This week Zero Punctuation takes on the white supremacists in Uncharted! enjoy!
Zero Punctuation: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Todays Useless Gadget: The Keyboad Organizer
Todays useless gadget of the day is the keyboard organizer. Why waste money on a organizer, when you can keep all your stuff right in your keyboard! But, if you can't afford a desk to put all this shit, I doubt you can afford a computer...
Posting :(
I'll be very blunt in saying that, since our other author stopped writing posts, there has really been no incentive or reason for me to continue posting, other then personal satisfaction. But, I'll try my best to keep posting multiple times a week, whenever I see media news of saladian quality :)
Anyway, here is the new trailer for the get smart movie, staring Steve Carell: link
Gameboy...phone?
This is the Fly Mobile MC100. It's a pretty standard phone from a phone company I've never heard of. Which should make it utterly unremarkable. It's got one thing going for it, though - comprehensive and most probably completely unlicensed support for the NES, SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Colour. I say probably unlicensed because all Fly will say is that, to play the games on the handset, you can just download them "freely" from the internet and bung them on your phone. Which I'm sure Nintendo's lawyers are totally cool with. kotaku
For hardcore game fans, the concept of playing Nintendo games on a mobile is as alluring as it is unlikely, with the Japanese giant steadfastly refusing to license its titles or get involved in development for third party hardware. Indeed, it had seemed that we'd have to wait until the much-rumoured Nintendo phone arrived before we'd get to take Mario mobile. pocketgamer
Mario Kart Wii Trailer
Sorry about the lack of daily posts, its been hectic here at the Saladian HQ
Anyway, here is the new mario kart wii video debut. Enjoy!
Jake and Amir Get MTV'd
The deal isn't official yet, but College Humor and MTV plan to launch a TV show together. In the finished pilot, the Tumblr-popular Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld host, rolling clips between skits like the one in the clip below. Sam Reich plays College Humor cofounder Ricky Van Veen. Word has it College Humor insisted on getting online distribution rights and that MTV readily complied. quote from valleywag
fucking. awesome.
Jake and Amir: Florida Part VI (puzzle)
The latest video from Jake and Amir's trip florida! Enjoy! And if you like their work, check out their website at JakeandAmir.com. Hop to it!
Florida Pt. lV (Puzzle) from Jake Hurwitz on Vimeo.
Zero Punctuation's GDC Special
There was no Zero Punctuation yesterday :O: Why? Because he was doing a special for the Game Developer Conference, were he reviews the faceless nameless badasses of video games, the guitar based games and the year 2007. Although it is still odd hearing censor beeps. Enjoy!
Zune Games?!
Well this was as unexpected as a fat man eating a sandwich. But awesome non the less. XNA Game Studio games will be supported by the Zune sometime in 08. With the Zune's unique thumb pad, you can bet on more diverse and original controls! (hopefully) Lets see Apple top this! .....Seriously Apple....We want a Apple gameboy...please....
Source: [ kotaku ]
Turn Your Wii into a Full Media Center!
This article is a must-read for any person who owns a Wii. After Nintendo took out the mp3 compatibility, I thought all hope was lost in terms of media support. But now you can easily stream all your media, tv and webcam broadcasts to your wii! All through the opera browser! How cool is that!!
Article: [ lifehacker ]
Jake and Amir: Florida Part III (Sun Tan)
Another hilarious Jake and Amir skit. Enjoy!
Sun Tan from Jake Hurwitz on Vimeo.
The Future of Apple's Multi-Touch
Some images on macrumors have recently surfaced revealing new multi-touch patents Apple is applying for. Hopefully this is a insight on whats to come in the nextgen Apple products, and maybe even updates on existing multi-touch devices.
The patent application depicts how one could customize these advanced gestures for Expose and Dashboard, by using four finger swipes up/down/left/right:
The patent application depicts how one could customize these advanced gestures for Expose and Dashboard, by using four finger swipes up/down/left/right:
And even editing operations such as Copy, Cut, Paste, Undo, Select All, Tab, and Cancel using gestures based on your Thumb and Two Fingers:
Source: [ macromors ]
Five GrandCentral Beta Invites
So, Insidious Rodent, and I have been wanting to host a contest for the longest time now, but with poor traffic the idea of having a large scale contest this early in the life of this blog is next to impossible. So I have sitting here five invites to the beta web service Grand Central. I'm really not going to go into detail here about what Grand Central does, because odds are if you are reading this you already know. So if you want to get a invite to one of the most revolutionary FREE software this year, post below, a comment and your email!
