The New DSi, Oh My!

Nintendo's DSi Pros and Cons.
When I first saw Nintendo's next generation handheld system the DS (Dual Screen), I thought was big, gray, and awesome! It had really cool features and great new games but could still play my old GBA games too. Within a month of the North America release, I bought my very own system. I've spent many hours playing with it but ever since the announcement of the DS Lite, I've been wanting to get rid of my original style Nintendo DS -- or as most like to refer to it as the "brick" -- and get a thinner, all around better version. I didn't want to get a DS Lite, however, because I knew Nintendo was going to come out with a second redesign that would be even better than the Lite. I waited patiently... FOR MORE THAN 2 YEARS and, finally, Nintendo has announced it's third platform, the DSi. It'll have bigger screens, an even slimmer design, and not one but two cameras! But it replaces the GBA slot with an SD card slot, which is both good for new ways to store and view media but also bad since I won't get to relive all those old GBA games again or be able to grip my DS when playing Guitar Hero: On Tour. I'm not sure what to do. The DSi with two cameras sounds like another huge opportunity for more innovative games, but do I really want to give up the backwards compatibility the Lite offers? I suppose I have over seven months to decide on what to do before the DSi comes to America. In the mean time, I'll give my "brick" one last good work out until I buy a Lite or DSi.

Miley Cyrus Dead?

The truth about the Miley Cyrus death reports.
I'm not sure about you but I've been hearing a lot about Miley Cyrus's death on the morning of Friday August 5th. Yahoo and TMZ reported early on about the story claiming she died in a car crash and that there were "leaked photos" of the tragedy.
Here's the truth:
It was an impromptu hoax that presumably started on 4chan's /b/ site (I don't provide a link because I don't recommend anyone going to that site). I was on /b/ when I saw a thread that basically said "hey everyone, let's go to this Miley video on YouTube and post 'rest in peace Miley 1998 - 2008'." Obviously many laughs were shared because the idiot couldn't do math so if she was born in 1998 then she would only be ten years-old. Some members were against it saying it was stupid but others thought it was going to be great fun. After many, MANY posts saying that Miley Cyrus was dead, all the news reports started pouring in out of no where making up evidence as they went along. 4chan kept a good record of all the news stories (there were plenty) but I didn't think to copy them down to post here until the thread was already deleted due to inactivity. Anyway, later Friday evening, photos of Miley at the Fashion Rocks event surfaced which completely disproved Miley dying the morning of.
So there you have it. It all started on 4chan, was reported on based off of nothing, it was exposed as being false, and then everyone on 4chan lol'd (laughed).

U of M, Advice, and Comments

I'm at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor now and I've finally finished unpacking. There are a few little details that need to be sorted out but at least I have the necessities. Hopefully I can keep up the blog posts.

So, to my readers (all five of you), I would like to hear your suggestions for any college or roommate advice, what are the must have things for a dorm, and what's a great way to maximize space in a cramped room.

I'll also be accepting ideas for what you guys want to read on my blog. So basically how am I doing and what can I improve on? I have a bunch of ideas that I might try out although they don't really go with the theme of this blog. I'm open to suggestions and critique.

Thanks.

Photoshop's Got Nothin' On These

Incredible video and photo editing could start a new technological era.
Even though I have a digital camera that can take video, I still want a professional video camera. Why? Because video sucks! It's always grainy and the colors are all wrong. Even expensive commercial video cameras are only a slight improvement. But then I saw this video on Gizmodo. Watch it first and then read on...

Wasn't that amazing?! My jaw was dropped the entire time. This technology is going to change everything. I mean you can finally put that video capturing feature on your camera into action and then just edit it later to make it look like a film crew from a movie set shot it. Then think about all the cool effects you can do with your video. This is going to save so much time and effort for those special effect guys.

This reminds me a lot of another superb editing technology called scene carving. There's a video posted on TechCrunch that you should definitely check out. Go ahead and watch it and read the rest when it's over...

Isn't that sweet?! Just think of the possibilities. Photoshop fanatics will be dying to use this.

