TwinArrow

New camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:13 -0500

So I finally have a new camera after cracking the LCD on my last Canon point and click.

I’m excited to use it during my golf outings and Cubs games! There reason why I chose this camera is the features that it boasts. Panasonic isn’t as well known as Canon for digital point and clicks. I was actually looking specifically at Canons only and I was thinking of purchasing the SD1100 IS.

I then stumbled onto the Panasonic TZ5 series. After reading through the features list, I was amazed.

10X optical zoom. Most cameras only supports up to 4X optical zoom and the rest digital. I never ever use the digital zoom.
28mm wide-angle lens.
the ability to shoot 720p HD video resolution with 30fps.

The rest of the features are pretty standard on today’s cameras like Image Stabilization and a huge LCD screen. I’ll play with it more and let you know what I think of it. For now, you can view image and video samples on Steve’s Digicams.

The survey for people who make websites

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:02 -0500

I just took this survey created by A List Apart for web designers and so should you (if you make websites). It took me about 8 minutes so it’s not very long.

Red Mango comes to Chicago

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:58 -0500

If you haven’t tried frozen yogurt, you’ve been missing out. Other cities like New York have enjoyed Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt for a while now. There’s Berry Chill in downtown Chicago but that’s far out of my way. Red Mango has been around for a while but not anywhere in Chicago. The new locations are in Evanston and Naperville.

After working in Evanston for a couple of weeks, I feel that this would be a great addition to my enjoyment of work aside from the Coldstone Creamery and Ben and Jerry’s. Go check Red Mango out when you can, especially today because they are giving away a small size for free in Evanston and tomorrow in Naperville.

FYI, I don’t work for Red Mango, I just think it’s great.

Vs. Social's Success: Second Store Opening

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:20 -0500

Vs. Social just officially opened a second store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It most likely did not obtain success from the simple Wordpress blog I installed on the site. Vince is just a great entrepreneur and works really hard to get his store to where it is now. Most people don’t even reach a level where they open a second store but Vince did it and congratulations to him.

The store officially opened yesterday and there was a huge party to let everyone know. I wish I could have been there but for now I have pictures and videos posted by Podge on Vs. Social’s Blog.

http://www.vssocial.com/blog/2008/06/18/damnit-feels-good-to-be-a-gangsta-geto-boysd/

It’s time to take Vs. Social nationally and next, the world!

Launch: SEO Group

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:54 -0500

Array

New Server

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:29 -0500

There’s nothing like spending a whole vacation to move this site and several other sites with minimal downtime to a new server. I learned quite a bit and am not sure how this relates to any sort of job prospect but I found it rewarding. A cruise trip to the Bahamas would’ve been a better time spent, but I’ll plan for that next year. This vacation was last minute.

All the domains email should be hosted via GMail. The sites should run faster, and run more stable. It is unfortunate for Huy, though, that he can no longer use his CPanel app. That’s what made the last server messy when he first gave me access.

Anyway, here are the primary sites being hosted: http://www.boomfire.com http://www.vssocial.com http://www.pinkchic.org

Enjoy!

A little coding exercise

Sun, 11 May 2008 10:42 -0500

I was asked to write a little PHP snippet on the spot during an interview for a job. I thought it was pretty fun so I’ll share it with you guys. I’ll modify the output a little bit but the concept is still the same. Needless to say, I got it right and I only had about 5 minutes to write it out on a sheet of paper :).

Write a little snippet that iterates from the numbers 1-100. On every number that is divisible by 3, output “Boom”. On every number that is divisible by 5, output “Fire”. If the number is divisible by 3 and 5, output “BoomFire”. Output the number on every other number.

Post your solution using the programming language of your choice in the comments.

Hot Shots Golf Anyone?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:31 -0500

Anyone up for a challenge in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds for the Playstation 3? I’m not great but still building up my characters and unlocking new clubs/balls. Add me to your friends list, my handle is huyaroo.

