iPhone 4G?

So there is news circling the interwebs of a prototype iPhone. It was found in a bar, and Gizmodo (a technology website) bought it for over $5,000. They disected it, and took several pictures. Apple recently sent them a letter where they demanded the iPhone back. Gizmodo is going to send it back, but the damage has already been done. Apple is super secretive about their products, and I'm pretty sure the guy who left this behind at the bar will be fired. However, Gizmodo asked for him not to be fired if they return the phone. How horrible of a feeling would that be.... losing Apple's prototype? Steve Jobs would be one of the scariest bosses to work for under this scenario. I mean, he makes the company super secretive, and then you forget the prototype at a bar! Products have been leaked in the past through case manufacturers, but there has never been a leak as significant as this one. Apparently, the phone was working before it was sold. The conclusion was that Apple remotely disabled it (which is scary in itself.... can they disable our phones/macs?). I may digress, but I kind of hate what Apple has become. They have turned Microsoft into the underdogs which I usually root for. Apple seems to have become the evil corporation that they didn't want to be.

I haven't really paid attention to iPhone news, because there is no such device for Verizon. However, this is one of the first iPhone stories I have followed. The only reason is because I hope an iPhone will be coming for my carrier in June. The contract is up, and I really want one.

UPDATE: Here is a link I found explaining part of the story
http://gizmodo.com/5520438/how-apple-lost-the-next-iphone

LTU sign

I am sitting in the Arts and Science building's parking lot at the moment. One thing I notice is that the LTU sign is using the old logo. I wonder if the school will ever change it to the newer logo. Speaking of that, I am actually a fan of the old logo. I don't like how the new one drops the word "university." I think the new logo looks more "trendy," which may work for some people. However, I like the old logo's style. It has more of a classical look to it. The sticker on my car, the patch on my laptop bag, and even some of my LTU related mail has the old logo. I just seem to like it. What are your thoughts? Which one do you like better?

Coco's back!

Everyone knows by now (or should know) that Jay Leno returned to the Tonight Show after the olympics, and it kicked Conan O'Brien off the air. Recently, Conan has started touring America. He is putting on a show called "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour." It won't be coming to Michigan, but I am still with Coco. The big news came last week when Conan revealed the home for his new show... TBS. Yes, the cable network TBS. I am very happy that he will be returning to the air. I do feel sorry for the people without cable, as this is not a major network TV channel. The irony out of this news, is that Conan will be bumping the George Lopez show from 11pm to midnight. Apparently, this is something that George Lopez supported. TBS said the show will begin in November. I kind of get their reasoning on not starting him in September, the month that NBC specified he could return to a competing station. TBS will have MLB playoff games, and it probably would interfere with the new Conan O'Brien show.

So, I will be tuning to TBS this fall to see Coco's glorious return. I'm with Coco, and Coco's with TBS.

Red Wings Playoffs 2010

The Red Wings begin their playoff run tonight at 10pm. They will be facing the Phoenix Coyotes in this first round. I'm excited for the series to begin, but I'm also nervous. The Wings haven't been so great this past season. They have gotten better since the Olympic break, but they were pretty terrible before it. The major component of this team is that of the rookie goalie, Jimmy Howard. He has played the majority of the games since the break, and he is doing pretty well. He will be the Red Wings' starting goalie for this series, which is his first time playing in a playoff game.

I have been an Wings fan pretty much all my life, but I really got into following them when they won the cup again in 1998. I have followed the regular season ever since. This past season has really been different for me, because I barely watched any of the games. I was just too busy with school and work. Watching games was not a priority of mine when I did get free time. The very few games I did watch resulted in the Red Wings losing in overtime shootouts. I think that not watching the wings games has carried over into the playoffs for me. I mean, I will try to watch them. This is really odd for me, because I normally go all out during the playoffs. My Pacifica usually has red wing flags, I usually wear my jersey, and my mood is usually much more energetic. This isn't the case right now. Usually, I am going crazy for the opening game. Today, not so much. I hope this lack of enthusiasm goes away quickly.
Anyways, I'm just ranting now about how I wish I was able to watch more games.


LET'S GO WINGS!

The Hi-Lifter

For my video editing class I have now worked on two projects involving segments from a story I wrote with a friend when I was in 9th grade. I have to say, it has been really cool watching my story come to life. The first project was an audio project. I wrote a small 3 minute script that condensed the opening of the story. The project I'm working on now, which is my final project, is a video of a 5 minute script I wrote. The hardest part of these projects has been trying to adapt a story formatted as a novel into a script. Some of the translation is lost, because everything is visual. For example, if I want to explain something in the story all I would have to do is write about it. In the script I have to take that explanation and make it something visual, or something explained by a character.

So what exactly is the story about?

The story is called "The H-Lifter," and it was written by myself and a friend (Max Mianecki). Max started writing the story when we were in 8th grade, but abandoned it after a few chapters. I loved what he had written, and I begged him for about a year to keep working on it. He eventually started another story called Demon's Crux, which he still is working on to this day. I eventually asked him for permission to continue the story, because I had so many great ideas which I ran by him when he was first working on it. He gave me permission to continue the story, which was only 26 pages when he gave up on it.

The story takes place in a star system much like our own, but there are several inhabitable planets. It starts on the planet of Ganymede 4 where the main character, Gim Pyzack, is running down a dirt road in a thunderstorm. He is an archeologist who is supposed to be meeting a client, to help in his latest dig, at the Kor spaceport. He comes to find out that the client is a woman, and is the feared bounty hunter/mercenary Marean "Blue Star" MacBeth. She has been hired to act as Gim's bodyguard. He is very confused at this, but does not refuse. Gim and Marean are picked up by a geologist named Roget. They spend the entire night driving to a mountainous region of the planet. A few more characters are introduced along the way, but for the most part these three are the main characters. They meet at a camp located at the base of Mt. Schorman. This is Gim's new assignment which is being funded by the Ganymede Federation, the government of the Ganymede planets. After a few days of digging, they realize why Marean has been hired. A ruthless gang of space pirates, known as the Black Wolves, attack the camp. During a battle, Gim manages to find a secret passage into the mountain. His group follows him into it, with Marean being the last one to enter. Gim is astonished to find an ancient shrine. The Shrine is also a technological wonder. It is later revealed to be of Makellion origin. The Makellions were a religious group that once dominated the Ganymede planets. Although they are considered an "ancient civilization", they were technologically advanced. They faded into obscurity after centuries of civil war between two rival religious groups.

The Black Wolves find the passage, and Gim's group tries to set up a defense position inside the shrine. However, something incredible happens. The shrine comes to life, and lights up. They realize they are standing in a room with windows, and can see the innards of the mountain through them. Then, the mountain is engulfed with a blue light. The room they are standing in begins to violently shake. The peak of the mountain begins to fall apart. The room begins to ascend. They don't realize it at the time, but they are in an ancient Makellion spaceship. It takes off into the atmosphere, and completely destroys the mountain.

Well, that's basically how the story begins. The Ganymede Federation targets them as criminals, and the Black Wolves continue to chase them. It's revealed that they are after the spaceship, which Marean dubs "The Hi-Lifter." The rest of the story revolves around the Hi-Lifter, and its many secrets. Without revealing too much, it seems that the Hi-Lifter isn't just a space ship. It is something much more. Gim becomes aware of this when his parents are murdered by the hands of the Black Wolves.

It's almost here....