Beating The Traffic Cop

The best ways to get out of a speeding ticket.
I've never had to pull over for a cop before not because I'm a good driver (even though I am), but rather I'm a smart driver. I know when a road could possibly have a traffic cop waiting in a hidden driveway and I know when there's absolutely no way a cop would pull me over on a particular road. Here's a few sites that can really help you avoid getting a ticket:

1. Speedtrap Exchange - no matter where you go, be prepared of hot-spots for cops to hang out at and then submit new warnings you come across.
2. Ezine's Four Tips - not only are these good suggestions to never get a speeding ticket in the first place but there are lots of similar links below the article too.
3. SoYouWanna - has some other good tips that you might not think of.
4. LifeHacker - the actual article is ok, but the comments are the best
5. TES - if you're really desperate to get out of a ticket then you can bring up the TES.
   

Free - Get Used To It

Media companies must live with charging $0.
If you've read my previous post on getting free music then you know how easy it is to get free music, movies, games, and just about anything digital. Why would you want to pay money and spend the extra time purchasing something that you can get super fast without a penny out of pocket? All these organizations are hoping to put an end to illegal downloading but how? The RIAA tried suing and, although they won a few cases, they also lost a few cases. In Canada, they want a $5 increase on all customers' internet bills to be split between media companies but I'm sure those who just use the internet to send email to their kids won't be too happy about that. Comcast, along with other ISPs, tried to block bittorrent traffic but they're facing heavy backlash from strong torrent supporters. What can they do? As long as you can share information there will always be media file sharing. Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and other artists are beginning to embrace the free era by giving their fans the chance to pay or not to pay. And it was a huge success! Now a lot of it was free publicity which attracted customers to check it out and support those who support free stuff, but still, they made money by giving their music away. Joss Stone is cool with it because she wants her fans to listen and share her music and also pay to go to her concert but she's getting the hang of it. The movie industry on the other hand is just plain ridiculous. All the "downloading isn't free" posters are saying that all the people who make the movies lose money from illegal downloads. How much are those actors paid per movie? Fourteen million? Twenty? It's absurd how much they get. Why don't they just severely cut their pay, since most of them make at least three movies a year, and only give them $5 mil for a movie and give the extra they saved to those who worked their asses off to make the movie?! Take a hint from hulu and have every media company release their content online for free and just have a few advertisements. It may not make them the millions or billions of dollars a month that they're used to but at least the customers are happy.

I Hate Comcast

Comcast is incapable of providing good service, prices, and support.
I can't tell you how many times people have told me how much they despise Comcast. My family had Comcast way back when and we just dropped them after they raised their prices by 150%. We only had basic cable through them and they were charging us nearly $100 per month by the time we canceled their service. My uncle has cable and internet with them and he's billed almost $150 per month! I'm glad we switched to WOW (only offered in Mid-West) and now we get cable and internet on as many TVs and computers as we want for only $55 per month. Our friends have Comcast and I nor their own tech guy can get their computers to connect to the internet. Then Comcast practically blocked all BitTorrent (a file sharing system) users by severly limiting their access. They're soon to be sued over this as Threat Level reports. Now I'm reading a slew of horror stories about incredibly aweful Comcast encounters including this one. When a couple tried to transfer their Comcast internet to their temporary residence at the woman's Grandfather's house, who only has Comcast cable, they run into more than just a problem. The Comcast tech guy blew up over the misunderstanding of having a separate bill for cable and another for internet so he accused the 74 year-old Grandfather of hijacking cable, shut off their television service which they still had to pay for, and disrespected the entire family. After an ordeal with other Comcast support, the daughter was able to get through to someone who fixed the situation with minor and insulting compensation. I hate Comcast.

What's That Song?!

Tunatic identifies the song you're listening to.
I'm sure you know what it feels like to listen to a song and say, "what's the name of that song?" It can be seriously frustrating right? You might hear it on the television in a commercial or listen to it on the radio all the time or you just have a really bad labeling system for your music folder. You then try to catch bits and pieces of the lyrics but some times they're so hard to make out clearly. You ask your friends who act as if they've never heard anything in their whole lives and just give you the feeling that you're the only one who hears it. Worry no more! Tunatic from Wildbits is "hear" to help. No, it's not a lyrics search engine, it's a handy software that listens to the song and finds it for you. Here's how it works: if you have a microphone for your computer just wait for that song to play on the TV or radio, put the microphone up to the speaker, and click the magnifying glass on Tunatic to identify the song. If you don't have a microphone, Tunatic can also tell you what song you're listening to from your computer speakers, perfect for online radio. I tested it out and identifying with the speakers was really accurate. You really have to turn up the volume for the microphone but it still works fine. Give it a try, you'll be amazed on what songs it knows.

