Connect with your Teens

Thank you, world.

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:58:35 +0000

Four words: I LOVE VIDEO GAMES!!!!! I thank you, world for having video games in our lives, because that is the greatest invention ever. I hope you all reading this feel the same and agree with me. :)

Facebook Quick Tip by Sharrie

Fri, 1 Jun 2012 05:09:42 +0000

Ouch!!! 40% LOSS for investors in its first 10 days of trading on the NASDAQ! More if you bought at the height of around $45 on its listing day!!!

I wrote a review of it (I know a bubble when I see one!) on the weekend after its listing looking for a price range of $25-28! It recorded a low of $26.83 yesterday (May 31) before a technical rebound at the close!

So, what's next?!

I know a bubble when I see one!

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:52:29 +0000

This review is about Facebook as a stock rather than a social media site. It's about business!

Facebook had its IPO listed on Nasdaq last friday (May 18) making Mark Zuckerberg a $20 billion man! He rang in the bell for Nasdaq opening & his own wedding the next day (May 19). That makes Mark Zuckerberg not just the richest 28 year old on the planet but also the luckiest guy in the world!!!

So much about Mark Zuckerberg. He's a highly intelligent guy & I suspect that the ones who make the most out of this IPO is him since he got to choose to set a price that's now deemed to be too high by the market. At $38, Mark Zuckerberg managed to raise some $16 billion for the company and his dream and ambition. Morgan Stanley made some 1% underwriting fee out of this although they have probably lost a lot more by trying to support the share above its issuing price last friday, its 1st day of trading.

Never mind about Morgan Stanley. The heydays of investment banking are over with, we hope!!! Still, JPMorgan Chase has its fair share of limelight last week and probably upcoming weeks too. Not to mention one of Goldman Sachs' top men is being investigated for insider trading!

Back to Facebook. At $38, it's a PE of over 100! That's crazy if you compare it to those of Apple and LinkedIn. Does everyone has to own Facebook shares? As if Facebook hasn't owned enough of your time!!! It doesn't make sense to me. This is a case of hope and greed in the stock market, just like it used to be with tulips! Ok, may be Facebook has potential ... ways to monetize its 800 million users! That's in the "distant" future, is it not? If you think no, then you will be sorry today as it is now trading at $5 less than issue price and $10 off its high (a loss of some 14% from its closing last friday)! Who knows how low it will get? Probably around $25-$28?!

The stock market ... well, if you still believe in it, remember that scarcity rules! And, hopes and greed dominate. Sometimes, fear takes flight too! In this case, it's good to see it's not all in a frenzy!!!

Greed is good, but only for Mark Zuckerberg!!!
As for Greece, God help them!!!

Facebook Quick Tip by Sharrie

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:18:34 +0000

It began trading on Nasdaq around $43 last friday. Today, in just a market day, over the weekend after Mark's wedding, it's trading at around $33!!! Lucky Mark who sold it at $38 with the help of Morgan Stanley! Not so lucky for the investors (retail or institutional) even if they are buying for the long term!!! They could have gotten it for $33 today or even less later!

PE of over 100?! Forget it!!! Are you sure you're that good a friend with Mark? ;-)

Everywhere You Look is a Barf... Is a Barf...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:47:58 +0000

If you're the kind of person who thundered and Bible-thumped through the 80's, preaching family values and evil media, and you're shocked by the ensuing popularity of such disparaging television like Seinfeld, South Park, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or anything else of a vicious and crude nature, you have only yourself to blame for for them. It was you, after all, who helped transform a witless, biteless, and by all accounts mediocre TV sitcom called Full House into a cultural icon.

I can't expel myself from the guilt of thrusting that status on it, though. Hell, I watched it myself. In my defense, I was a lot younger at the time, too young to really know the difference between good TV and bad TV. My sister actually swears by its awesomeness to this day - and she's 28 years old with a radical political streak which is only slightly more conventional than my own and a Master's in ecology and animal behavior (and she's going for a Doctorate to boot, which she WILL receive). The two of us have gotten into a few tongue-in-cheek arguments over the quality of Full House, with her taking the stance that it's cheesy-bad at worst, and me taking the fiery anti-Full House stance at its best. As I matured, I turned from liking Full House into wanting to shove a stake through my skull every time that fucking music starts to play.

Oh, yeah. You KNOW the music I'm talking about. The tiny, dramatic, tear-jerker shit which accompanies the Lesson of the Week, sappy and synthesized for when the writers apparently just now realized the audience hadn't Learned anything just yet. This music exemplifies the ethos of the Family Moral and Lesson sitcom so aptly that Full House has turned into its trope codifier. The Morals and Lessons are all part of the Full House package. So is a sickly form of cuteness and precociousness so unrelenting that when little Michelle started to actually grow up, the producers introduced more cute little kids to keep cute freaks watching the show. When Full House started its run, it of course had the reigning queens of a tween empire playing Michelle, the ubiquitous Mary-Kate Olson and Ashley Olson, there to be exploited as the drooling, pooping little girl to give the show a cute quotient. The cute quotient was upped by young Jodie Sweetin, playing middle girl Stephanie, and spewing the catch phrase "How RUDE!" until she grew out of age where it could still be called cute. Then there was a dog - of course there was a dog! - named Comet. Later, another character, Jesse, fell in love with a woman named Rebecca, married her, and they had a pair of twins. Most of the characters had catch phrases: Jesse's "Have mercy!," Kimmy's "Whoa baby!," Joey's "Cut it out!," DJ's "Oh my Lanta!," and Stephanie's "How RUDE!," could always be counted on once or twice an episode when the show began its run. When Michelle grew up, the writers decided they could exploit her more by spewing a shitload of cuted-up phrases like "You got it, dude!" and "You're in big trouble, mister!"

Credit where it's due, Full House introduced its morals via one of television's more unconventional family situations, and it slipped under the Reagan radar thanks to the sappiness of everything else. The situation in the show is about a single father, Danny Tanner (Bob Saget), whose wife is killed in a car crash, so he has to raise their three daughters. Fortunately, he isn't going on it by himself: He enlists the help of his brother in law, Jesse Katsopolis (John Stamos) and his best friend, Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier) to live with him and help him raise his three daughters, DJ (Candace Cameron), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Michelle (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen). I do award credit for this, because it does cause occasional friction which probably comes to its apex in one episode in which Michelle tries to set up Danny with her teacher, and is forced to face the fact that she may never have a new mother. It blew its untraditional look in the last few seasons, though, mostly because Jesse married Rebecca, which gave the girls a motherlike figure. Jesse and Rebecca didn't even move out of the house.

The mother's death, however, doesn't come into play that often. It does, but it's mostly there as a backdrop. The Nostalgia Critic put it best when he described Full House as the life of the people in picture frames. The general themes of the show were typical family-friendly 80's fare, with a Disneyworld episode, a wedding episode, and a prom episode. Other fare includes an episode where Danny receives a new car for his birthday, an episode where the family was offended after being the butt of stand-up routine delivered by Joey's new girlfriend, and one where Stephanie loses her teddy bear. There are power after-school episodes, though, like one in which Stephanie takes up smoking, but for the most part I'm not going to argue with The Nostalgia Critic.

I gave Saved by the Bell quite a bit of shit for the way it presented its all-world teenage lessons, but to that bad, tacky old show's credit, it at least acknowledged the fact that some of those issues existed. Full House regularly drums up its ridiculous conflicts from nothing at all; these conflicts really couldn't be conflicts anywhere other than Reagan America. The episode where Stephanie gets her ears pierced in secret and cries that her father is trying too hard to treat her like she's her older sister doesn't exactly smack of urgency. Full House has another one of those severe cases where it tries to ignore the fact that teenagers are teenagers, despite there being a full episode dedicated to DJ turning 13 and thus, being a teenager. The Tanner girls are angelic little cherubs, and most of the things they do that are wrong aren't exactly universal. In some cases, that makes the show more interesting because their offenses can be brought so far over the top. But Full House decides against recognizing drugs and sex, too. Maybe that can be chalked up to the presence of Candace Cameron who, like her insufferable dumbass brother Kirk, is a highly conservative born-again Christian waiting with a moral whip.

There is a certain faction of people who believe that if it's cute and family friendly, it must be the funniest thing ever, and this has to be the only reason Full House managed to survive for eight years. And this was basically the only thing Full House had going for it. Spewing cute-ized catch phrases all over the place, the sweet little girls wormed their way into everyone's hearts with snarky deadpan humor and some mispronunciation. I'm fairly sure the girls had personalities of their own, but it's very difficult to tell when corporate cute ends and they begin. It's hard for me to think of a situation where DJ and Stephanie couldn't be exchanged for one another outside of their age differences, and one could make a strong case for Michelle being the same way in the later years. When Michelle started to grow up a little, the producers replaced her by introducing a pair of twin children for Rebecca and Jesse named Nicky and Alex. And of course, there's a dog.