I seriously can't wait until the semester is over. This semester has been one of my favorites, because the majority of my classes involve what I'm actually going to school for. However, I still can't wait to be free from the work. The majority of my homework/studying/stress comes from my Problems in International Politics class, which is the only non-Media Comm. class I have this semster. I have done great on all the tests so far, mostly because of studying habbits. I read the book, highlight things, and write notes in the margins (because the tests are open book and open note). The tests for this class are notoriously hard, but I have manged to pull off a 19 out of 20, and a 20 out of 20 so far. There is one more test left. The majority of the points in that class stem from the the two papers. I got an A on my midterm, but I worked to my fullest potential on it. Good grades like that are hard to repeat, and I am hoping for the best on my final paper. I have started the final, because I just want to get it out of the way. For the past month it has been like a violent storm that looms in the distance ready to sweep in. I have started the paper to get it out of the way, and focus on my other finals. The other finals involve shooting and editing a 3-7 minute scripted video in Video Editing, Writing a drama script in Advanced Writing for TV, a yet to be determined Camera for Broadcast project, and a test in News Discovery/Radio reporting. I also have a portfolio to put together to receive credit for my Quest project.

(I haven't really had a break from school since summer of 2007 when I finished Specs Howard. I usually take classes in the summer, but I still consider it a break due to the reduced amount of classes I take. )

So here are my plans for the first week of summer break. I plan to hang out with as many friends as possible. I plan to party. I plan to play computer games. I plan to watch TV. I plan to do many things that I haven't done since the fall when I fully dedicated my time to school.
I also plan on visiting the UP again this summer, and perhaps go to Toronto. I used to go to Toronto every summer, but I haven't since I finished high school in '06. The other thing I plan to be doing this summer is reading. I will be taking a literature class, and a Special Topics Apple Pro Certification class. They will both involve reading, which is something that I dislike.

Summer will soon be here.

Mobile Suit Gundam

I used to be really big into Anime. I have faded away from it over the years, but there is still one show that I absolutely love. The original Mobile Suit Gundam. This anime came out in Japan in the late 70s, and it revolutionized their industry. This was also the first mainstream anime to feature a "robot" that wasn't super powerful, and it helped to launch the "Real Robot" genre of anime. Up until this point in time, Japan's anime with "robots" was generally considered to be part of the "Super Robot" genre. This genre featured robots that were unstoppable, had crazy powers, and they seemed to border on the edge of fantasy. Gundam, and the "real robot" genre, features robots (in the case of Gundam they are humanoid weapons that are controled by pilots) that are the opposite of the "Super Robot" Genre. The "robots" in Mobile Suit Gundam are called "Mobile Suits." Mobile suits were made for warfare, are piloted by humans, and are not indestructible like the robots in the other genre.

Ok with that out of the way, let's talk about Mobile Suit Gundam. The animation is garbage compared to today's standards. However, when watching this anime you need to put that aside. Mobile Suit Gundam is about the story, and action. It takes place in the year 0079 of the Universal Century (UC). AD was replaced with the UC timeline when outer space became colonized. According to the anime, more than half of mankind live in the space colonies orbiting Earth. The focus of the show is the war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. The Zeon, who reside in the space colonies farthest from the Earth, launch a war of independance against the Earth Federation. They believe that the colonies shouldn't be controlled by a government based on Earth. The story of Mobile Suit Gundam begins years after the war started. The Zeon are winning, and half of Earth's population have been killed. The Zeon are winning the war not by numbers of soldiers they have (which is small compared to the Earth Federation), but by the technology they use. The Zeon have developed large human-like Mobile Suits called Zakus that are piloted by their soldiers. The Zeon's Zaku is the reason why they are winning the war.

The show starts on a shot of a large white space cruiser docking in a colony's space port. It is the White Base. Basically, it is a topic secret ship that is docking in a colony to pick up prototype Mobile Suits developed by the Earth Federation. However, the White Base was followed by a Zeon space cruiser. To make a long story short, the Zeon launch a sneak attack on the colony with their Zakus. They destroy most of the prototype mobile suits that the Earth Federation have built. The civilians living on the colony are evacuated to the White Base. One of the civillians, Amuro Ray, manages to climb aboard a prototype Mobile Suit.... The Gundam. The Gundam's power and armor is far superior to the Zakus, and it can easily destroy them.

Amuro manages to help the White Base escape from the colony, and over time becomes a member of the Earth Federation. Many of the civillians are forced to help man the White Base until it can return to Jaburo, the Earth Federation's HQ in South America. However, by this point they all have forged a strong bond with the ship. Many of them stay to fight in the war.

The show focuses on the White Base and their fight to survive. The Zeon know about the ship, and repeatedly attack it in an attempt to stop the Gundam. Later on in the series the Earth Federation gives the White Base new orders, and designates them as a decoy ship. They do this, because they know the Zeon try to attack the ship at every chance they get. They plan to use this to their advantage, so they can occupy the Zeons while they amass their forces in space.


The show doesn't sound like much while typing this, but it has an amazing story. The writing is amazing, and evolves over the course of the show. For example, the Zeon first start off as just some generic "bad guys." The home colony of the Zeon is revealed about halfway through the series, as well as their leaders. The Zeon are lead by a man named Duke Degwin Zabi. He is the father to four children who are all rivals with each other when it comes to who will be the successor to his throne. Eventually the his eldest son, Gihren Zabi, assassinates him and turns the Zeon into an all-out dictatorship.

Mobile Suit Gundam is my favorite Anime of all time followed by its sequel, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Zeta Gundam takes place years after the Zeon war for independence, and flips the idea of good vs. bad around. This time the Earth Federation are seen as the bad guys who are fighting the good guys of the Anti-Earth Union Group. Zeta Gundam brings back a lot of the characters from first series. The main character of Mobile Suit Gundam even teams up with his former rival in this series.

The story of Gundam finally ends in a movie released in 1988. However, there have been a number of spin-offs since then. Many of them take place between the events of Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. The more recent Gundam series (such as Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, and Gundam 00) take place in an alternate universe where the UC timeline doesn't exist.

Anyways, I probably wrote too much about... but I just love this show. If you like Anime, I highly recommend you check it out. You may also be able to guess where my internet nickname, J_Zabi, comes from. I use this name for everything from website screen names, to the nicknames in video games.

Fox 2 tour

I went to Fox 2 news on Saturday morning with my class, News Discovery and Radio Reporting (taught by Ken Rogulski). Professor Rogulski set up a tour of the facility with Roop Raj. Were were to meet at LTU...

Rogulski pulls up with his truck, the "News Cruiser" with WJR logos all over it. He is being followed by an LTU security vehicle. Apparently, they thought that he did not belong on the campus (Oh crap! The Media is here!). Anyway, he explained to the Security guy that he was a professor. It was quite a funny way to start the morning off seeing your professor getting tailgated by the LTU security van.


This was my first time at Fox 2, and it looked really nice. The tour was really tailored to reporting and story writing. It's interesting to me, but I really wanted to learn more about the technical aspect of doing the news. I spent the last 15 minutes of the newscast in the control room. It was amazing to see this control room. Everything looked so modern. Instead of having multiple monitors, there were around 5 flat screen TVs. These TVs had video feed from multiple sources, such as the cameras and graphics. The director that morning, Donnie Hopps, was one of my former instructors from Specs Howard. When I went to that school, he directed news in the morning and taught in the afternoon. He always had stories about directing at Fox 2, and it was nice to finally see him directing in person. One of the funnier things I witnessed in the control room was when the producer got mad, because the lower thirds graphic was wrong. Jay Towers was reporting from an Apple store on the iPad launch, and the graphic said "I-Pad" instead of "iPad."

I was also interested in the camera system they had. The cameras are all robotic, and they are operated by a person in the back of the studio. Roop was in the studio talking to us about reporting, but I was more interested on how the cameras worked. He also told us that news stations are creating automated control rooms where only one person is necessary. The person sits in front of a computer and has access to pretty much every piece of equipment. The one drawback is it is harder to fix a problem if something goes wrong, because there is only one person. He said there is a control room being built at Fox 2 that will be automated like the one he described.

Anyway, the trip was really nice. The next one we are going on is to WJR. It's going to be nice to finally see the place that Rogulski talks about pretty much every day.



Here is a pic I took from my DVR. You can see where we were watching the broadcast from, because two of us ended up in the shot. Rogulski walks behind them later on in this shot.

