gahro

Testing Testing

2006-08-17T13:03:00.000-04:00

I've started a new blog to take advantage of the new Blogger beta: smallreflection.blogspot.com Great new stuff, Blogger team. Keep up the good work!

Necessity of War

2006-08-13T16:53:00.000-04:00

The world has lost it's mind. A so-called "truce" for peace in the Middle East? Not for long. Is war terrible? Absolutely. But a terrible necessity. There has been a subtle trend, fueled by the common messages of media outlets everywhere, toward the loss of distinction between terrorist agressor and victim. I've actually heard people say there was no such thing as terrorism before the creation of the Jewish state. How such insanity can be believed is incomprehensible. Israel has the right to their homeland, and they have the right to act in its defense. When attacked by radical "Palestinian" terrorists, Israel has the duty to protect itself by offensively going to the heart of the enemy and crushing it.

Equally incomprehensible are calls made by our President and Secretary Rice for an "immediate cease-fire," as if this would help matters. Israel is facing an enemy who openly spouts their so-called "religion" of hatred and violence, an enemy who is known to have the sole goal and purpose of wiping Israel off the face of the map. How can we call for a cease-fire between these parties? If Israel were allowed to continue to put pressure on Hezbolla, the terrorist agressor could eventually be vanquished. Instead, we cry, "peace!", allowing nothing but a brief interlude for the enemy to recouperate, rearm, and regroup.

"What can men do against such wreckless hate?" Theoden asked. A wise answer returned: "Ride out, and meet them."

The Intern

2006-06-22T15:19:00.000-04:00

I am now an intern at North Star Marketing-Communications! I just finished up my second small project this morning and I'm getting lots of great experience, mainly right now with Adobe inDesign. I'm working with the Creative Director, who goes to my church, too. Design is a blast. Cool beans.

Strummin'

2006-06-10T13:19:00.000-04:00

I've been teaching myself on my Dad's guitar for awhile and I've really been having fun with it. I check Musician's Friend every now and then, and I started thinking about getting one of my own. After going around to several shops, I made my decision, bought by my parents as a graduation present—Alvarez AD60SC. I've tried a lot of different guitars and talked to several people, but Alvarez really has really amazing quality and beautiful style for the price—which is why the owner of the shop where I bought it had so much Alvarez stuff. I would highly recommend it.

DaVinci Mania

2006-05-22T17:52:00.000-04:00

The movie is out. Supposedly not that great, but still getting top spot at the box office. Lots of people are confused, some are scared. For those not strong in knowledge of Christianity and church history this fictional story subtly mixed with reality can really sound possible. Focus on the Family has launched a full mini-site on the DaVinci Code, with tons of stuff debunking Dan Brown's conspiracy theories. Be informed. Know the truth.

Uru Live Returns

2006-05-21T14:57:00.000-04:00

YES! Uru Live is back (Check out the CNET article)!! I never thought I'd see this day! I am so happy for all the people at Cyan and I really hope this takes off. I know you guys wanted to try something fresh, but there just isn't anything like Myst and I'm thrilled to see the dream of Uru near realization. I don't know if I'll have to the time to really get into it, but I hope the following is huge. Cyan, show the world your dreams.

MacBook Arrives

2006-05-16T16:37:00.000-04:00

My MacBoook is here! I may wait for one revision, but this baby is it—my dream machine. Widescreen, higher res, firmer keyboard, Intel core duo, beautiful looks, and a nice student-friendly price tag. And I can do Windows if need be. What more could a design student want?

One Mac to Rule Them All

2006-04-06T15:55:00.000-04:00

A new day has dawned. Macs can now do Windows, too. It's called Boot Camp, and everybody's talking about it. Check out Walt Mossberg's article. Any of my slightest hesitations at buying a Mac are now gone without a trace. This will truly make Macs the most amazing, versatile machines out there. What more could you want? I just bought the Battle for Middle-Earth on sale for $15. I couldn't pass it up. The bad thing was, it's a PC game. Not a problem anymore. I know some Mac game developers are feeling a bit of pressure about now, but I'm totally stoked that I can now use Windows for apps that don't run on OS X. For Apple, I'd say the future looks bright.

DaVinci Deception

2006-04-03T18:12:00.000-04:00

If you haven't heard about the DaVinci Code you've had your head in the sand for the past few years. I know lots of people have it on their favorite books list and the movie's getting hype, but simply, it's nothing but fiction. There's a good new article over at Breakaway about why this is just another attempt to paint Jesus as someone He totally wasn't.

Battle for Middle Earth II

2006-03-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

The demo was...awesome. I never bought the first one and was really bumbed to hear no demo was coming, but now I'm getting a taste of the finest strategy game I've ever played. The interface is so intuitive, simple, and clean. The action is great, the detail, Howard Shore's music is just so wonderful...and it's a Rings game :-D. It's time to get back to growing my Goblin horde.

And congrats to Cyan for their Myst V awards from Game Industry!

Kor Site Live!

2006-02-15T17:39:00.000-05:00

Ryan Dobson's new Kor Ministries site has launched and it looks great! Can't wait to see more of what's coming.

Praying for You

2006-01-21T19:49:00.000-05:00

Having not visited desiringGod.org in a while, I just now noticed that John Piper has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Good to hear it doesn't sound too serious. My friends and I will be praying for you, pastor.

Camper Redesign

2006-01-15T16:17:00.000-05:00

Just noticed that a totally revamped version of JeremyCamp.com is up and it's just totally great. Colors, graphics, animation...everything very tasteful and, in my opinion, even better than the last great version. And you have to love hearing a cut from "Open Up Your Eyes", his song for the "Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia" CD when you launch the site. Good stuff.

Woah

2006-01-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

Holy. Cow.

Update: Well yesterday sure was the day to invest in Apple stock...

Narnia Update

2005-12-30T17:16:00.001-05:00

I heard somebody say a few days after the release they thought they were "the last person on the net to see it." Wrong. I must be. I hope to go in a day or two, and I'm getting really pumped. I read the book like four or five years ago, but I just finished reading the book again last night (the paperback tie-in edition. Christmas present!). The book was great, but I can't wait for the movie!

Check out the music video of Stephen Curtis Chapman's special single, "Remembering You". Click here, then click on Music. Great stuff.

In Review: It was great! The acting, directing, battle scenes, music, all very well done.

The choice of actors for Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, the White Witch (and her little dwarf—perfect! If you've seen the Behind the Scenes of the Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition you'll know him well...) were all very well picked and the acting exceeded my expectations. And, in my opinion, Liam Neeson was a perfect pick for Aslan, despite some people's complaint that he sounded too gentle since he's "not a tame lion." My only acting-related complaint was the more modern-day sound of the dialogue as compared to the more old-english sound in the book (not that I would've chosen them to follow it too closely, however), which I found occasionally to be distracting from the movie's immersiveness.

