Remember those old Budweiser commercials, the "Wazzup" ones? And then remember the follow up they did with white guys and an Indian guy saying "What are you doing?" That was pretty funny.
Anyways, you might have noticed that I've reworked the layout a little bit, and added a new section on the right entitled "Currently..." It's basically a collection of the things I do when I get home from work. Not entirely, obviously. I still eat and sleep and walk and watch sports. And in fact, I watch a lot more TV than is notated there, but it's mostly new TV (Parks and Recreation, House, Kitchen Nightmares, etc). The TV shows in this section are the shows that have either already run their course and I'm watching after the fact, or are still on, but I'm catching up on.
What's in it for you, you ask? Well, on the off chance you're someone I ever actually see in person, you'll have some insight into potential topics of conversation. For example, "Hey Joe, I read you're playing some game called Magicka. Are you like 100% nerd, or are there a few strands of manliness somewhere in there?" See? Fun!
But seriously, we can talk about books or movies or games.
Additionally, I'll be posting a review of every movie and show I watch from here forward. Well, okay, not every movie and show. I'm not going to review Jurassic Park or Zombieland or The Office every time I watch them on Netflix (we're at I think 9 times for Zombieland...and many more than that for Jurassic Park). But every movie and show I watch for the first time, you can count on a review. And I just watched 28 Weeks Later for the first time today, so you can look forward to my thoughts on that film.
Sneak preview: not as good as the first one.
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Interactivity / Twitter?
Let me be the first to say that I have trouble getting what the big draw is for Twitter. It's like if you took Facebook and stripped away everything interesting and just had the status updates. No pictures, no videos, not even any long statuses that actually give you information. Just quick-hitters, like "Going to the mall to get my nails done" or "Let's go Cavs! Two of the top four picks!"
Are these invalid ideas? No, of course not. But it's like an entire website devoted to smalltalk. Are we so starved for human interaction that we'll settle for an occasional impersonal text from celebrities, or cousins, or strangers?
Well, yes, probably. As some of you may know, I run a little sports blog called Joe and Joe Sports, and I've set up a Twitter account for it. I don't post regularly (on either), so the synergy between the two is negligible, but with the recent explosion of smart phones, I know that social media is becoming a quick way to "check up" on people, both friends and strangers. And if you want to grow your web presence, it's definitely useful to employ multiple vehicles.
Anyways, where was I going with this? Right, interactivity. I'd like to have a little more of it on here. Now, it'd be easier for you all to chime in if I posted more often, I'll grant you that. So here's the deal. I'm going to post more often (promise), and you're going to respond more often.
Not gonna wait for you to agree. That's how we do it in sales; we presume agreement and move right on to the details.
I've got a few ideas for how to generate some back and forth. Look for the first one later today.
LOOK FOR IT.
Are these invalid ideas? No, of course not. But it's like an entire website devoted to smalltalk. Are we so starved for human interaction that we'll settle for an occasional impersonal text from celebrities, or cousins, or strangers?
Well, yes, probably. As some of you may know, I run a little sports blog called Joe and Joe Sports, and I've set up a Twitter account for it. I don't post regularly (on either), so the synergy between the two is negligible, but with the recent explosion of smart phones, I know that social media is becoming a quick way to "check up" on people, both friends and strangers. And if you want to grow your web presence, it's definitely useful to employ multiple vehicles.
Anyways, where was I going with this? Right, interactivity. I'd like to have a little more of it on here. Now, it'd be easier for you all to chime in if I posted more often, I'll grant you that. So here's the deal. I'm going to post more often (promise), and you're going to respond more often.
Not gonna wait for you to agree. That's how we do it in sales; we presume agreement and move right on to the details.
I've got a few ideas for how to generate some back and forth. Look for the first one later today.
LOOK FOR IT.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Poetry?
I've never really understood poetry.
I don't mean to say that I don't understand what poetry is; I think I've at least got a grasp on that. I mean that I don't understand what's appealing about poetry over regular writing. What's the advantage of communicating using less forthright means? How does it serve anyone to try to convey your message using innuendo and metaphors, when actual discussion is more complete and easier for the average person to understand?
Let me qualify my standpoint here for a moment. There is poetry out there that isn't bad. There's poetry that, while still more vague than regular conversation, has its own value, by eliciting an emotional response, or offering a general starting point, rather than trying to actually make a point. But these pieces of poetry are few and far between, and aren't the poetry you encounter from day to day.
That poetry is written by some boner friend of yours who thinks he's complex. Or by some girl who thinks her poetry tells you how she's got all these layers. Or, overwhelmingly, by a random internet person, full of doubt and angst, like the rest of us, but "able" to express themselves through twitchy, broken phrases.
So who is it that actually likes all this poetry that's out there?
I ask that question, but I know the answer. I haven't met a single person who likes poetry that doesn't also write their own poetry. And they get their poetry-writing skills reinforced by other people who like poetry and write their own poetry. It's like there's some kind of quietly understood agreement that if you appreciate my poetry, I'll appreciate yours, and we can both seem profound.
It's a clever little way to seem like an artist, which we all want to be (me included). We'd all like to be able to create something that outlives us, some work that people look at/listen to/read and say, "What an amazing piece of work." Poets just seem to have figured out how to accomplish that, without having to actually, you know, be talented.
