GMail Comes out of Beta

As I woke up this afternoon and turned on my computer, I had a feeling that something big happened…AND I was right! What’s that you say, Michael Jackson’s funeral procession? Yea, that’s not so big in my books. I was never a fan of Michael Jackson so to me, his funeral procession was not big.

What I did find interesting is that Google finally took GMail out of Beta. I actually never thought this would happen but Google actually did. I am not sure why but this is an historical event; Tuesday, July 7th, 2009. It feels weird opening up my GMail knowing that it’s not in it’s final testing phase anymore. Best part is, the space keeps on growing and growing and growing.

Col.tf2 Won a Big Goose Egg

I just watched the Cevo-P Team Fortress 2 OCZ Grand Finals featuring Team Complexity and Evil Geniuses fighting against each other for $2500. I saw this broadcasted match over on Pwnage.tv and I would like to say, “Thank you Leo for an unfortunately short but great shoutcast.” Like always, your voice captures the essence of the competitive TF2 scene. Alright, enough with the ass-kissing; it is making me very uncomfortable. I was very excited to see my favourite pro TF2 team, Team Compexity (Col.tf2 previously known as Team Pandemic which was previously known as The Experiment) take on Evil Geniuses (EG.tf2 which was previously known as Sway Gaming). Both these teams are two North America’s top TF2 teams and can no doubt compete with the top pro teams from Europe (where the competitive scene is much bigger and more developed).

The line up for Complexity was:
Hell
Paladin
O’Plaid (apparently pronounced as oh-plad)
Punisher
Pyour
Reptile

The line up for EG was:
amr
casey
czr
destro
hero
yaug

I predicted that Complexity would take this match with a score of 4-1 but unfortunately to my surprise, EG came out with a big huge shalackin’ and whooped Complexity’s asses with a score for 5-0. What is even worse, this loss is Complexity’s worst loss by far. I thought their first loss against Team Loaded (previously known as the new Team Pandemic after the old team signed with Complexity) in the Season 3 Cevo-P finals was bad, but this takes the cake. They lost 5-0 with about 10 minutes before the half ended! They didn’t even get to the intermission!

Before I go on, I should explain the rules. The finals was on cp_badlands which is a map with five control points. Whichever team manages to control all five points wins a round. With Cevo, whichever team manages to take five rounds first wins the match and after thirty minutes of play time (I think), the teams switch colours and go at it again and play for another thirty minutes.

I was shocked when Complexity just got rolled so fast like that. The entire matchup took around 20 minutes in total and it was not enjoyable at all. Complexity managed to take around two control points but…that’s not enough to win a map, not even a round. Just by watching the cast, you can definitely tell the entire Complexity squad was off their game. It seemed like they haven’t played TF2 in a month and I can actually tell as I checked their steam accounts and saw that their play time hours were quite low even for a casual gamer. I do not think they practiced at all for this match and they probably just winged it hoping their skillz and comradery would do the trick. It did not pay off as their hard proven strategy against EG did not work at all. They still had their skills and strategies but it did not seem like their teamwork was doing well. A good strategy they pulled was by utilizing the Kritzkreig and pushing EG backwards into the scout flank but that was all. Once they captured the middle point, they just could not hold on to it and let EG steamroll through.

Throughout the whole entire match I kept on pleading for them to switch up their strategy and do something new and have Reptile go back to soldier, the class that made him so infamous in TF2. What makes me mad the most is that this is their third loss IN A ROW in finals matches. My faith in this team has been shattered into a million pieces and it does not help when Syckness, TheFragile, and Hubris left to join other competing teams. What I have seen is that Complexity has been using their same old strategies that have made them the top TF2 team in North America but ever since they have been dominating, the other TF2 teams have analyzed and figured out counter strategies to defeat Complexity and it has worked. It is time for Complexity to evolve and develop and be more creative with what they have because if things continue the way they are, it’s going to be a sad day when they become known as North America’s #2 team. They roll right through the competition with a near perfect record but when it counts the most, they choke! I do not think this is what they and Jason Lake want to become known for. This better not continute with the ESEA Invite Finals as this team better get their act together because they will face off against either 20ID, EG, or Team Loaded who are at the same skill level as Complexity. Complexity better change up their strategy, make new, cunning plays, and bring Dummy back as demo and sub out Rep with Reptile for soldier. If Mr. Dopko does not want to be soldier…make him. It is only one game and I’m pretty sure he still has his rocket juggling skills.