No, the CG elements were not quite as visually refined as LoTR but I thought it was still good. Some CG elements were very realistic and highly detailed (Aslan was incredible) while others were a bit less real up close (example: the stupid fox that was never in the book). I thought the battle scenes were great and well directed—not as jerky with the camera as LoTR, so you could see what was going on (a bit less intense and less violent than LoTR too, better for younger kids).

The music was beautiful and set the mood for different scenes very well. Harry Gregson-Williams is a very talented composer and was a great pick.

Conclusion: It stuck pretty close to the story without too many additions or dramatic changes, was impressive, and I believe a true enough depiction of Narnia. 4.5/5 stars.

Oops

2005-12-17T20:49:00.000-05:00

I was wondering why comments seemed lacking as of late, not that I'm that popular, but reading a minute ago and out of the blue remembered I had turned on comment moderation and later forgot all about it. I don't really have the time or need to moderate right now, so off it goes. Sorry 'bout that :-|.

The Purpose

2005-12-13T18:06:00.000-05:00

So Stanely Williams was excecuted in California this morning. This guy was a post-gang member, co-founder of the Cripts gang, who had murdered several people. And I see people outside protesting and crying for him, calling this a "state-sponsored murder." One guy said capital punishment was nothing but "politics, politics, politics."

Where's the logic? Yeah, the guy says he "redeemed himself" over his 20 years in jail and wrote children's books about not getting messed up in gangs. But did that bring the people he murdered back to life? No. But even without his seeming change, we still would've had people out there supporting him. Why? Some people seem to to think that excecutions are wrong because it's wrong to kill for any reason. They don't seem to get that showing that murderers will pay consequences would seriously stem the violence in this country.

Just Say It

2005-12-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

Here we go again. Is it just me, or are more people making a stink about using the word "Christmas" every year? Lots of stores are chucking the term and replacing it with a nice generic "Happy Holidays" in an effort to not offend non-Christians who declare the use of the word Christmas to be discriminating against them. Hello?

This is sounding eerily like Jerry Jenkin's Underground Zealot Series. We're moving quickly toward a nation that wants to get rid of every mention and reminder of God from public life, or at least the Christian God. Seems all the people who go around talking about tolerance are being intolerant of us. I'm sorry, but Christians are not about hate and discrimination—quite the opposite. Even still, eventually Christians will be labeled as hate-mongers simply because what we believe offends other people. To see people getting so antsy over the use of a word shows how close we really are to losing our freedom of religion.

Just say Merry Christmas.

Big Roar

2005-12-02T17:29:00.000-05:00

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is coming in exactly one week. It's gonna be good. Don't miss it.

NFS Most Wanted Demo

2005-11-15T17:40:00.000-05:00

Hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving. But instead of suppressing your anxious fears of bird flu, I must post an overdue mention of the Need for Speed: Most Wanted demo (guess this should be of the full game by this time, but I'm saving my dough for necessities).

My initial impression was just "whoa." It's one of the first for a long time to really exceed my expectations. The graphics are stunning and run with no slowdown, even on my slightly dated system. The blur effects really made me feel like, for the first, time I was going insanely fast. It gets my adrenaline going like few things do. I was even more surprised when I spent some time driving around and realized just how huge the map was—sprawling mainstreets, sidestreets, giant stretches of interstate, country roads, and great little side areas like the golf course. Adios to the small, repeating tracks of yesteryear. But your blood won't really get going until you try the roadblock-smashing pursuit challenge. Having nine cops on my tail, then seeing my Viper slamming into a couple cops at 170mph, in slo-mo, and watching them go airborne, wow (but hey, I'm all for cops in real life, right Bobby?). Yes, it's bit more aggressive than the past titles, hence the Teen rating. But it's all good, so long as a little session doesn't make you want to do something crazy when you go out to work the next morning. Maybe go rest with a nice Solitudes CD in between those long races.

NFS MW Demo.

Live Unplugged

2005-11-10T22:12:00.000-05:00

Check out the new Jeremy Camp CD—Live Unplugged. Sounds like some great acoustic versions of some really, really awesome songs. Keep praising the Lord, Jeremy.

Beware Same Fisher

2005-11-09T17:10:00.000-05:00

Oh yes. Oh yes. Beware Sam Fisher. Sam gone bad? Oooh. Ev-il...hope some more info is coming, Ubi...

Oh yeah, there's an interview with Rand Miller at Macworld.

Power's Back

2005-10-19T17:13:00.000-04:00

I spoke too soon. The new PowerBooks don't add any speed (as expected), but they did add several things in the 15 and 17-inch models I bad wanted. Brighter, higher-res screens (1440x960 in my 15-in.!), 128mb graphics, longer battery life (great for college), and standard dual-layer superdrives (great for backing up)! Just throw in an good Intel processor next year, and I'm really happy. Did I mention the dual and quad processor PowerMacs? Thank you Apple, for putting the power back into your Power line.

Most Wanted/DD Redesigns

2005-10-17T17:22:00.000-04:00

Not sure when the switch happened, but EA launched a new, much fancier flash-based site for NFS: Most Wanted. Big improvement. In their survey not too long ago I naturally said no when asked if I considered the site "innovative." Not sure that's exactly the word for it, but it's closer to that now. Graphics are fancy, very hip-hop style in muted browns/black/orange. It's good.

The Different District has been promising an upgrade to "version 3" for some time, but just recently switched to the new design. Hard edges have been replaced by nice rounded ones, and it looks appropriately Mac-ish. Unfortunately it looks like it's suffering from a few bugs and isn't displaying page content for me at the moment, but overall visually it's an improvement based on the same subtle color scheme.

Shocker

2005-10-13T18:21:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I didn't think a video iPod was coming. Way wrong. Of course, my future iPod will not be bought for video—it'll be for music. But still, it's a nice touch and definately doesn't hurt. Nor does the fact that Apple stock jumped over $4 today. The new iMac G5 and Front Row is impressive...obviously a good thing—I just wish it had been an improvement to the laptop line (New widescreen Intel iBooks coming? Please? Pretty please?). The disappearance of the eMac from the Apple Store is no disappointment. I really like the new Education site layout. There, again, is my little 2¢ worth.

Comet

2005-09-30T17:14:00.000-04:00

Cool new things coming from San Francisco. Project Comet. Aggregation of content, multiple streams, increased privacy. The publishing power of TypePad, the community aspect of Livejournal, plus more advanced, easy-to-use features. Brilliant.

They're Back! They're Back!

2005-09-24T08:33:00.000-04:00

It's not much, but GreyDragon has given us enough info to know that Cyan is back! Never thought it would happen. I bet it does feel good to be back in the cool building. Hope you guys get to stay there, for a very long time!

Watch the Water Flow

2005-09-23T11:35:00.000-04:00

Breached again. Okay, who would agree with me that the local government of New Orleans is totally corrupt and should be booted out for not using the money given them to work on their crappy levee's?

