Mini Arcanis

The Future: Video Games

2010-01-22T11:54:00.004-06:00

So at the start of the decade I was on my Gamecube playing Super Mario Sunshine and cleaning up Delfino Plaza. Now I'm searching for treasure in Uncharted. In the course of 10 years we've seen Microsoft enter the gaming field, the Sega Dreamcast live and die, the PS2 rise to be the most bought console ever, and Nintendo revolutionize gaming with motion control with the Wii. We've also seen the Halo, Gears of War, Resistance, Bioshock, and Modern Warfare franchises kick ass and push forward a lot of new gameplay elements. So what could possibly be next?

Speaking of the consoles, I think that where we are right now with the Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation 3, and Xbox 360, there is no need to advance further than where we've gone. Even with the Nintendo DSi and Sony PSP there aren't really too many areas where a huge overhaul is needed. Games for these systems right now have hit their stride. The titles coming out are all getting higher in quality and gameplay feels good. Visually all of the games are stunning because nowadays it has become a standard, especially with HD compatibility. Also there's the whole issue with money. I don't think anyone who has a console right now is looking to buy a new one. It's just too expensive and the money invested into the current system is just too great because games are quite pricey and in the struggling economy there's just not enough money to spend on an entire new system and building up another library of games.

As far as games go, I think that there is going to be 2 big movements. One is a greater emphasis on motion control gaming. Motion controls in the Wii have proven that it's more than just a gimmick. The library that they have been able to amass is astounding and the amount of reception it has received from the public is equally as impressive. With Project Natal for Xbox 360 and Sony's motion control system with the Playstation Eye show that that they are about to enter the fray as well, and it's not unwise. The Wii's success has largely been due to families and casual gamers, whereas the 360 and the PS3 have targeted the core gaming market like always. The revelation that everyone likes video games definitely changed some of the business plans of these companies so that now appealing to that casual gaming market is an integral part of their business model. I think these projects into the casual gaming market will bring about great innovations with motion control and some very interesting and memorable games.

The second big movement is with the games themselves. If the last few years have shown, games can have such an engaging storyline or unique story elements that set it apart from each other. Bioshock and Uncharted are two great examples. These games had fantastic gameplay elements but had a very unique and dynamic storyline that was so interesting and hooking that, for me, was hard to put down. I think we're going to see at least a rising trend in games that exhibit more storyline elements. Now that doesn't mean rock'em sock'em shoot-em-up hack'n'slash games aren't good and won't be around; in fact these games are great in their own category. But I think we're going to see games with better narratives and seamless integration between gameplay and storyline that will make video games an even richer and more engaging form of entertainment.

The Future: Television and Movies

2010-01-14T03:36:00.003-06:00

Television and movies certainly have advanced the past decade. Back in 2000, the world still had the option of getting a movie in VHS instead of DVDs, and now DVD is the dominant form of playback with the post-format war Blu-ray Disc being an optional format along with Digital Download format.

There has also been a big emphasis on 3D technology used in the last few years. 3D movies have always existed but they have been a gimmick in the past, with things like the characters in screen reaching out toward you as if you were actually in the movie! However the resurgence of 3D movies have taken on a slightly different approach. There is a great emphasis used on depth that make the visuals of movies much richer.

So what can these mean for the future? 3D televisions, movies all shot in 3D, and a push for Blu-ray or Digital downloads to be the dominant format. Which are good and which are bad?

I personally believe that 3D may be the future. At first I was skeptical, but after seeing movies like Up and Avatar in 3D, the richness in depth really adds to the visual experience. The problem with how they are now is the glasses. Being someone who wears glasses, wearing 3D glasses over my own glasses is the biggest hassle. There is technology for 3D televisions that don't require 3D glasses, which is what televisions need to deliver for 3D to catch on.

Here's the problem about 3D televisions. CES 2010 basically told us that 3D tvs could be released as early as next year, but there isn't enough consumer desire to get 3D televisions. The library for 3D movies isn't large enough to warrant such a purchase and who knows when 3D television programming will ever start. 3D needs to wait maybe 3 more years so that there is a larger library to warrant a purchase on a new tv.

As far as the next format goes, DVD is really widely used and compatible and will definitely last longer than VHS, however I think that although Blu-ray looks like it could be the next DVD from VHS, Digital downloads is where it's at. Why do I think this?

The past decade has proven that the internet very accessible and because of that, computers are very accessible. Almost everyone has a computer now, and integration of television and internet has been on the rise. Digital downloads are a natural progression.

The future of televisions and movies isn't going to be revolutionary anytime soon; there won't be another format war as I see it for a while, and 3D is already here, but I'm sure we'll see some cool things coming with television and internet being more integrated soon.

The Future: Smartphones

2010-01-09T02:19:00.005-06:00

It seems amazing to me that I have not updated in such a long period of time. I guess when most of my thoughts can be condensed into 140 characters, I don't have a big use of a blog. But because I figured out my friend has been updating his blog on what I assume is a regular basis, it's time for me to follow suit and start using this blog again. For what topic? The Future.

I'm not talking the future like that 2012 stuff or where I see myself in 10 years. I'm talking about technology and I'm talking about where it needs to be and what needs to happen. Over the next few days I'll cover a different area of consumer technologies and what has happened and where it needs to go.

Smartphones

When we hear the word 'Smartphone', what do we immediately think of? The iPhone. The moment that Apple unveiled the iPhone, the true smartphone market was born. The device is sleek and stylish, the touch screen is of the highest caliber, with not many others matching it's sensitivity and finesse, and the App store is flourishing. It's no wonder why other producers have attempted to produce iPhone Killers to the market. However all attempts at taking the iPhone's dominance have proven to be foolhardy.

What have we seen so far? Blackberry Storm, Palm Pre, Google Nexus, countless Android based HTC phones, and more. I think the Palm Pre was probably the closest to being an iPhone killer, but the only reason I think that is because it has the ability to run multiple applications at the same time. Even that is a trait that will most likely be added to the next iteration of the iPhone which is sure to astound everyone for another year in a row.

But what is probably the biggest factor of smartphones that hands down is the make-or-break decision? Apps. The iPhone is a testament to the need of a large selection of apps. The App store has thousands of apps to choose from, and Apple's screening process ensures that the apps will work on iPhones.

Other smartphones don't have this luxury of a large app store. Because the iPhone came before everything else, they were able to start on their App development much earlier. As a result, every iPhone Killer that has come out has a paltry App store and what's the point of getting a smartphone if there aren't a plethora of apps to choose from? Android is growing rapidly in terms of Apps but it's having problems of its own because of that speedy growth.

The future of phones is smartphones. But we can't have Apple monopolizing the entire market can we? (Even if they do make a kickass phone). The problem with many phones is that they are trying to become too unique and thus sacrifice some simplistic functionality for design. It's not bad to take cues from the iPhone. So what if you're taking some ideas? As long as they aren't patented, then you're safe. Clearly something about the design must be on the ball if they are so successful.

Smartphone development needs to be simplistic in design but user friendly, intuitive, and functional. Also, enough with this inherent need for a physical keyboard. If people cared THAT much about a physical keyboard, the iPhone wouldn't have as many buyers as it does. The need for a physical keyboard hurts design no matter how you look at it. And finally, and most importantly, it needs a good set of apps to begin with, and a large push for development of new apps. It seems difficult to do, especially the app store part, but it's honestly the only way that an iPhone killer can actually be produced.

Apple's Rock 'n Roll Event

2009-09-11T11:34:00.001-05:00

So this is the deal with Apple and their latest news about the iPods and iTunes and Apple and Music. Basically iTunes 9 is out for download which everyone should have gotten already. It supports a new Home Sharing feature which lets you authorize 5 computers on a local network that you are hooked up to to essentially be able to view peoples' libraries, and drag and drop their music into your library. That's pretty cool and is a logical process for them to take after going DRM free.

The iPod touch did not get a camera as was rumored and anticipated however the iPod Nano did. Ridiculous? Probably. It kinda sounds like they slapped it on the back and was like, hooray, people will think that this is freaking awesome. But the form factor of the iPod Nano allows Apple to have a look-alike competitor in the pocket video camera market with the infamous and great Flip Mino.

Personally, I think something like this will probably appeal to a good majority of the public who may not want to spend the $130 to $150 for a Flip solely for video and just want to get some videos and put them on Youtube and don't care much about quality. This is because Flip cameras can record in H.264 at 720p, which explains the price point. Although the new Nanos are $150 (8GB) and $180 (16GB), the high price doesn't warrant a very high quality camera due to the fact that it is, still, an mp3 player at heart, and the camera was probably not $130-150 leaving about a $20-30 margin for everything else they are cramming into the device. Cool thing about the Nano too is that they finally have an FM tuner, which people have wanted in iPods for a while now since Zune (of all things) had it a while back in older models. There's also voice recording (obviously) and crap about Nike+, but no one here exercises.

So if an iPod Nano gets a camera, why shouldn't the iPod Touch? From how the event was played out, Apple is REALLY trying to advertise the iPod Touch as a gaming platf0rm. In the past it's basically been considered a dark horse in the handheld gaming market, the two contenders being Nintendo DS, DS Lite, and DSi; and Sony's PSP and PSPgo. Apple really wants to get into the market and what better way to do it than with the iPhone's younger brother who is basically the same person, only without a phone, so technically in the long run, it's a lot cheaper (if you get a set of earphones with a microphone attached like for the iPod Shuffles, there is a Skype app that you can download for free and use it as a free VoiP client to call people who are on Skype, which seems to be a rising trend finally). During the event they kept introducing developer after developer, some big names and some indie ones, to publicize new games that are being developed for the iPod Touch with presumably better controls and gameplay than previous game apps for the iPod Touch. Apple is really milking it's major cash cow, the App Store, which is really the most defining feature that gives Apple dominance over all other smartphones (because the AT&T service is definitely not the reason).

But after all that crap I just talked about the iPod Touch, why doesn't it have a camera? If Apple is trying to market it as a gaming platform, they could seriously have some sick games if they integrated a camera. However I'm pretty sure they are just waiting to see how the Nintendo DSi fares with it's camera system. I'm pretty sure one of the first games made solely for the DSi is coming out soon, and the gameplay mechanics as well as how consumers receive the game will be integral in Apple's decision. Obviously, if it does well, I would not hesitate to think that an iPod Touch with a camera would be on it's way.

Photos from engadget.com, who I'd also like to thank for keeping a liveblog of the event that I refreshed obsessively.

Western Comic Books and Why They Are Better Than Manga

2009-08-04T09:31:00.003-05:00

This blog is long overdue for a post and what better to talk about than my latest obsession in life? I'm talking about comic books.

In May I fell into a world of splendor that is the DC Universe. I went from Green Lantern: Rebirth to Infinite Crisis to 52 to Sinestro Corps War to Countdown to Final Crisis to Final Crisis to Preludes to Blackest Night to Red Robin to Batman and Robin to Justice League: Cry For Justice to BLACKEST NIGHT. I have loved every moment and I do not regret the immense amount of money that it has cost me to catch up.
That being said, I feel like I should address an opinion of mine. The idea that Western comic books, such as DC and Marvel comics, are a lot better than mainstream Japanese manga that I, and apparently a big chunk of the US population judging by what Borders stocks on their shelves, have been exposed to. I'm not talking about those obscure mangas that may have these cult followings that are pretty under the radar. I'm talking about One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, and the like that are big Shonen Jump Titles that have permeated not only bookstores but also television in the form of anime.

Now I love manga. My middle school and freshman year of high school was ONLY manga. I really enjoy some of the stories. One Piece in particular just keeps getting better and better. However I have found that Western comic books have better depth in plot while manga is mostly just comical (go figure). So the basis of my argument is my love for great and interesting plot. Spoilers may follow. Disclaimer: I only have limited exposure to Western comic books with DC Comics, so my argument is based off of DC Comics as Western comic books.

Over and over again, I have noticed (especially in Naruto as of late) that death really doesn't happen. Like, maybe it will happen once in a while (Zabuza, Chiyo-Baa) but they are always secondary characters that don't add anything to the main plot. The most dynamic thing Naruto could have done in the story was recently half the village got destroyed by Pain. That was AWESOME. Kakashi even died. But what happened? Everyone came back. Subsequently, the plot of Naruto always drags and gets really uninteresting and the plot can't develop like some people (I) would want.

Likewise, Bleach drags with plot. It takes about 2 months to get through one battle and by that time I just want the entire thing to end. And, again recently, repetition seems to be the central mantra of doing the stories. "You're stronger than I expected, I guess I'll have to release my shikai...You shouldn't have underestimated me." "It is you underestimating me! For this is my released form!" "Oh man, it looks like I'm going to have to stop holding back with my Bankai!" And people always get wounded. Like, Matsumoto got half her body cut in half. But regardless, a wound is nothing compared to a death in terms of plot. And even deaths, in a story about death gods, don't drive the plot. It keeps things really frustrating.

Don't worry. He didn't die. There's no way they could let that happen

One of the first things I noticed in Infinite Crisis was that shit got real, real fast. Probably the second or third page was just Wonder Woman killing Maxwell Lord in a flashback. Death has occured in the last 5 years worth of comic books superfluously. Countless characters have met their demise, from the Question Vic Sage to Ronnie Raymond to Martian Manhunter to even Bruce Wayne, and what I love about it is that their deaths don't go unnoticed in the DC Universe. There are huge impacts within the DC Universe when a person dies and the repercussions can be seen within some of the character development and how certain stories progress. The whole Battle of the Cowl series was huge, creating a new Batman and also two new Robins. And then there's Blackest Night which just came out 3 weeks ago that have taken all those deaths that have happened, and then made a new storyline that is megadynamic and is immensely satisfying to read. Shit keeps getting real, and that's what I love about DC Comics.

E3 2009

2009-06-03T03:24:00.002-05:00

So E3 is happening this week again and it totally snuck up on me but I was able to watch most of the press conferences live even though I missed a chunk of the Ubisoft one and I fell asleep during the Sony one. Regardless what Microsoft, Nintendo, EA, Sony, and Ubisoft have to offer this year and have showed off for the future of the gaming industry is impressive and I'm just going to highlight what I liked from each.

Microsoft

Holy shit. Microsoft was absolutely ridiculous this year at E3. They basically slapped Sony and Nintendo in the face by saying "Hello gamers. Do you like how we have Final Fantasy XIII coming to the PS3? Well here's Metal Gear Solid also for your enjoyment. Oh and you know that whole motion sensing that Nintendo does? Check out Project Natal." As impressive as the announcement was that MGS was coming to the 360, what was far more impressive and amazing was the unveiling of Project Natal. For those who don't know what Project Natal is, it's basically a camera peripheral that is designed to capture all the motions you make and use those motions to cause things to happen onscreen*. It's by far the coolest thing ever and I hope whoever reads this checks out the link because it's really cool. In addition to that, they have a great line up of games coming out that they revealed including Modern Warfare 2, which had a great demo, and a sequel for Left 4 Dead. Also the announcement of making all the HD videos on XBL full 1080p was pretty cool. Overall, Microsoft has set itself up to be a major contender in the next year for everything in the gaming market and community.

