Bush Mackel

Bucky was nice enough to hit me with his new Daily Blogger Award! This is really nice award in that I really try and serve up content everyday and I’m glad someone notices (even though this month hasn’t been the best). But that was due to circumstances beyond my control! So anyway, I gotta pass the love with others that give me the daily dose I’m jonsin’ for!

So without further ado…

My Picks for the Daily Blogger Award!

Casey @ News Notion
Opal T @ Vegan Momma
Danielle @ Pink Internet Marketing

Everyone knows that engineers and artists are two different kinds of people. It is thought that one is logical and the other is creative.

One thing that is known for sure is that artists shouldn’t be in charge of making programs work, and engineers shouldn’t be charge of making things look good.

I came across this fact of the life the other day slaving away for my 3 bosses. I was given this by one of them.

This was the picture one of my bosses (an engineer) drew to show me what his idea about an app should look like. This was supposed to be a thermometer and a compass. All I’m sayin’ is the thing on the left doesn’t look like a thermometer.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. I don’t know what TV and Cable is doing today (if anything) to commemorate the event but I know when I was younger there would always be a marathon of all his terrible movies that my dad would always watch.

I didn’t particularly care for the movies then, and I can’t say that I care for them now but as I’ve grown older I think I’ve come to appreciate his music or moreso his voice now. (Which if I had to bet, I’d say is the more important of the two).

So hey, I’m not the biggest fan but he had some great songs and it’s suspect if the world will ever seen a performer like him again. Do you have a favorite Elvis song? Suspicious Minds is my personal fav.

I should start by saying I was a big fan of the original Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64. For the series it was something new, something funny and something down right entertaining. So when Super Paper Mario for the Wii came out, I just had to snatch it up!

As I write this, I’m about 3/4 of the way through the game and everyone keeps asking me how it is, so I thought I’d tell you!

Background
If you’ve never played any of the Paper Mario series here’s the basic breakdown: They basically star Mario and once again he has to save the day. The twist is that while the games are presented in 3D, Mario and company are essentially still 2D sprites. This means that that when they change direct from left to right for instance, in the middle of the animation, they’ll be as flat as a piece of paper. Sure it sounds like a gimmicky concept but it actually provides the way for some cheap jokes, good sight gags, and also a very light hearted humorous tone throughout the games.

Gameplay
Unlike many Wii games, you play this one with JUST the Wiimote and you use it sideways most of the times…MUCH LIKE NES GAMES FROM THE VC! Now at first you’d think this is kinda lame but it really isn’t. Even though most of the game you play with the controller sideways, there are many times where you have to point it at the screen and shoot something, or shake it violently or even carefully tip it this way or that. In the end you’ll be happy that Super Paper Mario didn’t try and abuse the Wiimote’s functionality but added it correctly when it should.

So is it Any Good?
There are things this game has goin’ for it, and things it doesn’t.

What it does right…

• Comedy factor is in full effect
• Graphics while not mind blowing are certainly sharp and fit the game perfectly
• The Wiimote XFactor really make this a blast to play
• It feels like you get your money out of it because it will take you a bunch of hours to finish it.

What it does wrong (imho)…

• The other games play more as RPGs, this one makes an awkward attempt with leveling up, but because of the somewhat linear gameplay, you never notice why you need more HP or attack damage
• Lots of times you feel like this game should be called Wii Super Mario. More than anything else it plays like a really polished platformer and while that can be a good thing, it feels just too simplistic at times. Adults will be bored at times, but kids are sure to love it.

 All in all: Good game. I wouldn’t buy it at full price, but you’re sure to love it either way!

Happy Madden Day! Madden 2008 for the Wii, 360, PS3, is now available! It of course promises the latest graphics, stats and unbelievable gameplay that the franchise has been known for.

Now you may think that with a lead in like that, you would be finding a die hard Madden fan front and center. Well you’re not. Well you’re kinda not going to. Hm. Perhaps an explanation is an order.

