Geekin' with a Chick

Super Smash Brothers: The Expansion Pack

2008-04-09T15:20:00.006-04:00

Literally a month ago on this day was the release of what could be considered one of the most highly awaited Wii games. Super Smash Bro's: Brawl.

I got a few chances to play this, and I must say, this game falls short of what a fan could want.

In short this was Nintendo's game that only sells because fans eat up the fact that is has a lot of their favorite characters from all the Nintendo games (plus licensed to Nintendo character's now) in the same game ... that being said it is true this games controls are better then most movie games(the worst games constantly for fans of anything), but compared to them there really isn't much more to be happy about.

For starters they added a on-line multi-player mode, pretty sweet for any SSB fan. To bad if you play with Wi-Fi you'll lag out of the game or just lose because you can't control your character fast enough, and I have a feeling the wired experience won't be that huge jump in performance.

Second, the adventure mode while completely new, in short doses can be fun but overall is frustrating especially if you decide to play with a friend, and I have a huuuge beef with how zoomed in camera is in this mode, so much so you can't see anything going on, but while in melee every character (excluding GIANT TVs) everyone is the size of an ant because the camera stays so far out on every map.

So even newest features are a serious flop and even the change out in characters and other minor adjustments only make this game a glorified full price expansion pack to the SSB: Melee experience. Not worth it, unless your a hardcore fan. Save yourself the from the disappointment of lack luster addition to this series, skip this title.

A Month in Review: Olympus E-510

2008-04-08T17:48:00.006-04:00

Around a month ago I was elated to be gifted my very first DSLR camera, The Olympus E-510.

This little camera I've come to really love. It's got everything a photographer could want from their very first DSLR.

First and for most my favorite feature, this little baby has built in image stabilization. Considering the lenses I'll be buying this feature works great, I haven't had a blurry image yet, and with this feature included I won't have to spend extra on lenses to have the feature included. That is a costly addition, for a college student and hobbyist, to any lens.

Next up is the sensor cleaning. The E-510 has self-cleaning image sensor. While eventually I'll probably have to clean it myself, I haven't seen any specks on my pictures. Because, every time I turn the camera off the sensor cleans itself, super simple. The sound of the cleaning process is a bit sickening though, kind of like the sound of a dying hard-drive. Just relax and read the manual if you don't believe me. Just the cleaning cycle.

Image quality should be touched on, seeing as that is a major factor for a camera. My thoughts: Awesome. I haven't been disappointed. The pictures, as long as they are adjusted appropriately and the focus is set, come out crisp and full of detail. The added DoF (from the 3/4 format) really are nice if you like landscape shots. The color quality is fantastic and usually true to life, but make sure to manually set the White-Balance for that because the automatic on this camera sometimes makes this a lot cooler then they need to be so you can easily end up with a lot of smurf people & land shots.

Other nice features of this camera are: 10 MP images, lots of preprogrammed shooting modes, mechanical auto-focus with the option for manual focus, the camera is lighter then most, feels and is durable, brand name lens (even kit lens) are high quality. This camera even has an automatic mode for people who are shy of the more manual settings.

Also the actual kit compared to the big two (Nikon and Canon) of a comparable camera is actually a cheaper option.

A bit of warning, this camera isn't for everyone. If you want one that has large amount of compatible lenses, you'd do better to buy a Nikon or Canon. Also the lenses for the Olympus camera's tend to be more expensive then the other two populars as well as harder to find in actually physical stores.

Other then that also be sure that there are some users who have complained the camera is too small in their hands or that the camera's LCD is to small for the resolution of the pictures it's taking, and I agree with that latter point, but I don't spend too much time chimping so it's not a problem to me. I only double check the screen previews every so often to make sure my white balance is ok.

All in all this is a wonderful camera for a first timer who is looking for something that is reasonably priced but has a forgiving learning curve but includes all the bells and whistles to make a pro feel confident.

Money makes the World go Round

2008-03-28T19:13:00.004-04:00

So I've been MIA, so sue me. I've just been overwhelmed with school projects and my ever on-going job search, and yea I stopped to have fun personal me time... or just depressed me time too...

Anyways I've love a techie job, but at this point I'd be willing to take almost anything so long as it payed enough for me to move out. Why I want out of my home is personal, but I need out. I'm hoping for the in the next few months to be working on landing a place to live, if I can manage to snag a job very soon.

Wish me luck!

