Page 43 – Krunk4Ever!

September 27, 2008September 27, 2008

New Microsoft Ads

You’ve probably seen the new ads Microsoft has put out, starting with the ones Jerry Seinfield were in. If you haven’t seen them, you’re not missing out on much, but if you’re curious, you can watch them here: Gates and Seinfeld: The future is delicious.

When it was first announced that Microsoft was having a $300 million ad campaign involving Jerry Seinfield, someone on /. posted this:

Elaine (with Apple-ish grin): I just bought a Macbook
Jerry (non-chalantly sipping his coffee in front of his Dell): So? I’ve got Vista.
Elaine (frowning): But this is a Mac, Jerry.
Jerry: But it’s not Vista.
Elaine: No, it’s not Vista. It’s a Mac.
Jerry: It’s very shiny. What’d that thing cost you?
Elaine (defensive): What does that matter?
Jerry: One thousand?
Elaine: Jerry…
Jerry: Two thousand?
Elaine: Stop…
Jerry: Three th–
Elaine: $2755.
Jerry: Inclu–
Elaine: Including tax.
Jerry: 1250
Elaine: 1250 what?
Jerry: Vista.
Elaine: But it’s not a Mac!
Jerry: It checks email.
Elaine: So does my Mac.
Jerry: Surfs the web.
Elaine: So does my Mac.
Jerry: Makes movies.
Elaine: So does…it does? I thought Windows didn’t make movies.
Jerry (shrugs and sips): Vista.
(Door explodes open!)
Kramer: Jerry! The Dell store down the street is selling computers with Vista for $1500!
Jerry: 1250
Kramer (walking over to Jerry’s laptop): Oooh, is that…
Jerry: Vista.
Kramer: Niiiice.

I actually thought that was quite creative and fit the Seinfield theme well.

When I saw the first commercial (the one with the shoe and churro), everyone down the hall at Microsoft was basically yelling “WTF”. I had to scratch my head and wonder, what the heck was this commercial about. Is it trying to sell shoes? or churros? Personally I wasn’t blinded by Bill Gates wiggling his butt, but I can understand if you were. Everyone at work was just wondering what the heck was this commercial about? We figured if anything, this was suppose to be viral and would get people talking about it. I guess they applying the philosophy that any publicity is good publicity.

Anyway, the 2nd commercial came out and at least this one I found it to be mildly amusing, but still nothing related to Microsoft or Windows. At least it wasn’t as WTF as the first one. All along the marketing team has called this “phase one” and it was meant to be an ice breaker to get people talking about Microsoft.

Then the new I’m a PC ads started showing up and I have to say that it was actually done quite well. I have to admit, I got a similar feeling watching that as when I saw Where the Hell is Matt? (the guy who does a funny dance around the world).

One thing I didn’t quite get was when Deepak Chopra says, “I’m a PC and a human being. Not a human doing, not a human thinking, a human being.” What does that even mean? I guess that’s why he’s the philosopher and I’m not.

Many people are claiming that Microsoft screwed up again and canceled the Jerry Seinfield ads because of the poor reception, but I think New York Times did a good article on it: Echoing the Campaign of a Rival, Microsoft Aims to Redefine ‘I’m a PC’ . If the Seinfield ads were indeed cut short, I personally feel that it was most likely done because it exceeded expectations on getting the number of people talking. As noted earlier, this was always phase 1 (an ice breaker) and if we can reach the target # of audience with 2 commercials, why make 5 (number I just pulled out of my ***)?

While reading Digg, someone pointed me to this comment made on the Penny Arcade forums:

Are you serious? A big part of the ad was a stab at Jobs, his controlling nature within Apple, and his famous “reality distortion field”. The old lady who’d been there for 12 years (the same number of years since Jobs returned to Apple) ran the whole show. She was doing the laundry, she was doing the yard work, she was fixing the car. She kept up the facade of a rather dated looking home full of people who were caught up in appearances (the neighbor’s car) and the pretension of useless things like Greek coins, wine mustard and leather giraffes. When the old lady croaks, the place will fall apart. They had shitty pong to play (Macs suck at gaming) while Bill Gates had the most incredible game ever for the kid.