You Goat to See This

2005-09-22T18:07:00.000-04:00

Eric and Manny are two very, very talented guys who used to work at Cyan Worlds but are now unfortunately unemployed. Back in January, they started PandaXpress, a hillarious, extremely well done web comic filled with all the wacky randomness you can handle (does a little girl on a search for her dad with a cyborg-panda, an eccentric british agent, a roller-skating-ninja-bashing disco guy, and an evil goat who drives a taxi and lives at the bottom of the sea sound like enough for you :-) ?). I read some of it awhile back, then recently returned and read the whole thing in one day. Good stuff, check it out! (Good luck on your job search, guys!)

PandaXpress.com

Myst V Shipping!

2005-09-21T17:31:00.000-04:00

Official Press Release. We have waited long for this day. Well, congrats to the rest of you...it'll be a long, agonizing wait till Christmas for me ;-).

Brown Steps Down

2005-09-12T15:49:00.000-04:00

The news is in. FEMA director Michael Brown is resigning his position. This is obviously the result of media's incessant bashing of both President Bush and FEMA's response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Rush makes a good point—Brown has to step down for this yet Kofi Annan gets to stick around? Give me a break. Why don't people see that it's the local leadership are the one's we should be blaming here. They knew a catagory four storm was on the way and they had tons of city buses sitting around to get people out, yet they told people that transportation would be self-provided. They had food after the storm, but didn't hand it out because they were afraid that non-victims would get it. Yet they blaim the White House, and accuse Bush of being a black-hater! The liberal media is going absolutely crazy once again. And right now, they're rejoicing.

iPod Nano, iTunes 5, Mobile

2005-09-07T18:15:00.000-04:00

Huge music day for Apple. I heard about the iTunes phone on the radio and the stir it was making with Apple stock, but it sounds like small bananas compared to gorgeously redesigned iTunes 5 and draw-dropping iPod Nano (think color iPod, in a package the size of a credit card), the proper replacement of the iPod mini. If Apple can implement more of this design genuis in future Intel notebooks, I'm gonna be one happy switcher.

Goodbye, Cyan

2005-09-02T21:36:00.000-04:00

I vividly remember when a friend of mine brought over the very first edition of Myst, years ago when I was really young. We had fun playing it together, and I always got a thrill every time I heard that "toy-like" Cyan introduction. Then I got my own copy for a gift. Then Riven, and subsequent titles. I got the Book of Atrus free in my first Myst, Myst Masterpiece Edition. The incredible depth and beauty of Myst's visuals and epic story just absolutely blew me away. I got the Book of D'ni out of our public library and just became even more enthralled with Rand Miller's storytelling ability and Cyan's creative genuis. I remember following Cyan's secretive journey of "Mudpie" and how it developed into what we now know as Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. I shared in Cyan's sorrow when Uru Live was unsuccessful. I rejoiced when I heard they would be finishing the series with Myst V: End of Ages, yet worried about what might become of them at the end.

And now, Cyan Worlds, Inc. is closing their doors. I remember how devastated I was when Presto Studios closed their doors, not long after the release of Myst III: Exile. After exploring their creative works and seeing the hours they put into it in behind-the-scenes videos, reading their journals on the old Myst III website and corresponding with Susan Weyer in the legal department, I felt a profound attatchment to the team. When I heard they had all been laid off and had gone their seperate ways, it felt like the close of a chapter.

This feels somewhat akin to the close of an epic. Having watched, read, listened to, corresponded with, and written about so many members of the Cyan team, it's heartbreaking to see the end of the greatest adventure game company in history, the creators of the first truly successful PC-CD entertainment. To Rand and Ryan Miller, Josh Staub, Tim Larkin, Richard Watson, and so many others, I'm sad with you and thank you so much for the amazing adventures you've created. They are like none other. You're some of the most talented, imaginative people out there and I wish you all the best as you go your seperate ways. I'll never forget you guys.

"...perhaps the ending has not yet been written..."

Note that there is a very slim, but possible chance that if we can buy enough Myst stuff Cyan will have enough cash to hire some people back. Everybody go buy the Myst V: EoA Limited Edition this September!

Katrina

2005-09-01T18:05:00.000-04:00

The devastation from Hurricane Katrina is absolutely heart-wrenching. To see so many thousands now homeless, stranded without food or water is just beyond words. It's time we all pitched in to help. Donate to the Red Cross. To all the victims of the disaster, we're praying for you.

MystVGame.com

2005-08-31T17:36:00.000-04:00

While I'm glad to see a bit more content to MystVGame.com, I notice a few problems right off. First off, the biggest problem is the "sneak peak" about the Limited Edition. Though on the US site, we seem to have again tied things up (making me wonder why on earth, for the sake of simplicity and reduced jealousies, Ubisoft didn't make one LE in the first place). The US box is shown, the UK contents are listed, and the link leads to the Ubisoft UK store. The "download demo" link in the top bar leads to the Ubisoft Myst V Forums. The other thing that really bugged me was the use of the Ubisoft trailer clips in the intro and the use of "Ubi" Escher in graphics instead of Cyan's in-game version. Text in places is broken and repeats, and some of the screen shots either repeat others or don't seem to even belong in the gallery (some of Steven Martiniere's concept art, for example).

The other strange thing is the use of the Myst III music on the main page for Noloben. I doubt they're reusing the music in-game, but seeing the scenery and hearing Jack Wall's masterful clip makes me wish he had done the music, or at least did it together with Tim Larkin. (Edit: Ok, maybe not completely. Tim Larkin has released four cool new Myst V sample mp3's on his website. Not as polished or haunting as Jack's stuff, but impressive).

The site isn't quite as intuitively laid out as the Myst IV site, but it's mostly acceptable and it's an improvement over the mini-site. Hopefully some of these problems will be fixed soon.

Every10minutes.com

2005-08-30T12:02:00.000-04:00

Every10minutes.com . A free Xbox 360 given away every 10 minutes, a promo with Pepsi/Mountain Dew. Wow. Ok, that's just bad. And I gotta get me one of those hoodies...

ALA Revamped

2005-08-26T20:51:00.000-04:00

A List Apart is back with a totally new and very cool, elegant new look. They've got some cool new special ALA t-shirts too, check it out.

Myst V Demo for Mac

2005-08-18T14:55:00.000-04:00

Ok, I know the Mac folks felt dissed when Myst V standard was announced to be PC-only after being told it was hybrid. But now the demo is out for Mac only, and since I'm sadly lacking for a PowerBook, I'm feeling a bit dissed. Hurry it up, Ubisoft.