Power to the Apple Users

2007-11-14T17:58:00.000-05:00

As many laptops users must know, having access to an outlet at a moments notice is pretty crucial to a long lived project. At my current campus it seems they forgot this and when they were building the NEW less then a year old building they put hardly any outlets in the commons areas they built. We're talking 20-30 seats to every outlet. That could leave a lot of laptop users SOL and it seems almost every student has one now-a-days.

Onwards to my rant. This very impolite individual came up with her Apple Laptop. If you know nothing about Apple laptops then I'm telling you the power cables have very large ends, and if plugged in improperly can cover the second socket. How dense do you have to be in a public area with other laptop users to cover and waste a socket. I guess it's because Apple users are to busy running their mouths about how great their apple is that they don't have time to have an intelligent thought like "Wow, someone might need that other socket, better be polite and make sure it's open because I know my unit does not generate enough pull to have a need to block the other socket."

But hey, most people will be like "Mindless whining about a laptop about to die," and perhaps it's true but that just rubbed me the wrong way today and it reminds me of how much I am annoyed by rude cell phone users.

Ipod Explosion

2007-11-14T12:11:00.000-05:00

Ever see those exploded diagrams of something? Say like the inner workings of an Ipod? Some fan of the diagrams decided to make his own and decided he wanted to use his Ipod. Funny thing is, he made sure it still worked even in the diagram.

I recommend checking it out, his post included pictures of his work, though he sadly thought it was flawed, because of a few mishaps. My only hope is that he'll make another one of something equally interesting.

Exploded Ipod Still Works

FFXI Subtle Advertising

2007-11-13T23:09:00.000-05:00

So I'm really stoked and ready to run to the store to buy my copy of Wings of the Goddess when if finally releases later this month. It is the newest Expansion to Final Fantasy XI if someone was wondering. I'm a really big fan of the game.

Anyway back to the purpose of the post, while I was out browsing Big Lots I found a product that made me laugh because the name of it shares the name of a monster in FFXI.

Must see parody

2007-06-21T01:43:00.001-04:00

This video is a parody of the microsoft surface commercial/promo. It's way to funny no matter if you like microsoft's stuff or not.

PS: I know it's been a super long time since my last post :p, so what spam me for it.

Wii Time Fun

2007-06-10T12:25:00.000-04:00

Good day everyone who happens to be a wii fan. Today's post is just for you. I was out this weekend with some friends at a local music festival and walking to the gate we happened to see this truck (picture to the left in case you didn't see it some how. parked out there.

Pretty cool huh? Apparently that truck is officially licensed because inside the event there was a wii entertainment trailer set up to promote the wii even more. Yay, Nintendo. I'm going to assume that's the truck that hauls the trailer around from event to event around the country or at least the south.

In other wii news, be sure you take a break when playing the wii because apparently there is a new medical condition that comes from the soreness from little breaks, no stretching and over playing. Wiiitis. Yeah real technical sounding *cough cough*, but I wouldn't recommend going to the doctor about it, he'll only prescribe over the counter pain killers and recommend you avoid wii play for a week....like I need a doctor to figure that one out for me.

Keyboard Prank

2007-06-04T23:53:00.000-04:00

Until I can find another article to write about or give a geek tutorial (Yes I will take questions and answer them the best I know how) Enjoy this video that shows how to play a nasty prank on someone by tampering with their keyboard.

Here are the more detailed instructions on how to set up the prank.

Automatic Touch-Ups for photos in Photoshop CS2

2007-06-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

How to Touch-Up Digital photos in Adobe Photoshop CS2 the painless tenderfoot way:

This guide is intended to be used by persons who have VERY little knowledge of Photoshop and its complete capabilities and this is a nice launch pad to help improve home photos until said person learns the ins and outs.

NOTE: This guide can work in versions below CS2 though 6 and below the menus could quite possibly look different.

If you’re reading this guide and are anything like me, you have a digital camera and love to take pictures, the only problem is, and sometimes digital cameras can take really disappointing pictures in poor quality lighting or conditions. So if you want to preserve memories well, it’s important to own a good photo editing software to go with any kind of digital camera.

Automatic and Painless Way:

Step 1) Find and open the photo you want touch up.

Step 2) Ok so you’ve managed to find the picture and open it, the menu’s seem scary, but bare with me. Just go to Image Tab and click on it and then go to adjustments, for this guide’s purposes we are only going to use the auto features.

