Friday, April 29, 2011

Blogging for Dummies

As you guys probably know, I'm rather new to the blogging scene. I may be new, but I've been trained by some of the best, and have a couple of hints to pass down to the newer than me bloggers.

First off: Blogging is not for everyone. If you think blogging about the dump you took or about anything in your personal life is going to be of any interest to anyone, you're delusional. You are not Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, or any other pretentious socialite. (If you are, please toss me a tweet or comment, cuz I'd love a quick jump up to the limelight ;) )

People that aren't you
Second: Pick content is meaningful to not only you, but also a key demographic. Talking about your collection of dolls may be lame to some, but if you have a collection that belongs in a museum, and the couple to hundreds of thousands of doll collectors out there actually want to see and hear about, you might be able to make it work. Do something that means something to you, because if you get bored a week in you've wasted a lot of time and effort while not enjoying the community you're connecting with.

Hey, at least you're almost doin it right.
Third: Appreciate your followers. The people that follow you share a common interest with you. If they're reading your blogs and appreciating your content, then chances are you're going to be able to appreciate their content as well. This doesn't mean you have to immediately go and +follow every blog you view, but commenting on their blogs that strike your fancy allows them to know when they're writing blogs that are relevant to you, which in turn means more content you will enjoy. See how this benefits you?



Fourth: Make your life easier. This includes Morning Coffee ; a firefox addon that allows you to set up lists of bloggers you want to open up and read every day, and  Reload Every; another firefox addon that allows you to set certain blogs to reload every x minutes. I've used this on everything from NFL draft blogs to friends blogs every couple of hours to see what they've posted without having to check each tab and slam on F5 until new content pops up.

Finally, have fun. If it's not fun, it's not worth the effort you have to put in.

George Hotz aka Geohot on PSN

http://geohotgotsued.blogspot.com/2011/04/recent-news.html

Geo some majorly necessary shots at sony and the security on PSN.

So evidently I missed something... Something about a wedding?

Evidently there was some massive wedding event that I missed. Something televised all over the world and every cared about? What? Did some socialite make another massive scene? Oh wait? It was the Royal Family?

Twitter trending topics as of right now:
William & Kate
THEY KISSED


WHO CARES?!?! God people! Stop living vicariously through other people's lives and start living your own lives!
Eh, at least she's hot... /rant

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Huzzah, Insomnia and strange happenings.

So, crazy stuff has been happening the last couple of days in my neighborhood. I've been getting ready for moving out of my place and moving in with my girlfriend, and staying crazy busy between trying to find a new job and getting packed for the move. Yesterday, I smelled something weird and shortly thereafter heard a whole bunch of sirens coming from outside. I decided to check it out, so I grabbed my trusty camera and took off to see what was going on. Never would have expected what was about to happen.


Firefighters attack second-story fire as flames soar

Right across the street from my house, a house was mid-burn. Luckily, this house had been vacant for a year or more, but it's still a little crazy to watch a house in your neighborhood go up in flames. Talking to the firefighters, I found out that the blaze had started somewhere upstairs, most likely in one of the closets. 

Firefighters battle to get the house fire under control as smoke pours out of the house

The local newspaper printed an article that stated the fire had done upwards of $25,000 in damage to the house. The police, firefighters, and news papers were unable to locate or contact the current owners of the house at the time of print.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Update on PlayStation Network and Qriocity – PlayStation Blog

Update on PlayStation Network and Qriocity – PlayStation Blog

Update on PSN - Evidently PSN was not only shut down because hackers had created a modded PS3 ROM that turned a regular console into a DevConsole... But also because hackers that we using the Dev Net were busy stealing all your information. Maybe Sony should have spent more time securing their systems and less time focusing on George Hotz's tinkering with the console.

Holy Shit! I Know Superman!


So, Vivid Entertainment released Superman XXX in their porn parody line. Not a big surprise, especially after the success of the Batman XXX. So, being a guy I naturally have to grab it and take a look right? I pop the DVD in, and much to my amazement when the title screen popped up so did a big as life picture of my buddy Jeremy Bilding. Now, of course, that's no the name I know him by, but to respect the separation between his personal life and his porn life I'll use his porn pseudonym. It's always kinda funny when you see people that you knew from way back in the day truly make it. Not gonna lie, if I ever had even a passing thought of swinging both ways, Jeremy would be the first one I'd go for.

Check out his blog: http://www.jbilding.com/

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Portal 2 Walkthru: Goodnight, and Happy Easter.

Portal 2 Walkthru: Goodnight, and Happy Easter.: "This is how I do work. After hours of transcoding, sorting, editing, etc. Chapters 4 & 5 are in the queue to encode and upload. They'll h..."