I don't mean to say that I don't understand what poetry is; I think I've at least got a grasp on that. I mean that I don't understand what's appealing about poetry over regular writing. What's the advantage of communicating using less forthright means? How does it serve anyone to try to convey your message using innuendo and metaphors, when actual discussion is more complete and easier for the average person to understand?
Let me qualify my standpoint here for a moment. There is poetry out there that isn't bad. There's poetry that, while still more vague than regular conversation, has its own value, by eliciting an emotional response, or offering a general starting point, rather than trying to actually make a point. But these pieces of poetry are few and far between, and aren't the poetry you encounter from day to day.
That poetry is written by some boner friend of yours who thinks he's complex. Or by some girl who thinks her poetry tells you how she's got all these layers. Or, overwhelmingly, by a random internet person, full of doubt and angst, like the rest of us, but "able" to express themselves through twitchy, broken phrases.
So who is it that actually likes all this poetry that's out there?
I ask that question, but I know the answer. I haven't met a single person who likes poetry that doesn't also write their own poetry. And they get their poetry-writing skills reinforced by other people who like poetry and write their own poetry. It's like there's some kind of quietly understood agreement that if you appreciate my poetry, I'll appreciate yours, and we can both seem profound.
It's a clever little way to seem like an artist, which we all want to be (me included). We'd all like to be able to create something that outlives us, some work that people look at/listen to/read and say, "What an amazing piece of work." Poets just seem to have figured out how to accomplish that, without having to actually, you know, be talented.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Music Visualizations
So I was listening to some music today at the office (OC Remixes, of course), and I use Windows Media Player at work. I watched the visualization briefly, but it didn't seem to offer much of a matchup to the music. So my question to all of you is, do you guys know of any good visualizations out there? Obviously I'll put Google to work and see if I can't come up with something worthwhile, but I'd be appreciative if anyone has got a visualization they can recommend that really shines. Mostly, I'm just looking for something that does a good job of matching up with the music.
Anybody?
Anybody?
Monday, January 25, 2010
League of Legends
A few months back, I mentioned that a game called League of Legends had just been released. It's a free-to-play PC game that combines the interface of a real-time strategy (like Warcraft III
) with the gameplay of a shooter (like Halo 3
). It's an objective-based game between two teams of 1-5 "champions" each. Each side has a computer-controlled team that sends waves of foot soldiers towards the enemy base through three lanes. The champions disperse into lanes and try to push through the opposing soldiers and champions, through multiple fortifications, to destroy the enemy base.
At the beginning of each game, each player, or "summoner," selects one champion, and each champion has its own distinct abilities and characteristics. Some are ranged, others are melee. Some champions are sturdy, others are frail. Some are designed for sieging towers, or sneaking up on enemy champions, or healing and augmenting allies. There's a champion for just about every gamer's attitude. There are 40+ champions, but only 10 are free to use at any given time (more on this later).
You gain experience and gold from defeating soldiers, champions, and defense towers. Experience goes towards gaining levels, which unlock more skills and increase your champion's health. Gold can be used to purchase equipment to make your champion even more powerful. Towards the end of a game, most champions can cut through an entire wave of soldiers without much difficulty.
Each game starts with your champion at level one. However, your summoner (that is, you) gains experience as well with each game you play. As your summoner gains levels (levels that endure from game to game), you earn small bonuses that apply to any champion you use. Additionally, with each game you play, you earn "influence points" (IP for short). IP can be used to purchase runes, additional boosts that again apply to any champion. You can also use IP to permanently unlock champions, adding them to the rotating group of 10 champions that are available for free. It's generally worth the investment of a few hundred IP (you earn 50-300 IP per game) to find a character you can get comfortable using and can use anytime.
You do also have the option of paying real money for Riot Points, which can be exchanged for champions, alternate champion skins, and temporary boosts to your summoner's XP or IP gains from playing. In my experience, though, the game is plenty fun without spending any real money, and you'll want to try out many of the different champions anyways to find out who you like. The rotating free champion system is the perfect mechanism to make this happen.
The game isn't perfect. The matchmaking system still seems to pit me (an average player) against elite players with too much regularity, but that's better than not pitting me against anyone at all, so I'll tolerate the occasional beat down. Plain and simple, it's a fun game that lends itself perfectly to teamwork and trash-talking, two things that you simply must have when you play a game with friends.
Interested? Go here to create your free account!
) with the gameplay of a shooter (like Halo 3). It's an objective-based game between two teams of 1-5 "champions" each. Each side has a computer-controlled team that sends waves of foot soldiers towards the enemy base through three lanes. The champions disperse into lanes and try to push through the opposing soldiers and champions, through multiple fortifications, to destroy the enemy base.At the beginning of each game, each player, or "summoner," selects one champion, and each champion has its own distinct abilities and characteristics. Some are ranged, others are melee. Some champions are sturdy, others are frail. Some are designed for sieging towers, or sneaking up on enemy champions, or healing and augmenting allies. There's a champion for just about every gamer's attitude. There are 40+ champions, but only 10 are free to use at any given time (more on this later).
You gain experience and gold from defeating soldiers, champions, and defense towers. Experience goes towards gaining levels, which unlock more skills and increase your champion's health. Gold can be used to purchase equipment to make your champion even more powerful. Towards the end of a game, most champions can cut through an entire wave of soldiers without much difficulty.
