Lost is back; and more insane than ever

While I wait for my iPhone to try and fix itself, I figured now would be as good a time as any to talk about Lost. I forgot just how insanely addictive this show is, and I wasn't prepared for it in the least; some real mind benders were dropped. What we know now:
1. Six people get off the island: Of the forty-plus survivors, only a half-dozen actually return to civilization (dubbed the Oceanic Six by the media) and for some reason they all agree to lie about it? Jack, Kate and Hurley are part of that group. The other three? I'll say Sawyer and Sayid for sure. The last one I'm just not sure.
2. Jack's dad is Jacob??: Not totally sure about that, but it was definitely Christian Shepherd sitting in Jacob's rocking chair. The white sneakers, dark suit and giant forehead was enough proof for me.

My iPhone lost it's Edge...

So yeah. I've always had my iPhone hacked, or "jailbroken" as the term goes, to let me install 3rd party apps. Only the latest version is a little messed up, and now I can't connect to the Edge network... Now the Edge network isn't the speediest kid on the block, but at least it's faster than what I have now! I didn't think it would be a deal breaker but today I finally got sick of it. Luckily there is a way to restore it back to firmware 1.1.1 and re-upgrade it to a newer hacked version of 1.1.3, but the process is taking forever. :( By the way, why did Mac get rid of the sad mac icon?? I always felt it empathized with me when our old OS 9 G3 Macs would incessantly crash in the middle of our layout design back at the newspaper...

Getting intimate with modern warfare

So lately I've been fairly preoccupied with work, freelance, church activities, family drama and the occasional biking or rock climbing. When I do get a chance to blow the dust off my Xbox, I've mostly been playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It's arguably the best multiplayer shooter out on the system. And yes, I'm including Halo 3 in there. Here's why:

I say that for a couple reasons. First off, Modern Warfare is trying to emulate real life combat situations, to an extent. Because of that, you don't get Halo-style game play where everyone runs out in the open blasting each other point-blank. You get a lot more tactical game play where you hide in cover, make sure it's clear, then run top-speed to the next cover point. Second, you earn upgraded gear and tactical perks as you play the game, which breathes more life into game play and encourages you to participate more. As you rank up, you not only get a new medal, but you also get better guns, skills and additional challenges. All in all, I have to say it's the most well-rounded multiplayer on xbox today.

becca rules

Wow what a cool chick.

Good Widgets; the name is self-explanatory

Good Widgets has a simple premise; provide a unique spin on the Flash photo slide show. Now sites that let you make free slide shows are literally dime-a-dozen on the web. Just check a random Myspace profile and you'll see what I mean. The downside of those are that they are usually pretty ugly and are branded head-to-toe with their corporate logo or watermark. GW, however, has taken a different spin.

First off, their widgets are cool. Each one is fairly unique, and while there are only eight to chose from, it is a good selection. Second, If you want to remove the free advertisement, you can do so for the measly price of only $2.99. My only qualm is you don't get the Flash source code, but thats just from me, a Flash developer. For the average web user, all they want is a simple and easy interface and Good Widget delivers.
get em here

Steelers 4 & 1 after shutting out Seattle

It was definitely a slow start for both football teams as the Seattle Seahawks went to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. A lot of that had to do with the unusually hot October weather in Pittsburgh. Also, both teams with a 3 & 1 record were desperately trying to not repeat last week losses by changing up plays, but getting nowhere. Did I mention the Steelers top receivers were out on injury? Even so, the Steelers were able to squeeze out a score before halftime. But it was anyone's game. That is, until the second half started.

They should've called it "How Roethlisburger got his groove back", because he was on fire. After the break, Pittsburgh came out charging, stringing together play after play for ten minutes as they marched down field, capping it with another TD. And their defense was on lock for all four quarters, leaving Seattle's QB surrounded by field with no one to pass to. One more TD and the deal was sealed. Now with enough time to rest up their star players, hopefully Pittsburgh can keep their winning push further into the season.