This is not a contest in the least, and we are not profiting in any way of off this, but since I have 5 remaining invites I thought I should share it with the people subscribed to us (all five of you)
Thanks!
siva guren
12 Essential Free Programs
Here is a useful breakdown of some of the best free software available on the internet, from media players, to IM clients!
uTorrent - uttorent.com
one of the best torrent clients out there. Despite the RIAA rumors it still sits at the top of the pack. With a smooth graphical interface, and a slew of great useful features utorrent defiantly rises to the top of torrent clients everywhere.
NoNameScript + mIRC - nnscript.com
mIRC is the most customizable IRC client released to date. Unfortunately for those who are not very technical, most of mIRC's content is buried beneath menu after menu of hard to understand options. Thats were NoNameScript (NNS) comes in. With a very apealing array of themes, and a improved menu for those who want to unlock all of mIRC's hidden features. Definatly the best combonation of programs to date. I highly recomend NNS to any IRC user.
Foobar2000 - foobar2000.org
After I had to uninstall iTunes from my computer due to software incompatibilitys, I thought all hope was lost for another worthwhile media player. Well, needless to say I was dead wrong. After a friend introduced me to foobar, I have never gone back to any other media program. The apealing factor for me, was how simple and easy foobar could be. Not only does it require very little resources, it has a HUGE array of 3rd party pluggins and themes. Enough to satasfy even the most critical eye. But, installing pluggins can be complicated to some people, so if you are not that computer literate, but still want a easy, and simple media player. Foobar is the program for you.
Firefox - firefox.com
I don't think I even need to explain the superiorities of Firefox to Internet Explorer. Firefox has so many advantages over IE (Internet Explorer) that I could write a whole article just on that!
Notepad - no url
The word processor of choice for most everyday bloggers. Simple and fast. No addons, no special "features". Just a blank pad, that you type on.
MS Paint - no url
Do you need a quick witty caption to that picture? Open up MS Paint! One of the most obvious candidates for this list was non other then Microsoft's own paint. Just like notepad, this is just a simple, quick and fast image editing program that comes standard with any windows computer.
VLC Media Player - videolan.org
The only video player you will ever need. This program plays practically every video file known to man. Perfect for those obscure DVD and anime rips!
Skype - skype.com
Skype has recently started to dominate the free VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) lately, with its release on the PSP and other hand held devices. But even though it is extending its reach to a more practical market, they still have one of the best and easiest services out there. With a very pleasing look, and easy to navigate menus, I highly recomend this to anyone who's phonebill looks like thier phone number.
Gtalk google.com/talk
I was reluctant putting Gtalk, google's own IM service on this list. Just because I wasn't sure if the reason I was putting it on was because of personal preference, or because it was legitimatly worth looking in to. Now, I use this program daily. For sending files, chatting and calling, so I definatly give this program more of a workout then most. But because of this I have noticed some things that qualify it for this list, as well as make me question wether or not I should of listed this here. First, it links to your gmail account, so it notifies you in a very unobtrusive way when you have a new email. Second it saves all your logs online, automatically. No hassle, or settings to change. And third as with most of google's programs, gtalk is simple and beautiful to look at. Now, I only have one complaint, but it is enough to almost warrant not being listed. It freezes. And sometimes not only for a second. It sometimes freezes for up to five minutes. And now this might not seem like a big deal, but when your talking to someone casually, and then out of nowhere in the middle of the conversation the window just freezes. Unable to respond, unable to view messages. This gets very VERY tedious, as this doesn't just happen once in awhile.