Homeland Security Wants Your Laptop

Laptops can now be withheld indefinitely at US customs.
So let me first go through the list of what TSA and Homeland Security doesn't want anyone to bring on a plane.

1. Bombs - Of course, that's an obvious one, no one wants to be blown up...maybe I should rephrase that to no sane person wants to be blown up.
2. Guns - Even though it says we can in the Constitution, the law banning guns from the airport is clearly in our best interest because we know no one's going to shoot us...except maybe the police who are still allowed to have guns in the airport.
3. Long Knives and Scissors - Sorry chefs, Butchers, Crocodile Dundee, and ninjas, you can only put your tools in checked baggage.
4. Large Blunt Objects - All sports and martial arts equipment is pretty much banned from going on a plane. Wouldn't want a baseball bat or a pair of nunchakus or ski pole whack you, right?
5. Poison - TSA and DHS don't care if you're paranoid about finding a scary bug or rodent while on your plane, you can't bring poison!
6. Liquids larger than 3 oz. - GASP! A bottled water, toothpaste, pudding cup, and aerosol deodorant?! Are you trying to kill us all?! Oh, you also have a fueled common lighter? Yeah that's fine to take with you on the plane.
7. Laptops - Sure you can take that with you; I've been really looking forward to getting my own laptop.

It's official, you no longer have the right to your laptop when you cross the border. CNet reports that if you go into the US even if you're just re-entering, agents can "seize, make copies of, and 'analyze the information transported by any individual'." Apparently they're looking for drug smugglers (they've gone high-tech now only accepting payments through Pay-Pal), copyright infringers (hide your mp3 player), and, of course, terrorists (who's causing the terror again?). I certainly hope you weren't planning to do any business on your business trip or have your trusty entertainment companion to keep you busy on your long flight forever. So what are you going to do? Stick it to those customs bastards by backing up all your data before every international trip you take, encrypting all your data, clearing your temp files, turning off your computer when crossing borders, and creating a restore point. I'm sure this is where Homeland Security draws the line, I mean they're not going to start taking our cell phones, cameras, or mp3 players, right?

That Would Be So Sweet

Things that would make the world a cooler place.
Have you seen any of Improv Everywhere's videos? I especially like Frozen in Grand Central. What they do is pretty awesome just because it's something unexpected that takes you out of your little bubble where you spend your time isolated from anyone new and you suddenly realize that there are moments outside of what you're used to. Events like these turn your average, everyday into something interesting and interactive. It makes you feel like you're in the largest hands-on museum but instead of just a building you have the whole world to experience; you just have to make it happen. I feel like we're lacking in fun interactions with one another and the following is a list of things that would help this problem:

• Neighborhood Social Network - Technically, there was a site called FatDoor that was exactly like this but it wasn't successful enough. I would love to see every neighborhood have a website where neighbors could chat, plan events, buy/sell items, and just have fun with one another. I don't even know who lives two doors down from me.
• The Game - Maybe you've heard of this where everyone is already playing "the game" and the object is to not think of "the game" which you lose and must say aloud that you lose whenever you remember "the game." Basically you have to forget that it exists. I wish everyone would want to play this because it would be fun to set off chain reactions of people shouting "I lose!"
• Breaking Out into Song and Dance - Come on, you've all seen at least one movie where suddenly everyone is sucked into singing in harmony and moving to perfectly synchronized, choreographed dances at a seemingly random time. Wouldn't that be sweet if that happened even if it was just once?
• Global Scavenger Hunt - Actually, there is such a thing as GeoCaching but hardly anybody seems to know it exists. You wouldn't believe how exciting it is to discover someone has hidden a container of surprises right in your area that you can search for, add to it, write a message, or be inspired to hide your own treasure.
• Life Swap - Like Wife Swap only everyone does it. People get stuck in a rut far too easily and I think switching lives with another person for a week or even for just a day would put one's life in perspective so that they can appreciate what he/she has or get a feel for how others go about their typical day. They should make this an international holiday.
• Congressional Idol - Politics are pretty dull but they don't have to be. I mean they have a show for everything else, why not have a show where you can vote on actual laws like a real Democracy. Although you'd have to have some sort of registration system to keep out the ones who have no idea what they're doing but I think it would give power back to the people.