April Fools...

In recent years the Internet has been the stage for April Fools Day pranks. Websites change their layout, add fake stories, and even add fake products. I have to admit, I am rarely every fooled. 2010 has changed that. I was pranked good.
My friend Kiel posted a link to a product on the ThinkGeek store. The product was a "Dharma Alarm Clock" inspired by the TV show LOST. It was amazing! It looked just like the computer in the hatch! I wanted it, even though it was $49.99. I quickly ran to grab my wallet, and get my debit card. I clicked "buy now," but only disappointment followed. The page refreshed with the message, "GOTCHA! April Fools."
I could not believe it....

I really wanted this alarm clock, and there was a period of sadness that overcame me. Then I went to talk to Kiel about it. Kiel recently got into Lost, and he has watched fives seasons of it in under three months. He told me he planned to buy it on Friday when he got paid. Kiel, who I thought had pranked me, didn't even know it was a prank! I told him to click "buy now." He replied with, "DAMN IT!!!"

We were both victims of April Fools Day.

Top 5....

In this post I am going to describe some of my favorite websites.
These are the websites that I usually have open in Firefox. They are also responsible for stealing my precious time. Time, that could be used doing more productive things... like schoolwork.


5.) Macrumors
I am a fan of all things Apple. I frequently go to the forums on Macrumors.com. However, Macrumors is also one of the best sources for Apple news. They have also been responsible for predicting updates to iPods and Mac computers. Overall, the forum consists of a great community. The members there are very helpful. They usually can answer your Apple related questions, and have helped me many times when I have had problems with my Macs. One of the best features of the website is the main page. The main page is full of Apple news, and rumors. Macrumors has risen above all other Apple rumor sites because their rumors are compiled from credible sources, and they almost always come true. (Apple tends to keep their product updates/releases a secret to the public. This is the one thing I hate about Apple.)

4.) Facebook
I think this one is self-explanatory. I made a facebook page a long time ago when Myspace was still in its prime. Myspace eventually faded away, and facebook became the new king of social websites. I use facebook for socializing. I talk to my friends from all over the country. I especially like the chat feature on Facebook, because there are no "screen names." When I used AOL instant messenger, I would sometimes get confused as to who I was talking to due to the screen names being used. Facebook is my number one source for networking with friends, coworkers, and classmates.



3.) Dark UFO
Dark UFO is a popular blog for the TV show Lost. It is most famous for dishing out spoilers. I like to be surprised when watching Lost, but I find myself browsing Dark UFO for filming updates. This site will probably fade into obscurity when Lost wraps up in May. I also like to visit it to read theories on what is actually going on in Lost. Fans can submit their theories, and they can be featured on the site.

2.) 4chan (not safe for work)
Oh boy. How do I describe this website? Pretty much anything funny you see on the internet today was born on 4chan (lolcats, rick roll, and Chuck Norris jokes to name a few). 4chan is an imageboard website where anyone can post anonymously. I started visiting it back in 2003 when I was really into Anime. Today, it has morphed into some weird melting pot of Internet culture. There really is no way to describe 4chan. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will shock you. Not every post is family friendly, and this is apparent in /b (the most popular board on 4chan. In fact, I am breaking the unwritten social rule of talking about /b outside of 4chan). I visit 4chan to get my daily dose of lulz.

1.) Digg
Digg is probably the site I visit the most. Digg compiles what I like to call, "the best of the internet." I usually head straight for the "top 24 hours" tab, where the most popular website links of the day are compiled. The majority of these websites are funny/interesting stories, pictures, and videos. I visit this website every day, and I like it because it does the work for me. I don't have to search google for interesting topics. With Digg I can see these websites without the hassle of searching for them.

From hate to love (Dr. Pepper pt. 2)

In a course of a month I have gone from hating Dr. Pepper to actually liking it.
It all started with the promotion that I talked about in one of my previous entries. I started buying Dr. Pepper to get the codes from the caps for the Battlefield game. I ended up giving most of the bottles to my brothers to drink. However, there were a few that they didn't want. I ended up drinking a few of them, and I think I might actually like Dr. Pepper.I never like it before, and it had always tasted gross. It was one of those drinks that would sit in our refrigerator if anyone actually bought it. Well, the promotion is now over. I still find myself choosing Dr. Pepper if I buy pop. I'm not sure what changed over the years. I have gone from hating it to actually liking it.

This can be applied to other things in my life. I used to never like the show King of the Hill. I would always sit through it on Sunday nights waiting for the Simpsons to come on. Today, it is one of my favorite animated shows. Perhaps I didn't understand the humor when I was younger. A lot of the humor in that show revolves around the stereotypical Texan lifestyle. I also never liked football when I was younger. I love it now. I guess life is just weird sometimes, and this is one fine example of it.

A little over a month to go

There is little over a month to go until the semester is over.
For some people this may be a good thing. However, I wish there was more time. I have several projects to complete: Video Editing final, International Politics paper, finish reading a book for international politics, a camera for broadcast final assignment, interviewing people for the WLTU Quest project, editing that project, and other various writing assignments. Right now it seems like a lot. I know it can get done, but it is going to be a lot of work. April is going to be a month purely dedicated to school. It will be a race to the finish, and full of much schoolwork.

The things I am most worried about are the International Politics paper, and the video editing final. The paper is a majority of the grade in that class. My midterm paper was great. I got an A on it, but I don't know if I can pull that off again for the final paper. The Video editing final will (hopefully) be easy to edit. However, it is the production stage that I am worried about. I am working with my brother and his friends (high schoolers)as the talent, and I have stressed to them how important this project is. I plan to record that project in 2 weeks.

On top of all this, I need to study for various tests. The most important thing I am doing now is reading the third (and final) book for international politics. These books have been brutal, but I am hoping this one will be better. The book is called "Descent into Chaos," and it deals with the United States' involvement in Afghanistan after 9/11. Hopefully this will be better than the last two books. The problem I have with reading for this class is that it takes a long time. I stop and highlight important sections of the book, and take notes on the chapters. The tests in that class are highly dependent on the reading.

I want an iPhone

Flashback to 2007 if you will. After years of horrible service, my family dropped AT&T in favor of Verizon. About a month or so later the iPhone came out. The iPhone is an AT&T exclusive phone. I had no intention of switching back to AT&T for the iPhone... even though the iPhone was amazing.
I have been waiting ever since for the iPhone to come out for Verizon. Rumors would surface, and then disappear over the years of a Verizon iPhone. I am eligible to upgrade my phone this month, but I am going to wait it out until June. AT&T's contract with Apple expires in June, so there is a possibility that the iPhone may come to Verizon. My mom just got the Droid, a really awesome iPhone competitor phone. I really wanted to get it, but if I did I would be tied to that phone for two years. I would be devastated if the iPhone came out during that time. So I still wait with my old eNV 2.... waiting.... and waiting.... for a Verizon iPhone. I might eventually get the Droid if there is no word of a Verizon iPhone at the end of June.

Bad Company 2: The Review

Battlefield Bad Company 2 released on March 2, 2010. I have been playing the game almost every day since the release, and this is my review.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is the sequel to Bad Company. The first game of the series never released on the PC, but this didn't stop EA from releasing the sequel to the PC platform.
DICE, the developer for the game, has a great history of buggy games. Pretty much every Battlefield game has been riddled with glitches when they first came out. Bad Company 2 was no exception. My first major complaint was a connection issue problem in multiplayer. I was unable to connect to about 50% of the games I tried to join during the first week of owning the game. I was not alone. It turned out that every gamer running Windows Vista encountered this issue. DICE recommended right clicking on the game icon in Windows Vista and choosing the "run as administrator" option. This ended up being the fix to the connection issue. However, there was one other problem to deal with. I pre-ordered the game, and I was supposed to be given early access to upgradable weapons. These weapons showed up in every online gaming mode, except for Rush mode. This was a glitch that occurred for everyone who pre-ordered the game. I was actually prepared for glitches with this game, because of DICE's history with these glitches. DICE usually cleans up their mess on the second or third game patch.