Pidgin - pidgin.im/
Pidgin in a nutshell is a multi-platform IM service. Say that you have 20+ contacts on MSN, then another 10+ on YIM (Yahoo), and then another 50+ on AIM! How are you supposed to keep track of all these people?! Lets not even think about the amount of resources are wasted on keeping these three monsters up and running 24/7. Pidgin takes all that unnecessary clutter, and simplifies it. By allowing you to take all your accounts and run them in pidgin.
Soulseek - slsknet.org
One of the top replacements P2P clients, is Slsk (soulseek). Slsk is a P2P file sharing program / network, that share some similarities with popular clients such as Limewire, and differences. The similarities are obviously the ability to share files that other people want to find, and find files that other people are sharing. Now here is were the differences really stand out. Instead of just blindly searching, unaware of who is sharing what, you know see user names, and chatrooms, and file lists. You could even find something just by absent mindlessly wandering through some random persons files that was in the same room as you. Slsk is a very solid P2P client that thanks to low publicity has managed to keep a somewhat low profile, were its users can share in peace.
Audacity - audacity.sourceforge.net
If you happen to be a podcaster, or just want to edit music or sounds, but don't have $700 to spend on a professional program, Audacity is a great alternative. Ask any independent podcaster what software he / she uses, and 9/10 times they are going to respond with Audacity. My only gripe about this software, is that when you want to export your creations to .mp3, you have to download a additional encoding file (it is extremely easy to find).
My Computer
Is all fucked up. Until I can get it fixed I'm going to be incapacitated for a while. More on the situation later.
Jake and Amir: Florida Part II
The second part of jake and amir's skit florida. enjoy!
and if you like their comedy visit their site jakeandamir.com!
Florida Part II from Jake Hurwitz on Vimeo.
Trailer Emerges For The New Star Wars Movie
New Clone Wars Trailer
This is somewhat of a followup post to Insidious Rodent's article a few days back. A trailer for the highly anticipated Clone Wars movie has surfaced on myspace (wtf).
WOW THIS BLOGGER IS SPEECHLESS
OK everybody. Before you read anything I have to say, watch this Youtube Video first!
OK now that you've seen the trailer you are either indifferent or, like me, just plain in shock. I for one am excited, for now! But this is one of those projects that could either go horribly wrong or be amazingly awesome, depending on the execution. The folks at DC and all the Japanese animators working on the project (which reminds me that I DESPERATELY need to find a list of the directors for this film) definitely have their work cut out for them!
I'm off to find out as much information as I can, and edits are on the way! I PROMISE.
EDIT: According to the Wikipedia page about the film, Saotshi Kon is set to direct one of the shorts. I thought I pegged his animation style in the trailer. THIS IS GREAT NEWS. Satoshi Kon is this blogger's favorite director of animation. I'm very excited to say the least.
I NEED TO POST
More often. I promise something with actual content tomorrow. But here's a lil tidbit to wet your whistle in the meantime.
Apparently, the legendary Al Pacino is rumored to make an appearance in the upcoming James Bond film The Quantum Solace, set for release sometime later this year. He is apparently supposed to play the mastermind that was behind the events of the movie Casino Royale, which Quantum is supposed to be a direct sequel to. Sources say that he is set to come in and do his scenes sometime in April. There is a possibility, as there always is, that this might be one of Hollywoodland's many rumors of course, but I'd like to believe it to be true. Just think about how awesome that would be...
Source: AICN
Jake and Amir: Florida
Florida from Jake Hurwitz on Vimeo.
One of my favorite webshows on the internet, Jake and Amir. Enjoy and if you like it, check out their site at jakeandamir.com
A Closer Look At Firefox 3.0
After using the new firefox for almost a day, I will say it is a welcome improvement to the firefox family. But there are still some quirky errors that need to get ironed out before a official release.
So, I decided to take a couple screenshots, for those not willing to make the switch to firefox 3, and are content for the time with the latest stable release.
The Improved Toolbar
Site Info Button
The Page Info Page
Quick Bookmarks
The Download Window
The Addon Window
Settings 
Maximising Your PSP
I'm more of a Nintendo fan than Sony, but I saw this tutorial and was impressed by all the functionality of the PSP, and how easy it is to access some of the "deeper" elements . The tutorial is very well thought out and exicuted, but I have one complaint. I wished this tutorial had more of, was some information on the PSP homebrew and ROM scene, but I would doubt that such a "questionable" topic like roms would be featured on such a mainstream site as instructables. Oh well :(
read more about it here: [ link ]
Firefox 3 Beta Released
Well, this is somewhat old news by now, and if you haven't already read about this on every online blog the new version of firefox came out. It really isn't intended for normal use, more for developers and people who know what their doing.
