I'm Officially Ready for Break

Only a week and a half to go, but I'm more than ready for break. In my way, finals...

Just telling everyone here that goes to college, good luck on finals, and enjoy your break. Study hard, then once finals are over, drink hard, and take it easy. 

Only a week and a half to go...

Left 4 Dead Review

Some games just sound like a dream come true, Left 4 Dead is one of them. 4 Player Co-Op, tons of Zombies to kill, and some weapons to use against them. How does Left 4 Dead stack up to this year's competition?

The game's premise is simple, you and 4 other survivors must cooperate to survive hoards of zombies. The weapons list is a little short, but the shotgun, both auto and pump, is good enough in my opinion. There are 4 campaigns that are all different in environment, setting, and the rescue finale.

The different rescue finales are what make each campaign different and worth playing. There are four different rescues: helicopter, taking off in a plane, boat, and this humvee like thing. The helicopter rescue is epic as epic can be, where zombies fly at you non-stop as you are on-top of the world on a high-rise hospital building. The best part about the rescue finales is that the zombies never stop coming. Even when you're in the rescue vehicle, they will still come at you.

Other then that fun campaigns, the multiplayer is fun, and playing as a zombie is good times. The game however falls short in graphics and lasting appeal. It's certainly fun, but its not nearly as intense as Gears of War 2.

The game is fun, and is definitely worth a pick up if you ask me. If you like old school shooter games, Left 4 Dead will appeal to you in a lot of ways. 

Let's Bail Everyone Out!

First Wall Street and Banks, now GM, Ford, and Chrysler.

Hey, is there a line where I can wait in for a bail out? It seems like if you mess up these days, the government has your back*.

*If you are a big American corporation.

Who takes the fall for big corporation's irresponsibility's? You! Of course. I don't know where to begin. First off, GM, Ford, and Chrysler have been pumping out tons of trucks and SUV's, while Asian manufacturers have been producing more fuel efficient vehicles. 

Here's an easy to follow, straight forward, simple explanation as to why GM, Ford and Chrysler are in a bad situation: Americans like to save money, gas costs money, the more gas you use the more money you pay. Whoah...what a revelation. Maybe I should work for GM, Ford or Chrysler? Only bad thing is that I wont take a $1 a year salary. 

I'm sure there's more to the bailout plan, and I do not want to see thousands of Americans lose their jobs, but arriving in Washington to ask for millions of dollars in your...million dollar jumbo jet? Yeah, bad call on that one.

vLog 4

My cheapo phone can do everything the iPhone can...kind of.

I love watching iPhone commercials promoting the use of the iPhone's "App Store", in which you can purchase Applications that will help you in some way.

For each application Apple decides to advertise as a reason to buy the iPhone, I came up with a simple, yet logical, alternative to the iPhone.

1. Friends Application: One application Apple boasts about is a friends application that lets you know where a friend is, what he or she is doing, and allows you to send them a message. What a great breakthrough, here's my alternative: I call the person I want, ask him where he or she is, what he or she is doing, and bam....I now know. Extra convenience: I don't even need to send them a message...I can just ask them...over the phone.

2. Unknown Song Application: Ever want to know what song is playing? Easy, with the new iPhone app you can put the iPhone up to the speaker, and it detects what song it is. Cheap solution? Call your music guru, put the phone up to the speaker, maybe, or maybe he won't tell you what song it is. 

3. Restaurant Finder: Choosing a restaurant based on what you want, price, menu selection, ad anything else logical is officially out of style, with the iPhone, you shake the phone to decide what restaurant you want to go to. My solution? Pick one I want to go to. Done. If I am daring and want to try a new restaurant, I can ask a friend or local...ground breaking technology at my hands. 

I'm not trying to down the iPhone or Apple, but it seems that for every expensive Apple feature, there's a cheaper, logical alternative around it. Man, maybe I need to pick a new topic seeing as my previous post tore apart the new MacBooks. 

P.S. I'm still a Apple fan. 

Apple's new MacBooks: Step Forward? Backward? Sideways? Who Knows...

I guess you can consider me a Apple fan; I like their laptops, software, and the simplistic design they employ in their products. However, I'm scratching my head at the new MacBook's from Apple. I always believed in "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" The new Apple laptops are not exactly broken, however, a lot of people were content with the previous design of the old MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Do the new Apple laptops take a step in the right direction? 

I have several complaints with the new MacBooks...all listed in order of WTFness.

1. No Firewire on the new MacBooks: I don't understand it at all. My current MacBook has Firewire 400, which is great for using my external hard drive or camcorder. The new MacBook's have NO Firewire at all. That's a huge blow to anyone looking to edit videos, since most DV Camcorders use Firewire 400. I find it amazing a feature any run of the mill PC would have, a Mac doesn't.

2. Higher Price Tag: The great new addition to the MacBook line is that they added nVidia integrated graphics. While unfortunately, they're still integrated, its at least better than the Intel graphics offered on the older models. I'm scratching my head though...the other hardware remains the same, yet an increase of $300 on the MacBook? I thought the MacBook was supposed to be the affordable laptop from Apple? The MacBook starts at $1,300...which is a increase of 300 from the previous generation. You could buy a friggin graphics card for 300 bucks.

3. The new Trackpad: The new MacBooks feature trackpads made of glass, and offer no button...you literally click in the pad on your selection. The glass feels pretty nice and smooth, but the trackpad clicking throws me off. I've always used my thumb to select what I want. True, you could probably get used to it, but what's wrong with a button? Or are buttons now out of style?

4. Firewire: Again, another Firewire problem. Thankfully, the new MacBook Pro has Firewire....800. Nowhere to be found on the MacBook Pro is Firewire 400, which is a interface many people use. I just don't get why they couldn't fit Firewire 400 on there as well.

5. Display Port: Every new MacBook has a "Display Port", which is a proprietary connection for external displays from the MacBook and MacBook Pro. There's another $20 bucks you need to shell out to connect to your TV, monitor, whatever. The previous MacBook Pro's had a DVI connection, which required no adapter for most HDTVs. Not only that, but the previous MacBook Pro's included a DVI to VGA adapter, nice touch. The new MacBook's however leave the connector out, forcing you to shell out extra money, unless you want to use the new Apple displays...just be willing to spend upwards of $700 dollars. 

6. 2 USB Ports: One complaint a lot of people had (Myself included) was that the previous MacBooks only had 2 USB Ports. I know Laptops are designed to be on the go, but everything runs on USB these days. Hell, even the iPod, iPhone, or any other Apple accessory runs on USB. Only 2? If you're going to re-vamp a notebook lineup, at least add more, not less.

It's hard for me to love the new Apple notebooks. They certainly look good with the new Aluminum unibody construction, black bezeled display, and a slim and sleek design, but Apple should think function before form. I think its a joke those buying a new MacBook to use to edit videos with their DV Camera are out of luck because the MacBook's don't include Firewire. Sure these are small things I am complaining about, but sometimes the small things make or break our utility of the products we spend the most on.