The male characters aren't quite left to the backburner like that, but they do have problems. They all have personality quirks: Danny is, as Joey once puts it, a psycho with a dust mop. Joey is a stand-up comic with an array of voices to shame Meryl Streep. Jesse is obsessed with his hair and Elvis Presley, and has a side gig as a rocker with a band called the Rippers. He tries to be a tough guy, but if this show is to be believed, there's a wide difference between tough in San Francisco - where the show is set - and TOUGH, because I knew hipsters in Chicago capable of kicking Jesse's ass. These personality quirks are literally the only thing standing between the male characters and interchangeability.

It's hard to believe this is what people know Bob Saget is primarily known for now. Saget got his start in stand-up comedy, and he's said part of the reason he chose to star in Full House was to present a friendlier image to the audience. If anything, it worked a little TOO well. Saget is still doing stand-up, and his act, as it always has, features a level of raunch and vulgarity which would leave George Carlin taken aback. Dave Coulier is known well to be a former flame of singer Alanis Morissette and is widely rumored to be the target of the scathing lyrics of her breakthrough song, "You Oughta Know." (Morissette maintains complete silence about the subject, but Coulier claims to be the subject, and admitted some of the lines "hit very close to home.") A lot of the cast members fell into drugs, I was told, but I've only been able to confirm this about Sweetin. I doubt the show itself ever intended to start a television revolution of any kind, but it appears to have triggered a wave of darker, edgier, less family-friendly shows which continues to this day. Terrible as Full House was, we may actually have it to thank for quality television.

Facebook Quick Tip by BaronSamedi3

Thu, 1 Dec 2011 23:47:42 +0000

I'm on Facebook and I hate myself for it. The only reason I joined was because invitations from friends to events kept flying over my head, and when they asked where I was, they would always tell me it was on Facebook. Herein is the big problem I have with the site: People consider it all they need. Basic human decency and intimate, detailed conversation is being eschewed. But on the upside, I've made very useful connections with online friends and it allows me to keep up with the goings-on in Chicago, though I'm not living there anymore.

When sharing can get out of hand!

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:22:12 +0000

Is there anyone who is still not on Facebook by now? Yes! Many of my personal friends. Having said that, they are possibly the minority rather than the majority in the world now.

So, I'll keep this short and simple. My take on Facebook.
I had an account on it for many years but I hardly logged in. The main reason being I don't really know a great many who are on it and I was residing in China for the last 4 years, I was logged out of it. It's banned!

Now that we got over that, let's talk about Facebook, from my perspective:

More than 1.3 billions Chinese are technically not on it, unless one bypass the great firewall.
It's too time-consuming and not much real/decent work can be done when you're on it!
My few friends whom I got to know from VirtualTourist.com are on it, hence, I'm on it just to keep in touch with them :)
2 great features - sharing of photos and videos (easier than any other sites! I was surprised I could just add Youtube links without having to copy the embed codes!). Not mine though, but I snooped around others' quite a bit, hehe...
It's Facebook, one of the major social media sites. No one can afford not to be on it or at least have a working knowledge of it!

That's it... stay connected but stay out of it when you've got work to do!

Video Games Quick Tip by Madpenguin

Tue, 5 Jul 2011 02:57:27 +0000

I honestly don't think I can live without them now. I buy a bunch of new ones almost every month, and I try to squeeze in a few game reviews during that time. Currently, the PS3 is my fave. The 360 is ok, but I can't stand the Wii. And Ebert can go to hell with his Video Games isn't art thing.

Drop Dead Diva Season 3 Coming this June

Fri, 27 May 2011 15:56:09 +0000

If you are a fan of Lifetime's hit show Drop Dead Diva, then I have good news for you. Season 3 of Drop Dead Diva will premiere on Sunday, June 19th, 2011 at 9pm ET/PT and it picks up right where season 2's dramatic cliffhanger left off.

In case you don't remember, season 2 of Drop Dead Diva ended with Grayson being hit by a car, then recognizing Jane as Deb before falling into a coma. As season 3 begins, Jane is at the hospital, anxiously waiting for Grayson to wake up, not knowing if he will still recognize her. It is an episode not to be missed....continued at Drop Dead Diva Returns to Lifetime TV in June

all shapes, all sizes

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:52:26 +0000

While growing up in a pretty conservative household, I always knew one thing even pretty early on that no one family is the same. Circumstances arise that almost guarantee that the "Leave it to Beaver" nuclear family can be a minority in regards to how many families grow and form. Some may be the "ideal" nuclear family but some may have adopted children or even a family member that passed on. Maybe a child ran away or theres only one parent who loves the children and must deal with raising the kids. Maybe it's an interracial family or a family with same sex parents. Families come in all shapes, sizes, races, creeds, sexual preferances and in some cases, a mix of these elements. The title "Modern Family" may not be the most accurate name for this show since these are hardly new concepts, but to the network watching masses they still might be.

The show in a "reality style" with characters speaking in a confessional has at it's center Jay played by Ed O' Neill who has finally scored himself a TV role apart from Married With Children that major audiences can identify him with. Jay is a successful business man who lives in a luxurious home with his smoldering hot new trophy wife, a Colombian woman named Gloria. They're life is wonderful and fruitful, Gloria does not mind Jay's age as he is well over 30 years her senior and Jay knows she isn't a golddigger but there are a couple of things that irk Jay, Gloria's ex husband who is a hopeless and irresponsible philanderer and to a far lesser extent, Manny Gloria's bright and sweet 12 year old son. Jay cares for Manny, but it is clear at times that Jay sees Manny as that one item that keeps Jay and Gloria from weeklong vacations and sex. Gloria says that Manny is that glue that makes the alone time special: "He keeps us grounded" says Gloria.

"Like fog at an airport" retorts Jay.

From Jay and another marriage which collapsed horribly, he had two kids who went onto have families of they're own. His daughter Claire married Phil Dunphy and had three children: two daughters and a son. Jay's son Mitchell is in a same sex partnership with Cameron and they have an adopted Vietnamese baby girl named Lily. Claire's world is spent trying to keep her family under control while Mitchel and Cameron strive to learn how to stay happy and raise a little girl properly. Mitchell is a successful lawyer and is the bread winner but has little masculine tendencies while Cameron enjoys physical activities like sports but his maternal instincts kick into gear full force when a member of the family is threatened or in trouble, ESCPECIALLY little Lily. For those wondering it doesn't seem like there is a clear "male/female" in this equation and thank God Mitchel and Cameron aren't completely stereotyped in this regard or have to remind us of they're sexual orientation every 10 seconds the way characters would on Will and Grace.

The Dunphy household has husband Phil as one of those typical dumb TV dads who has a great job in real estate and loving all sorts of new tech items that come out. You'd be surprised he can run anything more complicated then a TV remote but as it turns out he has his own universal super remote and one episodes focus has him trying to get Claire to learn how to use it. Of the three kids: Haley is the oldest and could have a panic attack if she wasn't near her cell phone, Alex is the next oldest daughter and is always ready with a smart ass remark when her face isn't buried in a book and finally Luke is the only boy and there are days when you would think he could get trapped putting on his own sweater. The Dunphy family is the clearest "nuclear family" of the three but ironically seems to have the most problems going on in a daily grind, at least in relation to what Jay or Mitchel and Cameron go through in their day to day activity.

There is no laugh track to tell us what is funny thankfully and each episode has at least one laugh out loud moment and manages to mix some effective drama into the works as well. The show does of course go for some stereotyped humor but it is kept at a minimum with the biggest offense in this dept being directed at a guest character at the end of one episode. Modern Family will usually have some kind of focus such as competition, love or dating, togetherness and a thread from each family will connect it in some way which is wonderful touch and normally coupled with a voice over from a cast member. Three different families with members that walk in different circles that all come together with a common theme. How could that be? The answer is simpler then you think.

Why the Success of the Kinect is Important... and Why Hardcore Gamers Shouldn't Be Bashing It

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:00:58 +0000

I was recently cruising the internet and reading the video game forums. For those who don't know me, I enjoy reading the threads but I never participate. Not until gamers can go beyond saying, "You suck because you don't like what I like," and go beyond swearing and cursing out anyone who disagrees. Gamers are a finnicky lot. The good ones never speak up and the bad ones have somehow defined us. Recently I found a thread discussing the Kinect. It was on one of those websites where so-called "Hardcore Gamers" (i.e. people who THINK they're gamers but aren't because they're not willing to play and jump into EVERYTHING--case in point a gamer LOVES ALL GAMES and does not care for what system it's on) hang out.

I came across one post that was a rant about how motion control was destroying gaming and how the Kinect was going to be the start of a horrible, bleak, future for gaming. Such is the case whenever gaming has progressed. When the Playstation came out everyone thought the CD based format was going to be the death of gaming... turns out it was one of the best things for gaming. People screamed in terror at the thought of Microsoft entering the arena because it would take some of the development away from Japan... turned out that having more Western and European developers wasn't such a bad thing at all.

With the release of the Wii motion gaming took off. What gamers forget is that in spite of the Wii's initial success, the controller is not dead. Nor is it dying. In the first place, the Kinect is an add-on. Something you don't actually NEED to enjoy your XBOX. It's something you'll need for certain games, but not to play something like say... Halo Reach.

