360 in Just 5 Days

I am Elton's sense of relief. I feel like 10 tons have been lifted off my shoulders now that I have completed the last tests I have to endure until finals in mid-December. I dominated CS 310, I think I really did well in CS 336, and I spent 3 hours tonight wrestling with my EE 316 final but I think in the end I'll get the 78 I need for an A in the class. What's even better is that my Batman Begins DVD finally came in! I haven't even popped it in yet (I got in the door from the final at 10:50 PM), but I'll give you some impressions by next week. I thought I'd spend the rest of my headlining paragraph talking about the Xbox 360. What you see to the right here actually is in the inside of the beast, and you can see more of what's inside the box over here (great for those of you in CS 352 or if you're just a hardware fiend). I'm not going to talk about that though, but rather this editorial in today's Daily Texan that sums up a lot of my main thoughts on the upcoming release. I didn't think about it until today that a lot of old people are going to get the cheap version and not realize that they're screwing over the recipient since it has neither the HD nor the wireless controller. He criticizes the price being high for the audience and, in all fairness, the PS3 will be pricey too, but the hope is that it'll be worth it with a more impressive launch lineup. This launch is riddled with more problems that I had previously surmised, and it looks like they're going to start at a disadvantage to the PS3 rather than with a head start. Their cards are on the table, and they suck.

While Microsoft prepares for that, Google is officially unveiling the beta of Google Base, and it sounds really cool, actually. This can be used for tons of things including classifieds, reviews (professors, CDs, movies, etc), and other randomness. Meanwhile, Yahoo and AOL are partnering up to start a service that would verify downloadable software as being free of spyware, and this could really do wonders for their image. I think AOL made a bad move today, however, in adding bots to everyone's buddy list. It's just a little intrusive to know that they can modify your buddy list as they please. Lastly, if you have friends or family far away and you want to have some video chats with them then you should look into yakForFree, a new, free VoIP service that also features video and looks to be a lot cleaner than software that I've used in the past for video chat.



I just had to post that poster because I love the art style of it. AICN has another V for Vendetta poster though if that one isn't to your liking. While I'm on posters, IGN has an eerie one for Marebito, a Japanese horror movie from the creators of Ju-on: The Rage. The movie sounds so much cooler and more original than any horror movies we put out here, but I'll let you read the terse IGN synopsis for yourself. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is just a day away, and IGN put up an interview with the main characters just in time for the release revealing that they're pleased with how they're treated and how the production has been on this new installment. Sony Pictures is putting out a 9/11 movie in competition with what Oliver Stone is working on and rumors have it that they hold Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler in their pocket, which combined is actually quite a force to be reckoned with. It's not official yet, but if the writer is hinting at it then I'm sure that it's pretty likely, which begs the question of why they want to compete with another 9/11 movie when they could just wait a few more years and make more money?

I'm going to start another paragraph since that one was getting too long. If you thought that the Lord of the Rings hold on pop culture was akin to Star Wars then you'll want to get this documentary called Ringers about the huge fan following. You can see a trailer and some clips there, too, and they actually got some big actors to sound off on it including David Carradine. My last movie item is that the always lovely Jessica Alba is currently working on Awake with Hayden Christensen (whom I personally loathe as an actor), and what's important here is that it's a winter based movie so she'll be covered up, which means she may get more acclaim for acting than being hot if she pulls it off right. Before I conclude though I thought I'd mention my excitement for the new Gregory Gym Aquatic Complex, which opens this Friday so I'm totally going for the ribbon cutting ceremony. It's been under construction ever since I've been at UT so It'll be awesome to see the end result in person. You should go, too, if you're a Longhorn.

Now for the Wednesday Mind Hump you've come to know and love:

1. If you could take a pill that would allow you to eat as much as you wanted of either turkey OR pumpkin pie, but not both, on Thanksgiving, which food would you choose to stuff yourself with?
I'd have to say the pumpkin pie. I have a real sweet tooth and it trumps my affinity for meat. Plus, the turkey would make me sleepy and then I couldn't party it up with my cousins.

2. Were you ever in a school play? What play was it, and what was your role? Got a funny story about it?
I was, but it was in elementary school and I believe it was a musical so I just danced as part of a group. I was never much of an actor; I think I'd be too nervous to get up on stage like that. I was nervous enough introducing Dr. Iverson at Props for Profs this year!

3. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Or do you think he'd just use a chainsaw?
If this woodchuck had taken my EE final tonight he'd want to take out his frustration and just hack at it with a chainsaw at full force. Poor trees.

4. What was the last concert you went to?
That's easy: Audioslave at Buzzfest last month on my birthday weekend and it was totally sweet (I reviewed it, but am too lazy to look it up and link it so just click on the archive link for October). Thanks, Robert!

Oh, I fudged the time here so it could be marked as a Wednesdsay post (thanks, Liz!), but it was actually closer to 1:00 AM because I got back so late from that final.