Continue reading to learn more about our support for TWLOHA in the month of March.
Continue reading To Write Love on Her Arms
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Social networking websites are what make the Internet go ’round, or so it seems nowadays. There are hundreds of ways for people to keep in contact with their friends, share information with them on their life, share events and other important information, keep up with companies that you like, or if you are that company, keep in contact with the people who are your fans or clients. The hard part of all of it is choosing which ones you want to use, or that might be useful to you; or if you should just use all of them. Everyone has their own opinions on which sites are “better” than others, so let us jump into the foray ourselves. One of the most popular, yet most highly ridiculed social networking websites, is Twitter. Twitter uses a unique system in order to convey information from person to person. First of all, there are no fancy profiles; it’s just your name, your picture, and a small biography on yourself. Secondly, and most importantly, all update that are made can only be 140 characters. Many people ask why that is, and the answer is simple; when Twitter was made, they wanted a quick and easy way of getting information from one person to the other directly via their cell phones. Text messages can have a total of 160 characters, so this allowed for a username and the Tweet, as each update is called, to be sent to them in a single text message.  A sample Tweet. (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Twitter) The team behind Twitter realized, however, that it was being used for much more than just personal updates on what a person is doing. Twitter is also widely used to convey information, such as news stories, company updates, and much more. Due to this, Twitter changed the question that they ask when you update from “What are you doing?” to “What’s happening?”. Doing this shows that Twitter isn’t out to just have you update exactly what you are doing at all times, as it was previously misconstrued to be in the past, but rather as a form of communication to share what may be on your mind, or what is going on at the time that you have something you want to say about. Of course, this brings on a lot of questions from a lot of people. Many people complain about the fact that 140 characters isn’t enough to properly update people on what’s going on, but let’s think about it. By limiting the amount of characters in your update, it forces you to really think about what you want to say, instead of just posting a long update that will lose peoples’ interest. It makes you keep your update concise and to the point, making it easier for those reading to know exactly what you are trying to say. Not only that, but it makes keeping up with a large group of people easier, as you are getting the meat of the story right away, without having to sift through the extraneous information that just clutters up the web.  The simple update box. (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Twitter) The support for Twitter has grown exponentially as time has gone on. While anyone can access a mobile Twitter site provided by Twitter themselves, there are also hundreds of Twitter Applications, both for your computer and on specific phone devices, which allow you to have a more customized experience when using Twitter. One such application is called blu, and was made using the Microsoft .NET 3.0 platform. Using this application, Windows users are able to use a more visual atmosphere to keep in touch with the people who they follow, follow conversations between peoples’ replies to other tweets, and use most of the features that the website itself provides. Since Twitter limits you to 140 characters, URL shorteners have become much more popular on the Internet. Blu integrates TinyURL’s services into it, making it so that any link that you post will automatically be shortened, giving you more room to explain what the link is about. In addition to applications, which you can even find for your phone, there are many websites dedicated to Twitter sharing that have popped up. Some examples are Twitpic, which allows you to share pictures from your computer, phone or e-mail; TwitVid, which does the same thing as TwitPic except with video; and TwitDoc, which allows you to post full documents which can be shared with your follows through a web-based client. Using these, people and companies can share information with each other, or even share important current events which they happen to be capturing and witnessing at the time.  An uploaded picture on Twitpic. (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Twitpic) That being said, Twitter has also become the biggest source of news on the Internet, for the sole reason that it is the quickest way of getting information to potentially millions of people in the matter of moments. Many major news stories, including the plane which went down in the Hudson River in New York, were first known about by a Tweet sent from a passenger’s phone, which was soon followed by the first picture, taken from a man on the rescue ferry (source Tweet from Twitter). Many television news sites, including CNN, used this Tweet and this photo as their first response to this story, and from there, began coverage. Obviously, news sites are able to pick up on these important stories quickly, but with the help of Twitter, they can get an immediate grasp of the situation from the source directly. Throughout all of this, there are still people who find no use for Twitter, which is completely understandable. Twitter is fully about the spread of communication and information. It’s main draw is it’s simplistic nature. If you are looking for something which has ways to waste your time, then Twitter probably is not the source for you. But when looking at the idea of “social networking”, Twitter fits the bill perfectly. If you ever do sign up for Twitter, start by looking for companies that you deal with day to day. Many companies now have Twitter accounts in order to share information with their customers and fans, which can sometimes contain discounts, or first information on new products. Then, look for people who Tweet about things that interest you. Twitter has hundreds of functions, it’s all up to what you are look for in it.
