TheBamboozle2010.com Home Page

The Bamboozle 2010′s homepage is quite possibly one of the most unattractive, hideous and disgusting thing I have ever seen. It has the dates and places up on a chalkboard. However, the most appalling thing of it all is the “just announced” performers. For Bamboozle West we have Circa Survive and Story Of The Year and for Bamboozle East we have Drake and Ke$ha. If I were a fan having not seen the rest of the announced before this, I would be very keen to AVOID this show ata all costs. It is just bad advertising and promotion, and you can’t have that for an event of this scale for the price it takes to have it. If I were them, I would fix this situation immediately. But hey, if they don’t at least you have something to laugh at.

James-

WordPress For Blackberry

I downloaded the WordPress app for my Blackberry Storm so that I could make posts on the go, being that my lifestyle always has me out and about. If you remember one thing about this app, let it be this; it sucks.

The WordPress App is built for older versions of the Blackberry, such as the Pearl and the Curve. When I first booted it up, it asked me for my username and password, along with the URL of the blog I plan on using. Once all that information was in, I clicked submit (which was difficult to scroll through, as I don’t have a trackball) and…nothing. After a few tries, it finally went through, and what I found was a simple to use interface that was fairly unresponsive at times. It also was not compatible with any of the optional Storm keypads except for the T-9 version. Sorry WordPress, I’m not typing out an article in T-9. The only way for me to be able to use this app is to type up my post in notepad, and then cut and paste it into the app. While that doesn’t sound like much, it’s a big hassle when all I want to do is type something in and hit send.

There is an option to attach photos or videos to your post as well, but when I tried using it the image came out big and distorted or just plain didn’t show up at all. A word of advice, steer clear of this app until the bugs and glitches are fixed and it looks halfway decent. I think that WordPress needs to take a page out of Ubertwitter‘s book in how a client should look and function.

James-

Ubertwitter

Ubertwitter is a very simple to use Twitter Client for RIM’s Blackberry phones. It’s very light on memory, and its user interface is very easy to use. It displays a list of all of the people you are following and updates them all in real time. Tweeting is made very simple; with a click of a button you are tweeting instantly. It’s extremely simple to attach pictures and videos, all you have to do is go to the item, select it and click share on Ubertwitter. My favorite feature is this newly added ability; when you “@” someone, it comes up with a list of everyone you’re following, making it no longer necessary to memorize twitter usernames. I highly recommend this app to anyone with twitter and a blackberry. You will never want to use another twitter app again.

-James

American Idol is caught with their ‘Pants on the Ground’

General Larry Platt, ladies and gentleman. A soon to be internet superstar, for his smash hit on a recent American Idol episode, ‘Pants on the Ground’. While wacky and flavorable, this song lacks some serious lyrical merit along with personal dignity. Larry Platt, who calls himself, “General”, Larry Platt, is a 62 year old man from Atlanta, Georgia; battling for a spot on Americas dwindling hit show. Dwindling? The majority of American Idol ratings are received during the first week of auditions and is often spoken as , “The only part I bother to watch…”. Why has American Idol gone down hill?

Self-respect. No self respecting organization bent on the progression of modern pop stars and pop icons can possibly claim a torch of high regard when General Larry is prancing around with his pants on the ground. His boxers are showing, and they have Simon Cowells face all over them. With falling ratings, it seems to me, the viewer, that they are reaching into the wrong cookie jar to give me a treat. Show me Susan Boyle, show me underdogs and beauty queens with tits and a voice. That’s what america wants isn’t it? Apparently not.

Between William Hung and Larry Platt and a slew of otehr miserable hopefuls, American Idol is cashing in the checks of the ignornat and deranged just to deny them on technicalities in an attempt to save them the embarassment. Larry Platt was turned away on an ‘age issue’. He’s not OLD Simon, he can’t sing, nor can he write lyrics. (which according to Yahoo! News, could have been Plagiarized) If you’re going to sell dysfunctional at least own up to it, tell them they’re ridiculous so they can stop trying to become something they are not nor will ever be. The question remains, with “Millions” of digital, call logged, voters, can American Idol stand the test of time? More importantly, can American Idol keep from drowning themselves in their own bounced checks? We will see Cowell, we will see…

What the Fugg is up with Uggs?

Uggs…Uggs. A brand of boot originally created for pilots in WWI. Ha, yeah, the boots my grandfather wore while mowing down human beings was the same boot that “Oh EM Geee” is wearing. Don’t assume I am bashing all wearers of Uggs as high-pitched high school girls, but it seems so many people are ignorant of the Uggs’ original intent.