Some notable changed and upgrades in this latest version are:
Source: [ version 3 release notes ] [ download version 3 ]
- One-click site info
- Malware Protection
- New Download Manager
- Podcasts and Videocasts
- Integration with Mac
- Integration with Linux
- Location bar & auto-complete
- Download & Install Add-ons
- Speed
- Memory usage
Year of the Rat Lucky Sale At Play Asia
A huge sale / contest is going on right down at Play Asia. With a couple huge discounts its defiantly worth checking out.
Elitism On The Internet
After I read this journal post on a Last.fm journal, and I had to post about it. One of the biggest problems I run into on the internet are combative, uninformed people who insist on everyone sharing only THEIR opinion, and not vocalizing any other viewpoint on the subject. Now since this was wrote on Last.fm, most of the references are related to the site and the people on it, but the principle and message can be construed to any other form of media or entertainment. Gowienczyk brings up some very good points on how this strong retaliation to oposing opinions could actually be construte as communism. I may not feel as strongly as he does, but its one hell of a good read, and should be read by anyone who uses the internet to berate people with their opinion.
I mean it's all starting to come into place now. When I visit pages like mikeroach. Hell, this sort of person makes me feel bad to have the first name that I do. Perhaps, I must explain before this turns into clear, incoherent rambling. I do not understand why these music purist's or rather, music fascists for more of a proper term. I believe strongly in the two rights that intertwine each other: Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Speech. Everyone deserves the right to speak their mind, and nobody should be muted because their opinion is "hateful" to a small group of people. It's also extremely hilarious that these people say WE are the NAZIS. The fascists, the communists, the "haters".
When it itself, they are enthalling what those political systems wanted.
One Opinion. One Law. Opposers will be Executed and Silenced.
It's kind of scary if you look at it that way, isn't it? I can understand how groups flaming users on last.fm is unappropiate, but this kind of idea is wrong on so many levels!
There is nothing wrong with hating artists! Even on their own shoutboxes. It's not like we are on a crusade to raid all of the fan groups on last.fm and bothering them in their fan-enviroments! No. We are going on a open shoutbox and saying our opinion. whether it be descriptive, intellectual, berative, or plain stating the obvious. Because that is Freedom of Expressive.
It's not our fault that you are a moron and don't know how to combat our comments.
Okay, that short banter is done. I end this to tell you one more thing.
Being a Elitist is awesome, and makes you better than everyone else. Not to mention 90% of serious elitist's know their shit about music. Though there is exceptions.
Source: [ last.fm ]
Spottt Launches Out Of Beta Today
The free advertisement company Spottt just launched out of beta today. The premise behind it is fairly simple. You place a 150x150 advertisement code snippet on your site, and for every 2 hits on that advertisement, you get a free ad somewhere else on their vast network. This is a great idea for any small website with a limited budget or really for any webmasters who don't like shelling out money for advertisements ( like us ). Spottt also provides real time stats for your ads, and the ads displayed on your site, which is fantastic for tracking how many times your ads have been seen by other people.
Spottt helps like-minded sites promote each other for free. Just put a Spottt on your site, blog, or MySpace profile. Every time you show someone else’s ad, they’ll show yours. Spottt was created by AdBrite, with the assistance of Tony Hsieh, co-founder of LinkExchange. via Crunchbase
New Star Wars Movie in Theaters This August?
So last night I was browsing the intorwebs when I happened to stumble upon an interesting little tidbit about the new Star Wars Clone Wars animated series set to run on the Cartoon Network sometime this September. Apparently Lucasfilm has decided to release the first three episodes, which run together as one complete "movie", to American theaters this August! Some notable insights about the series include the appearance of the first female Jedi as a central character, in the form of a Padwan of Anakin's, and a clusterfuck of returning characters from the first three Star Wars films.