There are several different multiplayer game modes in Bad Company 2, but the two most popular are Rush and Conquest. Rush mode involves two teams, the attackers and the defenders. The Attackers rush into the battlefield and try to destroy two mobile command stations (M-Com stations). After the attackers destroy the first two, the defenders retreat back to two other M-Com stations. This process repeats, and the attackers win if they are able to destroy the third set of M-Com stations. The defenders, of course, are charged with protecting these stations. Conquest mode is the classic Battlefield multiplayer mode. Two teams have to hold various positions on the map. There is a number countdown for both teams, and it counts down faster for the team with less objectives held. The goal of this mode is to force your enemy’s ticker to reach zero. Overall, I think these game modes are fine. However, I really liked a game mode called "Titan mode," which was available in 2006's Battlefield 2142. That mode involved capturing missile silos. There were 6 to be captured, and held. The two teams also had giant hover ships in the air called Titans(one for each team). The Titans are protected by laser shields. The missile silos fired missiles every 5 minutes at the enemy's Titan, and over time would destroy the enemy's shield. This allowed for another stage of game play where the goal was to rush onto the enemy's Titan, and destroy the reactor core. It was pretty fun in the futuristic Battlefield 2142. However, it would feel very out of place in the modern setting of Bad Company 2.

There are four soldier classes in Bad Company 2: Assault, Medic, Engineer, and Recon. The assault class' special ability is to provide ammo to other soldiers. They are also equipped with grenade launchers. The medic can heal injured teammates, and they can also revive downed players with a defibrillator. The engineer (my favorite soldier class!) can repair vehicles, and they are equipped with RPGs/rockets that can damage enemy vehicles. The Recon class are snipers and have the ability to plant C4 explosives, or call in mortar strikes on the enemy's position. Overall, I like the classes of Bad Company 2. However, DICE seems to be set on reducing the amount of soldier classes. In Battlefield 2 there were Assault, Engineer, Medic, Sniper, Anti-Tank, Support, and Spec-Ops. Battlefield Bad Company 2 seems to combine Assault with Support, Anti-Tank with Engineer, and Sniper with Spec-Ops. I guess in a way this is a good idea. The Engineer class in Battlefield 2 could only repair vehicles, and the Anti-Tank class could only destroy vehicles. Bad Company 2's Engineer class has the ability to do both. Now, these abilities are only specializations. Every soldier class is equipped with guns for dealing with the enemy infantry.

Finally, I would like to talk about the graphics of Bad Company 2. I was blown away. The graphics in the game are amazing. Everything looks realistic, and it is very detailed. For example, trees are actually blowing in the wind. Almost every building can be destroyed in this game. This definitely changes the tactics of the battlefield. In previous games you would have to sneak into a building to take out any snipers hiding in an attic. Bad Company 2 allows you to just destroy that said attic with RPGs or tank fire. This is revolutionary, and Bad Company 2 is the first in its class to have these destructible buildings. A building can even totally collapse if most of the walls are destroyed. This helps out in the Rush mode, where M-Com stations are located inside of buildings. Traditionally you have to go in and destroy the M-Com station. However, sometimes it is almost impossible to break through the enemy's defense. Snipers can help the team out by placing mortar strikes on the enemy building from a safe distance. Eventually, it will collapse and destroy the M-Com station. The graphics/physics of the game are phenomenal.

Overall, I love Bad Company 2. It is sort of a spinoff to traditional Battlefield games. I am really looking forward to Battlefield 3, a sequel to 2005's Battlefield 2. However, Bad Company 2 can definitely perform the job of holding me over until Battlefield 3 releases. I recommend this game to any fan of first person shooters/war games. I play Bad Company 2 on the PC, but it is also available on Xbox 360 and PS3.

(This shall be my final post on Bad Company 2. I was eagerly awaiting it, and it met all my expectations.)

Burning

I just got done burning a Blu-ray disc about an hour ago. The disc contains about 3 hours worth of 720p HD video (3 episodes of Lost). I record Lost from channel 231 (WXYZ-HD) using my Mac Pro's EyeTV tuner, and then I convert it into an MP4 file. From there I use a program called Toast to burn the Blu-Ray disc in my Blu-Ray drive. From there I waited....and waited during the burning process. During this time I recalled the early days of CD/DVD burning:

My family bought our first CD burner in 2000. One of the main reasons behind buying the CD burner was to back up all of our digital pictures. However, I quickly learned how to burn all of my MP3s and listen to them on my CD player. This thing was a godsend, because previously I used floppy discs to share songs with my friends. Pretty much all my MP3s came from Napster. Ah, the days of Dial-up Internet. I used to download so many songs, and it would tie up the phone line for hours. Anyway, I loved my CD burner. I was one of the first people at my school (a Catholic school in Mt. Clemens) to own one. I would get several lists from my friends with songs to download and burn to CD. Downloading these songs from Napster took forever, and burning them seemed to take just as long. Napster eventually went away (thanks a lot Metallica), and was replaced by programs like Morpheus and Kaaza. However, these even faded away with the advent of the MP3 player. I still burned CDs to listen to my music up until 2003. I ended up getting an iPod that year to replace my portable CD player. I also used the CD burner to burn data/files to CD, but it was mostly dominated by audio CDs.

Next was the DVD burner. My friend Max was the first person in my group of friends to get one. He got it with his family's new computer in 2002. One of the first things we burned with it was a DVD of some Anime shows we downloaded off of Morpheus. I got my own DVD burner in 2005 when I built one of my computers. I burned many DVDs, but the majority of them were my video projects for Telecommunications class. 2005 was the year I moved from Windows Movie Maker to Avid for editing video. So, the DVD burner was a great investment.

My next step in optical drive burning was the Blu-ray burner. I bought it this past fall when I sold my iMac for upgrades to my new Mac Pro. So far I have used my Blu-ray burner for burning HD video projects, and also HD recordings of Lost. Having the Blu-ray burner is amazing. I am able to now shoot HD content, edit HD content, distribute HD content online (via Youtube/Vimeo), and finally burn HD content to Blu-ray to watch on my HD TV.

I don't believe there is a future for discs beyond Blu-ray. I am pretty positive that the next technological step will be digital downloads. I also think that something similar to a micro SD card will be used for movies if the physical medium continues. However, I will enjoy Blu-ray for now.

Dr. Pepper and Battlefield

So the game I have been blogging about, Battlefield Bad Company 2, has been out for over a week now. It is a very fun game, and I have been playing it pretty much any chance that I get. Well, there is a promotion going on where you collect bottle caps from Dr. Pepper and enter a code to get customized weapons and stuff. I'm not sure on what exactly you can download, because that won't be available until tomorrow. However, the promotional caps have been on Dr. Pepper bottles since the game came out.

The problem is, I hate Dr. Pepper. It is gross, but I have been buying it to get the caps from the bottle. I usually bring it home for my brothers to drink, because all I want is a cap. I don't remember the last time I have fallen for promotional gimmicks such as this. I can't believe I am buying pop for a video game. I guess I like the Battlefield series waaaaaay too much.
Well, I am keeping this entry short. I know that some of you might be sick of reading about Battlefield Bad Company 2. I promise I have only one more entry on the game in the future. I want to actually do a detailed review of the game. So, look forward to that review perhaps next week.

Parris Island

I was watching the military channel the other morning, and I got hooked watching a documentary on Parris Island. The island is in South Carolina and is a training facility for Marine recruits.