Step 3) Now on the sub menu adjustments let’s start with auto levels. Just click it and compare the two images. If it didn’t improve your picture, just go to edit step backward. And boom it’s back to normal.

Step 4) Now in the adjustments menu use Auto Color, you be the judge on the improvement made if any. And again just step backward if the image became less attractive.

Step 5) The last auto adjustment is auto contrast, this is normally only used is the photo came out way to bright or way too dark, so if you think the lighting is perfect move on if not just click auto contrast.

OOOK, so we’ve done all that, but something doesn’t seem quite armature photographer enough about it? Maybe you have too much “dead space in your picture.”

Let’s Crop it a little. Just remember with photos things are more appealing in a rule of three fashion. That means any item unless it is the COMPLETE FOCUS of the shot, should not take up more then a 1/3 of the picture.

Step 6) To start things off click on the rectangular marquee tool on your tool bar.
Now this is important if you want prints make sure on the upper bar on style you have fixed aspect ratio picked. The ratio you should use is 4 x 6 or 6 x 4 depending on if you have a vertical or horizontal picture.

Ok so you’ve done that and will the rule of 3 in mind figure out what you want in the picture. I want the sun, because as you can see I have way to much width and sky. So use the marquee to mark the area you want.

With the selected area all highlighted with the dotted line head on up to the image menu and scroll down to crop and click it.

Alakazam and now you only have the selected area as the whole photo.

Now it’s time to save the file, but do make sure you click save as so you don’t over write the original. ESPECIALLY if you cropped the image.

And here is a comparison of two of another image that took on a more noticeable difference with the auto-correction better than the one I happened choose to screen cap for the tutorial:

Geekin Gear List

2007-05-31T16:43:00.000-04:00

Below is a List of 5 Hot Geek Accessory Apparel that you probably shouldn’t wear in public or admit you bought.

1) RAM Earrings
Yes, ram from your ears that was recycled old ram hand made into jewelry.

2) Diskette Handbag
A whole 17.28 MB of storage attached to a decent sized vinyl hand bag.

3) Einstein Relativity Watch
The numbers rotate instead of the hands, time is relative I suppose.

4) 10 types of people tee shirt
It’s a binary joke, so only your nerd friends will laugh; the rest will just give you a funny look and say I don’t get it.

5) Scrolling LED Belt Buckle
Now you can be a nerd who fits in with southerners. A large belt buckle is like your passport into the south.

the list above is in no particular order

E-Taxes and You

2007-05-31T15:59:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, by next fall everyone could be paying sales tax on on-line purchases and possible for broadband internet.

If these taxes are not created nation wide it’s said other taxes will be raised to compensate for losses that the government says they are currently facing. And it’s well known the U.S. government is in need for funds, to pay off the war debt and then some.

This isn’t shocking news to hear that the government is looking to create or raise taxes, it’s subject to say the only reason we haven’t been taxed for the internet and its services before is government is just to slow.

With this information is the government really losing as much taxes as they claim from on-line shopping? I know I personally only buy things over the internet that I cannot get locally…

According to shop.org 35% of people abandon internet purchases due to added costs (shipping and handling, etc.) already. (stats from the shopping year 2004)

But with at least 35% of people preferring a real store experience due to added costs, taxes will only drive that percentage up. This sales tax on internet purchases could be a huge thorn in the side on on-line retailers, either they will be forced to drop prices to make up for the difference or lose more business.

Though, the top reason to shop on-line was to avoid crowds. So I’m assuming that means the holiday season must be a great time for on-line stores, and will continue to be so even with an internet sales tax.

This internet tax also raises some questions: Will the taxes be based on delivery state or business state? Or will it be a national tax? What about foreign customers? Do foreign businesses need to have these taxes applied if the customer is a U.S. resident?

There are a lot of questions that need to be answered and it almost seems a little sticky to try to apply this kind of tax because of the global nature of the internet.

Let’s just wait to see how this pans out in congress.

Touch Screen Tables, What Will They Think of Next?

2007-05-31T08:23:00.000-04:00

Microsoft is rolling out their latest product. It's called the Microsoft Surface. This new “invention” is a table top computer packaged with a touch screen that can detect multiple inputs or touches all at once.

It’s said this product is more “well thought out” compared to their other products. (Microsoft releases products with little thought other then stomping out other computer companies and high profit?!?!?! SAY IT ISN’T SO!)

In the news article the practical commercial use listed was for a casino who wanted to use it for digital gambling, but I fail to see other commercial uses for this besides in coffee shops so you can blog read or image surf while at star bucks with your friends before school or work.