For more information on this film that has me very excited, check out this insightful video on SW.com and be sure to listen to the next episode of the Podcast when I'll be doing a story about this.
**A note on the Podcast: Siva is on vacation and the next episode will not be recorded until shortly after he returns. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but, if all goes well, an episode should be churned out sometime this weekend.
I hope someone that reads this is as excited about it as I am!
-Insidious Rodent
This Just In: Trolling Is Legal?!
It seems a group of individuals were charged when they posted some "negative" comments on a public yahoo board. After this trial was processed by a court, they were found not guilty, on grounds of the First Amendment. So does this mean that it is officially legal to troll in California?
A California court has found that trolls are protected by the first amendment and are entitled to anonymity. The ruling comes despite previous cases where trolls have been arrested (be it once they have been disclosed) and hearings in other courts.
The court found that although the Internet is still bound by rules about libel, what was posted were not assertions of “actual fact” and not actionable under defamation law, therefore protected under the First Amendment, in sort of the same way parody is.
Source: [ TechCrunch ]
DIRECTV's Game Lounge "Gaming" Service
I saw a commercial for this and I almost fell out of my chair laughing. Direct TV just launched their new "gaming' service called the Game Lounge. I would be more interested in this if the games didn't look like the games I would buy for my cell phone. Well I guess this is a step (maybe even a trip) in a more mainstream market for games. I wouldn't waste my money on this, but if you had a hankering for playing Spongebob Squarepants on your T.V. then you should definitely look in to this. It will be $5.95 a month, or a Play-Per-Day price of $1.95.
Apple Games?!
I know news is usually Siva's job but I literally spit out my chocolate milk when I saw this headline!
Apple Trademark Hints at Handheld Gaming Device
Rumors of Apple gunning to enter the handheld games market have been circulating for a while, but a new trademark application discovered by Trademork dated Feb. 5th seems to lend credence to the rumor mill. According to the application, Apple is upping its trademark to include "Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games."If anyone actually reads this blog, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.
With the enormous popularity of the iPhone and the phenomenal success of the iPod, anything handheld from Apple seems like a sure fire hit. But on the other hand you have Apple's inability to bring a lot of quality games to their platforms. If this gaming device does come to fruition, will it end up being the next DS or just another Gizmondo?
[ Source ]
Insidious Rodent: A Biography
I know I'm way behind on posting. I promised you an entry earlier this week and I didn't follow through. I'm sorry if DMC4 happened to come out the same day I promised a blog entry. Today found me stuck in DMC4 but STILL unable to blog because I'm inundated with a shit load of homework. So I figured I'd wet your proverbial whistles with a little Journal Entry I wrote for Creative Writing chronicling the meaning of literature and my life as a creative mind. Sound exciting? If so, this is a MUST read:
Literature serves many different purposes in both the world of academia and the world of entertainment. Essentially, people read for different reasons. Some people read because they like it. Some people read literature because it is informative: you can learn a lot of seemingly useless information from reading a book. Others read because they are required to for work or school. Whatever the reason, hundreds of people are reading every day and are better for it.There you have it: more about me than you ever wanted to know. :C
In order to get a firm understanding of what is literature and what is not, one must first have an understanding of what literature is. Dictionary.com defines literature as “writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.” What this means to me, is that any written work with a cohesive thought can be considered literature. With a definition this broad, I would argue that this world is chock full of literature. The average human probably exposes himself to some kind of literature everyday.
I was first introduced to Literature at a very young age, probably even before I could talk. When I was an infant my mother would often by me children books and read them to me while I nodded off in my crib. Even a children’s book, as simplistic as it is, is an example of literature in the modern world. I think this heavy emphasis on reading at a young age helped shape me into a child with an affinity and appreciation for the written word.
Some of my earliest and most profound memories are of family members reading me my favorite books. I think at that age I learned most of what I knew through reading. When other kids were busying themselves learning their ABCs and numbers, my family was teaching me about dinosaurs, science, and history through books.