Each game starts with your champion at level one. However, your summoner (that is, you) gains experience as well with each game you play. As your summoner gains levels (levels that endure from game to game), you earn small bonuses that apply to any champion you use. Additionally, with each game you play, you earn "influence points" (IP for short). IP can be used to purchase runes, additional boosts that again apply to any champion. You can also use IP to permanently unlock champions, adding them to the rotating group of 10 champions that are available for free. It's generally worth the investment of a few hundred IP (you earn 50-300 IP per game) to find a character you can get comfortable using and can use anytime.
You do also have the option of paying real money for Riot Points, which can be exchanged for champions, alternate champion skins, and temporary boosts to your summoner's XP or IP gains from playing. In my experience, though, the game is plenty fun without spending any real money, and you'll want to try out many of the different champions anyways to find out who you like. The rotating free champion system is the perfect mechanism to make this happen.
The game isn't perfect. The matchmaking system still seems to pit me (an average player) against elite players with too much regularity, but that's better than not pitting me against anyone at all, so I'll tolerate the occasional beat down. Plain and simple, it's a fun game that lends itself perfectly to teamwork and trash-talking, two things that you simply must have when you play a game with friends.
Interested? Go here to create your free account!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Funnies
That's the plural of funny, and not a particularly entertaining type of rabbit.
Two funny things for you. First, if you've never come across Jake and Amir in your Internet-ly travels, you've been missing out on some funny stuff. They're a couple of guys from College Humor who've been pumping out two videos a week for a couple years now. The videos are 1-3 minutes long, but they're long on humor. I recommend you go to the site and just click "Random Video" a few times. My guess is something will come up that you'll like.
The second funny thing for you is my cousin's blog, Opinionated Truths. He's pretty funny. Laugh at him. Not with him, at him.
Two funny things for you. First, if you've never come across Jake and Amir in your Internet-ly travels, you've been missing out on some funny stuff. They're a couple of guys from College Humor who've been pumping out two videos a week for a couple years now. The videos are 1-3 minutes long, but they're long on humor. I recommend you go to the site and just click "Random Video" a few times. My guess is something will come up that you'll like.
The second funny thing for you is my cousin's blog, Opinionated Truths. He's pretty funny. Laugh at him. Not with him, at him.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
How To Rate A Movie
I opened a Netflix account a few months ago, and have been enjoying the movie-watching opportunities it's offered. I generally don't see many movies, so this has been my opportunity to catch up on all those "have to see" films.
Facebook offers a feature whereby your Netflix ratings (which Netflix uses to determine what kind of movies you might like and suggests them) are posted on Facebook for all to see. So when I gave the second Fantastic Four movie two stars, my friends saw that I didn't think much of the movie. Likewise, when I ranked High Fidelity as a five-star movie, Facebook automatically relayed that information.
As my ratings have become public, I've started to give them a little more thought, and the most recent movie I've watched has given me some trouble: Taken. It's by no means an intellectual movie, and it doesn't have that big twist that's been seemingly mandatory ever since The Usual Suspects came out. But I found it very entertaining, and also thought it had a satisfying ending.
So the dilemma is this: Do I rate the movie with regards to how impressive it is, how thoughtful the script is, and how powerful it is? Or do I rate it simply with how happy I was to have watched it afterward?
I choose the latter. For me, the ultimate test of a work is not (and never has been) whether the piece showed expertise or inspiration, but whether or not I enjoyed it. I gave The Rock five stars a couple months ago, and unknowingly used this exact logic.
I've spent most my life enjoying "lame" music, watching "nerdy" movies, and just generally being a "geek" or "dork." I like what I like, and after 29 years of life, maybe it's time to fully embrace that. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to listen to some Michael McDonald, watch a couple Harry Potter movies, and see if that Magic: The Gathering game has come out for the Xbox Live Arcade yet (it apparently has).
Facebook offers a feature whereby your Netflix ratings (which Netflix uses to determine what kind of movies you might like and suggests them) are posted on Facebook for all to see. So when I gave the second Fantastic Four movie two stars, my friends saw that I didn't think much of the movie. Likewise, when I ranked High Fidelity as a five-star movie, Facebook automatically relayed that information.
As my ratings have become public, I've started to give them a little more thought, and the most recent movie I've watched has given me some trouble: Taken. It's by no means an intellectual movie, and it doesn't have that big twist that's been seemingly mandatory ever since The Usual Suspects came out. But I found it very entertaining, and also thought it had a satisfying ending.
So the dilemma is this: Do I rate the movie with regards to how impressive it is, how thoughtful the script is, and how powerful it is? Or do I rate it simply with how happy I was to have watched it afterward?
I choose the latter. For me, the ultimate test of a work is not (and never has been) whether the piece showed expertise or inspiration, but whether or not I enjoyed it. I gave The Rock five stars a couple months ago, and unknowingly used this exact logic.
I've spent most my life enjoying "lame" music, watching "nerdy" movies, and just generally being a "geek" or "dork." I like what I like, and after 29 years of life, maybe it's time to fully embrace that. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to listen to some Michael McDonald, watch a couple Harry Potter movies, and see if that Magic: The Gathering game has come out for the Xbox Live Arcade yet (it apparently has).
Monday, June 29, 2009
New Radio / New Music?
I had my radio conk out a couple weeks ago, and just recently got a new one installed. It's got an auxiliary input (for an iPod or mp3 player) as well as a USB connector (for flash drives). A lot of people have already got those features in their cars, but for me this is a whole new world. I don't have to make CDs anymore (though I'm sure I will).