Anyways, one of the stories in the documentary was about this girl who was kicked out after her first part of training. She ended up telling the audience that she smoked weed a few days before going off to Pariss island during a celebration party. Turns out it showed up in a drug test, and she was kicked out. I don't want to say who, but I have someone in my family who wants to be a Marine after high school. This made me think of him, because he has recently fallen down a path of doing drugs. However, he is still committed to joining the military. I really wish he would watch this, because it would be a real eye opener how drugs can ruin a career. This poor girl just got through the hardest part of training, and then just like that they came and removed her. She messed up her chance all because she smoked weed at a party celebrating her acceptance into the program.

Moving back to Michigan

One of my best friends, Anthony Giesey, is moving back to Michigan. We went to the same school, St. Mary's in Mt. Clemens, from kindergarten to 8th grade. I never really spoke to him until I was around 7 years old. We became good friends ever since that time. At the end of 8th grade he moved with his family to Florida. It kind of sucked that one of my best friends was moving away. However, I was used to it. Several friends from that school lived on base at Selfridge Air Force Base. They rotated in and out of the school. The first time I dealt with this was in 5th grade when my friend Franz moved due to his dad being reassigned elsewhere. However, Anthony's family was not in the military. They moved due to the start of GM's collapse.

I kept in touch with Anthony, even though he lived so far away. He visited every summer since then, and it was nice to see him back in Michigan. He would always come over and hang out with me and my other friends who were friends of both of us from St. Mary's. He moved back to Michigan in 2006 for college. However, he moved to Houghton in the UP. I still kept in touch with him.

This week he was down in St. Clair Shores to be interviewed for a few jobs. He is getting his bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Tech at the end of the semester. He surprised me and all of our friends when he announced he would be moving back to St. Claire Shores. He told us that he got the job offer for a full time gig working on electrical substations. He said he had several offers throughout the country, including his internship from Iowa where he worked on wind turbines. The offer back in Michigan paid more, and they will be paying for him to get his Masters degree. The biggest plus for him is that he will be back in his home town.

So after 8 years one of my best friends will be returning home.

PC modding

Lately, I have been talking about some of the PC games I like. My favorite type of PC games are First Person Shooters. You know, those games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Left 4 Dead. These type of games are incredibly demanding on a PC, especially if you run them on their maximum video settings. An advantage PC gamers have over console owners is the ability to upgrade. For example, the Xbox 360 came out in 2005. Since then I have been able to upgrade my computer various times, and this allows for the PC settings of games to be much greater than their console counterparts. For example the maximum resolution of the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty World at War is 600p (which is a little less than 720p). The PC version's maximum resolution is 2560x1600, which is by far a higher resolution than 1920x1080 (1080p). In layman's terms the PC version's graphics have the potential to be MUCH better than the Xbox 360's. This is solely due to how the Xbox 360 is locked down. You can't upgrade the RAM, CPU, or graphics card in an Xbox 360. This is something that you can do on a PC, and that is why the PC version can achieve better performance. One major caveat is that you have to have high end PC hardware to do this. A $600 Dell computer will never be able to run a game at 2560x1600 with all the game's features cranked up to high. This is why there is a PC hardware industry. One aspect of that industry is to sell to PC modders such as myself.


As far back as I could remember, my family had always owned a computer for everyone to use. Everyone shared our family room computer, but in 2002 I finally got one of my own. My parents bought me a Gateway computer from the now defunct Gateway Store. This was my first venture into computer modding. Throughought the following years I upgraded stuff such as RAM (memory), hard drives, and even my graphics card (the device used to create the computer graphics). I eventually had to find another computer as computer games became more CPU and graphics intense. Two games were preparing to release in 2005, Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty 2. These games were prime examples of why I wanted a new computer. For the first time I looked into the possibility of building my computer from scratch. This was radically different then buying a computer from the store, because it allows for almost any hardware configuration. I ended up buying all of my parts from newegg.com, and assembling the computer on a Friday night. This computer served me well, but by 2008 it was becoming obsolete. I ended up selling it to a friend, and I set out to build yet another computer suitable for the games at the time. I am still using this computer today, but I have upgraded minor things such as the RAM and graphics card.

PC modding is a hobby of mine, and it's quite an expensive hobby. However, it is something I like. I enjoy the thrill I get when shopping for computer parts.
Here are the two computers I built. There are a lot of technical terms, but I do have pictures!

"The Tank" built in 2005

AMD X2 4400+ 2.2GHz Dual Core CPU
ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard
4GB DDR 400 RAM
two EVGA Nvidia 7800GT CO graphics cards running in SLi Mode
DVD-ROM drive
160GB Hard Drive
600w Ultra X-finity power suppy



"The Magi" built in 2008

Intel Core 2 Duo e6850 overclocked to 3.5GHz
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
8GB DDR2 800 Corsair RAM
EVGA Nvidia GTX275 graphics card
DVD-ROM, DVD-RW drives
160GB hard drive, 100GB hard drive

Wedding videographer

A girlfriend from my past is getting married. She recently asked me to be the videographer for her wedding. I totally accepted the offer, because it sounded kind of fun. However, I have never done a wedding video before. I would rather mess up on a random wedding, and not on my friend's wedding. I talked it over with her, and I guess she is still cool with it. Her sister is getting married soon, and she asked me to do her video as well. I have the equipment for it, but I haven't done this sort of thing before. What I have done is concerts. A lot of my friends are in metal bands, and I have recorded and edited their lives shows. My favorite project was for a band called Scoria, and their first performance on the 4th floor of the Masonic Temple in Detroit. They played in a bar on that floor called "The Other Room," which closed a few years back.

When she told me about her wedding, I could only think back to our time together. We dated for about four years, and went our separate ways in 2007. I still liked her for some time after that, but that eventually faded away after she moved out of state. I didn't really start hanging out with her again until 2008 when she moved back. We've been friends ever since, but lately I haven't seen her that much due to school during the week and working midnights on weekends. I hope she has a great wedding in October, and hopefully I can make a great video of it.




(a picture from 2005)

Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Pre-orders

I know I have posted a blog about this game before, but I wanted to bring it up again. The game comes out this Tuesday, and I am extremely excited for it. For PC gamers, big releases like this happen about once every few years. The game will also be for Xbox 360/PS3, but I am excited for the PC version.

I pre-ordered the game back in November through Gamestop online. This is the first time I have per-ordered a game online. Gamestop says it will be at my house on March 2nd. I really hope this is true. One of the reasons I never really pre-order games is because they are usually available in stores no matter what. A lot of people were preordering the collectors edition of Call of Duty World at War back in 2008. I guess they feared that the supply of these collector's editions would run out. I was able to walk into gamestop after class, and buy one even without pre-ordering it. This time around I wanted to make absolutely sure I got the limited edition Bad Company 2. However, I am sure there will still be limited editions of this game on store shelves after the release day.

Like I said, I am very excited about this game. The last Battlefield game (for the PC) came out in 2006. I still play that game, but it is time to move on. The only problem I face now is the factor of time. I have a lot of school work to do, and I am hoping there is a way to find the time required to play Bad Company 2.

New Stretchers

My work is finally getting new stretchers. I work as a patient transporter at Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe, and I have been there for four years. The primary means of patient transport at the hospital involves stretchers. The stretchers we are using are ancient, and leftovers from when Beaumont bought Bon Secours in 2007. They are falling apart, and the wheels on most of them are broken. This results in the stretchers not steering right, and it usually results in more effort on our part to push them. This effort results in strain on the back. I could go on about how bad these stretchers were, but I am excited to talk about the new ones we will be getting.

Last week, our department got the approval for 7 new stretchers. The plan is to purchase even more as time goes on. The stretchers are of the "Big Wheel" model from the Stryker company. Our OR uses these models, and I just love them. The greatest feature on these stretchers is the Big Wheel. It is a giant wheel in the middle of the stretcher, and is used for steering. The Big Wheel also makes the stretcher easier to push. I'm not exactly sure why, but I am guessing it is due to how big the wheel is compared to traditional stretcher wheels. Words can't really express the poor condition of our current stretchers. Patients may not be able to see it, but every transporter knows just how badly we need this. Christmas will soon come again, but this time in the form of a Stryker delivery truck.