The first ad was a rip on the Apple Store – the fact you buy your computers from a place in the mall and they don’t even fit you properly. Regular people pointlessly idolize them (the family staring through the window) and you don’t get much for your money “Why pay more?”

Keep in mind the entire purpose of these ads is that they’re a direct response to Apple’s “Mac vs. PC” campaign, it’s hardly a stretch to point out the statements being made about Apple vs. MSFT in them.

I never thought about them that way, but it’s an interesting way to look at the Seinfield ads.

September 21, 2008October 3, 2008

Rock Band 2 + Xbox 360 Live Points Deals

Wow! It’s been quite awhile since my last post. Things have been quite busy at work and with the darn construction going around here, I’ve been waking up at 9am. I haven’t gotten a chance to blog about Joe’s Birthday BBQ or my recent camping trip. Hopefully my workload won’t be as bad in the coming weeks.

Anyway, the following deals are time sensitive, so I thought I’d blog about them now before they evaporate. Amazon.com has a few Xbox 360/Rock Band deals going on this weekend:

Xbox 360 Live 4000 Points for $40 or Xbox 360 Live 1600 Points for $16. These are normally $50 and $20 respectively. You’re basically getting a 20% discount making it 100pts/$1 instead of 80pts/$1. Pretty good deal considering Live Points don’t usually go on sale and if you order $25+, you get free shipping and since these are considered “gift cards”, they’re not taxable (even in WA).

If you’re seeing a different seller on the main page, please look on the right side, and you should see Amazon.com as seller and the lower price. Given that this deal started earlier this weekend, it’s currently back-ordered, but you’re still allowed to purchase it at the discounted price.

If you’re wondering if it’s better to get the 1600 points or the 4000 points, the better deal is the 1600 points because at 4000 points, you save about 5 cents, but the savings are pretty negligible. I would recommend buying 2x1600pts to qualify for free shipping.

Buy Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360 and get a 1600 Live Points Card

Here’s your chance to add the new Rock Band game to your collection and set yourself up with 1600 Live points. That means the 84 tracks from the game plus about 10 downloads with your points. This deal will keep you rocking for a while! Offer limited to products shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Promotion ends on October 4, 2008 at 11:59PST. Offer good while supplies last. Limit one per household. See Details.

*Details

Order the standalone version of Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360 and the Xbox 360 Live 1600 Points card by October 4, 2008 in our Video Games Store and receive the Xbox 360 Live 1600 Points card free. To redeem this offer place both participating products in your cart and proceed through the check out process. At the end of your order the cost of the Xbox 360 Live 1600 Points card will be deducted from your total order. This offer applies only to the purchase of the standalone version of Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360 and the Xbox 360 Live 1600 Points card offered by Amazon.com and does not apply to products sold on our site by third-party merchants or through third-party areas such as Amazon.com Marketplace or Auctions. Limit one per household.

How to Qualify for the Rock Band 2 Points Card Promotion:

-This offer applies to qualifying purchases made before 11:59 p.m. PT on October 4, 2008 while supplies last on the “the standalone version of Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360” and “the Xbox 360 Live 1600 Points card.”
-Offer does not apply to out-of-stock items.
-The cost of the Xbox 360 Live 1600 Points card will be deducted from your total order at the end of the check out process.
-Offer can only be applied to orders placed after 12:00 AM PT on September 21, 2008, and before 11:59pm PT on October 4, 2008.

Since I was planning to pick up Rock Band 2 already (just didn’t want to pay retail), getting a free $20 worth of Xbox 360 Live Points made a pretty sweet deal. Too bad I had to pay WA sales tax, but even considering that and the fact that the 1600 is really worth $16 this weekend, I’m still saving over $10.

