. So why is she in India answering phones?
It gave me a strange feeling of things being out of balance.
ain’ got time fo chit-chat, im tryin get dis money - so get up out my face, you doo-doo head dummy
Soulja Boy is a young dude. He’s probably like 17 or something. He’s pretty gnar and just doesn’t give a crap. It’s comical how nonchalant he is and Soulja Boy is having a good time with it. Like South Park, Soulja Boy is turning a mirror on American Culture. This is what we are.
Soulja Boy featuring Arab - YAHHH
Here is a kind of similar song but with much more seriousness in it:
Assuck - Parade of the Lifeless
Let’s see. I quit playing Wow, quit playing TF2. Started playing Call of Duty 4 and picked up Skate again. Find me on Xbox live as “Franklin P. Krum“.
Ever since around January I’ve been fired up/ready to go for Obama 08. Work is good, I’m now a Design Analyst.
I engaged my girlfriend with a proposal for marriage and she accepted. I am going to be baptized Greek orthodox and her Father will not only be my father-in-law but also my godfather. Win-Win-Win situation: I get married, sins washed away, and a godfather. Cool.
So, I’ll admit something dear blog readers. Those of you who are remaining. Those of you who did not accidentally click a link to one of my articles in a mis-formed google search.
Lately I’ve been slacking. I’ve been mashing the “Blog This” link on Digg. Disgraceful, I know. It’s just, like, man, work has been so difficult, man. And like, you know, I just want to be free, man. Like, I’ve got so many irons in the fire. I’ve got so many cooks in the kitchen. I’ve got so many buns in the oven. And no timers. How is that supposed to work?
I’m going to be making another pass at contributing to the collective, I swear!! So this blog is going to be making a transition towards my actual life. Honestly, I don’t keep up on gaming news much anymore except for the most important shit like Bioshock having insane DRM rootkits, and Bioshock being awesome, and Skate actually being a fresh take on skateboarding games.
Seriously, I suggest preordering Skate.
But, I’ve been reading other things, and I think you’ll notice a theme; They are work related. Like this guys site Gapingvoid.com. This guy Hugh MacLeod is a funny motherfucker. He makes little cartoons that relate to work, and writes occasionally about “the industry”. I’ve also been reading a somewhat relevant blog called Dan’s Blog 2.0 by Daniel K. Appelquist. This guy works for Vodafone in London. I don’t know if I have divulged this information yet, but I too, work a lot in the mobile/technology industry as a design consultant. After that, and in the same vein, you have the Open Gardens Blog.
I’ve also been reading The Consumerist and Wise Bread, two great blogs about saving money and not being an idiot. Of course I also still read Penny Arcade and Laughing Squid and Veronica Belmont for my bay area rep.
Basically, what I’m saying is… this blog is going to be more about me and what I’m doing. I used to write for it like Laternerdz actually had a professional news writer. Now, I kind of see it as an actual blog. Hopefully, I can recapture some readership, huh?
Financial Security
At $14.99 a month, World of Warcraft is a wonderful money saving strategy. Just think, all those nights spent barely sustaining a pulse, parked in front of your computer completing quest after quest, those are nights spent not buying expensive dinners or drinks. By balancing your gaming addiction and your checking account, you can live a fairly frugal lifestyle without being bored. Read more to find out how.
From BlizzCon, exclusive photographs of huge groups of units–Archons + Colossus destroying Terran base, Battlecruisers destroying Protoss base, Protoss Carriers (thought not to be in the game), huge group of Motherships. Plus shots of menus, single-player tutorials, unit stats, nuke exploding, and the StarCraft board game.
read more | digg story
The awaited Chatpad (which was announced back in May) has been priced and now has its own page up on Xbox.com.
* Chat on Xbox LIVE with ease featuring dedicated keys to letters and characters.
* Don’t hamper your style—the Xbox 360 Chatpad attaches seamlessly to your Xbox 360 Controller.
* Backlit buttons allow you to accurately type words even in dimly lit environments.
* Messenger Kit includes the Xbox 360 Wired Headset for the ultimate communication bundle.
According to an open letter to the 360 community by Peter Moore:
You’ve spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we’ve not been doing a good enough job.
Microsoft is extending the warranty of all Xbox 360 units to 3 years. This is in response to the recent reports of Xbox 360s breaking down and requiring service.
The full open letter is below the break.
(more…)
The Apple iPhone went on sale today in America and equal amounts of apple fanboys and for-profit ebay users are clamoring to nab one up. However, for the rest of us in the market for a “media phone” what options do we have? The US market for more advanced phones is extremely polarized; Phones are either billed as business or “just a regular phone”. Data plans for most providers are marketed mostly to professionals. You can now get a blackjack (icky business phone) for around $100 after contract. Not much in the middle exists focusing on a more human use of the phone.
Recently, however, Apple announced it’s iPhone which has been designed for more human, social uses. It’s key features include it’s media (iPod) uses and it’s internet connectivity. It does not include any instant messaging service. Very little of it’s marketing mentions business applications outright. The Helio Ocean, similarly, has it’s main featured aligned around media but with a slant towards social uses such as messaging, email, and surfing. The Helio Ocean also includes the ability to use AIM.
