Rainy Day Games: Classic Games Take a Turn Into Cards

Recently I had a chance to play some indoor games with some friends. Rain and the cold make for great gaming nights. 

I enjoy Scrabble, but I hate the Monopoly board game. If you want to play a game of Monopoly, set aside 4-24 hours and get ready to battle into the night!

Parker Brothers came out with a spinoff to their highly successful Scrabble game called Scrabble SLAM. Basically you have cards with multiple letters on them, and you spell out four letter words to change the words. Think "LUCK" then change one letter to make "LOCK" ... put another card down with the letter "O" on top of the "C" to make "LOOK" ... and so forth. This is a Speed type card game where you have to get rid of your cards as fast as you can, hence the name SLAM.

When I think of four letter words, I think of swear words. If your friends are into that, heck... make it your rule! Unfortunately one of my friends decided to make his own individual rules and won the game. Bah! Fun yes, clever... well maybe not as much as Monopoly Deal. I was skeptical at first but this is an awesome game. FUN FUN FUN!!!!

Monopoly IS a monopoly of Monopoly. If that makes any sense. You can have a store stocked with just Monopoly related products and fill the shelves. I'm sure you've seen all the variable Monopoly games and countless licensed products. Monopoly Seinfeld? Monopoly Nintendo? Make Your Own Opoly Game? LOL. Well Monopoly Deal share some similarities with the board game, but the game play is completely different. We played for push-ups as punishment. The differences of the winner's total of the cards layed out (cash + territory value) versus the loser. Just go buy it. I guarantee a good time.

The best thing about these spinoff card games are that you can have as much or more fun for less than $6! Let me know what you think.

Long-Term Product Review: Samsung SGH-A877 Impression

AT&T's Samsung SGH-A877 Impression

After a half year of using the phone, I can say I've learned a lot about the capabilities and shortcomings of the SGH-A877. Also known as the Impression. The software engine and display look almost identical to the Samsung Eternity (SGH-A867), the main difference being the lack of AMOLED screen and physical keyboard. I was about to get the Eternity but the slide out keyboard and the fact that it was one of the first cell phones with the AMOLED technologies sold me. Only 14 other models have AMOLED displays, the iPhone not being one of them. The extra $50 was worth it.

The GPS works, but use it in case you don't have a stand-alone GPS. I would recommend downloading the free Google Maps as opposed to AT&T's Navigator. When I get lost and I don't have my Garmin, the built-in GPS capability can be a life saver. It has for me.

The external speakers (the regular speaker, and rear speaker) have decent volume. Sometimes I use it when I take a shower and I HAVE to listen to that new song. One of my favorite features is how well the Bluetooth works with my car stereo. I have the Sony MEX-BT2600 synced to my Impression with Bluetooth and I can use the Impression to control the music from my phone. Very neat.

I have to praise the option to use the virtual keyboard or sliding the QWERTY keyboard out to type. A big factor when I bought the phone. The choice of keyboards are awesome but the physical keyboard is annoying when typing text messages. There is a slight lag which is also accompanied by occasional double-key strokes, and sometimes skipping of the letter entirely. I hear the speed could be improved by turning the typing sound off, but I shouldn't have to. It works fine when typing in the internet browser and other applications, so why only during text messages? It is something I've learned to live with. 

The lack of customization frustrates me most. When I buy something, I want to make it mine. For two reasons. First I want to simply customize it for my own viewing pleasure. Show off my personal photos of friends or family, my dream car, my favorite sports team, etc. Secondly, I want to know it is my phone and make it known to others. How many times have we visited friends homes when someone asks, who's phone is this? Oh... it's David's. He wants that Lexus LF-A that is pictured on his phone!

Customers assume every phone has the ability to change the wallpaper. Heck... even my old flip phones had this ability when cameraphones first came out! Advancements with technology... hello! You can't use one of your MP3s as a ringtone unless you use applications to slice it up because there is a limit on file size (WTF?!). The widget side menu lacks customization as well.

Sometimes I have to reset my phone from time to time in order to send text messages. That is annoying because when sending messages, it may be time sensitive. Rebooting it and waiting for the text messaging service to be fully loaded can take up to 5 minutes. Seriously annoying. Good thing it only happens 1-2 times per month.