My History with Madden
I used to be a big fan of Madden. If memory serves correct, the first Madden game I had was Madden 94 for Genesis. (Was that the first time “Genesis” was uttered on here?) Anyway, it was a fun game and I had my play that could destroy entire defenses. The play was simply called…

As soon as you made the toss, just fake right and then go up the sideline for the easy 80 yard touch down. Now this was a game I could play.

The Current Predicament
In a nutshell the problem is the game has passed me by. I don’t know when it happened but the game is so freakin realistic strategerie wise that you really need to know how football plays work to get anything done. And I’ll tell ya, this guy doesn’t know football plays with the exception of HB toss left. Worse than that, this guy doesn’t know how call defense which is a recipe for disaster.

The Straw That Broke This Camel’s Back
It was probably about a year or two ago now that I was playing Madden (prob 06) with a true Madden degenerate, my good friend Big Talkin Bubba. You know the type of degenerate I’m talkin’ about. He plays online, thinks about his record often, goes through drafts, seasons, goes after the trophies etc. Anyway, so he’s playing me and at half time it’s basically 67 to 7 him leading. No joke.

Now for a big game player like me, this was really demoralizing. But in fairness, he’s kind of like my video game rival so if anyone was going to twist the knife I guess I was ok with it being him. But of course, he couldn’t just give me the beating like a friend. At halftime he thought that it would be fun to bet me money that he could get to 100. *sigh* But being the strategic mastermind that I was, I took his bet. And I won.

With 5 minute quarters, all I had to do was basically call running plays and get the occasional first down to waste every last bit of time I could during my possessions. Even though I still lost the game by something like 80 points I achieved a moral victory that day… As small as it was.

Fast Forward to Now
As with every new incarnation of Madden, I’m thinking about getting it. And now that I have a Wii, I’m thinking about getting it just to have fun with the Wiimote and maybe learn the game a bit more so I won’t embarrass myself in front of my friends anymore. But this strategy does have some flaws…

• Wii gameplay probably won’t translate to other systems
• Wii online mode (if available) almost certainly won’t let me play with others and will probably pale in comparison to Xbox Live

So I wonder, do I go for it? When I got 2006 I got so frustrated getting beaten in it all the time, I actually returned it. (Yeah, I know). Now the Wii version does have some great features some exclusive to Wii, and some just exclusive to 2008.

• Family Play + Advanced Play – Allows users to play the game with the Wiimote or with both the Wiimote and Nunchak
• Telestrating – Exclusive to the Wii me thinks, it allows you to break down replays just like the pros, drawing on the screen for maximum smack talking
• Football 101 – This is a big one that apparently teaches you about football! Though I know the game enough to enjoy and watch it like crazy during the season, my current knowledge is not enough for Madden. (Weird huh?)

So what do you guys think?
Do I get the new version for the Wii? Do I get it for the 360 since I should be getting a system in the next week or so? Or do I just call it a day and give up? BTW, if you want to see some more about Madden 2008, click the above pic or hop over to IGN here.

I was tagged in an interesting meme by Ms. AdSense Tracker recently. I wanted to get to this one yesterday but alas…Fate would have other plans. But that’s what “work” is for right? (#);) So here’s the situation:

Ms. AdSense Tracker just gave me 1 million dollars! What in the world am I going to do with it? Hmmmm…I think I would probably put half of that in the bank, (since one of my accounts gets fantastic interest), and the other half I would put into Real Estate and buy a couple rental properties. Were you expecting that I would do something with it in regards to web development? Nahhhh. I’ve said it before, but I don’t think I’m in the place right now to spin $1M into 2 or 3.

Instructions: ***** Start Copy *****

Proposition – If you have $1 Million Dollars

Requirements – Continue above sentences.

Tag Mode – If you wanna participate, just jump in!

Link – Add your anchor and post link below.

