May 10, 2006

A “Revolution” in Gaming

Nintendo continues to show off more details of their new-generation Wii gaming system, and I continue to be unimpressed. I’ve slowly moved from hard-core gamer to more casual to now almost playing zero (though I still play a mean game of Mini Putt). I just have problems with the Wii system.

We’re in a premium-buying mood lately. We tend to splurge, especially on big-ticket items such as cars, appliances, and consumer electronics. Guess what? Non-gamers aren’t going to pick up a Wii unless it’s the trendy thing to do. And it won’t be trendy unless Nintendo makes 1000 of them as a Special Edition Limited Release (*cough* Xbox 360 *cough*) or Nintendo makes it the next big thing in gaming.

Folks, the Wii is not — cannot be — the next big thing in gaming. It barely beats out the last big thing in gaming, in terms of speed/power. And with two new bigger things out there, it will be tough for the Wii to find its niche. The Gamecube found a nice (albeit small) market appealing to families with young children parents who didn’t want their children to have the ability to play GTA and the like. Unfortunately, the GTA players currently dominate the market. I don’t think the Wii can find a large enough market in first-time gamers unless the price is incredibly low and the performace reviews give it a favorable comparison  to the 360 and the PS3. In other words, it has to be the best bang for the buck.

* Filed by Adam College at 11:02 am under Media
* 1 Comment

May 9, 2006

Bird Flu Crisis

“Over the past few weeks, I’ve been fielding questions regarding bird flu and our preparedness regarding hazards associated with this illness (and other associated illnesses.) As a participating member of Needham’s Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC); Olin and Olin’s Crisis Management Team have assembled tools and resources for emergency response and management. Both the team and the LEPC continue to prepare for (and would respond as necessary to) pandemic flu outbreaks/incidents.”

Sometimes, the jokes just write themeselves. Is it a serious thing to worry about? Eh, not just yet, and maybe never. It’s still debatable whether the H5N1 strain of bird flu will mutate into something that will transmit freely from human to human. (A la SARS a few years ago, media fascination with H5N1 is directly correlated with the number of deaths that occur in non-Asian countries.)Worried about Bird Flu right now? Here are some tips you can use in your daily life.

  • Avoid hanging out with on the order of 10,000 birds.
  • Wash your hands. Get 8 hours of sleep. Eat your vegetables. Don’t talk back to Mom.
  • Do not punch anyone in the face when they are talking about
    H5N1. While they (most likely) do not have the H5N1 virus, they have
    something far more contagious: stupidity. This disease is airborne,
    highly communicable, and hereditary.
  • Do not watch ABC’s movie: “Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America” tonight. While it is unlikely you will contract bird flu from watching the telly (if you were seriously worried about this, please see the second half of bullet point 3, regarding “stupidity”), you’ll get an unrealistic portrayal of responding to a crisis. Remember Katrina? Picture that, but nationwide. Bam! Bird Flu in America.

In the days and weeks ahead, bird flu will kill at least 10, or maybe 20 people worldwide. We must all sacrifice to make it through these tough times.

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* Filed by Adam College at 12:14 pm under Everything Else
* 1 Comment

One Red Paperclip

Internet junkies will have undoubtably seen one red paperclip, the internet bartering story of a man who started with the titular item and has “traded up” in his quest for a house. When I last checked in, one red paperclip guy had half of a duplex rent-free for a year. Not bad for starting with a paperclip.

Of course, the story is rife with slightly questionable trades and people looking to cash in on the fame castoffs (the Coleman grill for the doorknob is the most egregious bad trade), but they’ve always been in favor of ORP guy (whose real name is Kyle).

I was a little disappointed to see Kyle trade the duplex deal in for an afternoon for Alice Cooper. WTF, mate? The current offers section shows what’s being offered in exchange for golfing with the “School’s out for summer!” singer. None of them, in my opinion, have any real potential.

We’ll see how Kyle gets out of this jam. My advice: take the country music radio promotion.

* Filed by Adam College at 10:27 am under Everything Else
* 1 Comment

Museum of Bad Art

Ah, a local treasure, in the basement (near the toilets, perhaps intentionally) of the Dedham Community Theater. I took a trip here while seeing Super Size Me. Trust me, it’s bad.

The Museum Of Bad Art (MOBA)

* Filed by Adam College at 3:15 am under Everything Else
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May 8, 2006

Performancing…

Oh, forgot to mention, for all the Firefox bloggers out there, I’m trying out Performancing, a pretty cool in-browser blogging tool. Works for WordPress definitely, looks like MT people are having problems. Also does cool del.icio.us bookmarking for free! (But who uses that anymore?)

Even does Technorati tags (with the appropriate WordPress extension)

Technorati Tags: ,

* Filed by Adam College at 10:02 pm under Web
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Groan….

Just found out that I’ve been using the wrong units of measurements for my VLSI project. On a frustrated-o-meter, this ranks about a ten.

Here’s the other things I have to do (by Friday):

  • VLSI: Import into padframe, write up why I can’t multiply by 0.3, cry.
  • Creative Writing: Revise my creative nonfiction. (Wednesday, 7 PM)
  • FOCS: Study, take final. (Actually, this is Tuesday)
  • SigSys: Study, take final.

I’ve also got to pack my stuff this weekend, since I’m going to be gone Wed-Sun (can’t say why yet though). Then it’s back here for Graduation, then to Washington DC where I will hopefully have enough time to post more than once a month.

All in all, it’s been a bueno semester.

* Filed by Adam College at 9:56 pm under Life
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