Similar Posts

• How to Conserve Battery Life On Your T-Mobile G1 (2)
• Sarah Palin Gets Pranked! (0)

John Marston is the man.

I recently completed all the main missions in Red Dead Redemption and still continue to play it. Since the day I purchased this game at my local Best Buy, I have not been able to put it down. Everything in the game is sublime and the soundtrack is by far one of the best I’ve ever heard on a video game. If you own an Xbox 360 or a Sony PS3 and have yet to play this, do yourself the favor and pick it up. Rockstar has managed to craft perfection into a game. The characters are some of the most memorable I’ve ever encountered in any title, the storyline is compelling and the overall presentation is stunning.

Now onto the whole point of my post. Recently a fellow Redditor posted a link (please upvote!) to listen to the entire Red Dead Redemption soundtrack on YouTube. Needless to say, I was pretty happy about this. “Deadman’s Gun” is one of my favorite songs right now and the entire soundtrack follows suit. It gets better. You can also purchase the OST on iTunes for a mere $9.99. I highly recommend this one.

Sidenote: If you haven’t beaten the game yet or you’re thinking of purchasing it, please refrain from reading the comments on each of the tracks on YouTube. A lot of people post spoilers regarding events in the game.

Similar Posts

• The NewReview In Town (2)
• 10 Reasons NOT to Play Wheelman (6)
• Reviewing The Kramer Mod – Improve Those Cheap Headphones (6)
• The RIAA Sets Up For More Fail (0)
• Far Cry 2 Map Editor Trailer (0)

WordPress 3.0 “Thelonious” has some awesome new features that I’m excited about and the video below will help illustrate them.

Similar Posts

• No Related Post

Wait, what was I talking about?

My sexy Brazillian blogger pal Carol Zara was featured on G4TV‘s Women of The Web today. If you’re into video games, blogging, pop culture and other things that some might refer to as vices, she’s you’re girl. I help her out with her website from time to time and frequent it for a laugh.

Check her out on G4TV’s Women of The Web. You won’t regret it. You can also follow her on Twitter or checkout her website DigitallyBlonde.com.

Similar Posts

• No Related Post

These are some of the absolute most annoying things about Twitter user practices. These are things that would ultimately drive me away from Twitter completely if I wasn’t so tied to the multitude of REAL users I have between my 3 accounts (yes, 3–They all serve their purpose). In no particular order:

1. Auto DM’s — I don’t care what they say. They’re annoying. It’s like calling someones house and repeatedly getting the answering machine, and to make matters worse, the answering machine message is terrible. Why bother even calling? *unfollows*. Get this: The other day someone sent me an auto DM that simply said “hey, how’s it going?” I genuinely thought it was a legitimate DM so I replied cautiously with “Good. How about yourself?” I never even got a reply back. Asshole.
2. The Unfollower — This has to be one of the absolute most irritating things ever. Those people that will follow you just to get you to follow them, and then immediately unfollow you to avoid reaching the limit for how many people they can follow. In other words “I want to make sure you receive my garbage tweets that advertise how you can make $54,887,684 a day with Twitter and gain 10 billion followers in 5 minutes; but I don’t give a shit in a hand basket about your tweets.” I always check to see who is actually following me back. If you follow me and then immediately unfollow me, you get unfollowed and blocked. I don’t care who you are. If you don’t value the tweets I post, then why should I even bother reading a single thing you post?
3. Zero Tweets — If you have zero tweets and are following 910 people, I will not follow you back, period. It’s pretty obvious that your auto-following rampage is in preparation for bottom-of-the-barrel, meaningless tweets about things nobody cares about. Besides, save yourself the trouble. Your account will probably get deleted within a day anyways.
4. Sleeper Tweets — These ones can be sly but if you’re paying attention, you can pick them up. These are the bot accounts (and sometimes human) that will try and slip their spam tweets into a barrage of seemingly harmless, although meaningless, tweets. Stuff like “Listening to music…”, “Just finished watching ____” and I’ve even seen some do @replies to users that were never even talking to them in the first place. I’ve been fooled by some of these before but the ones that got me were actually run by humans. As soon as I see that “Get 300 followers in a day” tweet, you are gone. Some of the bot accounts can be funny though. I’ve seen some say that they’re watching a television show that isn’t even on anymore. The other day I saw one say that it was watching the Red Sox play and this was a few days after the Sox were eliminated by the Angels (fuckin’ Halos).
5. The RT Whore — Okay, you find something interesting posted by a friend and you want to RT it and make sure your friends see it. Fair enough. That’s harmless. Doing this all day long is annoying. If all you’re going to do on Twitter is pedal everything that someone else posted before you, then you should…just stop doing it. Post some original content. It’s not that hard. If all I see in your Twitter stream are RT’s, you’re getting unfollowed for being unoriginal and late.
6. Web Host Comparison Bots — This is a personal annoyance for me because I encounter these often due to my field of work. The Twitter user that @replies people with links to web hosting provider comparisons and recommendations. I especially loathe these because they act like they’re your friend or something. Like you were looking for web hosting and voilá, there they are to help you out. This is annoying in 2 parts though: 1.) I was never even looking for web hosting to begin with, so stop soliciting me. 2.) Those web host comparison sites are always a scam. It’s been proven that the majority of the web hosting top 10 list websites give out their spots on the list based on either the amount of money you pay for the listing fee, or how much you pay to be an “affiliate”. Base your web hosting reviews on human experience.