All of that is an extremely boring lead-up to me saying I'm going to finally get a chance to listen to more music. The sheer amount of music I have at my disposal is staggering; it's time for me to delve into the archives to find some gems.
I'm currently working with my brother's Creative Zen Touch, but I've run into a compatibility issue. The mp3 player is older, and doesn't have a Vista-compatible driver. And of course, I was too cheap to pay the extra $100 to have XP installed on my new computer, and just accepted Vista (which every day seems like a bigger mistake). So in order to update the content on the Zen, I have to use an older computer, which means I'm transferring music files from my main computer to an external hard drive, then to the older computer, and finally to the mp3 player. What kind of joke-ass operating system can't use drivers from its predecessors?
The other option is to just use flash drives, but the storage capacity on the ones I already own isn't exactly overwhelming. I've got a 2 GB one that I use for my personal work, and a 512 MB one that I've had forever and I'm unsure as to how much longer it'll work. Oh, and I have a 256 MB one that went through a washing machine, still works, but I don't trust.
So my options are
Top 5 Artists Whose Music I'm Going to Explore Now:
All of that is an extremely boring lead-up to me saying I'm going to finally get a chance to listen to more music. The sheer amount of music I have at my disposal is staggering; it's time for me to delve into the archives to find some gems.
I'm currently working with my brother's Creative Zen Touch, but I've run into a compatibility issue. The mp3 player is older, and doesn't have a Vista-compatible driver. And of course, I was too cheap to pay the extra $100 to have XP installed on my new computer, and just accepted Vista (which every day seems like a bigger mistake). So in order to update the content on the Zen, I have to use an older computer, which means I'm transferring music files from my main computer to an external hard drive, then to the older computer, and finally to the mp3 player. What kind of joke-ass operating system can't use drivers from its predecessors?
The other option is to just use flash drives, but the storage capacity on the ones I already own isn't exactly overwhelming. I've got a 2 GB one that I use for my personal work, and a 512 MB one that I've had forever and I'm unsure as to how much longer it'll work. Oh, and I have a 256 MB one that went through a washing machine, still works, but I don't trust.
So my options are
- Use mp3 CD's, storage capacity of 700 MB apiece.
- Use my old flash drives, storage capacity of 512 MB.
- Use the Zen Touch, and commit to spending 15-20 minutes in file transfers every time I want to change the music.
- Buy a new flash drive or two with greater storage capacity.
- Buy a new mp3 player.
Top 5 Artists Whose Music I'm Going to Explore Now:
- Kiss - Plundo has been a fan of Kiss for as long as I can remember, and I've added a song once every year or two to my regular rotation (I Was Made For Lovin' You, then Detroit Rock City, most recently Love Gun). It's time to get knee deep and see if these boys can play.
- Rush - I've heard songs by Rush I've liked, and songs I haven't. I enjoy progressive rock as a genre, though, and Rush is allegedly one of the best. It's only fair that I give them a legitimate chance.
- Pharoahe Monch - While I've cooled off on rap as a whole, I still enjoy the occasional foray, and Pharoahe Monch seems to be my most frequent target. He just rhymes everything. It's pretty impressive.
- O.A.R. - Know thy enemy.
- Yes - Another "prog rock" band, but I've only heard maybe two songs from Yes. They seem to skew a little bit more towards standard music than Rush, so I actually expect to like more Yes songs, but I feel like I need to listen to more Rush.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The King of Pop
As I'm sure all of you have heard, Michael Jackson died yesterday afternoon at the age of 50. I spent some time online, watching music videos on Youtube, perusing Facebook, and reading news, and people seemed to fall into two camps with regards to their response to the news of Jackson's death.
The first group lamented the passing of a music icon. There were a lot of fond memories, people talking about how they look forward to a bump in his radio play over the next few days, and more than a few people saying "rest in peace" (or "rest in piece").
The second group took the opportunity to get one last jab in and try to make some snide comment about Jackson's past. The most common "joke" (I put it in quotes because it doesn't really show any creativity, and isn't particularly funny) was that, now that Michael Jackson is dead, children can sleep easily at night. Because, you know, pedophilia is a riot.
Some people do fall into both categories, and it's not surprising that they produce some of the better jokes. They're able to be in touch with the fact that Jackson was a cultural giant, while still wanting to make some jokes.
You guys know me. You know I don't really get offended ever, and this isn't really an exception. I'm not offended that people are taking this person's death and making fun of a possible trauma that a child or children may have gone through. But when I see people my age making these comments, it strikes me as a very sincere form of pandering.
People want to be perceived in very specific ways. These people, the people making these jokes, are unwilling to acknowledge the value that Michael Jackson offered. They won't admit that, for a time, they really liked Michael Jackson (which is a fair guess, because fucking everybody liked Michael Jackson). They'd like to be perceived as above nostalgia, above the sentimentality of those times. Over time, it became "cool" to make fun of Michael Jackson. But in my mind, today, and going forward, it's particularly "uncool."
People know Ray Charles was an addict. People are pretty sure that Tupac was a killer. And yet, both of those artists are mostly remembered today for their accomplishments and their talents, and their shortcomings are only remembered as part of the whole picture. My guess is that five years down the road, Michael Jackson will be remembered most for creating some of the finest music in the past quarter century, and his missteps will be looked upon as just a part of the tragic figure who touched our lives for so many years.