Internal Vista Sales Music Video

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:24 -0500

I don’t know about you but I find this internal MS music video for Vista SP1 very disturbing. The lead singer for the video is a Bruce Sprinsteen wannabe and there is an 80s theme attached to it. I’m not sure if this video is meant to be released to the public (it’s all over the web now) but if it was, it horribly failed. The video is meant to be marketed towards large businesses to get their operating system on employee’s computers by boasting better security and whatnot. They could have approached it more professionally instead of making it “fun” like the Bill Gate’s Retirement video. The karaoke-like video is below if you have yet to see it.

Why Cell Phone Games Suck!

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:12 -0500

Most of us now have cell phones with us at all times, it has become a necessity. A great percentage of us that do have cell phones have phones that have all these snazzy features such as cameras, Bluetooth and the ability to play games. 5 years ago, industry experts predicted that mobile games will be the wave of the future within 5 years. It’s that time now and they are so wrong. Even with the latest innovations such as the iPhone, gaming on your cell phone sucks.

In order to have a successful gaming device, you need to have good controls. Cell phones have these tiny little buttons to make the phones smaller and slimmer. It makes it hard to control accurately and quickly if these buttons are so small and close to each other. Changing the current layout of phones will defeat the purpose of the phone. We want our phones to be small so it will fit in our pockets (for guys). Having a large cell phone is so 1980s.

Most of the games and applications are built on Java. This is a bad, bad, bad idea. I am personally not a big fan of Java. I understand that they are trying to create a universal language so that the same code can be able to run on all devices. The idea is good, but the implementation sucks. I deter away from Java applications because of that. Java is a memory resource hog and it doesn’t matter if you are on a computer or on your phone. Everything is ran through the main Java engine so there are more processing power needed. The Java app that you are trying to run needs to be converted to the machine’s code in order for your application to work. Therefore, every time the app needs to do something, it has to be translated before your machine can run it. There’s a new Google project that might be a good replacement for Java for phones called Android. I haven’t been able to play with it yet but it seems powerful.

The games for mobile phones these days aren’t that fun to play. I might occasionally start up the poker game that came with my Blackberry for a quick enjoyment. I don’t want to sit there for a long time staring at a small screen pressing small buttons. I would rather get a PSP to have a better gaming experience. Playing on your phone for a long period of time would also drain your battery quickly. If your battery runs out because you are playing games, your phone in turn becomes useless.

Playing games on your phone isn’t as enjoyable as many experts said it will be. There are so many companies out there that have invested a lot of money and time to build these games that not many people are going to play. I don’t really care for playing Metal Gear Solid or any other games that require you to be immersed in the game, I have a Playstation 3 for that.

Poetic Prophet - Design Coding (SEO Rap)

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:50 -0500

All the web designer, coders and SEO experts should fairly enjoy this rap from the Poetic Prophet AKA The SEO Rapper. The thoroughly raps about things you need to cleanly code your websites for Search Engine Optimization. Lyrics are below the movie so rap along, or not. Enjoy!

Your site design is the first thing people see
it should be reflective of you and the industry
easy to look at with a nice navigation
when you can’t find what you want it causes frustration
a clear Call to action to increase the temptation
use appealing graphics they create motivation
if you have animation
use with moderation
cause search engines can’t index the information
display the logos of all your associations
highlight your contact info that’s an obligation
create a clean design you can use some decoration
but to try to prevent any client hesitation
every page that they click should provide and explanation
should be easy to understand like having a conversation
when you design the style go ahead and use your imagination
but make sure you use correct color combinations
do some investigation, look at other organizations
but don’t duplicate or you might face a litigation
design done, congratulations but it’s time to start construction
follow these instructions when you move into production
your photoshop functions then slice that design
do your layout with divs make sure that it’s aligned
please don’t use tables even though they work fine
when it come to indexing they give searches a hard time
make it easy for the spiders to crawl what you provide
remove font type, font color and font size
no background colors, keep your coding real neat,
tag your look and feel on a separate style sheet
better results with xml and css
now you making progress, a lil closer to success
describe your doctype so the browser can relate
make sure you do it great or it won’t validate
check in all browsers, I do it directly
gotta make sure that it renders correctly
some use IE, some others use Flock
some use AOL, I use Firefox
title everything including links and images
don’t use italics, use emphasis
don’t use bold, please use strong
if you use bold that’s old and wrong
when you use CSS, you page will load quicker
client satisfied like they eating on a snicker
they stuck on your page like you made it with a sticker
and then they convert now that’s the real kicker
make you a lil richer, your site a lil slicker
design and code right man I hope you get the picture
what I’m telling you is true man it should be a scripture
if it’s built right you’ll be the pick of the litter
everyone will want to follow you like twitter
competition will get bitter and you’ll shine like glitter
if you trying to grow your company will get bigger
design and code right man can you get with it

