Need a Quick Proxy?

Need a quick proxy for checking that blocked website at work or school? Give some of these a try, this site has a whole list.

http://newproxysites.org/

Link: http://newproxysites.org/

Look Out 2011! Big Games Headed This Way

2011 looks to be one of the most entertaining video game years in quite some time. Over the course of this year we have seen very few smash hits in the gaming world aside from Starcraft 2, and a handful of other mildly successful titles; but next year developers look to change all that by releasing a library of highly anticipated sequels.

Here are just a few names you may have heard before. Look for all these titles to be released over the course of 2011.

Prototype 2


The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim


Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception


Batman: Arkham City


Mortal Kombat

Marvel vs. Capcom 3


Mass Effect 3


And that's only what has been announced so far! Look for more game trailers to be sprouting up around the net as the preparation for 2011 continues.

Movie Releases for December 2010

Sorry for the lack of posting, time has been really limited lately. Here are the upcoming movie releases for the month of December 2010. There's one I've been looking forward to for a long time (TRON :D)
I've listed my hype and interest levels in stars next to each movie. Rated 1-5 stars.


December 10th:

The Tourist * * *
Frank Taylor (Johnny Depp) travels to Venice to recover from a recent break-up, though he soon finds himself engaged by the beautiful and mysterious Elise (Angelina Jolie) -- who happens to be an Interpol agent with a dangerous connection to a fugitive criminal.

The Tempest * *
A power grab finds Prospera (Helen Mirren), the rightful Duchess of Milan, exiled to a remote island with her young daughter, Miranda (Felicity Jones). Asserting influence over the island, Prospera develops a new enemy: the slave Caliban (Djimon Hounsou), who looks to raise a rebellion against his foe.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader * *
Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace (Poulter) where they meet up with Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.

The Fighter * * * *
A look at the early years of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his brother, Dick Eklund (Christian Bale), who helped train to become a pro fighter.

The Garden of Eden *
Based on Ernest Hemingway's posthumous novel and set in the jazz age, a successful young American writer David Bourne (Jack Huston) and his wife Catherine (Mena Suvari) on their extended honeymoon in Europe. Catherine's listlessness inspires her to fold the desirable Marita (Caterina Murino) into their relationship, raising the romantic and sexual stakes.


December 17th:

TRON: Legacy * * * * *
When Sam (Garrett Hedlund) investigates a signal sent from his father's old arcade, he's pulled into the digital world where his dad, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), has been trapped for 20 years. With father and son reunited, they team up with the warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde) on a life-or-death journey across the cyber universe Kevin created.

Yogi Bear (-5 stars)
A documentary filmmaker (Anna Faris) travels to Jellystone Park to shoot a project and soon crosses paths with Yogi Bear (voice of Dan Aykroyd) and his sidekick Boo-Boo (voice of Justin Timberlake).

How Do You Know *
Feeling a bit past her prime at 27, former athlete Lisa Jorgenson (Reese Witherspoon) finds herself in the middle of a love triangle, as a corporate guy in crisis (Paul Rudd) competes with Lisa's current, baseball-playing beau (Owen Wilson).

Rabbit Hole
Life for Becca and Howie Corbett (Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) spins off its axis after their son dies in a car accident.

Casino Jack * * *
Super lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Kevin Spacey) and his business partner Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper) build an empire by dealing and scheming with some of the world's most powerful people, until a plot with a mob-connected associate (Jon Lovitz) brings scandal, headlines, and a prison sentence.

December 22st:

Little Fockers *
The Focker and the Byrnes families brace themselves for the arrival of a baby.

True Grit * * *
A young girl recruits a tough U.S. Marshall to track down the man who killed her father.

Gulliver's Travels *
Shipwrecked travel writer Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) finds himself transported to an island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, where he's a giant among the natives, the Lilliputians. Initially taken prisoner, Gulliver becomes a favorite of the court and schemes for a way in which the Lilliputians can outwith their rivals, the Blefuscudians.

