The future of Radio

So here in PDX we have had a an upheaval in good Radio DJ's. The main Rock station KUFO Friday, Oct 23rd fired all morning and afternoon staff as well as a ton of other DJ's. Honestly in this listeners view it was the largest mistake they could have done. The Rick Emerson Show (mornings) and Cort and Fatboy (Afternoons) were staple listening for the ride to and from work.

I just saw the new site and dj line up and man they look lame. Good job KUFO and Alpha Broadcasting to go an ruin a good think. If it is not broken don't fix it. These guys don't look like they can tie there shoes between the lot of them. Take a gander at the KUFO.com page and you will see what I mean.

If you like good radio do your self a favor and let KUFO programming managers know what you think.

Again a huge hand to KUFO and Alpha for screwing up a perfectly great radio station.

{UPDATE:}
A great article on the situation Here.

Sorry KUFO your new DJ line up after I got a listen this morning seriously suck. Good job at keeping your talent "Local" by hiring ID10T's from out of town.

Vikings/Twins

Ok the last couple days have been awesome for Minnesota Sports. This last monday the Vikings (With #4 at the helm) smoked Green Bay in a Titan battle that will go down in the ages of sports. Farve was in top form and it is so great to see the Vikings doing well for once early on in a season.

That was then overshadowed by the Twins and Americas Pastime game of the year. Game 163 of regular season to see who goes to the playoffs and who goes back to Detroit. Yes the Twins came back to win it to grab the Division Championship out of the Tigers Claws. It was an amazing game and went to 12 innings.

I have not been this happy for Minnesota Sports since '87 and '91. I would love to see the Twins take down the Yankee's as they are a team to truly hate.

Go Twins! We believe in you!

Inglorious Bastards

I saw the new Quentin Tarantino movie last night and my initial thoughts are "Man, Tarantino likes to hear himself talk about movies" It is a lot of referencing 20's, 30's and 40's movies and Tarantino seems to like to hammer it home with this script on how much he knows about movies in general and wants you to know it. It is kinda annoying in some respects as I wish he would tell a story not show off.

The new Tarantino movie is set in a fictitious WWII timeline where the Third Reich is really into propaganda movies and all the high ranking members decide it is a good idea to all go to a single screening in France of the newest Propaganda movie about a Sniper who killed a lot of allied soldiers in Italy. Being that they are all in one place the Inglorious Bastards, a group of OSS agents behind enemy lines causing the Nazi's trouble in France, are tasked with blowing the Cinema the viewing is in up. There are a few more plot twists then that but that is the gist.

The idea is good and over all the acting is good as well. Tarantino brings his very violent scenes if Nazi killing to the screen with gory detail like his other films. I like Brad Pitt but could not for the life of me get over his very badly acted accent of a man from Tennessee. That just brought me out of the movie each time he talked. I cannot believe he thinks that was good acting in any way and my take is that is how Tarantino wanted him to act.

The best part about this movie is the Villain. He is played by Christoph Waltz. He is super Creepy and very well acted. Tarantino also did his chaptered flash back style of movie which honestly was well done for this story but is getting old with his stuff. To me he feels like he has lost his range of innovative ways to tell his story.

A side note of something else that bothered me was the fonts he used though out the movie. The title sequence he had over three different fonts to give the credits. The all seemed to clash with each other even if they were planned that they should do that they should have picked a few better ones to clash.

In conclusion I would give this a 6 out of 10 rating. You could wait to see this on DVD if you wanted and not miss much. It is no Kill Bill and definitely no Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction but worth watching if you like Tarantino films.

Some Game Reviews of games I am currently playing.

So many Computer Games and so little time to play/enjoy them. The following is a few games I am enjoying at the moment and my feelings about them.

First up: Fallout 3 - I have been playing this for actually quite a while. I have beaten the main games missions and have The Pitt and Operation Anchorage addons. I currently am trying out The Pitt but am disappointed that you basically have to start over with weapons and clothes. I may leave that one for later. I have not tried Operation Anchorage yet but plan on trying that next. I also have to explore a ton more in the game as I went directly to finishing the game as fast as I could. I think I may start over with a new character and try to explore as much as I can this time around. Plus with this game there is a ton of downloadable content at the moment so the game is well worth it.

Second Up: [PROTOTYPE]™ - I just started playing this and it seems to have a great story as well as great visuals. Runs really smooth on my machine (which it should as I just upgrade to 8 gig of memory and have a decent video card.) I have been taking this game slowly as I am still trying to master the controls. It is a third person view game that is a mix of GTA4, Tekken fighter, crysis (for tank/helo game play), and Assassins Creed for acrobatics. I have been only playing one mission and a couple EP Point games each time I play it to enjoy it and get used to it.