The "No event" box. The engineers screwed up big time here. Sometimes there is a dark gray box with the "!" mark on the sidebar tool list which serves no purpose or function. It just sits there like "dead weight" with the other icons. The engineers didn't know how to make it disappear before releasing the phone.

When browsing the internet, my phone resets. My old Blackjack I did this too. Why Samsung?? Why?

Most of these things could be fixed with proper support from Samsung. I'm not so optimistic, but I hope Samsung gets their act together and puts out a firmware addressing these issues. I know there are unconventional ways to do this, but we take the risk of screwing up our phones. Every phone has its problems, which is why I give this phone average marks. It has lots of features, just doesn't do any one thing really well besides look pretty.

Bottom line: Lots of potential, but falters (somewhat) with execution. My reviews are always very critical. That is what consumers want to hear before they buy something. Recommended to light users who text and use the internet occasionally.

Pros:

• AMOLED screen
• Keyboard choices
• Bluetooth
• GPS
  

Cons:

• Slide-out keyboard when texting
• Lack of 3rd party support
• Software Bugs (well known) Samsung has yet to fix
  

Other Features & Tools:

• Calendar
• Record Audio
• Alarms
• Tasks
• Calculator
• Converter (Currency, Length, Weight, Volume, Area, Temp)
• Timer
• Stopwatch
  

Cellphone Radiation

When you think radiation, you think glowing green ooze that can give you incredible ninja powers right? Or perhaps nuclear disasters like the Russian Chernobyl power plant incident. Whatever it may be, I doubt cellphone radiation is the first thing that comes to mind, if at all. It has only been the last few years where cell phone radiation studies have been giving any type of attention. Symptoms of headaches and dizziness have been brought up, with fears of brain cancer.

If this picture doesn't do anything for you, you probably are oblivious to your own personal health.

I can say that if I was a cellphone salesman, I would bring up the Impression's low radiation level as a selling point. I can almost guarantee people would seriously consider this phone over another seeing how health conscious people are these days. No I'm not trying to sell this phone, I am just noting how happy I was to hear it being a health conscious man, getting my feet wet into my 30s. Believe me, it comes with several pros and cons which I am now inclined to post.

I have a sort-of-like/hate relationship with my phone, but it looks like I can upgrade that to like/hate. The Samsung Impression SGH-A877 was rated #1 in lowest radiation phones in the United States, according to the EWG (Environmental Working Group). Looks like I can put blame for my short term memory elsewhere. To me, health is #1. And so should it be for you. Without it, who cares if I have to restart my phone to text someone every few weeks?

PHONE	SERVICE	RADIATION
SAMSUNG IMPRESSION (SGH-a877)	AT&T	0.15 - 0.35 W/kg
Motorola RAZR V8	CellularONE	0.36 W/kg
Samsung SGH-t229	T-Mobile	0.38 W/kg
Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837)	AT&T	0.22 - 0.46 W/kg
Samsung Propel Pro (SGH-i627)	AT&T	0.14 - 0.47 W/kg
Samsung Gravity (SGH-t459)	CellularONE, T-Mobile	0.49 W/kg
T-Mobile Sidekick	T-Mobile	0.50 W/kg
LG Xenon (GR500)	AT&T	0.52 W/kg
Motorola Karma QA1	AT&T	0.55 W/kg
Sanyo Katana II	Kajeet	0.22 - 0.55 W/kg
Motorola W260g	TracFone	0.57 W/kg
Blackberry Storm 9530	Verizon	0.57 W/kg
Motorola Stature i9	Boost Mobile, Sprint	0.61 W/kg
Samsung Magnet (SGH-A257)	AT&T	0.62 - 0.64 W/kg
Motorola Renegade V950	Sprint	0.66 W/kg
LG CF360	AT&T	0.68 W/kg
Samsung Saga (SCH-i770)	Verizon	0.69 W/kg
Motorola CLIQ with MOTOBLUR	T-Mobile	0.69 W/kg
Helio Ocean	Virgin Mobile	0.72 W/kg
Samsung SCH-i760	Verizon	0.73 W/kg

Source: EWG

Bring It On '10

Photo credits: sobriquet.net

No that isn't a picture of myself. Typed in conquered on Flickr, and there it was. LOL.  