In honor of the King of Pop, my All-Time Top 5 Favorite Michael Jackson Songs:
The first group lamented the passing of a music icon. There were a lot of fond memories, people talking about how they look forward to a bump in his radio play over the next few days, and more than a few people saying "rest in peace" (or "rest in piece").
The second group took the opportunity to get one last jab in and try to make some snide comment about Jackson's past. The most common "joke" (I put it in quotes because it doesn't really show any creativity, and isn't particularly funny) was that, now that Michael Jackson is dead, children can sleep easily at night. Because, you know, pedophilia is a riot.
Some people do fall into both categories, and it's not surprising that they produce some of the better jokes. They're able to be in touch with the fact that Jackson was a cultural giant, while still wanting to make some jokes.
You guys know me. You know I don't really get offended ever, and this isn't really an exception. I'm not offended that people are taking this person's death and making fun of a possible trauma that a child or children may have gone through. But when I see people my age making these comments, it strikes me as a very sincere form of pandering.
People want to be perceived in very specific ways. These people, the people making these jokes, are unwilling to acknowledge the value that Michael Jackson offered. They won't admit that, for a time, they really liked Michael Jackson (which is a fair guess, because fucking everybody liked Michael Jackson). They'd like to be perceived as above nostalgia, above the sentimentality of those times. Over time, it became "cool" to make fun of Michael Jackson. But in my mind, today, and going forward, it's particularly "uncool."
People know Ray Charles was an addict. People are pretty sure that Tupac was a killer. And yet, both of those artists are mostly remembered today for their accomplishments and their talents, and their shortcomings are only remembered as part of the whole picture. My guess is that five years down the road, Michael Jackson will be remembered most for creating some of the finest music in the past quarter century, and his missteps will be looked upon as just a part of the tragic figure who touched our lives for so many years.
In honor of the King of Pop, my All-Time Top 5 Favorite Michael Jackson Songs:
- The Way You Make Me Feel (1988)
- Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (1979)
- Human Nature (1983)
- You Rock My World (2001)
- Black or White (1991)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Top 5 Video Games I've Played in the Past Week
With the forum not pulling in a lot of traffic, I figured I'd post my Top 5 lists on here from now on. We'll kick it off with something completely transient and random.
Top 5 Games I've Played in the Past Week
Top 5 Games I've Played in the Past Week
- Rock Band 2 - What can I say? I love the bastard.
- Army of Two - I played it online for the first time last week, and it's kind of intriguing. Plus I've still got hundreds of achievement points to earn.
- Pizza Tycoon - It's losing steam, though, as the sheer number of stores is getting tough to manage.
- Guitar Hero III - It's not perfect, but the basic tenets are up my alley...figuratively.
- Grand Theft Auto IV - I may be done with the story part of the game, but there's still plenty to do (and destroy) in Liberty City.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Achievements Mentality
As these past few weeks have passed, I've kept an eye on Patrick's gamerscore, and frankly, it's been discouraging. He just keeps racking up achievements, while I pick up 10 or 20 here and there, but keep getting outdistanced. I'm not mad at him; we're both doing the same thing, trying to pick up points. But to maintain my mental health, it might be better for me to change my mentality with regards to the leaderboard.
First, I probably need to accept that I won't be catching Patrick. Patrick, you are a worthy adversary, and an achiever. That doesn't mean I'll stop chasing you, or stop trying to expand my fresh new lead on Marcus. But it'll be more of a point of interest than a goal.
Second, and both more interesting and more fun, I want to watch our leaderboard on www.mygamercard.net. You can see our leaderboard on the right side of this page; we've got 11 users and over 50,000 gamer points. I'd like to find other small groups like ourselves who have players of varying skills and playtime, and compete against them for leaderboard dominance. Our entire leaderboard can work together to accumulate points, both competing against the other leaderboards and against various milestones. We're currently just under 51,000 points; our next milestone can be 60,000. That would require less than 1,000 more points per user on average, and I know Patrick, Nick, and I will all be rolling forward at breakneck speeds.
I do have a personal goal as well: 10,000 points. It's still 2,645 points away, but it's within striking distance. The objective is to get to 10,000 by my birthday, August 1st.
Game on.
First, I probably need to accept that I won't be catching Patrick. Patrick, you are a worthy adversary, and an achiever. That doesn't mean I'll stop chasing you, or stop trying to expand my fresh new lead on Marcus. But it'll be more of a point of interest than a goal.
Second, and both more interesting and more fun, I want to watch our leaderboard on www.mygamercard.net. You can see our leaderboard on the right side of this page; we've got 11 users and over 50,000 gamer points. I'd like to find other small groups like ourselves who have players of varying skills and playtime, and compete against them for leaderboard dominance. Our entire leaderboard can work together to accumulate points, both competing against the other leaderboards and against various milestones. We're currently just under 51,000 points; our next milestone can be 60,000. That would require less than 1,000 more points per user on average, and I know Patrick, Nick, and I will all be rolling forward at breakneck speeds.
I do have a personal goal as well: 10,000 points. It's still 2,645 points away, but it's within striking distance. The objective is to get to 10,000 by my birthday, August 1st.
Game on.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Five Thousand Points!
Last night, after cleaning out the last of the Vice Kings in Saints Row, I earned enough achievement points to surpass five thousand, a milestone I've had my eye on for a while now. Is it meaningless? You'd better believe it's meaningless. And yet, I'm still delighted to have gotten there. I've got a long way to go before I can catch up to Patrick (who at last check was at 14,875 and keeps racking up achievements), but I'm headed in the right direction.