Third Up: FarCry 2 - I have been playing this game for what seems like forever. I am not as impressed as when I first started it. It takes a while to get anywhere and the fights are fairly predictable. If you like hunting for diamonds you will like this game as it takes forever to upgrade anything. Leave it for the cheap bin when you have finished all the other good games.

Fourth Up: Crysis and Crysis Warhead - I recently finished both of the single player of these and may try out Crysis War Multiplayer here when I get a chance. Quite good games but you have to have a beast of a system to run them on full Graphics. Single player is quite fun and challenging. Great story and Crysis 2 looks really promising.

Fifth Up: BioShock - I have been in the middle of this game for a while as well. The reason for this is my disk got scratched and I have not been able to play much since then. I may have to find a no-cd crack to finish this game but for the moment gave up. Loved the game but got lost a few times so that made it not as fun. Overall a great game and worth the now 30 dollar purchase.

Sixth Up: Assassins Creed - I am really stuck in this game at the moment so have given it up till I get interested again. Great game but a few missions are very tough so beware for some frustration. I may have to get some ideas from Tutorials (which I hate to do) to get ideas for how to complete the one I am on. Great game and again should be about 30 bucks now.

Seventh Up: Halo and Halo 2 (Both PC) - Yes I have this game and never completed the single player. I got so far and then gave up. Since I have been watching Red Vs Blue again I have been wanting to replay this badly and may re-install it again. UPDATE: Just bought Halo 2 for the PC since it was 15 bucks at Fred Meyer. So far very fun but seems to be quite redundant of Halo. I doubt Halo 3 will ever go to PC so I may never get to finish the story and will never own an XBOX 360 or console platform other then Nintendo Platforms. (Getting a Wii this fall)

Well there you go. A run down of a few games I am in the middle of and never have time to finish. I did not even talk about the games like FT2, L4D, or COD 4 that I play online so when all is said and done there are plenty of things to occupy all that free time I have. (LOL) Enjoy your gaming and look me up if you want to play something online. Steam ID: EDOX, MSN Gamer Tag EDOX33

Quinn Driscoll

I did not know Quinn Driscoll but after yesterday I feel that I do. Quinn was the son of an old co-worker of mine, Scott Driscoll, a guy I looked up to and respected very much. Quinn was the unfortunate victim of a disease that hardens part of your heart causing a massive heart attack. Idiopathic Cardiomyopathy. Quinn was 13 years old.

Quinn died suddenly while in PE class on June 10th 2009. I went to the memorial service held yesterday afternoon to support Scott and his family. In the time I spent listening to Quinn's friends and family remember him I realized that he was very loved and respected on the sports field and off. He was a very active young man and respected by all he came in contact with. Even after death he is giving. His heart is going to the Meyo Clinic for study and his tissues are going to help others live.

What I learned yesterday from the Driscoll family is this... Hug your kids often and remember no matter what happens in your family make it "all good" at the end of each day. Don't let petty things get in the way of having a good relationship with your kids.

I have two young girls. Yesterday I went home, hugged them and took them to the zoo for some family time.

Quinn I did not know you but you have influenced my life already. Thanks for your time with your family and may you rest in peace.

Burgerville FTW

Well it has been way to long since my last visit to the Pacific Northwest's own Burgerville. Got myself a classic Pepper Bacn (yes I spelled it that way on purpose) Cheese Burger and Fries. Oh so hit the spot.

When I moved to Oregon in '98 I could not understand the loyalty that Washington and Oregonians had for BV. I also remember saying to my wife, "Man, burgers there are so expensive." (In comparison to other fast food burger places)

After living here I have realized their is no real comparison at all. BV knows how to make a really good fresh burger. You pay more sure but you get the best. So good job BV on making it just that much better to be an Oregonian.

Google Wave

Have been watching the I/O 2009 Google Wave Dev demo at http://wave.google.com. Looks really cool but so far I am not sure how stable it will be with tons of users. With real time updating character by character.

Personally I would love to see this working with 10K users like some old school forums I used to visit and post on. I would see this slowing way down or being so crazy it would be come unusable.

Still it is exciting to see tech like this for HTML 5 and I hope stuff like this get the IE team realizing that it needs to conform to Web Standards to make the web a happy place for all. Check out the demo if you have time and let me know what you think via twitter or plain old email.

What do you get when?... + Star Trek impressions.

Twitter is down for maintenance and you have an addiction? You get a blog post. Horrible I know. I have been meaning to write another post but honestly have not had much to talk about that would not bore you to tears. (all 0 of my readers that is)

Saw Star Trek last night and was really impressed. JJ did a bang up job and had a really good story. Good surprises for Trek fans and insertions of Slusho/Cloverfield reference as well. (I did miss it but will watch for it on the next viewing) I thought the acting was well done and honor was given to the characters created by the actors no longer with us (Scotty, Bones) Even if you are not a Trek fan go see it. You will enjoy the ride (both action and emotional)

Ok now if twitter will get back up I can fulfill my addition some more...