The part that caused me to actually jump onto the thread was when he talked about how he hopes the Kinect fails because there are already "too many casual gamers." Let's forget WHY it's important to have casual gamers at the moment (the "hardcore" vs. "casual" gamers argument is the worst thing to happen to gaming since G4 decided they had to be SpikeTV junior). Let's focus on why hoping for the failure of the Kinect is bad for gamers of any breed, and why it REALLY affects the Hardcore market as well.

When the Kinect was being conceived it was probably during the time when the Wii was more scarce than a grizzly bear in winter. Where you had to basically be at the store when the Wii shipment arrived. Nintendo was selling somewhere around 500,000 Wiis A WEEK when it was at it's peak. And selling nearly double that come Holiday season. That Wii shortage lasted from the time it launched to pretty much sometime in 2008. And the only reason the shortage stopped was because it had sold so many. No one needs two Wii consoles, for instance. And when fifty million sell it means fifty million people have one. So Nintendo was eventually able to keep up because their product was satisfying consumers.

Of course, by the time the Kinect was finally announced and actually completed, Wii sales have dipped. It still outsells the 360 and PS3 every month but it's games are often terrible. Hardcore gamers think this is absolute proof that the Wii is a bad console. The games are terrible. They forget that those terrible games are still selling. Now, A LOT of Wii games really are terrible. Even the ones that sell are pretty bad (the first Red Steel has sold over a million copies). So the quality of the game usually doesn't make a big difference in the quantity it sells. But the bigger thing that hardcore gamers ignore is WHY those games are bad. It most certainly isn't because they have motion controls. If that were all the Wii would've eventually stopped selling. Bad controllers have impacted the sales of consoles a lot (The Nintendo 64 may have been a success, but a lot of consumers didn't want one because it had an awful controller, and the Sega Genesis had software sale dips because the Super Nintendo version had a far superior controller). It's true that SOME games have horrible motion controls. Mario Party 8, for example, mostly has you tilting it to the left and right. It's not intuitive enough. But the bigger reason most games are bad is because developers aren't really trying very hard when it comes to developing them. Because right now they're taking advantage of the new gamer. That "casual" gamer, as it were. They haven't been gaming long enough to know a good game from a bad and Wii games like that are cheap to make.

This is in part why the Kinect exist. It appeals to the casual crowd. They're eventually going to try and bring it to that hardcore crowd too. It's not like it can't happen.

We seem like we're getting away from why the success of the Kinect is important, but we haven't really. There's just a lot to cover before we get into why Hardcore gamers shouldn't be bashing it. The success and failure of the Kinect affects them greatly. They just haven't considered how.

We're going to jump into that now. Let's start with the obvious. The first being it's a ploy to steal some of the Wii's market. This is actually where I think Microsoft is making a mistake with their Kinect. Imagine, if you will, that you walk into a bookstore and you see two books. Both of them are the same. Same words, same title... same version. They're both paperbacks with no real distinguishing differences. But one of them cost eight bucks and the other cost sixteen. Again, they're both the EXACT same book so please save your smart ass, "One is a trade paper back and the other isn't," kind of comments to yourself. The point is... it's the same book, but one is double the price. Which one would you buy? No one is going to pay for the sixteen dollar book. Not if they're both the same.

This is what Microsoft is doing. Sure it's not the same thing exactly, but the games on Kinect so far are mostly better looking versions of some of the games we're seeing on the Wii. If this is the casual crowd... you have to market to them by giving them more than just a prettier version of the same game. The Wii is cheaper. Sure it doesn't look as good as the 360... but money talks. Now, the Kinect has seen some moderate success because they actually are putting out different types of games and because you do more than just waggle a controller... you actually use your whole body. That's the genius of what Microsoft is doing. They're taking Nintendo's product and making it better. But that's not exactly enough for the casual gamer. Remember, the biggest reason the Wii is ridiculously successful is that it holds firm to what so many hardcore gamers forget works: simplicity. Anyone can get into it and play. There's no worrying about whether or not you've got a great television to play on or anything like that. The setup is also self explanatory. With the Kinect you're asking those same gamers you're trying to steal to spend money on the 360 itself... and then spend MORE money on the Kinect. The 360 is already around 300 bucks. The Kinect is 150 on top of that. Why would the casual gamer want to spend 450 bucks when they could spend 200? Different games... check. Different setup for the controller... check. Simplicity? Almost check. Money Management... big minus, there. Using your body as a controller is great, but it goes a little too far in the sense that the casual gamer needs to have a simple way of setting it up. And HD is also something that may not make a difference either. A casual gamer is probably not going to care so much whether or not they're bowling in HD. We're not watching a Blu-Ray, here, or plowing through fantastic, hyper resolute environment. You're dancing... or bowling... or something. You're playing a game where the graphical presentation doesn't really matter so much as the fun factor. With that in mind, advertising HD for Kinect games is a waste of the casual gamers time. A Hardcore gamer might like this, but if the assumption is that Hardcore Gamers don't care for Kinect (a great deal of them actually do) then looking good doesn't matter as much as playing well.

Likewise, the hardware of a console has NEVER been successful on their own. The software has always decided the fate of a console and how well it does. This has been true since the beginning of gaming. Remember, that video game crash didn't happen because the consoles were no good, it crashed because the GAMES were terrible and eventually stopped selling so well. The Kinect will be a success if it has good software.

The good news is that casual gaming is widespread. Regardless of what Hardcore gamers think, we'e ALWAYS had casual gamers. This is why even your precious 360 and PS3 you sometimes see games like Bejewled or Tetris or Portal on them (people don't think of Portal as a game that was made to appeal to casual gamers... but it really was... it holds onto simplicity to really make it work and even Hardcore gamers love the hell out of it as a result). Again, sometime Microsoft is getting right with the Kinect. But to pretend that we're in the middle of this "rise of the casual gamer" is ludicrous. They weren't under a rock or keeping themselves independent of the Hardcore crowd... you just didn't have a big corporation like Microsoft or gaming journalists at places like Gamespot, IGN or Game Informer giving them a label before. In fact, until then most of us never really thought about it. It only recently became important to distinguish the two crowds.

So we've made it clear that the Kinect is more expensive and that can harm it... but hasn't really done so at this point. The thing is selling relatively well. This is a good thing.

But Hardcore gamers say otherwise. They say this is a bad thing because it's going to change the face of gaming forever. Two things to consider. The first is that the industry is always changing. It's inevitable. Many of these screaming Hardcore gamers are too young to remember when cartridges were the thing to play games on and people were afraid of what going to a CD based format would do. The argument was that load times would interrupt your playtime (because gamers are clearly notoriously impatient), that cartridges had an internal battery to save directly to the game, and that we were already familiar with that technology. When Final Fantasy VII came around we understood the importance of doing this. You could develop a game at a cheaper price. You no longer had to come up with 70-80 dollars to buy a game. When the Playstation launched only having to spend 50 bucks on a game to purchase it was a Godsend. It was 20-30 bucks cheaper to do so (and consider that the gaming industry isn't hit nearly as hard with inflation... when movie ticket prices were rising... gaming prices were DROPPING). It was all around cheaper. But most important... it allowed developers to really experiment with gaming. They could afford to take risks and try new things. The result of this were games like Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, interactive movies like Wing Commander, etc. Sure, the Sega CD had already done some of this before and the PC was certainly capable of it... but at the time we all thought cartridges were better. And yes, there was a divide. "Real gamers play their games on cartridges and will buy an N64." Gamers are like any other medium. When something becomes popular they like to try and avoid it... even when the popularity is actually a good thing. Yes, Wii Bashers... if you wanted to prove you were "Hardcore" at one point... you played the Nintendo console! Final Fantasy VII made the landmark difference (Along with Wing Commander III) by showing that you could also make a game as long as you needed to. Cartidges were limited. If you wanted to make a game longer you had to design a custom cartridge. Final Fantasy VII, of course, was going to be an N64 game first. But it was going to cost well over 150 bucks to play it if that was the case. The CD? When you used up all the data on one disc you could continue onto another disc without having to charge the consumer more.

How does this relate to the Kinect? Easy... you're looking at a point in time when developers have a chance to really experiment with video games again. It's our chance to break away from the tired First Person Shooter genre that has populated the advertising and the sales (there was a time when Platformers were the big thing... and later JRPGs, they all grew stale because you just couldn't do a whole lot of new things after a while... the same thing WILL happen to FPS's if they all insist in trying to be Call of Duty). Developers have a chance to create and experiment with brilliant technology... for cheap. This means that even if they make a terrible game... they can AFFORD to make it, realize it doesn't work and try again. Part of the genius of Nintendo (we've talked about the genius of Microsoft already) is that they make sure they can recoup their cost. They developed the Wii in such a manner they can afford to sell it for two hundred bucks and STILL make a proft. This means that even if they make a horrible game, they recoup costs because their console is selling. Microsoft and Sony can't do that. I'm not sure if they're turning a profit off of their consoles yet (everyone knew that when their systems launched they were both selling at a loss) but they can't afford to make a flop just yet because there's nothing that will cover that cost. Kinect has a chance to save them money. Money they can use for another project. And that project DOESN'T have to be another Kinect game. It could go toward making the next awesome FIrst Person Shooter, Platformer, Adventure or Puzzle game or something like that.