EA

So EA kinda hit a slump and is just getting back up on it's feet. In recent years they've released some kickass game titles such as Dead Space, Rock Band, and Mirror's Edge. And as always they have their EA Sports games in the line up. A good portion of the presentation was devoted to EA Girls, which really really really did not interest me, but during their EA Sports segment I did get to see their new Grand Slam Tennis with John McEnroe which was awesome b/c it's John McEnroe. And also I was VERY excited when they showed off the Star Wars: The Old Republic video. No joke it was one of the coolest things I've seen. It's a definite must see as a trailer and I can't wait for that game to be released.

Ubisoft

The conference as a whole wasn't too impressive. I wasn't really wowed by anything, but then again I wasn't really expecting anything. I did see the new Splinter Cell Conviction demo though which looks really cool and really fun. Red Steel 2 using the Wii Motion Plus was cool. A cool thing was the trailer for Assassins Creed 2 set in the Renaissance and you get a wrist gun instead of a wrist bow.

Nintendo

I was REALLY hoping for some good stuff by Nintendo. Last year they totally gave gamers the shaft by promoting all this crap and they really needed to give something that the core gamers wanted or else they'd lose a big of faith from them. So Nintendo apparently read all the furious blogs and revealed a ton of stuff. They showed off some random crap that isn't really important, but what is important is all the Mario stuff they showed off. They showed off New Super Mario Bros. Wii which is just like the DS incarnation, except it's 4 players and it actually looks pretty fun. They also revealed a new Mario and Luigi game that takes place in Bowser's body. And one of the biggest things was that they revealed the trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2 . I literally shouted in joy when they revealed this. You get to ride Yoshi in it! It's the first time 2 major Mario titles will be released on one console. And to make matters more awesome, after that presentation, they showed off the new Metroid game, Metroid: Other M, which looks incredible. Those two videos are a must see.

Sony

I didn't get to see a lot of Sony because I was way too tired to watch and I fell asleep, so I can't really have a good gauge on what was shown in terms of what I liked, but from what I gather, a lot was being pushed on the new PSP probably because they're trying to take some of the market dominance away from Nintendo and the DS, DS Lite, and DSi. What Sony did deliver was a ton of new games that are coming out and the big one is God of War 3. That's probably going to be one of those games that will probably drive people to get a PS3 if they don't already have one, but I'm pretty sure there was no price cut announced which could hurt them in the upcoming months. We'll just have to see.

Anyways, that's my overview of what the major press conferences have had to offer that I watched. I really am excited for some of the games coming out in the future.

E3 2009 Microsoft Live Press Conference

2009-06-01T12:19:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again and it totally snuck up on my this time. E3 2009 is here and thanks to G4TV, I get to watch the live coverage of the Microsoft Press Conference today. I'm going to see if I can liveblog this as well as I can. And here we go.

Presidential Reflections

2009-05-20T22:03:00.003-05:00

So school is finally coming to a close. One more week and I will never have to walk in the halls of high school against my own will again. But as it ends, I have to reflect on how my presidency went as National Honors Society president.

I have to say that I did not contribute much in terms of work to the National Honors Society. Could this be because I was a lazy ass that didn't want to do work and cruise through the presidency? Perhaps. However it's more like the rest of the executive board and I did not synergize well at all. It took me the entire year, but working with them made me realize that me becoming a president was making me the total antithesis of the rest of the group in terms of personality and work ethic. I enjoy living life without stressing too much about things because stressing about things make things seem suck a lot. This mindset in life has prompted me to be very lax [a little too relaxed at times] and take life as it goes and not panic about things. My colleagues and associates however seem to be the opposite. Very regimented, very organized, very orderly, very timely. I am not those things and that's how they operate, and that clash in mindset causes disorder.

Disorder was rampant, especially in my case, because I was deemed useless and that predisposition was only furthered by more exclusion from tasks and information, taking me essentially out of the loop. What's worse is that I was the target of condescending remarks about me unknowing state because I was not informed in the first place. How can I even begin to help when I am not even given the basic information needed to even begin to make an informed decision on what's being discussed? Then the rude and debilitating remarks fly about my incompetance when it should be noted that my inabilities are the result of the ignorance of others.

Then comes the way NHS is run. I don't understand why in our National Honors Society we have to impose some sort of strict extrinsic motivator for people to do community service and help others. And also why some people are very strict on the accumulation of said points. I don't understand why there is a need to question people's integrity when they report points. Why must we ask them things as if we don't trust them? Isn't this an Honors society? There is no honor in distrust.

And what is the point of having an external motivation tool? Doing so does not instill the kind of qualities that characterize people who want to help others. It's the same thing as being assigned a book for English class which ruins the book, when the book could very well be an enjoyable book read at leisure. The same is with service. I don't want National Honors Society to degrade itself by imposing such qualities on it.

It really is a great club to be a part of, but the fundamentals of my school's NHS and the people who forcibly command it aren't so great. But I hope that tomorrow I can influence the future to do better than we did.

Thoughts of a novice Twitterati

2009-04-14T01:59:00.003-05:00

It took me a while to realize, but I finally understand the appeal of Twitter as it's called: a microblogging service. Before I had my twitter account @cgozali, I had this blog that I updated regularly on my regular happenings of my life as well as the intimate moments of my person that originated this blog as more of a personal diary, and transformed slowly into a semi-legitimate blog.

However upon the advent of myself attaining a twitter, I found that I was blogging less and less, opting out to express my opinions in 140 characters or less, finding this method of conveying my thoughts to be a more pragmatic and simple option as opposed to writing on this blog.

Infamous Fail Whale

For example, last week I watched Observe and Report at the movie theatre. In my last blog post, I wrote my thoughts on the Watchmen movie. This time I decided instead of a long diatribe of my thoughts on Observe and Report, I summed it up as "Watched Observe and Report tonight. It's........alright."

This was my expression at some parts of the movie

It was then that I realized that this is really what is so appealing about Twitter being "microblogging". I also think that it's a good way to convey information, especially if you own a business and you want to send out messages to investors or potential customers. It really has so many uses and more that have yet to be discovered. However I'm just content for now tweeting about the inane happenings of day to day life.

I watched the Watchmen....

2009-03-08T01:00:00.003-06:00

...and I loved it. First off, I know that the line I just used is going to be severely cliche. But anyways I really enjoyed the movie. I read the comic book (or as the sophisticated circles call it: graphic novel) way back earlier in the year and I was taken by it. The plot of the story is amazing and everything about the story was just awesome. When I heard about the movie being made, I squealed [not really] with anticipation. And when I heard that Zack Snyder changed the ending, I recoiled in disgust. So naturally, I went to go see the movie. The midnight premiere to be exact, which I have never done before in my life so I was pretty excited. And I really enjoyed the movie.

[Spoilers will possibly follow]

Really wanted to see more Silk Spectre II boobies

It definitely held true to the book, which I was really pleased about. I know that a lot of people who base movies off of books and comics sometimes take some liberties here and there to try and make the movie going experience more to their and the audience's liking, but this was not the case. I saw exact scenes from the book in the movie which I really liked. Also, I thought that the ending might be too crazy, but it actually was more plausible and coherent than what the ending was in the book in my opinion. And I loved how the history of the Watchmen and the Minutemen were put in the beginning while the credits rolled. I thought that was a really great way to recap all that information and I applaud whoever thought of that idea.

One thing I did have a small complaint about was the time. 2 hours and 40 minutes is pretty long in my opinion, although I will look past it because I really liked it.

I do wish they kept a few things in the movie even though the time would have been ridiculous for the movie if they had. I wish that they showed the scene where Nite Owl I was killed. I just thought that was a really powerful scene and it was just really good. Also I wish they kept the scene where Rorschach killed the murderer of that little girl. They changed it to him cleaving the guy's head, which was really badass, but I wish they had kept the scene where he burned down the place instead. I thought that was more badass.

What I really disliked about the film was the superfluous amount of blue penises in the movie. We really could have done w/out all the blue man junk that was going on. And as the caption under the picture says, I really wanted to see more Silk Spectre II boobies. Or even young Silk Spectre I in the flashback.

All in all though, really great movie. I recommend all lovers of the comic who haven't seen it to go see it.

Now the spoilers really come. Things that they cut out or changed that I wish they had kept was

Good pick Oscar!

2009-02-23T23:56:00.002-06:00

So I watched the 81st Academy Awards the other night, and as I was watching, I realized that the category that houses the films that I have never heard of in my life are the ones in the Short Animated Film category. I'm always fascinated with this category because for the most part, I've never heard of any of them save for the one Pixar animation that came with the year's Pixar movie."Where's my Oscar??"

So this time I tried something different and I decided to actually look up the nominees and see what all the hullaballo [<--That's a word? Firefox said I spelled it correctly] was about. And what a better place to start than with the winner: La Maison en Petits Cubes. What first struck me even before I watched this short was the art style when I saw it on TV.

What I found so different was the fact that it's not in the vivid digital detail that is so custom to a lot of animation these days, and that I really liked because the colors and art style of this film is just so soothing and nice.

Anyways, so someone posted up the video on youtube, even though it got taken down today, and I absolutely fell in love with the film. The story was just so amazing and I was just so moved by it. What I totally loved was the musical score. Combined with the animation, it was such a powerful duo that really emphasized everything in it.

I don't like sad movies because I just don't. But the moment I finished watching this, I knew that this was the ultimate exception to that rule because this was one of the greatest things I've ever watched, and I recommend everyone to try and find it and watch it because it is really worth it.

DISTRACT

2009-02-12T23:48:00.002-06:00

I realized I haven't blogged in over a month, but to be honest, I had nothing to blog about.

So is this post just for the sake of blogging? I think so......

So I really thought that I would not become afflicted by the dreaded "Senioritis" that is supposed to engulf the lives of the majority of the Senior class. How wrong I was.

Distractions take up my entire life nowadays. I rarely do any homework at home and opt out for doing them in classes and study hall. I am grateful for the fact that AP Calculus AB has been fairly easy to understand because I consistently sleep in that class and don't pay attention.

I'll give a rundown of a typical weekday after school.

3h00pm Finish School

4h00-7h00/8h00pm Napping

7h00/8h00pm Eat leftover dinner scraps

9h00pm-3h00am Surf the web, talk on AIM, listen to music, watch youtube videos, and just overall fester.

I do not do anything nowadays and it's really putting me off. Not that I'm complaining because I love the carefree mentality, but in a few weeks I'm going to definitely need some self improvement on my part to kick it up.

Apple's Last Macworld

2009-01-08T00:53:00.004-06:00

So as many know, this year was the last time Apple graced Macworld of San Francisco, bringing with them a presentation that may have not satiated many people's appetite for the growing industry titan. I was reading the liveblog feed as the keynote was being held yesterday, during school of course, on Wired.com and I came off as unsatisfied, probably because the last few keynotes from Apple at Macworld offered a bit more to the table. Last year was the MacBook Air, which made everyone go "Holy crap. Really thin notebooks" and the year before that was the iPhone, which basically made everyone say "Apple. You rock. We love iPhones." And now the iPhone is one of the biggest cell phones. A few years previous it was Safari and the iPod mini. So it's had it's fair share of some awesome presentations

Knowing fully that this was the last Apple keynote at Macworld, one would think that they would go out with a bang. Something that would please the Apple fanboys that come to Macworld for the majority only for the Apple presentation. But personally I think they fell a little short this year. There was only one new thing of hardware, which is the new MBP 17" which sports a crazy battery rechargeability life that is supposed to be 3x the industry standard, but a dual core processor that people thought would be a quadcore instead. There was some cool software stuff like GarageBand's lessons by famous rockstars and the updates to iPhoto and iVideo are pretty choice as well, along with upgrades to the iWork stuff. And iTunes going DRM free with all the music is cool with the addition to the varying prices. I would have liked it though to not have a $.30 charge to all my purchased music so that they become DRM free too (which I didn't because I didn't want to spend $1.20).But I think a lot of people were disappointed because of the hype that was before it. People were looking at a new Mac Mini and other hardware stuff that did not end up being shown at this keynote, and I think that says a few things about the future of Apple. In one mindset, Apple is not accommodating towards the fanboys now with releases like the Mac Mini because later in the year they are going to unveil some new crackerjack products that people will no doubt fawn over and eventually camp out in front of an Apple store that can be found somewhere in the world.

On the other hand, this might be a foreshadowing of the tough times to come for Apple. Apple has been busting out products like crazy. iPhone, iPod and iPod Touch, MacBook Air, souped up MacBook Pros with the new glass track pad, and etc. etc. etc. But what can they do to innovate more? One of the reasons that they have been really successful as far as I can tell is that they innovate a lot and bring a lot of fresh things to the table. But with this keynote, it's kind of like a logarithimic graph where it eventually levels out. Updates on software and stuff, but nothing really enticing that can woo the hearts of millions.

x axis: Years y axis:

But I have confidence in Apple because they made it this far and I'm sure they're going to whip up some stuff that will blow all of our minds out of the water at the next presentation they give.

A look back at the year 2008

2008-12-31T03:14:00.002-06:00

2008 was a grand time for me. Here's my annual look back at this year. As always, one can always look to the past and see what I've remembered from the past years by going to the site that will live on in technological history, Arcanis.

January
The start of a new year! I'm pretty sure the majority of this was me failing semester exams that month and then hating life.

February
A year since getting my license on the 14th. Also finally dated my ex that I had been chasing for the past year. Good times.

March
Spring Break. I definitely needed it during junior year. I think this was also the time when I wrote my AP research paper on video games and I discovered I can write about video games like crazy.

April
Things started to get really crappy in life due to school. I was at the peak of hating it. But I did watch My Sassy Girl which is the best romantic comedy I have ever watched and is one of the best movies of mine.

May
I was accepted into the National Honors Society, and school was almost at an end, which was what I truly desired. AP exams sucked.

June
School Ended! Junior year was the worst year ever. For the first part of summer break I went on a road trip with the family to Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, Seattle, Vancouver, and Banff. After I got back, I worked at Hines VA Hospital in the research department for a few weeks.

July
I continued to work at the VA until I left on vacation again with my cousin for France. Before that I did in depth coverage over E3 and I watched all the coverage on G4TV. I also watched the series finale for Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was such a great show. I loved every part of it.

August
I spent most of the last few weeks of summer break in France. Spent a week of it in the Alps with extended family. I got back the thursday before school started and I had to scramble to get everything ready. Then school started which I was not looking forward to at all, but the first few weeks went by fairly smoothly.

September
I was elected president of National Honors Society, which was great. Bleach: Diamond Dust Rebellion finally came out. And I was finally confronted for the first time with making a relationship choice that would be the subject of much anxiety for the ensuing weeks following it.

October
School still progressed and I still despised it. Homecoming was great because I finally went with a group and a date, so that was cool. I did, however, break up with the girl of my dreams.