The Gaming Report Episode 32 is live and ready for listening on the Gaming Report page! Head on over to be able to listen or download the episode, which releases weekly every Thursday, brought to you by the Weasel Report! Weasel, Brad and Chaz look back at the crazy week the gaming industry has had, as they discuss the Infinity Ward shakeups and new decisions by Activision at length, while also mentioning the ApocalyPS3, the success of Lego games, and what’s going on with Portal! Got a question? Have a comment? Need to say something? E-mail the hosts of the Gaming Report at podcast [at] weaselreport.com ! We’ll read your e-mail on the next episode, and answer whatever you’ve got for us! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next week!
Heavy Rain There have been a lot of unique ideas that have been thought up of for video games. In most cases, it’s another new shooter, or some sort of role playing game with a new game mechanic. However, every once in a while, one game will come out that is so different, it will nearly define it’s own genre. Heavy Rain has been called an adventure game by some, and a psychological thriller by others, but Quantic Dream, developers of Heavy Rain, have called their game an “interactive drama”.  Holding a trigger button allows you to see what your character is thinking. Heavy Rain lives up to being it’s own genre, as it uses gameplay mechanics that, while similar to some action adventure games in some ways, utilizes them in a way that none of them do. Everything that you are able to do to interact in the game is shown by circles and squares that appear in the world that contain a symbol or arrow within it, which signifies what you have to press or do in order for that action to be taken place. There is no user interface, and no complicated controls, just symbols which trigger an action. For example, in order to open a car door, you are shown a box with an arrow which points to the left, which tells you that you have to push the right analog stick to the left in order to open the door. Depending on how fast you move the analog stick is reflected in-game, as the animation only happens as far as you move. Of course, during fight scenes, symbols appear with a time limit, as the events are all happening in real time. If you correctly press the button shown, you will immediately see the positive results of your actions, and vice-versa if you fail to hit the correct button. However, one of the more broken controls is the movement control. To have your character walk when you have control of him or her, you must hold down the shoulder trigger and move your character’s head with the analog stick, facing the character the direction you want them to move. While this style works for the most part, trying to angle yourself perfectly so that you are looking at the item you want to interact with can be difficult at times, and since the camera stays at a single point most of the time, with the ability to change views with the press of another trigger button, it can become a frustrating task. Throughout the game, you play as four different characters, each which you cycle through playing as. The transitions from one character to the next are smooth, and loose ends are tied up in the previous scene before it moves on to the next one. One of the unique features of Heavy Rain is the fact that if one of the characters who you play as dies in one way or another, the game continues to progress, just without that character in any of the story anymore. Due to this, the game’s story is very fluid, and will change depending on what choices you make in a previous scene, or depending on what happens to your character. Aesthetically, the appearance of your characters can also change over the course of the game based on previous decisions. This all being said, there are many different endings which are possible to achieve depending on what happens during each of the decisions you have to make throughout the game.  One of the many interesting situations you'll encounter in Heavy Rain. The main draw of Heavy Rain is, without a doubt, it’s engaging storyline and immersive dialogue that connects the characters to each other, and more importantly the player to the characters. There are many times during the game which will test you on how you want to react; are you going to react as you think the character in the game would, or are you going to react how you yourself would in such a situation. There are also a few times where you really have to consider what feels “right” to you, and what does not. These decisions make the game very dramatic, and keep you on the edge of your seat, as you await what reaction you will get from each of your decisions. Probably the first thing you’ll notice, though, is the immense visual style of Heavy Rain. Heavy Rain is one of the most beautiful games out there at the moment. It has an ultra-realistic style to it, on everything from the characters themselves, to the rain which constantly falls, creating an atmosphere which has yet to be rivaled. There are, of course, some imperfections with the interactions between the characters and some of the items that they carry and use, but overall, these minor issues are some that can easily be overlooked.  