It has already been brought! I entered the New Year uneventfully as can be. Junk food and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Awesome game, not my ideal way to bring on the new decade. I want to some day go to New York for the ball drop, something I want to do before I die, or go back to the motherland in Seoul Korea and bring on the new year. Heck... I'll settle for a house party with friends.

It's not all bad. After all, many people look forward to huge parties and have high expectations on a new beginning. And those New Year resolutions... bah. I gave up on them after promising to read the bible every day for 3 New Years when I was younger. Needless to say, I failed so miserably on that. Weight control is also a big deal during New Year's. The first month seems to be as busy as the summertime inside gyms.

As much as I avoid resolutions, I still look forward to 2010 being better. At least in terms of career. I graduated in late 2008 during one of the worst recessions in US history, and I've been at my less than desirable job ever since. I'm just grateful that I have good people that treat me well at my job, which is why I did not want to quit and work any other job. Not that they would hire me anyway during this time. I'll focus on finding a job that fits my major (business) or something that will lead me in a another direction to do something I might want to do because I have a chance at higher salary. 2010... be good to me.

I wish everyone else a Happy New Year and great success in your endeavors, what ever they may be.

Finding Motivation

Starting the new year always motivates people to do things; finding a new hobby, losing weight/getting in shape, learning a new language, getting back into "blogging."

The hard part is to maintain some sort of consistency and finding long-term motivation. I miss blogging but it always comes in spurts.

Speaking of... all of those things I mentioned above are things I have interest in. Now only if I can get back on track. Where do I find this motivation? I wish I could just buy it and turn it on.

Medal watch

Olympics continue to bring dazzling finishes and big upsets and I continue to watch. I think it has been too long since my last update to cover everything so I wont go over what has happened except for one thing. The women's softball team. In my last Olympics oriented blog I brought up an article that stated that the team was much too good for their own good, and yes they are yet they couldn't reach gold. The Japanese team played a great game and overcame the US powerhouse team 3-1. Wow, just wow. Hats off to them. It is just like team USA basketball all over again, yet there will be no chance for a redemption team in the near future because softball is not an Olympic event after the Beijing games.




Isn't it crazy that USA and China have nearly the same medal count (95 vs 83)? I still have trouble viewing China as an international powerhouse. They have some great athletes and they will only get better. Thanks to archery and Judo, South Korea had vaulted into the top 5 early on. However there was some slippage and are currently in 8th place. Not bad for half of an appendix of Asia.


My Oakland A's stink. I admit that. Beginning in the year I expected the worst from my Athletics, yet they suprised many playing really efficient baseball. The pitching staff was excellent, the players were squeezing out runs to bring up the A's into 1st place in the American League division. That is all history now. After trading Blanton and Haren, we haven't been the same. The pitching is still good, but checkout the lineup. A whole bunch of scrubs. Nobody can hit! Sad. One bright spot, a very bright one at that is sidearm wielding and current closer Brad Ziegler. He broke a record for consecutive scoreless innings to start a career that was held by a George McQuillan in 1907. It's good to see something like this coming from a struggling team. I had a chance to see this wonder make magic on a game versus the Tampa Bay Rays, thanks to my friend who had box seats at McAfee Collesium. Suprisingly we got a win and Ziegler closed off the game for us. Awesome. I was not expecting much but got to see a great game including a 2 run homer by Bobby Crosby. Good job BOBBAY!

Automobiles: Best Fuel Economy... a Honda Fit?

The Honda Fit was introduced in other regions before the US as the Jazz.

Well it depends on how you look at it. Consumer Reports announces that the Honda Fit is the best "price per MPG" car out there. No I didn't say best MPG rated car. I'm sure this report only includes cars that use gasoline including hybrids. It doesn't mean you should go out there and buy a cute Fit strictly from this report but it is something to consider because we only look at the gas mileage. From this report the Fit is #1 and #2. #1 being the manual/stickshift model that comes as the Sport trim, and #2 being the automatic version.