This is the importance of Kinect. Whether you like it or not is insignificant. The important thing is that it allows the industry to stay afloat and allows developers to experiment with what they have now. What's more their game won't have to sell millions of copies.

But it gets bigger than that. It's always bigger. Here's where Hardcore gamers (that original forum poster especially) forget... Major Gaming studios are taking a gamble on Kinect. Major Game studios that produce games that YOU love. Games that you invest your time and money into. They're gambling on the Kinect as well. Why is this important? If the Kinect fails it has the potential to take A LOT of the industry with it. Because studios and developers are investing millions of dollars into it. If the gamble doesn't pay off the studio could go under, thousands of people lose their jobs and YOU Lose out on some games. The keyword is "potential." If the Kinect fails it doesn't mean it'll take a studio with it. If Infinity Ward invested a lot of money into Kinect they might survive if Kinect doesn't. They'd have a huge loss of profits, but that's really it.

But even a huge loss of profits is not such a good thing. If a major studio doesn't go under... but loses profits instead it means they have to cut back on Game Development because they don't have the money to do it. Meaning they can't give you the full experience they want. You never know, one of the things that might have to be cut might be an incredible multiplayer experience. Sure they could recover, but it would still mean you'd have to suffer through years of mediocre games before you got a good one. The gaming industry could definitely survive a dark period like that (the limitations might even make developers experiment with their newfound limitations), but why go through it if you don't have to? And you could still experiment without having to be forced to do so.

The point is simple: You don't have to hope for the failure of a system just because of your own selfish desires. No one will force a Hardcore Gamer to BUY a Kinect, but the Hardcore gamer probably shouldn't stop someone from buying the Kinect. In the first place, it isn't your money. In the second place, there is a way in which it can harm the industry and punish the Hardcore gamer. We're not saying this stuff WILL happen if the Kinect fails, only trying to get the so-called Hardcore Gamer to realize that success has an impact on him as well. And that the failure also does. The Gaming industry isn't "too big to fail," if you want a mediocre reference, but there is something about the potential of the Kinect brings to the table that Wii simply can't. And I don't think it would be such a bad thing to encourage it. You're going to get a lot of crap. Every game system has more crap than it does actual awesomeness. The only reason it seems like it's the other way around is because the race isn't over. Sure we fondly remember the Playstation now... because the good games stand out while we let the crap it had slowly die.

The Kinect is still in its infancy and at the moment is in the perfect moment for developers to take advantage of its capabilities. In a few years we can re-examine the Kinect and rule out whether or not it's worth it. But for now, we can't exactly say, "I sure hope the Kinect fails," because if it does it can be a disaster. Once people sort of grasp whether or not it was worth investing in and pull out if it isn't then we can hope for the failure of the Kinect. But if the Kinect turns out to be successful--as it so far has been--then Hardcore Gamers would do best to simply let bygones be bygones, continue to enjoy their video games, and be content that their favorite developer is still able to develop for them.

Educational Video Game Creation in Gamestar Mechanic

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:32:32 +0000

Technology is changing the face of education and video games are leading the way. There has been a great deal of evidence showing that videogame creation has become a powerful learning tool. Gamestar Mechanic, a game-based learning platform that teaches the principles of game design in an engaging and creative environment, taps into the natural passion of youth for playing and making games.

What is Gamestar Mechanic?
Gamestar Mechanic, a product of the non-profit Institute of Play and publisher E-Line Media, launched in November 2010. By using this free website (optional premium membership offered) students develop technological, artistic, cognitive, social and linguistic skills. Game building also provides a powerful motivation for learning critical STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering and Math) skills.

See full post at Connect with your Teens

Terra Nova - Spielberg TV Series of Epic Proportions

Mon, 7 Feb 2011 16:30:41 +0000

Did you see the Super Bowl commercial for the upcoming Steven Spielberg series, Terra Nova? It looked like a movie. And it looked exciting. When I saw that Terra Nova is going to be a new TV series, my first thought was, maybe we'll have a new "Lost". If you mix in Jurassic Park, and make it a weekly television series, that might describe what the promo for Terra Nova looked like.

According to Fox, Terra Nova is an epic family adventure. (Which means, great for families to connect). It begins in the year 2149 when the Earth is dying. Scientists discover a portal into primeval history and make a plan to resettle humanity in the past.

Continued with video at Terra Nova - Spielberg TV Series of Epic Proportions

Archive of American Television - Video Interviews with TV Legends

Thu, 3 Feb 2011 19:29:25 +0000

Do you love TV? I don't mean sitting down to watch some random television shows? Do you love the shows that you watch and like to know everything about the television industry. If so, you will positively love the Archive of American Television: Capturing Television History , One Voice at a Time. This website, part of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation (yes, the Emmys) houses nearly 700 long-form videotaped interview with pioneers of television.

The collection is very diversified. You can find interviews by:

Professions - Everybody that has anything to do with making a television show, including actors, directors, writers, producers, stuntmen, composers, historians, talk show hosts, puppeteers, editos, announcers, cameramen, publicists, network founders and more.
Genres - Individual interviewed come from all genres, including

Continued at My Recommended Websites

All you need is love

Wed, 2 Feb 2011 06:48:22 +0000

The year is 1957, and 16-year old Liverpool lad John Lennon (Aaron Johnson) is miserable. He hates school and his strict aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott-Thomas) and his mother who abandoned him when he was five. Then he meets his mother again and although she's a little odd, he loves having a mum again, while his auntie isn't so sure.

This little film tells the interesting and sad story of Lennon's childhood and his search for maternal love. Unfortunately, Johnson not only lacks charisma, he doesn't look or sound anything like John and that was a big disappointment. I had to keep reminding myself who he was supposed to be; this could have been about any unhappy young man and I was expecting more. The actors who play Paul and George look nothing like them, either; if they didn't call each other by name, you'd never know who was who. Scott Thomas is absolutely wonderful playing a tough and seemingly cold woman who really loves John but is unable to show it; her scenes are the most dramatic and enjoyable.

The period is recreated well with costumes, hair styles, music, and set decoration. Lennon's fans will enjoy learning why he became interested in music in the first place, how he got his first guitar, and how he formed his first band. All in all, it's a good story, but not a memorable one. 3.5 stars.

Modern Family Quick Tip by TheJohn

Wed, 2 Feb 2011 04:49:25 +0000

A look at three connected but very different American families and they're lives. Could have been so poor and cliched but takes some chances and makes for one of the best shows in years.

Ragequit! I'm outta here!

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:15:50 +0000

Global phenomenon? Yes. A scourge of every day life? Absolutely. Here's why you should follow my example and pull the plug on Zuckerberg's narcissistic ego-porn site.

So today I took the leap and unfriended myself from Facebook, which is ironic considering that I spend a major part of my time helping clients buy social media advertising - it's like being the drug dealer who won't touch the stuff. And it does strangely feel like I've disconnected myself and entered a social networking wilderness, but actually it's a step that I think more people should consider.

1. Zero privacy

Apart from Facebook's own checkered history with privacy, the truth is that you're providing endless amounts of personal detail for very little reason -- just take a look at Facebook Advertising to see how this works. While they do have privacy controls, Facebook just doesn't work as intended if you use them: it's like going to a cocktail party with duct tape over your mouth and a bag over your head. And with the proliferation of Like, Share and Connect buttons everywhere, there's never been a better time to create a permanent public record of your surfing habits.

2. Look at me! LOOK AT ME!

My opinion of certain friends has been on the downward slope as they've basically spammed my news feed with utter crap. 400 pictures of flowers in Thailand. 300 pictures of hugging strangers while getting drunk. A photo of the entree I ordered last night. It's so unbelievably pointless but more importantly it's annoying. It appears that some of the people I know have dangerously narcissistic tendencies (which is ok now since it's technically not a psychological disorder anymore).

3. One Platform To Rule Them All

I'm all Open Source-y and have a major suspicion of any technology that attempts to implant itself as part of the core Internet eco-system. If email only ever had one provider, like AOL, we'd still be using dial-up - it's healthy that there were thousands of competing email systems, yet the system worked just fine - and evolved quickly too.

Facebook aims to be a required part of your Internet experience, which is counter to way it should work. There need to be a range of competing systems that interrelate with the effectiveness of email. Although there are other Facebook-type sites, these are clones and you have to choose one to use rather than any.

4. Shallow relationships

In many ways, sites like Lunch.com do a much better job than Facebook. It takes hard work to write reviews, read others' reviews, and develop opinions. It doesn't take hard work to take a picture of my cat. I often feel I have a better insight into the personalities of the many excellent Lunchers here than people I've known for years who post inane Twitter-length comments about having a cold.

It also has a chilling effect (I love that phrase) on seeing people who haven't physically met in a long time, since you casually know what's been going on in their lives through Facebook. It's a shallow replacement for the real thing.

5. Goldman Sachs is here

The world's favorite vampire squid is now involved, which surely must be a sign to move on. One of the big proponents of Internet Bubble stocks a decade ago, the investment banks are readying themselves for Round Two of the great Web "Pump & Dump". We're talking trillions of dollars again for a company that doesn't actually produce anything, so I'd rather not be part of the calamity when it gets IPO'd to death and then crashes and burns. If that seems unlikely now, it also seemed unlikely last time too.