So how do these two phones stack up next to each other?
Price
The Apple iPhone’s cost is considerably larger than the Helio Ocean. So if you are not looking to drop over 500 dollars on a phone, the Helio Ocean may be for you. Network plan-wise, you get less with the Apple iPhone too. The cheapest iPhone plan is $59.99/Month and has 450 Weekday minutes compared to the $64.99/Month Helio Ocean’s least expensive plan which includes 500 Weekday minutes. The major difference is the Apple iPhones limited on SMS text messages. You only get 200 where the Helio Ocean plans all allow unlimited SMS.
Without the ability to chat on AIM, Apple iPhone users are going to use SMS. this may point towards the Apple iPhone being less of a social communications device and being more a mobile browser, since it has Wi-Fi which the Ocean lacks.
The Apple iPhone comes out costing more than the Helio Ocean, but there are a few other features you get with the iPhone that the Helio Ocean does not include. Plus there is a chance the iPhone price will drop dramatically in 6-12 months or as a new version is released.
Winner: Helio Ocean
Media
The iPhone is much more of a media playing device. The Helio Ocean ships with something like 512Mb of onboard memory. The Mini-SD card slot is upgradeable to around 2GiB. This just doesn’t compete with the iPhone. Plus the iPhone has a larger screen than the Helio Ocean. 2.4″ for the Ocean vs. 3.5″ for the iPhone. You just are going to have a much better experience with media on the iPhone.
Winner: iPhone
Surfing
As far as surfing is concerned, the Apple iPhone comes out on top. Helio Ocean also has GPS built in, which combines with Google Maps to make searching a snap. However, the browser is not as robust as Apple iPhones. So if you’re looking for a full-fledged browser in your phone for undirected browsing (surfing), the iPhone might be for you. I just don’t know when you’d be in a situation without a computer but with your phone where you would want to leisurely browse the internet. The Helio Ocean has more mobile-specific task-oriented surfing available.
Winner: iPhone by a hair
Network
Helio runs on Sprint’s EV-DO network. The iPhone does not use 3G, it uses EDGE. Apple says this speed issue is made up by the Wi-Fi which the Helio Ocean lacks, but wi-fi is just not pervasive enough to rely on. There are also reports of the EDGE network getting a major upgrade.
Winner: Helio Ocean for now
Size
The iPhone is 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches and 4.8 oz. while the Helio Ocean is 4.33 x 2.20 x .86 inches and 5.61 oz. The Helio Ocean is a little larger and heavier. However, some people would rather have something with more girth and weight than the iPhone. So if you’re looking for something that doesn’t feel like it’s going to break, you may want to checkout a Helio Ocean. However, for most of us, the smaller and lighter the better.
Winner: iPhone
GPS
This one is easy. The iPhone lacks GPS. Helio Ocean has built in GPS which is used by google maps which comes free with the service. Google maps on your phone, combined with GPS, makes it incredibly easy to quickly search for locations and businesses around you and know how to get there.
Winner: Helio Ocean
Bottom Line
The Helio Ocean is a viable alternative to the iPhone if you can cut out the media part of the iPhone and replace it with social functionality. The network also is a large difference but that could change soon as well (I hear it is happening now). The price difference is substantial right now and I don’t see it going away. The base price of an iPhone is going to stay high for a while and AT&T will probably never offer a plan like Helio’s.
Those of you who are huge nerds, or just use Digg, have probably noticed that there is a “revolution” of sorts going on right now.
The hex passcode for decoding HD-DVDs leaked and posted on Digg and other sites. Similar to DeCSS used to decode DVDs long ago, the MPAA is on a witchhunt to stamp out all possible thoughts of this number. They are idiots.
So anyway, someone posts this news to digg and they censor it, fearing the DMCA being used against them. Then the nerdbase of digg basically takes over digg by “digging” or voting up a steady stream of stories that are then deleted. Basically, they have hijacked the content on digg, producing more “hex number spam” faster than digg can delete it.
Anyway, this is hilarious to me because I have forever been saying digg is a cesspool of a community. I work for a business strategy company and startups and business people looooooove touting Digg as “democratizing the internet!” and “user generated content”. Well look what happened. It turns everything into a tabloid for 15 year olds.
I am disappointed in Digg though. Kevin Rose and his crew have always said they are against DRM etc. But now that they face the MPAA they backed down. I would expect that from some no-name blog or startup, but not from Digg. They are in a position to really influence the industry. They can afford to push their ideals but they dropped the ball and it’s truly sad.
Luckily, in this rough and tumble info economy, there are about 10 other sites who will gladly take their users. I’m sure Kevin won’t mind.
EA has just announced NEW details about the C&C3 demo for XBOX 360.
read more | digg story
Namco Bandai has revealed the previously rumored, Beautiful Katamari, for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Both games will feature online play.
read more | digg story
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved is available for download. Only for Windows Vista.
read more | digg story
Sony has revealed at GDC their PlayStation Home network play platform similar to Xbox Live. The platform will allow users to invite to games, befriend and chat with other networked users, among other things. The main feature is it’s Second Life-esque, third-person interface.
This may be what Sony needs to spark the PlayStation 3 to mark it’s small territory in the mainstream.
read more | digg story
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