And there you have it. A short list of some of the worst things you can encounter on Twitter. Got your own to add? Post a comment or contact me.

Similar Posts

• Quality vs. Quantity – You Are Not A Guru (7)
• People Who Annoy Me At The Gym (5)
• Another Twitter Scam Website (0)
• Selective Hearing (8)
• A New URL Registration Scam (2)

The NewReview - thenewreview.net

For the past couple weeks I’ve been frequenting a new music review website. The NewReview is a site that caters to those who are into a wide array of rock music, ranging from black metal, post-hardcore, punk and an various other sub-genres. Every review is informative, straight-forward and offers a personal edge. I’m normally not one to read a lot of music reviews or frequent any specific website when I am looking for them, but The NewReview has kept me coming back. These guys know their shit. They will tell you if a song sucks and if it’s good, I’m sure Lee will tell you it will shake the dentures out of your grandma’s mouth and make your grandpa fill his Depends.

I first heard about the website via Twitter. I follow Lee on Twitter and saw that the site was up and running. So I gave it a chance and have been reading reviews since it’s launch in September. Each reviewer adds their own spin to every review that they craft. I’ve bought 3 albums thus far-with more on the way-from reading their reviews alone. I’m appreciative of the fact that I feel like each reviewer is on a more personal level with their readers, so it’s as if you had a conversation with a coworker or a friend. I have faith in their opinions and my purchases based on them have proven successful (thanks, guys!).

I often feel like some reviews you read in magazines and on sponsored websites are manufactured and can be fluffed with creative writing and vague opinions. The NewReview team doesn’t beat around the bush. Their reviews will slap you in the face like a ton of cinder blocks or cradle you like a baby, all in the same paragraph. I think I speak for everyone out there when I say that I want the whole meal, not just the wafting aroma when it comes to getting the information I seek (okay, maybe some of you might have put it a little different but you get my drift, I hope).

Who Runs The Joint?

The NewReview consists of 4 guys that all have varying tastes in the spectrum that is rock music:

• Lee Rochester – Writer and Founder
• Ben Westerman – Writer
• Ryan Tallman – Writer
• Eric Burnet – Writer

Who Designed It?

Being a web developer myself, I was really appreciative of the craftsmanship when it came to the usability and overall appearance of the website. The NewReview was designed by the talented wife of Lee Rochester and owner of the small web design company redheaddesign, Jennifer Rochester. Aside from the website offering an awesome amount of helpful features and immediately presenting the user with a list of recent reviews, the website is aesthetically pleasing and easy on the eyes when it comes to sitting down and reading a bunch of reviews at once (like myself). I often have trouble reading at length on websites but the dark interface, font faces and font size choices help this immensely. Heck, it even tames my ADD and that’s a rarity.