Craigslist: What You're Looking For

Free online classifieds site Craigslist can help you find or sell just about anything in a flash.
I love craigslist. I think it's simple yet so functional but I haven't really used some of its features until now. When I ask others about craigslist I get one of two responses: craigslist is great and what's craigslist? A lot of my friends aren't computer literate like I am which is probably why they're my friends. It's hard to embrace craigslist because at first look at the site you're like "what the hell's this?" But once you get some guidance on what it can provide you'll be amazed at what it can do. In April, my family had a subdivision sale and we always advertised by putting signs at the entrances to the sub and paying $50-100 for a small note in each local paper which usually brings a decent turnout. This year, I suggested we use craigslist too. On the day of the huge garage sale, there were calls every hour asking directions to our subdivision from all over the place even in the heart of Detroit. It was apparent to all of us that there was way more people then we've had before. Normally, our family would have made about $400 in profit (we have a lot of stuff to sell) but after using craigslist we made almost $900! That's the power of craigslist. Just yesterday we posted our wooden playset on Craigslist and within two hours of publishing the post we got an urgent call basically saying "SOLD!" He came over the next day and gave us the money. Now he just has to take it apart and haul it away. My parents were shocked at the results. Suddenly I have a list of things to put up on craigslist. In all, if you want to sell something, buy something, find a job, find romance, have a laugh, or get free stuff then go to craigslist first.

MOAR NINTENDO!

Despite it's success, Nintendo needs to step it up.
I'm sure you're at least aware of Nintendo's huge hits, the Wii and the Nintendo DS. But even though the DS is still selling well fours years after its first release and the Wii system is still hard to find anywhere, Nintendo hasn't been satisfying the masses as pointed out by Wii Fanboy. First of all, both systems have totally revolutionized how most of us live now and that's no joke. Both systems are easy to use, fun, and cheap. It's a killer combination. Because the Wii offers gamers the chance to move rather than button-mash Nintendo has increased its demographic to nearly anyone. They're putting Wiis in physical therapy centers and retirement homes because it's great, fun exercise for them. I mean, my 90 year-old Grandpa has a Wii! You can surf the net, check the news and weather, and interact with other players in a safe environment on the Wii. The DS is similar in that you can also surf the web, chat with other players, and just about run your whole life with its fantastic line of games. My Weight Loss Coach, Brain Age, My Spanish Coach, Flash Focus, and Cooking Guide (UK) are just the beginnings of how the DS is going from game system to life system. But, like I said, people keep demanding more so I've come up with a list of things Nintendo needs to improve on.

• Wii storage shortage - after a few games saves, channels, and Wii Wares installed on your Wii you've suddenly run out of room to put it all! Most have suggested playing straight from an inserted SD card but we'll see how they solve this problem.
• Cooking Guide (USA) - for some reason this game is predicted to only sell well in Europe but I think they need to give North America a chance and offer it here. I would certainly buy it in a heartbeat and I'm sure others would too if they saw its potential.
• Balance board games - Sure the Wii Fit is an enormous success but I want to do more with my $90 dual-scale accessory than just yoga. I want my moneys worth!
• DS Novel - If I want to bring a few books with me while I travel and I'm already going to take my DS why not combine the two by packing a bunch of classic literature pieces on a DS cartridge?
• Animal Crossing Wii - The Gamecube version was like The Sims on crack but the Wii is lacking it's own version and if they make one it's going to be ten times better than its predecessor.
• Pokemon Platinum - For a company that comes out with 100 new characters and not one, but two new games about them practically every year it sure seems strange for them to be so late on one of the most anticipated Pokemon titles for the DS.
• New Wii colors - The DS has about a 1,000 different colors and designs yet the Wii just has plain ol' white. What gives?
• My (insert language here) Coach - It's great that we have French and Spanish and English in Asia, but what about the other 500 languages in the world? I'm looking forward to My Chinese Coach myself.
• More DLC, please - So far, the downloadable content (DLC) for the Wii has been slow and not all that great. I'm sure once they fix the storage problem the Nintendo servers will crash from all the downloads.
• DS redesign - This is why I still have my Original Style "Phat" DS. The Lite is great and all but I know the next system version will be twice as good.
  