YOU BETTER WIN ESEA INVITE COMPLEXITY AS YOUR LAST THREE LOSSES COST ME $300

Haha, ok I’m just joking, it COST ME $600.

kk, I’ll stop. Just win the dam thing, alright?

Stargate Universe = BSG

At first I thought how Mr. Cooper and Mr. Wright will be writing Stargate Universe (SGU) to appease to a new market that they have never tried before. I am talking about the tweens or teenagers (The 13-15 year old kids who just know one thing and one thing only, sex) and I thought, ‘oh shit, it’s going to become Stargate 90210‘. I could not believe what the writers were going to do with this new series; they were going to taint the integrety of the entire series just so they could appeal to the teenagers who might I add that not many will actually know what Stargate is. It’s pretty much a cult series now and outside from the nerd/geek/comicon world, no one knows about it.

Well it is a good thing that I watched the trailer for the new show that will be premiering in the fall of 2009. I did not expect the new direction from the writers; I saw the trailer and I was amazed they did not fuck anything up. I even can’t believe they were able to get Lou Diamond Philips and Ming Na to sign on to the series (I’m going to watch it just for them ). When I first read the announcement of SGU, I honestly thought that it would be like 90210 with all the love drama flying everywhere and the lieutenents and privates getting promiscuous with each other. The new trailers speak otherwise and I am glad that the show has not stooped down to that level but what I can not put my finger on is that the new direction that SGU is going in seems familiar…hmmm. I feel like I’ve seen this kind of editing and writing before…oh that’s right, I’ve seen it on Battlestar Galactica. Now I understand how Mr. Cooper and Mr. Wright will cater to the tweens, they will use BSG as a template…very interesting but really? I’m pretty sure now they will rip off BSG to write the episodes of SGU. If you look at the trailer, you can definitely see that SGU is went off on a tangent from the previous two series SGA and SG-1. Those two shows were all about just beat the enemies and save the day. There was no room for much personal character development and the only drama present was, ‘how do we defeat the wraith (or Goa’uld)?’ Of course, SGU will have that same drama but they will make A LOT more room for character development and put in a couple of love stories just like what they did in BSG. If you pay attention to the scenes in the trailer, you can definitely tell that the show is darker and I don’t mean that they are in a ship without lights on but it seems like the show is darker and more confrontational. I’m pretty sure BSG was like that, no? You know how Starbuck kept on gettin all crazy with everyone and picking fights with them, It’s going to be just like that.

I like the new direction that SGU will be heading in but I can’t help to think that the new SGU will be just like BSG. It’s going to be cool putting a BSG spin on the Stargate series but they would have to make it more subtle. For one, they could change the entire setting. The new SGU exploration team ends up on an old ship and that is their mode of transportation (other than the Stargates). No WAI, that’s just like BSG. The remaining survivors of the genocide are on ships trying to find their way home. It’s their only mode of transportation and that is the setting of the series. Everything happens in the ships and outside the ships when the cylons attack. I’m excited for the series though and I really do not mind if the writers, producers, and director(s) write SGU with a dash of BSG in it. It will be fun and entertaining and I really don’t think that it will cause a lot of problems with the fans. It’s going to be so cool! I can’t wait until the Fall…well I can because I do not want to go back to school.

Why all the Hate for Terminator Salvation?

For one of the most anticipated movies of the summer, Terminator Salvation seems like it will do poorly on opening day, the 21st of May which is actually tomorrow. As many people stay in line outside the movie theatres waiting to see the latest movie in The Terminator franchise, many more seem to be put off from the movie by critic reviews. It seems as if McG the director of the film blew the biggest chance to thrust his career into stardom with this movie. From what it seems, all fans of the franchise will be very, very disappointed with the fourth installment which will be anticipated as the worst terminator movie, even surpassing the failure that is T3 (even though I liked that movie).