The NewReview has some tools that assist the user in purchasing and sampling the music being reviewed. Every tool is helpful in the decision making process of album purchases and ventures into the minds and music of new artists. There are Flash players that offer sample songs from each album, track listings, cover art, band photos, Amazon and iTunes Store links and other ways to get more information about the band being reviewed. Easily accessible and helpful.

This Concludes Our Broadcast…

The bottom line is that The NewReview is a great website if you’re looking to get some insight on your future rock album purchases. I’m helping promote this website out of personal experience and the success I’ve had with my album purchases based on the reviews I’ve read. When you have a few minutes, check it out! – TheNewReview.net

Similar Posts

• Listen to The Entire Red Dead Redemption Soundtrack (0)
• Pavarotti’s Pizza Dunnellon, FL Review (0)
• 10 Reasons NOT to Play Wheelman (6)
• Reviewing The Kramer Mod – Improve Those Cheap Headphones (6)
• 6 Resources For The Print to Web Design Transition (2)

You can read my review here – Pavarotti’s Review on WorstPizza.com

Or you can read it on the jump (it’s long)!

Let me first start off by saying that the photo I’ve supplied doesn’t do this pie justice. I took a photo of the fresh, hot pizza after I was served a slice, but for some reason my G1’s camera froze up and the photo I took was never saved to memory. So to suffice, I’ve included a photo of a slice I took home.

Pavarotti’s is a little family owned place located in Dunnellon, FL and is situated in a plaza next to a Sweet Bay supermarket. It’s probably one of about 3 pizza places in town and is the best bet out of all of them, hands down. They actually recently opened up a second location in Ocala but I’ve yet to eat there. I hear business is doing great for the new location though. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and the service is excellent. All of the staff there are very personable and genuinely friendly. Seating arrangements are comfortable and you’re almost always seated immediately (you seat yourself wherever you please). The general appearance is clean and organized. Nothing too fancy but it gets the job done. The music is a nice selection as well. When we were there we heard Bobby Darin, Bobby Vinton and some Opera. That’s not even close to my era (I was born in ‘81) but for a pizza joint, it’s a nice mix. I brought my mom along since she loves this place as well, so the music was right up her alley.

Today we had a server (Pretty sure his name was George) that I’d never had before and I would say that this was my best experience at Pavarotti’s to date. I’ve eaten there approximately 5 or 6 times, maybe more. It’s only about 8 minutes from my house. Service here is always quick and each server is attentive to your needs, which is the way it should be. Our pizza was out in about 10-15 minutes. They normally have about 2 to 3 cooks in the kitchen and all of their pies are cooked in a stone deck oven.

We ordered an 18” hand-tossed pie with half white (easy on the regatta) and the other half (mine) was pepperoni. I like to keep it simple. The crust on their hand-tossed pizza is some of the best I’ve had in this area. In fact I’d say it’s my favorite pizza crust. It’s perfectly cooked and has a nice consistency. Not too doughy but not overcooked and too crispy. The pizza stays together in your hand perfectly. It gets along well with all of the other elements of the pie. I hate crust that has dark burnt areas spread out along the bottom of the pie. Trust me, I’ve found this to be a common occurrence at a few pizza places in Florida.

The sauce and cheese are excellent as well. The sauce is spread evenly and and you’ll never have any sort of slipping and sliding when you pick up the slice. It’s sweet and tasty. You’ll always be able to taste each individual part in its own glory as you masticate (not THAT, dirty mind). The cheese has a nice taste and doesn’t resemble any sort of processed crap you might get at some other place. It’s guaranteed to compliment your toppings well and hold them in place while doing so. These guys know what they’re doing and would never risk putting some second hand cheese on their pies.

All in all there is honestly nothing I can say that got me down about this place, or ever has. The service is excellent, the pizza is excellent, the restaurant is excellent. Heck, even their soft drinks are awesome. Their Sprite is unbelievable. Some places do a crap job at mixing the syrup in the machine but this was some sort of heavenly Sprite. I think the only thing I could say about their pizza is that it can sometimes be greasy. It depends on your toppings. I got pepperoni so that’s expected.

