MEGA MOVIE WEEKEND BLOWOUT SPECIAL

I have watched so few movies lately, and thus have gotten behind on movies I need to watch. Mainly because even though I have stopped watching movies (thanks Sopranos), I have continued to download movies that interest me. So here are a list of possible movies for me to watch this weekend. (In no particular order) While I have no delusions about actually watching all these movies. I will watch SOME of them, who knows how many though.


Der Undertang (The Downfall)

In The Valley of Elah

Lars and The Real Girl

Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon (The Diving Bell and The Butterfly)

North by Northwest

The Assassination of Jesse James

Into The Wild

He Was A Quiet Man

Across The Universe

The Last of The Mohicans

3:10 To Yuma

Paprika

Deep Water

Eagle Vs. Shark

The Namesake

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Valentine's Day Link Special

Macroeconomics of Love!

Affair of the Lips

Valentine's Day in Saudi Arabia

Gorillas In The Wild.. LOL

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Applications - Ode To Picasa 2.0

It would be hard to argue that Google is not taking over the internet these days, from the mythical Android to their customizable home page iGoogle. Their range of tools and web applications is staggering. The one I have fell in love with recently is the image editing/organizing tool - Picasa. The amount of features and capabilities of this program, especially for its size is notable. More importantly it has seamless integration with Blogger, Picasa's web albums, Gmail, and even Google Earth. Did I mention it is free?

Shortly after you install Picasa, it scans and imports all your images on your hard drive. You can organize and sort photos quickly and easily. Viewing them in chronological order with the Timeine feature. It also gives you the ability to note and caption individual pictures.

There are a good amount of simple photo editing options built in, 12 Effects filters(B&W, Sepia, Tint, Film Grain etc.) , Cropping, Straightening, and even the famous "I'm Feeling Lucky" option to remove the guesswork. I mentioned earlier its integration with Google Earth, which is something I have not done myself, but looked at it, but you can Geotag pictures, letting picasa know where you shot the photos, and then being able to view them in Google Earth

I have used Photoshop Album before, and liked it alot. I think that as far as features goes, they stand toe to toe. However Picasa's ability to work perfectly with other google apps, and the fact that is is free, makes it an easy choice for casual and intermediate users, while hard core photographers will probably want something a bit more professional.

Download: Picasa

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Game Spotlight - AudioSurf

AudioSurf is another entry in this years IGF finalists, and sticking with the current trend is an rhythm based game, this time in the form of a frenetic puzzle racer. A few interesting ideas in this game, first is that you can load up any MP3 on your computer and it generates a race track designed around that song. So no two songs will produce the same race. This however is not a standard racer by any means, similar to a puzzle game you group similar colored bars to score points. Some bars are not worth as much as others, and the red bars are worth the most but they only appear in the most intense parts of the song. There are a variety of different modes and options, and also the ability to compare your scores online. For $10 this is definitely worth picking up if you are like me and love rhythm based games.

Download: AudioSurf
(Demo is available Friday)

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Barack Obama talks Religon and Politics

Text Version


I can't help but feel empathy, respect, and admiration for Barack after this speech. He sends an amazing message of acceptance, doubt, and sincerity regarding his views on faith. His candid account of his call to faith in a way that make me regret previously disregarding religious zealots and unfairly grouping your average religious American into that same category. People are not sure, people have doubts, but what is more important is that the channels of dialog stay open instead of cauterized by the differences in our beliefs.

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Movie Review - 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days is an tense look at Romania during the early 80's. Two college friends who try to arrange an illegal abortion for one of them, forcing them to go into the seedy underbelly of the streets of Romania. It is a heart breaking and intense, as you see the girls debased and shaken. As they have to deal with and accept the consequences of their actions. I think the movie makes a strong argument for the legality of abortion, since the danger of dealing with illegal abortions is often dire.

The cinematography is also very impressive. In the same vein as Danish director Lars von Trier with a minimalist and subtle shots for most of the film. Most of the shots are long, and in a majority of the scenes the camera sets still, as the scene evolves around it. Which for the most part tends to build tension by giving the film an eerie sense of realism. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days is an intense and gripping story. As far as recommendations go, I definitely do.

Torrent: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

Game Spotlight - Synaesthete

(Disclaimer: Video is not perfect, will reupload a better sample later)


Synaesthete is a indie game, that is nominated for a few awards for this years Independent Game Festival. It is another rhythm based game, which is definitely the current trend. Which personally I am a fan of. This game stars an odd looking character named.. well who knows what his name is. But he runs around in an odd futuristic environment, and you shoot the aliens. Actually they might not be aliens, the point is the game is very abstract. There is a story, but it is completely unnecessary. You move from room to room while a pretty solid techno beat thumps in the background. Mashing the J K and L keys to the rhythm, which functions as your ammo. Miss notes and you don't fire. It can get pretty intense at the higher BPM's. Taking a lot the classic Rez, it is a interesting music based shooter. All that aside, Synaesthete is a pretty fun title and one of the better titles I've played from this years IGF.

Download: Synaesthete