Movie critics who have already seen advanced screenings of the movie have panned it saying that this movie is all action but no acting. All the actors in the movie seemed to be pretty bad the material they had to work out of was very lousy. Many fans of Christian Bale will probably be disappointed by his portrayal of John Conner and how the character somehow developed a slight British accent over fourteen years. From the reviews I read that were on the Rotton Tomatoes website, the only saviour of this film is Sam Worthington who plays Marcus Wright but unfortunately his internal struggle of what he actually is (man or machine) does not do the movie justice. Christian Bale was supposed to be pinnacle of this movie but apparently the special effects are. The special effects team, the artists, and the original designer of The Terminator (I forgot his name) all did a great job with the special effects. Unfortunately they can only do so much to mask the crappy acting in T4.

Fortunately, I do not give a crap about what the movie critics say about this movie. I do not care that the Rotten Tomatoes rating is thirty-seven percent (37%). I am a fan of The Terminator franchise even though I did not see a single episode of the Sarah Conner Chronicles. I’ve seen all three movies oh so many times; too many to count. Well I’ve actually only seen the first movie twice because I only watch these movies when they air on television. It is weird because I have DVD/VHS copies sitting on my shelf. I might watch the Sarah Conner Chronicles when the DVD boxset for the last season comes out because I just found out Summer Glau is the new terminator…and she’s hot! Come to think of it, I’m not really a fan of the franchise at all. Either way, I’m still going to watch Terminator Salvation and the negative ratings the movie has gotten will not deter me from spending my hard earned fifteen dollars.

If you do not want to waste your money on this ‘crap’ movie because of the negative reviews it has gotten, you my friend must stop listening to those reviews and decide for yourself whether or not you really want to see it. Everyone has different tastes and differing opinions on what criteria makes a movie very astounding. If you are a hardcore fan or you have decided you REALLY WANT to see this movie, then go see it. If you are one of those people who still have not decided if they want to see it or not…then wait until aXXo puts a DVD rip of it out in the next six months. OOPS, I mean wait until the DVD/Blu Ray of the movie comes out onto the shelves of Blockbuster (If the company is still alive by then) or comes out on Netflix and then you can spend a measley seven/eight bucks on it which is half of what it costs to go watch it in the theatre. If you have doubts on wanting to see this movie and you still can not decide then wait another six months, it will do you good. Otherwise, go watch the dam movie already and suffer the consequences after. If you do not want to watch this movie, good! Fox will not get a portion of your hard earned money. You should save it up and put it in the bank and let that interest grow and by the time the movie comes out on video, use that money to pay for your internet bill.

The Degradation of FML

Maxime Valette and Guillaume Passaglia have a lot to thank to the unfortunate people who get fucked over day after day and like to vent out their depressed thoughts. Of course we are talking about the up and start website, fMyLife which has become a global sensation solely because we all want to have that feeling that no matter how bad our day is, there is at least someone else who has it worse. Or we just want to laugh at other people’s misfortunates. Give or take, these two reasons are pretty much why it has become so popular. The website is actually an English version of the French website, VieDeMerde created by the same people. The website launched in January 2008 but lately it has become a huge hit as more and more people begin to discover other people’s misfortune. Of course I am a fan of the website because the posters’ submissions are hilarious. The website has reached its peak in early 2009 and I am pretty sure it is due to Facebook. Not that many people knew what FML meant but as the website became more popular it has become the next LMAO. Its biggest push was when a fan page was created for it and afterward, it spread like wildfire.

Back then though, the stories which some were probably fake were very good and hilarious. These days, the website has degraded to a form of unimaginative stories which are probably all true nowadays since they suck so much. What happened to FML? The stories people had were so good, but now the stories reaching the front page don’t even get a sound out of me. The website has a section to moderate the FML submissions but, what the hell have these moderators slumped down too. It’s come to a point where

“Today, I was taking the AP Biology exam. It’s strictly timed, yet my proctor spent 30 minutes (a third of the time we have) talking about his sexual relationship with his wife, who was also proctoring. I don’t know how I did on the test, but I now know my proctor had erectile dysfunction. FML”

Yea, that’s truly an FML moment. Oh man good for you knowing that your proctor has ED. That is a terrible FML. What happened to the days where people were submitting stories of them being dumped and getting kicked while down? I remember that FML where the guy paid for his girlfriend’s pay as you go phone for text messaging just to get dumped. That’s sad, and hilarious at the same time! That’s a good FML.