Gaza Pullout

2005-08-17T16:49:00.000-04:00

Bush, Ariel Sharon, or just about anybody who agreed with the idea of the Jews being forced out of Gaza is just totally, completely insane. The Jews have a right to the land, and have had the right to it for thousands of years. Seeing these people dragged from their homes like animals, screaming and crying, only to let hate-filled Palestinians move in is heart wrenching and utterly discouraging. The Palestinian's have made it all too clear many, many times: they do not just want the land. They will never be satisfied with land. They want the Jews. Dead Jews, as many as they can get. I can't believe Bush can't see this, even when Arafat, the "father" of the Palestinian people, was a radical terrorist and vowed to destroy Israel, stirring his people up to radical acts of violence. Although this may lead to future fulfillment of Bible prophecy, the Gaza pullout is tragic and will solve nothing, mark my words. I stand with the Jews.

Haircut

2005-08-13T13:42:00.000-04:00

Ah, the good ol' days...

Clippers, Rand :-).

Three Myst V Images

2005-08-12T21:22:00.000-04:00

MystObsession just posted three new images: Two of the End of Ages Limited US box art, and one beautiful painting by another of my art idols, Stephen Martiniere. Great work, as usual (how does he do that? Do you give art lessons, Stephen? ;-)) The finished Limited US box design has actually made me happy, and with what's inside, I'll say I'll be helping out the new Best Buy being built down the road...

Switchin' Time

2005-08-09T18:04:00.000-04:00

Apple has finally updated their long-neglected Switch site. Now much more colorful with beautiful shades of green and blue, plus tons of new graphics showing off Mac hardware, the site is totally redesigned with a new layout, and some new stories from real switchers. Spacing and fonts are tastefully chosen, as usual. Check it out. Maybe this means some new tv ads are on the way.

Welcome Home

2005-08-09T09:44:00.000-04:00

Congrats to the Discovery crew on their successful mission and safe return!

One other off-topic thing that badly needed mentioning is Unfit, a hilarious new comic by Mike Belkin. So smile and get benching.

Book of Marrim

2005-08-05T10:41:00.000-04:00

MystObsession reports that a sample of Myst: The Book of Marrim will be shipping with the Euro Collector's Edition of Myst V! I'm thoroughly satisfied with the features in the Myst V US Collector's box, but I'll be eagerly awaiting some word from Spokane about Rand's secret little project.

Geek Joy

2005-08-02T16:58:00.000-04:00

Two techie items here. Apple has released a long-awaited, multi-button mouse (not sure how great touch-sensitive buttons would be for gaming, though). I'll have to wait for more feedback before I'll get one of those.

Secondly, I just noticed Heidi's new article at Webmonkey about TextWrangler, BareBones Software's free, cool text/code editor for Mac. After my future switch, you can bet I'll be downloading that little app shortly after popping the lid.

Myst V Preorder

2005-07-28T17:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, MystVGame.com added preorder links for Myst V in both the standard and special editions. Myst V standard will come for $49 and the special edition is a whopping 59 smackers. Forty-nine is bad enough, and usually I wouldn't want to pay any more than that for a game. However, I think the boring white cover of the standard edition is atrocious, so the collector's edition gets a few extra brownie points in my book for the cool black and red, giving the box a slightly ominious feel, appropriate for a game titled "End of Ages." The collector's edition includes:

A 22-minute video, made by GameTap, offers a retrospective look at the making of the entire franchise.

The original game soundtrack transports fans to the ambient worlds of Myst whenever and wherever they like. (A near must-have...)

A collector's art piece provides a frame-able keepsake from the worlds of Myst. (woo-hoo!)

The official strategy guide helps new and old explorers progress through this final adventure.

Sixty bucks *choke*? I think I'll swing it, unless I get it for my birthday. I mean, hey, this is the last one *sniff*.

Path of Neo Trailer

2005-07-24T14:18:00.000-04:00

Woah...check it out. Can you saw totally awesome, J? Okay, I'm on my knees here, Shiny: Dem-o.

GTA Rating Change

2005-07-20T18:33:00.000-04:00

It's official, Grand Theft Auto is now AO. Hey, that's fine with me. If people are gonna load up their games with trash like that, nobody needs to be playing it—let alone kids. Parents, don't let your kids play this crap.

Kudosoft

2005-07-18T18:13:00.000-04:00

It's nothing earth-shattering, but Ubisoft has created their own mini-brand, called Kudosoft, which is devoted to providing older Ubisoft titles at budget-friendly prices. The best (but also in my opinion, a bit sad) news is that Uru: Complete Chronicles will soon be available for only $10! That is one awesome bang for your buck. Ditto for other games like Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon. Cool.

Myst V Demo In the Works

2005-07-13T13:41:00.000-04:00

Hallelujah, it's true! Yep, that made my day, too. Bring it on, Cyan...

Update: Mysterium.ch has posted that the demo should be ready by the end of July, and it'll weigh in at 400mb! Mysterium.ch has also posted an interview with Cyan's art director, Josh Staub, a short but breathtaking clip about Myst V's 3D enviroment, and seven new screens!

Longhorn Preview

2005-07-10T15:56:00.000-04:00

Some Longhorn screenshots have been leaked. Of course, I'm being critical and I know this isn't even in beta yet, but if this is an indication of Microsoft's next offering, I think they'll be losing some marketshare. Mac OS X is way better looking and much more intuitively laid out than Longhorn. Some of the graphics looked a bit more refined, but other aspects are definately a step down from Windows XP (see-through menus, anyone?). If Apple can regain their footing after the Intel switch, I think lots more people may look toward the Mac.

The DesignWorks Group

2005-07-09T17:35:00.000-04:00

Looking for some inspiration? Check out the DesignWorks Group. I found this site when I was flipping through Mocha With Max and was really impressed by the quality of the book design. I found out they do a lot of the designs for Christian fiction and non-fiction, including the Purpose-Driven Life. But check out their facilities. You don't find a place like that to work every day.

Left Behind: Eternal Forces

2005-07-03T14:11:00.000-04:00

Gamespot has announced it. I never really thought it would happen, it sounded so cheesy. Don't get me wrong, I love the books. But a game? Weirdest thing is it's no.3 on the main games list today and no.2 for PC. No screenshots yet, even. We'll see.

Breakaway Redesign

2005-07-02T11:08:00.000-04:00

A note appeared on Breakaway's site awhile back about an upcoming redesign. It bad needed some graphical enhancements, but it continued to sit quietly and unchanged. Now it's finally here! I have to say, I'm disappointed that it isn't built with web standards, but the new design is just totally phat. Graphics and Flash is very done. Site organization is now much more intelligent and navigation has been drastically improved. A few tiny things might need tweaked, but I'm stoked, ok?

Surprise

2005-07-01T20:10:00.000-04:00

Just got back from vacation, and I boot up to find iTunes 1.9 waiting for download and the iPod Photo now a standard iPod. I download iTunes, hop over to the Podcast directory, and Ryan Dobson's Undone podcast ready and waiting! Awesome stuff. Not only that, Flickr has become much less necessary for me because of Blogger's image upload support. You guys are da bomb. So this is what happens when you're gone for a week.