Country Strong *
A drama centered on a rising country-music songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) who sparks with a fallen star (Gwyneth Paltrow). Together, they mount his ascent and her comeback, which leads to romantic complications involving her husband/manager (Tim McGraw) and a beauty queen-turned-singer (Leighton Meester)

December 24th:

Somewhere *
A hard-living actor (Stephen Dorff) holed up in the Chateau Marmont gets a reality check when he's visited by his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning).

The Illusionist (Animated) * *
Set at the end of the vaudeville era, a stage magician finds his talents less and less in demand. Performing at a village pub off the coast of Scotland, he encounters Alice, an innocent young girl, who will change his life forever.

December 29th:

Biutiful * * *
Uxbal (JavierBardem) is a dour man but a devoted husband and father who, thanks to his ability to read the minds of the recently deceased, ekes out a living in Barcelona.

Another Year *
A look at four seasons in the lives of a happily married couple (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen), and their relationships with their family and friends -- who are all quite miserable.

December 31st:

Blue Valentine *
A look at the idyllic past and troubled present of working-class couple Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams).

I may make this a regular thing every month, look for more information in January!

(excuse the corniness of this comment)
All credit for this idea goes to my dream girl Ashley, who has worked at a movie theater for over four years and has opened my world to the theater. You're the best!

Apple Black Friday Deals

Yes, you heard right! Apple is actually running sales on their products. Here are some of the discounts you can find on their website.

8gb iPod Touch: $209 (original $229)
16gb wifi iPad: $458 (original $499)
13 inch Macbook Pro: $1098 (original $1199)
13 inch Macbook Air: $1198 (original $1299)
21.5 inch iMac: $1098 (original $1199)

And plenty of other deals at: http://store.apple.com/us

Pokemon Black and White Starters

Here are the new starters for Pokemon Black and White. The English names for all three were just recently released. Look for both versions to be released in the US around spring 2011. They sure have come a long way from charmander and squirtle...

New iPad Game: Rage

Today John Carmack, the co-creator of Doom, released what appears to be the most graphically stunning iPad game to date. Rage is an on-rails first person shooter developed specifically for iOS and the iPad.

Rage is a standard zombie shooter, with a tap to shoot interface, using your left hand to aim. It offers one of the best, and most familiar first person shooter experiences on the iPad and iPhone.

The main reason Rage was put on rails was to keep the file size of the game down, the HD version already exceeds 1gb. However, control wise the automated walking benefits the game as the iPad has poor controls, and is very limited compared to a dual-analog or mouse and keyboard system.

Carmack explains that this game doesn't reach the full potential of the iPad, despite it's crisp appearance, and he hopes to develop further games to challenge even console gaming.

Here's a video demo I found, showing off both the iPad and iPhone versions.

Welcome Starcraft 2

I've finally caved! I decided Starcraft 2 was too great of a game to resist buying due to it's selfish $60 price tag.

Add me, my SC2 name is: Oleg
code: 706

Here's a little something to wet your taste buds, from the last Starcraft 2 GSL Tournament in Korea.

Two of the great Starcraft players: SlayerS_`BoxeR` and Fruitdealer

The iPad Dilemma

Yes, I am considering buying an Apple iPad. I already own an iPhone 3g. Despite going to college full time, I also manage 30-40 hour work weeks; this allows some disposable income every once in a while. I'm also selling my PS3 on ebay >_>

To begin, I am a devout PC gaming and computer enthusiast. I build all my own computers as many people do today, but the iPad has shown a few things which I covet in a portable media platform. I often look at a mac's specs and think overpriced, trendy, Starbucks going bullshit; with things like $200 for a 1gb ram upgrade coming to mind. But here, with the iPad, I see a platform that is not comparable to an Asus, HP or Dell device, and is reasonably priced at the lower models. Sure tablet PCs have been around for years, but in terms of the sheer usefulness to price/portability ratio, the iPad offers something new. Many people have argued it's simply a larger iPhone or iPod Touch, which in essence it is, but that's exactly what was needed to boost the value to the next level and invade netbook/laptop territory.