As the years went by and I got older I began reading on my own. My interests in reading shifted from nonfiction to the more surreal and entertaining fiction genre. I’ve always loved characters and the way they interact and play off of each other. It is my personal belief that a story is only as good as it’s characters and that is why I think literature is such an interesting medium of expression. Through written word, you can really get inside a character’s head in a way that can’t be done in a movie or play.
So I developed this fascination with narrative and characters. I was always watching action television and reading comic books and making up my own adventures for the characters to go on in my head. My fascination with fantasy and my imagination knew no bounds. These “in my head games”, as I called them occupied most of my free time during my elementary school years.
Then came middle school, and the discovery that would change my life more profoundly then anything else has to this date: the internet. At this time of my life I was thoroughly obsessed with Saturday Morning action cartoons that were mostly, though I did not know it yet, from Japan. Dragonball Z and Digimon took up most of my time and money. The internet provided me with a way to share my love of this cult market with other people with similar interests via chat rooms and message boards. It was the people I met through this that taught me how to “role play”. To role play is to engage in a text based fantasy game. You develop a character in the universe that you are role playing in and take on that character ‘s persona as your own. I would role play nearly everyday when I was in middle school.
When my role play interests were at their peak I began to write short ammeter stories called fan fictions about my characters. This was my first exposure to any kind of “pseudo-formal” writing and led to my first ever “original work”. I would write a weekly “story” in role playing format in the style of a 25 minute television show heavily inspired by anime (I now was fully aware of what this was). A couple of friends and I would upload our work to the internet under the pseudonym Gadzooks Animation.
It was around this time that I decided what I wanted to do with my life. My series had a cult fan following. Fans would often email me in anticipation of an upcoming episode, telling me they liked my work and were in suspense in waiting for the next one to come out. Reading this fan reaction made me feel good and motivated me to finish my work. It also made me start to think there was some value in my writing, and that the characters in my head that I cherished and developed for my own entertainment might actually be able to make me a living.
Throughout high school I would write stories whenever inspiration and time presented itself. Though my preferred media was still a loosely formatted screenplay like style, I would often write prose during this time of my life as well. If there was one thing I learned through writing in high school it was the important of an outline. Outlines are a good way for me to organize the “big picture” of the story I’m going to tell and help me decide what part of the story I want to reveal what revelations about characters and plot.
In closing, I’ve used this journal space to define what literature meant to me. In doing so I explored what literature was universally, how I nurtured my literary creativity through out the various stages of my life, and what basic elements of literature are important to me as a writer. I hope I can use this as an invaluable reason to better my writing prowess in the future.
Insidious Rodent.
Todays Most Useless Gadget: The CD-R Floppy
Recordable compact discs shaped like 3.5'' floppy disksThese unique little guys are $14 + shipping. So if you have ever wanted to write on a floppy, nows your chance!
storage space 200 MB
please note that this product is not compatible with 'slot drives'
each CD comes with white x blue, red, green and yellow labels
[ designboom shop ]
PMOG (quick review)
Basically the concept behind PMOG is to incorporate a passive game into your everyday web browsing. You as a member are able to place mines, lamposts, portals and crates on individual pages. You can also be associated with different classes as you progress, which is determined by the number of each item you use. The character art is an blend of industrial / steampunk and is really a acquired taste. To be honest I wasn't the biggest fan of the art scheme when I first started playing, but it grew on me as I played more. Granted its still in its beta form so there still are some bugs (and exploits ;3 ) that still need to worked out, but other then that this is certainly a addicting game to play, and once it comes out of beta I would pick it up immediately. This is a firefox only game, so if you haven't already I would highly suggest upgrading to firefox. All in all past all the bugs and minor annoyances this is a game I would highly recommend for any person who frequents the internet.
I realize this review is choppy and doesn't really go into much detail, but unfortunately I am not in a situation to write much more then this, so I will have to put of the full review until a later date.
Edit
I really didn't steal this article from kotaku. This was posted on 2/7/08, while the kotaku one was posted 2/9/08. If I ever take news from another site I always credit them in the [ source ] link.