In shutting down my Facebook account, I'm putting the social back into social media - visiting friends for dinner, seeing family in the flesh, and spending time talking to people. I don't need virtual gifts, Mafia Wars or 50 updates an hour on my Droid to be part of my network. And while I think there are many websites that help develop friendships and your knowledge of things you like - and it's one of the great benefits of the web - Facebook isn't one of them.

I hope you like this review by sharing it on Facebook. :-)

Figment - Online Community for Teen and Young Adult Writers

Fri, 7 Jan 2011 18:23:37 +0000

Do you know any teens of young adults that love to write, especially fiction? Then you must tell them about the website Figment, "a community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors."

It is very easy and free to sign up for Figment. Once in, members can write almost anything from short stories to fan fiction to poetry. It is completely up to the writer to decide whether to make their finished product public. If so, it goes into the Figment library, where other members can read, rate and comment on it. There are many guidelines in place dealing with respect of others.

Continued at Figment: Online Community for Teen and Young Adult Writers

Michael Jackson's VISION - 42 Groundbreaking Music Videos on DVD

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 23:26:09 +0000

No matter what has happened in Michael Jackson's controversial short life, no one can deny the genius of his talent. Watching his music videos, or short films as Michael Jackson's VISION refers to them, reminds me of just how unique and gifted he was.

Michael Jackson's VISION includes a 2 DVD set of all 35 of his groundbreaking music videos, or short films, fully restored and remastered. A Bonus DVD of 7 additional music videos is also included, with the previously unreleased 'One More Chance'.

Watching Michael Jackson's videos can not be compared to any others. He revolutionized music videos and nobody ever caught up. Included are videos directed by movie directors John Landis, John Singleton, Spike Lee, David Fincher and Martin Scorsese. Families would come together to watch a Michael Jackson video.

I recently watched some of the older videos from Michael Jackson's video with my son he had to admit that Michael Jackson was amazingly talented and all the videos from the thriller album, made before he was born, are phenomenal. I highly recommend Michael Jackson's VISION for not only Jackson's fans but for any fan of music videos.

See also: Michael Jackson - I'll Remember the Early Years

This post originally appeared at Connect with your Teens through Pop Culture and Technology.

Works as advertised and looking forward to its potential

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:12:44 +0000

When Project Natal was announced in last year's E3, I was intrigued by its technology but was skeptical on whether Microsoft can pull it off, fast forward to this year, Project Natal is now officially named Kinect, and after spending a few days playing it, even though it didn't fulfill all of its promises, it did live up to the lofty expectation.

Kinect is easy to setup, basically you plug it into the XBox 360's USB port and plug in the power (if you have the newer "S" model, you won't even need the power), and once it's set up, it's ready to go, I was surprised on how simple the setup was, it's basically plug-and-play, and it recognize me right away and I can navigate the menu with Kinect without any problem (and yes, it does work sitting down, although all the games I tested are programmed for playing standing up). The only thing that takes a while to set up is KinectID, basically you can set up auto-login based on facial recognition, and that involves making different poses in different position, which my 3 year old son has a hell of a time doing (he just can't stand still to hold the position for Kinect to recognize him), but for us adult, it works pretty well.

I was pleasantly surprised on how accurate Kinect is, and it seems to be able to pick up who is playing even with multiple people in the background. As you can see from the tracking image, Kinect is able to map out and track your whole body with its built in infra-red cameras.

As for the games, I mainly played a lot of Kinect sport, and it's a pretty fun game, and since Kinect can read your whole body, you can't "cheat" your way through the games like you can with the Wii, and it's a lot more accurate then I imagined, when I played Bowling, you can motion your arm across your body to indicate spin move, and your position and arm motion will determine the path of the ball, it's pretty impressive, and after playing through some sports (Bowling, Ping-Pong, Beach Volleyball, Soccer, and Track and Field), I was actually pretty sore the next day, so you can actually get a fairly decent workout from this.

As of right now, what the Kinect offers is good, but not great, but I think the technology can do so much more, some examples are what some people are doing with Kinect connected to PCs, it's pretty amazing what it can do, and I am looking forward to the next wave of games that taps into the potential of the device more.

Kinect "Minority Report" control on PC (with the open-source driver)

Kinect Quick Tip by zephyr2050

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:41:24 +0000

Played a little bit of this in the office and can see that it's going to be a great hit with the kids!

Shake Your Booty

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 23:07:46 +0000

With all the baked treats at work, holiday meals and parties, and traveling, your healthy diet may take a backseat the next few weeks (or more)!

Don’t wait until New Years to make your get-fit resolutions. Start now, by watching your portions of desserts and treats and getting some fun exercise in. Fun exercise? I know that sounds like a oxymoron but it’s actually a reality.

Dance off the pounds with the new Xbox Kinect Dance Central game or Zumba Fitness. This amazing new video game technology brings games and entertainment to life in extraordinary new ways without using a controller. The video game actually uses your body as the remote control! As you dance and move around your living room floor…so does your game avatar. This is one fun way to shake off the pounds.

XBox Kinect
Buy It:Best Buy
Cost: $299.99

Xbox Kinect Dance Central Game
Buy it: Best Buy
Cost: $49.99

Xbox Kinect Zumba Fitness Game
Buy it: Amazon
Cost: $39.96

Prayers for Bobby DVD Review and Giveaway

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:41:32 +0000

Yesterday I had the good fortune to interview Sigourney Weaver. But the best part (as if interviewing Sigourney Weaver wasn't the best part) was that the topic of the interview was about something much more important than entertainment. Her Lifetime movie, Prayers for Bobby, which is now out on DVD, is a heartbreaking movie that teaches parents the importance of accepting their children for who they are.

Based on the bestselling book by Leroy Aarons, Sigourney Weaver, in her first made-for-TV movie and one of her finest roles ever, plays Mary Griffith, a deeply religious mother who cannot accept her teenage son's homosexuality and must then deal with the consequences.. She then makes the journey from devastating grief to becoming a champion of gay rights. The acting is superb. Prayers for Bobby is an extremely powerful must-see movie.

The DVD for Prayers for Bobby offers many extras that will help viewers learn more about the movie and gay rights:

Interviews with the Real-Life Mary Griffith, Sigourney Weaver, and other cast members
Behind-the-Scenes with the Producers
Meet the Stars
Road to The GLAAD Awards
Trevor Project PSA starring Daniel Radcliffe - The Trevor Project is an organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth.
PFLAG PSA Starring Sigourney Weaver - PFLAG is an organization for parents, families and friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Please go to Sigourney Weaver interview on Prayers for Bobby and DVD Giveway to read about my interview with Signourney and the detail of the DVD giveaway!

How to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and Your Self

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:46:24 +0000

Some of the best parenting advice I have ever read comes from the new book by Ilene Val-Essen, Ph.D., Bring Out the Best in Your Child and Your Self: Creating a Family Based on Mutual Respect. Rather than managing kids or modifying their behavior, Dr. Val-Essen's approach is about encouraging growth.

Bring out the Best in Your Child and Your Self is based more on principles than advice. Creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and encouraging the best within your kids and yourself are two of the most important things you can do. Parents must keep in mind that everything they say can affect their child's self-esteem.

Continued with 10 tips from the author at How to Bring Out the Best in Your Teens and Add Peace to Your Home

Kinect - The Gamer's Thumb was just replaced by Living Room Turf Toe

Tue, 7 Dec 2010 07:04:53 +0000

Since the 2009 E3 Conference, I had been telling myself over and over again, "You don't need the Kinect... That's not your type of game... You don't need the Kinect..." Fortunately for me, @trailblazer wasn't in my head, and she very generously purchased one for me as a gift.

Setup was simple enough. Depending on your Xbox, either plug the proprietary USB-looking end directly into your Xbox, or plug that cable into the included power adapter which then connects one end to a USB port on the Xbox and the other to a standard power outlet. Once you're connected, the Xbox walks you through the rest of setup to make sure the Kinect device is positioned appropriately aligned with your TV and that you have enough space to move around.. more on that later. The Kinect will also try to calibrate the sound settings for the built-in microphone, but I was too impatient for that.

I immediately jumped into the games. The Kinect comes with Kinect Adventures, but I also received a copy of Kinect Sports to start off my motion gaming library. Kinect Sports was in the console. To get you warmed up, they have a number of mini games including among others bowling, table tennis, soccer, and track and field. Bowling seemed the most accessible and it had a very similar feel to Wii Bowling. However, without having to hold a controller, I thought the bowling motion was much more natural. From the early tests, bowling was very accessible for everyone, but it was a little frustrating trying to figure out what motions would cause "spin" on the ball. My favorite of the initial batch was playing soccer goalie. Remember when I mentioned making sure you had enough space to move around? I have a feeling that Kinect is going to cause a flood of new YouTube videos of over active players taking out all manner of furniture and sliding-glass doors. As goalie, the screen shows you where the ball is being kicked to and you have to move your body in position to block the shot. While the initial shots required only moderate movement, after a while, I found myself nearly diving left and right to get to the corner shots. Might not want to set up the Kinect in the same room as the china cabinet.