Maybe it could be used in schools today as a learning aid. Though from my experiences computers in a college class room do not offer much aid if the course is not technology based, K – 12 grades could find more use with the interactivity of the table PC and it’s group usability. But most public schools have trouble getting funding for regular PCs still, so it will be a long time before something like this is set up.

As for personal use for this little gem, that won’t be a while because the set price is set to be around $5,000 to $10,000, and Microsoft is manufacturing this one themselves so no cheap knock offs that do it better for a very long time. Although, for those die hard Star Trek fans, I suppose that money would be worth it complete their vision of a Star Trek apartment that is fully functional.

Related Links:
Microsoft Puts Surface on the Table
Microsoft Surface Offical Site

Ball and Chain New Standard for Wireless Internet

2007-05-30T12:08:00.000-04:00

As of late there has been a big issue in the legality of wi-fi internet access. I’ve cruised through the web to find dozens of stories of men getting fined and arrested for using the wi-fi from outside the store, or not buying anything from the café and being arrested or fined because they are unauthorized to use the wi-fi.

There is no problem in my eyes if the internet was pay to use, or the Terms of Service stated you must by a at least a Danish to have legal access to their wi-fi, but a lot of times that is not the case, the service was free and unsecured, it was just the business owner did not like shady people sitting in cars outside their business for hours un-end with a laptop.

The latest news story on this topic I’ve seen didn’t state if the service was free and open or not. Although it did state this man from Michigan did pay $400 dollars and must serve 40 hours of community service. The punishment seems a bit much if the internet was unsecured and free to use if the user is in the range of service.

If he did indeed “hack” onto a secured access point for free internet, he should be punished, it was clearly not meant to be free and open to everyone.

As a general word of advice for anyone who wonders if they are breaking the law while on a wireless network, if you have to work to log on because of securities it’s not legal or ethical. Other wise if most likely no legal action can be brought against you for just accessing once for a short while, but to be safe, use the internet inside the café and do buy some coffee to support the business offering the internet.

A word of caution if the internet is from a residential home, accessing even an unsecuried connection is now becoming popular belief to be considered hi-jacking.

WHAT?! Freedom isn't free?!?!?!!

2007-05-29T01:22:00.000-04:00

Apparently Web 2.0 is going to be riddled with problems because of the open nature of its structure….and people are just figuring this out.

It’s pretty easy to understand because Web 2.0 is all about freedom and openness with information, but there is a serious threat of malware and hackers because these black hatters can blog and the like just like everyone else. So how is that different from today?

Not much I believe but apparently we’ll see more of the malware it seems, I don’t really believe there will be more though, just a new breed of it, and Web 2.0’s open nature might be the perfect platform to easily distribute to the masses.

It’s a small price to pay considering Web 2.0 is a good move in the consumer/users favor.

Have a Stroke, Play with Wii

2007-05-27T23:19:00.000-04:00

Apparently the wii is great recovery tool for stroke patients. It's easy to see why though with all the interactivity. A wii is used at Riley Hospital for just this use.

"Mom, I think I need to stay home from school today and play my wii. I had a stroke last night to recover from."

Related Links:
Stroke patients go Wii at Riley Hospital

Thin as paper and there is still nothing to watch

2007-05-27T16:22:00.002-04:00

Sony has apparently developed a paper thin flexable color display screen.

If only now if someone would invent popcorn that would make people model thin to bundle with their product, because we all know how Sony loves to sell things bundled.

Conflict of Interest

2007-05-26T15:53:00.001-04:00

Apparently in the lobby of the Microsoft Building is an iPod recycling bin because it would be a conflict of interest to own an mp3 player that was better then the company’s best effort at making competition for Apple, a.k.a. the Zune.

Also, employees were offered “Amnesty” if they were to replace the IPod with a Zune. No word on whether this is a joke for employee morale or a series stunt.

Photo from flickr.com

At Worlds End Everyone is a Captian

2007-05-25T03:26:00.000-04:00

The Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End was a movie that is defiantly is worth seeing in the theaters. For a third part of a trilogy it did not meet the lack luster expectation one might hold to expect from the end of a trilogy. The whole movie was crammed with action and the plot will keep you guessing till the very end. It almost became predictable though in the sense because it seemed almost everyone got the title captain “They're just giving that title away” – Jack Sparrow and everyone was very busy stabbing everyone else in the back to meet their wants and needs.