The graphics are unparalleled to others games right now. To add to the atmosphere of the game, a beautiful soundtrack has been developed for Heavy Rain, making each situation that you are involved in a unique experience. The choice of music during each scene is well chosen, and was created by a special orchestra brought in to create the music specifically for Heavy Rain. The combination of the deep storyline, the engaging characters and the beautiful orchestral music make Heavy Rain a very unique game which is very worth a purchase. The question of replay value, however, is a questionable one. If you are interested in seeing a different ending, depending on how else you could make the decisions posed to you in the game, this game will last you more than the eight to ten hours that one play through takes. The one downfall is that, after you already know the full storyline, connecting with it in a deeper fashion after one play through is difficult. In any consolation, Heavy Rain contains an amazing 57 trophies, with two of them being “See all endings” and “Complete the story with four characters alive”, which are two tasks which will take more than one play to achieve. Overall, if you are looking for a unique, engaging game which will show you something new, Heavy Rain is definitely the game to pick up this year.
Welcome to YouTube Tuesday, a weekly spotlight of a few interesting YouTube videos to watch!
As a writer and journalist, one of the most important skills to have is the ability to write objectively, and with the full extent of the facts. Many of the articles that I write are opinion articles, and share my side of how I feel on a subject, or try and convince you, the reader, towards my side of the story. However, none of these articles are written without first doing extensive research into the facts of the subject. We may try and show you our side of the story, but we don’t do it without first knowing both sides. Sometimes though, it’s easy to mistake what you feel strongly about as facts, as you put up blinders to the honest truth around you. At the same time, it’s difficult to judge the full story by just a small, random sample, thus making it more difficult to try and send a message for or against it. The reason that I bring this all up is because I have had a lot on my mind in the past week. This month in general has been a very rough one for me, as can be seen by the great lack of articles being published to the website. But in this past week, something occurred to me which was a first for me, and while, as I said earlier, it can’t be proven that the entire system is like this, it’s forced my hand on one of my article ideas. Early this month, I had an idea for an article to try and convince people against a common stereotype that has been plaguing a group of people for a very long time. After hearing what one group was trying to do to show that said stereotype was false, I was intrigued, and felt that I wanted to support them. It’s hard to say all of this without saying exactly what it is that I’m talking about, but in the interest of not calling out a certain group of people, I will not be revealing the subject of this topic. In saying this, I need to clear the air here. These people, as people, and at least with the ones that I saw, are excellent people. They are functioning members of society, and I hold nothing against them. Unfortunately, I came to find that, while they may promote one thing for what they do, in their daily lives, they, sadly, fit the stereotype that people give them all too well. As I said, as people, they are not bad people, in fact, many of them are good friends. However, I was somewhat disappointed when I came to learn the extent of what was going on. With this, I find that I am glad that I had not written the article earlier, as I would have felt somewhat guilty of spreading a false fact. I completely understand that there are people in this group who would fit the positive light that I would try and show in the article I would write, but with the ever increasing facts against my opinion, it has presented me with a dilemma that I cannot face to write about. I fully understand that this article is mind boggling, and explains less than nothing, but, this has been weighing on my mind for the past week, and this is the best place that I have to speak my mind. That being said, have you ever had a time where you wanted to think something good about something or someone, and had almost convinced yourself of it to be true, but after a period of time, came to realize that, while you can see the good in them, you can also see why others have their negative opinion on it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments on any part of this article. I apologize for the lack of updates as of late, and hope to see you well in March as we enter a brand new month, with many new challenges ahead.
