Last Week

Or…

A Short(ish) Dissertation on the Extent to which I love Technology and hate Las Vegas.

This past week has been a blur. I know, so cliché, but it really has. (Is it cliché to refer to a popular cliché as cliché when other people undoubtedly do the same?) Last Saturday, I boarded a plane and flew over the country, all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada. If you’ve never been to Las Vegas, I suggest you go. If you’re a gambler, you’ll love it (and most likely you’ll end up broke). If you like to see new things, you’ll find plenty in LV. If you have ever wanted to see the epitome of human depredation condensed into one thick, seething, noisy, obnoxious conglomerate of people, then Las Vegas is the place for you.

Las Vegas is one gigantic money-sucking pit. The entire purpose of the city is to squeeze every last coin from its tourist’s pockets. The first thing I saw when I disembarked from the plane was an array of “one-armed bandits” (slot machines). They sat there dinging away and hungrily flashing their ever-beckoning lights, and people sat in the seats and fed the slots, watching their credits dwindle to zero. Gambling. When one goes to leave the airport, one must find transportation, right? Of course right. Transport. Now that you’ve wasted some money in the slot machines and paid a taxi driver or bus driver or rental car fee, you can hand over some cash for lodging! Hotels. Of course, now everyone’s hungry. Care to spend $45 for a burger? Food. Oh, good, now that we’re where we wanted to go and comfortably rested, why don’t we check our emails? It’s only $10 a day for wifi! Internet. Maybe we could play some cards while we’re wandering through one of the countless casinos in the bottoms of all these hotels. More Gambling. Perhaps we could go see a show or visit a local attraction? Entertainment. Maybe we have loose morals and we’d like some company tonight. Erm… Entertainment? I could go on, but I have the feeling you get the point.

I did enjoy seeing the fountain show at the Bellagio, the volcano at the Mirage, and the luxurious decor in the other high-end temporary lodgings. I couldn’t help but feel, though, as I walked through all of the semi-opulence, how much waste was all around — the ridiculously expensive hotels and the fancy clothes and the pricey food and the silly trivialities on which people spend their money! The entire city centers around the gambling; it’s where the casinos really make their money, but then there’s the high price of everything else. The interesting thing is, everything combines to create an attraction in and of itself. People pay to see Las Vegas for Las Vegas! They pay to ride in limousines and helicopters and all of modes of exotic transport. All to see what? The product of their waste.

Oh well. This, I suppose, is why I’m not extremely wealthy. I’d spend it all on technology and charity.

Oh, I said technology up there, didn’t I? Did I mention that I actually went to see the NAB show? More on that tomorrow.

~ Chris

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Awesome April Fools’ Jokes

The Post-Game Report

Ok, well, this has nothing to do with sports or anything like that. This, my friends, is a post-”April Fools’” report.

I really did enjoy April 1st. Google Nose, Youtube shutting down, toasters that tweet and make logos…. yeah, my kinda internet.

Here’s a run-down of my favorite jokes yesterday.

Google Nose:

I’m sure a lot of people saw this one, but I think it’s mention-worthy. Google introduced a technology that allows you to smell your search results! How awesome is that? Well, just be careful what you search for…

Rhett and Link

This was probably my favorite prank of the day, and it might even still get you if you’re not careful.

Super Toaster

This was shared with me by a friend of mine. I would be very tempted to buy this toaster if it were real.

Winning at Youtube

Youtube threatened to pick a winner and shut down Youtube.com. They proclaimed that the site would be re-opened in ten years with a single video: yesterday’s winner.

Others

Twitter announced a new service, Reddit made everyone on the site mad, and Steam drove a few gamers crazy.

Me…

And, I had a little fun of my own. I actually topped out my record number of visitors/views yesterday with an application for best friend! Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the position had to be left unfilled. Also, nobody could answer the Monty Python reference. I am disappointed.

Have a great week! I’ll be at the NAB conference in Las Vegas next week, so I’ll try to get some posts up here with pictures and write-ups on the coolest stuff there.