Future of Evolution

2005-06-22T17:25:00.000-04:00

This is so crazy, it's laughable. And it's on the front page of MSNBC! Sounds like a few geeks have spent way too much time watching Star Trek. Theories about future evolution, just like theories of past evolution, are nothing but fairy tales with no proof. Man, to think people get paid for sitting around and dreaming up this stuff. I've said it before and I'll say it again: anyone with any intelligence whatsoever must recognize that the incredible complexity of our universe requires an intelligent designer.

We're Schizophrenic Now

2005-06-19T14:36:00.000-04:00

Say hello to my other self. Note his cool retro Blogger T.

On another (slightly late) note, Josh Staub's short film The Mantis Parable won Best Animation at the Winnipeg film festival and got 4th runner up for best short at the Seattle international film festival! Congrats, Josh!

Midst Flying Lead

2005-06-17T14:29:00.000-04:00

Things have been quiet here as of late. Part of the reason is the Battlefield 2 demo that came out about a week ago. At 546 MB, it took me awhile to download on a high-speed connection. I installed the Nvidia graphics drivers that came with the demo and skipped on GameSpy arcade (for now). I gave the graphics settings a few tweaks, then gave it a run, only to get about 4 frames a second. Even on high settings, I thought some of the graphical quality was pretty poor compared to the early trailers that had a nearly pre-rendered appearance. After a few more sessions of setting-tweaking, I finally figured it was better to play with everything on low just so I could get a decent framerate than try to get Myst-quality graphics in a FPS. I had figured my system (2GHz 64-bit AMD, 1GB memory, 128 MB Nvidia FX5200 XT) was tough enough for some higher settings, but things have changed and we're back to the "empty your wallet for a new PC" problem. Gamespot has a Hardware Performance Guide up for BF2 that might be worth taking a look at.

Once I got started playing, it seemed just like a modern version of Battlefield 1942. But my initial disillusionment was overwon by the improved physics, cool new gear, and especially the ability to branch up into squads and give your teammates orders. It made the whole experience more personal and interesting. Medics can now also revive teammates in much the same way you've seen in Star Wars: Republic Commando. So if you get shot in the back and you're wounded with 14 seconds left till your next spawn, but you have a medic right behind you, he can put you back into the fight in 2 or 3 seconds. The whole thing was pretty addictive, so I'm guessing online play is a blast, too. It's definately worth grabbing if you're on a high-speed connection and have a system that can handle it.

Episode III

2005-06-04T16:10:00.000-04:00

Finally got around to seeing Star Wars: Episode III last Friday with a group from my church. Actually, we started off at 10am and watched Episode I, then got about 3/4 through Episode II before racing like nuts to the theater. So here's my 2¢ (there's some spoilers, for those that haven't seen it yet).

From the very start, it was awesome. Way, way more action than the other five. For the first time, I really felt like I was in the middle of a galactic war. Tons of explosions, fighters flipping all over the place, and several lengthy lightsaber battles (big plus). As for the quality of the movie itself, I would say it was the best one of the six. As for content, it was probably no.2 or 3. My buddy Joe told me how it was much darker than the others, like all the other reviews I'd read/heard. I thought, "Oh sure, of course it's darker. I mean, if you've seen the others, you know what's going to happen." But despite George Lucas's falling-shorts (you know what I mean) when it comes to scriptwriting, there's actually been enough character development with the past two movies that I felt really sick seeing Anakin go...you know, evil. When everything goes squirrley and jedi start getting cut down, then you see the scenes with Mace Windu and Anankin's visit to the Jedi temple...it's just sad. By the end, after seeing the empire taking over, Anakin turning on Padme and finally getting...er...a bit chopped and fried, it was definately the most depressing of the series. I didn't have the endurance to watch Episodes IV-VI (actually, the rest of the group broke up after no.5), but it would've been nice to not end on such a dark note. But even still, it was an awesome, very intense and pretty emotional movie. It was definately worth a few bucks to see on the big screen.

Battlefield 2 Goes Gold!

2005-06-02T16:37:00.000-04:00

It's official. So where's the demo??

2005-05-27T15:30:00.000-04:00

Thinking back on my May 6th post, I couldn't help but link to this thread at MacForums. Honestly, looking back at E3, PCs just don't look so hot for gaming (besides stuff like World of Warcraft, Battlefield 2, and strategy stuff like Age of Empires III) when you have an Xbox 360 or PS3 with those processors and ridiculous amounts of graphical power. For your multimedia/web needs? Go Mac, young man.

Kha'tie's E3 Picts

2005-05-26T19:03:00.000-04:00

Kha'tie posted some picts from E3 over at Myst Blogs. Great shots, awesome to see Rand, Jack, and others. Gotta love that one of Elijah Wood and Rhoulette...funny (matchmaker, Kha'tie?).

One More Step

2005-05-24T21:19:00.000-04:00

I'm hearing more and more Christians saying they believe that the rapture is closer than ever before. Really, it is amazing how world events are falling into place with Bible prophecy. Last night I was watching Hal Lindsey's International Intelligence Briefing, hearing about his take on the new pope (btw, if you haven't watched or heard some of what this guy has to say, check out his audio archives online). Israel is now a nation, and it seems a state of constant war is almost inevitable between the Jews and the Palestinians. World events are growing more and more chaotic. Nuclear threats, terrorism, steadily increasing amounts of natural disasters (which was also prophesied in the Bible), etc. Doesn't it make you just wish somebody would step onto the scene and clean everything up and unify everything? That's what a lot of people want. The scene is being set up for the rise of the Antichrist, who'll seem like the greatest savior ever but end up being the greatest evil mankind has ever seen.

Revelation 13:16-18 says, "He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast and the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666." Think this is just a weird fairy tale made up thousands of years ago? It's coming. Bush has already signed into law a system requiring all citizens to get a national ID card. Eventually, it's going to go from card to the Antichrist's chip. Keep one eye on the news and the other on the Bible.

The Intel Switch?

2005-05-24T14:29:00.000-04:00

Reuters has resurfaced the old "Apple switching to Intel processors" rumor. Since this has been talked about a lot before and never materialized, it remains unlikely but I think has a bit more chance at this point than in the past. The article sparked a truckload of posts over at MacRumors--mostly negative. True, a switch would mean Apple and other developers of Mac-only software would have to rewrite everything to make their software compatible with Intel processors. But if they switched, it could open up a wealth of other software and games, making people much more likely to switch. Also factor in probable price drops in Apple's hardware, and a speed boost improving performance across the board...I can see Apple being tempted by this. I would feel sorry for IBM of course, but if nothing else, maybe these talks will make them get on the gun with their processor development.

Podcasting

2005-05-23T16:27:00.000-04:00

First they added video support to iTunes, and soon they're gonna add support for podcasts so you can subscribe directly to your favorite shows and have em come right to iTunes. Sweet. The other day I realized I had missed the last two Undone podcasts because Ryan Dobson didn't post the links on his main page. Live iTunes feeds will save me from that, as well as having to download an mp3 and add it to my library every week. Who doesn't love Apple for this stuff?