As someone with a powerful desktop which I already use for photoshop, illustrator, video editing and gaming, I need a portable device for the web and getting work done on campus or around the house. The iPhone is great in a pinch, but for extended work sessions away from home, the battery life runs thin and you run the risk of being without a phone (something we take for granted far too often).

Here are the pros and cons I have found when comparing an iPad to a laptop for mobile work.

Dell XPS M1530 Laptop -

Cons.

1. 15.6 inches, somewhat large
2. Is awkward to balance on lap and type
3. Burns my legs (almost)
4. Battery lasts 3-4 hours with regular usage (web, videos music)
5. Current battery I have doesn't even charge after 1 year of use. (longevity is weak)
6. My model's retail: $970

Pros.

1. Processing/video power and speed (Intel core 2 duo, 4gb ram, 8600m gt)
2. Full desktop workstation abilities
3. Mouse/touchpad/keyboard
4. USB ports, larger HDD storage


The iPad -

Cons.

1. Weak, single core processor
2. No raw file management system
3. Limited connection ports (actually only 1, the stupid charging port)
4. Apps limit full range of a normal computer's abilities


Pros.

1. Touch interface for quick actions
2. Book-like portability
3. amazing battery life (~10 hours of web browsing, more for music)
4. Expansive application list create ease of use
5. 16gb model's retail: $599

What experiences have other people had with the iPad?

The Future of FPS Gaming

First off: The preceding few days have been hectic in my work and school life, sorry for a lack of posts.
Now, here is something I hope to receive a little discussion about.


Today marks the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops. With the addition of yet another modern first person shooter to the gaming market; what can one expect going forward with the FPS genre?

Games like the Battlefield, Call of Duty and Medal of Honor installments have all brought popular periods of war to the home gamer, but the future of this product seems a mystery to me. How long will the rehashed, recycled first person war game dominate the FPS genre? Does anyone else wonder how long this trend will continue?
Personally, I satisfied my lust for war games just playing the battlefield series (1942, Vietnam, 2), and yet games continue to be released which replicate the same experiences(MoH and CoD: MW2 etc.). I understand the slightly different play styles of each game; vehicles vs. running, or large maps vs. small and concise. However, I still can't shake the idea that this cash cow is on it's last stand, particularly with the recent failure of reviving the Medal of Honor franchise.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will hopefully bring something new to the war FPS market, which has seen little innovation in the last few years. I'm looking forward to trying the game and reading reviews. Feel free to comment with your experiences on this subject.

More Digital Fun

A funky sig/image I made. Drew that squid all by myself in illustrator :D

Static Couch logo alternate one.
Alternate number two of the Static Couch logo. It's currently the one I decided on for the official site. Check it out at http://www.staticcouch.com/home

New Logo Design

Continuing with my recent Photoshop learning, here is the current logo design I've made for the website static couch. Tell me your questions, comments, concerns. Visit the hyperlink to see it in action!

A New Direction for Static Couch

Here is something I did up for Static Couch. I've been considering making the site into a weekly (or every few days) episode series. If anyone knows about G4's canceled TV show Cinematech, then this may look familiar to you. I would like to continue on the spirit of a show which I liked so much growing up. So enjoy, and leave some feedback on what I can do to make the episodes better if you can.

The initial load time may take a bit, but give it a minute. It's a big file, but the quality is still sub par. If this were to become a continual thing, I would invest in a higher quality video host.

1,000 Page Views!!!

Congratulations to Tangelo's Pizza Shop for getting 1,000 page views today at 8:12pm!

I'd like to say thank-you to all the repeat visitors and fans of the site. Hopefully the success will continue, and I'll be able to bring more news and entertainment to the shop. Keep coming, and don't forget about the greatest electronic blog on the web!