There are several other factors many don't consider including the cost of ownership. Some people figure "hey I got a nice bonus. I feel good so I should go out and buy a nice and shiny Benz" to replace their ancient 2004 Honda Accord EX not realizing that their $35 oil change from the dealer is now a $120 commitment, the car demands premium (and often), and the fat ass tires requires a payment plan. Anyway take a look.

Custom Mugen Honda Fit. Mugen is a tuner company closely associated with Honda.

Top 10 in Price Per Mpg

Model
Price - MPG - PPMPG
#1 Honda Fit Sport (manual)
$15,765 - 34 - $464

2. Honda Fit (base)
$15,245 - 32 - $476
3. Toyota Prius (base)
$23,780 - 44 - $540
4. Mazda3 i (manual)
$17,290 - 30 - $576
5. Toyota Prius Touring
$24,803 - 42 - $591
6. Nissan Versa 1.8 SL
$16,675 - 28 - $596
7. Honda Civic Hybrid
$22,400 - 37 - $605
8. Honda Civic EX (manual)
$18,810 - 31 - $607
9. Hyundai Elantra GLS
$17,555 - 27 - $650
10. Scion tC (base)
$17,115 - 26 -$658



The hybrids are in the top 10 but the Fit seems like the clearcut winner in the short term. If you plan to buy a car based primarily on fuel economy you should consider 2 things. Do you plan on having it short term (3-5 years) or long term (5+ years)? I say the Prius for the long term and the Fit for short term. That is unless gas prices EXPLODE. Then go out and get a Prius, or better yet one of these e-bicycles... siiiiick.




The battery pack on the rear rack.

Changes to the Olympics

This will be the last year softball will be an Olympic event. I enjoy recreational softball and although it is a bit different in women's professional softball (slow vs fast pitch) I don't want to see it go. I then do what I always do, try to think from a universal perspective. Maybe as an American... err United Statesman, I enjoy seeing highlights of my country's dominance over the other countries as they get gold every single year so this is why I am sad to see it go. I "wiki"d softball to see if it is popular internationally, and surely it is. That rules out softball being only popular in the US as a reason they are removing it. Then I come across this article: Too-good U.S. team hurt softball's future

Cat Osterman receives a high-five from fellow pitcher Jenny Finch.

We're too good for our own good. Well YEAH. The US no-hit Australians yesterday and they're the clear cut favorites. The competition is a tournament for the silver medal for other countries. Does that mean that every competition that Michael "Aquaman" Phelps swims in should be cancelled too?



Softball's big brother, baseball, will also have it's last showing in the Olympics indefinitely. I'm not exactly sure of the reason they're removing baseball from the Olympics, but I'm sure it isn't because the US is dominating. They got beat by the South Koreans 8-7 in an exciting game with a little of everything. Perhaps the introduction of the WBC (World Baseball Classic) lead to the removal of baseball. Ehh... well I don't care as much about baseball being removed because we aren't using our "finest" anyway. But then there is the Soccer *ahem* the Football World Cup and football is still and will most likely always be an Olympic sport. I'm confused.



First things first. Gymnist is spelled gymnast. I had to use a spell checker to make sure because it didn't look right. Have you ever spelled a word and it doesn't look quite right? Why do we pronounce it "gymnist" yet pronounce "gymnastics" this way?

China's age controversy of its gymnasts are all over the internet. A simple search on google about US team captain Alicia Sacramone (known for her choking during the olympics and this youtube video) or the results of the team gymnastics will somehow lead to the top story. I tried to defend China because Asians look so much older than they really are (hey I get 19-24 years old but I'm almost 31), but it seems a few of the gymnasts had different ages listed (2 years later) on their profiles a while back but on their passports their birth years showed up as 2 years earlier. I don't want to go further with this but for the moment I say China deserved the gold, but they should pursue this speculation to see if they truly deserve the gold. And I'm not just saying this as a bitter American, but to keep the integrity of the Olympics true and fair.

Team China celebrate after confirming their victory for gold.

Call me paranoid but I suspect this one might not quite be 16 years old. She also has fingers growing out of her body.

A story slightly off topic. Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai dislocated his right elbow attempting to lift 148kg (~325lbs) and then having the weight fall on him. You heard right, it fell right on him crushing him and sending him to the hospital. It seems he will be alright but daaaaaamn. That's gonna leave a mark. Just look at the photos, holy crap. I've left out the more graphic ones.