~ XK

Mashed-Up

The following post is a mash-up of all of my drafts. They are not meant to, nor do they, make a whole lot of sense. Enjoy.

To the people of America, not including those not residents of the United States and the Virgin Isles, I bid you good morning. It is with great pleasure and pride that I stand here to address you this evening.

*kkkrrrrkkkk TV static*

What if?

Those words are funny, are they not? They can lead to one or several of a nearly infinite pool of results. They could prompt destruction, or they could forbear the tidings of an unheard-of miracle cure. They could bring about a completely ridiculous idea, or they could hearken the coming of a perfectly marvelous proposition. This is bound to be of the former.

What if blogs were sentient? You know, they could could think thoughts and feel emotions. What would they say? Could they learn from the others in their realm, or would they be limited to the input provided them by their owners? In a way, any writing is alive through its readers, especially when the ideas contained within prompt discussion and debate, but what if the blog itself could observe its readers, form opions on its contents, and think about world events? What would it say?

*kkkrrrrrkkkrrrrkkkk*

I was going to write an article on hipsters. In fact, it was even requested of me, but I found the task inconceivably difficult, nigh insurmountable. Being the lazy chap that I am, I decided to write something vaguely close.

*kkkrrkk*

Everyone should have some taste of the nerd culture at some point in his or her life. Nerds are everywhere, especially in their natural habitat: the internet. To effectually know what a nerd is talking about, one must first understand several key concepts and phrases. I have compiled a list of said items.

The knowledge and even usage of certain nerd culture terms does not make one a nerd; many people will mix in references to popular nerd culture in their regular conversation. Let’s start off with the most basic of nerd languages, 1337 5p34k (leet speak).

1337 can be fairly inconsistent, as the language is not “officially” regulated. The goal is to substitute as many common roman letters with numbers or symbols. The language can be fairly cryptic; for example, if I wished to write my blog name as ><4n7|-|u5|<1|)|), this could easily confuse someone not familiar with the regular text name.

Moving on, many tv shows and movies contain token lines and items that are commonly referenced by nerds. Doctor Who, Star Wars, and Star Trek are incredibly popular examples.

*krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkk*

The time, my friends, has indeed been long since we last discussed the theories and principles that govern the common views of food. The psychological influences and contributors were discussed in the last installment, but this post aims to bring the focus back to the theological. This article will focus on certain doctrines held by the believers in one true Chef.

Unfortunately, much contention has always existed amongst the followers of the Chef. Two chief factions of the Chef-followers have emerged.

*kkkrrkk*

Once upon a time, in a little metropolis, there lived a woman and her only daughter. Her daughter was a very kind little girl; everyone in the apartment complex loved her. She was given a red hoodie with little green zipper pulls when she was little, and that shirt and her iPhone were her constant companions throughout life. In fact, she was known throughout the community as Little Red iPhone Hoodie (or simply Red, for short).

As with all young girls of her age and era, she loved silly bandz, Apple products, and other shiny things. Unlike most of the children her age, she was very nice-tempered and kind towards others. One day, her mother asked her to take a new pair of headphones to Red’s grandmother. The girl obligingly complied, for she knew that there were many silly bandz shops along the streets on the way to her grandmother’s house. So, Red started on her way, looking at silly bands and finding all sorts of pretty things in the shops.

*kkkrrrrkkkk…. moar TV static*

I have a confession to make. I HATE (with capital everythings) the crunching sound of people eating.* This isn’t just a petty annoyance or a minor peeve. This is a major thing. The real deal. An Article of Maximum Disturbance. You know that scene in Return of the King in which Denethor is munching on some snacks whilst Merry sings to him? That is my least favorite movie scene of all time. The foley is disgusting and disgusts me. Needless to say, I was disgusted.

Now, I’m pretty bad at ranting; in fact, I’ve pretty much run out of things to say, but here is a list of unforgivables–things that could get you banned from this blog. FOREVER.

• The crunching of one’s non-crunchy food is not to be tolerated.
• The talking of one upon one’s phone should be minimal in volume.
• When eating, one should take care to keep one’s food within one’s mouth at all times.

And that’s all he wrote.

~ XK