November
So I broke up with my girlfriend last month, but I did end up starting to date my current girlfriend, which was good because I'm absolutely crazy about her and have been for a while. I watched Barack Obama become the president-elect for the United States, ushering in a new era for the United States. I wrote a stern e-mail to the Devils Advocate at my discontent on their feeble attempt of reviewing Gears of War 2. Thanksgiving was delicious. My birthday was great, even though I spent it driving all the way to Champaign to watch my football team lose at state, but still a good birthday.

December
I finally finished working on my college applications. I got accepted to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. There was a snow day the day before Winter Break, extending the break for another day. I got some great Christmas gifts. I got to spend my vacation in Hawaii, but unfortunately I had to come back.

It's been a great year, and for random posts from the year just check out the archive list of my blog posts on the side. Thanks to everyone who has ever checked out this blog and I wish you the best in 2009.

Commitment

2008-12-08T02:08:00.002-06:00

So this post is dedicated to ranting about an experience that I had last week that has bothered me since then.

I would have to say that this is partially my fault for having this happen, but that does not change the point of this post. Anyway so last week I went to see a teacher about a letter of recommendation for college. This is really late asking for this but I have just been excruciatingly lazy in this college application process [This weekend, however, I finished 67% of my remaining apps. 6/9 in radical form. Rad]. Much to my dismay and chagrin, my teacher rejected my plea for recommendation. So I moved on, but that doesn't mean I wasn't ridiculously pissed off. Not about the fact that I got rejected. It was the fact that I got rejected by a teacher that I had asked before that PROMISED that she would write me a recommendation.

So there it is. Commitment. I've had a lot of problems with this kind of crap before. This time was with a teacher, many other times it was with my last girlfriend, and even some of my friends are this way as well. When a person promises something or plans something, that's making a commitment. I know that sounds really intense. The word "commitment" drags along with it images of fidelity and being truthful and all that crap that comes with relationships. But it's true. Let's say Friend A says: "Hey Chris, let's go to the movies today!" and I respond "Yeah that sounds cool, what time are we going and what are we seeing?" and they respond with "7h00 PM and we're going to see Watchmen". And let's say later, Girlfriend C comes along and is like "Chris, how about we go on a date sometime" and I say "Yeah Girlfriend C, that sounds like a great idea. When were you thinking?" and she replies with "Well if you aren't doing anything tonight, how about around 7h00 PM?" but I have to respond "Oh, sorry babe. Friend A and I are going to the movies to see Watchmen. Sorry. How about tomorrow around 6h00 PM?" and she says "Yeah that sounds good to me. Love you <3>xcept maybe me if we're talking about Watchmen.

This movie looks absolutely incredible

But what if Friend A calls me up around 6h30 PM and says "Yeah looks like something came up, I can't make it tonight. Sorry." Not only does this make me lose plans that I had planned on, but it also makes me miss on plans that I could have had with Girlfriend C.

Now I know that things can happen in life unexpectedly. But from my experience, these things usually occur on either 1. a frequent basis or 2. has a cause that cannot even be acceptable as to why the commitment can't be met.

My last girlfriend bailed on me quite frequently which left me pissed a LOT of the time, and is one of the reasons why we eventually broke up. But my teacher doesn't really have a legitimate excuse to reject my request. I know I asked late, but she promised that she would write this for me. And I don't understand why it should be so hard for a teacher to just bullshit an essay in an hour or so. I did probably 6-9 essays yesterday, totaling 9 hours of working. Teachers basically just complain and get really pissed at any student that requests some application stuff. They always have some kind of smartass remark or some sort of grimace. And seriously. An English teacher not being able to write an essay for a few kids. What the fuck kind of bullshit is that? [I don't swear a lot on this blog, but I do where it is deserved]

Anyway, moral of the entire story is, this weekend I got a lot of applications done, played a lot of minesweeper, and got into John Legend and Ne-Yo due to listening to Pandora Radio.

Best thing since sliced bread

Epic Epidemic

2008-12-03T02:24:00.003-06:00

"omg lulz th4t w45 sooooo epic!"
"I had the most epic time at the library today!"
"There is only one word to describe this vanilla pudding. Epic."

It's an epic epoch. People use this word so much in life nowadays, at least where I live anyway. It seems that the word "epic" is the contemporary word for "the bee's knees". I'm pretty sure I can't go a day in school without hearing someone use the word "epic" in some context, whether it be in l33t sp34k [and curse you all who talk like that], or just in regular conversation of two mild-mannered teenagers. The adjective also pollutes the status updates of many a person on social networks such as Facebook. Now, I have nothing against adjectives, and certainly not "epic", but what I am seeing is a positive correlation [thank you AP Psych] between a person saying 'epic' and that same person thinking that they just described a meeting with Jesus. Like, okay, I understand when tapioca can be delicious beyond all reason. Just recently I had Starbucks' Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate and I can pretty much guarantee that every single one of my tastebuds was enveloped in pure ecstasy of flavor.This is the most delicious thing I've ever drank

But I digress. The point I'm trying to make is that although it is extremely delicious, "epic" should not be a word used to describe it, although I know that there would be many people who would liberally use the word to their hearts content.

So I'm not chastising people for using this word, because really, it's just a word, but it has gotten out of hand. When someone says "epic" now, it kind of feels like it has joined the ranks of "rad", "awesome", "bodacious", and "cool". Words that used to mean a lot to a certain social strata [in this case it would probably originate from the gaming community] but are now so commonplace that they really don't mean that much. Like, I think the other day I called a piece of chocolate cool. Yeah.

Cool

Thanksgiving A Day Late

2008-11-28T02:14:00.001-06:00

I didn't really have time to write this on actual Thanksgiving but I decided to to do it anyways.

I'm thankful for having a great life. I'm thankful for stellar friends and a wonderful girlfriend. I'm thankful for my awesome family and my amazing peers. I'm thankful for all that I'm fortunate to have. And I am thankful for gravy.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

My Letter to the Devils Advocate Staff

2008-11-22T01:37:00.001-06:00

To begin, I do not intend this letter to be condescending or offensive, even though it may end up like that.

With that being said, I would like to address a complaint that I have about the most recent edition of the Devils Advocate distributed 11/21/08.

In the "Product Review" section of the Advocate is a review for the video game Gears of War 2. I have experienced the game on a few occasions and wanted to read about what other people thought about the game. However when I read the article, I was surprised to read the most generic statements about the game. The statements made about the game seem like they have been paraphrased from the back of the game case as well as observations from screenshots of the game. I mean no disrespect, but my 10-year-old sibling could probably write the same review just by seeing a game trailer on youtube and reading the back of the game case. The review makes it seem like the author has had either minimal or absolutely no experience with the game, or even its predecessor, Gears of War. If reading this, many of you may or may not know that I am a video game enthusiast, and you may believe that this is just another one of those "gaming geeks" complaining about a poor review of a great game, but this is not the case. I am addressing the inadequacy of these product reviews. It is quite misleading to the readers of the Advocate if they read reviews that evoke the notion of inexperience with the product. I do realize that we are all humans and we are meant to err in some facets of life and I also realize that the staff of the Advocate is composed of high schoolers, but that still does not justify having writers produce reviews that make them seem as though they did not even get in close proximity of the product. I would humbly request that the quality of these reviews be increased to a more favorable degree where the content in the article makes it seem like the reviewer has an idea what he or she is reviewing.

Cold

2008-11-12T19:13:00.002-06:00

In my days of youth, I braved the tempests and the tundras with relative ease. But it seems that as I've grown older, the days have gotten colder and colder to the point where even the slightest drop in temperature into the depths of 40 degrees Farenheit and lower require me to don the necessary equipment for a trek into the untamed Northern wilderness that is the Arctic. What happened to the global warming?

Coolest image ever.

Just to point out. I used the phrase "tempests and tundras". That's a wicked use of alliteration helping describe a weather pattern of nature and an environment found in certain places on the Earth. It's that cold.

Post-election congratulatory words from a President

2008-11-05T02:11:00.007-06:00

So I extend my congratulations unto Barack Obama for winning the presidential election and ushering in the era of the 44th President of the United States. As a President for National Honors Society I know that winning a presidency is a great thing, and because our positions are so equivalent in nature and magnitude [Not at all true], I congratulate him from one president to another.

November 3rd, 2008

2008-11-03T21:44:00.003-06:00

We in the world stand upon the eve of a decision that could change the entire world. The United States presidential election is nearing not in days, but in hours. The candidates, Senator John McCain and Barack Obama, are both respected and intelligent individuals who hold their own policies and have made it this far to each have the potential to become the president of the United States of America.

I am by no means political in any way nor do I affiliate myself with one party or the other. I keep up with random policies of each candidate if I chance upon them, but that's about it. However I will take this time to acknowledge that this is a very important moment in history. I urge voters to consider their beliefs and their morals and select which candidate best suits what they stand for and hope that the best candidate prevails. Especially now since many of my peers can vote, we are emerging as the new generation. We must begin to take responsibility of what the aging generations before us have given us. So good luck to all the voters in the United States of America. The ability to make a difference in the world is in your hands.

Korean Drama Second Wave

2008-11-02T17:34:00.003-06:00

So I've been kind of neglecting this blog due to school being a major pain along with not being able to properly wrap my thoughts around various subjects, and not much has been happening in my life, so I guess I'll post this to suffice.

This weekend I totally got back into Korean dramas. It's actually quite ridiculous. Earlier in the week I was minding my own business while surfing the web, and for some reason I went to mysoju.com which I haven't been to in ages. So I looked through the list of movies that they had up and I found this movie called Love Phobia that I've wanted to see for a long time, but the file on crunchyroll.com was corrupt for some reason and skipped a lot of the movie. Anyways, I loved the movie it was really good but really sad.

Such a good movie.

Last night I watched what is probably in the top 10 of my favorite movies: Seducing Mr. Perfect [Seducing Mr. Robin]. This is one of those romantic comedies that would make a good date movie and I love this movie. It was so funny and just so good.

One of my most favorite movies

So that was basically my Halloween weekend. Along with the parties of course.

Giddy up.

Thanks

2008-10-18T02:04:00.002-05:00

So yes, my decision did reach it's unforunate resolution tonight, but that's beside the point right now.

I just want to thank all of my friends and everyone I know for being amazing people. Seriously a few minutes after news reached the masses, I was flooded with tons of messages asking if I was okay. That is a tremendous amount of care that I was shown, and I'll probably get a lot more and I just want to say thanks to all those people for caring about me.

Blog Action Day

2008-10-15T23:10:00.002-05:00

So apparently it's Blog Action Day, something that I did not realize until about an hour before the day is over. Although I am not formally registering with the site, I think it's a good thing that I participate because not only am I a somewhat-frequent blogger, but this is also my 100th post!

So anyways, Blog Action Day calls for us bloggers to address the topic of poverty so that we are all a little bit more aware of it.

I've traveled a lot in my life and I love traveling so much. I have visited so many places around the world from Japan to France to Indonesia to Italy. I've experienced a multitude of things and I've learned a lot from them. For one thing I've learned that there are so many different things in this world. We are all human, but the vast amounts of space that separate us from each other show the variety of human potential that we all have. But there is also a somewhat darker realization to traveling everywhere, and that is how poverty is seen everywhere.

From here at home in Chicago to the streets in Paris and Venice to everywhere in Palembang, I have seen a lot of poverty. I think Indonesia is the place I've seen the most. It's probably a combination of the crappy earthquakes and bad weather combined with the whole "3rd world country" kinda thing, but I have seen a lot of people either working really low paying jobs on the street side, as well as a lot of people just living outside, and I remember I saw one guy without any pants. I'm not characterizing Indonesia on the whole as impoverished, because Jakarta is far from that, but I'm just saying that I noticed it a lot more.

I guess the whole experience of traveling has made me realize how fortunate I am and a lot of the people I know. I think a lot of us take for granted all the nice things we have because we've been raised with all these nice things [talking about friends and peers here]. I know that many of us have good intentions, but I also think that a lot of us have never seen the extremely impoverished or have ever experienced it. I know I have never experienced poverty myself, and I hope not to in my life, but I have seen many people who wastefully throw away useful items and stuff without the thought of the value of the object. There are some shoes that can be beyond repair or reuse, but there are also a lot of pairs of shoes that could be given to someone who needs them. Instead, people throw them out along with other appliances and goods, and not only waste money, but they do harm the environment.

It's good to help out people in need. It's why I wanted to become NHS president because I feel good about myself when I help people and to lead people in that direction of life is a good goal. We should all try to help out those in need because we are fortunate enough to have all these things while they are not. Helping out spreads joy not only to you, but to everyone else too. So we should volunteer, donate, and support those trying to make a difference. If we can help others, the world can keep taking steps to becoming a happier place.

Picture I saw in the United Nations in NYC

Stereotypes

2008-10-10T00:14:00.003-05:00

There are so many stereotypes for every kind of culture and race out there in the world, even if we may not know of all of them. Of course stereotypes are bad when people address them to other races, but one of the things that I don't think is addressed a lot is the use of set stereotypes used by people of the culture.

I don't know if this rings true for other races, but in my experience of belonging to the Asian race there have been a multitude of stereotypes that range from mild ignorance to just straight up being false. It seems that many asian kids are ingrained to the idea that we must all be super computing kids with no less than 95% in any class or else that's considered enough reason to commit seppuku. We are given the impression that standardized testing matters more than friends and that happiness is equated to perfect SAT and ACT scores. And a majority of asian kids, at least in my experience, have this as their mantra for life. And with that idea, they pretty much waste away their lives as teenagers. I mean, sure getting into a good college is important, but there is a lack of social skill development that is so readily available to form in these years of high school. I'll be totally honest, I really don't believe that anyone is able to get far in life without the help from at least a few people. Everyone needs some help from friends or family at one point or another, and if one lacks the social ability to form those bonds, then they won't get far in life.

A counter argument may be that with enough credentials (like test scores and grades) then the scores will speak for themselves. But really, when colleges consider an application, test scores are probably a preliminary criterion to the entire application, and what people really want to see is you as a person, not as a some mindless test zombie. There are thousands of brilliant individuals in today's society, but something tells me they aren't introverted people who only focused on their test scores all their lives and spent their weekends holed up in their rooms attempting to do work when in actuality they are doing nothing, and could be using that wasted time through better means.

Still others base stereotypes upon foundations of speech and clothing. I don't see how this is possible. I mean, I can sort of understand the speech thing, when people don't speak with accents, but just because there are people of certain races born in different cultures, that does not constitute as a base for determining race. Person A can be of Japanese descent, born and raised in Japan, and Person B can be of Chinese descent, born and raised in Canada. Both people are exposed to entirely different cultures, but just because Person B was born in a country different from his/her ancestry, it does not mean that he/she has lessened the status of ethnicity in them. And also with clothing, clothing does not seem like a foundation that can solidly base any sort of stereotype. There are millions of different clothing styles in the world. I did not know that dressing a certain way could imply that a person is "more asian" or "less asian".