My Sassy Girl

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:36 -0500

I was watching My Sassy Girl yesterday with a couple of my friends for the hundredth time and today I stumbled upon the trailer for the American remake of the movie. The Korean version is one of my favorite movies because it has a great story and it’s laugh out loud funny. Anyways, after watching the trailer for the remake, I can’t say that it will be up to par with the original version. It seems like most American remakes like Il Mare/The Lake House do not do as well as their Korean counterparts. It can be said for most other Asian movies that were remade as well. They should just show the original version with subtitles. If you haven’t seen the Korean version yet, I suggest that you do!

Original

American

Street Fighter Stuff

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:20 -0500

I’m not sure if you guys have followed the Street Fighter: The Later Years series on CollegeHumor but I would recommend it if you haven’t. The story line and casting is so-so but it’s fun to watch when you’re bored in your cubicle with your headphones on.

Also, if you didn’t know, there is going to be a new Street Fighter in production right now titled Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Some of the cast have been picked out: Kristen Kreuk (Smallville) will be Chun-Li, Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile) will be Balrog, Chris Klein (Say it Ain’t So) will be Nash and Neal McDonough (The Guardian) will be M. Bison. I don’t know what to say but they better not screw up the 1994 classic Street Fighter. Raul Julia was a bad ass M. Bison, I don’t know if anyone is capable of replacing him but we’ll see.

Also, Street Fighter IV is coming out soon and I’m excited. I’m a little bit skeptical with the 2D/3D gameplay but I trust Capcom enough, minus Street Fighter EX, to come up with a good follow-up to the best fighting game series in history. Gameplay footage for SFIV at the end of the post. Does anyone know when Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is coming out to the Playstation 3 network? I’ve been waiting for this for a while and it’ll be good to play this while we wait for SFIV to come out.

Korean drummer takes the show

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:51 -0500

Something about the combination of white suits, the world’s blandest guitar riff, and head banging just does it for me.

Whoo hoo for... WaMu?

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:02 -0500

In February, TBWA/Chiat/Day launched a new ad campaign for Washington Mutual. It’s called “Whoo hoo!”, and it includes billboards like this one:

I saw this while driving my cousins on I-294N near Chicago, an interstate lined with advertisements hawking BARGAINS, DEALS, NEW LOCATIONS, packing every inch of whitespace with DETAILS and COOL ARTWORK and CLEVER WORDPLAY and STOCK IMAGES. Yet among this literal gauntlet of expensive billboards, Whoo hoo! stood out most.

I get excited when I see ads I like, and this was one of them. I pointed toward the billboard. “Yep,” said my cousin Zach, “we saw this yesterday, and my whole family started talking about it. It’s cool, right?” For sure. I’m used to seeing slogans that are benefits (“Have it Your Way”) or say something about the company (“Leading Innovation”). But WaMu’s slogan conveyed a feeling. And how simple it was! With increased clutter and shorter attention spans, you’d think more companies would’ve opted for the one- or two- word ad by now.

But at the same time, I couldn’t help but think the ad missed the mark. Whoo hoo for a bank? Especially when wamu.com looks like this? Notice the stock footage, the cluttered look, and the details. It’s exactly the “we don’t care” look from which they tried to distance themselves. When I clicked on the Whoo hoo link, WaMu took me to this page, which I assumed would tell me why I’d be screaming Whoo hoo after signing up for their product. Instead, WaMu gave me five standard bulletpoints:

Free checks for life (selected styles)**

Free ATM cash withdrawals (foreign and domestic)**

A $0.03 reward on debit card purchases**

Free Personal Bill PayÂ®service

Safe storage for your stash - FDIC insured

Feels like a typical bank. And notice the asterisks that hide two paragraphs of fine print - fine print that indicates some of their checks aren’t free. And neither are some ATM withdrawals. Also, the reward sometimes doesn’t apply. Ohh noo.