If you’re not big into pizza, don’t fret. They also have a large dinner menu that includes baked ziti, spaghetti, lasagna, hot and cold subs, etc. Their pasta and calzones are delicious. If you dig Sicilian pizza, try their Sicilian with sliced meatballs and pepperoni. Also, if you’re big into garlic knots, this is the only place I’ve been to around here that serves them and they’re awesome.

Pavarotti’s in Dunnellon, Florida is an impressive little pizza place with a nice menu and I hope my review will get them some more business. They deserve it! I’m gonna have to give them 7 out of 8 slices on this one. I always have a pleasant experience and I love their pizza.

Similar Posts

• The NewReview In Town (2)
• 10 Reasons NOT to Play Wheelman (6)

Dunkin' Red Sox sticker by Michael Wolstat

Yesterday I visited a fellow Red Sox fan’s blog, saw his most recent post and thought it was brilliant. I proceeded to express my approval for his concept by telling him it was “wicked pissah”, which I felt was fitting. So I left a comment on his blog, Size of Guam, and we started talking back and forth via email. We both had a lot in common career-wise and obviously sports-wise, so I told him I could get a bunch of these printed as soon as he gets me a vector file. Should be awesome. Obviously he’d get in trouble if he sold them but I think it’s a fantastic wicked pissah idea.

Similar Posts

• No Related Post

1. It has absolutely no storyline. You go around doing missions for gangs, most of which (obviously) consist of driving. But there is honestly no plausible plot WHATSOEVER. You don’t earn money, you don’t get shit. You just unlock other parts of the city (GTA IV ripoff) and you unlock a bunch of side missions that are absolutely and utterly worthless. I’ve yet to complete a single side mission and I’m nearly complete with the game.
2. Everything in the game is completely forgettable. The music, the scenery, the characters, the story, the vehicles, the mechanics, the entire God forsaken thing. This game is a complete GTA IV knockoff. What GTA accomplished almost flawlessly, this game falls flat on its fucking face. The developers tried to make Barcelona a thriving area to interest the player, but it does nothing for the game. Granted it’s nicely rendered and designed but GTA IV had memorable landmarks. You could drive through the city so much to the point that you could travel to locations without even using the map. You could say to your friends “hey, remember that building?” and they’ll know exactly which building in the entire city that you’re referring to. GTA IV was memorable in nearly every aspect. This game is like its porn star brother who does films in his basement. The one that the parents shunned years ago due to his career choice.
3. The driving is a jerky mess. Driving is by no means intuitive. It’s tolerable but you can’t hold the joystick to a slight degree to smooth out your turns and to stay on the road. It’s either one extreme or the other. There’s never any happy medium. It’s annoying. The end.
4. The melee and firing mechanics vaguely resemble GTA IV (hey, imagine that) but again, they fail miserably. Fighting enemies on foot is a fucking yawn fest. Red dot after red dot on your radar, you mow enemies down with ease. They’ve never a challenge throughout the entire game. The gun assortment is nothing special either. If anything you’re grabbing the largest gun so you can get this crapfest portion of the game over faster and get back into a vehicle.
5. The missions are annoying. Oh for the love of God, the missions. Where do I begin? The missions are simple: Get the fastest vehicle and airjack and/or destroy the target at hand. There are variations of this of course, like… nevermind. The missions drive me absolutely insane. They’re fun for a while but after you’re doing the same mission over for the 1,000th time because of how ridiculously hard or annoying they are, beating them becomes a requirement and the fun is now completely drained. You’re trying to complete it so that you can move onto the next, and probably more annoying, mission. It’s like the game designers thought of the most annoying pitfalls of previous video games and raveled them all into the missions. I’ll give you a good example: I’m on a mission right now where you have to chase this guy named Che down with your motorcycle. Che is driving a runaway subway car full of enemies and your mission is to disconnect the cars attached to the engine car that Che is driving, get in front of the final car and shoot him a billion times (in the face!!!!!) in order to stop him. Sounds fun, right? Well, it is, to a degree. While you’re trying to do all of this you’re trying to avoid going down the wrong tunnel because if you do, you’re completely fucked; trying to avoid the GIANT BOMBARDMENT of enemies firing out of the windows of the subway cars you’re trying to disconnect; dodging motorcyclists and cars in the subway that are trying to thwart your chances of disconnecting the cars and killing Che; and trying to preserve the motorcycle you’re on because having it get wrecked is the end of the line for you. *takes a breather*
6. The side missions aren’t even worth bothering with. Seriously, if the main missions are completely annoying, why are you going to subject yourself to even more of the same shit? You don’t get anything worthwhile for completing them. Sure, you can unlock weapons caches and other things, but who the hell cars? You can pick up guns from the enemies you easily murder in melee mode during missions, so why the hell are you going to go out of your way to get the weapons caches?
7. It’s $39.99 (as of July 2009)
   