Finally, this probably isn’t time sensitive, but Xyon informed me there was a new free Rock Band song: Stephen Colbert DLC hits Rock Band. The song is called Charlene, a pretty short and hilarious song by Stephen and the Colberts. Those flawless expert achievements are finally within reach!

August 22, 2008August 22, 2008

Household Bank Credit Card

So a few weeks back, I was reading SlickDeals and apparently there’s a new credit card that may interest you folks: Household Bank Credit Card

Household Bank 2% Cash Back Cards

The Household Bank 2% Cash Back Cards are great for people who need to continue establishing credit with a brand they can trust. These cards offer 2% cash back on card purchases, value and built in benefits you can use every day and everywhere you shop.

It’s a credit card with 2% cash back on ALL purchases. Previously the winner was Fidelity Investments Rewards Card giving back 1.5% cash back on ALL purchases.

Of course I only recommend this as a fall back card for all those purchases that don’t qualify for 3-5% cash back and you’re only making 1-1.5% cash back on those purchases.

At first, I was like great deal, but who is Household Bank exactly. It appears that they’re own by HSBC, giving me a lot more assurance of this credit card company.

You can view more detailed terms and conditions:

You will receive 2% earnings redeemable for cash (with a maximum of $400 annually) on new net retail purchases charged to this credit card. Cash redemptions can be claimed in increments of $25 USD only. Upon approval, you will receive the Rewards Terms and Conditions.

$400 cash back annually equates to having to spend $20,000 to max out on their cash back, much more than enough. Unlike Advanta which has capped rewards to $60 annually, which I hit in a month or 2.

Unfortunately, they’re only starting me with a $2,000 credit limit. I’ve requested a credit limit increase immediately after applying, but I got a post card in the mail that said:

… we are unable to grand a credit limit increase at this time for the following reason(s):

THIS ACCOUNT HAS NOT BEEN ACTIVATED.

Guess I was a bit too impatient. I got my card and activated it today, and of course submitted a new credit limit increase request.

August 22, 2008August 22, 2008

Graphic Novels

Whew, it’s been awhile since my last post…

So I was bored at work so I was reading random comic strips and landed on this Unshelved comic strip: Graphic Novels

After reading the strip, I thought to myself… does “graphic” in graphic novels refer to the fact it’s violent/sexual? I always thought graphic refer to the fact it contained pictures, a term to distinguish between comic book issues and graphic novels, which were more like books telling a full story.

According to Merriam-Webster, graphic is defined as: marked by clear lifelike or vividly realistic description

I confirmed with Ungsunghero that it does in fact mean graphic violence/sex. He said the term that means what I’m thinking are more along the lines of illustrated novels or picture books.

However, Wikipedia states there’s apparently some ambiguity in regards to this term:

A graphic novel is a type of comic book, usually with a lengthy and complex storyline similar to those of novels, and often aimed at mature audiences. The term also encompasses comic short story anthologies, and in some cases bound collections of previously published comic book series (more commonly referred to as trade paperbacks).

…

The evolving term graphic novel is not strictly defined, and is sometimes used, controversially, to imply subjective distinctions in artistic quality between graphic novels and other kinds of comics. It suggests a story that has a beginning, middle and end, as opposed to an ongoing series with continuing characters; one that is outside the genres commonly associated with comic books, and that deals with more mature themes. It is sometimes applied to works that fit this description even though they are serialized in traditional comic book format. The term is commonly used to disassociate works from the juvenile or humorous connotations of the terms comics and comic book, implying that the work is more serious, mature, or literary than traditional comics. Following this reasoning, the French term Bande Dessinée is occasionally applied, by art historians and others schooled in fine arts, to dissociate comic books in the fine-art tradition from those of popular entertainment, even though in the French language the term has no such connotation and applies equally to all kinds of comic strips and books.