Myst V Preview Goodies

2005-05-22T16:11:00.000-04:00

Ubisoft showed a demo of Myst V (along with lots of other stuff) at E3 this week. They blogged about it too, and got to interview Rand Miller and get some more of his thoughts on Myst V and what's coming next. A new Myst V teaser site is up, created by the same team that did the award-winning Myst IV: Revelation site. But my favorite of the goodies (caution: major spoilers, here) are the three new videos captured ingame. The smoothness of it and the incredible quality of the graphics (and especially the motion-captured animation for Esher and Yeesha) just knocked my socks off. My hopes have gone from medium to high. Now I'm just left to wonder when Cyan will get busy and update their own site after all this is going on.

PS3 - It's Coming

2005-05-16T20:36:00.000-04:00

Just like 30 seconds ago, Gamespot posted the very first sneak peak of the Playstation 3 (slideshow). Sweetness, baby! The looks of that thing put the 360 to shame! Though it says the design is subject to change, it's kinda cool they're using the Spiderman font, though it might look a bit more consistent if they did a "PS3" symbol similar to PS2, but either way it's awesome. Go Sony.

Update: The specs are out. Looky J, the controlers (up to 7) are bluetooth! And it's using Blue-Ray DVDs! Think of the Final Fantasty you could fit on one of those whoppers.

Outrage and Violence

2005-05-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

Good 'ol Newsweek. Last week, they reported that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay flushed a copy of the Quran down a toilet to get their captives talking. Although I wouldn't consider this a form of "brutal" torture as Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said, if someone flushed a Bible down a toilet in front of me, yes, I would be more than appalled. So I can understand the outrage of the Muslim world upon hearing of this report. Because of Newsweek, Americans are now looked at even more as cruel and evil, desecrators of the Muslim's holy book. Thanks a lot, guys. Whose side are you actually on? Seems to me you jumped at a story that made the U.S. military look bad, and now you're paying for it. Just one more incident in the history of an anti-American media.

Chillin'

2005-05-14T20:09:00.000-04:00

Got Frosty? I got mine. Show your support and grab a burger or chili or something to go with it (no worries, my friends).

Myst V Preview Trailer

2005-05-14T10:43:00.000-04:00

My jaw nearly hit the desk when I saw the post about the Myst V trailer on Mystworlds last night. I immediately downloaded it. Although I've seen much worse, some of the pre-rendered animations looked dated and fake, movement was jerky, and some of the other shots looked more like something from Final fantasy X or World of Warcraft. Needless to say, that's not the Myst I'm hoping for (and please change the EAO logo font...please!). Fortunately, we've got some extra info from RAWA about the trailer that will probably alleviate your fears. I wish Ubi marketing had simply let Cyan do the trailer themselves—it would've been so much better that way. But for now, I'm pretty much ignoring what I've seen in the trailer and waiting for something better from Cyan. Although I consider Ubi's Myst IV trailer to be the most impressive at first glance, I think one of the coolest game trailers I've seen is Cyan's final trailer for realMYST...it just gives me chills. I can't wait to see what they've got coming...

Xbox 360

2005-05-13T15:22:00.000-04:00

Unless you've got your head in the sand, you should've heard about the Xbox 360 announcement. There's a detail-lacking site up at Xbox360.com with some picts up...I guess seeing those, it doesn't look quite as bad as I first thought, though it's definately not "inspired enough to be compared to the iPod" as Gamespot's Greg Kasavin said. If only they had left the logo and not rounded the "X" symbol. Gamespot has a great in-depth review up, so check it out. Looks like the new controller is sporting some improvements, though I'm a bit doubtful about them being wireless. That's all you need, landing yourself in an enemy nest in Halo and getting the crap beat out of you because the infared sensor didn't realize you holding down the fire button till your knuckles grew white. We'll see.

Eventually, it'll come down to what games become available. But the one thing that bugs me most is that, essentially, this is a suped-up Media Center PC. You'll be able to have your photos, videos, music, IM buddy lists, and more on your Xbox, plus use video uplink in Xbox Live (now that could be scary). Great. Come on, it's a game console. Hey, while you're at it, why not build in a mini-microwave before the release, so we can have our popcorn to snack on while we button-mash?

Oh, check out the interview with Elijah Wood, too. Don't worry man, your 52-inch HDTV's all good.

FunnyFox

2005-05-12T18:13:00.000-04:00

Fellow Firefox-devotees...click, if you dare...

Aslan

2005-05-11T15:01:00.000-04:00

I saw Eleri's post about the new Chronicles of Narnia trailer, and I've gotta say, I'm thoroughly impressed and I'll be waiting eagerly for this one. Great to see Weta working on it. Check out the site at Narnia.com.

Oh yeah, and notice I'm now on Flickr. Spread the joy.

The Death of PC Gaming

2005-05-06T12:54:00.000-04:00

Well, ok, maybe not death...but it is dying out to some extent. First Ghost Recon 2 was made for XBOX, Gamecube, and PS2. Now this—no Revenge of the Sith for PC. Now that really stinks. It's just one more step away from PC gaming and one step toward console gaming. I can empathize with PC gamers wanting more control over their game and (sometimes) a little fancier graphics. But I can also see why publishers are falling in love with consoles. They're way cheaper than a whole PC, and since they stay the same (unlike a PC that has unlimited variations), it's easier to develop games for a console. Plus, consolers don't have to go buy a bunch of expensive cards and figure out how to upgrade their PCs just to play the latest and greatest game at a good framerate. Guess I better keep my eye out for the XBOX 360 (lemme hear it—who thinks that's a cheesy name?). I guess I am starting to put PCs (for me, a Mac...someday) into the creative catagory, consoles into the gaming catagory. How do you like the trend?

Update: Ok, so not only is the name atrocious, but it's freakin' ugly, too. Show me a PS3, Sony.

Gamespot feature

2005-04-25T12:06:00.000-04:00

Cool beans. Today Myst V: End of Ages got no.7 on Gamespot's main page, and is the feature on the Gamespot PC page, earning 3rd on the top games list. Awesome. Now let's just chuck it up to no.1 when it comes out ;-).

Undone #4

2005-04-23T17:39:00.000-04:00

If you haven't been listening to Ryan Dobson's Undone podcast, you gotta hear no.4. He interviews his Dad (James Dobson), and they have a great talk about the judicial system in America and how things are really going down the tubes. Right on the money, man. We've got judges going absolutely crazy. We've got Terri Schiavo getting starved, gays getting married, and the ten commandments getting removed...all thanks to some leftist judges who think they can set the rules for everybody. Time we changed something.

