1
CFS Real World News #2 - 7/3/10 Sat 03 Jul 2010, 10:45 am
Guest
Guest
 | Welcome to the second edition of T_M's news report. This week will be a little all over the place; I'm writing it on the road and posting it from my hotel room. Let's see what's new. |
 | World News |
| North Korea is suing the U.S. for over 60 trillion in damages caused by "over six decades of hostility." Wait. Who's been committing long-range missile tests and actively pursuing nuclear weapon technology? Who has been hostile to whom? I'll give you three guesses about what I'm gonna say about the oil spill. Yup. It's still leaking. |
 | Music |
| Awe has more Shinedown news. Who'd have thought. However, since she never bothered to PM me about it, you'll have to ask her. I also forgot to mention in my last report that Eminem released a new album last week (thanks Bob). I'm not a big fan, but some people are. Favorite song of the day: "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. Definitely check this one out. |
 | Technology |
| iPhone 4 antenna woes Thanks to the external antenna on the iPhone 4 that runs around the edge, users are suffering connection issues while holding their phones. By contacting the bare metal in more than one place, the signal quality degrades by up to three bars. |
 | Video Games |
| The new PC-exclusive title "APB" (All Points Bulletin" was launched. It pits two warring factions, the criminals and the enforcers, in a heated battle in a fictional online city. Imagine a Grand Theft Auto MMO and you wouldn't be too far off. For you Steam users, I just discovered a great sale going on in the Steam Store. Every day until the 4th of July, they're releasing a handful of games for great prices (I picked up Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: Source a few days ago for $6.80 apiece). Being a Mac user, I love Steam on the Mac. If anyone plays Team Fortress Two, send me a friend request (Bobw33), and come kick my sorry behind a few times some day. Couple of games to look out for now and in the close future: Singularity: Don't really know much about it, but it sounds cool Crackdown Two: Sequel to the original game that was overlooked mostly because it contained the Halo 3 beta. It's an open-world sandbox game, where you play as a n almost super-human agent, working to clean up a crime-infested city. There's a demo out now, as a matter of fact. Starcraft Two: Starcraft Two belongs in the category almost all it's own. When the original game came out over a decade, it became a legend. Then, nothing. Until three years ago, when Blizzard made an announcement that no one saw coming. It was a cinematic trailer, featuring only three words, "Hell, it's about time." In my opinion, no words could describe it better. I'm not gonna stop talking about this for a long time. The original Starcraft, still played by multitudes today (including me), was renowned for the balance and strategy of combat between the three races: The human-descended Terrans, the biological Zerg, and the mystical Protoss. The sequel looks to bring back the same amazing depth and strategy, while still remaining open to new players. What took Blizzard so long? I don't think anyone knows. All I know, is that come July 27th, the Real-Time Strategy gaming sphere, as well as most of the entire gaming industry, will be shaken to its core. It is going to be awesome. What's even better? Rather than packing three short campaigns into the game (one for each race, as in the original game), Blizzard has expanded each campaign into it's own game. That's right. This is only the first of three. So I wonder, which is more anticipated? Halo:Reach, or Starcraft Two? I honestly have to go with Starcraft here. Halo: Reach will be fantastic, but Halo isn't quite as widespread as Starcraft. Starcraft is a worldwide phenomenon. In Korea, it is treated as a spectator sport. Having talked with people who haves lived there, I can tell you tales of "gaming bars" where there are a number of computers set up, each running Starcraft, which you buy time at, almost like an arcade. When a game is over ten years old and still going strong, that's what you call investment value. Halo also has the disadvantage of being limited to the Xbox. Starcraft Two will be coming to Mac, so bonus points for me. Bungie has been releasing Halo games every other year as well. Starcraft Two has been garnering hype for a decade, but unlike Duke Nukem: Forever, it is going to be released. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Halo: Reach will be more popular. They are games catering to separate markets. All i know is, the gaming industry's got it good this year (Starcraft Two, Halo: Reach, Crackdown Two, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty: Black Ops, must I go on?). This fall/winter is going to be amazing. |
 | Movies |
| The trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part one) got a trailer released, and that new Twilight Movie (Eclipse?) is coming out. Just typing that makes me want to cut off my fingers and burn them. Toy Story 3 (WOOOOOO!) and Shrek: The Final Chapter (go see Toy Story 3 first) are both out in theaters for those of you who are looking for a family-friendly movie to go see. Percy Jackson and the Olympians:the Lightning Thief should be coming out on DVD soon. Got the chance to see Jonah Hex with a friend the other day. Still not sure what I thought of it. It kinda wandered for a while, but ended well. In one sentence: Angry cowboy has machine guns on his horse and dynamite mini-crossbow pistols saves the day. How much better does it get? I finally saw Alice in Wonderland. Better than I expected actually. Some parts were weird, but there was plenty of awesome. In one sentence: Scottish Mad Hatter. Awesome Cat with creepy smile, and blond alice save Wonderland. Snailz went to see the Karate Kid remake the other day. Here's her review: Karate Kid could have been better. It had plenty of fighting scenes that were really cool and a story was definable there, but the plot was really predictable. It's definitely a movie most people would enjoy but I suggest waiting until you can rent/buy it. Still in theaters we've also got The A-Team (Blurring the line between "Don't get in that strange van" and "that van might belong to a heroic group of soldiers of fortune" since the 80's), Knight and Day, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (a video game movie that doesn't totally suck? what?!?!) |
 | Other News |
| Guest Articles As some of you may have figured out, I don't know everything about everything. Just most things. If you have something you want put into a news report, send me a PM, and I'll see if I can work it in. Reader Feedback I want to know what you guys think of these articles. What do you want more/less of? Do I need to extend my already copious dissertations on video games, or cut back? Do I need to find more real world news, or is it not interesting? Do you want more technology news, or less boring tech talk? Let me know, so I can cater the news to you. That's all for now folks! |