Here's a little something in return.

Some fun

Hacker Bullshit

I want to make a program or virus that has this when you try to access it.



p.s.
Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Halloween Update Hits Minecraft

Happy Halloween everyone! The long await Minecraft update has just been released, and boy is it hectic. Most servers are having problems, and the traffic is hell just logging in. Well, here's what you can expect to see done. I'm really excited, and the little I saw looked awesome. I can't wait to get a gate working and go to hell o_O

Changing The Blogspot Navbar's Position

To adjust the navbar, one can manipulate the margin properties to change where the bar appears.


For example. My CSS reads:

#Navbar1 {
margin: 0 0 0 315px;
padding: 0;
}

The margin property is ordered as Top(0), Right(0), Bottom(0), Left(315). This moves my navbar 315 pixels right. Remember, these values represent Z pixels [from the] X direction; so "0 0 0 315px" actually puts a margin on the left spanning 315 pixels and moves the target object right. The problem with the left and right movements is they are based on your browser adjustments, not your blog's body (this is all probably defined somewhere else). Therefor I messed up my original movements. However, one can still move the navbar up and down using this property. Some experimenting really helps.

Getting Rid of Blogspot Navbar

If you're obsessive compulsive and annoyed by the blogspot navbar that appears on the top of the screen, just follow these simple instructions!

1. Go to the "edit HTML" option under the "Design" tab.
2. Find the
body{........
}
section of the code (labeled just under "Content----" for me) and paste this code on a new line, after the "}".

#Navbar1 {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
display: none;
visibility: hidden;
}

3. Save and enjoy. Should be a fairly simple fix for even the non-coding savvy.


4. To reverse the changes and bring back the navbar, simply delete the:


"display: none;
visibility: hidden;"

section of the code.

Button Design for Static Couch

I'm currently working on revamping Static Couch to look clean and fresh.
Here is a design I came up with my limited photoshop skills for a button on the main navigator menu. The main 3 categories of the site will be: Food, Games, Technology. So I'm currently designing an interesting menu option for each.

Steam Account Giveaway!!!! (Details Inside)

Good News! I have a Steam account laying around with a couple of games on it that I got from a friend a while back. It's just sitting around gathering dust. So...I thought I would use it to help better my blog. Since this site is all about electronic stuff, I thought I would give back something familiar to the community in the hopes they will continue to visit here.


The account which I'll be giving away has Counter Strike: Source and Day of Defeat: Source. You can change the e-mail and all that stuff when you get it. The lucky winner will be chosen at random using the random# function on a calculator. Your comment is the number which you will be entered as. For example if I'm the 4th comment down I'll be entered as #4, the 13th comment will be #13 and so on. I also have another account that my girlfriend doesn't want with TF2 on it that may come up one day *hint* *hint* So look for more promotional giveaways soon!

I hope to one day run my own successful website/company, and possibly extend my abilities of journalism into a career. Feel free to examine some of my more competent attempts at blogging here or here, and take a look around my sites.

All I ask in return is that you visit the site often, and help me to make it better and more appealing. Constructive comments are always appreciated!!

How to enter:
Simply leave a comment on this post with some constructive criticism for this blog and a way to be contacted (preferably e-mail). Any decent idea will do; something that might boost traffic, or just a good plan to implement. Try not to repeat others if possible. If someone has a revolutionary idea, I may just gift them Dogfighter on steam (cool flying game, only $1.50 on sale, but hey, it would be free for you) Good luck to all that read this and are lucky enough to enter.

Conditions:
You may only enter ONCE, and only once. Any further entries will result in your omission from the drawing.
Posts not contributing legitimate help will be discarded. I'm doing this for you guys, so try not to abuse me lol.
The winner must comment on this post to verify he/she has won, and inform the other entrants of the contest's legitimacy.
(subject to minor changes I may have forgotten)

The winner will be announced Thursday, November 4th, 2010. If this post does not reach at least 30 comments by that point, the contest will be null and it will be reposted November 5th, 2010.