I've Been Slacking
I promise a review of something, I'm not sure what yet, will be out sometime tonight. I'm sorry I haven't been too diligent with the whole blogging thing but I've been busy. LOL
A Ten Proxy Review
After about a hour of messing with free proxies, to find one that worked, I figured I should list a couple of the proxies I tried. So below is ten free proxies and a short bit about each one. For reference I am using a Windows XP machine running the latest version of Firefox.
http://www.procks.com/
This site is good for using short time, but gets obnoxious with all of the flashing ads at the top. Works with phpBB forums, myspace, and facebook, but does not work with youtube.
Rating: B-
http://www.callforproxy.cn
The top bar is ad free, but it still takes up a good amount of screen space. It somewhat distorts phpBB forums, doesn't work very well with myspace, and works fine with facebook unfortunately does not work with youtube.
Rating: C
http://proxy.virtual-browser.com/
Good for smaller sites and forums. Almost no ads apart from a banner at the top of the page, and a very slim topbar. Does not work with myspace, facebook, bebo, youtube or ebay. You need to subscribe to access those websites. But other then that no forum or site distortion.
Rating: C-
http://ninjaproxy.com/
A great free proxy. Slim topbar and no ads on the page, unfortunately, there are popups (which can easily be blocked via firefox). It does make you wait three seconds before you start browsing. Works with phpBB forums, ebay, myspace, facebook and youtube. Fairly fast load times, and no page distortion.
Rating: A
http://www.privacyblind.info/
This site works with practically all sites (except youtube), except it doesn't load most of the images, which if you are using myspace or facebook can be quite frustrating. It has a medium sited topbar, and fairly fast browsing time.
Rating: C+
http://www.waythru.info
A decent free proxy, with a single large header ad at the top. The topbar was medium size and the browsing speed was average. It works with facebook, ebay, myspace and phpBB forums, but does not run youtube. My only complaint was it was a little bit slow loading up the images.
Rating: B-
https://proxify.com
Another proxy that locks you out of major sites unless you subscribe. Once again, good for small sites and forums, but a no-go with any of the bigger sites. Also they have a top bar with a rather annoying flashing header. Oh, and one last note, they do run of off a secure server (https) so it is more secure, and harder to block.
Rating: C-
http://www.udor.org
A cute little free proxy, that runs most sites. Unfortinatly this proxy is very slow, and takes awhile to load images. The top bar is on the small side, and contains no ads. Runs facebook, myspace, ebay, and phpbb forums. Does not run youtube.
Rating: B+
http://www.hidemyass.com/
A very well designed proxy page. Very eye catching and clean, unlike most free proxys that are littered with advertisements and flashing banners. This proxy works with almost every site except youtube, and has a medium size topbar with no annoying header ads.
Rating: B+
http://www.proxyfoxy.com
One of the few free proxy sites that work with youtube. Unfortunatly it has stupid in-window popup ads that you have to close out of whenever you change pages. Runs with most common sites, a.k.a myspace, facebook, forums, and ebay. It has a small and very smooth topbar.
Rating: B
15 Year Old Almost Outruns Cops
Some fifteen year old kid almost outruns the cops in a full out 150 mile an hour chase. His car broke down after an all out chase for miles. The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way about this video. At almost the end the reporter blames this childish stupidity on video games. Wow, can't anyone fucking take responsibility anymore? This kid obviously is a nutcase, and he took a car out for a leisurely high speed chase. But I guess we need to blame violent media on everything, because we can't control our incessant need to duplicate everything we see in Grand Theft Auto.
saladcast update - 02.03.08
Since we're on iTunes now (finally) we've decided to make a new "album art" type logo. Were still going to keep the bubble 8-bit font logo we had before, but were going to use this for our iTunes feed. If you like it, or hate it tell us about it in the comments!
Oh and, ADD US ON ITUNES!
edit
haha just kidding, here is our old logo, with a solid backround.
here is the logos we didn't use:
(click on it for a bigger view)
Viral Advertising and Alternate Reality Games
One of the most intriguing and engaging concepts I have heard in quite some time. This article goes over most popular Viral Marketing, from Cloverfield to Nine Inch Nails. If you are a connoisseur of anything related to ARG or Viral Advertisement, I highly suggest skimming over this article.