List of Funny Sites

A growing list of websites guaranteed to make you smile.

• Cyanide & Happiness - This webcomic on explosm.net has some of the best crude and inappropriate jokes I've ever read. It's tough to predict where the punchline is going which makes it so original.
• Not Always Right - You think you've witnessed some of the stupidest conversations between customer and employee? You haven't heard nothin' yet.
• I Can Has Cheezburger & I Has A Hotdog - How do you make a picture of a cute cat, dog, or other animal funny? Add poorly spelled captions.
• My Roommate Is Such A Dick - We've all had a house guest at one point that drove us insane so now you don't have to feel like you're the only one with roommate issues when you read these funny letters. Although it hasn't been updated in a while, but maybe you can change that by submiting your own story.
• Zero Punctuation - This is for the video game freaks who want the honest, uncensored truth about their next potential purchases before playing them first.
• Funny or Die - Unlike most "funny" video sites, Funny or Die leaves the hilarity levels up to you where voting determines whether a video is so funny that it is deemed immortal or be so bad as to never see the light again.
• Computer Stupidities - Similar to Not Always Right but it's mainly for computer geeks who can understand the absolute idiocy of PC users. If you have trouble figuring out any part of your computer then it's best to keep away from this site unless you want to be embarrassed by reading a situation that sounds familiar to one of your own experiences.
• Pun Of The Day - Ah, good ole dry humor. Some of the phrases are pure gold while others....what's the total opposite of pure gold?
• Quote Database - Bash.org brings you the best quotes ever to come up in IRC chats. A bunch of them are so funny that you'll have to take a laughing break between each quote.

Feel free to criticize what I've listed or add your own funny links in your comments, but keep it appropriate.

Happy 1 Trillion, Internet!

Internet has reached one trillion unique web pages.
Too bad you will never see the above message any time soon because Google has announced it has indexed over 1 trillion sites.
This is huge literally and metaphorically.
It would seem at this rate of growth the internet will contain just about every piece of information out there.
Soon there won't be a single fact that only exists on paper.
If you're reading this there's no doubt that you've contributed to the internet's vast knowledge database somehow.
I guess there's nothing to celebrate until Google hits the 1 quadrillion mark.
I can't wait!

What You Missed: It's Not Much

Here's a list of events that happened that you probably don't care about:

• I finished my first semester at U of M and at least passed my classes
• I'm a member of The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Student Government
• I am a shoe-in for the webmaster position of LSASG
• I am on the Energy theme year committee trying to find websites concerning green living along with alternative energy and its conservation
• My first college roommate was a douche and, contrary to popular opinion, I would give up that experience for anything
• I got a Wii!
• My family threw my grandpa a 90th birthday party and he received a Wii also
  
• I became addicted to Tribal Wars (don't look into it, you'll just get sucked in too)
• My love for the internet grew stronger in an unhealthy, obsessed kind of way
• I'm trying to earn money by doing online surveys; not so gr8 ackshully
• I found out I have TMJ so I'm on a soft food diet until my jaw joints can be popped back into their proper locations
  
• I finally know what day it is because I have a day clock now!

Ok, you're basically all caught up now.
I mean, I could talk about what I've been watching on TV, what music I recently downloaded, and all the cool things I've discovered while on the internet but I wouldn't want to bore you.

I've Been Away for How Long?!

Being the random person that I am, I googled myself today and stumbled upon my own blog, stemr.
I thought to myself, "my god, how long has it been since my last post?"
Too long.
When college kicked in I thought I wouldn't have enough time to do anything but study and breathe (no room for eating or sleeping).
As it turned out, I had more time on my hand than I knew what to do with.
I shouldn't have had any time really since I found out late in the first semester that I was failing most of my classes.
I suppose I could blame video games, the internet, or tv but it was truly my fault.
For some reason, I simply stopped posting on my own blog.
It was probably out of sheer boredom with a heaping amount of distraction, a dash of ADD, and a liberal sprinkling of procrastination.
A recipe for disaster.
I think that maybe I need to change up what I blog about.
Instead of pretending that this is a well established blog I should just keep it simple.
So I'm going to try to just speak my mind and as dull as that may be to you at least I'll keep interest even for just a little longer.
At any rate, I'm back and hopefully I can squeeze in an hour out of the 12 hours of nothingness that comes with each day to post on stemr.