The Ugg found its way into america via New Zealand and Australian surfers, not North Face, nor were they even meant for winter use. I see on a daily basis some blonde haired girl; (possibly brunette, usually dyed), running around with black tights (no pants), a black North Face jacket and Uggs. They don’t surf, they aren’t pilots, but that’s fine–As long as you can have some respect for Uggs’ original purpose. Rather, everyone wears them for the same unanimous reason, “They’re Comfortable!” Reader beware, they are the opposite. Despite the seemingly cozy innards, and high rising boot that massages your ankles as it rises, the Ugg will make you feel socially uncomfortable, and just plain weird. High top sneakers went out a long time ago, why haven’t simple minded girls realized that Uggs have long been out of style. Conceptually, Uggs will keep your feet warm in less then perfect environments. What if you’re caught in a snow storm? Your Uggs will get soaked, salted and white, and your north face jacket won’t keep your extremities from freezing off. Please, get a clue. I find slippers to be comfortable, also warm, but I don’t go outside looking like peter pan in bunny slippers to satisfy a trend.

How are they made? Oh, if the girl smacking her gum next to me in AP history knew the answer to this question…They’re made out of animal skin! Not the wool, or the hair, or this or that, skin, the material that keeps the muscles of Bo Peeps’ sheep from spilling on out. Sheep are skinned specifically to create this monstrosity, when many wearers themselves don’t agree with the process! “Pamela Anderson renounced ugg boots in 2007 upon realizing that they were made from animal skin” -Sarah Grant- Come on, a product that is so popular and revered, why doesn’t anyone do some research on it before falling victim to a pyramid scheme of trend and death. Too dramatic?

Know what is too dramatic? “I thought they were shaved kindly? People like to tell me all the time that I started that trend — yikes! Well let’s start a new one — do NOT buy Uggs! Buy Stella McCartney or juicy boots” – Pamela Anderson

‘Nough Said

Steve-

J.D Salinger

So despite a few planned reviews, If you’re in any kind of know, you can assume what this article is about.

Salinger has influenced Authors, writers, teenagers, teeny-boppers and everyone in between. He is Respected, Applauded and Revered by all who know his name.

He is off to a better place, for sure. Where that place may be, or if it even exists, no one knows, but i don’t think he cares.

Here at ASR, we’d like to thank you, Mr. Salinger, for the copious amount of influential literature you have bestowed on readers, young and old. We’d like to thank you for the inspiration we all have knowingly received from your published work, and work still to come.

Let us not forget Holden Caufield, and the ‘Catcher in the Rye’. Let us never forget the mind behind such prolific work.

J.D Salinger, you will be missed.

The Blackberry Storm

Being a fan RIM (Research In Motion) and their series of Blackberry phones, when I learned of the Blackberry Storm, their first touch screen phone, I was naturally ecstatic. This faded, however, once I had purchased the phone. While I don’t want to completely hate it, as I do have to deal with the fact that I have a 2-year plan with it, it does have an assortment of problems that some people might not have the patience to deal with.

To start off its list of problems, it has a tendency to freeze. ALOT. And when I say a lot, I mean it. However, the upside to it is that it doesn’t freeze everyday. I’ve gone a week without it freezing once. However, there are also times where it freezes up more than 3 times a day. And how do you fix this freezing? You pull the battery, which then takes about a minute to power back on. This can be very frustrating, especially when your listening to music or texting with someone. I do believe that the freezing has to do with its lack of memory, as it doesn’t seem to have a lot of it, and if you want to use a lot of apps (like I do), then your going to have problems.

Another one of my bigger complaints is the virtual keyboard. My thumbs tend to hit other characters when typing, so I often have to go back and retype certain words. There is an auto-correct feature, but it doesn’t work very well when your trying to type out abbreviations for words that it doesn’t know. The learning curve is definitely huge on the keyboard, but once you get used to it you can type quickly and easily, except for of course said corrections in texts. A plus that is worth mentioning, however, is the fact that the keyboard clicks when you use it, so you know whether or not you hit a letter or an icon.

Now onto the good things about the phone. I definitely enjoy all of the apps that are available for it, and the Blackberry World is definitely an awesome thing to have. While it doesn’t compare to the iTunes store, it does have a lot of very useful apps. It’s also worth mentioning that you can have as many apps as you want running at the same time, save that you have enough memory to do that, which is something that the iPhone cannot do. The latest software update gave it an iPhone-like texting interface, making your texts into conversations instead of single texts sitting in your inbox, which I definitely welcomed with open arms. Another plus to it is its ability to play music, and with the included 8GB memory card, it definitely beats carrying around an iPod and your phone. The call clarity is superb as well, and I rarely ever have dropped calls, something that cannot be said about the iPhone. The built-in GPS works well and the bluetooth capabilities make it much easier for me to transfer songs from my computer to listen to. You can also make your own ringtones, as opposed to paying for them.