No, it doesn't come with CoH. That's just on there by accident. (note the purchase button)

Melt Your Face: Pendulum's New Single

The Island by Pendulum. Enjoy this mastery of the bass.

Saw 7 - 3D

Talk about a terrible movie. Why do people still pay to see these? In every movie but the first, every fucking person has died. Granted, there was some minor twists in the story here, the rest was senseless killing and gore (the methods stopped holding my attention long ago). I don't really get how the plot is intriguing when there is no suspense; you know everyone will die. The 3D was absolutely atrocious, but I got to keep the glasses so that was cool. All in all this movie is a D- at best. Save yourself some money and sneak in, so when you walk out you won't feel as bad.

First AMD Radeon 6000 Series Cards Released

AMD has finally started to roll out their new HD 6000 series graphics cards. This week the Radeon HD 6850 and HD 6870 were released. These cards were released with mid-range gaming in mind, and being hopeful competitors to the GTX460 that has been ravaging the industry with it's price:performance ratio.



The HD 6000 series is built from the start to be a dx11 machine, and AMD believes they will be better optimized than their previous cards. Benchmarks have shown the 6870 to stand right above the GTX460, and slightly below the 5870 in performance. The 6870 and 6850 will be priced at $239 and $199, respectively; the perfect point to overtake the sweet spot from the GTX460.

Look forward to the HD 6890 to be released soon and head off the upper end of AMD's new line of cards.


source: http://techinstyle.tv

My Days With Photo Shop

Photoshop is a very powerful tool. Here is what I learned in my spare time over the last two days.

Before:
After:

Obviously this doesn't even compare to things I've seen other people do, but hopefully I'll continue to get better and update the site continually. Between learning all the tricks of Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and html/xhtml; I certainly have my work cut out trying to finally build a quality website. Although, I still need the idea for what the site will be about....

Welcome Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy is the latest hardcore platformer, developed by Masocore, to send gamers into fits of confusion, rage and laughter. You start off playing as Super Meat Boy, who's goal is to save his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from Dr. Fetus. Each level is played through at a very quick pace, and the game is based on high speed maneuvering through obstacles.

Super Meat Boy plays on it's crazy design further with special zones that change the design of the game to mimic a Game Boy, or Atari system. Additionally, there are unlockable characters such as Commander Video from Bit.Trip Runner.



Super Meat Boy is a great game to check out if you like fast-paced, laughter inducing, rage quitting platformers. Get it now on PC/Mac (Steam), XBLA, and Wii Shop.

Check out a gameplay video here at Static Couch.

Something Electronic To Make You Feel Good

Here's a little something from one of my favorite bands to help all of you recoup from a tough Monday at work, school, or both (like me =/). Enjoy!

PSP Go Gets Green Light for Price Cut

Well, Sony has finally decided to cut the price of the PSP Go from the original $249 to $199.

Ahh yes, the PSP Go; Sony's hand-crampingly sad attempt at anti-piracy for their one and only portable gaming system. The PSP Go used an on board flash memory combined with Playstation Network downloads for games, rather than the UMD disks of the original PSP. The hope was to stop pirates from acquiring and playing free games via custom firmware, but instead it only stopped sales. Not only was the design a complete failure, the PSP3000 was far cheaper, and the price tag of the Go was nearly matching PS3 and Xbox360.

This may not be ground-breaking news, but the hope is Sony has realized how shitty their most recent handheld revision is. We can only pray they have learned from this for the sake of the PSP2's future (yes the PSP2 is coming).

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but I've been working crazy shifts. Hopefully more content will be put out this week!


Source: Reuters.com

My Friends At Static Couch

Here's a website owned by a friend of mine who I help out with on a regular basis. We've both been kind of down on it lately, and we'd be appreciative of any feedback or traffic. Check it out if you have some spare time.

