Beyond Occident

Finally, my new cellular device in the form of the Sony Ericsson w810i Walkman phone arrived. While my old Nokia flip phone was a good basic phone, I found myself needing a smaller mp3 player and an average camera. Lucky for me, Cincinnati Bell was having a nice promotion on the w810i, so I jumped on it. The phone has a very slick Walkman mp3 app built right in and also has a superb 2.0 megapixel camera. I was also surprised by how small the device was (in a good way).

The phone is very easy to navigate and can do all the cool things that you want it to, especially when customizing the contact list. I can add pictures, ringtones, birthdays, and calling voice commands to each contact. One really cool feature is the themes. There are four to pick from and each changes the graphical interface of the UI. Very cool for personalization. You can boot into either phone or walkman mode (meaning you can use it on long plane rides) and the two can be used easily at the same time. A song will pause when someone calls and start up again when you stop talking. And did I mention it has an SOS function?

Go check out my pictures of the unwrapping process via Flickr.

I also have included below a YouTube video of the Hi-mobile take on the w810i, check it out if you want to see all the phone can do.

This week’s Movie of the Week can be found with poor quality on YouTube, so I present the link to the original source. Animator vs. Animation. After you watch it, make sure you track down the sequel, it is just as good and maybe a bit better.

Alas, all my friends are either trapped inside their houses or off invading Apple stores with Zunes, so here I am. Tomorrow, my new cell phone is due to arrive (just updated tracking info at UPS) so you can expect to see the unwrapping process via flickr. And I might be incorporating flickr into my sidebar, so stay tuned. And for all my D&D players that visit here, you may be interested in knowing that codename “Project Omnipotent” (heh.. I just made that up) is about 20% complete. You can expect some “reference” materials to be in your hands soon.

And off to play some CoD 3 online. Have an exciting evening everyone!

So my brother came over today and we got some Call of Duty 3 multiplayer action going. For the first time with a 360 game, I was easily able to get him set up as a guest and playing with me online. It was incredibly easy finding games. Try doing either of those things with Gears of War. Gears of War’s multiplayer lobby system is incredibly broken and it’s near impossible to get in a game with friends, and just as hard to get into a game by yourself. Lost connections abound.

However, once you do get into a game, it can be fun for a 4 to 8 player tense game. It is a good companion to go along with Call of Duty’s 24 (!) online player allotment. It is very much Battlefield like as you’re able to choose your class (Sniper, rifleman, assault, medic, etc) and go. Vehicles are crazy fun and while there are tanks everywhere, it only takes a bazooka to take ‘em out, so they aren’t overpowered.

And we’re predicting a shipment of 10+ Wii’s to arrive at Bestbuy so we’ll probably be camping out Saturday night. Sounds like a good time for me to finish Yoshi’s Island 2 and Pokemon FireRed. Hopefully we’ll be allowed and won’t be carted off for loitering.

I would like to tell everyone to run and buy a 360 and Call of Duty 3. Right now. It’s that good. I was expecting something along the lines of Call of Duty 2 and the basic form of play is exactly the same but the level design, sound, and graphics are unbelievable. I won’t lie; I think I like this more than Gears of War so far! Haven’t tried going online yet but all the reviews say that the online multiplayer is the best part so I’ll be sure to check that out soon.

Oh, and Night at the Museum (saw it last night) is pretty good. After learning all about Roosevelt the past few weeks in history, it was kinda interesting to see him alive. And I just found a “Buy 2 Books get 1 Free” deal at borders so I’ll think I’ll be stopping by with my shiny gift card. Check your inboxes if you shop there for that coupon.

Thanks to the fact that I live in Materialistic America, I feel the need to share with everyone all the goods I plundered (err.. recieved) today. I got several books from my sister and my other sister’s fiance, including A Walk in the Woods, a hilarious look at the Appalachian Trail and a more depressing look at how it, and other natural sites across the country, are being destroyed by ourselves and the enviornment. In the video game department, I got Yoshi’s Island Dos from my brother and Call of Duty 3 from “Santa”. I already played Yoshi’s Island 2 and can say with confidence that it is as good as the original.

I finally got a lanyard (UofL FTW!) from my sis along with a journal.. now I have two accounts of my life that I have to write on. I recieved several gift certificates and a big wad of cash from my parents, to be spent on something TBD. Karen bought me a Bengal shirt and a Bengal skull cap. I can only hope that they give the Bengals enough luck to win (while giving Oakland enough luck to beat the Jets).So, what did all my faithful readers recieve? Inquiring minds want to know.

Oh, and I finally crossed the 1000 Gamerpoint mark for my 360. Kinda sad it took me this long, but now I’m already looking at 2000 and beyond. I’ll have to get started on Call of Duty 3. And you can check out my gamer progress day by day with 360 Voice where my Xbox spills all on our relationship.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I’d would like to welcome everyone over to my new blog, Beyond Occident. Frisson was more of an experiment with blogging, as I had no idea what I was doing. This new interface supports much more customization, including the header, so I’m going to start work on a custom header graphic. I re-did the About Me section and it is a bit more fleshed out. It also gives an explanation of the blog title.

I added a books section because books simply rock. Go check it out. I’ll be experimenting over the next few weeks to set up the side bar so I’ll hopefully get some interesting and useful links and RSS feeds going. And yes, I will update this blog more often than I did with Frisson. Merry Christmas and enjoy!