I find it ludicrous (ludaCRIS) to set certain people's behavior as "asian" and I frankly find it insulting not to me, but to the Asian race as a whole. I do believe that there is a certain "asian pride" that many asian people hold here in the US as well as other countries, and I value the heredity that I have. However I do not believe that this idea should be the basis of social interactions. There are many asian people who hang out solely with asian people and the "asian posers" as I like to call them. As fine as that may be, there are some, NOT all, but some, who often only limit themselves to this idea and establish a social restriction upon other interaction. It is this kind of attitude that causes hostilities and isolation within cultures and races.

I don't see why it seems such a social faux pas for people of different ethnicities to embrace another culture. Just like Person B from my previous example, it seems ridiculous to consider them a separate part of a race just because they are born and raised in a different country than their ethnicity and they embrace that culture. It seems that many asian people reject many customs upheld in the countries they inhabit, and hold fast to traditions and the social happenings of the countries their heredity originates from. While this is all fine and well, and everyone has their own right to do so, doesn't it seem a bit ridiculous to not embrace a culture that you live in and are a part of?

Now I know there may be some extreme examples of people thrown into here, but I really do know of some people and I know others exist that have some if not a majority of the qualities I described before. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with these people, but they seem to allow stereotypes to shape their person and disable them from living. And really, what I'm saying isn't a sole target on asians and all the other races. People seem to misunderstand that when I talk about things like this, they assume that either 1. I'm not asian for writing this, 2. That I should stop complaining and go study more and be more asian, or 3. That I make valid points but that the asian stereotype is still pervasive enough to convince them of other reason. It isn't about race people. It's about being a human. A human is may be exposed to different environments and different cultures, but in the core sense, all humans have equal potential for things, and a matter of race should not affect social interaction among peers.

And besides, if all asians are supposed to be super geniuses, then why do a lot of them work in McDonalds in Asia?

Nintendo, are we a little too harsh?

2008-10-09T00:40:00.005-05:00

So I'd like to redact my statement about Nintendo and it's lack of powerhouse titles out right now. I think it's unfair to justify this bashing on Nintendo when we as gamers have not really considered the entire picture. When you think about it, Super Mario Galaxy is hardly a year old, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii have just recently come out this year. These are all the hardcore games that gamers look for and enjoy, and Nintendo definitely pulled through for us with these.

Mario about to jab Bowser's eyes with a fistful of kickass and starbits

I think the problem that most gamers are addressing is the lack of powerhouse third party games. Since generations untold [the era GCN, Xbox, and PS2 really], there has always been this division within the video game ranks. When most games say that they are "Multi-Platform", that usually means that they are only for Xbox or Playstation, and then there is a totally separate category just for Nintendo, which still holds true today. I think that most game developers don't take Nintendo systems seriously enough. I mean, the Gamecube controller had the same kinds of controls as the Xbox or PS2, but it still got the short end of the stick in terms of 3rd party games, and I really think that's what is leaving us all discontent about Wii's lack of titles.

There are titles like No More Heroes which are great third party games, but if there were to be a ratio of good 3rd party games for the Wii in comparison to Xbox360 and PS3, it would be like, 1:60. It may be because the Wii has oriented itself as more of a casual gaming audience, and game developers may believe that this kind of audience wouldn't appreciate hardcore games like Fallout 3 and Mirror's Edge, and that may very well be in the interests of the developers in a financial standpoint.In Mirror's Edge you play in a first person environment as a Parkour Messenger

But all does not seem to be lost. As the holiday season approaches, that means that there will be games being released for our enjoyment. Now there may be more for other consoles besides the Wii, but there are some games that look a bit interesting.

This game looks like it could be fun. Disaster: Day of Crisis is where you are put into a world that is going crazy from Mother Nature (think like Day after Tomorrow) and among trying to survive and help people, there is an impending doom of a nuke just destroying everything. Sounds like it has potential as a 3rd party game that doesn't suck. But then again, so did Force Unleashed, and that turned out to be not so good.

And then there is this game called Mushroom Men coming out for Wii and DS that seems to be some kind of action/adventure game with puzzling solving and the like and you're apparently a fungi. Weird. The style of the game looks good though. Seems like it could be interesting.

So really in the end it should be just a matter of time before we can get satiated with more Nintendo titles. Hopefully.

EDIT: Totally forgot about Animal Crossing Wii. Not my cup of tea, but still a good game.

But the BIG edit that I just found out is that there is confirmation of a No More Heroes 2! Sweet stuff. Now I should go and beat the original.

Nintendo DSi

2008-10-05T00:49:00.004-05:00

So I was just looking up news on digg.com when I saw that the rumors of a new Nintendo DS were confirmed at the Nintendo press conference in Japan from engadget.com. The Nintendo DSi is the new hardware [yes even more] that Nintendo is going to release. It sports a 3 megapixel camera on the back and a camera that faces you when you open the DS. It has an SD slot and internal storage for more memory, and the design omits the Game Boy cartridge slot, allowing the device to be slimmer than its predecessors. There will also be a browser application and Wi-Fi access to the Nintendo store for access of downloadable content.

=Opinion=

My biggest question to Nintendo is: "Why?" They've done this with the Nintendo Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP, and the Gameboy Advance Micro.

I mean personally I think that it's a bit unnecessary to create variations of the hardware with only slight changes, but hey, that's how developers roll. What I am concerned about is the overall trend that Nintendo is making. It seems that Nintendo has focused a lot on hardware and still is. This is strange because the Nintendo DS [and DS Lite] as well as Nintendo Wii are pretty much the zenith of the gaming market in terms of hardware. But the problem right now that many gamers like myself have been noticing is that there is a significant lack of powerhouse game titles for these systems. I know that at the Nintendo press conference interview with Reggie Fils-Aime by G4 revealed that the traditional Nintendo games like Mario and Zelda are in the works, or so he says, but we're coming up on holiday season and frankly most of the expected titles don't look too powerhouse. Some may be fun or entertaining, but I can only play Mario and Sonic and the Olympic games for so long until I get really bored.

What we Wii-owning gamers want to see are Nintendo equivalents of games like Gears of War 2 or God of War or something super powerhouse that will make the gaming world quake asunder in awe.LittleBigPlanet on Wii? Probably never.

I personally believe that the Wii has so much potential with great games. The addition of the Wii Motion Plus pretty much makes the possibility of amazing lightsaber or sword fights or even just great fights in general. The Wii Zapper I don't think is being used to its full potential because there are so many great shooter games out there, but little utilization of a game that can actually utilize a trigger like a gun. I mean, don't get me wrong, the power titles that are out now are great, but Nintendo fans don't have anything great to anticipate in the near future. And that sucks in comparison to all these great titles coming out like LittleBigPlanet, Gears of War 2, and many more. So please Nintendo, help us out and don't let us down.

So I guess.....

2008-09-24T23:44:00.002-05:00

So I guess that when confronted with the crossroads of my destiny, I chose to keep on going. I guess I want to see how it progresses. If it stays stagnant, then I think that this may not be the right time to have a relationship with her. Since it's senior year I want to have a relationship that I can have fun with and not be hindered by the confines of school. But I didn't want to end it when I still have feelings there. I think I'd just regret that way too much. That and also there's other person my heart seems to lean towards all too often.....

I don't know

2008-09-24T01:45:00.002-05:00

I don't know what to do. I'm finally at the crossroads where the time to decide which path to take is shown to me. I'm here. Destiny is in my hands. Fate will act according to what happens tomorrow. But I don't know if I can shoulder the consequences if it ends poorly. I don't know. Am I in love? Am I just stubborn? These questions I cannot answer. It's just that I wish there was a way to fix what I have now. It seems impossible, but tenacity has never been a bad thing in most cases. I don't know. Is there a possibility of it happening in the future? Or is this the final end? The final end to a relationship as well as possibly a friendship? I don't think I can stomach this. My head is reeling from what is going on. I hope that whatever Fate has in store for me, that it will work out.

Change in site, Vlog thoughts, Heroes, Everything else

2008-09-23T00:10:00.003-05:00

So I decided to try a template design change for the site, and I believe that it's aesthetically pleasing, at least to me.

So my vlog did not do as badly as I thought. The quality is actually pretty darn good for a Sony Cybershot. I'll probably be making more vlogs as time progresses.

So the Premiere of Volume 3 of Heroes was tonight. I have to say that I love this show and it just keeps getting better. It certainly is an improvement in terms of plot compared to Volume 2. So now I guess it's back to craving every week until the next amazing episode.

Everything else. Well school, as I have mentioned, is going pretty well. I did fairly poor on the last Chem test so I'll have to kick that up a notch next time around. I am, however, having a bit of a struggle within my love life. I just don't know what to do. The path laid out in front of me is indiscernible and I'm at a crossroads in my life, and I don't know which road to take. I have waited to see if the answer would eventually come to me, but I'm not sure that it will, since it hasn't changed yet. But we will just wait to see. It's just that this whole affair has eventually heightened itself and at this point I feel like I might be forced by a power out of my control to make a decision. Well, we'll wait and see.

First vlog

2008-09-20T21:15:00.001-05:00

The feeble first attempt at a vlog using a Sony Cybershot.

School so far

2008-09-17T00:11:00.002-05:00

So I'm pretty surprised at how I'm doing in school so far. Normally I have a fairly weak start and I gain ground as time goes on, but this year I've been going strong in my classes, even the ones I do poorly in like English. So maybe this is the year where my life takes a new direction. This may be the time in my life where I garner a sense of appreciation for learning. I am actually surprised that learning is this stimulating, it's a pretty good feeling. Of course I don't know what I'm doing getting so little sleep. But hey, it's all good. Anyways though, I really hope I can keep up these grades.

I figured out that I learn differently than many people. Sure I can memorize all the crap in the textbook until the dawn comes, but I find that I learn more from my mistakes than from a book. Like, sure I have the randomest information sometimes, but there are certain incidents that stick in my mind because I did something wrong. Actually a lot of them are relationship-wise, but I also recall incidents where I got like, 10 points off of a Photosynthesis test in Biology Honors because I accidentally skipped over a question and it screwed up the next 10 questions. But now that I'm in AP classes that cover material that I've learned before, I've found that I can understand it better and I'm doing a lot better. AP Chemistry is an example because I used to get only B's in Chemistry Honors but now I have a solid A.

So maybe life is finally turning to a life of productivity [although I am still procrastinating]. But I guess I'll only find that out once I do my college applications.

NHS Presidential Election, Blog update

2008-09-08T20:41:00.003-05:00

So it's the eve of the Presidential Election for NHS at my school, and I have to say that I am a little nervous. I'm really not one for officer titles, but this time around I felt like doing this. I don't really have an explanation as to why, but for some reason I felt compelled to run for this position. I guess it comes from me having this kind of need to help people, and NHS is pretty much a community service/helping kind of club, and I just think that it's really awesome. So anyways, wish me luck anyone who sees this and vote for me anyone who goes to my school and reads this blog.

On another note, if anyone hasn't noticed, I'm trying to spice up this blog. I just added a flickr thumbnail to my flickr account. If anyone who reads this blog normally has any ideas for spicing up this blog more and wants to pitch them at me, do so.

Diamond Dust Rebellion [Finally]

2008-09-08T02:48:00.003-05:00

Yeah it's 2h50 on a night before school and I'm actually going in for the first time in a long time to go to French Club, which is actually pretty funny because I'm not taking French this year, but whatever. It's all good.

On another note, Diamond Dust Rebellion has FINALLY been released. I, as well as many other people I know, have been waiting for this movie to come out subbed since last December. So props to Dattebayo fansubbing for getting this to us finally. Really cool action scenes and everything. Just a great movie. Kubo Tite can really make Bleach movies [not counting the Sealed Sword Frenzy].

Some thoughts on College

2008-08-29T01:54:00.000-05:00

This was directed towards some of my friends, but pertains to all my peers as a whole
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Ok, let's think for a second. Let's remove all ethnicity from this equation. Forget about if you're asian or caucasian or indian or latino or other racial groups and forget the stereotypes that come with them.

So yeah, I haven't really planned a lot for college yet, I don't really know where I want to go, I haven't started any applications and for the past 3 years of high school, I haven't been trying very hard. So I'm a slacker basically.

But there are people who solely have devoted their high school life to getting into a good college. Anything goes for them. To get rid of friends is nothing because they believe 'once I get into college, I'll make new friends.' To join anything just to make a college resume look good is fine, even if they abhor the purpose of the group because the thought is that 'it'll look good on my resume and it's only for a few years.' These people do all this crap just so that they can get into a good college for what? To study harder and to appease their parents.

I find that there's a problem with this. Now, maybe I am assuming that no one likes school, and in actuality, these people love academics and love doing 80 extracurriculars, some they like and some they hate, and love sitting at home going over review books for 10 hours before doing some homework. I, however, unfortunately (or fortunately) have never met these people who enjoy these things. So I ask. Why would you do something you don't like? Is it really that much to you to look at a review book on French language for 5 hours instead of hanging out with your friends? Do you really have that much of a need to ignore your significant other (provided that you are social enough to get one) just so you can finish up the last 15 sets of math problems? Is it really good to waste your time in an extracurricular that bores the living hell out of you just to get some good stuff on your resume when you could actually be doing an extracurricular that you like? Have these thoughts ever occurred to you people?

I just think that it's stupid to waste our teenage years not having fun because we are always thinking about our future and trying to appease our parents. Now granted, we do owe our parents for putting up with all of our crap the past 15,16,17,18 years, but really. Is it right for us to spend our days in boredom when we are in our youth? This is one of the last times we will ever feel this free from Life's constraints. Soon we'll go off to college and do stuff there, and then we'll get a job that will probably consume most, if not all of our time, leaving very little time to enjoy ourselves. But right now we are in our youth. We need to have some fun. We won't have all the energy that we have right now. We won't have this time when all our friends are still around. Soon we'll all be gone to different places and see each other maybe over the summer, or maybe once a month. That is, of course, considering that you somehow made friends in the midst of ridiculous amounts of studying.

Now I know parents are always like, "Get into a good college! Then you can have a good job and a stable income and life."

Let's dissect that. If what they are saying is what they believe, then that means they believe that money=happiness. That if we are able to maintain a steady income, then we will have all the happiness in the world. And you know, maybe we will. We don't know. We're still teenager while they are adults who've experienced a lot more than we have. But still, we should not inhibit our own happiness just because we are weighed down by expectations.

The person that comes first and foremost for anyone is themselves. We as humans are inherently selfish creatures. Think about it. If someone was getting mugged on the street at night, and they yelled 'HELP!', someone from an apartment or a house would be like, ehhhh maybe not. could be dangerous. But if someone yelled out 'FIRE!', then we immediately think 'Oh crap. That could be my house. I better go check outside and see who's house is on fire.' (By the way everyone. If you are getting attacked while you are alone and outside at night, not that you should be alone in the first place, you should yell 'fire' instead of 'help' because you'll get a better response that way).