Sorry I haven't been putting in much time on this blog. I'm up to my elbows in Portal 2 HD footage that I need to clean off my hard drive before I can work on anything else. I'll be returning to this blog and starting with detailing my photography interests, shooting habits, and workflow as soon as my full walkthru and speedrun for Portal 2 are complete.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Portal 2 - First reactions


Portal 2 is probably one of the most anticipated sequels in video game history. Right up there with Half-Life 2 and Mortal Kombat 2 in my book. (We won't talk about Mario 2. It's not even fair...) A puzzle thriller, Portal 2 will easily bend your mind in ways you didn't think you could comprehend. The Ah-Ha moments are constant and invigorating. 
First scene - Portal 2 Walkthru

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Law and Order SVU

I've officially watched seasons 1 - 12 of law and order svu. Thank you netflicks.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Embrace the Hacker! How companies are doing it wrong when it comes to hacking.

Posted Apr 14, 2011 12:04 am @ http://www.gamersbook.com/community/members/supergeek133/blog/embrace-the-hacker-how-companies-are-doing-it-wrong-when-it-comes-to-hacking/





If you weren't aware, the well known hacker GeoHot and Sony recently settled over his widespread finding and posting of the PS3's root key. Sony is worried about it making piracy easier, however didn't he just help Sony out? Who is in the wrong here? Are companies like Sony fighting a losing battle?


Let me start off by catching those of you up who may not have heard about this. GeoHot is a hacker most well known for helping to jailbreak the iPhone OS. His most recent exploit involved him finding the PS3 OS root key. Essentialy this is what allows a program to run regardless of source. Having this key in an app would allow you to install an OS of your choice, or even play pirated games if you are feeling more nefarious.


As soon as he posted the key online, Sony instantly went into lawsuit mode. The two parties have recently settled, and the result is GeoHot is no longer able to talk about the key or how he obtained it.


Some thought this is OK because you should be able to put whatever OS you want on a $300-$600 device. Some thought Sony was in the right because you agree to an EULA when you buy it and this is against it.


I feel both of those sides are missing the key point here, and it's a similar point in every case like this. The individual you are suing just did something all of those engineers you pay didn't do. He found a security hole, and a big one at that.


Today you see headlines like this:


"Playstation.com service interuppted by fellow hackers over GeoHot case."


If Sony just got their head out of their rear, you'd see these headlines:


"Sony hires hacker who discovered security problem in OS. Working to more open platform."


Every time one of these cases comes up, it only empowers others more to find your problems and exploit them. The funny part is 80% of the time these guys/gals have no negative intentions. They just have a hobby and want to use their devices how they see fit.


A great example is Microsoft recently. Take a look at Kinect. How many videos and articles have you seen with people using Kinect in a purpose other than released for? What if Microsoft had sued every one of those people? Instead they embrace it, and are excited for it. They are getting more uses for their device for FREE. It also comes with free advertising. Because in the end, someone still has to buy your device to implement them.


So Sony, Apple, and all the other companies that sue this community. Stop. You are only hurting yourself and losing a huge group of talent that so far has asked for nothing other than to leave them alone.


Thought provoking article. I have some simple answers as to why Sony isn't following Microsoft's lead. PS3 is a console, the Kinect is an accessory. If you've worked a day in the Retail Electronic world, you know that all consoles come at or below cost 99% of the time. The Kinect, on the other hand, I an accessory. Yes, it's an overpriced double webcam. How much does it cost Microsoft to manufacture? Probably around $40-50 per unit. That means on the average Kinect sale, they're still gonna be netting a profit on the sale. Now turn around and look at the PS3. The average price of the hardware is $300-400 for a console, and you're looking at pretty much the price of the hardware, packaging, and shipping to the retailer. There's not much profit to be had when you consider that these consoles will almost hands down outperform a $300-400 computer. Don't believe me? Follow this link and show me one tower that has a high end graphics card and a Blu-Ray drive. Now, don't get me wrong. Sony is still probably turning a $40-50 dollar profit on each unit, but with overhead that high it's not easy for them to choke down such little profit. Sure, they might be one of the few that actually produces their own Blu-Ray drives. But that productions center is yet more overhead that they must manage.


My big question, why haven't they entered the desktop computing market? This entire scandal is jumping around, kicking and screaming "HEY YOU EXECS! THERE'S A FREAKIN DEMAND FOR THIS? WHY NOT SELL IT"? How many people do you know that use their PS3 for Blu-Ray? You know how hard it'd be for Sony to make a deal with say... Google? Instead of "Other OS" linux support it could easily be ported over to Android OS. Almost same customizations? Check. Massive fanbase? Check. Massive developer-base? Check. Huge opportunity for Sony to start coding for Android / PS3 market and reaching exponentially more clients due to the Tablet craze that's brewing and the smart phone market? Check.


But hey... I guess ideas like that are the reason I'm not working for Sony... Right?