The Gaming Report Episode 31 is live and ready for listening on the Gaming Report page! Head on over to be able to listen or download the episode, which releases weekly every Thursday, brought to you by the Weasel Report! Weasel, Brad and Kyle sit down to share their infinite wisdom on Bioshock 2, the Heavy Rain demo, MAG, and all of the games shown off at Microsoft’s X10 event! It’s a jam packed episode, so make sure to put some time aside for this one! Got a question? Have a comment? Need to say something? E-mail the hosts of the Gaming Report at podcast [at] weaselreport.com ! We’ll read your e-mail on the next episode, and answer whatever you’ve got for us! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next week!
The Gaming Report Episode 30 is live and ready for listening on the Gaming Report page! Head on over to be able to listen or download the episode, which releases weekly every Thursday, brought to you by the Weasel Report! Brad and Weasel are back to talk about EA’s lineup for the 2011 fiscal year, games that have multiplayer that we wonder if they should, sequels sequels sequels, and a bunch about our travels in the world of MAG! Got a question? Have a comment? Need to say something? E-mail the hosts of the Gaming Report at podcast [at] weaselreport.com ! We’ll read your e-mail on the next episode, and answer whatever you’ve got for us! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next week!
Oh the wonders of technology. Folks, the bad news just keeps on rolling. After grabbing an all-star cast of Brad, Bryan, Chaz and myself for the awesome Episode 30, we sat down and recorded a great hour plus long show for you all. Unfortunately, just as I had started to listen to it to begin editing, my software froze, and we lost the entire episode. I’m greatly disappointed by the fact that we’ve failed to produce a quality episode in quite some time, and that the hits keep on coming. We’re going to take a look at our current processes, and look into how we can improve the show, both in what we provide for you content-wise, and how we deliver it to you, in the coming weeks. If you have anything you’d like to say about the podcast, please drop us an e-mail at podcast [at] weaselreport.com. We really appreciate hearing everything that we can from you, as you are our audience, and are the reason we make this. But we can’t leave you empty handed! With that being said, here’s one of the things that we talked about on today’s lost podcast! Thanks everyone, and have a great week!
In his first album in four years, and one of the first major EDM (Electronic Dance Music) album releases of 2010; Composer, Producer and Artist BT returns with the two-disc album called These Hopeful Machines. The album can be found in major retailers that carry EDM albums in a two-disc set, or can be found downloadable online as such, or as a two hour long mixes, in order to preserve a flowing, non-stop style. Contrary to many electronic albums, BT continues to show his musical prowess, with his mixing of an everyday music sound feel and electronic beats. While the songs are definitely of the electronic variety, each one uses a unique emotion to create an excellent sound. One could easily expect each song to sound similar, as most artists tend to use a very familiar beat in many of their songs, but These Hopeful Machines surprises, with every song having a different tempo, and sounding much different than the one before. Not to mention the amazing vocal abilities that were used in each of the songs, it makes for an excellent mix that makes you want to keep listening. The first half hour is a great example of what to look forward to. “Suddenly” starts you off with a good classic electronic rock feel. Following that is “The Emergency”, which preserves the electronic feel but goes with a lighter song. Finally, “Every Other Way”, vocalized by Jes Brieden and released in a singles album late last year, is one of the most beautiful songs of the new year, with a light, loving tone, yet still keeping with the electronica undertones that BT is famous for. One could say that BT is a electronic, symphonic genius with this new work, and even non-electronica music fans can get in to this listening experience. Usually an album is worth a listen or two, and contains songs that are extremely well know to the EDM community already, due to the various podcasts and mix/mashup compilation albums that are released these days, but BT succeeds in bringing brand new songs to the table, and making them so wonderful that they will stick with you for time to come. Just listening through, there feels to be an extremely high attention to the small details of each song, and the resulting songs are worth every second of your time. If you are a fan of EDM, or dare I say, if you are a fan of good music, and enjoy songs that are a little off the beaten path, with unique vocal and instrumental tones joining in, then These Hopeful Machines is an album that should be checked out.
These Hopeful Machines CD on Amazon.com |
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These Hopeful Machines