(This is the ER version of the Big Wheel stretcher, somewhat similar to what we will be getting. I couldn't find a picture of that exact model)

Nostalgia Moment: Pokemon

Flashback to the late 1990's. What was one fad that was everywhere in America? Pokemon.

Yes, this is an entry about that craze that swept the nation, and even included people like me.

Specifically, this is an entry about how I got involved in the Pokemon craze.

I was 10 years old when the video games of Pokemon Red and Blue came out on the Gameboy in September of '98. My best friend Max, and some of his friends bought the game after hearing about it in the Nintendo Power magazine.This was all before the phenomenon of the Pokemon Cards, which released later that year in December. Now, I actually can't recall if I was aware that the Pokemon games existed at this point. My first memory of anything Pokemon was at the end of December 1998. I went to Max's birthday party, and most of the kids there were playing Pokemon on their Gameboys. I remember a giant poster on the wall of all 150 pokemon, minus their names. One party game we played was to see who could name the most Pokemon without using a book or their game (Yep, no readily available internet back then, without tying up the phone line). Max did pretty well at this game, and so did his friends. I was oblivious to anything Pokemon at this point. Winter break continued on for us fifth graders…

We returned to school after the Holidays, and the Pokemon craze was in full effect. At some point after Christmas, I remember getting Pokemon Blue for my Game Boy Pocket. However, something even more popular had begun. The school was littered with kids playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game, which is possibly the most remembered phenomenon of that time. My first venture into the trading card games came from a classmate TJ. At this point in time, Pokemon cards were sold out everywhere. TJ sold me an unopened "booster pack." I finally got my hands on Pokemon cards, but I needed an actual set to play the game. I need to stress to anyone not aware of what was going on in early 1999. Pokemon cards were IMPOSSIBLE to find. My parents were awesome. They brought me to multiple stores in search of a set of the cards. I probably would never do this for my kids, but they really did love me. We eventually found a "Starter Deck" set of cards at a Toys R' Us. Finally, I was able to play with my friends. Well, most of us know how the story of the cards went. It swept pretty much every kid in the nation. The only thing to come close to this popularity was Furby and Beanie Babies. However, Pokemon was something every kid could like. The card game's popularity eventually faded at the end of 2000. It was fun while it lasted. I could remember recess being dominated by kids playing Pokemon cards. We heard of schools that began to ban the cards, but luckily our school never did.

I really wished that the actual Pokemon video games got more attention back then. Looking back, I think I liked them more. Pokemon Gold and Silver, the sequels to the original games, released to Japan in 1999. I remember getting a Japanese version of Pokemon Silver for Christmas of '99. Yes, it was all in Japanese. Yes, I did not understand one bit of it. However, I was so much into the Pokemon games that I sort of knew what I was doing. One advantage here was the help of walkthroughs on the Internet. I eventually bought the American version of Pokemon Gold when it came out in October 2000. Pokemon then faded into obscurity shortly after that. I ended up buying Pokemon Ruby, which was the sequel to Gold/Silver when it came out in March of 2003. However, the feeling was not the same as the old games. Perhaps, I craved nostalgia. The last Pokemon game I ever played was Pokemon Fire Red, which came out in 2004. I really enjoyed it, because it was a remake of the original 1998 games.

Recently there was an event on Facebook that called for users to change their profile picture to their favorite pokemon. I did so, and at the same time I felt like playing the game again. I dug up my Pokemon FireRed for Gameboy Advance. It was pretty fun, but not as it once was in the 90s. Today, they just offer a glimpse of nostalgia, and remind me of the simpler times…. the times when I worried about which Pokemon to trade for, and not which college midterm to study for.

Dukie

In 2004 my uncle was going through a divorce. He was planning to move out of state, and could no longer take care of a puppy his family had gotten. He was a little Beagle named Goofy. I remember coming home from school, and my uncle was over our house. I thought it was strange, because he rarely visited us. It turned out that he brought over Goofy, and he was giving him to us. We already had a Golden Retriever, and Goofy just kept barking at him. Now for those who don't know, a beagle bark is very loud. My mom worried if it was a bad idea to bring Goofy into our family. It turned out to be the best decision ever. She quickly wanted to rename him, because she thought Goofy was a silly name. We eventually settled on the name Dukie.

Dukie is an awesome dog, and I enjoy spending my time with him. We have had him now since 2004, and he is truly is a part of our family. He is always begging for food, and I usually can't resist his begging. He does have bad hind legs, but this doesn't stop him from running around in the backyard. I usually have to pick him up onto our couches because it hurts for him to jump onto them. I always wanted to bring him to Partridge Creek Mall (an outdoor mall in Clinton Towsnhip), but he hates car rides. He gets really nervous, and sometimes even sick.

Well, I just wanted to share with you one of my favorite pets of all time.




(Dukie is on my bed as I play a computer game)

My first time meeting Jon Schaffer

Brent Smedley, Troy Seele, Freddie Vidales, ME, Matt Barlow, Jon Schaffer
September 21, 2008.
Detroit, Michigan.
Harpo's Concert Theater.

I nervously stood by myself in line outside of Harpo's Concert Theater in Detroit. I was surrounded by strangers all waiting for the same thing. I waited with them for the doors to open. In a sense, we were not strangers. Everyone in line that day shared their love for metal, and more specifically love for my favorite band known as Iced Earth. I waited anxiously to see my favorite band for the first time.

Eventually I made my way into Harpo's. I checked out Iced Earth's merchandise counter, and the counters of the opening bands. I spotted some of my friends walking through the entrance, and it was quite a surprise. I didn't know they would be at the concert. We sat on a bench near the back of the theater making small talk while the local bands played. That is when it happened. Jon Schaffer, the lead guitarist and founder of Iced Earth, walked right before my eyes. I had never seen Iced Earth live, or witnessed Jon Schaffer in person. It was as if God himself walked right in front of me. My friend Kiel said to us, "holy crap, that's Jon Schaffer." We wondered why Jon was near the back of the theater instead of backstage. Well, it was because he was checking out the merchandise counter. Harpo's was Iced Earth's first stop on the Fall 2008 North American tour.

Jon eventually started walking back to whatever door he came out of. I knew he was going to pass us again, so I prepared myself for a fateful encounter. As he walked past the bench again I sprung into action. "Hey Jon," I said. "I can't wait to see you guys up on stage." He smiled and shook my hand. It was the most metal handshake, ever. Some people wait their entire lives to meet the President, or the Pope. My meeting with Jon was the equivalent of those two important figures. It took me 8 years to meet one of the best musicians to walk the face of the earth. Those 8 years all boiled down to a meeting with him in front of a merchandise counter at the back of Harpo's Concert Theater in Detroit. I told Jon that this was my first of hopefully many Iced Earth concerts, and he said he was looking forward to it as well. Although this encounter lasted about 10 seconds, it felt like the eternity. This was a good thing.

I had VIP passes for the concert, so I knew I would eventually meet the band after the show. However, meeting Jon like this was much more awesome. It felt less forced compared to a meet and greet type event. This was the first time I met Jon Schaffer, who I believe is the best songwriter/musician in the world.

Random thought for the day.... Dust.

Over the years my room has collected a lot of dust. I dust constantly, vacuum the dust, and wipe the dust. However, it always comes back within a few days. This is a problem for me, because I have a lot of electronic equipment in my room. Dust inside of electronics is not a good thing. About once a week I will use a can of compressed air on my surround sound receiver, Blu-ray player, and DVR. I have also started to clean out my Mac Pro on a monthly basis. I usually lug my PC to my garage and use an air compressor to clean it out. I don't worry much about the PC, because I have installed several dust filters over the fans.