Our next target? Marcus, at 6,920 points. I'm comin' for ya!
Our next target? Marcus, at 6,920 points. I'm comin' for ya!
Friday, January 16, 2009
How Many Countries Do You Know?
http://andys.org.uk/countryquiz/
To be fair, this quiz doesn't check your knowledge of every country, only those that are U.N. member nations (so Housingtonia won't come up on the list). But it's a fun little exercise to see how comfortable you are in naming countries. I'll be honest, I missed some easy ones. But I got 96 of the 192 countries, and feel pretty decent about that performance. That's what you get from playing world conquest video games, friends.
To be fair, this quiz doesn't check your knowledge of every country, only those that are U.N. member nations (so Housingtonia won't come up on the list). But it's a fun little exercise to see how comfortable you are in naming countries. I'll be honest, I missed some easy ones. But I got 96 of the 192 countries, and feel pretty decent about that performance. That's what you get from playing world conquest video games, friends.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Eve Post
It's Christmas Eve, and I've got a couple things to mention, but figured it'd be a waste to put them in separate posts. First, a friend brought this to my attention; you can track Santa's sleigh ride 'round the world. So...enjoy that.
Additionally, our second round of voting also ended in a tie, so I'm just going to arbitrarily pick the song that was part of both of the ties, and play that one. Look forward to that.
My brother bought NHL '09 for the Xbox 360 a couple months ago, and while I was unexcited initially, I've come to really enjoy playing it. It's got a neat feature that coincides with similar features present in most other EA Sports games where you take control of a single player and try to guide them to the promised land...which I guess is the hockey hall of fame? I haven't gotten that far into it yet, still in season one. Anyways, it's really interesting to try to learn a specific position, to work off the puck, and to play positional defense (rather than the wild checkfest that my normal defense tends to deteriorate into).
Don't forget to check out our partner site, Joe and Joe Sports, now on its own domain!
Additionally, our second round of voting also ended in a tie, so I'm just going to arbitrarily pick the song that was part of both of the ties, and play that one. Look forward to that.
My brother bought NHL '09 for the Xbox 360 a couple months ago, and while I was unexcited initially, I've come to really enjoy playing it. It's got a neat feature that coincides with similar features present in most other EA Sports games where you take control of a single player and try to guide them to the promised land...which I guess is the hockey hall of fame? I haven't gotten that far into it yet, still in season one. Anyways, it's really interesting to try to learn a specific position, to work off the puck, and to play positional defense (rather than the wild checkfest that my normal defense tends to deteriorate into).
Don't forget to check out our partner site, Joe and Joe Sports, now on its own domain!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Left 4 Dead Deal (Xbox 360)
Amazon
has a deal on Left 4 Dead for the Xbox 360. It's a good game offline, but a great game online. My brother and I have played it in both contexts and enjoyed both, but playing online against real opponents offers a great opportunity for teamwork to triumph over the chaos that normally thrives in online gaming.
I highly recommend the game if you've got Xbox Live. I also would like to be your friend to play this game with on Xbox Live; my gamer card is over there on the right side. Friend me up.
has a deal on Left 4 Dead for the Xbox 360. It's a good game offline, but a great game online. My brother and I have played it in both contexts and enjoyed both, but playing online against real opponents offers a great opportunity for teamwork to triumph over the chaos that normally thrives in online gaming.I highly recommend the game if you've got Xbox Live. I also would like to be your friend to play this game with on Xbox Live; my gamer card is over there on the right side. Friend me up.
Monday, October 20, 2008
1996 Royal Rumble Match
The 1996 Royal Rumble was right before the Monday Night Wars truly began, and featured many of the big time stars who would make WCW a factor for the next 5 years. Diesel (Kevin Nash), Razor Ramon (Scott Hall), and the 1-2-3 Kid (Syxx, X-Pac) all make an appearance during the Rumble match (though only two of them are actual participants...you'll have to watch to see what I'm talking about).
Below is the link for the 1996 Royal Rumble match. The star power overall is very good, but towards the end, it becomes pretty clear who's going to win the match (at least, if you're a wrestling historian like myself, it does). It's also fun to see some of the stars of the future in their formative years in the WWF (Stone Cold Steve Austin as "Ringmaster," Triple H as "Hunter Hearst Helmsley: the American Blue Blood").
It'll seem like you've only got part 1 of the match, but when part 1 finishes, the page will automatically refresh itself and load part 2. Enjoy.
Royal Rumble Match: 1996
Below is the link for the 1996 Royal Rumble match. The star power overall is very good, but towards the end, it becomes pretty clear who's going to win the match (at least, if you're a wrestling historian like myself, it does). It's also fun to see some of the stars of the future in their formative years in the WWF (Stone Cold Steve Austin as "Ringmaster," Triple H as "Hunter Hearst Helmsley: the American Blue Blood").
It'll seem like you've only got part 1 of the match, but when part 1 finishes, the page will automatically refresh itself and load part 2. Enjoy.
Royal Rumble Match: 1996
Old Wrestling PPVs
Listen, if you're anything like me (and if you're happy with your life, chances are you're nothing like me), you've got a soft spot in your heart for old wrestling pay-per-views. I'm talking about the classic Royal Rumbles, Summerslams, Survivor Series, and of course, the grand-daddy of them all, Wrestlemania. But you're also interested in some of the classic WCW pay-per-views, like Starrcade, The Great American Bash, and Fall Brawl.