Rather than describe the different games and challenges in Kinect Adventures and Kinect Sports, it probably makes more sense to discuss the overall pros and cons.

Pros:

No controller
Movement in both arms and legs are tracked and can be used in most games giving a greater sense of immersion
One controller can be used to track two players (in some games)

Cons:

Initial launch library is thin
There is some lag between your motions and the motions appearing on screen.
3D tracking doesn't seem as precise as PS3 Move's offering

There's plenty to like about Kinect as well as plenty of untapped potential. Playing alone, the current crop of games don't offer much for an in-depth gaming experience. But once you have other people to play with, it's really hard to NOT have fun with the Kinect. If you occasionally host an impromptu game-night, the Kinect would be a worthwhile purchase.

Free Realms online game for teens and tweens

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:27:26 +0000

Free Realms is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMO) that will appeal to both boys and girls and younger teens. In this online mix of real-world and fantasy, you can do almost anything you want.

There is always something new to do in Free Realms. If you want adventure, you can search for lost treasure or duel other players. If adventure is not for you, you can teach your pet a trick, decorate your house or grow vegetables. There are also a wide variety of mini-games. With weekly and monthly updates, regular and special events and player-created parties and celebrations, players will never be bored.

Free Realms is one of the largest online games being played with over 14 million registered users, many of which are tweens. It is a very safe virtual world. Parents have fun playing also because of the engaging storyline. There is also a great deal of social interaction in Free Realm. Kids can join their friends in an adventure at any point in the game and cooperate or compete against other players. They can also grab a root beer at the inn and hang out or send links, share images and chat from their own customizable page. Upgraded membership is $4.99 for Free Realms.

For more on this and other Sony online games see:

Sony Virtual World Free Online Games for Teens and Tweens

Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:24:04 +0000

This action packed virtual world was created for fans of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series on Cartoon Network. Developed by Sony Online Entertainment and licensed by LucasArts, in conjunction with Lucasfilm Ltd., Clone Wars Adventures is an authentic and accessible Clone Wars experience for teens and families to play at home together.

Players can speed though space in a starfighter, take out waves of battle droids in Tower Defense or test their brains with challenging Droid Programming puzzles. Clone Wars also includes an array of Minigames and more. Compete with friends in this safe virtual world and show off your achievements in the Trophy Room. There are even parental controls that can be set for your younger teens or tweens.

Although Clone Wars is free, an upgraded monthly membership can be purchased for $5.99 to take the galactic action to the next level. Players can also purchase legendary Star Wars outfits, items and acessories through micro-transactions using virtual currency.

For more on other this and other Sony online games see:

Sony Virtual World Free Online Games for Teens and Tweens

Full House (TV show) Quick Tip by kfontenot

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:49:15 +0000

Okay, so it was loaded with more sugar than a box of Fruit Loops, but the innocence of "Full House" never stopped the show from being funny.

Family Ties (TV show) Quick Tip by kfontenot

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:48:22 +0000

Alex P. Keaton is, was, and always will be the coolest Republican on the planet!

Old Friends, New Friends, And A Few People You'd LIke To Forget

Sun, 7 Nov 2010 02:27:14 +0000

When I first created my Facebook profile, I did so in order to communicate with a few people who I met on the old (and seemingly ancient) Yahoo 360 social network. I had become quite good virtual friends with them and didn't want to lose touch with them whenever 360 shut down.

I believed that those few select people (six friends total), would be my entire world on Facebook. Soon enough, however, I started getting friend requests from people I hadn't seen since high school or college. Knowing them, I decided to approve their friendship and quickly found myself chatting with them about their new families, their new homes, and their new careers.

In a very short amount of time I accumulated around seventy or so friends. All of them (excepting the original six) were people that I knew from my real, blood and bones life.

It was after these seventy people that things started getting weird. I began "liking" pages on Facebook that pertained to my interests such as science fiction, movies, and the New Orleans Saints. All of a sudden, complete strangers started wanting to be my friend supposedly due to sharing my interests. A few of them were obviously spammers hoping to attract me to their website because they all had similar canned friendship messages attached to their request. They also usually included a profile photo of a scantily clad girl who looked to be somewhere in her late teens (Why don't they ever use a photo of a scantily clad late 20's/early 30's woman? That's more interesting to a guy my age. Oh well, I guess that belongs in another review!).

Anyway, after sifting through and denying all of the nineteen year old hotties wanting to be my friend, I was usually left with a bunch of people who I knew absolutely nothing about. Some of them had public profiles with access to tons of personal information about them. It scared me to be quite honest with you. Needless to say, I denied all of them as well.

As time progressed, friendship requests started to slow down. I picked up a few new friends here and their after befriending them in real life, and thanks to Facebook's security features, I can actually block a few of the friends that I don't know that well from seeing certain parts of my profile, especially pictures of me and my family.

Ironically, many people who wouldn't say two words to me in high school or college seem to want to be my friend now. This is a very strange phenomena to me. One of my old bullies tried to friend me as well, but I simply denied his request. Sure, he might have changed and matured with time, but one thing I've learned is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. In other words, once a meathead, always a meathead!

I've also found that I tend to talk more with the friends I've made in the past five years and rarely talk to old friends from high school. I can only guess that the reason this is is due to the fact that I have more in common with them than my old high school pals.

As a rule, I only accept friend requests and do not usually send them to anyone. Maybe that's strange, but I look at it this way: If a person wants to be my friend or reunite from days gone by, they'll get in touch with me. Perhaps it is due to the fact that I'm not a big fan of being turned down for friendship requests, but have no problem denying others!

Overall, Facebook can be a very useful tool to get back in touch with people you've lost contact with. It can also help you keep up with your current friends and plan times to get together. And if you're into science fiction conventions like I am, Facebook can help you get in touch with people in the know in that community.

I like Facebook. I use it almost everyday. I never thought that I would, but it has become a key part of my life. Besides, Facebooking someone sounds a lot cooler than "tweeting" them!

Microsoft Kinect - 10 Things You Should Know

Sat, 6 Nov 2010 19:32:49 +0000

The long awaited Kinect for the Microsoft Xbox console was finally released to much fanfare today. It will probably be the biggest selling video game accessory this holiday season. The Microsoft Kinect will probably be the biggest selling product this holiday season. What is so great about it. Are there any problems with the Kinect?

In a nutshell, this is what you should know about the Microsoft Xbox Kinect:

1. The Kinect plugs into the Microsoft Xbox video game console. Players can then play all Kinect games without use of controllers. The Kinect has microphones, cameras and sensors which can take in everything happening in the room. You control the games just by moving.

2. Many more games, especially sports, can be made for the Kinect, than for the Wii, because the Wii was limited to what could be monitored with one hand. Try downhill skiing for great fun.

3. You can also control the Microsoft Kinect through voice commands. This includes not only the video games but everything else you do with Xbox 360 Live, such as chosing a movie to watch. Very cool.

4. The Microsoft Kinect games only work when you are moving. What an incredible way to get exercise. I don't have my own yet, but I've been to a few demo parties, and there was a great deal of sweating going on. The new saying will be, "The family that plays together, sweats together".

Continued at Microsoft Kinect - 10 Things You Should Know

NoWhere Boy and John Lennon's Youth

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:27:27 +0000

Nowhere Boy is a biopic about John Lennon's teenage years, beginning when he was 15. More than anything, Nowhere Man is about John's relationship with his aunt Mimi, the women who raised him, and his mother, Julia, the women who didn't. These relationships had a huge impact on the man John Lennon became and his music.

The film also explores John's infatuation with Elvis, his desire to form a rock band and how the Quarrymen came to be. His meeting with Paul McCartney and their bonding over music even though they were so different was fun to watch.

The acting in this movie was phenomenal. Aaron Johnson portrayed the angry, yet insecure, young John Lennon to perfection. Kristin Scott Thomas gave another Oscar worthy performance as aunt Mimi and Anne-Marie Duff was mesmerizing as John's free spirited, yet damaged mother. Nowhere Boy was an extremely moving and fascinating film that I highly recommend. Watch the trailer and see for yourself:

Family Game Night TV Series on New Hub TV Network

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:38:00 +0000

Have you heard about the new television network for kids and families? It is called "The Hub" and it launched on October 10, 2010. The Hub is a combined effort of Discovery Communications and Hasbro, Inc. and is meant to be a hub or destination where the family can come together and connect.

While the Hub has many original television series and reruns of classic shows currently airing, the series that I think that teens and parents will most likely enjoy together is Family Game Night. Real families compete against each other in life-sized Hasbro Games such as Cranium, Bop-It!, Connect4 and more. Family Game Night is hosted my Todd Newton of E!'s Oscar and Emmy shows and the game shows "Whammy!", "Hollywood Showdown" and more.

Family Game Night airs on Friday nights from 7-8pm ET. You can find the channel for your area on the HubWorld channel locator. Other new shows that teens or tweens may enjoy on The Hub are Taylor Swift: Journey to Fearless and R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour. On Monday through Thursday nights, both parents and teens will enjoy tuning in to classic reruns of Family Ties, The Wonder Years, Doogie Howser, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. Have fun watching the new TV network, The Hub.

This article originally appeared on the blog, Connect with your Teens through Pop Culture and Technology.