I better finish this article so I can watch the season finale of House or else FML.

I Caught Swine Flu…my Dad Said

Last weekend I had dinner with my family in pretty much an entire year. It was my idea that we all go out for sushi. As cheap as my parents are, they decided to go to the all you can eat sushi restaurant down the street instead of going to the really good one that is a half hour drive away. You would think it is because of the fact that the restaurant is down the street from us AND that it is an all you can eat restaurant but no, it is because they found a coupon that gives you fifteen percent off your entire meal. As we got to the restaurant and managed to beat the rush, we sat down and ordered our food. We ordered spicy tuna roles, california rolls, oyster rolls, cucumber rolls, spider rolls, love rolls, spicy salmon rolls, beef udon, miso soup, and fried smelt fish. The sushi was not the best but it definitely was not the worst but it really sucked when a lot of the rolls kept on falling apart while grabbing them with our chopsticks. Apparently my family can tell the difference between ohtoro (best quality) and toro (recycled fish) tuna/salmon when eating sushi but I can not. I really do not care about it though as I can barely taste the difference. My palette is not as well developed as theirs’ are and I am not motivated to develop it at all. Everything was good and fun and we were able to get back home right before Prison Break started which was SO COOL! Unfortunately, the next day was dreadful. I woke up with the runs and when I went to the washroom, there was no remorse for the toilet! I could tell I came down with a sudden case of diarrhea because when I went, it sounded like I was taking a long and THUNDEROUS piss; so loud that it woke my parents up. Haha no but it would be funny, actually more embarassing if that did actually happen. For the rest of the day, I felt like throwing up but my urge to vomit was not paramount which is a good thing because we were shopping. That could have been a great FML though. I barely ate anything that entire day and even when I came back home I had to take a ‘thunderous piss’ again which was even LOUDER hahaha. Obviously I came down with a case of food poisoning which I find hard to believe because no one else in my family came down with it. I also had burgers with my siblings earlier that day and neither of them got sick so it could not have been the burgers. The other possibility was the oyster sushi and the spicy tuna sushi. I was the only one to eat those pieces of sushi because no one else liked them. It might have been the spicy tuna because the oysters in the oyster sushi were fried. They may not have been thoroughly cooked though.
Forty eight hours after my ordeal, I was still FREAKING SICK with food poisoning. I was supposed to go have lunch with my grandparents but last last minute, I had to go back home because it got worse. My parents actually thought I had the flu but they still wanted me to have lunch with our grandparents which I think is stupid. They thought I had the flu and they still wanted me to have lunch with my grandparents in which I could potentially pass it on to them and kill them because of their weaker immune systems. It was not so bad as we were travelling to lunch, but then right when my dad turns into the parking lot, he hits a big pothole and I almost threw up all over the car. We drove half an hour to the restaurant, only to turn back once we hit the parking lot. When I got back home, the thunder came back and I thinkwe need a new toilet…haha no. Everything was better the rest of the day as I fell asleep in my bed and woke up the next morning; I had slept for 14 hours, a new record.

When Monday came, all my parents could think was that I caught the H1N1 virus, the swine flu. They kept on asking me if any of my friends went to Mexico during spring break and I repeatedly kept on telling them, “I DON’T KNOW.” If it was the swine flu, then I could have caught it from anyone in any of my classes and I can tell you, I do not know everyone in my classes so it will be very hard to pinpoint just from that.