While the Blackberry Storm isn’t the iPhone killer that RIM and Verizon wanted it to be, it is a very well designed and usable phone. Even through the constant freezing I still find time to enjoy using it, and the large batter life works very well with my lifestyle of being out and about all the time. Add to it that you can use the internet almost anywhere with very fast loading speeds and you have a very nice phone. If I were to recommend it to someone, however, I would definitely tell them to buy the Storm 2, which was released recently and gave it a little more sleeker design along with an added Wi-Fi choice for the internet, 2GB of flash memory instead of 1GB and an included 16GB memory card.

-James

Obamas Goals

Early yesterday morning the Associated Press released an article updating the current goal of president Obama. His goal? “Get the economy, the confidence of voters and his own presidency on surer footing.” –AP In light of the most controversial of political agendas it seems Obama’s new goals are self-centered and comprised solely to secure a seat in office for the subsequent four year term. Can he be blamed?

Of course not. The national media and public opinion are the only underlying factors that can be blamed for an unfocused set of goals. Gay marriage? ‘don’t ask don’t tell’? Cut and run? National Security? Healthcare? With issues such as these topping the list of Obama’s agenda, why should we, the public, we, the media, scrutinize the success at which he is taking care of the nations top issues. The only effects of taking such a hard scolding, is President Obama’s fascination with public opinion, when in actuality, our opinion only goes so far. We can shout and blog, silently attacking the inner moral of the poster child for our nations turn around, but, what does that help? What solutions does one blogger, one Journalist, one outspoken activist, gain when throwing Political and social hardballs?

The truth is we gain apologies, sympathy, a false sense of understanding. We gain a powerful man bending to the knees of a populous bent on scrutiny and attack, rather than patience and solace. For every word Obama speaks concerning the public opinion, or responding to dwindling supporters, he could be adding and completing new goals, passing legislation, doing his job. He is only one man, doing so much in an attempt to correct the wrongs of a president we once slung arrows of hate and disdain upon. The nation as a whole needs to be more optimistic, less pessimistic, and stop being the monkey on his back, because patient people like myself, are tired of wasting our time reading about Obama’s new goals to qualm your antagonistic behavior.

Steve-

Meow.com

Meow.com, while sounding like a normal website, is a horrible site made from within the bowels of hell. It’s text, often misspelt or nonsensical, barely passes for 5th grade vocabulary and when it is used correctly, it’s often stated in a pun of a cat. The services it offers, being the selling of clothes, are ridiculous, as their designs are laughable and make the wearer seem insane. My honest opinion of the site? Do not ever use it. Do not go anywhere near it. Do not even think of linking to it. It is nothing but trouble for all.

-James

Carcassonne

Carcassonne, while not very obvious from it’s title, is a strategy game on the XBox360 arcade. Being adapted from a board game, you wouldn’t expect it to be any good. I mean, why would you play a videogame when you can play the board game instead? Well, the videogame blows the board game out of the water. The controls are extremely simple, and anyone can pick up the controller and be able to play it in minutes. The basis of the game is to put down tiles on a board. The tiles have different shapes and pictures on them, be it a road, 4-way intersection, tree or a building. The point of the game is to get the most points. You get 2 points per tile for a city (made from a bunch of buildings together) and 2 extra points per tile if there is a pennant on it. You get 1 point per tile for a road (To complete a road, you must have an ending of some sort at each side of it, much like a real road). You have followers as well. You start with 7 of them, and you can put them down on tiles, which make it known that they are yours, and therefore, your opponent isn’t able to take a territory out from under you midgame. However, when your in a 2-player game you tend to run out of them quickly, so you must be conservative in those games. You also gain points for the amount of cities and roads you have at the end of the game, and that is where the scores get close and that lead you had during the game might get taken from you.

Now the highlight of the Xbox version as opposed to the actual board game is that you are able to play online. The online gameplay is probably the most crucial point of the game, as it allows you to play with anyone. There is a cult following of the game, and while it might be a tad difficult to find a game, eventually you will and the game shows where it shines. The Xbox vision is also compatible with this game, which makes the game more board-like, as your face to face playing it, something that I welcome with open arms.

While the multiplayer is a huge part of the game, you are able to play single player with/against an AI. Yes, there are team games, and they can get very intense. The AI is actually good at the game as well, so don’t think your going to win all the time, because it’s going to win. A lot.

The music, being generic and repeated, isn’t obnoxious or annoying at all, which is something that you don’t see very often in arcade games. While the graphics aren’t spectacular, they work for the game. It wouldn’t have been necessary to have graphics on par with Modern Warfare 2 for a board game, and it is good that they realized that when making the game.

All in all, Carcassonne is an awesome game, and one that you will find yourself playing for a long time. With its easy-to-learn and simple-yet-fun gameplay, you’ll find yourself addicted to it in no time. Find it on the marketplace for 800 points.

Ratings

Gameplay: 10

Music: 8

Visual: 10

Lasting Appeal: 10

Presentation: 10

OVERALL: 10

-James