Nowhere Boy Finds Good Home

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:14:32 +0000

NOWHERE BOY
Written by Matt Greenhalg
Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood
Starring Aaron Johnson, Kristen Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff

John: Why couldn’t God make me Elvis?
Julia: Because he was saving you for John Lennon.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing some of Sam Taylor-Wood’s art firsthand in exhibition. It was stark, cold but yet still emotional and affecting. It was both sad and sexual, making for a challenging experience, to say the least. Still, it was an experience I’m glad I had and one that I am also glad to say, has effectively translated to film in Taylor-Wood’s first feature, NOWHERE BOY. The images here may be moving in comparison but are just as rich with depth and pain.

This is a story of a young boy in Liverpool, whom you might know as John Lennon. Unless you know Lennon’s history well though, you will not know this story. The film opens with a dream and that classically unmistakable opening chord from The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” rings in the image. That is the last you will hear of anything The Beatles ever sang or recorded for the rest of the film though. This is not that story, not exactly. This story is about a boy, played with surprising charm and strength by relative unknown, Aaron Johnson (KICK-ASS). This boy wants to put a band together but it proves to be tricky when he is caught between the affections of the aunt who raised him his whole life (Kristen Scott Thomas) and his unstable mother (Anne-Marie Duff) with whom he has just reunited. His name just happens to be Lennon and the band he throws together in a bathroom just happens to be one of the most influential of all time.

We all come from somewhere and if we happen to have been blessed with a little talent or a little genius, then the odds are that the somewhere we came from may not have been so simple a place. Taylor-Wood shows us Lennon’s somewhere and allows us to draw our own conclusions about what made the man that would become a legend rather than do all the drawing for us. There was nothing simple about Lennon’s upbringing. He was kept in the dark until he was an adult and by then, the damage had been done. Fortunately for him and for his fans the world over, that damage became great music.

Thanks for reading.
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Video Games Quick Tip by TheJohn

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 05:36:02 +0000

One of mankinds greatest inventions. Forget sliced bread.

Facebook Quick Tip by tracybb

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:34:16 +0000

Make lots of friends. It's more fun that way. Blah blah blah blah blah

Video Games Quick Tip by Celestial

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:43:53 +0000

If you're a guy gamer, and looking for a way to get your non-gamer girlfriend involved, try the game "Eternal Sonata". The game play is fun and second player is the prefect amount of involvement for a non-gamer like myself!

Facebook Quick Tip by Sean_Rhodes

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:07:30 +0000

Yes, you'll find people who have an absurd number of friends (and if you join you're apt to get many a friend request by people you either don't know or had one conversation with a long time ago) and you can sit there saying, "No one REALLY has THAT many friends," but at the very least it is nice to connect with other people. Of course, you still have to be careful with peole who do things like create false profiles, post pictures of people that aren't them, etc. (or younger pictures) but it comes with the territory of any social networking site.

Facebook Quick Tip by sama89

Sat, 3 Jul 2010 14:52:21 +0000

Great way to interact with friends and family!

Vampires do not sparkle

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 01:50:56 +0000

I have always been fascinated by the transformation of this creature in history and in pop culture today. It started out that they were something to fear...rising up out of the grave wondering mindlessly to feed. They lived on the underbelly of society, never to be talked about, only feared. They were the explanation when something went terribly wrong in town. They were the scape goats. After a while, they got transformed in something more supernatural, being able to shape shift and turn into mist where needed. They became objects of lust and love and sexuality and power. Now they can walk in daylight hours and sparkle. That I don't like. They should burn at sunlight. Cower back into their graves. Now it is almost acceptable to think of vampires as a sex symbol. They are dark and gruesome. And they have to face eternity. Or the end of the stake. Which ever comes first.

Exceptional writing on recent games

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0000

From the subtitle, I'd feared that this would be a lengthy academic treatise, written by someone who's more interested in the idea of video games than the games themselves. Instead, this series of essays is a riveting reflection on the author's own love-hate relationship with games, as they alternately delight and frustrate him.

I share many of the author's views (and many of his favorite games). Fallout 3, for instance, is a game of awesome scope, allowing the player to walk anywhere in the post-apocalyptic D.C. area and talk to thousands of characters. But the game's second-rate writing serves as a frequent and painful reminder that there is little substance there, that you're ultimately exploring not a richly realized world but only a figment of someone's adolescent imagination. That doesn't mean it can't be addictive, of course. But it does set games apart from other forms of entertainment. Mass Effect is a great game in large part because it's as well-written as a big-budget sci-fi flick. That's the high bar. Why, Bissell constantly wonders, hasn't the standard for game narratives been pushed any higher?

Bissell is at his most interesting when he's describing his own game-playing experiences, uncynically highlighting sources of emotional resonance. It's refreshing to see such thoughtful reviews of games (though the A.V. Club comes close). I find him slightly less engaging when he switches into interview mode, as in "The Grammar of Fun," a profile of Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski that originally appeared in The New Yorker. These feel a bit too reverential, placing the game designers on a pedestal and inevitably skipping over the flaws in their works.

Still, all in all, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in current video games (almost every game mentioned in the book came out in the last 5 years). If you play them, it will change the way you frame your playing experience. And if you don't, it will make you understand what all the fuss is about.

Remember Me

Wed, 26 May 2010 22:14:15 +0000

Social Networking has, for the most part, become a part of our everyday lives. It's still in its infancy, though. For most of us sites like Friendster and Myspace got us started in Social Networking, while other sites such as Amazon have adapted to becomeing more social networking like in a time that it's a big thing. Yet when it comes to social networking no website stands out more than Facebook. This is for several reasons. Facebook has become a social networking standard. It keeps growing and it keeps expanding too. It's also brought into question just what privacy means to people and, to some extent... what Privacy actually is.

In 2005, a guy in a college dorm named Mark Zuckerberg created a website he called Facebook. This was shortly after a place like Myspace was already incredibly popular and snatching headlines. At first when Facebook was established it was a way for the student body of his college to keep tabs on everyone. To figure out what was going on around campus. Shortly after that the site expanded to being open to primarily college students. Upon first joining Facebook in 2005 my first thought was more along the lines of, "What's the big deal?" It seemed exactly the same as Myspace back then. Albeit it was a little neater and I didn't have to worry about someone putting so much crap on their page that it would freeze my computer. At first it was easy to dismiss Facebook. After all, in 2005 it didn't have all the same features it has now. Now Facebook is a huge global phenomenon. With over 500 million members, Facebook is easily one of the fastest ways to connect to the world outside of your core friends that you'd see in real life.

In 2006, Facebook's first big expansion was that it started allowing High School students to join. This move, like so many others Facebook would make in the future, caused controversy. For example, there were college students whining that it was their hangout spot (oddly enough THAT seems like a whining high school student's complaint) and that they had no business being there. Looking back on it now, that just seems silly that there were ever any complaints at all. Other complaints surfaced when the site opened up to allow everyone to join. Facebook was suddenly more public than it had ever been. And in his early 20's Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire. He went from someone making a website in a dorm, to being CEO of a giant social networking corporation. Facebook is now one of the most visited and busiest websites on the internet. Most of you here have a Facebook profile. And I bet if given the time and energy, I could find most of you. And ALL of you could probably find me without problems.

The process of signing up has changed from when I first joined in 2005, but I have an idea. When you first join, Facebook waste no time in getting you connected with other friends. When you register an email you can go right into things and figure out who else actually has a facebook page. Because it goes into your email and suggests people based on this. Those who already have a Facebook will come up instantly. Afterwards you can invite other people in your box and then you can actually start browsing the site looking for people.

Of course, looking for people is no fun if you don't fill your profile with such things as maybe your hometown... perhaps even some of your favorite books, movies and musicians. Facebook can go a little far in asking you what you want to place on your profile, however. Listing off your favorite books and even your hometown is fine... but the site also has an option for you to display your phone number, your AIM ID or MSN Messenger ID (along with any other messengers)... and even your home address. The last of this all seems like it's asking for a bit much. Facebook has always been running into criticisms involving privacy. When you register, for example, your account is public by default. This wouldn't be such a problem if Facebook didn't insist on making the navigation through your privacy settings so tedious and annoying. It's not horrible, but considering how easy it is to do everything else on Facebook, it's strange that the privacy settings, of all things, actually requires work on your part. And much of what you find in them are pretty vague. You can, at least, preview your profile from an outside view. That doesn't make it any less annoying when trying to go about your privacy settings.

According to Zuckerberg, the point of Facebook is to be more open anyway. And Facebook has always been pushing for that. In 2007 Facebook introduced the News Feed option. At first it got a lot of people protesting. At the time, however, Facebook only had ten million members and a good portion of them were upset that now just about every action they did was broadcast to their friends. In spite of everything, not seeing your friends status updates now seems like something you couldn't live without. The News Feed, in spite of a lukewarm reception, became something many users appreciated because they now no longer had to go to each friend's profile individually. Likewise, users are able to choose which updates show up on their newsfeed... and if you do something that you don't want people to see, you can remove it. The News Feed actually didn't turn out to be so bad at all. "What people want isn't complete privacy," Zuckerberg told TIME Magazine, "It's that they want control over what they share and what they don't." And Zuckerberg is right. There are some people who will hold nothing back on Facebook. They'll post as many pictures as they can find. Put anything in their status update.