Allergy season is here again...

Well I have been hit again. Headaches mostly but I can tell allergy season is started in the PacNW for me. Never fun and growing up in the Midwest never had much issues with it. I guess this is what I get for all the beauty here. If that is the price I have to pay I will do so willingly.

Gonna recommend to anyone else Airborne and Zicam if you do not use it already. Both help greatly when you feel cold or allergy symptoms coming on. Lots of water helps too.

Good News

Well this week has gone by really fast. I am really glad it is Friday and am looking forward to the weekend. I got some good news this week. A company I interviewed with on Wed is calling me back on monday for additional interviews. (2x30 minute) I am really excited because they deal with PR and marketing and that is exactly where I want to be doing Web Dev/Design stuff. In an additional note another company is interviewing me tuesday for a web dev position. So for those of you out there still looking do not be discouraged there are places hiring and you will get a job. Stay strong. I am taking today off a little to take the kiddies to OMSI and get some family time in.

Did you know?

http://tinyurl.com/5qljmg is a link to a really good video my wife found about tech and education. Gives you some perspective on how technology is changing so fast each year and the ultimate question of what does it all mean. It also makes you feel very small in the world. Enjoy!

Job Hunting update

Well... the hunting is going slow but at least it is going. I have had a couple interviews and some interest. I am also seeing more calls from contracting companies which spells to me that companies still have work/projects but have lost some good talent to get that done. I think this year we will see an increase in contract jobs out there as companies have laid off workers but still have obligations to fill. I am keeping optimistic and hoping for the best.

a bummer...

Well I had my perfect job for 2 months. I was laid off last week from Xerox after 2 months. A real bummer and goes to show you how the bad economy is effecting everyone. I heard after I was hired in November of 08 that they announced a VRIF and IRIF (Involuntary and Voluntary Reduction in Force). I personally think when companies do this it is somewhat a panic effect. I know for a fact the work does not go away. There has to be a better way to save money in hard economic times then layoffs. Anyway my rant is done and I am back to job hunting. Know of a job in the PacNW? Email: me at edox @ fourcookies.com!

Finally...

Well I finally got Windows 7 beta installed last night. Very easy install (So was vista and this appeared to have the same process) Microsoft finally made it easy to manage your partitions and where you want to install your OS. You can format, partition and delete partitions from the installer very easily.

I have to say Windows 7 starts way faster then Vista. I have not had a chance to run a game and benchmark it yet. (I will do GTA4 tonight since that one has a heavy system requirements.)

Overall if you have vista stick with it. W7 will give you more resources to use but visually it looks only slightly different. I plan to upgrade as I want to use as much of my system resources as possible. (Plus I have the MSFT Alumni/employee discount as well)

We will see if this helps Microsoft or not.

Windows 7 installFail

Ok Windows did not fail I failed to install it this weekend. I had good intentions but honestly did not have time. I will be trying it out very soon as from what I have seen so far in articles on it, it seems to be a very stripped down version of Vista. Honestly Microsoft is trying everything to get users to forget Vista ever existed. I use Vista 64 for my primary OS and so far it has been very stable and just fine. This will be an interesting year for technology. With the economy downswing in full effect I see hardware dropping in price and this being a software year. (this is good for the small companies and persons who what to get cheap hardware to do some really cool stuff)

Windows 7 Public Beta

Well I am planning on installing and trying out Windows 7 Beta this weekend. Should be an interesting install. I am excited to see if Microsoft can come up with an OS that gets rid of Vistas bloat but takes user experience up a notch if possible. I will post my findings once I have had a good look at the beta. If anyone is interested a link to the beta is: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx

My New Toy...

I got a new phone recently. Audrey had such a great phone in her old LG VX8300 that we both descided to go that route this time. I have wanted an iPhone for a while but do not want to in anyway shape or form switch to ATT as my moble provider. I found the LG Dare and love it. Touch screen. No Smart Phone OS but with the addition of a program called BitPim I really do not need it. Smark looking and has a great camera. (3.2 megapixel) I honestly like the interface and sound qualitly is great. Audrey got an EnV2 with a flipup full keyboard. Both were reasonably priced with each having a 50 rebate as well.

Gotta start somewhere

I have descided to restart a blog. I had one a while back but was running it on my own server (at home) and it finally gave up the ghost. I have since moved all my email, web and such to google apps and wish I had sooner. I do not know why but I love the stuff google builds and does. So simple and easy to use. 

I hope you all had a great holidays and a happy new year. (Hope you all used the leap second from 2008 in an industrious manor)

Well we will see how long it takes me to fall off the bandwagon of blogging. (This is not a resolution just something I plan on trying for a while. Will see how long it lasts.)