Buyout

2005-04-18T16:25:00.000-04:00

Weirdness. Adobe just bought out Macromedia for 3.4 billion! Man, what a move. I can't help but wonder if this is really a good thing or not. Dave Shea has some interesting words about it over at Mezzoblue. Yeah, I'd agree that Adobe is pretty much going to dominate the design world now. Don't get me wrong, I love Adobe, I just thought it was cool to see the two companies competing over various fields. After all, competition is good for the consumer. Who knows, maybe we'll see some awesome stuff from Adobe because of this...

2005-04-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

If there was doubt in my mind that Cyan could not make a killer ending to the Myst series, it's gone now. Myst Obsession has some breathtaking new screenshots in their Myst V Gallery that really show once and for all how incredible the graphics will be (look at those clouds!!). Great texturing, an obvious improvement there over Uru. It's pretty clear now that Myst V will be exclusively first-person (no complaints here) and will make use of the familiar hand cursor from realMyst. Amazing stuff.

Update: These images have also been added to Cyan's Official Myst V Gallery. MystObsession also reported a new very interesting preview article at WorthPlaying (caution, there's a few spoilers). Sounds like we'll be seeing more of Yeesha, and a new character that will be our sidekick (cool!), both of which will be computer-generated, not live actors. The mention of motion tracking for more realistic body movement and facial expressions sounds awesome. Plus, it sounds like we'll be seeing plenty more creatures, too. The article has more info on control choices, system requirements, and more. The more I hear, the better it sounds.

The Big Day

2005-04-12T11:43:00.000-04:00

Wow, things stay quiet for awhile, then boom, everything happens.

Today Apple launched the countdown for Mac OS X Tiger and used the new black "spotlight" theme to make Tiger the focus of the homepage. Tiger includes a beautiful new default desktop background (plus a few extra new ones, from what I hear), plus some killer features and improvements—most notably Spotlight and Dashboard. Go to the new features section and click on any one that interests you and you'll find a link to a cool quicktime video highlighting that particular feature (check out some of those Dashboard widget animations!). Hopefully we'll see some great new hardware just after the release too.

The other big item is the Myst V feature in a recent PC Gamer magazine. MystObsession has a scanned version of a new screenshot up you'll want to check out. It looks amazing. From the article, it sounds like Cyan will be throwing in both point-and-click and free movement 3D modes in Myst V to satisfy everyone. Can't wait.

Post Recover

2005-04-08T15:03:00.000-04:00

I can't help but say a gigantic thank-you to the entire Blogger team for creating the post recover feature. You guys are the bomb.

Ok, I know I've mentioned this before, but have any of you guys noticed how Apple is really trying to get the Switch campaign started up again? Before, it was just one post on the Hot News page after the Mac Mini was released. But that post keeps getting bumped up to the top, and now they've even added the plea for stories to their Students page. But no new stories yet. Are they having a hard time getting switchers to write in, or are they saving up a bunch to unleash at once? Maybe working on some new commercials?

White

2005-04-06T12:41:00.000-04:00

Zeldman has a new post up about his new blog, Apartness, describing what it feels like to be a normal blogger, and why he chose Doug Bowman's Minima template instead of one of his own. I agree, the Minima template probably has been the most successful of Blogger's pre-designed templates. I think it does an affective job of doing what it's supposed to do: focus the reader on your thoughts, your message, without getting in the way. It supports the message instead of distracting from it. That's one reason I chose to start with the Minima template, then edit it slightly more to my liking (more to the style of Six Apart's Plain Jane Movable Type 2 template). I tried to study up on color, and realized how much color communicates ideas and emotion. White is basic, and symbolizes purity. Every time I tried a different color, it didn't seem like it fit, so white stuck. I opted for a more nature-themed green for links and headings instead of blue, creating a balance between technology and nature. As for fonts, though I think Doug's choice of Georgia is striking, I felt that 11 point Verdana more suited the personality and look I wanted to communicate—easy to read, slightly more technical and modern. Every time I try to add graphics, I find them intrusive and unnecessary (for now, anyway). Minmal design is great for blogs. You're the man, Doug. So what do you think? Is minimal design too simplistic and unprofessional, or appropriate and drawing?

Powerbook G5

2005-04-04T18:16:00.000-04:00

There's been a lot of rumors about an Apple Powerbook G5 showing up for some time now. I've read more posts of people complaining about the modest speed boosts (but no G5 chip) that show up in each Powerbook upgrade than I care to mention (despite the fact of some cool new technology like the disk-locking protection technology, better backlit keyboard, etc.). They want a G5. This is something I've studied up on a little because I'm thinking of buying a either a 12 or 15-inch on the next upgrade, probably in the fall. So will it be a G4 or G5 notebook by that time? Do people really need it? I agree with this guy (despite his grammatical errors, you get the point). I can sacrifice some speed. Give it to me as light and cool as possible.

Robyn Miller

2005-04-02T18:32:00.000-05:00

Robyn Miller aquired a good many fans of his own due to his haunting new-age style music from Myst and Riven...but after leaving Cyan after Riven was completed, fans (including me) wondered where on earth he went and what he was up to. Now he's finally resurfacing a bit...he's got a site up at Tinselman.com and Ambo, where he's got some tracks from an up and coming CD online. Check it out...he's got an amazing lot of stuff to buy too.

2005-04-02T13:02:00.000-05:00

Finally got the full image from Cyanworlds.com's Myst V tab. Cool. Nice looking stuff there...

Undone

2005-03-28T21:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, thus it begins—Ryan Dobson's first Undone webcast is up. Cool. Good luck man (hope to see that 2Live4 art soon, too). Yeah, and I'm glad the mustache is gone ;-).

Update: Just got around to listening to it. Interesting stuff—Terri Schiavo (I'm with Ryan, there. Her husband's a dirtbag.), the Passion of the Christ edit, and Ryan's caffeine withdraw (who knew you could love Diet Coke that much?!). Cool interview with rising artist Todd Cooper. He plays bass in two bands: As for Hank Floyd, the mention of "country" freaked me but "Going home" was great (if Ryan posts the song mp3s later grab that one), and as for My Red Hot Nightmare, "Insider" was way too punk-rock for me. I was grateful for the ability to click and skip around in iTunes 'bout then...punk is so annoying. But overall, great opening show. Keep em coming, bro.

PodShirt

2005-03-26T15:06:00.000-05:00

The maker of PodBrix now has a special PodShirt available to show off your iPod Shuffle (and a cooler green PodBrix version). Uh, nice idea, but if I put $99+ into a flash player, I wouldn't want to risk having it ripped off my shirt and have those buds yanked out of my ears, lol...youch.

btw, Deg, what'd you think of your Mom's shuffle? I stopped in CompUSA last Sunday and stopped to look at the flash players. I'd pick the shuffle over the others any day.

To Infinity and Beyond

2005-03-23T17:29:00.000-05:00

Wow, they're upping my space again? 250mb is a hefty amount of storage, and is probably more than enough for your average user. Now it's going to be up to 1gb! Uh...cool. Every year storage space is becoming less and less of a problem. It's nice to have all that email space, but I'm even more thankful for the unlimited space on Blogger...dunno how they do it. Big hugs for everyone at Google. And how 'bout the news about Flickr? Congrats, guys!

