The Great Hype of Modern Warfare 2

I had some time over the past week to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The first Modern Warfare has excellent gameplay and online experience and many people had high hopes for the sequel. Unfortunately, Modern Warefare 2 offers neither.

The single player story mode felt short and took me me roughly 6-8 hours to complete. The missions are not intense and I can "run" through most of them without engaging the enemy. I can just run forward, find cover, and your wingman will move up and lay waste to anyone before you. One of the memorable moments in the first Modern Warfare was the sniper mission. It made my heart race while I tried to avoid detection and make my way to the extraction point. The sequel has 2 sniper missions and neither invoked the same emotions.

The online experience isn't at par with the first Modern Warfare but it's decent. Infinity Ward increased assault rifle damage and this translates to you dieing by a few shots. It's comparable to Hardcore Deathmatch in the first Modern Warfare. Unfortunately, this promotes camping.

What happened to night vision? Is it something I need to unlock? Was it replaced by the new heartbeat sensor?

Infinity Ward removed the ability to use party chat for certain online game modes. This makes no sense. You either remove it completely or leave it alone.

I can understand why Infinity Ward did not release a playable demo before launch day. If they did, the game wouldn't sell as well.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Last Friday, I got to play the New Super Mario Bros. Wii at a friend's home. I'm sure single player is fun but I rather enjoyed the four player mode. You and your friends will constantly, and I do mean constantly, bump into each other and lives will be lost as a result. Others may find this frustrating but I like challenge and I found their interference hilarious.

Let's face it, the Goomba and Koopa Troopa provide no challenge and I hardly die by their hands because their patterns are too predictable. But with Nintendo's new bump and grind physics, they post a threat.

Thankfully, each player has their own life pool and you have unlimited continues.

I'm not sure if I'll pick up the game when it comes out since it doesn't have online play like Mario Kart and I will only play it if someone else hops on.

Remote Start for the Car

I have been researching what remote start kit to get for my car and my sights are set on the Viper SmartStart.
I don't know if it can only be controlled by the iPhone or perhaps it comes with a traditional remote. At least with the iPhone, I will be able to start the car from my office an not worry about the darn concrete walls.

Dear Santa

I know what I want for Christmas. Below is an amazing video of Samsung's OLED prototype. Hopefully by the time I own a home I can use this as my wallpaper.

Garage Door, The 2nd Act

The garage door opener stopped working again last Thursday. It can raise the door but can't lower it. My father happened to come across an inexpensive garage door opener at Sears for $119 and purchased it. We spent 3 to 4 hours yesterday installing it.

Before we installed the new opener, I noticed the support beam it will rest on was cracked. Rather than removing and replacing, we just nailed a new one next to it.

This door opener isn't fancy but it gets the job done. It doesn't have an external keypad nor does it use a rotating code. We didn't much care since the garage is detached from the main home.
While I had the tools in front of me, I secured the safety cable that runs through the spring to the frame with a bolt.
Now, I feel a lot more comfortable parking my car in the garage.

Ghetto Garage

Since my father is home, I have an extra pair of hands to help repair the garage door.
First, we replaced the beam that support one of the rails. I guess the wire got caught against something and rip apart the wooden beam.

Here's a picture of what it looks like after we replaced the beam.
We didn't have any clamps for the wires so we looped it around itself. That's not a big deal as long as the safety cable was secured, which it has not.
I pressed the opener to see if the door will now open but the chain wouldn't move. We removed the garage opener cover discovered two broken pieces. Those pieces held the casing for the gears together. I didn't feel like buying a new garage opener when it's not on sale so we used 2 metal wires to tie them back together. To our surprise, it works! Sure the machine makes an uncomfortable noise when you use it, but this gives me time to shop for a new opener.

It's so ghetto.

I Met The Funny Man

I was stoked when I learned Dave Barry will be a guest speaker at the conference I'm attending. I missed most of his speech because of work, but I did get a picture with him!

IN - COM - PLETE!

Yesterday, I enjoyed a delicious lunch at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado. I ate buffalo sausage, cheddar jap brat, and a hot pickle. They abbreviate jalapeño with jap...
Unfortunately, I snarfed down the food before I remembered to take their picture.