Sometimes I go scouring the Internet for clips of these old wrestling PPVs, and sometimes, I come across the whole entire event, or at the very least, an entire Royal Rumble match. (Those are very good days.) So, I'm going to start posting links to the full wrestling pay-per-views that I find, but only when I can find those full events (or full Royal Rumble matches). If it's just one clip, I'll leave that for another time; maybe I'll put together a "greatest matches" post for a certain wrestler, and include clips of each of those matches.
A heads up, though: These full pay-per-views tend to be split up into multiple clips, so when I post an "event," it'll probably actually be several separate clips. I'll post them in order for you, though, so you can click them one-by-one to go through the event, or open them all at once in new tabs, and then just progress through the tabs with the clips completely buffered. That decision I leave up to you.
I'll have the first event posted later today or tomorrow.
Sometimes I go scouring the Internet for clips of these old wrestling PPVs, and sometimes, I come across the whole entire event, or at the very least, an entire Royal Rumble match. (Those are very good days.) So, I'm going to start posting links to the full wrestling pay-per-views that I find, but only when I can find those full events (or full Royal Rumble matches). If it's just one clip, I'll leave that for another time; maybe I'll put together a "greatest matches" post for a certain wrestler, and include clips of each of those matches.
A heads up, though: These full pay-per-views tend to be split up into multiple clips, so when I post an "event," it'll probably actually be several separate clips. I'll post them in order for you, though, so you can click them one-by-one to go through the event, or open them all at once in new tabs, and then just progress through the tabs with the clips completely buffered. That decision I leave up to you.
I'll have the first event posted later today or tomorrow.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
That Dr. Pepper Song
Some of you know that I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to find the name and artist of a song I heard in a recent Dr. Pepper commercial. It is also often used at sporting events to get the crowd going, and I believe was first used in that manner for the Chicago Bulls teams of the mid-1990s.
Anyways, the song is called Sirius, and it's by Alan Parsons Project. In its original context, it's also used as an introduction to a popular song by the band called Eye In The Sky. Not surprisingly, they're the two highest rated tracks by Alan Parsons Project on Rhapsody. Also, is anyone talking about this site? It's awesome. You can listen to anything they've got on a whim. It's the site I linked to when I wanted you to listen to a song off of a 5-song special release CD from the Dave Matthews Band. I'm gonna do some more research, but best I can tell, this site is just sweet.
Socialism rules!
Yeah, that's gonna bring traffic to this blog, but maybe not the kind of traffic I want...oh, who am I kidding, any traffic is good.
Anyways, the song is called Sirius, and it's by Alan Parsons Project. In its original context, it's also used as an introduction to a popular song by the band called Eye In The Sky. Not surprisingly, they're the two highest rated tracks by Alan Parsons Project on Rhapsody. Also, is anyone talking about this site? It's awesome. You can listen to anything they've got on a whim. It's the site I linked to when I wanted you to listen to a song off of a 5-song special release CD from the Dave Matthews Band. I'm gonna do some more research, but best I can tell, this site is just sweet.
Socialism rules!
Yeah, that's gonna bring traffic to this blog, but maybe not the kind of traffic I want...oh, who am I kidding, any traffic is good.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Ikariam
I've been monitoring the progress of a pending MMORTS (massively multiplayer online real-time strategy) game called Beyond Protocol. It seems very interesting, at least in theory, and I've been doing a little pestering of the folks there, re-applying to the beta at least one extra time, I think twice, and reading up on the discussions people are having about the game. The diplomacy portion is what I'm really interested in, as it looks like they're planning on having a galaxy-governing body through which players can actually generate changes to the game. How this actually shakes out remains to be seen, but needless to say, I'm intrigued.
But in the meantime, I've been looking for other MMORTS-style games to quench my thirst. I play the occasional game of WarCraft III online, but it's not really what I'm looking for. I want more of a broad scope interactive game that includes diplomacy, economics, city management, and a civilian aspect of the game. Beyond Protocol may not even be that game, as I haven't seen much as far as the civilian side of things. So I've been looking around.
I did some browsing on Wikipedia and stumbled upon Ikariam. I've created an account (on Lambda world, if anyone else wants to join up), and I'm sort of testing the waters. It's a free system, though there is some kind of enhanced experience that you can get by buying "ambrosia" (using real money) and spending that. I haven't investigated that aspect too much, since for the time being I'm really just looking for a time-killer.
In that vein, one of the most appealing aspects of Ikariam is that it's a browser-based game. This means that, if I like, I can check in on it while I'm at work without having to install a big program or anything. I like the idea of checking in, giving new orders, and then getting back to the business of the day....which for me would probably be looking for more of those kinds of games.
Anyways, I've gotten to play it a little bit, and it seems very Civilization-esque. It's got a few different levels of management, from inside your city to the island that you share with a number of other cities, to the whole world (again, Lambda for me). You allocate resources to different tasks (military, research, resource management, etc.), and try to build your city so that it's strong enough to defend itself from eventual attackers while having the capacity to expand to new territories. Again, I'm very early in the game, and don't know exactly how combat or expansion works, but I know they're in the game somehow, and I'm looking forward to finding out.
All in all, it seems encouraging. I'm not going to declare right now that it's my kind of game, but it's certainly got the tools to be something I'm happy to throw some time into. If you decide to join up, let me know so I can track your town's progress and direct you towards my own.