So I'm not saying that we should totally disregard school (although that would be nice), because really, fast food is not the most appealing career, but what I'm saying is that we need to make time for ourselves from all this crap that life is throwing at us. We will look back on these days when we are older and wish that we spent less time with all this college crap and more time having fun.

Back, Capitalism and Lack of Globalism in America

2008-08-25T01:25:00.001-05:00

It's been quite a while since I posted here since I left for France for 3 weeks, but I'm back and I'm starting off with this post I just put up on my Facebook.

So it's finally hitting me. A big part of this country's society is way too focused on money, and it fails to embrace a sense of being part of the world. What drew me to this sentiment? The NBC coverage of the Beijing Olympics.

So of course the entire 3 weeks of the Olympics take place all throughout the day, and the multiple coverage of all the variety of sports on the affiliated channels are good. There is quite a problem with this though. Many people in the country have only basic tv coverage, and are only able to access NBC and not MSNBC or CNBC to name a few. Knowing this, what does NBC focus on? Only the famous athletes of the Olympics: Nastia Liukin (sp?), Shawn Johnson, Michael Phelps, Lolo Jones (?), and many others. Now, I'm not saying that these people are bad. Like, really, power to Michael Phelps. But by using this, they garner more hype about these athletes and leave the rest of team USA in the dust. This isn't the most pressing issue though.

The most pressing issue of the Olympic coverage is the Opening and Closing ceremonies. They were great. But why were they aired during primetime when the actual ceremony took place in the morning? Now several different opinions could be formed for this event. Many may argue that it's too early in the morning, but let's be honest. It's like, 7 or 8 AM. Many people are already awake by then. And it's the Olympics. If someone is too lazy to just get up 1 or 2 hours earlier to see something only seen every 4 years, then they would either get their asses up, or TiVo the damn thing. I think that they put it in primetime because of the fact that it's "primetime" and they can garner a lot more viewers, but in doing so, they pull America out of the worldwide experience. When i was in France, when the Olympics were beginning in Beijing, at the same time the event was being broadcasted in France live. They make it so that the viewers at their TV sets experience the event in at the same time it's being held, and it puts them more in sync with what is happening thousands of miles away and bringing the people closer to the world.

Now in America, they put up the ceremonies at night time to replicate as if it was happening in real time in the United States, because many people are not comfortable with the fact that things can happen outside of this country. NBC also wants to get as much money as they can from viewers and from playing the sponsor advertisements over and over and over and over. But it's not only that. We run on a different temperature system (Fahrenheit), we use a different measurement system in comparison to the worldwide-used metric system, and we are probably one of the handful of countries in the world who do not enjoy the sport of soccer (we even gave it a different name, because we used 'football' for our own sport game invention).

We really seem isolated from the world even though we're a major world power. It could be because of the isolation that we have risen to that power, but it seems that in today's society with so much interconnectivity in so many forms like the telephone and the internet, we can't avoid the outside world and what happens in it. We also are dependent on foreign sources of materials to aid us in our daily happenings, and yet we still seem to be so isolated and different from the rest of the world.

Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Avatar The Last Airbender Series Finale

2008-07-20T00:38:00.002-05:00

Wow. Absolutely amazing. Everything about the 4 episodes was jaw-droppingly awesome. The 2 hours of sheer bliss I experienced culminated into a great ending which was so incredibly mind blowing that I am still in shock and I want to watch it again. Great Series. Please make more episodes!

E3 2008 Day 2 Spotlight: Sony

2008-07-15T15:42:00.004-05:00

Alright so I just finished watching the Sony presentation on G4TV, which was about 30 minutes after the Nintendo Conference. They've got it rough being last in amount of consoles sold because it's the most expensive console, but they have the HD experience with really beautiful looking games.

So here goes the presentation.

After a long talk about the Playstation history and the multi functionality of the ps3, they debuted with a preview of Resistance 2. It looks SOOO good. What they showed made me think that in the game you need a hammer of dawn x5 billion. They then presented an official trailer of Resistance 2, which looks great as well.

After that demo and preview, the financial standpoint of Sony through the great use of Little Big Planet, which I believe was such a good idea and it was really appealing and showed some of the capabilities that Little Big Planet has, which is launching in October of this year. Anyways, a big announcement that they had was the fact that Sony will start shipping PS3s to Latin America. Along with that, playstation platinum series of games, much like those xbox classic games or whatever, are going to be cut down in price, at $29.99. Games include titles like Resistance: Fall of Man, Rainbow Six Vegas, and more titles.

Then the presentation took a turn that I wasn't really expecting, which was talk about the Playstation 2. Now this console is around 9 years old or so, but games are still being released for it, one being Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. And I believe that it was announced that more than 130 titles are going to be released for PS2, so it's still going strong.

The Playstation Network, or PSN, was next for the topic of discussion; being declared first was the new feature that there would only need to be one sign on username that they can access not only from their ps3, but also computers so they can chat with friends on when to schedule the next online gaming experience with each other. Exclusive titles for the PSN for the coming year were shown, at a much lower price than normal ps3 games [$14.99], including the new title to the Ratchet and Clank Future series: Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty. I know. Awesome title. It is a bit shorter than the last game which preceded it in the story, which was Tools of Destruction, but the game developer said that it has the same amount of action, humor, and intrigue as a regular Ratchet and Clank game. Along with Ratchet and Clank, there are going to be a huge amount of games available on the PSN. I can't remember all the names, but a few that caught my eye that they teased was 'Fat Princess' [best title for a game ever] and Ragdoll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic [2nd best title for a game ever].

A new thing being launched and promoted stems from Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, which is the Gran Turismo Televsion, or GTTV. It's just a lot of coverage on new cars and behind the scenes of the Gran Turismo game making and all that jazz.

Playstation Home was talked about afterwards. Although still not up and running, the previews for it are enticing. It looks Second-Life-esque, but it's cool because of the interactivity that can happen. Relaxing games of bowling and billiards are available, OR you and a bunch of friends can go into rooms that are in the Warhawk, Resistance, or other games and instantly start a game with the people in there.

Also with Home comes entertainment. Lionsgate, MGM, Disney, FUNimation, and 20th Century Fox are all partnering with Sony to deliver their entertainment to the ps3. Rentals of movies can be around $2.99 and purchases around $14.99. You can even transfer media to the PSP to portably watch the things you've downloaded.

This transitioned to the PSP talk. To me, the PSP seems like a super media device. It's as if you fused a Nintendo DS and an Ipod together. Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters bundle will be released with the game and the National Treasure 2 movie and echochrome for I think $200.

Also for the PSP, which actually blew my mind a bit, Sony debuted a handheld version of Resistance called Resistance: Retribution. Along with it are more titles like Madden NFL 2009 and Star Wars: Force Unleashed to name a few.

Then the presentation shifted back to the PS3.

Sony Online Entertainment was talked about and the ps3 mmo, DC Universe Online, was shown. You pretty much customize your own character and help either the heroes like Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman, etc. or the villains like the Penguin, Lex Luthor, Two Face, Bizarro Superman, and more. The character list I can only assume is huge because of the vast amount of DC characters there are. I know that I would want to be best buds with Solomon Grundy.

A huge piece of news that I was really awed by was the price cut of the 80 GB model of the PS3 down to $399. The rationale of Sony is to ease a gradual transition from ps2 users to the ps3 by lowering costs to make it more available, since a big problem I think Sony has been facing has been the fact that the PS3 is the most expensive console on the market, and that's why it isn't selling as much as the Wii or the 360.

But back to the conference. The Sony presentation ended with some mind blowing stuff. Although most of the games shown so far through the presentation are available sometime this year, Sony previewed 3 titles coming out in 2009.

They started this off with a HUGE bang. God of War III. That's right. The third installment in the epic series of gaming will be available next year.

Next was this game called InFamous. The Sly Cooper company decided to make this post-nuclear attack game where, as far as I can tell, you gain the powers of a Sith. It seems like you have the power to use the Force to propel objects and people and also have Force Lightning. Now this is not a Star Wars game, mind you. I'm just making a coherent comparison.

Finally was this game called MAG: Massive Action Game, and 'massive' is the appropriate word. It supports a 256 player multiplayer. That's right. 256. No. You don't need your eyes checked. 256. 256 player multiplayer. Games are 8 player squad based, with leaders being chosen by how they have proven themselves in battle, so you know that the leader is the most skilled of the group.

So I have to say. Sony absolutely astounded me. I mean, I thought Microsoft was great yesterday, but Sony absolutely blew it out of the water. As Sony said, 2007 was about hardware [like the 80 GB ps3], but 2008 is all about the software.

E3 2008 Day 2 Spotlight: Nintendo

2008-07-15T14:41:00.002-05:00

Alright I'm writing this as I watch the recording of Nintendo's presentation at E3 on G4TV because I was working when this came out.

So what I've seen from CNET news from work, I am totally disappointed with what Nintendo is doing, but I'm watching this anyways.

So Nintendo opened up with some snowboarding game called 'White' that utilizes the Wii board from the Wii fit. It looks pretty cool and uses the board well, but I don't know if I'd ever buy it. I don't even have the Wii Fit board.

They also previewed Animal Crossing for Wii, which is actually really cool. They use a new peripheral [of course] that allows talking in-game with players all around the world, the Wii Speak. It's a really cool idea, but what happens when I'm all of a sudden talking with someone from Japan and they don't speak English well and I don't speak Japanese that well? I bet it'll have something to do with friend codes again.

Then Reggie Fils-Aime did the whole financial talk about how Nintendo is dominating sales worldwide and that's awesome and all.

They then showed a preview for a Star Wars: Clone Wars the game, based on that new CG movie. It is really really awesome that they are finally using the Wiimote as a lightsaber, so I am very interested in that. Then there was another Rayman game called Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party which apparently uses the Wii Board, and then they showed CoD:World at War, which looks good, and I'm sure it can be played without the Wii Zapper, even though it was shown using it. But it is not CoD 4 the way I see it, which is a bit of a disappointment, but I'll have to see how that game develops.

With the Nintendo DS, they are having another Guitar Hero game, which is fun and all, but I hear that the attachment is really really hard to handle. They also have Spore: Creatures, a game related to the game 'Spore' that's coming out soon. Then they revealed that there would be a new Pokemon Rangers game coming out in November for DS.

Another game for DS coming out this Winter: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Yeah. I know. I said 'What the f***' too. I don't know if I would ever buy that game. I'll need to see screenshots. I mean, I've always wanted to get into gang wars in Chinatown. Doesn't everyone?

The DS is also being used for things other than video games. They are experimenting with ideas of having information on flights and changes in airports. At the Seattle ballpark, people can use the DS to keep updated on stats, play some trivia games, and order food. Yeah. I know. And even using the DS as a cookbook with tips and everything that can be used in the kitchen.

Wii MotionPlus was next to be shown at the presentation. It's a peripheral that enhances the sensitivity of the Wiimote to make it sensitive to every miniscule motion made. To debut with this peripheral, Nintendo is releasing 'Wii Sports Resort'. It's pretty much Wii Sports at the beach. Yeah.....I know. There is a cool sword fighting game that looks very fun. It's what everyone wants with a Wiimote: wielding it exactly like a sword. I mean, Red Steel and No More Heroes used swords, but not as realistically like this.

I gotta say that the Wii MotionPlus does allow for more innovative gameplay because of this 1:1 ratio of movement. I think that some great games can come out from that.

And after years after seeing the game being played at the debut of the Wii console itself, that Wii music game that we saw being conducted a long time ago was finally shown working. Wii Music was apparently designed alongside Wii Sports and Wii Play. It looks very interesting. There are about 50 different playable instruments, and apparently all 6 people that were on the stage were playing in a band playing one of the Mario songs. So apparently more than 4 players are allowed to play? Now THAT is something.

So that was the end of the Nintendo presentation. I have to say that they have some stuff going for them like the Wii Sports Resort and Wii Music and that Wii Motion Plus, but I was disappointed that there are no really great games that are being shown for core gamers, which leaves a lot to be desired.

E3 2008 Day 1 Spotlight: Microsoft

2008-07-14T14:17:00.004-05:00

So I just got finished watching the hour long Microsoft spotlight at E3 on G4TV, and I have to say that I am amazed at what Microsoft is doing and I am really thinking about getting an xbox360 now.

So MSFT [Microsoft] started out their conference with game trailers of Fallout 3, Fable II, and Gears of War 2.

Fallout 3, set in post apocalpytic Washington D.C. looks absolutely amazing. The various levels of interaction that the gamer is allowed in the game, being able to fight in combat mode or persuade various factions, are really cool. The different styles of shooting from like, first person or third person viewing as well as fighting in real time or doing some kind of special attacking style is very sweet. Also there's this gun called like, the fatboy or something, which is a mini nuclear bomb launcher. It is SO cool.

Fable II looks absolutely expansive and has some sweet additions to it. The ability to interact in the game is really cool; you can get married, have kids, converse with people. The online co-op is also very awesome. The degree of interaction that they have integrated into the game is astounding.

Gears of War 2. I can NOT wait for this game to ship later this year. I watched the presenter play a demo of the level and I was absolutely blown away by the gameplay. Gears of War was such a fun game, and now Gears of War 2 I can tell will be a totally kick ass game.

Also premiered was the new Xbox Live Interface which looks very cool, and the xbox live avatars you can create that are akin to the Nintendo Mii. But what's unique about these avatars are the fact that you can interact with them in ways the Nintendo Mii cannot. There are a hell of a lot of features including party games, media sharing, and more that I can't remember off the top of my head.

The also included a few games that will come out for the Xbox live arcade, including a new Galaga game and also a new Portal game that I know a lot of people will buy.

New party games seem to be the new craze in gaming, and MSFT has definitely noticed this because they talked about Guitar Hero World Tour, which seems cool with their ability to create music and a 8 player battle of the bands mode. Rock Band, which apparently is now exclusive to xbox, will have SO many songs, I think the number was 85 master editions of songs, and also exclusive deals with AC/DC, Bob Dylan, and Guns 'n Roses. Rock Band 2 will also allow all the songs on and bought from Rock Band 1 to be transferred to Rock Band 2. There's also a new karaoke game called Lips where you can actually play songs and sing them from your Ipod or Zune, which is really really awesome.

And finally at the end Square Enix presented some stuff, the biggest thing which they ended the presentation was the release of FFXIII for xbox 360, even though they announced to be released on ps3 earlier. This is pretty crazy considering that the Final Fantasy series used to be Sony-exclusive.

So in the end, great conference for Microsoft. They had a lot of those party games for everyone which is the increasing trend these days, but the satitated the desires of gamers like me with some great games coming out as well. Microsoft, way to go, you make me want to go out and buy a 360 when the price cuts to $299

Edit: I almost forgot a really important detail. With all the media that the Xbox Marketplace delivers, they've added some really awesome new things. They've partnered up with NBC Universal so now you can get shows like Heroes and The Office and also other shows and movies affiliated with the company. They also have partnered with NetFlix, which is absolutely huge because of the wide range of movies that Netflix has and provides to people.