At points though it was almost confusing as to what everyone was thinking, because of all the traitorisms and switching of ones goals. In the end, everything worked out in a sad yet unpredictable way for Disney. Some loose ends were left because the movies makers were trying to cram more action at the end rather than finishing up the story.

There is new joke material in this movie, such as Captain Jack’s hallucinations, so it’s not the same old rehashed jokes from the previous two trying to release some tension and make the movie more family friendly, while not making a new movie at all. Except for the sea turtle joke, which I believe was mentioned twice in the whole movie.

Also lots of new pirate faces appear in this one and they were all very unique and interesting, with a nice touch of added female roles in leadership positions. Some of the new pirates are from Singapore which one could clearly see were of Asian decent because of all the detail spent on costuming and stages/props for these characters.

The movie though is a bit drawn out to make it seem more epic, and it did fall short of ones expectations of how "dark" this one was suppose to be compaired to the others.

Overall I would believe this movie is a 4 out of 5.

Related Links:
Offical Website for PotC: At Worlds End
IMDb Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
Rotten Tomato's Review of PotC: At Worlds End

The Force before the Force

2007-05-24T14:23:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow in L.A. a huge announcement is to be made from the creator of Star Wars George Lucas.

The rumor states that he’ll be releasing another Star Wars movie that is to take place before Episode I. Either way there is nothing to do but sit and wait till the news is made official. This thought came from a slip up in during interview which he quickly tried to cover up.

It would be a nice change of pace if the new movie was set around Yoda’s beginnings, instead of some angst-filled youth with lots of strife in his life.

Another possibility of the news Could be that Mr. Lucas has decided to bring the live-action series that is to only air in Australia (This has been confirmed) and bring it State side, this would also be wonderful news for die-hard American fans to the series.

The live-action series is set to fill in the story gap between Episode III and Episode IV.

Related Links:
More information about this
Star Wars Live Action Series
Star Wars Offical Site

Another reason to use gmail if you haven't switched yet

2007-05-24T02:13:00.000-04:00

"Now you can start sharing more of those home videos, large presentations and files you just can't seem to get smaller. We have doubled the allowable attachment size to 20 MB to make your Gmail space even more useful." - gmail team

Gee that would have been super useful two weeks ago when I was trying to send some hiking pictures to my friends when the .rar file ended up being 12 MBs (the limit at the time was 10 MBs). Oh well, can't complain now really, because that should not happen again.

Switch to Gmail Now I Tell You!!!

Everyone Can be a Pro Now!!!

2007-05-24T01:53:00.000-04:00

Below is an electronic self-balancing skateboard. Yet again technology removes skill and or unnecessary wasting of precious body fats on activities most people cannot do safely anyway.

Either way it is pretty cool gadget, though I feel sorry for the nerd who is going to get beat up at the skate park when he rolls up on this little puppy.

After 10 Years Blizzard Desides Sequal Could Work

2007-05-23T12:37:00.000-04:00

Finally the next installment for the popular sci-fi strategy game StarCraft is on its way. And I’d say, after 10 years, it’s about damn time.

The official website was launched a few days ago and I’m happy to say Blizzard is not wanting to shoot themselves in the foot by putting all their eggs into ONE HUGE basket. But enough about that and more about SCII.

The thus far released material is enough to give any die hard fan of StarCraft a wet dream of better graphics and a new and interesting story with a change up of units so everyone must become reacquainted. Though lots of old favorites have been included with a much needed face lift, though it doesn’t seem to have gotten the change of face that WarCraft had received on its 3rd installment.

Everything seems to look great and is well on its way. But let’s just hope this isn’t a SC: Ghost, I.E. the game is in production for years and a cash cow comes along and then out of no where the project gets cancelled. While Blizzard may be slow about releases and buggy at 1st, their games are 99.9% always worth the wait.

I’m excited I can say. Though I do hope that the latency issues that high speed users often seen in the original version on b.net get fixed, or they at least add in a real TCP/IP connect so I don’t actually have to LAN a game to play with friends…or anyone for that matter. (I know it's an older game, but a patch could have been issued long ago for this, high-speed internet at home isn't that new.) While the campaign missions are fun and a good way to get introduced to the game and it's may units, nothing gives a thrill like a head to head challege against real person. Not to mention it's more difficult because the units typcially are not used in the conventional way the PC decides.

Let's just keep fingers crossed that this stacks up to expectations, in all aspects of the game.