But in the meantime, I've been looking for other MMORTS-style games to quench my thirst. I play the occasional game of WarCraft III online, but it's not really what I'm looking for. I want more of a broad scope interactive game that includes diplomacy, economics, city management, and a civilian aspect of the game. Beyond Protocol may not even be that game, as I haven't seen much as far as the civilian side of things. So I've been looking around.
I did some browsing on Wikipedia and stumbled upon Ikariam. I've created an account (on Lambda world, if anyone else wants to join up), and I'm sort of testing the waters. It's a free system, though there is some kind of enhanced experience that you can get by buying "ambrosia" (using real money) and spending that. I haven't investigated that aspect too much, since for the time being I'm really just looking for a time-killer.
In that vein, one of the most appealing aspects of Ikariam is that it's a browser-based game. This means that, if I like, I can check in on it while I'm at work without having to install a big program or anything. I like the idea of checking in, giving new orders, and then getting back to the business of the day....which for me would probably be looking for more of those kinds of games.
Anyways, I've gotten to play it a little bit, and it seems very Civilization-esque. It's got a few different levels of management, from inside your city to the island that you share with a number of other cities, to the whole world (again, Lambda for me). You allocate resources to different tasks (military, research, resource management, etc.), and try to build your city so that it's strong enough to defend itself from eventual attackers while having the capacity to expand to new territories. Again, I'm very early in the game, and don't know exactly how combat or expansion works, but I know they're in the game somehow, and I'm looking forward to finding out.
All in all, it seems encouraging. I'm not going to declare right now that it's my kind of game, but it's certainly got the tools to be something I'm happy to throw some time into. If you decide to join up, let me know so I can track your town's progress and direct you towards my own.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Pizza Hut Online Is A Joke
Alright, the basic idea behind ordering a pizza online is twofold, at least to my understanding:
- Ordering online prevents the customer from having to actually talk to another human being, reducing potential interpersonal tension from the equation (if you don't think this can be a problem, the next time you're hanging out, nominate someone else to order the food, and you see if they don't squirm just a little bit).
- Ordering online creates a digital ticket that should result in fewer problems resulting from human error, miscommunication, or general malaise by the order taker.
That's why you order online; you don't have to talk to anyone and the place is more likely to get your order exactly correct. I'm a fan of ordering online. I think most businesses should offer online ordering, especially food delivery places. If I didn't have to call up for Chinese food and could instead order it online, I'd be up to my eyeballs in General Tso's chicken.
But Pizza Hut seems to miss a piece of this puzzle. Allow me to elaborate.
I have ordered from the local Altoona, PA Pizza Hut near me a number of times, almost always through their website. If my memory serves me correctly, the first few times were pleasantly uneventful and involved approximately zero effort on my part. Then, one time, I placed the order online and received a phone call soon after from my local Pizza Hut. They were wondering where I found the coupon that I had used for my order. I explained that it was on the PizzaHut.com website, and that seemed to satisfy their inquiry. Though not exactly. When the driver arrived, he said, "That'll be $16.41 and a coupon." I explained that it was one of the coupons available to click on the website, and whether by the merit of my explanation or his own distaste for human interaction (which I certainly share), he accepted it and left.
My hope was that my experience was a result of a kink in the Pizza Hut online ordering system that would be worked out on the corporate side. Bzzzt! Incorrect.
I received another phone call after my next online purchase, this time asking me to print out the coupon I used. What? Just print it out and give it to the driver. I don't understand that, but again, I believed the problem to be a system-based problem that would get worked out soon enough.
Months later, after a hiatus from pizza, I ordered from Pizza Hut again, just recently. No call this time, thankfully, and I waited with baited breath for my warm Stuffed Crust pizza and boneless buffalo wings. The driver arrived at the door, and said what I ought to have expected: "There's your receipt to sign, and you have a coupon?" No, sir, I ordered it online and do not have a coupon. "Okay, they'd like you to print out the coupon and give it to the driver in the future." Really? "Yeah, just print it out and give it to the driver." Okay, I'll do that the next time I order from you guys.
I will never order from them again.
What exactly is the point of a complex online ordering system if not to eliminate the need for paper coupons? When you order stuff on sale at Amazon, do they make you give the USPS guy a printout of the item description from the day you ordered it? I mean, the coupon is on your site and in your computer system. I clicked it and the system already knew what I was ordering, and took me to a page to make whatever decisions I needed to make concerning this dish. Your system told you that the pizza was ordered online, and gave you a total price for the order. I didn't hack your damn system to save four bucks on a large pizza.
I haven't decided yet how much swearing I'm going to do on this blog, but rest assured, if I had decided to go all out, this post would've been chock full of expletives. More than anything else, I hate when people make me waste my time or my resources; Pizza Hut was asking me to do both.
In fairness, I've ordered Pizza Hut pizza online at my mother's house and had no such problems. It's possible that the Altoona branch isn't sophisticated enough to fully integrate itself into the online ordering system. But if that's the case, then just don't offer online orders. Papa John's has never even suggested that I provide a coupon for my online order. They've got a fully integrated system, and they understand that if you're going to allow online ordering, you'd better do it right. I prefer Pizza Hut pizza, and I believe Pizza Hut pizza is generally less expensive. But that little tweak of convenience is worth it to me to downgrade to Papa John's for the foreseeable future.
I should write Pizza Hut a letter, or at least an email. But I'd rather just complain about it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