[article]
feeds, feeds, feeds
so now we have a feed. multiple feeds.
one for the blog, and one for the podcast.
here is the link for our podcast:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/saladcastlibsyn
and here is the link for our blog:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/jsalad
you can use a variety of programs, including firefox and google, to subscribe to us. also, we will most likely be on itunes by the next show which if everything goes as planned should be on February 8th
Rob Zombie's Halloween (movie review)
OK, as promised on this week's saladcast, here is a review of Rob Zombie's Halloween:
The first thing you should know before reading this review is that I'm not a huge fan of the slasher genre of horror films. I feel that, for the most part, the whole genre is devoid of any real substance or anything for the viewer to empathize with. With that said, I think that Rob Zombie did a good job of making a film that is, by default, an exception to this rule.
I think that the best and most profoundly felt dynamic this film has to offer is the inclusion of something that has been absent from almost all of the slasher flicks to come out of the new millennium: use of characterization. Through use of a very long back story chronicling the early years of Michael Myer's life, Mr. Zombie has made it easy for the viewer to really get inside the head of this killer. You almost feel sorry for Michael as you watch him brutally murder his abusive stepfather, insensitive sister, and her boyfriend who is just looking for some quick "action". These characters just don't care about this troubled youth and you almost see justification in his murdering them.
Now for a brief synopsis of the plot. Michael Myers is, as stated by the psychoanalyst that was in charge of his care, the perfect combination of all the right characteristics of abuse, genetics, and circumstance to form the worst kind of sociopath. The film starts out when Michael is about 10-12 years old. He goes to school one day and is harassed by a local bully. In true psychopathic style, he exacts his revenge on said bully by killing him (by beating him to death with a giant stick none the less). Later that night, which happens to be Halloween, Michael returns home and wants to go trick or treating. His abusive father, and sister that likes torture him are less than eager to take him though, so he does what any normal prepubescent boy would do when they don't get their way, and kills them too. When his mother, who was away working at the time, comes home, she finds her son sitting outside on their porch, his baby sister unharmed in hand, and a pile of dead bodies just through the front door. After this tragic incident, young Michael is sent to spend the rest of his days in a maximum security prison, and the next 20 years brooding into a mute homicidal maniac.
Flash forward to the present year. Michael is now a much larger and more intimidating killing machine then he was before, he's developed an acute fetish for mask wearing (he makes them from his cell room out of papermache) and his mom, after finally realizing how much of a psycho her son really was, took her own life many years ago. When the opportunity finally presents itself, in one of the strangest and most bizarre scenes I've seen in a horror movie since Hostel, for Michael to escape, it's time for the real movie to begin.
Without saying much more, for fear of getting into spoiler territory, Michael's newly found freedom leads him back home to his small town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night, and straight into the lap of the only member of his family that's still alive, his baby sister Laurie (who, incidentally, is now an 18 year old beacon of beauty), and her two model hot friends.
Sounds like a good premise for a horror movie to me!
As far as content goes, Halloween has what everyone is looking for in a good slasher movie. Lots of naked bodies, graphic violence, and chicks screaming in this one. But, like I alluded to before, it also has a lot more substance, characterization and well written compelling dialogue than your average horror film does. Lately, slasher films have been replaced by the supernatural thriller as the dominating genre of horror, but if Rob Zombie's Halloween is any indication of a shift in the way murder flicks are being handled today, then we might just see a reemergence of this ever popular genre of the 90s and early 21st century.
Rating: 7/10 (Recommended)
That's it for today, I will hopefully have a review of the anime Black Lagoon's first season sometime before the end of the weekend.
Devil May Cry + L'Arc~en~Ciel = ?!
L'Arc~en~Ciel is using its song "Drink It Down" as a motherfucking track for Devil May Cry 4. Seriously, the only way this game could get any cooler, is if i actually had a ps3 to play it on.
saladcast pilot - 2.01.08
- 9GOATS BLACK OUT - [devils in bedside] 690min
- devil may cry demo first look
- site news
- etc.
- 激情旅楽団吉祥 - [peace of the world-世界の欠片] Mother Goose
emails
siva.guren@gmail.com
insidiousrodent@gmail.com
links
http://jsalad.net
http://salad.libsyn.com/
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