In the publishing trade, the term is sometimes extended to material that would not be considered a novel if produced in another medium. Collections of comic books that do not form a continuous story, anthologies or collections of loosely related pieces, and even non-fiction are stocked by libraries and bookstores as “graphic novels” (similar to the manner in which dramatic stories are included in “comic” books). It is also sometimes used to create a distinction between works created as stand-alone stories, in contrast to collections or compilations of a story arc from a comic book series published in book form.

Just more food for thought.

Speaking of comics, did you see today’s xkcd: Moving

Did I ever tell you that I paid an extra month of rent to stay at my old place, just so that by the time I’ve moved in, my new place was internet ready? I had scheduled an appointment with Comcast and you know that always takes like a week or 2. So after I confirmed internet was working, I requested help from friends to help me move. While helping me move, they also noticed that I had a cable modem on the floor with blinking green lights.

August 13, 2008August 15, 2008

HDHomeRun Faulty Power Adapter

For quite some time, I’ve been hearing about people having faulty power adapters on their HDHomeRun on the Microsoft distribution alias. Turns out when I wanted to show VonLobster, I got the dreaded “Unable to locate tuners” error message.

I looked at my HDHR and notice all the LEDs were off. A closer look revealed the power LED was actually blinking green, but very dim. I looked at the power adapter and it was blinking red.

Later that night, I went to SiliconDust, hoping to contact customer support in regards to this issue. From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty simple to get them to replace it for you free of charge. Turns out if you go to their Submit a trouble ticket page, this issue is so big, that they actually streamlined it:

SiliconDust is offering replacements for the SW20-S050-15 power adapter shown.

A failing power adapter may result in one or more of the following symptoms:

Flashing power light on the HDHomeRun or failure to power on.

Flashing red light on power adapter.

Zero signal-to-noise quality (snq) on all channels.

If your HDHomeRun included this power adapter please see this page for a replacement power adapter.

If you go to their Power Adapter Replacement page, all you need to do is enter your HDHR device id (located on the bottom/back of your HDHR unit). They then verify if your HDHR unit actually came with a faulty power adapter and if it did, it prompts you for your name and address.

After submitting that info, I should be getting my power adapter in 3-5 days. I guess it’s good timing since new seasons for TV shows are just around the corner.

Update: Got my replacement power adapter today and once again, QAM HDTV on Vista Media Center works again 🙂

August 10, 2008October 5, 2008

2008 Olympics

So I wasn’t planning to blog about the 2008 Olympics, mostly because I’m not much of a sports fans, but over the past few days, I’ve accumulated a few things regarding the 2008 Olympics I wanted to share.

First, Artemyst blogged about the 2008 Beijing Olympics song/music video: 北京歡迎你 (Beijing Welcomes You). Update: It appears YouTube has taken down the video. Here’s a mirror.

At first I found the accent a bit off, but after awhile, I realized many of the cast were Hong Kong actors singing in Mandarin. The lyrics were borrowed from Artemyst’s blog, but the English translations were rather bad in the YouTube video description. I’ve gone ahead and did my best at translating it:

北京歡迎你/群星
Beijing Welcomes You/Various Artists

作曲：小柯
Composer: Xiao Ke

填詞：林夕
Lyrics: Leo Ku

主唱：群星
Artist: Celebrities

【陳天佳】迎接另一個晨曦　帶來全新空氣
[Chen Tian Jia] We welcome the next morning, bringing in fresh air

【劉歡】氣息改變情味不變　茶香飄滿情誼
[Liu Huan] Weather may change but friendship will not, the tea’s fragrance is filled with friendship

【那英】我家大門常打開　開放懷抱等你
[Na Ying] Our door is always open, waiting for you with open arms

【孫燕姿】擁抱過就有了默契　你會愛上這裡
[Stefanie Sun] After hugging and developing a bond, you will fall in love with here