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

*Success, Money, Life.: Hatin' on the Past

*Success, Money, Life.: Hatin' on the Past: "Picture semi-related. Oh, I remember .. Care-free living at its finest, hanging out with friends, doing whatever pleased you; basically ..."

A brilliant look at life and how we should approach it.

Facebook scams and viruses block lists

http://fbzyngablog.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/links-to-block-these-facebook-spammalware-applications-going-around/

There are alot of spamming and malware being distributed on Facebook these days. Here is a list of some of the most popular one’s that you can click and it will block them from your Facebook Account. It will not give you a virus it just blocks these rouge applications& keeps you safe This is something that Facebook should be doing automatically but they don’t so it is up to us to try and keep you safe and secure on the site. I want to thank the Facebook members who took the time to compile this list for us all

Nuggets hit 50 win mark

Before and after: Earthquake rocks Japan - CNN.com

Before and after: Earthquake rocks Japan - CNN.com

Pictures of before and after the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan last month.

Insomnia inspired ramblings, p.1

Insomnia is probably the most dangerous drug that anyone has stumbled upon. There is no better way to twist your mind and change your perspectives than to abandon sleep, or worse yet, have the inability to maintain sleep. Onset of insomnia for me is for me mostly a delightful thing, as it blurs the lines of awake and asleep and allows my mind to drift away from the limitations and frameworks set forth like some archaic stones with 10 lectures about what not to do in life. I've been questioning these mandates for just a little over a year now, and my fears deepen every time I ponder what has really become of the laws of the land. Gays can't marry, because marriage is a tidbit of the framework of religion that was supposed to be removed from our beautifully delusional nation so that we can create religious tolerance, while denying the building of a mosque near the former site of the World Trade Center towers. Schools now charge to teach knowledge that should be common sense, while indoctrinating the ignorant that fail to have said common sense with dictates and mandates from the teacher's own agenda on how existence works. Yet, when challenged with evolution of their own ideals, they strike the idea of change down. Why shouldn't we be able to contradict the suppositions and have the results changed as well? Necessary truth vs Logical truth fails to evaluate reality versus theory. Analytical truth has all but gone extinct.

Since thinking is so extremely common on the internet, right?

Inspiration


Sometimes you just have to stand up to the forces that be.
Sometimes you just have to stand up to the forces that be.
Photography seems to be one of the few things that brings joy to my dull life. Aside from video games, photography is my escape, and the way I see the world on my simple minimum wage salary. These photos can baffle the mind, and remind you what you aspire to be, and inspire you to take action.
Isn't this how we look at life so often?
Photography offers us a way to break down walls, and see things that we’d never be able to see on our own. It allows us to change perspective and see the world through the artist’s eyes. Changing of our perspectives is inevitable as the gaps between the nations continue to shrink through the use of things like the internet, twitter, and facebook.
Photography to me is a simple escape back to what we have forgotten. Back the simplicity of life. The enjoyment of nature and exploration. Stumbling through photographs allows us to view the world as quickly as clicking Stumble on Stumbleupon.

League of Legends


Seems that I have a lot of extra time on my hands lately. I’ve stumbled upon a free game called League of Legends that has been eating up most of my time.  League of Legends is a social game and they want all of our players to share and play with their friends
League of Legends is a video game inspired by the Defense of the Ancients (DotA) map for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows. It was first announced on October 7, 2008, and released on October 27, 2009. The game was in a closed beta from April 10, 2009, to October 22, 2009. It then transitioned to open beta until release.
Steve “Guinsoo” Feak, the previous designer of the popular Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne custom map, DotA Allstars, and Steve “Pendragon” Mescon, the administrator of the former official support base for the map (www.dota-allstars.com), were involved with Riot Games in the development of League Of Legends. Using the original DotA created by Eul (the original Defence of The Ancients map for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos) as a base, Guinsoo made DotA Allstars by inserting his own mix of content, largely expanding the number of the heroes, and adding recipes, numerous items and various gameplay changes. Guinsoo then passed version 6 of the map on to its current developer, IceFrog. Pendragon, who is the Director of Community Relations for Riot Games, helped create the previous DotA Allstars website along with its forum.
Players are formed into 2 even teams with 1–5 champions on each team. Each team starts at opposing sides of a map, near what is called a “Nexus”. A match is won when either the opposing team’s Nexus is destroyed or the other team surrenders. To destroy a Nexus, each team must work through a series of towers called “Turrets”. Turrets are often placed along a path to each base referred to as a “Lane”. Along the way, each player must gain levels from killing the opposing team’s “Champions” and “Minions” (small NPCs that constantly spawn and attack the other team) and defeating neutral monsters (some of which grant buffs known as Crests upon death). Also, champions purchase “Items” with in-match gold to improve their champion. In League of Legends, each player starts at level 1 at the beginning of the match and can obtain the maximum of level 18 with their champion, leveling 4 different champion-specific abilities.