Everyone loves the iPhone

Late night, I had to get me some fourth meal®. Actually, it was second meal; all I had today was breakfast. The drive-thru line took forever, so of course I had to break out the iPhone and send some quick texts. I get to the window, and the window guy was like "that'll be six dollars and forty... dude, is that the new iPhone??" So before I could get my Mexican Pizza® and taco supreme, I had to give him a quick demo on how the browser switches to landscape view when you tilt it. Besides, I'm ultra-paranoid of offending fast-food workers for fear of them spitting in my Diet Pepsi.

The hey-Zeus phone: iPhone hype is real!

For the last couple weeks, I've been saying how the iPhone wasn't for me. All hype, and way over-priced. That is, till I actually used one. A guy at my office has one and handed his over for a closer look. Big mistake. This thing is like butter.
The google maps, the web browser and the full-screen video iPod make this thing as close to the holy grail of phones as you can get. The one thing I have mixed emotions about is the on-screen keyboard, but even after only a day my typing skills have really improved. I was also wary about the closed system for 3rd party apps, but the extensive homebrew and web apps coming out daily make this phone better and better. For the record, I held out for three days before I broke down and bought the iphone, which i wrote this post with...

28 Weeks Later; see this movie!

28 Weeks Later; see this movie!, originally uploaded by russdogg.

So my friend Dave got me some free tickets to an early showing of 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to 28 Days Later. Now I wasn't the biggest fan of the first one; partly due to crowd I saw it with, but mostly because the acting was sub-par, the plot jumped around a lot, and the people purposely did stupid things. The sequel however is ten times better, at least.

The main family in the movie are still unknown actors, but they included a favorite actor of mine, Harold Perrineau; better known as Michael from ABC's Lost, or Link from the Matrix Trilogies. He is also the helicopter pilot in one of the best "chopper blade decapitation" scenes ever in a horror movie (including Grindhouse). Other favorite scenes of mine were the shots of London in ruins, especially the helicopter landing through the partial dome of Wembley Stadium. How they did those scenes I don't know, but it was good. If you like zombie movies, or even horror movies in general, go see this. Now.

Jack Bauer. That's all you need to know.

Needless to say to 24 fans worldwide, Jack is indeed back. Beaten, torture-scarred, nasty acid-burned hand, malnourished, and deadlier than ever...

Jack is back, and after two years in a Chinese water torture chamber, he readily accepts dying for the red white and blue; but when he realizes the US government was duped by a lying terrorist (is there any other kind??), he escapes by ripping out the nearest jugular with his teeth. Think Jack will spare Curtis when he stands in the way of the only link to the terrorists? Forget about it. Jack shoots him point-blank the only way he knows how; in the throat, of course. Obviously in homage to his buddy, dead President Palmer. Clearly Jack's brother will not be getting any special treatment, unless the plastic bag over the head is some sort of childhood game. Speaking of which, whats with all the family in LA Jack has all of the sudden? It's like he stumbled across the Bauer Family Reunion Picnic or something...

Christmas with the fam

Suprisingly it was a mellow christmas. Lots of Hi def basketball and football, first annual ping pong tournament, and no drama.
 Russdogg ™

American Airlines arena

Post Heat game, outside the AA arena, the heat is still on at 10:30 at
night so we cruised South Beach afterwards.
 Russdogg ™

Miami trip Heats up

It was a long day of orientation today. For some reason it seemed a lot longer than it really was. Fortunately tonight was our team event where
we all got to go out as a group for a night on the town.

First we checked out Gloria Estevan's restaurant/club Bongos,which was a Cuban cuisine with a big open dance floor. Right after that we walked to the American Airlines center to watch the Miami Heat play the Denver Nuggets.
Sure the seats were way up there, but we had a blast regardless. Miami ended up losing and Shaq didn't even play but we didn't care. Finally we hit up South Beach and checked out a high-class club, but it was a little too high class for us and we ended out walking the strip, seeing the Versace mansion, then checking out the beach at midnight. It was crazy but really cool at the same time.  Russdogg ™

Awesome hotel, even better job...