When people post on their wall or something on the news feed comes up, you're able to "Like" that person's status activity. This is really awesome to give your friends some recognition, but for the most part it can be annoying if it's someone who has a lot of friends. The moment you comment on someone's status or "Like" it, you will get a notification any time someone else comments on said status or likes it. This is fine when there aren't that many people. But when someone has say... 1,000 friends it can be annoying that you simply "Liked" someone's status but then you have to hear what 200 other people are saying about it.

There are also many many MANY different pages on Facebook for anything. There are standard likes such as liking "Video Games" or liking a specific movie or celebrity. To the strange pages such as, "I Bet This Pickle Can Get More Fans Than Nickelback" (oh it's a real page) to the downright bizarre. Groups that are, more or less, simple statements such as, "People Who Sleep Because They Go to Bed Late for No Reason." This is all crazy stuff. And there are literally millions of these pages with anywhere from hundreds to millions of people liking them. And they all operate as your own profile does, only someone has to monitor them and update them regularly.

There are also plenty of applications on Facebook that will get your profile information to work. Things such as figuring out which crazy author you are, or what color your soul is. Usually little stupid quizzes that are there for the sake of fun. There are other more daring applications as well. Not to mention games... such as Mafia Wars or (ugh...) Farmville. And people take these games quite seriously.

And everything you do on ALL of these things can be displayed on your own profile page.

It begs the question just whether or not we've ever truly experienced privacy before Facebook. What I mean by that is before it's not like you had the option to tell the world anything and everything. Privacy was... well... a default thing. It wasn't that your life was private... it was actually that you just couldn't get it out there. Facebook has definitely changed that the line between what's appropriate to share and what isn't becomes blurred to some users. And yes, businesses and such will now take time to look at your Facebook profile to see what it is you've done. So will the police. Underage and you're caught in a photo with a beer in your hand? That's enough for the police to charge you with underage drinking. Likewise, you could probably lose your job or lose consideration for a job thanks to things you put on Facebook (or the internet as a whole... if they find it). It's not that people don't like their privacy, it's that those of us who were prone to being open in the first place, just never had that expressive outlet without, you know, being famous. And yes, people can post a little too much on Facebook now, and things are a little too open for certain people.

The expansion of Facebook has made it's way into changing the internet as a whole. Go to just about any webpage now and you have the option of connecting to Facebook or sharing certain things on Facebook. Many websites let you connect with Facebook and log in that way as opposed to logging in with a different username at so many different sites. You can connect with your Facebook profile and do it that way. This means on some websites you don't even have to go through the hassle of registering. Not when you can just use Facebook Connect. You should all know what Facebook Connect is. Lunch.com uses it too.

It goes even further, though. Everyone, of course, knows about "liking" something. This has also expanded to several different websites. Go to a website like the IMDB and go to any movie and you can choose to "Like" said movie and it'll show up on your page telling all your friends you like it. You can "Like" a whole website, if you so choose. And, of course, you can share what you find. Almost every website, every youtube video gives you the option to share what you've found with others and it somehow pops up on your page. You no longer have to go through the hassle of embedding videos from youtube. You can simply choose to share it now. The same is also true of certain news stories from websites and even when you leave comments on a webpage. Some of you have no doubt noticed that when you leave a comment or review on Lunch you're given to option to put it on your Facebook page as well (assuming you're connected).

How well does this work for Facebook? Very well. Thanks to this word about many things can travel fast. Let's take a simple example. Many of you have probably seen people post status updates like, "Facebook will start charging," or joining groups that say something like "Facebook will start charging you ten dollars beginning in ___________" The blank is left for you to insert a month or a date. It should be pretty obvious it's a hoax, but people believe it constantly. Facebook doesn't have to charge members in order to generate revenue. Because even their ads are designed to cater toward... well... you. Facebook does what's called "suggestions." It uses your profile information, your likes and your friends (yes, your friends) to decipher just what it should advertise to you. I, for example am a big gamer, a big Stephen King fan and a big movie fan. I decided to like Video Games. Suddenly my page was flooded with advertisements for video games. I decided to like Stephen King and now I get ads for his books, or group suggestions for his books. Oh, but it goes deeper. If a certain number of friends "like" somethig the website just might suggest that YOU like it too. Because if you and your friends share similar interests... then perhaps you just might like what they like too. In short, Facebook charging you would be a bit risky for their revenue if suddenly people stopped coming to the site because they started charging. The same rumor pops up on Myspace all the time (and I'm guessing Twitter, but I don't tweet). Facebook works out because it happens to go beyond just Facebook. When you can go to different websites and log in with what is essentially a universal ID (your Facebook profile) and when you can put ANYTHING on your Facebook page from ANY website, then it's easy to see just how Facebook became such a huge juggernaut. Very few websites can do it. And when they do, they can't do it the way Facebook does.

This is another reason why it's so easy to be interconnected. For some Facebook is a shortcut. Not to get to knowing friends, but in terms of connecting with the rest of the interweb without having to explore it extensively. Why search for a specific Youtube video your friend told you about when you can easily find it posted on their profile? It's easily one of the best things about Facebook. Just that there's so much you can do with it.

This does cause some controversy, however because it brings about the question just what exactly your profile information is being used for. Creating personalized ads isn't really so new. Google does the same thing, creating ads that cater toward what you might've searched for in the past. With Facebook, however, it means that what you've posted on your page is being used... but not exactly with your permission. As I've said before, Facebook has had a lot of controversy concerning privacy. Not just because you run into people who post a little too much about themselves, but because there have been times when Facebook has gone too far in using your profile information for the sake of getting advertisements catered toward you. Sometimes the applications you use will also pass along some of the info in your profile to advertisers.

If there's anything about Facebook that might urk me, it would be that there's no really definitive blogging feature on the site. You can post "notes" that will be hidden in the corner of your profile page. And unless you decided to tag a billion people (who aren't even in it) no one will read it. Your friends can't really subscribe to your notes like they would a blog either. You simply have to hope that they pick it up from your news feed or something. It's just not as user-friendly as the blog feature on sites such as Blogger, Livejournal or even Myspace. With all the incredible things Facebook can do... giving you an easy to use blog is surprisingly, not one of them. It seems to be making steps in that direction, at least.

Likewise, Facebook isn't free from Spam or Viruses or anything like that. It's not uncommon to get friend requests from fake profiles or for a friend's account to start sending you bizarre Spam such as an invite to receive a free iPad (or Macbook, Wii, Laptop--whatever!). It happens. Facebook is not immune to the horrors of the internet. You're gonna get the good and the bad.

The last thing about Facebook that's interesting is the chat mechanism. Thanks to this little thing you can chat with friends who happen to be logged onto Facebook at the same time as you. The problem is that it's as basic as it gets. There are also some issues with it. Sometimes your friends will get an IM from you but won't be online (because they didn't log out but perhaps closed the webpage and are browsing around elsewhere... or YOUR Facebook account doesn't realize they've logged out). It's a great way to connect and talk to people who may not be directly around you... but unfortunately IM programs such as AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo, Google Chat are far far better about this than Facebook ever will be. And with programs such as Trillian able to connect to your Facebook account, it's just a lot easier to use one of these applications than it is to use the Facebook chat directly on Facebook itself.

In the end Facebook is actually not so bad because of how it can be utilized. It's much more expansive than most social networking sites. Yes, you'll find people who have an absurd number of friends (and if you join you're apt to get many a friend request by people you either don't know or had one conversation with a long time ago) and you can sit there saying, "No one REALLY has THAT many friends," but at the very least it is nice to connect with other people. Of course, you still have to be careful with people who do things like create false profiles, post pictures of people that aren't them, etc, but it comes with the territory of any social networking site. At least Facebook goes beyond simply Facebook. Even if you don't enjoy connecting with people, you can still get something out of it thanks to the things they share. There's something for just about everyone. You just have to be careful about what you put up there. It's your profile, your privacy and you're in control.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on my own Facebook status.

Facebook Quick Tip by RecycleEverything

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:52:31 +0000

Love FB, but it can be a little inflexible and navigation to my friends list is a pain.

Facebook Quick Tip by devora

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:24:38 +0000

Great site to keep yourself entertained & in the loop with your friends.

Facebook Quick Tip by EcoMama

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:47:22 +0000

More than anything, Facebook is great for keeping in touch with friends and family, especially if they are all over the world like mine!

Facebook Quick Tip by charlierobinson

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:41:04 +0000

facebook information on lunch...

Modern Family Quick Tip by MsTLForte

Fri, 2 Apr 2010 22:37:00 +0000

Truly one of the only shows that consistently makes me laugh so hard I can't breathe!!!

Modern Family Quick Tip by Savvygirl

Fri, 2 Apr 2010 22:25:04 +0000

Seriously my favorite show on tv!

Modern Family Quick Tip by LauraTexas

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:40:24 +0000

Best Representation of a Modern American Family...

Modern Family Quick Tip by devora

Thu, 4 Mar 2010 10:05:11 +0000

A hilariously refreshing series. Can't get enough of it!