BP oil spill - some thoughts and how you can help
Posted Fri, Sep 3 2010 { 0 Comments }

I watched a show about the oil rig explosion and subsequent oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico. They were interviewing different people who all had different opinions as to why it was bad... some were concerned about losing their shrimp or oyster businesses; others about the loss of the wetlands. There was a common theme that ran throughout most their interviews...

BP (British Petroleum) was to blame and the government was not stepping up to hold them accountable and get the issue resolved in an appropriate manner. [Read More]

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Hamster powered Internet
Posted Tue, Jul 27 2010 { 0 Comments }

In a "genius" move from their marketing department, Fairpoint Communication is advertising their bundle packages by showing a hamster looking creature being whipped into shape by running on a treadmill. Maybe it's just me but that's not really the image I want to instill in potential customers... the thought that my Internet and phone are going to be powered by a hamster on an exercise wheel.

Stroke of genius...

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Michael Scott leaving "The Office"
Posted Thu, Jul 22 2010 { 0 Comments }

It has been confirmed that Steve Carell is leaving The Office after this season. He wanted to fulfill his contract and now has decided to spend more time with his family.

I'll admit that I wasn't always a fan of the show. In fact, the first time I watched it I had to change the channel. Now I have watched almost every episode made and thoroughly enjoy it. I have crammed every season's watching enjoyment into about a year and a half. Maybe that's why it is so interesting to me still. It's novelty hasn't started to wear off yet. [Read More]

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New Ghost Recon coming fall 2010
Posted Sat, May 29 2010 { 0 Comments }

I saw in a recent edition of "The Game Informer" magazine that there's another Ghost Recon game coming this fall. It sounds like there are a couple of feature enhancements that have the potential to improve the gameplay depending on how it is truly implemented.

I lost a lot of respect for those series of games coming from Ubisoft at the end of Ravenshield's run and with the introduction of Athena Sword. The reliability and programming optimization was really poor. Gameplay was tired and nothing really differentiated the series from other games in that genre. [Read More]

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Apple iPad... a quick review
Posted Fri, May 21 2010 { 1 Comment }

The $599 (USD) I spent for my 32GB Wi-Fi iPad is the best amount of money I've spent in a long time. The iPad is my iPod, a small computer, a video player and hand held game device all rolled into one. I'm constantly connected to this while at home. It's so easy to carry around... not too big or heavy.

I notice that I've been downloading a ton of free apps mostly but I've also "pre-loaded" a bunch of videos for when I take it traveling. The Internet is fast and I'm able to check various email accounts from this device rather than my traditional method of logging into various web interfaces on my PC. [Read More]

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Left 4 Dead 2
Posted Sun, Apr 25 2010 { 1 Comment }

I'll admit... I was very hesitant about buying this game. Now that I've played it, I know that I should follow my gut feeling or at least play the BETA before buying.

I would have to rank this game below Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and nowhere near Modern Warfare 2. This game is just wave after wave of zombies, which I guess is the point but there appears to be no consistent storyline. Each "campaign" is independent from the others. At the end of one you see "The survivors have escaped" yet the next campaign has you right back on the ground fighting for your lives again. [Read More]

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Posted Sun, Apr 11 2010 { 0 Comments }

I must say... I am thoroughly disappointed. I expected the graphics to be less than stellar if this game was going to hold true to the rest of the franchise but this game really lets down when it comes to story line and game play in the single player campaign. Dice attempts to throw too much humor into the mix and it just detracts from the attempted seriousness of the situation.

In addition the controls aren't as responsive as its main competitor: Modern Warfare 2. Aiming down the sight does you almost no good and the guns appear to be more accurate when using the onscreen cross hairs unlike MW2. [Read More]

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Farmville... Can it be any more unreliable?
Posted Sun, Mar 7 2010 { 0 Comments }

Those of you that are part of the Facebook community are probably familiar with the game Farmville; a game similar in concept to Sim City but for farming.

I have a pretty big beef (get it... beef? 'cause of the cows... NM!) with Farmville. It is very unreliable. Friends try to send me things and the whole process gets botched... consistently.

I'll ask for Gold for the St. Patrick's Day special gifts they are currently running. [Read More]

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While the cats away...
Posted Thu, Mar 4 2010 { 0 Comments }

... the mice will play.

Not this one. I was given a short stint of bachelorhood for a few days and didn't alter my routine. The only "crazy" thing I did was change my bedtime from 10pm to 12am. I know... crazy, right?!?

I'm not complaining yet just stating that given the choice of freedom to go out and roam the streets, I'd still rather stay home in my pj's and play some Modern Warfare 2 or watch a movie.

I did get to watch a couple of movies that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. [Read More]

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Microsoft Live Movie Maker... Forget it
Posted Fri, Feb 19 2010 { 0 Comments }

I've been using Microsoft Live Movie Maker to make some short videos of my Modern Warfare 2 game play. I ran into an issue yesterday trying to make a montage of my deaths and had 12 short clips of about 6 seconds each and wanted to piece them together one right after another.

First, it kept freezing while editing the time line then when I went to actually compile the video it would freeze at various points. Needless to say, I never got the video completed. I'm now just waiting for Adobe Premiere Elements to arrive so I can continue making videos and will be removing this from my computer all together. [Read More]

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Facebook too big for their britches?
Posted Wed, Feb 17 2010 { 0 Comments }

On a number of occasions I've attempted to use Facebook and have found the site unresponsive or so slow that I couldn't take it anymore and left. Makes you wonder if they got too big too fast that their systems couldn't keep up with demand and now their customers are paying the price.

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Who needs hot water?
Posted Thu, Feb 11 2010 { 1 Comment }

So my hot water heater decided to spring a leak the other day and damage a bunch of the new carpet we had installed in the new tv room in the basement See here for story. I heard water trickling all day but thought it was just our central air unit which as a pump to send the water down the sewer. As I was leaving the room, I stepped in a wet spot (all right, mind out of the gutters) and thought that one of my cats had pee'd on the floor (which they have been known to do on occassion). [Read More]

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Fear and Love
Posted Wed, Feb 10 2010 { 0 Comments }

So you might be wondering why my tagline for the blog is what it is.

Well, I have really started to get into "The Office", the US comedy starring Steve Carell as Michael Scott, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly, John Krasinski as Jim Halpert among others. In one episode the camera man asks "Michael" if he would rather be feared or loved and his answer is:

"Both..."
"I want people to be afraid of how much they love me."

I love that line and it seems to have become my slogan as of late. [Read More]

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