Helpless Baranyai crushed by the weights.

Baranyai as the Olympic staff tend to him


Poor guy. I hope he sticks to the sport and makes an appearance in the 2012 London Olympics.

While on route to the Oakland A's game yesterday when the A's outplayed the Rays 2-1, we discussed going to the Olympics some day. I was planning on going to the Bejing Olympics as a post-graduation trip, but I wasn't on track instead graduating one semester later. Anyway my friend proposed that we buy advanced tickets for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Wow, talk about advanced commitment. I really want to but my budget isn't too flexible right now, plus it is 2 YEARS from now. Vancouver is close enough to drive to (casual 2 day drive), the beer is strong there, and it would be my first Olympics. To go or not to go?

I got a new old Curve

Blackberry Curve taken with my SD500. My main photo-blogging weapon of choice.


So I bought my friend's old cellular phone from him replacing my aging Samsung Blackjack 1. I really want a touch-screen phone but I really don't feel like forking up too much money when I don't have steady cash flow. $85 for a slightly scratched Curve, not bad especially when I can sell my old phone for the same price. The scratch is only on the back battery cover. I can buy a replacement cover and *BAM* good as new. I'm going to miss playing Solitare on my Blackjack, time to move on to BrickBreaker (Arkanoid knockoff).


Is it weird to buy a phone like the Curve without the Internet plan? I use smartphones so that I can sync it with my PC and use it as a calendar. I told my friends I got the Curve, and they all say "why the hell do you get it without an Internet plan?" My response... "the same reason why I got the Blackjack without Internet!!! Have you forgotten???" Being a forgetful person, having a calendar on my phone can be a lifesaver. And no, the calendars on the flip phones suck. I have already tried that.

RIM Blackberry Curve 8300
World Phone Quad-Band GSM
2MP camera
Bluetooth

Pros:
Nice clear display
Aesthetically pleasing, sleek and symetrical design
Full QWERTY keyboard. The one thing the iPhone doesn't have.
Nice strong flash for camera.
3.5mm audio jack for regular headphones, doesn't need special connectors/adaptors.
Cons:
Trackball can be a little iffy. A little annoying, nothing serious.
Don't like the 10-key to one side. It should be in the middle so it can be more easily utilized with both hands.

Canon ELPH SD500

My well used SD500 still going strong along with the high speed 1GB card. LOL!






How it looked new: Canon PowerShot ELPH SD500 sold as IXUS 700 elsewhere

7MP
3x Optical Zoom
2 inch LCD monitor


I've had my digitial camera for a couple of years now. I bought it mainly because I wanted to upgrade my camera for my trip to Vietnam. Every time I buy a camera I tell myself, I'll splurge and get an expensive one so I wont have to get another one for another 3 years. When I bought it, 7MP was still relatively new for the ultra compacts but ever since I bought it I've only used it at 5MP. I feel 7MP is overkill for someone like me who isn't out there to capture stunning scenery photos, rather just to capture memories.




Anyway the SD500 is a solid camera. Not awesome in any one way, but very good in photo quality and video. The ultra compacts usually don't get awesome categories except for size. My biggest gripe about this camera and previous models is occassional blurry photos, especially in low light situations. The new IS (Image Stability) models are supposed to drastically reduce this problem. I'm sold. I think I need to upgrade my 1GB SD card as well... I think. OK I must.






Sleek new Canon SD870 IS.





Even newer Canon SD890 IS

Well it has been almost 3 years and I want another one. No suprise. I've always loved Canon's ultra compact cameras so it will be another updated model. Right now I'm eyeing the SD870 IS or even the very new SD890 IS (5x optical zoom!). If you aren't familiar with digital cameras, 5x zoom is awesome for an ultra compact. However I don't know if I can justify paying so much for this camera when I can get the SD870 IS, which has a 3.8x zoom for a bit less. I don't like the aesthetics of the SD890 anyway. It curves where you hold the camera and I read a review that the reviewer didn't like the feel of it because it should be thicker, not thinner where you hold the camera. The SD870's black/silver color scheme is quite nice. Kinda manly no?