(I’m starting to think Whoo hoo would work wonders for anything but a bank.)

Why Can't PS3 and Xbox360 Get Along?

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:50 -0500

I currently own a Playstation 3 console and I know a couple of other people that do as well. The problem is, I also know people who own Xbox360 consoles. What I don’t understand is how a game like Madden ‘08, which is available on both systems, does not allow me to play with my friends on Xbox360. I mean, it is the same game right? Sure the software code for each system’s game is different but isn’t the game server code the same? Do they develop 2 different server softwares for each system. I’ve never created a game server software before so I don’t quite know. I’m just curious on why they can’t make a universal server software that all game systems can access and play with each other regardless of what console they are running.

A company like Electronic Arts can probably profit a lot from this because they have a ton of sports games that can use a universal server software. It’ll be kind of like Steam for Windows. Sure there will be some kind of special customization for each game but I can believe it can be done. A feat to tackle is the way each console’s network controls its’ users. Xbox LIVE have their own user database, same for Wii and PS3. Console makers can create an openID type of user management where everybody has the same ‘gamer ID’ but I doubt that will happen, ever. The developer themselves can also create an internal database of gamers that will link to the user handle for each system.

Sorry for ranting but I just want to play the same games that my friends and I own regardless of what console system we own. Is that too much to ask for?

VBS.tv: The Vice Guide to North Korea

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:04 -0500

Vince sent me a link to this cool series of episodes where an online video journalist documented his trip into North Korea, showing how freaky their culture is. It’s interesting to see how North Koreans portray themselves as this elite culture that is prosperous but when you get to see what really goes on there, they’re really not.

There are 14 episodes but they are all short. View all of them at The Vice Guide to North Korea.

Getting into North Korea was one of the hardest and weirdest processes VBS has ever dealt with. After we went back and forth with their representatives for months, they finally said they were going to allow 16 journalists into the country to cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang. Then, ten days before we were supposed to go, they said, â€œNo, nobody can come.â€ Then they said, â€œOK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists.â€ We had no idea what that was supposed to mean. They already knew we were journalists, and over there if you get caught being a journalist when youâ€™re supposed to be a tourist you go to jail. We donâ€™t like jail. And weâ€™re willing to bet weâ€™d hate jail in North Korea.

But we went for it. The first leg of the trip was a flight into northern China. At the airport the North Korean consulate took our passports and all of our money, then brought us to a restaurant. We were sitting there with our tour group, and suddenly all the other diners left and these women came out and started singing North Korean nationalist songs. We were thinking, â€œLook, we were just on a plane for 20 hours. Weâ€™re jet-lagged. Can we just go to bed?â€ but this guy with our group who was from the LA Times told us, â€œEveryone in here besides us is secret police. If you donâ€™t act excited then youâ€™re not going to get your visa.â€ So we got drunk and jumped up onstage and sang songs with the girls. The next day we got our visas. A lot of people we had gone with didnâ€™t get theirs. That was our first hint at just what a freaky, freaky trip we were embarking on…

Batman v.2008: The Dark Knight

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:53 -0500

Release date: July 21, 2008. If you have YET to see the trailer yet, here you go. Looks better on HD.

The Forbidden Kingdom

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:41 -0500

Release date: April 18, 2008. For the first time ever, two of the most famous Chinese actors in the United States join together to make a badass action flick. You’ve probably heard of Jet Li and Jackie Chan before but never have you seen them in one movie. Jackie Chan will play a comedic role that he usually does and Jet Li will be the same quiet type. The girls in the movie are pretty hot too, now more people will be exposed to the beauty of Asian women if they haven’t before with Maggie Q or Zhang Ziyi.

Cast: Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Collin Chou, Michael Angarano, Yifei Liu, Morgan Benoit, Jacky Wu

Website: www.forbiddenkingdommovie.com

NBA: Where Amazing Happens

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:24 -0500

This new NBA ad campaign for “Where Amazing Happens” rocks. The music and the slow motion movements work well together. I love the “where …. happens” for each image.

Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

Song used: Carly Commando - Everday