Update

2008-07-02T00:26:00.002-05:00

I guess it's time to update after an entire month, but I have been pretty busy this summer.

I went on a two week road trip with the family seeing stuff like Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Seattle, Vancouver, Banff, and a lot of flat land. That was a fun experience to see this country that most people only see from an aerial view for like, 45 minutes.

I have a job at a hospital, pretty much right now being a secretary, and I don't get paid, but hey, what can you do right?

But yeah, life has been pretty good. I've been able to hang out with a lot of my friends so far, and the girlfriend a few times. However at this time, I feel like my heart is at another crossroads. Perseverance or Severance are the only two options here, and normally I do say "Follow my heart", but this is one of those times when even my heart doesn't know the right answer. There are so many reasons to stay, and so many reasons to go. Another test of my character is upon me, but this time I don't know which way to go.

I really need to new video games to keep me busy.

Long time to Freedom

2008-06-07T00:18:00.002-05:00

It was a long and hard road. I've actually been absolutely swamped with stuff the past few weeks which made it so that I could not update this blog. But I have to say that through all the thick and thin of Junior year, I was able to persevere and complete it, and I have never appreciated summer vacation more than now. It seems that life is finally getting back on track to the normal and it's great. Absolutely great. I have a lot of plans this summer and a lot of things I have to do, but I'm just glad that it's all over and I have 3 months of no school.

Life is good

Sore, NHS, Video game stagnation?, Bleach and Naruto fillers, Soulmate

2008-05-21T22:58:00.009-05:00

I am aching from doing that isometric stretching in karate. Like, it just did not go well. My karate exam is in about 2 weeks....I'm so close to my black belt that I can almost taste it.

So I was inducted along with several of my fellow peers into the National Honors Society. Pretty sweet I guess. I think I'm not as hyped up as everyone else seems to be.

I really feel like I've stagnated in regards to video games ever since I beat Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I've gotten out of the gaming groove, but I think it's a combination with this school year and just a high prevalence of Wii games that we don't really get as often as we do DS games. But hopefully that will change over the summer.

I have to say, even though I hate fillers as much as the next anime loving fan, they aren't too bad this time around. And I LOVE the opening theme songs that they've put in this time around. Really great stuff. Speaking of anime and manga, I've been waiting for new chapters of Pastel, Ashita no Yoichi, and Addicted to Curry to be released for the longest time and it's killing me. I really want to know what happens next in Mugi and Yuu's relationship, I want to read more of what Yoichi gets into, and I want to see what happens with Ganesha Curry.

So ever since I started dating my girlfriend now, the rate at which I watch asian dramas has increased like, 800%. She just referred me to this korean one called Soulmate which is actually classified as a sitcom, but it's really funny and really great. It's a story about these various couples, and people from each couple [at least, there's one like this, not sure if all the people in the show will have this happen] have their soulmate as a person from one of the other couples. It's really good. If anyone is into asian dramas, you should check this out on crunchyroll.com or mysoju.com

Good stuff ~

VerveEarth?, APs, Reading/Projects, CheezIts

2008-05-13T19:49:00.005-05:00

So I got this random e-mail from the CEO of VerveEarth saying that my blog was interesting blah blah blah, and that I should sign up this blog to VerveEarth. I was really puzzled, so I checked it out, did a little research to see if it's legit, which CNET Asia helped me confirm, and I have to say it's really cool. It looks like Google Maps but has the feeds for all the blogs around the world in the places around the world.

Anyways, so it's AP week, and I have my last one tomorrow for AP Language and Composition, so....hopefully that goes well.

So as school winds down, I think my teachers have not stopped trying to kill me. I have to read another novel for AP L/C since I've read one already, and then I have to do like, a LOT of things with the two books, along with a peer recommendation which I should get on, a Rube Goldberg machine for physics, a product presentation for marketing, a 733 page book on the fifties for APUSH, and I'm probably forgetting some stuff too. So we'll see if I can survive that.

And on a final note, CheezIts are amazing.

just had to say that.

Ignorance

2008-05-06T23:22:00.002-05:00

Now I'm sure somewhere on this blog I've stated that ignorance is bliss and all that jazz, but I'm here to rant about why ignorance is horrible.

I've been reading up on a bunch of articles and stuff on the internet and podcasts and blogs and stuff, and I keep seeing people so strongly opposed to video games like Jack Thompson and the MADD and other groups like that.

I saw an article about how the MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) vehemently oppose GTA IV and think that it promotes drunk driving as an acceptable act and how it can influence younger audiences. This is totally logical because adolescents are easily swayed by marketing techniques and media. But bumping up the rating from M to AO is not going to do anything. In accordance with the demographic, anyone age 17 or older should already have at least some sort of notion on any moral value and also idea that drunk driving is a crime. These "younger adolescents" that MADD talks about are the kids younger than 17 who get their hands on this game. Now it is, in part, the fault of retailers of the game that do not verify the age of the consumers, but at around the age of 15-16, it is a bit hard to tell. However most people under the age of 15 look physically different that someone who would be about 17 years old. And children even younger than that usually get adults to buy them these M rated games.

Here's where it gets a bit shaky. It's not so much a matter of the kids getting the game, as it is the adults buying them it. If these people complain about how their children are playing these violent games, then they shouldn't buy them for their kids! Honestly, it doesn't take a genius to read the cover of the video game box and realize that this has mature content in it and it's set for people 17+. If parents really try to argue that they don't realize what will be in a game like GTA IV, even the title should give it away. Grand Theft Auto. Sounds harmless right? Wait.....isn't that a type of felony? But it sounds so family friendly! See, people can't get away with that kind of logic. It just doesn't work.

This is like, a year late, but I saw an article on Kotaku about how Jack Thompson blamed the VA tech shootings on the influence of video games. Some people would call this some sort of logical fallacy, but it is, in actuality, blatantly wrong. In an interview on X-Play with Adam Sessler and Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olsen, Kutner and Olsen, who were doctors, stated that the guy who did the shootings was the only one in the dorm who didn't play video games. They also went on to explain that even though it is logical to believe that people who play violent video games on a more frequent basis than those who play it only sparingly will have larger potential for aggression, people who do not play video games at all also exhibit higher levels of aggression. So in this video games are not that bad.

Examples of these ignorant gestures towards video games aren't limited to just Grand Theft Auto IV, which is why I'm bringing up this whole ignorance thing in the first place. If we look back a few months earlier, Mass Effect was also subject to controversy. Cooper Lawrence publically denounced the game because she heard, but did not actually experience herself, that there was sexually explicit content in the game. Now, she later apologized after actually seeing the game, but the fact of the matter is that people should not shoot off their mouths with nothing but conjecture when they can't back it up with facts. I've seen statistics of the effects of video games, and they are not bad. People may have the idea that video gamers have deteriorating health and stay indoors all the time. Just out of personal experience, I am an avid gamer, but I definitely don't spend all my free time in front of my TV. I enjoy hanging out with friends, playing sports, and going out just as much as anyone. In some statistics from an article I found on the CQ Researcher Database, 79% of gamers say that they exercise regularly at least 20 hours a month. Now you may be wondering "Chris, where did you get all this information on statistics and stuff?" Well I did a research paper on the educational value of video games, so I read up on these kinds of things.

But the fact is that these claims people are making about video games are very weak. As Sessler stated in his recent podcast continuing his argument with Thompson, this whole thing about children trying to act like adults is hardly new, and video games should not take the blunt of this conflict just because it is the contemporary media of its time. I don't see movie theaters and films being the subject of extreme controversy even though I know for a fact that there are people under the age of 17 who are able to get into a rated R movie just as easily as they are able to get rated M games.

So even though I'm not political at all, and I don't really follow the political campaigns, I have to express my opinion that the candidates who denounce video games as being inherently evil are too ignorant and they really shouldn't be president. It's not the fact that they don't have good judgment or bad judgment, but moreso the idea that a person who is too ignorant on a subject and attempts to subjugate the ideas because their moral values are apparently above everyone else's is pretty much pressing this political system to fascism.

As we saw with the Nazis, Hitler says "Oh. Jews suck." And thinking that his values were above everyone else's, he made it so that everyone followed his values. It's the same with video games. "Oh I think video games are inherently evil and should be removed from society because they are bad for the hearts of the people." That is one opinion. One opinion doesn't make something right. You can't lead a whole nation just because you think your belief system is the only right way that people should live. That's way too oppressive.

I may be blowing this a little bit out of proportion, but it's fundamentally the same argument. In the end, a lot of people will be dissatisfied and insulted and angry if such a movement is made by the government to suppress video games. And I realize that many instances of this are found throughout history, but still it doesn't give a democratic government, or any government for that matter, the right to do something just because they are ignorant of the positive effects that video games bring with them.

So all in all, people opposed to video games in the world, read up on your facts about video games. If you can make an argument as to how video games should be classified under unforgivable sins, and you can present solid evidence and state your claims in a logical and coherent manner that are not riddled with fallacies and incorrect information, then by all means do so and the world will stop bashing you for being ignorant.

The stress never stops, but there are some reprieves.

2008-04-28T00:16:00.002-05:00

So for all the people who read this blog [none], remember how I said at the beginning of this way back when in like, October that junior year sucked? I was right.

I only have like, a month left of school, but this last month is like hell has descended on earth. There's just way too much stuff to do.

But! things are looking up....[sort of]

Avatar: The Last Airbender new episodes came out somewhere in the world in the form of a 1 hour special. I also saw a trailer for these last few chapters of this amazing series, and I can not wait. I am so excited because this is by far my favorite tv series ever. Better than Heroes, better than The Office, better than any anime I've ever watched. It's just so GOOD.

And speaking of The Office, the show is back up and running and is hilarious. So is 30 Rock. Both are great shows.

School sucks. But Avatar makes everything better.

Stressed to the max

2008-04-21T00:32:00.002-05:00

So that foreboding week went.......decent I guess you could say. I realized that I rant a lot on this blog now even though I used to be so proficient with posts. But school is totally draining me from the possibility of doing stuff even though I procrastinate so much.

Anyways so these next few weeks will pretty much be the worst in my life. Tuesday I have a physics project due and an English paper for a college essay. On wednesday I must take the PSAT, and I must score a 34 or higher or else my parents will kill me and make me take it again. On thursday is the PSAE, or prairie state exams for the state of Illinois, which suck. Then on friday I have the first part of my 2 part APUSH final, and monday is the harder of the two tests.

Then in two weeks I have to take the SAT again because my 1950 is not going to cut it. Right after the SAT I have my AP exams for APUSH and AP Lang & Comp. Right after those, I have approximately 3 weeks allotted to studying for my final exams in all my classes, and at the end of the week of that week, I will have to take the SAT IIs.

There's only a month until freedom. But that month is hell itself.

On a side note, last week I watched what is to be considered my most favorite movie ever. The movie "My Sassy Girl" was the best movie I have ever watched in my life and if I was only able to watch one movie for the rest of my life, I would choose that movie. Of course I speak of the Korean version of this film. I can only accept the Korean version as the best version of the movie.

Foreboding week

2008-04-13T23:18:00.002-05:00

So I just realized that I have a lot to do this upcoming week.

I have 2 tests tomorrow to study
There's a physics test looming sometime in this week
The physics project is due sometime next week [we're screwed]
I have to make some poster for Ethnic Fair that I forgot to get to this weekend
I have to study for ACT and SAT
My karate exams are approaching and I really need to practice

This can't be good.....

Junior year's icy grip spurs regret

2008-04-08T01:06:00.003-05:00

4th quarter. Almost to the end.

This year has been so bad to me. 1st semester was nothing but suck. So far I am bringing my GPA back up since last quarter I pulled of 2 As and now I'm going for the gold.

Looking back, I really should have tried harder in school, because now I'm really screwed for college apps. All my teachers think I'm a huge slacker because I just wasn't very driven the past few years. Now when I realize that it's crunch time, it's almost too late.

Seriously, what have I done the past three years. So I teach karate to kids. But there are people who get like, leadership positions in clubs and stuff, and so many people are in sanctioned school sports. How am I supposed to compete with that? And there's the matter of people who take instruments and those count as an honors credit. That is seriously screwing me over because I never realized that it made such a difference to their GPA.

The schools that I want to get into seem very difficult where I am now. The 7 year med programs seem far flung and hopeless with what I have now in terms of grades, standardized test scores, and participation in activities. Even other schools like Columbia seem almost out of reach. I really don't know what I've done with my life now that I am put into this position. I have horrible time management, and I stay up way too late which makes me fall asleep in class.

It seems that everything I've done has caught up to me all at once and is trying to overwhelm me in a tidal wave of schoolwork. But hey, that's what being a junior is all about. Getting owned by school. That's probably why this summer will be so much more satisfying.

Ah well. I better just make the most of things and tough it out to the end. My family's honor will be restored.

Side note: I really want to get Apollo Justice for DS, but I keep spending my money on dates. A major conflict of interests.

The midst of break...

2008-03-27T00:14:00.002-05:00

So I have neglected to update for a while so I guess it's time to.

Being a junior during spring break is like giving water to a man who has not drank anything for 3 days in the desert. It is very relieving, however since my girlfriend is gone for the week, it kind of sucks. But soon she'll be back and it will all be good. A lot of my friends are gone too, so it's been a pretty bland week.

I've decided on buying a camera or a webcam to start a vlog, which I will probably embed into this as well as update. But I really want to make a vlog because, well I blog enough and it's time to join all the other asians on youtube. haha. So I'll keep you all [no one] updated on the status of that.

Anyways, I really wish that break would never end. But so do all students. So we'll just have to wait for that wish to come true.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is amazing.

The Eve of a Needed Break

2008-03-19T00:21:00.002-05:00

As of now I sit on the precipice of the boundary to freedom. Spring Break is right around the corner. However teachers believe that this constitutes as just enough time to cram all the tests into 3 days. 3 agonizing and torturing days.

The reason I have been updating often is because of several reasons. The biggest one is because I have had this huge research paper that I just turned in the other day that I worked on so much. The good thing is is that my teacher talked to me yesterday and told me that I did a really good job on my paper, so that's good. Also my physics midterm exam wasn't too difficult either. However I have another APUSH test tomorrow along with a 2 day math test starting tomorrow. I don't know why the second half is scheduled on a half day, but oh well. I'm so close to freedom. The second reason is Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I love that game so much. I spend just about 2 hours every day after school playing that game. It's so good.

But I still have tests tomorrow. But I'll update once I attain Freedom From Fear. hahahaha

Itoshi Kimi e

2008-03-06T01:08:00.002-06:00

I just finished this 11 episode Jdrama that can be found on Crunchyroll

It is called Itoshi Kimi e, translated to "to the one I love".

It's a really good drama. Now I may not be a very drama-prone kind of guy but I figured, why not?