I got in pretty late last night to Miami. Actually, it was only about 7:30 california time, but it was 10:30 east coast. Which was not cool because I was hungry! Nothing was open and I was sooo tempted to eat from the minibar. The 4 dollar cost for a bag of M&Ms was enough to curb the hunger pangs though. By the time I got to sleep at 2:30 AM, I only had about 4 and a half hours of sleep. Luckily my room is awesome. 14th floor suite with a king-size bed, ceiling to floor windows, kitchen, two bathrooms and a jet tub.

First day of the training session was very cool. We basically are being
indoctrinated in the company culture, which is very cool and goes with
my style perfectly.
 Russdogg ™

Flying can of sardines...

Got to the airport to find a line of 200 + people waiting in front of
me. Luckily someone pointed out another skycap way down the way also for
american airlines, so I hustled down there and had my bag checked in
right away. Now I,m packed in the middle of a miami-bound 747. I
always, and I mean always fly window seat so how I got dead center of
the plane is beyond me... it'll definitely be an interesting 5 hours.

 Russdogg ™

The Game graces the cover of the L.A Times

With just days remaining till the release of The Doctor's Advocate,
Compton rapper Jayceon "the game" taylor is everywhere, from Connecticut
radio stations to conventions to Letterman and the L.A times. Only time
will tell if he sells more than his last album.
 Russdogg ™

Kings Kabob is my guilty pleasure

Kings kabob is the best/worst thing to happen to me since living in L.A.
The food is so so good but I am definitely going to miss it when I start
work in Santa Monica!
--russdogg

Writely officially becomes Google docs

Well, my favorite online word processor, Writely, has finally made the transition to a full-on Google application. Earlier this year they were bought out by the big G, but it wasn't until late last night that it went offline and came back as Google docs. Basically, its the same as a basic version of Microsoft Word, but all your files are stored online. You can access them from anywhere, export them as a Word file, PDF, text file, or even an html web page. All for free.

The best feature? the ability to have multiple contributors to any file. I tested this out with my sister this morning while working on my resume. I just added her email address as a contributor and it was added to her documents list. Once she got on, a little indicator popped up on the bottom to tell me she was working on it at the same time. When ever she made an edit, about three seconds later it showed up on my screen. Theres a refresh button on the bottom too, just in case you need the latest version, to the second ;) As a plus, Google also put up a link to their Excel clone, Google spreadsheets. Google is taking over!

Video Downloader to Youtube: "Yoink!!"

As a Flash designer, I've always been interested in video on websites. It always seems to be a problem with not having the right video plug-in, or the wrong browser to view it, etc. By creating a video player in Flash, you can skip the plug-in and browser issues and have the video right on your page. Of course you still need content. Enter Videodownloader. Videodownloader is the easiest way to "borrow" videos from popular websites like Youtube. It's an extension for the Firefox browser, and when you have a video on your page, just click the button and it starts to download.

Gangs of London demo not vaporware?

I signed up for the free Gangs of London demo on the off-handed chance that Sony might actually follow through with a promise, but I wasn't betting my savings on it (or even the $1.50 for my daily Diet Pepsi). So I was a little suprised to see it show up in the mailbox. Upon closer inspection, I see that it came from Santa Monica, which is only like 10 minutes from here.


If you ever played The Getaway games, the gameplay will look really familiar.

Luckily the controls aren't quite so wonky. Its like a cross between the getaway and the Grand Theft Auto series. The good news is it only takes a coupe minutes to learn the controls. The bad news is the demo is only a couple minutes long. You'd think if they went through all the trouble to press these demo discs, they'd at least last long enough to help you decide if you want to buy it or not. The Loco Roco demo (which was a free download) was an entire level of gameplay. Enough to get you hooked to a game where most levels are pretty similar. This game obviously has a lot of potential, but they barely get into anything on the demo. Still reserving my judgement until it's released.