Yearly Archives: 2008

New Year’s ReVolutions 2009

Posted on by
Reply

This year has been quite the doozy! So much has happened this year, that one must take this time to reminisce on 2008 and think about what you would like to see in 2009.

I for one, did not write any music in 2008. That is unheard of. So for 2009 I am planning on writing a lot more and hopefully recording  and sharing with you whatever it is I conjure up. I also want to take a stab at reviewing music for local bands. I think it could be fun and hopefully it stirs up the local non-existent music scene.

We all know we never stick to resolutions, so this year I am proposing: New Year’s “ReVolutions”. Write down a few things you’d REALLY like to stick to next year on a small piece of paper. Tape it somewhere you’d see it often. Perhaps your mirror or somewhere on your desk. This way, hopefully, you will remind yourself that this year you’ve opted for a Revolution!

What are your New Year’s ReVolutions?

Why Gamefly makes sense.

Posted on by
1


My last post related to the new Netflix integration into the Xbox Live world. While I have been enjoying this new feature immensely, its got me thinking …. What about game rentals??

A few months ago I cancelled my Gamefly membership because of some budgeting and time reasons. I had worked my way up to a level 3 membership earning discounts and other things with my account. It was definitely sad to leave Gamefly but now, I’m back at it. As I went to confirm my new subscription, I remembered, ah crap … I have to WAIT for these games to be delivered via snail mail. Lame.

Xbox Live and Playstation Store already have games you can buy which is pretty cool but what about renting?? I think it would be really cool to have a Gamefly-esk service built into the consoles that give you the instant satisfaction of say … streaming Netflix movies to my Xbox.

So let’s say you have purchased the Gamefly 2 game plan. This package goes for $22.95 a month or $275.40 a year. If you purchase a gift certificate and give it to yourself, you can get the same package for $238.10.

So let’s take $238.10 and divide it by $60 … also known as the price for a newly released console game.

This comes out to 3.96 .. We’ll round it up to 4.

Essentially then, for $238.10 (the price of 4 games) … you can RENT 2 games out at a time for an entire year. If you are an avid gamer, this math makes complete sense. Will I play more than 4 games in a year, you betcha. So why not just rent them? You always have the choice to keep them if you REALLY like them.

Thoughts?

Netflix on Xbox 360. Thoughts and impressions.

Posted on by
1

Oh yes. The time has come. Netflix has arrived to the almighty Xbox.

Now, previous to this Netflix/Xbox marriage, I already thought Xbox Live was solid. I’ve had a Xbox Live Gold membership for a few years. While it is true that in the recent years I haven’t logged as many hours as I used to (aka while I was in college), I still believe Xbox Live is a great service.

With this new addition of Netflix and the redesign of the Xbox Live Dashboard, I really think Microsoft and the Xbox Live team have really taken this product to the next level.

A few quick observations from my initial (and short) hands on experience with the new Xbox Live:

  • New Avatars are kinda ripped off from the Nintendo Wii Characters (sorry)
  • NetFlix movies start up super fast and I have a mediocre DSL connection
  • NetFlix movies are of acceptable quality
  • I would like to see the ability to browse Netflix movies right from the Xbox. Currently you have to use your Mac or PC to login to the Netflix website and make your selections there.
  • New Dashboard layout will take some time to get used to. Things which were 1 click away seem to be a little more hidden now. (IE where do I turn on/off automatic Arcade downloads? Can’t find it!!)
  • Will we see more games that make better use of the new avatars? Perhaps some MMORPGs?
  • Saving original game disc data to the console for faster loading time is cool but I haven’t tried since the games are HUGE and my hard drive isn’t that big. Also, how long will it be before someone hacks this new feature? How long before that will it take Microsoft to patch it.
  • Movie list looks a bit short and outdated, hopefully they work out those deals so I can watch newer movies.

I’m sure there are still some new features I have yet to discover and as I do … I’ll be sure to share. Hope you are also enjoying the new Xbox Live!

Books Books Books!

Posted on by
Reply

Holy Cow. This has been the year of the book. I think I read more books this year than in my entire college career. There is something about reading for pleasure that makes it so much more enjoyable.

I must admit. I love the feel and smell of books. There’s nothing like turning the crisp pages on a brand new book. I also love book covers and I’m totally guilty of judging books by their covers. Oh well!

Here is a pretty cool site that lets you browse books by their covers:
http://bigbooksearch.com/

Goodbye Facebook Pt.2

Posted on by
Reply

This is just a super short update letting you know that in the course of 24 hours since I’ve deleted my facebook account, I’ve typed “www.face……” at least ten times in the address bar. For absolutely no apparent reason, I will randomly open a new blank Safari window and start navigating to facebook. Talk about human conditioning. Hopefully in the next day or so I’ll stop doing that and start finding new websites I’ve never seen before. Stay tuned for any good finds.