As I write this entry now into my blog, I still have not fully recovered from my ordeal at the sushi restaurant. I think the food poisoning translated to stomach flu which has no translated to a sore throat and a build up of mucus. I actually might think it is the flu and in any case I will have to get the shot but I am actually recovering and feeling better now…except when I eat. Everytime I eat, I get full really, really fast. I kid you not I used to chow down medium sized pizzas in one sitting but I tried it earlier this week and I could only get through two slices before I was stuffed. Everytime I eat food, there is a build up of gas and I get full really fast. An hour later, the thundering piss comes in. Actually it’s more like thundering wind (if you get my ‘drift’. Double pun definitely intended).

TheFragile Joins Team Dynamic

I haven’t posted in quite a long time because life has been hectic REALLY hectic right now. I finally have some time now to write a new entry.

So lately I have been watching pro TF2 matches from Pwnage.tv as I am an avid fan of TF2 and I have been following the pro scene for a while now. From Cevo-p to ESEA to MLG, I know what’s going on. I started watching pro TF2 after I saw the soldier frag vid from Complexity’s Reptile (Adam Dopko). That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen from TF2 players at the time. Back then, col.TF2 used to be Team Pandemic but unfortunately due to business reasons they left Team Pandemic to join their current team. As the Chris Lemley, Team Pandemic’s owner and president said,
“Our former team achieved great success during their time under our banner,” said Pandemic President Chris Lemley in noting the departure of the former Pandemic.TF2 and defending CEVO-P champs. “At the end of the day however, we can’t forget that professional gaming is a business. Business and ethics forced my hand today, and I feel confident that I’ve done my very best in not finding their ‘replacement’ but instead finding a lineup that will become the next Team Fortress champion.”

Fortunately for Team Pandemic, they picked up iDemise’s TF2 roster to replace their loss and they have been doing well. Now there is a struggle for top the North American TF2 team between new Pandemic and old Pandemic. Team Pandemic has beaten Complexity for the Season 3 Cevo-P championship and they can arguably be the top TF2 team now, but there is always the strugle between both teams. Their current record versus Complexity is 2-4 I believe so there is still some discrepancy to be the top team.

On April 1st, GotFrag reported that Complexity’s medic TheFragile has left the team which is a blow to their current roster as he is considered to be one of the best medics in the game. He felt that playing TF2 for Complexity became to stressful and aggravating to a point that playing the game was not fun anymore. He also expressed his desire to play different classes like soldier, scout, or spy. Basically, he was tired of playing as a medic and the scheduling of pugs and practices. He wanted to take a more laid back approach. Fortunately he has found a team that has met his desire to a more laid back approach, Team Dynamic. He officially joined the roster for Team Dynamic just a few days ago as he played with them in the ESEA playoffs against his former gaming syndicate, Team Pandemic. What was weird is that he was playing as a medic instead of a scout or soldier (spies are RARELY played in pro matches) which would lead one to ask what is the REAL reason he left his old team. He left Complexity and the legacy to join a less successful team. We don’t know the true story though so you never know until it comes out. All the best to him and his TF2 skillz.

Eleventh Hour vs. Fringe

It is official, Fringe is now ‘t3h suck’. I first started watching the show because I saw the trailer for it on TV and it was really interesting. Who wouldn’t turn down watching a woman figure out how people died and became albino to a point that you could see through their skin? It got me off the hook and I started to watch the show, but then five minutes into the show I realized to my dismay that pretty much all the actors suck balls. Anna Torvold especially. I can Charlie Conway though as he can triple deke the hell out of those mysteries. The only good thing about the show is John Noble’s acting but after watching all the episodes until the fall finale, his hilarious and unexpected lines just become, well they are still funny but the viewer expects them so there isn’t really a funny surprise at all. The plots are very interesting and they use on the edge/border science techniques and theories culminating into what is called, ‘Fringe Science’. The knowledge and education we learn from the show is very interesting but that is if we understand it. Usually that stuff is learned in high school and college/university so, not that many tweens would understand it. The middle age folks also as well won’t understand it. It’s a good thing though that I understand everything they say.

Unfortunately, how the entire story arch is panned out really kills the whole series and does not give the show it’s deserved credit. Well the acting does that mostly, but the fact that the entire show is based around ONE mystery that branches off into smaller mysteries really pisses me off. It is just like watching Lost again, and I am not going back to that show. J.J Abrams is good, but the writing staff really need to decide when its time to reveal a mystery.