The premise of this drama is the question of 'if you knew someone was going to lose their vision, what would be the last thing you would want to show them?' It's really a profound question, and the series itself was just amazing. There was a lot of sad parts, but there were also a bunch of funny and happy ones. It was overall, an amazing drama and I was thoroughly surprised by how good it was. If you want to watch a good drama and don't mind reading subtitles, I highly recommend this drama. It was just so good. But then again I may just be a sentimental fool. hahaha.

Neglection, 6 days, <3, Research paper, APUSH, Youtube news, Ramune

2008-03-02T22:01:00.004-06:00

To start things off, I need to start neglecting this. It's a new month! Let's do it!

6 days. Wow. 6 days until Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I cannot wait. I have waited so long, almost a year, for this game. And it's so close I can almost taste it.

My love life is amazing. I am head over heels over my girlfriend. I'm just so happy haha.

So for AP Language and Composition, we are assigned to write a research paper in the form of what could be a news article. My topic is whether or not video games promote learning. The process of researching this stuff is just not fun. English in general is not fun. Essay writing and all that comes with it is not fun. I just do not like this assignment at all. Thank goodness I'm not taking Honors Seminar in Writing next year where they have to this project only like, on a larger scale.

APUSH......It's just not fun. that's all I gotta say on that

Apparently Youtube is planning on having live streams by the end of this year. That should be pretty cool.

And to finish this up, Ramune is such an awesome drink in the coolest bottle ever.

Hinsdale for Haiti, Life, 12 days [short post]

2008-02-25T22:47:00.002-06:00

I did not do so well in singles, but my partner and I won 3rd place in doubles, so it was a fairly good victory.

Life is just great. I have never felt better in my life.

12 days until Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I can't wait.

Life is good

2008-02-20T23:44:00.000-06:00

As one can tell from the title, life is going very well. My love life is doing very well, school is as oppressive as always, but the badminton tournament coming out voids that, and in less than 3 weeks, Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be mine. I cannot wait.

Tired/unmotivated, Badminton Tournament, Ami Tokito

2008-02-15T01:01:00.001-06:00

This week ended on Tuesday. I just feel so bored and unmotivated and constantly tired and I have felt this the entire week. But alas, such is life. Next week I'll kick it up.

I'm entering in singles and doubles for a badminton tournament that is raising money for children in need in Haiti to get de-wormed. I can't wait. I love badminton with a fiery passion that cannot be satiated with mere gym badminton. I need to find a place where I can play year round.

And finally, AKB48? what's that?? All I know of is Tokito Ami. She's like, the cutest girl I've ever seen with glasses and I can't get over her. She's soooooooooo cute. It's ridiculous. I can't get over this. I've been watching her music videos for just about 2 hours now. She's truly a perfect girl.

February 10th

2008-02-10T22:37:00.000-06:00

This date today has forever escaped us from being the date of destiny. We must wait another month.

Great Two Days, February 10th, March 9th

2008-02-08T16:36:00.000-06:00

I have had the best days ever these last two days.

After the hell and discord of Monday through Wednesday, Thursday yielded nothing but joy.

I was able to get an A on both my math test AND my physics multiple choice test, which just made me super happy. Then for the rest of the day I just relaxed. Then had badminton. And it was a good day.

Today wasn't too bad either. I was relaxed, the sun was shining, the french test wasn't that difficult. Great times.

Sadly, though, is this sunday. February 10th. What could have been the day that made my life. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was scheduled to come out on sunday. but NOOOOOOO. The date was pushed back to March 9th. Now I await 30 more days of torture before receiving a gift from the heavens.

3 day weekend, Impending doom

2008-02-03T23:16:00.000-06:00

That was a great 3 day weekend. I hung out with friends and I just relaxed.

But then today, during the Superbowl XLII, which, by the way, congratulations to the New York Giants. That was a clutch game. Commercials weren't so great though.

Anyways due to the snow day, I realized that all my stuff is backed up this week. I have a LOT due tomorrow. 2 tests to take and some graphic organizer for AP Lang/Comp. I am soooo screwed. But it was fun while it lasted.

Snow Day

2008-02-01T11:28:00.000-06:00

Last night I firmly believed that it would be a snow day today. I stayed up until 3 AM to show that I was willing to risk my sanity on it. I had little homework completed. But, my conviction was true, and now I'm having a party.

Swamped, HCHS Vshow, Life.

2008-01-31T00:43:00.001-06:00

So much homework and stuff to do. And my parents are so strict after first semester. It sucks.

So I went to see the HCHS Variety Show, and I was very pleased. It was a hilarious show with great acts from all the performers. I was glad that I went.

Now, on to matters of the heart and the person.

I have confirmed a while ago that this friend I like will almost never like me back, despite my many efforts. Therefore, the logical step is to move on, but still be friends. However, the friendship I had been maintaining up to that point had myself put in 80% of the effort, and her, 20%. Now, in my opinion, friendships should be based off of a 50/50 effort. So when I stopped putting in 80%, I immediately noticed problems in the friendship. My friend was still only putting in 20% and has impeded on the friendship. So is it my fault that this is happening? I personally do not think so. It is not my responsibility to initiate the conversation, or the plans to hang out, etc.

Discussing this with my friend has also brought me to another point. He says that he does not want to get into a relationship because he only sees the destination as break up. Here is my point. Focus less time on the destination, and more time on the going to the destination. This will make you much happier because you will not be constantly worrying about what lies ahead, but enjoy what is happening right now.

Yeah, this is how life goes. These are just my opinions floating along....

SAT impending doom, Sweet videos

2008-01-25T22:45:00.000-06:00

So, I had a pretty bad week. It sucked, but oh well. But tomorrow I have to take the SAT. I have been preparing for this moment all my life. How will I do? Hopefully well. Like, 2200+. Ah well, maybe I should stop goofing off now.

I've been meaning to get these videos up for a while.

^^ This is Aldrine Guerrero. He is sick at guitar and ukulele. And as many may not know, I really want to learn to play ukulele.

^^ This is really cool. I was shown this by a friend the other day and I was like, whoaa.......

Second Semester

2008-01-23T01:06:00.000-06:00

This second semester will be different. My methods of studying and school will change.

I'm looking for this second semester to be different than the first. I hope that my life will take a turn for the better.

Intramural Badminton for the win tomorrow.

Reclamation of Honor

2008-01-22T00:36:00.000-06:00

I have shamed my family's name with my grades this semester. I must repent for what I have done and restore honor to my family's name. I must get 2 or more As this semester and own the SAT, ACT, and AP exams. Only then can my family's honor be restored.

Finals Recap, Junior Year Realization

2008-01-18T03:02:00.000-06:00

As I checked my grades, I experienced an emotion I rarely feel. Fear. Absolute Fear.

Now, in case anyone doesn't know, people describe me as a bright kid, and I'm not bragging or anything, but I'm just putting you into perspective of this situation.

Today I checked my grade for the semester final for APUSH. To my utter surprise, the letter in that box was an F, right next to a 54% mark. Now later I checked and it had been curved to 63%, but that still isn't that good.

English was a BITCH. I didn't think it was, but hey, what do I know? I thought hey, I think i got a safe and solid B on it. HOWEVER, that was not the case at all. It seems that I did not do so hot as I thought, and received a 68%. I got an 80% for the semester. But I had to check what the percentage was when it rounded. It was a 79.6%. I WAS 1 QUESTION AWAY FROM GETTING A C. So close. TOO close.

I've been vying for an A in one honors class. The only thing left is Pre-Calc, but my hopes aren't high. I'm so screwed. If presented the chance, I might consider killing myself to get it over with.

Anyways though, I also realized that Junior Year is the WORST year in all of schooling life. Not only are there so many standardized tests one must take, but the classes are shitty as well, at least for me. Freshmen year, I really liked Biology, and Sophomore year I really liked AP Euro History and French 3 H. This year however, is far different. I hate APUSH with a passion because it's so disinteresting. I hate AP Lang/Comp because I've always hate English. I hate French 4 H because of the way it's taught. I hate Physics H because nothing makes sense. I don't mind Pre-Calc H if not for the fact that it is during the time when I am the most tired.

So Junior year happens to be the most stressful year with the worst class choices. Coincidence? I think not.

I hate life......=[

MacWorld Releases

2008-01-15T18:28:00.000-06:00

So after my quick nap and before I start my intense studying tonight, I decided to check out the releases from MacWorld, and I'm fairly impressed.

MacBook Air

Major props to Apple for designing this. This is the thinnest notebook computer out there, measuring up at thinnest .16 inches and at thickest .75 inches and weighs 3 lbs. Ridiculous I know. The screen looks great, as all Apple products normally do, and although slim, it has an 80 GB hard drive modeled after what I believe to be the Ipod hard drives. A lot more space than my junky 24 GB laptop. The new track pad innovations taken from the Iphone and Ipod Touch are also really cool. The back lit keyboard is also cool. In the commercial, the guy said it was very durable and made w/ some aluminum such-and-such. But at that thin, a notebook being carried around frequently can only break in my opinion. The only market I see this good for are for businesspeople who constantly travel around with only a briefcase. Other than that it's not very useful to people. It looks cool though and you can boast to your friends.

Ipod Touch Add-ons

Some handy new add ons for the Ipod Touch are on sale for $20 more. It includes SMS, Maps, Stocks, Notes, and Weather, making is very similar to the Iphone, only without the phone. Another add on is that the user of the Ipod Touch can rent movies off of Itunes to watch on their Ipod Touch. You can also customize your homepage for Safari so that you come to a home screen with your magnification settings and stuff. Now that I look at it, it doesn't seem like there is SMS, or maybe I'm crazy, but for Mail you can choose the e-mail service you use, such as Yahoo or Gmail. These add-ons are pretty sweet I have to say, and I definitely want to get an Ipod Touch now.

Edit: After looking over some articles, I have found my misconception about the Ipod Touch and SMS. It seems I misread some articles. The new SMS features is for the Iphone, which makes a lot more sense. The new stuff for the Iphone is that SMS can be sent to multiple addresses at once, which leads me to the assumption that you could only SMS one person at a time. It comes with the new firmware update that's coming w/ the Iphone. The Ipod Touch is just the e-mail stuff I mentioned before

There is other stuff like a new Time Capsule server thing that will wirelessly back up all computers in the house, which is cool, and it eliminates the need for various external hard drives. There is also a huge movie rental deal with Apple that you just download the movie and you have 30 days to watch it and then 24 hours to finish the movie after you start, which is pretty cool I guess, but come on, I could go to blockbuster and rent the movie for almost the same price, and watch it however many times I want you know? To read more, go to the link I will have at the bottom of this post that links directly to Gizmodo's overview of MacWorld '08.

link

Much props to Gizmodo for the articles, links, and info.

Finals Day 1

2008-01-15T16:41:00.000-06:00

Math: eh.
French: it'd have been better had I not needed to go to the bathroom
Investment Planning: Easy enough

Yeah wow, ok so I just have AP US History tomorrow. But why did people need to be so detailed when talking about American History. guhhhh.

Chocolove, a group of 3 girls from AKB48. My 2nd favorite, Miyazawa Sae, is one of the members, and I have elevated her to almost rival Atsuko. I just like girls who look like Sae. Good MV

Finals Day:1 Prelude

2008-01-15T02:26:00.000-06:00

As God as my witness, I venture forward into the unknown to attempt to succeed at tests of knowledge and memory. No more can be crammed in, nothing else can be memorized.

I am so screwed.......

Teachers and Finals

2008-01-11T01:44:00.000-06:00

Now, I'm sure everyone knows that most teachers want us to succeed on their final, and so they give us study material for these finals. However, their actions that come after giving us the study material is what is heinous.

If you were a teacher, you would want to help your students brush up on old concepts from the beginning of the year. Obviously those kids have completely forgotten everything over winter break. So, WHY do teachers continue to present us with new material? I am not gaining anything during this period of time except for more stress piled onto the ridiculous amount of stress already. There is no synergy in these actions. The teachers expect us to know this material, and they try to cram into our brains these concepts while our brains are busy overflowing from past material. And on top of that, for good measure they try to screw us over by adding projects and tests in the last stretch, just to get one final grade to lower our grade before the finals.

Some teachers may not even make an attempt of teaching new material. Some teachers may want you to study vocab, so they give you a packet of words to copy down since they don't want to give you it. And since it's vocabulary that's covering the entire first semester, obviously it's going to be a fairly large packet, I'd estimate around 10-15 pages front and back. Logically, when there are 2 days of unplanned class for orals, the right thing to do is to give the packets for the students to work on. But what would possess someone to play a movie instead? Instead of allowing us a chance to study for these finals that the teachers expect us to do well on, we get to watch a movie not relevant to anything close to finals.

So are our teachers putting on some sort of facade of kindness, while trying to place a preposterous burden upon their students, in hopes that it will make them fail? Yes. The productivity and usefulness of the last few days have been just about at 0%. The teachers "say" they will help you in class, but with all the new material needing to be covered, WHEN will we have the time to ask for help?

Teachers are here to ruin us, not to help us.

Now I need to get back to studying......

Finals

2008-01-09T23:58:00.001-06:00

Semester Finals are bearing down upon me in a heinous attempt to break me, but I will not go down without a fight!

For A's in all my classes, i need to get this on the final

AP Lang/Comp- 120% [not happening]
Physics H- 100% [not happening]
Pre-Calculus H- 96%
Investment Planning- 62%
AP US History- 82%
French 4 H- 98%

So..............yeah.................to put it bluntly, school sucks

AKB48 girls that steal my heart

2008-01-06T16:27:00.000-06:00

Alright I have been absolutely entranced by AKB48. Especially the girls in it.

In order, these are the girls that steal my heart the most.

1. Maeda Atsuko

This girl is just unquestionably gorgeous. My goal in life now is to have some chance meeting with her, we lock eyes, and it's love at first sight.

2. Miyazawa Sae

This girl is so pretty. Her hair is really cool, and I like how her interests were listed as "eating"

3. Kojima Haruna

Wow. This girl. Very adorable. Words cannot do justice to this girl

4. 4-way tie between these 4 girls

-Kasai Tomomi

-Oshima Mai

-Matsubara Natsumi

-Itano Tomomi

Why all 4 are tied? because I can't decide between them because they are all so damn hot and cute.

Now, don't interpret this the wrong way. Given the chance, I would date anyone of these girls no question. Just because they are ranked doesn't mean that if one of the ones ranked 4 came up to me, I would say no. On the contrary, I would do all I could to get that girl to date me.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but seriously these girls are just so cute, so hot, so sexy, and so pretty.

Videos of Awesomeness

2008-01-03T02:29:00.000-06:00

So I recently happened upon these various videos that I just absolutely cannot stop watching.

AKB48 is the name of this group. They are 48 really cute/hot/sexy japanese girls who sing. I am in awe at the sheer cuteness of these girls. They range from teenagers to early to mid 20s. My one wish is that I could date one of them. Any one of them would be just absolutely amazing.

I just found this randomly on youtube when I was going through various asian commercials. I could not stop laughing for a good 10 minutes. I don't know if anyone else will find it that funny, but I know I did.