I have no clue where this dust comes from, because I am constantly cleaning it up. My parents bought me an air purifier device for Christmas. It has relieved the problem, but only by a little bit. It is a tower-like device that stands about three feet tall. It is supposed to run 24/7, but I don't like to run it when no one is home. The dust keeps collecting in my room, and I hate it. I feel like a clean freak, because I am constantly cleaning dust in this room.

Gamestop

Gamestop needs to do a better job checking their refurbished systems. A few years back I bought a refurbished Xbox 360. I quickly set it up at home to the dismay of the notorious Red Rings of Death. The red ring problem is where the Xbox 360 locks up and stops working, mostly due to heat. Luckily, I was able to take it back and exchange it for another system.

Yesterday I bought a refurbished Nintendo DS Lite to replace my aging Original DS. I assumed it would be fine, and I didn’t check it before I drove home. I discovered that the right-hand speaker on the system is broken, and it just plays back static clicking. Today I am going back to the same Gamestop to exchange the DS Lite. Luckily they have a pretty good exchange policy for these things. However, it makes me wonder what is going on at quality control. I am assuming that the systems they buy back are sent out to corporate. Then corporate “refurbishes” them. Maybe I am just unlucky, and I got two duds over the years.

My Mac Pro

Last summer I made the switch from a SD camera to an HD camera. Previously I had been using a Panasonic PV-GS300 which I bought in 2005. I replaced it with a Canon HF-10 AVCHD camera, which was then partnered with a later purchase of a HV-40 HDV camera. During this time I was doing all of my editing on an iMac with multiple external hard drives plugged into it. The iMac was good, but I needed something with a little more power if I wanted to handle HD video. I began to look into making the next step up to a Mac Pro desktop.

In September, I became a proud owner of a Mac Pro. I bought the 2.66GHz Quad core model using a student discount through Apple's online store. I also configured it with 6GB of RAM, and paid for the ATi 4870 video card. I also was able to buy the extended warranty, because I have made use of these warranties in the past with my Macbook. I eventually sold the iMac on ebay, and I used the money to buy some more upgrades. I bought two 1TB hard drives, a Blu-ray burner, an elgato EyeTV USB TV-tuner, another 21" Acer 1080p monitor, and a nice Blu-ray player for my HDTV.

Today, the Mac Pro is a beast. It can handle just about anything I throw at it, and it barely breaks a sweat. One thing I love about the machine is how upgradeable it is. I could have never put three extra hard drives in my iMac, because it was not made to be user upgradeable. I am hoping that this Mac Pro lasts for five years. I think I'll even venture into upgrading the CPU in four years when the warranty expires.

(This picture is from before I bought my new 1080p TV. I have also organized all my wires as you can sort of see in the second picture)

Avatar...yeah.

"It seems Avatar will be a DVD rental for me."
~Me (from January 14)

I proved myself wrong on Friday, and I have succumbed to the Avatar hype. I finally went to go see it in IMAX 3D. Visually, it was amazing. However, the plot was far from amazing. Too much time was spent on...

( warning, here be spoilers: )

...Jake trying to fit in with the Navi people, or Smurfs as my dad called them. If I was in his shoes I would have done otherwise. I would have accepted the Colonel's deal to get my legs working again. I like my legs, and I am sure Jake liked his legs when they worked. He should have accepted the deal instead of pretending to walk again through linking his mind to an Avatar.

I was much more fond of the visuals. The 3D effects were amazing, and it really made the CG look lifelike. I feel that all the human scenes were so lifelike. I think the 3D suffered when it was just scenes with the Navi people. The coolest shot was the opening scene where all of the humans were waking up on the spaceship. That shot really took full advantage of the 3D effects.

That is my two cents on Avatar. Is it the greatest movie ever? No. Is it a good movie? You bet.

THE BIG GAME!!

Super Bowl Sunday is now upon us. Once again the Detroit Lions will not be playing. I like sports, but I usually am not interested in other teams. My two favorite NFL teams are the Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders. Yes.... two of the worst teams in the NFL. Perhaps one day the Lions or the Raiders will make it to the Super Bowl.

I am usually swept up into the hype of the game, and by hype I mean commercials. The last Super Bowl I really watched for the actual game was two years ago. This was only because I had recently purchased an HDTV. How will I entertain myself if I only watch for the commercials? This year's answer is homework. I am going to be reading my Camera for Broadcast book, putting together my news package assignment for Advanced TV Writing, and all of this while digitizing four camera's full of footage from Saturday's Miss LTU event.

I will admit that it would be nice to see the Saints win, because New Orleans deserves a comeback.

Bittersweet

It is the beginning of the end. Tonight, ABC's Lost begins its final chapter. I am a long time fan of Lost, and I have become obsessed with it over the years (although I didn't start watching it until season 2). I own every season on both dvd and Blu-ray. In less than 4 hours, the final season will start. Emotionally, I am a mess of happiness and sadness. Lost is ending! This is a bittersweet feeling. It feels like senior year in high school, where one could only embrace the final days. There is so much to do, but at the same time you know it is your final year. You want to remember all the good times, and forget about the bad times (Nikki and Paulo).

The clock is ticking, and there are only 16 more episodes of Lost. This is it Lost fans! The answers are (hopefully) coming!

Return to the Battlefield.

I used to play a lot of video games when I was younger. Sonic, Mario, Zelda, Megaman, and even Pokemon. Over the years I faded away from being a hardcore video gamer. The only series I still follow is the Legend of Zelda series. However, I am also a computer gamer. There is a difference between video games and computer games (well, that's how I feel about it). Video games are what you play on a console in a living room with friends, whereas computer games are played at a desk with your computer. The social aspect of computer gaming is primarily through online interactions. I may have faded away from video games, but I never faded away from computer games. My favorite genre is that of the first person shooter. It may seem violent, but it is really fun! Call of Duty and Battlefield are my two favorite PC game series. This post will focus on the next installment of the Battlefield series.

Battlefield is a series of first person shooter games created by DICE, and published by Electronic Arts. It all started with the WWII themed Battlefield 1942, which released in 2002. Honestly, I was never a fan of it. I stuck to my game at the time, Medal of Honor. I didn't get into Battlefield until the 2004 sequel, Battlefield Vietnam. There was something about the game that made it seem refreshing from all the WWII-themed games. My love for Battlefield deepened in 2005 when Battlefield 2 released. Battlefield 2 was a modern warfare game. Battlefield 2 was "the game" among computer gamers. It quickly became the benchmark for all computer builders and hardcore gamers. It had amazing graphics, and demanded a very fast computer. Luckily, I had just build my first computer earlier that year for running Call of Duty 2 flawlessly. The last Battlefield game to release for the PC was Battlefield 2142 in 2006. The game features a futuristic world that has been devestated by an ice age. A coalition of Asian countries are left to fight the European Union over what little land is left in the world. Battlefield 2142 is my favorite game in the series. I favor it because of all the mechanical improvements to the game, such as squad-based tactics. Battlefield 1943 and Battlefield Bad Company were two more sequels. However, they were never released for the computer. Instead they saw fame on the Xbox 360.

Flashforward to March 2, 2010. This it the day that Battlefield will make its return to the PC in the form of Battlefield Bad Company 2. It is a sequel to the Xbox's Battlefield Bad Company. The gameplay is a little different than the traditional Battlefield games, and I see it as a spin-off title. I know this, because I am one of the lucky people who have been granted access to the Beta(Betas are a somewhat completed game that are played by individuals to help the programmers fix any bugs before the retail release). It is a very fun game, and I can not wait to pick up my pre-ordered copy. I haven't had much time for anything besides school and work. However, I hope to make some time to play Bad Company 2.

iPass on the iPad

Apple announced a new product dubbed "iPad" on Wednesday. This is the long awaited tablet that has been under wraps at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino. The hype was everywhere. Every blogger frantically typed away during the big unveiling event. I must admit that I was interested in buying an Apple tablet. I changed my mind after the unveiling.