After lunch, I figured I stay and watch the Broncos vs Browns game. This was their home opener and the show started with a retired player, Shannon Sharpe, being inducted into their Ring of Fame.
He and a few others parachuted into the stadium. All the jumpers before him came down fast and pulled up 200 feet above the ground. I thought someone will crash so I filmed what I can with my digital camera. **Everyone landed safely**

A huge flag was unrolled during the national anthem. As the anthem finished, 4 fighter jets flew above the stadium. This was the most elaborate opening I have seen at a football game.
It was an intense game. The Cleveland Browns were trailing by less than a touchdown for the first 3 quarters. In the fourth, the Bronco's pulled ahead to secure the win.
I wanted the Broncos to win or else I'll be leaving the stadium with 71,922 angry fans. Cleveland Browns 6 - Denver Broncos 27

Now, some video for your enjoyment.

Goodbye Gears, Hello Uncharted 2

Thanks to GameDaily.com, I got the highly coveted key to download UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves™ Multiplayer Beta. The game is a blast. The movements are responsive and fluid. For a 10 player game, the maps are just the right size. It's not too big, not too small. You can get from one end to the other in under 30 seconds. It took me over a minute to cross a map in Halo.

I like how they spiced up the matches by limiting what you can do. The first beta gave us Deathmatch and Plunder. Beta 2 introduced matches where you can only use pistols and snipers, have 1 life to live, or use RPG's only. There are also different modes for cooperative play. I tried it out by myself and didn't find it enjoyable. Maybe it will be different if my friends were on.

A note to all who play shooters with inverted, or flipped, controls. I performed horrible in the first few games because I only inverted my AIM view. I didn't realize there were two places to invert in the options, AIM and Look. I think this is the only game I have every played that had 2 forms of inversion.

One of the greatest features Halo introduced was the ability to view your stats on a website. Kudos to Naughty Dog for incorporating this into Uncharted. I can view the wins, loses, kill death ratio, etc. at www.naughtydog.com/stats/meatwad101010.

Finally, a PS3 game worth getting.

I Love Dim Sum

A week ago, I had lunch with friends at Jade Asian Restaurant in Flushing, N.Y. Their dim sum was delicious. We got there just before 11 AM and ate mostly breakfast dishes. As we were preparing to leave, I saw other foods I want to sample. I didn't know they bring out different dishes around noon.
'Till next time...

New York Renaissance Faire

Lacey and I visited the Renaissance Faire in Sterling Forest by Tuxedo, NY. The weather was beautiful and crowds a plenty. This weekend's theme was Pirates and a lot of the patrons dressed the part. I told Lacey she'll see dorks from all walks of life. She thought I was being mean until she witnessed it herself. I have to hand it to those people; Their presence made the event more lively and humorous.

We didn't have breakfast so we shared a funnel cake. They made it extra crispy. I was never a fan of it until now.

Playing archery in Wii Resort paid off. Lacey made a couple good shots.

It took us roughly 30 minutes to purchase a turkey leg and an onion blossom. I forgot to take their pictures because jousting was about to start and we had to make our way to the tournament area.

We couldn't watch the joust in peace because there were wasps everywhere. I should have brought some insect repellent.

'Till Next Year!

Good Company, Good Food

Some friends are visiting from Boston and brought along two pugs. The small one (left) is loud and hyper. The fat one (right) has stomach problems but makes a good lap dog.
Enough playing with the dogs. For dinner, we enjoyed a hearty meal at a Korean restaurant in Palisades Park. Even though I'm full, I'm looking forward to dim sum in Flushing tomorrow.

Paved Driveway

Finally, after weeks of rain we got a weekend of sunshine. I took the opportunity and patched the driveway. I'll apply the second coat when we get another sunny weekend.

What made this time different was that I sealed most of the major cracks and applied a primer on the oil stains. I'm very pleased with the result.

Touring Long Island Wineries and Vineyards

My girlfriend, her friends, and I visited a few wineries in Long Island, New York this past Sunday.

After a long drive, we stopped for lunch at Lobster Roll. I wasn't involved in the planning so I don't know why they picked this restaurant. The food was overpriced and sub-par. I guess the reviewer gave it good rating when compared with nearby restaurants?