That's pretty much it for now

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T02:36:00.000-06:00

Here's to what we hope to be an epic 2008!

New Year's Eve lookback

2007-12-31T17:14:00.000-06:00

This is just something I do at the end of the year, recount everything that has happened in the past year to me, even though I usually can't remember anything from the beginning.

January- probably doing nothing haha

Februrary- February 14th! got my license! great day.

March-ummmm I had my license for 1 month?

April- I had my license for 2 months

June- License for 3 months, friends again with Minhee, went to Hawaii

July- Hanging out with people, license for 4 months

August- License for 5 months, hanging out w/ people still

September- 6 months with license! I now was able to drive as many people as I wanted around. School started =[ Homecoming. finally went w/ a date. also means that I got the Heroes season 1 on DVD

October-Halloween?

November- My birthday! got some sweet stuff. Super Mario Galaxy for the win!

December- Writer's strike pwned all the shows =[. But Christmas was great, and New Years Eve i'm sure will be good.

Here's to a great 2007, and let's welcome an awesome 2008!

Rock Band, Hairspray, Legend of Zelda

2007-12-29T00:25:00.000-06:00

Rock Band, oh my goodness. It is like sex embodied into a multiplayer game. Although the guitar parts are a bit easier than Guitar Hero, it's still a damn fun game. I definitely give it high ratings.

Hairspray, the movie, is actually pretty catchy. Some sweet music and dancing going on there, and a good moral message for people. I gotta say it was pretty good.

And finally my love for ukulele playing never ceases. This ukulele player is also a god. and he plays tunes that are very awesome.

Christmas time

2007-12-26T01:24:00.000-06:00

Wow, totally forgot about this again haha.

Anyways, so I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and I hope everyone celebrating other holidays will find those enjoyable. This year I had to sing at church, so that was...interesting to say the least haha.

I had my Dad's side of the family come and stay and they left about 1pm on Christmas Day. That was fun.

My Gifts:
Money
Gift Cards
Professional Pushup Pro
Lego TIE Crawler
Abercrombie shirt
180 earmuffs
New Balance Shoes
Nerfoop
Some Leather Passport Holder.

So yeah, a good haul this year. This week will be very interesting. I better do the SAT practice test tomorrow or else I'm screwed for Thursday. And then Friday I'm going to the city to hang w/ some friends and meet some girls, so that should be fun too.

Merry Christmas To All!

3 more days, PSAT, Super Mario Galaxy, Yakitate Japan!/Avatar

2007-12-19T01:44:00.000-06:00

I can't focus for the life of me. Winter Break begins in 3 days and tests right now are just not going to be studied for and homework is not going to be done. But I can't wait to relax and have a blast.

I got the PSAT scores back. I got a 212, so, I guess not so bad, but I hope I can get that NMS award.

I'm not sure if I've talked about Super Mario Galaxy yet, but I'm going to now.

It's a really great game. The levels are very well thought out and everything is just so creative and great. I do feel like some of it is really easy, and I'm beating levels like they are nothing, but hey, who am I to complain? I really do give propz to Nintendo for creating this game though. It really is a masterpiece for ages to come.

I finished Yakitate Japan! last night. Oh man I firmly believe that it has surpassed all other anime, and has become my #1 favorite anime. If Avatar can be counted as an anime, then it would definitely be in 2nd place. Speaking of Avatar, Episode 12: The Western Air Temple, was really good. [Spoilers after this point]

I am really glad that Zuko was accepted by the group, minus Katara. I feel like he's finally found some true friends, even though they are on shaky terms. But I can see the sincerity in his heart, and it is pure. I can't wait until they resume showing episodes.

Last Week, I am Legend, Karate, Avatar, Benny Lava

2007-12-17T00:01:00.000-06:00

The last week of school before the New Year is upon us. And of course there's like, 8 billion things to do for school like tests and assignments and stuff, because the teachers have to cram everything in now so that they can cram more in after we get back. But the two weeks off will be good for me to catch up on much needed sleep. On saturday I slept for just about 11 hours. It was great.

I went to see I Am Legend with a couple of my friends on saturday. I gotta say that it was really intense. Definitely a really good movie. It actually made me jump in my seats a few times, but not as much as my friend next to me, who was really funny and cute when she was freaking out.

Oh, I did not mention before but I study Shotokan Karate style martial arts. I just got promoted to first-kyu brown belt, which makes me on my way for sho-dan black belt, which I have been aiming for all my life, and hopefully I am able to attain it before I leave for college. On a side note, I was really happy that one of the classes that I help teach, one of the kids gave me a bag of chocolate. It basically made my night.

In regards to Episode 12 of Avatar, the Last Airbender, entitled: The Western Air Temple. I'm really happy that Zuko was accepted into the group. I could tell that he was really torn up and this was his way of making things right, and I think that this is his chance to make legitimate friends, so I'm happy for him.

And I've been meaning to put this up for a while but I've neglected using this blog for a while, but I'm gonna come back. But this is possibly the best music video I've ever seen, and it reminds me of one of my friends.

Yakitate Japan!

2007-12-14T01:50:00.001-06:00

Yeah ok, well that post was from like, 2 days ago. I've been really swamped with stuff but finally I get a break tonight. Anyways, Yakitate Japan is my new obsession. It is just so funny and awesome, words cannot begin to describe the amazingness and hilarity that this anime brings. I laugh every night I watch this. It's a shame that i'm already 2/3 of the way done =[ But alas, such is the way with anime.

Updating, Yakitate Japan!, Avatar, etc.

2007-12-12T14:38:00.000-06:00

Okay, so it's been a while since I updated. I've been totally swamped with school and stuff and I've totally neglected this blog for a week, except that no one reads this, so it's ok.

Anyways so I got into another anime called Yakitate Japan! It's so funny and awesome. It's about this kid, Azuma Kazuma, who wants to make bread that can bear the name of the country with it [like France has French Bread]. It's great.

Avatar is seriously letting me down. I need to know what happens next at the Western Air Temple. I wonder what is taking so long. I don't think those writers are on strike, so what's the hold up?

And speaking of the writer's strike. I have been deprived of Heroes and Chuck this week! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

But on a good note, school is over in about a week, and then Winter Break will save me from the depths of hell that is school.

Life: Snow, School, et cetera

2007-12-06T21:40:00.000-06:00

Snow. It's cold as balls outside. I feel like my nose could fall off at any moment when I'm outside. And I have to shovel that stuff if it accumulates too much tomorrow, which will suck.

School. Blows. I hate school, although I do think I did well on the physics exam for once, I still have 2 more tests tomorrow along with a stupid english graded discussion. I've realized. I may have hated physics a lot. But now that I'm sort of getting the hang of it, I'm back to hating english again as my #1 enemy.

Et cetera. I'm just so damn tired. It's been a week since my birthday. No more cake left. My mom is always angry at me. Karate exam this saturday, along w/ a gay ACT that I have to take. Dan's birthday this weekend, but I'm still not guaranteed to be able to go since all of this complicated shit going on in life right now. I'll probably have a lot more homework this weekend, thus ruining my sunday utterly. Then come monday there is no new heroes or chuck, which sucks. Why the hell isn't Winter Break here yet? I feel like just giving up. Oh well, can't do anything about it. I'll just have to suck it up.

Birthday Reapings, Tomorrow

2007-12-02T23:19:00.000-06:00

So I'm thoroughly satisfied with my birthday. I got:

Super Mario Galaxy [Wii]
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass [DS]
A DS Lite special gold edition w/ the Triforce on it
A new Heroes Shirt
A CD
Various Magic Cards
and a LOT of $$$
=]
Thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday.

On another note, tomorrow is December 3rd, which I have mixed feelings about. Tomorrow was the previous release date for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but Nintendo pushed the release date back! 2 more months I must wait in pure agony. But! Tomorrow is the volume finale of Heroes! I can't wait. No doubt Hiro will kick ass. I just hope that Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 12 will come out soon! I can't wait for that either!

11/29/07

2007-11-29T01:15:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to me

Skool, Chuck/Heroes [SPOILERS], Countdown

2007-11-27T01:01:00.000-06:00

School owns me this year. Physics is a horrible class, and AP US is unbearable. AP language and composition, well....I've never been much of an English class kinda guy. And French this year is ridiculous.

On a lighter note, Chuck and Heroes was good tonight. Chuck was funny and awesome, as always.

Heroes, however, was not the same. It's a great show. I love it so much. But all these side stories. I mean, really. That one epic episode this volume was the one when the story of Hiro was the main story. These stories about Micah in New Orleans and Claire's whole deal, they just aren't interesting. All Claire does is whine whine whine because the world is sooooo bad to her. And then Micah and that story is just plain uninteresting. Ever since D.L. died that whole family went downhill. What I want to see is more Hiro and more Peter, and dare I say it, more Parkman too. The whole thing with Maya and Alejandro now is just unbearable because Sylar is just an asshole. Volume finale next week. Can't wait =]

2 days until my birthday! woohoo!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-25T20:00:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving weekend is drawing to a close. It was an awesome break from the crap from school. Even though I did get in trouble for waking up late for something. But hey! Tomorrow is Chuck and Heroes! and Thursday is my birthday! So this weekend shouldn't be so bad....................right?

The Best Article Everyday

2007-11-24T13:53:00.000-06:00

I found this blog through WebbAlert when Morgan Webb talked about the top 20 worst business ventures ever. It's pretty entertaining and fun to read. I highly recommend checking this out

Embarcadero Blues

2007-11-23T23:50:00.000-06:00

I have to say that this song is really really good. I found it a few days ago and I think it's just amazing

Writers Strike II

2007-11-23T23:32:00.001-06:00

This is starting to get ridiculous. We, the television viewers of the world, are on the BRINK of total anarchy. Episodes are waning down to the point where in 2-3 weeks, we are left devoid of anything meaningful in our lives. How can the corporations like NBC leave us hanging? Do they expect us viewers to be satiated with mere reality tv shows? I think not!. We are soon to be engulfed in a terrible time of poor shows, with no end in sight until the corporations will realize their wrongdoing. I, for one, live off of Chuck, Heroes, 30 Rock, The Office, etc. With these shows taken away....I don't know what will happen.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T13:20:00.000-06:00

A true American holiday. A day to eat. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I know I will haha.

Writers Strike

2007-11-15T00:33:00.000-06:00

Ok, I get it. You writers out there just want your fair share of the money. And I perfectly agree with you. I see your perspective. It's your show that the companies are putting up on their websites, on iTunes, DVDs, and other ways of providing the shows to the masses. However, I wish that you and the companies would resolve this quickly. Why?

Well, TV has pulled me through junior year so far, and I need it still. Without new Heroes, Chuck, 30 Rock, and The Office, I really don't know how I'm going to make it through the rest of my year. So, this goes out to the companies as well as the strikers, hurry up and resolve this. Give the strikers some money. You guys are like, super super rich. The writers aren't asking for that much, just a bit more money for the content that they provide you. I'd like to also point out that you will feel dire repercussions if you let this strike go on any further.

Chuck-Heroes Mondays

2007-11-13T00:10:00.000-06:00

I don't know what compells teachers to pile on all the assignments the first day we get back from the weekend and let us do worthless crap the rest of the week, but it's taking a serious toll on my mondays. Now I know people don't like mondays, and neither does Garfield the cat, and nor do I, but 7-9 is what makes it all better. Chuck and Heroes are on back to back every monday, and I take my time to watch them both. That's 2 hours out of my night for working on stuff. Now, some people might say, hey, then don't watch it, but I don't think you understand. It's what gets me through the week. But logically, piling up all the homework on monday makes no sense w/ or w/out Heroes. I have like, 10 things due tomorrow along with a French and AP US test. Tonight will not go well.

Physics III

2007-11-08T01:16:00.001-06:00

Wow, with the help of Jackie and Irene, I was able to complete the physics homework. A first among many, this may be the turning point in this year.

I have no idea what to do this weekend. I better figure something out.

HEROES

2007-11-05T21:15:00.000-06:00

I AM IN A STATE OF AWE AND ECSTASY. HEROES TONIGHT WAS SO EPIC AND MIND-BLOWING THAT I HAVE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS LOCK JUST TO TRY AND EXPRESS A FRACTION OF WHAT I FEEL RIGHT NOW. WHY KENSEI?!?!?!? WHY!??!?!?!?!?!?

Daylight Saving Time

2007-11-04T01:16:00.000-05:00

This time of year is amazing because we get an extra hour of sleep. Well, at least for the people who do sleep.

And on a side note, I found http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fip83AHs34 while randomly going through stuff. and let me tell you I do not remember indonesia looking THAT good

Nakamura Hiro

2007-11-02T00:34:00.000-05:00

Throughout all of Heroes, I have to say that the story of Hiro is probably the best out of all the Heroes. Why? Let's find out.

Hiro is great because he never questions his ability or thinks of it as a curse. He embraces this fact and he realizes that he's meant for greater things, like saving the world. His story is rooted in themes of self-realization, growth, love, and sorrow.

He grows slowly throughout his story. The death of Charlie, which was totally sad, made Hiro realize that he can't save everyone, and his powers have some sort of limit on it. His sword fighting with his father trained him to be able to kill Sylar, and made Hiro badass too.

Then in this Volume, he is trying to make history right while sacrificing his love, but when he embraces his love for Yaeko, he causes history to take a different course.

Also, the quote Peter said in Five Years Gone to Ando: "You remember the Hiro full of optimism and hope?" "Yes.." "That all disappeared after you died. To be honest, I think that's the reason he's fighting this war. to bring you back"

I thought that quote was just, so powerful. It really shows how heroes need their sidekicks and their friends, and shows that Hiro values his friends. He's really the best character in my opinion.

November

2007-11-02T00:32:00.000-05:00

I love November. It's such a good month. Primarily because it's my birthday, but also there's Thanksgiving holiday. Barely any school that week, and on Thanksgiving, LOTS of food. =]

I love this month.

Halloween

2007-11-01T19:44:00.000-05:00

Man, I got a lot of candy last night. Halloween is an awesome holiday. People might say I'm too old, but you can't be too old for free candy.

Physics Midterm

2007-10-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've ever been so bad at a subject. I thought that English was my worst subject, but Physics takes terrible to a whole new level. I just do not understand any of it. And fuck Bode. If he was alive I'd beat the crap out of him for making that law.

Physics Phar Phrum Phun

2007-10-25T01:18:00.000-05:00

Like the title indicates, I am screwed for Physics. I have never felt this bad for a test before. Not even finals, because that's just like, review over stuff I know. But this time I DON'T know and so I'm so incredibly in over my head here

English and Physics

2007-10-24T20:15:00.000-05:00

Today was a late start, so that was good. We also had a crisis drill which was.......interesting. Anyways, Scarlet Letter. I did not realize we had to have our journals in full sentences, so I'm doing that right now. Unfortunately we also have a Physics midterm test tomorrow and Friday. So I'm going to have to crack down tonight. Let's hope I make it!