8. It’s glitchy. It’s like the Midway and Ubisoft teams had no budget for testing or quality control. I don’t even want to get in depth with this so here are some blaring examples: 1.) I was on a mission and my car was nearly at its end. So I quickly bailed while slightly moving and my car hit a set of tables with umbrellas. I got stuck between my destroyed car and umbrella and was unable to get out. Luckily an enemy came and killed me. 2.) If you’re driving really fast and you hit the Y button to jump out of your car like you would in GTA IV, sometimes Vin will just appear in a standing position where the car was and the car will continue to coast forward.
9. Nobody can die except who the game dictates. It’s virtually impossible to kill the police and pedestrians. I mean, not that I’m some sadistic bastard, but if I plow over a police officer with a semi truck and he gets up like nothing happened, then it makes the game even more unrealistic. How does this happen? How does the company that created Mortal Kombat (one of the bloodiest games ever) make a game where nobody can die? Example: You can use car melee attacks on cop cars, destroy them and then when it shows the slow motion replay of the cop car getting demolished, you can see the cops fly out and then magically get up like nothing happened. If you try to run pedestrians over or shoot them, nothing happens. They run away and yell things in Spanish.
10. The AI is flatout dumb. It’s horrendous. When you’re in melee mode the enemies don’t even hide. They stand in one place and fire at you or they run right at you in a blaze of glory. The AI in vehicles isn’t so bad but there’s nothing to that. Enemies in cars pull up next to you and try to shoot or ram you.

So there you have it. 10 reasons not to play Wheelman for the Xbox 360, or any console for that matter. Don’t get me wrong, the game has some fun aspects to it when you’re looking for mindless entertainment, but don’t play this game expecting some sort of indepth storyline or amazing weaponry. This game lacks in both departments, and pretty much every other department there is.

Similar Posts

• Listen to The Entire Red Dead Redemption Soundtrack (0)
• The NewReview In Town (2)
• Pavarotti’s Pizza Dunnellon, FL Review (0)
• The RIAA Sets Up For More Fail (0)

1. People who don’t wipe down the machines after they use them. I love having to wipe down a machine before AND after because the sweaty ass lady before me was too lazy to do it.
2. People who mull around the machine you’re on and occasionally stare at you as if to say “are you FINISHED yet?” Look, lady. I’m trying to complete my 4 sets with a minute of rest in between. I’m sure you can go find another machine to use in the meantime. GTFOH.
3. People who sing loudly with headphones on when they have no singing capabilities whatsoever. I encountered 3 of these yesterday, all of which were completely out of tune. It was like American Idol tryouts.
4. People who walk dangerously near or around the machine you’re on while you’re using it. I had this old guy almost get hit in the ribs once while I was on the leg press. He walked next to the foot plate as I was pushing out.
5. People who don’t put the weight pins in properly and end up bending them. I can point out like 3 or 4 machines at the gym I attend where you can’t use the weight increment add-ons (the 5lb, 10lb, etc.) on the side because someone put the pin in half way and then used the machine before realizing the pin is sticking out. Ugh.

There you have it. My gym pet peeves. What are yours? Please feel free to comment and let me know. I’m curious to see what everyone encounters at the gym.

Similar Posts

• Annoying Twitter Practices (5)
• Quality vs. Quantity – You Are Not A Guru (7)
• A New URL Registration Scam (2)
• “Research” Is The New Solicitation (0)