Bird and Baby

2005-03-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

Okay, so we got a little minima css going here...which probably won't last long, I was just wanting something clean, fresh, and standards-compliant. I've been spending some time over at Dave Shea's CSS Zen Garden studying some of the designs...amazing. Some of the designs are messy, hard to read, and hard on the eyes, but others are incredible with typography, layout, color, lighting (how do they code this stuff?) Some really incredible Photoshop affects there, too...

To the point: Ryan Miller's old blog has now been officially closed because the Bird and Baby is officially open (it's under the links section now, because it's not just a blog anymore). It's amazing how much Ryan's been doing over there. The site's divided up into sections now (religion, daily blog, music reviews, suggested reading, a forum, etc). How he has time to do all of this on top of all the work he has to do over at Cyan, I have no clue. Some people must not sleep. Another cool thing is that Josh Staub and a few others also contribute to the site. The whole thing is based around the "Bird and Baby" pub where C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and other influential thinkers met to discuss various stuff...now it's mimicked online. Great idea, Ry. Great design, too—minimal, clean, and modern. Head over there and check it out.

Apple Wins

2005-03-12T11:57:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot of talk over the legal disputes between Apple and bloggers who leak Apple's secrets. Okay, so Steve Jobs is obviously extremely concerned about secrecy when it comes to Apple products, but a lawsuit? So now Apple wins. Is it just me or does the occasional leak seem to help them? After awhile of talk of Apple's skyrocketing success, people start getting a little paranoid and start saying the growth is short lived, etc. Then somebody leaks something, and Apple's all over the news again. Well, whatever the good judge says.

There's an interesting article comparing OS X Tiger and Longhorn over at Yahoo, too.

Blogger Buzz

2005-03-11T17:43:00.000-05:00

The Blogger team has a new weblog up—Blogger Buzz. Very cool. I'm glad they started this up. It felt kind of weird having all kinds of weird things come up on my Blogger Dashboard. That seemed like the spot for "official" stuff about technical developments, special articles, etc. But now that there's a seperate blog, maybe they'll feel a bit freer to update more often. Blog on, guys. Very nice header graphic too. Kind of vintage.

New BF 2 Video

2005-03-09T16:28:00.000-05:00

There's a new video out of EA's Battlefield 2. Then watch some of the other videos. Is this thing amazing or what? The graphics look nearly prerendered. As more and more fans of Ghost Recon are giving up on Ubi for the lack of news their giving about GR2 PC, they're looking to BF2, and somebody mentioned on the GR2 forum that there will be a demo for Battlefield 2. That's one I'll be looking for...

The Web - A Good Place to Be

2005-03-07T18:21:00.000-05:00

A new study says that more and more Americans are depending on the web for their news, especially political, like before the last election. Hmm...I wonder why? Perhaps because you can't get real news from Dan Rather any more? When a network talks more about obesity in kids and Martha Stuart coming home from prison than they do about a war that's being fought overseas, you have to turn somewhere to hear some real news.

The Move

2005-03-04T17:24:00.000-05:00

Ooh...nice office.

XBOX 2 and Sakaguchi

2005-02-27T14:42:00.000-05:00

So like I said before, I'm planning to make the switch to a PowerBook G4 by the end of 05, sometime after the release of Mac OS X Tiger (hopefully). I don't hate Microsoft with the vengeance of some Mac users, but I don't like them either. They make stuff too technical, complicated, and often bug-ridden. I especially hate how they use every possible means to tear apart and buy out the competition. That's the business world, I guess. If there's one thing I see really cool about Microsoft, it's the XBOX. But for me, getting a console would be a tough decision—the PS2 looks cool too. Josiah said he would go with the PS2. He's a big fan of the Playstation—mainly because of Square Enix's Final Fantasy series.

But now, it seems Microsoft isn't just happy with Halo 2. They want the RPG market too. They've hired Hironobu Sakaguchi, the head creator of Final Fantasty. This could hurt Sony.

Update: Hmm...the news made the xbox.com homepage feature box...why am I not surprised...

2005-02-23T14:14:00.000-05:00

Today Apple revamped their iPod Mini line (above)--they're now available in 4gb and 6gb models (1,000 and 1,500 songs, respectivally), and now start at $199 instead of the former $249 price. Smart move. With the exception of the silver model, the iPod Mini now comes in some brighter, flashier colors. Can't say I totally like the new look, but they're still way cooler than most music players on the market. The new iPod Shuffle is impressive, but I'd still opt for the control and storage of the iPod Mini.

Plus, they dropped the iPod Photo down to $349 and added a 30gb model (still pricey to me, but if it's what you need, it's cool). Apple's on the ball.

2005-02-22T17:35:00.000-05:00

Cool. Dave Shea's The Zen of CSS Design is finally here! Well, for him, anyway. Hopefully Amazon will have it available for order soon. That's one book I'm gonna really want my paws on.

Switchers

2005-02-15T19:55:00.000-05:00

People may say I'm crazy, but I think it's cool that Apple's starting up the Switch thing again, assuming that their request for new stories from switchers will be posted on Apple's website. I think it'd be smart. Before, it was pretty cool. Now it'd be awesome because of the huge iPod/Mac Mini thing going on that's getting Apple tons of media attention. This should be interesting. I look forward to hearing more from people who've made the switch, since I haven't even done so myself yet—trust me, I'm planning to :-).

Lesson 1

2005-02-12T17:23:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's time for NSA Third Echelon lesson one (check it out--funny). Stream: Hi | Lo

Update: Wow, Lesson 2 already? Oh yeah, and if you're about bored out of your skull, check out the Mega 64 trailer. I can't help but think wonder what people thought as they watched these maniacs running around.

The Professor

2005-02-09T16:23:00.000-05:00

Does anybody know what this nutbag professor is talking about? Whatever it is it ain't good. I say that college should dump him, double time.

Napster vs iTunes

2005-02-06T14:21:00.000-05:00

Here you will find one of many, many articles talking about the new Napster deal. The iPod and iTunes have been great successes for Apple. And iPod or not, anybody can download iTunes, log onto a cool-looking music store, quickly find the stuff you want, and get it for 99¢ a song.

Now Napster says, "For just 15 bucks a month, you can download 10,000 songs from us! You could only get 15 songs for that on Apple! We 'da bomb!" Or something close to that. Get real. I mean, one of the reasons the iPod Mini (1,000 songs, versus the iPod's 10,000) has been that most people don't have a music library with over 1,000 songs. You may have more than that, but nobody downloads 10,000 songs a month. Or if they are, they need a life.

Update: iPod fans...did you play with Legos as a kid? Check this out. Oh, and you might want to read what the Magic 8 ball has to say about all this music madness.