【孫悅】不管遠近都是客人　請不用客氣
[Sun Yue] Everyone is a guest no matter how far away, please feel at home

【王力宏】相約好了再一起　我們歡迎你
[Wang Lee Hom] Agreed to get together, we welcome you

【韓紅】我家種著萬年青　開放每段傳奇
[Han Hong] We’ve planted evergreens, displaying every spectacle

【周華健】為傳統的土壤播種　為你留下回憶
[Wakin Chau] Sowing seeds into the soil, leaving you with good memories

【梁詠琪】陌生熟悉都是客人　請不用拘禮
[Gigi Leung] Strangers and friends are all guests, no need to be formal

【羽泉】第幾次來沒關係　有太多話題
[Yu Quan] No matter how many times you come, there are much to talk about

【成龍】北京歡迎你　為你開天辟地
[Jackie Chan] Beijing welcomes you, opening your eyes to a new world

【任賢齊】流動中的魅力充滿著朝氣
[Richie Ren] The flowing charm is full of life

【蔡依林】北京歡迎你　在太陽下分享呼吸
[Jolin Tsai] Beijing welcomes you, sharing the joy of breathing under the sun

【孫楠】在黃土地刷新成績
[Sun Nan] Making new records on our yellow soil

【周筆暢】我家大門常打開　開懷容納天地
[Bibi Zhou] Our door is always open, welcoming the world with open arms

【韋唯】歲月綻放青春笑容　迎接這個日期
[Wei Wei] The old ages is smiling like youth, welcoming this day

【黃曉明】天大地大都是朋友　請不用客氣
[Huang Xiao Ming] Everyone is friends, please feel at home

【韓庚】畫意詩情帶笑意　只為等待你
[Han Geng] The arts bring smiles, only waiting for you

【汪峰】北京歡迎你　像音樂感動你
[Wang Feng] Beijing welcomes you, like how the music moves you

【莫文蔚】讓我們都加油去超越自己
[Karen Mok] Let’s work hard together to go beyond ourselves

【譚晶】北京歡迎你　有夢想誰都了不起
[Tan Jing] Beijing welcomes you, with dreams everyone can be great

【陳奕迅】有勇氣就會有奇跡
[Eason Chan] Having courage will bring miracles

【閻維文】北京歡迎你　為你開天辟地
[Yan Weiwen] Beijing welcomes you, opening your eyes to a new world

【戴玉強】流動中的魅力充滿著朝氣
[Dai Yu Qiang] The flowing charm is full of life

【王霞．李雙松】北京歡迎你　在太陽下分享呼吸
[Wang Xia, Li Shuang Song] Beijing welcomes you, sharing the joy of breathing under the sun

【廖昌永】在黃土地刷新成績
[Liao Chang Yong] Making new records on our yellow soil

【林依輪】北京歡迎你　像音樂感動你
[Lin Yi Lun] Beijing welcomes you, may the music move you

【張娜拉】讓我們都加油去超越自己
[Jang Nara] Let’s work hard together to go beyond ourselves

【林俊傑】北京歡迎你　有夢想誰都了不起
[JJ Lin] Beijing welcomes you, with dreams everyone can be great

【阿杜】有勇氣就會有奇跡
[A-Do] Having courage will bring miracles

【京劇】北京歡迎你呀
[Beijing Opera] Beijing weclomes you

【容祖兒】我家大門常打開　開懷容納天地
[Joey Yung] Our door is always open, welcoming the world with open arms

【李宇春】擁抱過就有了默契　你會愛上這裡
[Chris Li] After hugging and developing a bond, you will fall in love with here

【黃大煒】不管遠近都是客人　請不用客氣
[David Wong] Everyone is a guest no matter how far away, please feel at home

【陳坤】相約好了再一起　我們歡迎你
[Chen Kun] Agreed to get together, we welcome you

【謝霆鋒】北京歡迎你　為你開天辟地
[Nicholas Tse] Beijing welcomes you, opening your eyes to a new world