The Link:
Static Couch

Fan Made Sonic HD Remix

Apparently some fans decided to make a remix of the old Sonic The Hedgehog games in HD. I guess they were tired of the utterly poor content of recent games. I wish more Sonic games would follow in their original vein, it's sad to see the franchise can only be revitalized by fans doing the programming. Well, check it out!




Look for the download Here

Thanks to Kotaku.com

Want To Learn HTML?

Want to make your own website? Well not only is there a link to a great youtube video posted earlier this month, this site also has great info on everything from positions to scripts, Check it out!

Reference: http://www.w3schools.com/

Melting Your Face

Here's your daily dose of electronic music to bring you into the day.

Intel Finally Researching New Pillow Proof Airflow.

I guess its taken a long time for the designers at Intel to realize many people like to have their laptop on their bed, pillow, or even their lap. The problem? Whenever your laptop is on a bed or pillow, the vents get clogged by the sheets. Well Intel has finally heard our cries!!

Recently, Intel has shown interest in creating a more bed-friendly, mobile processor design. The modified chips will cool better, without the need for many fans.

Additionally, the restructured chips will allow for thinner designs of new laptops. I hope this works out, as I've had many laptops reach dangerous temperature levels after dozing off during a midnight browse of the web.

You can read more here: http://www.reghardware.com/2010/09/15/idf_intel_bed_safe_laptop/

Around The Gaming Universe

Fallout New Vegas is finally out! The highly anticipated followup to Fallout 3 has just been released. I wonder what sorts of new weapons, enemies, and even glitches we can expect to poke fun at in this one. It appears to be an upgrade from it's predecessor, but we'll see the fruits of New Vegas flourish or fail in the next few weeks. I wonder if marijuana is finally legal in the California Republic o_O



This guy shows us what's up:

This Says It All

Well this says it all, the main reason I never have and never will purchase a mac; the fucking prices.















Note: PC stands for personal computer, Windows is the operating system.

Listening to Deadmau5 All Day

Deadmau5 (pronounced deadmouse) is a DJ/Producer who makes some pretty decent beats. He's the guy who wears the.... well the mouse head on stage. Check out some of his stuff, here's something form his new album.

A Great Website For The PC Elite.

fkn0wned is a great website for a video gamer or graphical designer. There are many forums dedicated to software, hardware, cheats and so much more. Sometimes they even give away free steam accounts and stuff in the giveaways section! Check it out:

http://fkn0wned.com/

and if you decide to register, please feel free to follow this link first to give me a reference:

http://fkn0wned.com/forum/index.php?app=referrals&reff=2968

Some Electronic Insight

For electronics, nothing boasts the musical capabilities of pure computer components better than Anamanaguchi.

Check this out:

Dreamweaver CS4

I've given up on learning straight html, so I turned to Dreamweaver CS4 for site building. Hopefully this will go a little better. It's installing now.

HTML update

Here is a screencap demonstrating my extensive knowledge of HTML. Amazing isn't it? Well that's just a crude layout of my idea, next is writing the actual script to use it.

Trying to learn HTML

Got the basics down, now I'm headed for no mans land in HTML world. I thought my design was simple enough, but so far all I know is how to create a nice layout of pictures and text with varying colors and borders. Anyone have a suggestion for a good book on HTML? Already visiting the youtubes and w3.org for references.

This was a great tutorial I found for the bare minimum basics.

Squidbillies

Why the fuck is this show still on Adult Swim? They really need to cancel that crap. Even the recycled American Dad and Family Guy jokes make me chuckle more than this.

Starting a website

I've had a few ideas, so I'm putting in motion my efforts to start a successful website. Look for more information soon. Hopefully I'll be a successful millionaire in a few short months.

Introductions

Here's a little blog I've started to discuss various things. Well, just sit back and enjoy the magical writings of Tom.