The iPad is basically an over-sized iPhone. Wait. No isn't. The iPad can't make calls, and it lacks a camera. Basically, this thing is an over-sized iPod touch. It even looks weird to me. It is not wide screen, which to me is a step backwards. A key issue to me is that it lacks a plug-in called "flash." Flash is what powers websites like hulu. I rely on hulu to watch my shows, and it would have been nice to watch them on a tablet. This is especially so on the iPad, because it houses a battery that will last for 10 hours. This battery is the only positive aspect of the iPad. I don't remember the last time I had nothing to do for 10 hours straight, but this device would handle it. The last issue I have with the iPad is that it does not run OS X. It is running the iPhone OS, and it looks silly. It literally looks like someone gave the iPod Touch Miracle-Gro. I will not be buying an iPad unless it receives a MAJOR overhal in its second generation.

Skipping school for video games

One thing I miss about being a child is the "sick days." Right now I have a cold and I would love nothing more than to stay home and sleep all day. However, this is not possible. Right now, as I type this, my brother is sitting in his room. He has decided to skip school to play Mass Effect 2, which is a video game that he bought last night for the Xbox 360. This is not a first for him. I have told him numerous times how "sick days" are not possible when he gets out of high school. So as he sits there playing his game, I wish I could stay home too and rest. I have things that must be done, and classes I must attend. I miss the time where I could stay home from school. The only time I skipped for a video game was when Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker came out in 2003. Later my friends tempted me to skip school for the release of Halo 3 in 2005, but I declined. Looking back I probably should have skipped for that game. It probably would have been the last time I could actually have a "sick day" over a video game.

More electronic woes...

I own a LG BD-270 model Blu-ray player, and it is has a split personality. Most of the time it is fine with playing all of my favorite movies. However, it has a dirty secret. It sometimes likes to shut itself off after 5-10 minutes of playing a movie. I would say that this happens around 40% of the time. I bought the player for $150 back in September, and now it retails for $99. I am beginning to research into other Blu-Ray players, because I get frustrated when it acts up. Though, the problem to that proposed solution is money. Is it worth spending around $150 for another Blu-ray player when my current player only shows symptoms around 40% of the time? This is the question that I have been asking myself during the past few weeks. As you may know, I am currently 5 seasons in to my "Lost on Blu-ray" re-watch. It seems like my player shuts off on every other disc.

Let me illustrate what has been happening. I pop in a disc, and await for the chance to hit the menu button to skip all of the previews. The menu loads, and I am finally able to start watching the movie. I finally get through all the opening credits, and then... blackness. The Blu-ray player shuts off. Sometimes the screen dips to black for a quick second, and then everything is fine. However most of time it goes to black, and then the player shuts off. I updated the firmware after this happened the first few times. This seemed to do nothing. Then, I noticed that the player gets extremely hot on the bottom. In an effort to relieve overheating, I placed it on top of a mesh rack sort of thing. This did not solve my problem, but it has helped to keep the player cooler when running. So, if this keeps happening I may be turning to a Sony Blu-ray player. After all, it would complement my Sony HT-SS360 surround sound player.

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February 2nd is a strange Holiday in the United States. The majority of Americans turn to a furry mammal to predict an end to Winter. However, there is something else happening on Groundhog's Day this year. Americans will be tuning into ABC to witness the beginning of the end for the television show Lost. The sci-fi/drama got its start on September 22, 2004. February 2nd marks the beginning of the 6th, and final season, of the show.

In my mind, Lost is one of the best shows ever produced. However, I did not get into the show until the second season. I heard the hype about Lost when it first premiered, but I was skeptical of a show based on people stranded on an island. My favorite radio program at the time, Drew and Mike on 101.1 WRIF, constantly hailed Lost as a fabulous show. I finally caved in and bought Season 1 on DVD during a sale at Best Buy. I was hooked after the first episode. I finished the season in less than three days. I quickly caught up on Season 2 by downloading it on a file sharing website. The purchase of season 1 had transformed me into a Lost fanatic. I have watched every episode sense in amazement. I do not think there is one bad episode of the show.

Random thoughts on the Apple Store.

Today I went to the Apple Store in Partridge Creek Mall to get my white Macbook repaired. The Macbook developed a crack in its casing back in October, and I felt that it was finally time to bring it in for the repair. The crack in the casing was located where the upper lid closes and meets the keyboard. This is a common problem with the plastic Macbooks, and it is the third time it has happened to mine. I bought my Macbook in June 2007, and it has gone through several repairs since then. Three of these repairs were with the cracking issue, but one other repair dealt with the logic board. The logic board on my Macbook shorted out after just three short months of owning it. Every problem I have had was quickly repaired at the Apple Store.

The Apple Store is a wonderful place. Today's repair only took 15 minutes. This would be impossible for a PC owner to accomplish at a big box retailer. I was able to play with the new iMacs while the Mac Genius repaired my Macbook. I bought my Macbook with the extended Apple Care warranty, and this has allowed me to receive free repairs ever since. The warranty expires this Mjavascript:void(0)ay, and looking back I believe it was a good thing to buy. I bought a Mac Pro Desktop this past September, and like the Macbook I also bought the extended warranty. I do not foresee my desktop going through the same abuse as a portable machine, but it is always eases my mind knowing a Mac Genius will repair it for free.

Avatar....

Avatar. Avatar. Avatar!! The world is in an Avatar frenzy. This movie seems to be sweeping the nation by storm. I must admit, I have not seen the movie yet. Perhaps, this might be due to all the hype. Just the other day I tuned in to my favorite radio station, 97.1 The Ticket. My favorite program was on, Middays with Karsch and Anderson. It seemed like they spent the entire show talking about Avatar. Almost every caller was calling in to talk about the movie. Several callers brought up the reason why I have not seen the film yet. This reason is the plot.

I don't go to movies just to see fancy special effects. Movies, to me, are all about telling a story. The story of Avatar, from what I have been able to gather, is simple. It is a recycled story seen in movies like Pocahontas and Dances With Wolves. Another reason to lack of interest in Avatar is the recent TV promo. "James Cameron will change the way you watch movies," the narrator states. To me this is complete nonsense. James Cameron is not going to be remembered as a revolutionary in cinematic technology. Mr. Cameron seems to have an ego as big as Jay Leno. This is especially apparent when he shouted "I am king of the world" during his Oscar acceptance speech for Titanic. From what I have gathered, the special effects in Avatar are amazing. However, I don't think they are going to proclaim Cameron as someone who will change movies.

Time is a final reason why I have not seen Avatar yet. I have a full time school schedule, and a part time midnights work schedule. I have yet to find any free time throughout the week. Over break I dedicated myself to re-watching five seasons of the show Lost in time for February's season 6 premiere. I have only made it to season 3, and I spend any of my free time trying to crunch out episodes of Lost. It seems Avatar will be a DVD rental for me.

My stance on Late-Night.

I fully support Conan O'Brien during this horrific time in his life. Jay Leno has had his time in the spotlight, and should be ashamed that NBC is going to be handing "The Tonight Show" back into his hands. Conan O'Brien, according to his own monologue, had always dreamed about being the host of The Tonight Show. His dream is now being crushed after only 7 short months on the air. Jay Leno is weaseling his way back to the glorified 11:35pm slot. TMZ has reported that this is now a done deal, and that Conan O'Brien has been forced to walk away from NBC. To me, this is bittersweet. I am angry that Conan has been put into this position. However, I am also for the fact that Conan may soon be on a rival network. I would love to see nothing more than Conan steal viewers away from the likes of Jay Leno. NBC and Jay Leno seem to have some kind of romantic connection with each other. When Jay retired from the Tonight Show, he was quickly given a prime time show at 10pm. This prime time show has flopped, and Jay Leno will more than likely be returning to his former 11:35 show. I take a stance supporting Conan's future endeavors as the NBC late-night mess chugs onward. I'm with CoCo... are you?