We visited three Wineries, Martha Clara Vineyards, Lieb Cellars, and Macari Vineyards. I don't drink so I don't know if they were any good.

The highlight of my day was seeing the goats, pig, and turtle at Martha Clara.

All Hail Homebrew

After hours of research and trial and error, I finally got Homebrew on my Wii. At first, the Wii couldn't recognize my hard drive. The partition on the hard drive needed to be created as Primary and only one of Wii's USB ports recognized it. All the games backuped up successfully except for Wii Resort. It turns out I needed a newer WBFS hard drive loader.

Game one!

iPhone Ad You'll Never See

Nintendo Wii

I set up the Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit over the weekend.
The first thing the game did was measure my weight, BMI, and guess my age. It thinks I have the health if a 37 year old and my weight is normal. If my BMI was 0.4 higher, I would have been placed in the overweight category.

My goal is to lose 3 pounds in 2 weeks. I can easily achieve that because I want to unlock more mini games an you can only do that by playing their games.

I got everything off eBay. It came with Resident Evil 4, Tiger Woods 10, Smash Brothers, Madworld, Wii Sports, and a 1st gen iPod Touch. The iPod has dust under the screen. I'll see if I can get the Apple Store to repair it tomorrow.

Timber!

I have finally cut down the tree that is causing damage to the driveway. The damage isn't terrible but it's better to address it now rather than later. The trunk took the longest to remove because the core was very dense. Afterward, I drilled a couple of holes in to the stump. I'll probably pour chemicals or salt there hoping it will kill the root.

Impressions of my new 2009 Honda Accord EX-L V6

After driving my car for a couple of week, I finally got around to writing about it.

The Accord wasn't my first choice but I'm glad I went with it. It is sportier than the 2010 Toyota Camry XLE V6. Just about everything was standard, power doors, sun roof, key-less entry, etc. The model above mine included GPS Navigation.

I'm currently busy accessorizing my car. I already got mud guard, trunk tray, floor liners, and a back-up camera. I plan to get remote start, door visors. Check out the video.

Wireless Back-up Camera

I installed a wireless backup camera to my 2009 Honda Accord today. I got the VR3 VRBCS300W Wireless Back-Up Camera with 2.5" LCD Monitor from Pep Boys for $69.98 minus a $10 mail-in rebate.

The installation process took just over 30 minutes. Tools required were a scissor, electrical tape, pliers, flathead screwdriver, and phillips screwdriver.

Overall, I'm pleased with the result. I haven't decided where to place the monitor. I can either mount it on the dashboard, air vent, or on the sun visor.

Check out my video and some photos.

Farewell Reno 911

Say it ain't so. Reports coming in from gossip sites that Comedy Central has cancelled Reno 911.
I've been to Reno. And if it weren't for this show I would have labeled Reno as the Crappiest Little City in the World.

Hollywood Reporter Link

Free60 Project

I love my original Xbox. Beside providing us with wonderful games, other apps such as Xbox Media Center and MAME extended the life of that console till this day. If the Free60 Project succeeds at bringing homebrew to the Xbox 360, I can finally retire my original Xbox.

Xbox-Scene link

Are You Worthy?

Do you have what it takes to become a citizen? MSNBC posted naturalization questions from the INS website for you to take. So check it out and feel proud that no matter how bad you do, you're already a citizen.

MSN Link

In Bon Chon We Trust

See this beautiful specimen on my left? This is, by far, the best fried chicken on the market. The center is tender and moist and the outside is nice and crispy. I prefer their Hot flavor but their Soy Garlic has been well received. All KFC franchises should be replaced with Bon Chon Chicken.

http://www.bonchon.com/

Time To Pimp My Ride

I should have waited until I saw the car before purchasing any accessories. My car came with tire guards and a trunk tray. I shouldn't have ordered the guard on eBay earlier that day. I'll probably give them to a friend or sell it.

Next on my list are door visors, bumper applique, backup camera, remote start, floor mats, and a bobblehead.

My Car Has Arrived!

I'm going to pick up the Honda Accord today after work. Instead of getting a polished metallic color, I'll get the silver metallic because that's available today.
Unfortunately, the salesman told me my mother's name will go on the title because she is the owner the clunker, trade-in car. That's a bummer.

Fire!

An emergency was reported in the building. But I have work to do!