What They Would Do With Their 1 Million Dollars

SYH will Spend on Family
Miche will Give to Needy
Montessorimum will Keepsake
Lovely Mummy will Spend and Save
MummyInVain will Fully Utilize
Babyfiona will Buy House and Open Business
MonkeyWong will Go for a long vacation
EmilaYusof will Realize her Dream
Mariuca will Open a perfume gallery
Hin will Blog to Donate for Charity
Norski will Tithe to top off 10%
AdSense Tracker will Buy a Good Blog
Bush Mackel will Save Half and Buy Real Estate with the Rest.

Instructions – **** End Copy ****

As many of you remember, I recently wrote about the XBox 360 Price Drop and HDMI Premium News. Ever since then, me and my boy Steve have been keeping a look out for more news, confirmations, and anything else that could push us into getting a 360.

The Problem Thus Far
Basically, we have stayed away from getting a 360 because the system has been plagued with problems, most revolving around its tendency to overheat. The problem has been SO BAD that it’s reportedly costing Microsoft over 1 Billion Dollars to address the issue, PLUS there’s now a tab right on the Xbox Homepage helping users start the process of getting their system fixed.

Here’s the Story Morning Glory
It seems that at the moment, there is no confirmation that the 65nm chips have been found on the new Premiums. Furthermore it seems that if there is a conclusion on the forums, it’s that new chips will be going on later but new heatsinks are going on now. Honestly, this bit of news didn’t do too much for me until I read some forum talk and ppl are tending to agree that the heatsink will have more of an effect than the chip so this might be the time to buy.

So yeah…Hopefully soon I’ll be posting up 360 reviews and news along with all the Wii stuff I occasionally post!

Like Sarah over at BlueJar.com, I hereby declare today the day of the memes (well, it was yesterday but then I lost my net connection). So if I understand things correctly, this one is to help your Technorati ranking. Even though I don’t really care about my ranking right now, Sarah IS one of my newer friends so I’m happy to keep this alive! Basically just add your site and link it to another blog. Follow the format below for linking. If you want you can add more than one blog too! Each blog that posts this meme will increase your Technorati rating by +1 and help your backlinks in search engines too, just in time for a PR boost!

The goal here is to reach an incredible record of +300 Technorati authority for the blogs who participate! Can it be done?

******BEGIN LIST******
SiteFever.com links to BlueJar.com
Craze4tech.com links to Work-Surf.info
TheDOGRBlog links to LorisWorld
TheDOGRBlog links to BusinessPhones
TheDOGRBlog links to WhatIt’sReallyAllAbout
BlueJar.com links to The Gospel According To Rhys
BlueJar.com links to Bush Mackel
BlueJar.com links to Don’t Be Shy
BlueJar.com links to Susan Suarez
Bush Mackel links to Ordinary Folk
Bush Mackel links to News Notion
Bush Mackel links to Listikal
Bush Mackel links to Me and My Drum
Bush Mackel links to Brown Baron
******END LIST******

The internet marketing is an advance form of marketing a product. Its more specific name is online advertising. Even in online marketing there are varieties of features like pay per click. Service businesses devoted to creating, development, and handling advertising is done by advertising agencies. It is not always safe to use Internet so safety measures should always be taken into view when it comes to internet safety. When network marketing gets connected with Internet then efficient internet network marketing comes into being. A good seo rankings makes certain that your website is scheduled at the top by search engines. The seo website describes a web designing. It stands for search engine optimization.

Okay, I know this is late. And I mean real late. Sorry Aaron, Brown, Valentin, and I think I’m missing one other person here but I can’t find the incoming link on my Dashboard. So hey, if it’s YOU let me know! And without further ado..

Passion – To Rid the World of Devistation
Purpose – To Unite all People Within Our Nation
Pursuit – To Denounce the Evils of Truth and Love
Position – To Extend our Reach to the Stars Above
Pummeling – Jessie, James
Progress – Team Rocket Blasts Off at the Speed of Light
Personality – Surrender Now or Prepare to Fight!

You didn’t see that coming did you? Yeah originally I tried to really answer it but some of the Ps were too close together in meaning, and others like “Pummeling” I just didn’t understand. Hey, it’s a Sunday ok? (#);) BTW, if you want to participate, just be my guest!