【韓磊】流動中的魅力充滿著朝氣
[Han Lei] The flowing charm is full of life

【徐若瑄】北京歡迎你　在太陽下分享呼吸
[Vivian Hsu] Beijing welcomes you, sharing the joy of breathing under the sun

【費翔】在黃土地刷新成績
[Kris Phillips] Making new records on our yellow soil

【湯燦】我家大門常打開　開懷容納天地
[Tang Can] Our door is always open, welcoming the world with open arms

【林志玲　張梓琳】歲月綻放青春笑容　迎接這個日期
[Lin Chi-ling, Zhang Zilin] The old ages is smiling like youth, welcoming this day

【張靚穎】天大地大都是朋友　請不用客氣
[Jane Zhang] Everyone is friends, please feel at home

【許茹芸　伍思凱】畫意詩情帶笑意　只為等待你
[Valen Hsu, Sky Wu] The arts bring smiles, only waiting for you

【楊坤．範瑋琪】北京歡迎你　像音樂感動你
[Yang Kun, Christine Fan] Beijing welcomes you, like how the music moves you

【游鴻明．周曉歐】讓我們都加油去超越自己
[Yu Hungming, Zhou Xiao’ou] Let’s work hard together to go beyond ourselves

【沙寶亮．滿文軍】北京歡迎你　有夢想誰都了不起
[Sha Baoliang, Man Wenjun] Beijing welcomes you, with dreams everyone can be great

【金海心．何潤東】有勇氣就會有奇跡
[Jin Haixin, Peter Ho] Having courage will bring miracles

【飛兒．龐龍】北京歡迎你　為你開天辟地
[F.I.R., Pang Long] Beijing welcomes you, opening your eyes to a new world

【吳克群．齊峰】流動中的魅力充滿著朝氣
[Kenji Wu, Qi Feng] The flowing charm is full of life

【5566．胡彥斌】北京歡迎你　在太陽下分享呼吸
[5566, Anson Hu] Beijing welcomes you, sharing the joy of breathing under the sun

【鄭希怡．刀郎】在黃土地刷新成績
[Yumiko Cheng, Dao Lang] Making new records on our yellow soil

【紀敏加．屠洪剛．吳彤】北京歡迎你　像音樂感動你
[Ji Minjia, Tu Honggang, Denis Ng] Beijing welcomes you, like how the music moves you

【郭容．劉耕宏．騰格爾】讓我們都加油去超越自己
[Guo Rong, Will Liu, Tengger] Let’s work hard together to go beyond ourselves

【金莎．蘇醒．韋嘉】北京歡迎你　有夢想誰都了不起
[Kym Jin Sha, Allen Su, Wei Jia] Beijing welcomes you, with dreams everyone can be great

【付麗珊．黃征．房祖】有勇氣就會有奇跡
[Fu Lishan, Shawn Huang, Jaycee Chan] Having courage will bring miracles

【全體】北京歡迎你　有夢想誰都了不起
[All] Beijing welcomes you, with dreams everyone can be great

【全體】有勇氣就會有奇跡
[All] Having courage will bring miracles

【全體】北京歡迎你　有夢想誰都了不起
[All] Beijing welcomes you, with dreams everyone can be great

【全體】有勇氣就會有奇跡
[All] Having courage will bring miracles

If you notice any translation problems above, please do tell. I notice most places label this song as Welcome to Beijing, which I guess is technically correct or Englishfied, but to me there’s a difference between Welcome to Beijing and Beijing welcomes you. May be I’m being nitpicking.

Later I saw these awesome photos: 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony. These images are just magnificent and as someone mentioned in the Digg comments, many of these images reminded me of Magic Eye. Did I mention how beautiful these photos are?

