Grow

So the other day, I was carousing through some game sites such as Friv and Orisinal and I happened to stumble across an interesting little site with a set of interesting little games. The site is called Eyezmaze. The game is called Grow. The games themselves are very simple; You have somewhere around 8 to 10 different seemingly random objects, such as a ball, a spring, a meeple, and some water, that you place into these mini worlds in a specific order so certain events can happen in the correct order. It's an interesting concept that makes for hours of exciting and sometimes frustrating gameplay. The picture above is one Chrissy (my wife) and I complete today. It took a few hours to figure it out. Try it yourself.

Coolest Garden Sculpture/ Stepping Stone Ever!

My brother is an artist of all sorts of mediums- he sometimes makes sculptures from left over cement. I love how his latest one came out.
Meet Cement Goomba! I think Mario should be next.



Check out the rest of his blog at tylertinsley.com

The Daily Fix: Tricking

Today's Daily Fix features an emerging sport called "Tricking". Tricking is an extreme form of gymnastics and has it's roots in break dancing and martial arts. Honestly, it's absolutely incredible. When you watch the video, be prepared to see feats of human strength beyond what most thought was possible. You will see things from people running up walls, jumping (with outside help whatsoever) 3 times their own height, and doing pushups with only no feet and only one hand. I kid you not. Enjoy!

DRM-Free Music On iTunes: Awesome?

In one of the best most confusing moves for the consumer the music industry has ever done, EMI in conjunction with Apple has announced today that they will be releasing DRM-Free music on iTunes for $0.30 more. This most certainly comes as a complete surprise to most of us and is definitely a welcome step in the right direction for moving towards a completely DRM-free world.

However, one has to ask: Why would they make such a seemingly selfless move like this? They obvious answer seems to be that they would make more money, seeing as how they are charging a quarter and a nickel more per DRM-free song. But I have a few issues with this.

One of which is that the DRM-free songs are still in the AAC format. Most devices play primarily MP3 and OGG Vorbis. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that means only iPods can play these songs still. So all of those folks out there sporting their iRiver, Zune, Creative, and Sandisk players won't be able to even take advantage of these DRM-free songs. Hmmm, that stinks.

Another issue I have is that they are charging more for the DRM-free songs. Media is media, it's the same song, is it not? DVD Music, SACDs and CDs all cost the exact same, why must we now pay MORE for DRM-free, slightly higher quality music?

And lastly is the oh-so-interesting fact that TV shows and movies are not DRM-free as well. If Mr. Jobs and EMI truly supported this DRM-free movement, then why wouldn't Jobs push for DRM-free Disney movies (and all of the subsidiary companies therein, e.g. Pixar, ABC, Touchstone, Miramax, etc). Keep in mind that Jobs owns a considerable amount of shares in The Walt Disney Company and is one of the senior members on the Board Of Directors.

All in all, I think this is most certainly a move in the right direction, but at the moment, it seems that the rights of the consumer are skewed in the eyes of the big wigs in charge of the record labels. Here's hoping for a DRM-free world that is that much closer to a reality!

Offical Annoucement Here

Virtual Console Monday!

After releasing several virtually unknown games that nobody really cares about, Nintendo is finally getting their Virtual Console channel back on track. Today, we get 3 great games:

Star Fox 64 - N64 - 1000 Wii points ($10)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - NES - 600 points ($6)
Dragon's Curse - TurboGrafix 16 - 600 points ($6)

Mmm, Retro goodies!

NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams Confirmed

Yes.

According to Famitsu, Sonic Team USA will have its sequel to legendary Saturn title NiGHTS ready for a Wii release this winter. NiGHTS 2 will now be known as NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (although that name isn't confirmed for the Japanese market). Famitsu explains that the main attraction of Journey of Dreams is how it provides gameplay with the Wii Remote, where you can glide, drift, ascend, and loop-the-loop without even thinking about the controls. Takashi Izuka of Sonic Team USA is Producer of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. He leaves Famitsu, and the rest of the weeping-with-tears-of-joy world, with this comment:

"In 1996, we created the NiGHTS character to achieve a concept of 'being refreshed from being able to fly in the sky'. 11 years later, at last, we have broken our silence. NiGHTS will now fly in a new dream world: new stages, new story, and on the new Wii platform. Please look forward to NiGHTS and friends exploring this brand new adventure."

Yes.

Via Joystiq

April 2, 2007 -- Nisan 13/14

Text for Monday, April 02, 2007



Monday, April 2

Memorial Date

After Sundown

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of the Christ?—1 Cor. 10:16.

In what way do those partaking of the wine at the Memorial ‘share in the blood of the Christ’? They certainly do not share in providing the ransom sacrifice. Through their faith in the redeeming power of Christ’s blood, their sins are forgiven and they are declared righteous for life in heaven. (Rom. 5:8, 9; Titus 3:4-7) It is by means of Christ’s shed blood that the 144,000 joint heirs of Christ are “sanctified,” set apart, cleansed from sin to be “holy ones.” (Heb. 10:29; Dan. 7:18, 27; Eph. 2:19) Yes, it is with his shed blood that Christ “bought persons for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and . . . made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”—Rev. 5:9, 10. w 2/15/06 10a

Memorial Bible reading: (Events on Nisan 13 and 14) Matthew 26:17-56; Luke 22:7-13

Kingdom Hearts 3 Secret Trailer