WeFollow Everyone…Except Leo Laporte

So Kevin Rose, the man who created Digg created a new website and unveiled it to the world today. The website is WeFollow. WeFollow is aimed towards the website Twitter as a niche of Web 2.0. The website is a user powered directory which users are allowed to check out other tweeters based on tags. It’s basically a google for Twitter. He even made a top 100 list of the most popular Twitter accounts. When you go and look at the list, you see a slew of celebrities and corporate companies ranging from Kevin himself (obviously), Barrack Obama, and Jimmy Fallon to CNN and TechCrunch.

A surprising (well not so surprising) omission of the top 100 list is the infamous Leo Laporte. Where is he on the list? A recent update of his Twitter account shows that he has 100 152 people following him. He should be in the 28th position right ahead of Stephen Colbert but he is not there. He’s not even in the top 100 list. What is the deal Kevin Rose? As Leo points out to a friend, “crsierra” on Twitter, “I don’t think Kevin is all that fond of me any more. I seem to be making lots of enemies among the SF digerati.”
What has happened between these two former TechTV alum? First they were friends and now it seems like this feud they’ve been having for quite a LONG time now is becoming very evident in their work. It’s probably because in one of Leo’s netcasts he did not condone on Mr. Rose and Mr Albrecht drinking away during their Diggnation podcast.

Seriously, WTF Did Happen in Battlestar Galactica

So I just saw the second of the final ten episodes of BSG and the beginning was really weird to me. Did I miss something?
First thing I see is Colonol Tigh and ‘Six’ holding hands while a sonogram is being conducted on her for her unborn child. Wait, what happened here? What the hell just happened with Colonol Tigh. Isn’t he still not over the fact that he killed his wife? Well apparently not because he’s so happy with the cylons’ new saviour; the very first complete cylon baby.
You can see it in the nurse’s eyes that she’ll tear ‘Six’ apart before the series ends.

The craziest part of this episode but not uncommon in these days is that Tyrol “IS NOT THE FATHER.” Oh man, Maury should have been there and told him instead of Dr. Cottle. Hey, we might have seen a little jig out of the toaster.

The best WTF moment from this episode, 4×12 is that Tyrol makes a truce with Admiral Adama about using cylons to help work with the fleet in order to speed up production and efficiency so they can last an extra three months before they get to a new ‘earth’. The catch is, all the cyclons become citizens under the agreement so they will have the same rights, freedoms, and protection from the other cylon faction. CRAZY!!!! like WTF man. That shit was messsssseeeed up but in a good way.

The conversation that Felix and Starbuck had was very interesting. You can really tell that he is still PISSED for loosing his leg.

The whole episode is politically driven as you can tell from the controversy of creating an allegiance with the cylons. The debate stems from the sides of survival and personal dignity. Those for the allegiance with the cylons is pretty much Admiral Adama, Lee, President Roslin, and all the cylons (which include: Colonel Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, and Tory, Sixes, and Eights). Those opposed to the allegiance is the rest of the fleet, especially Tom Zarek. Now rages on the battle between the ability to survive until finding a new home against shunning the cylons due to the fact that they practically wiped out the entire human race. Will the human race decide to lay down their anger and hatred against the cylons in order to survive or will they allow this truce to be complete if it is for their survival? This episode has created a lot of political tension that viewers rarely see from Battlestar Galactica. The writers have put a lot of thought into the ending of this show and they should receive an Emmy award. No matter the outcome of the battle, it is safe to say that there will be a new president and maybe even admiral in charge until the end of the series. The people of Caprica have worked so hard, sacrificed a lot, and have endured so much pain and suffering all in the hope of finding ‘earth’. The one thing that both President Roslin and Admiral Adama have promised to everyone. It will come to a point where they will have enough and the time is now. The tides have been turning against Adam and Roslin and these tides have finally reached their crests; they’ll spill over and Tom Zarek will take control. Even though he is an ex-convict, the people of Caprica will take accept an ex-convict as a president rather than a toaster loving, cancer rampent, president who is about to commit treason.