Finally, Windows Media Center, TVTonic, and NBC teamed together to bring you easy access to the Olympics: NBC Olympics On The Go. The whole company got an email late this past week stating about the project. When VonLobster was over here earlier today, he brought that up and we decided to check it out.

The process was much more complicated than I had expected. After clicking “Launch” from the MCE menu, it prompted that it’ll be opening a browser and I’ll have to run the setup after it finishes downloading. I don’t see why it couldn’t have streamlined the process. It even specifically stated I wouldn’t be able to use the remote to continue with the setup.

After installing and launching TVTonic within MCE, I would have to say the navigation was rather poorly designed. It took us quite awhile to figure out what to do. We were just trying to figure out how to watch a video, and that took a good 5-10 minutes.

After we figured out how to subscribe to channels, things went pretty smoothly from there. Videos would automatically start downloading and if we wanted to watch a particular one, priority would be given to that one and it would pretty much start streaming immediately. We checked out a few swimming ones and the opening ceremony.

The Lenovo ads did get a bit annoying after awhile. Between every clip, it would play. I understand it’s sponsored by Lenovo, but maybe if there were just more than 2 Lenovo ads, that’ll be okay, but I’ve seen the laser vaporizing and the fruit basket one at least 8x today. It also didn’t help that the audio volume was much lower in the actual clips than the ad, so immediately after the clip, the Lenovo ad would be SUPER LOUD.

I was hoping to share some of these videos with my parents, but unfortunately they’re drmed and requires a TVTonic license to view. I know it’s free, but I doubt I can teach my parents how to install TVTonic.

It also took me awhile to figure out where they were caching these. On Windows Vista, it’s located in:
C:\Users\All Users\Wavexpress\TVTonic\Cache\Services

Update #2: Ohfuee had asked me for the names of the artists, but unfortunately I only had the list of them in their Chinese names. I then found this video/description which lists all of them: Various Artists – Beijing Welcomes You w / Translation. They even have a download link to the mp3.

August 5, 2008

Weekly Top Posts (7/26/2008 to 8/2/2008)

Here’s this week’s top post:

Previously…

Nothing outstanding this week.

August 3, 2008

The Dark Knight – Review

The Dark Knight So it’s been over a week since I’ve seen this movie and and if you haven’t seen this movie yet, you should! If I know you and you haven’t seen this movie yet, do remind me to smack you a few times the next time we meet.

I’ll try to give you readers heads up before any spoiler, but if you’ve seen any of the trailers, you practically know the whole story already. Why should you watch the movie then? Though the story is important, the experience and execution was just fantastic.

By the way, I’m serious about reminding me to slap you if you haven’t seen the movie yet.

Continue reading the review…

July 31, 2008

Rio, Real, Reel

Xyon and I were talking about mp3 players and I brought up that “Rio” used to make mp3 players and he said he didn’t think “Real” made mp3 players. It later occurred to us that we were talking about different Rios/Reals. When I spelled out Rio (R-I-O), Xyon goes, “Oh, RIO! Nope, never heard of them.”

So I tried enunciating rio and real, but it kept sounding the same to me and Xyon agreed I was repeating the same word over and over again. He tried enunciating the difference to me, but I keep hearing the same word.

Xyon then tries to describe to me the difference. Rio ends in a long o (oh) sound. Real ends with an ul sound, which I couldn’t really hear a difference.

When I got home, I talked it over with RayAlome and still got nowhere. I also realized there was a 3rd word I wouldn’t be able to distinguish without context: reel.

I looked up the pronunciation keys:

rio: ree-oh
real: ree–uhl, reel
reel: reel

Apparently there’s 2 pronunciations for real, one which matches exactly to reel. The only conclusion I could come up with is the rio ends with a higher O sound and real ends in a lower O sound.

July 27, 2008July 27, 2008

Weekly Top Posts (7/20/2008 to 7/26/2008)

Here’s this week’s top post:

Previously…

Nothing outstanding this week.