Oddball Update » Quick Takes

Reaching

Chief Oddball — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:48:59 +0000

I started this day thinking that maybe I’d go to ~~Gameslop~~ Gamestop and pre-order the Halo: Reach Limited Edition. Then I started thinking that maybe I should throw down a ton of money and get the Halo: Reach limited edition console. It would allow me to upgrade to the new, slimmer, quieter Xbox 360 design with its built-in Wireless-N and dedicated Kinect port, not to mention that cool Halo-themed silver design that’s right up my alley.

After crunching the numbers, checking stock (Gamestop’s sold completely out of anything Halo) and making some calls, I finished the day with a pre-order of nothing at all.

Back to plan A: Sit back, do nothing, see if there’s any leftover stock that gets marked down.

Edit: Went with plan A(2): Preordered the Limited Edition from Amazon with release-day delivery for only $0.99 extra. Received a $20 game credit for my trouble. Amazon just kicked Gameslop’s ass.

Well, That Didn’t Quite Work Out

Chief Oddball — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:51:51 +0000

Today’s prospective home buyers showed up 45 minutes early (while we were still here), flustered us thoroughly and then decided they hated the place, turned around and walked out within literally thirty seconds. Nice.

Finally Found the Mercato Car Cruise

Chief Oddball — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:40:52 +0000

The Mercato Holiday Car Cruise that was canceled back in mid-December on account of poor weather was finally rescheduled, I guess, because I showed up at the Mercato tonight to pick up a sandwich and it was in full swing. Unfortunately we were already starting to lose the daylight, but I grabbed a few pics with my iPhone. There was a staggering amount of exotics in attendance; the pictures barely do them justice.

See them all in this gallery on Flickr. (Or you could just go to my photos page.)

Corpse Marked…They’re Gone

Chief Oddball — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:12:55 +0000

Apparently I didn’t get the message some six months ago when the entire Virgin Megastore chain went out of business, so there was no Call of Duty to be heard by these ears today. Also, no “free giant cookie,” as was promised to all Disney Vacation Club members at the (former) store’s smoothie bar upstairs.

Note to Disney: You might want to update the DVC perks booklet you give to guests at check-in.

Good news? My wallet was spared any collateral damage.

Wolfensteal

Chief Oddball — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:33:39 +0000

Such irony. After posting my impressions of the Wolfenstein Xbox 360 demo last night, and deciding that it wasn’t worth $60 to me — but that I’d pick it up on sale — today I discover that Wolfenstein is Amazon’s deal of the day. You can save a cool $20 and pick up the game for $39.98. Naturally, I’ve put my money where my mouth is and ordered a copy.

Edit: Apparently my brain really has melted, because I misunderstood Joystiq’s post and thought that the Wolfenstein discount was good until 4 PM. In actuality, it’s good for the rest of today. So, go to it.

(Thanks to Joystiq for the timely tip.)

Confirmed: Trans Am WS6 in Forza Motorsport 3

Chief Oddball — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:34:41 +0000

Sweet Forza Motorsport 3, you have done this fan the ultimate service: Included a ’98-’02 Trans Am WS6 Ram Air in your list of cars. Moreover, there’s an entire event dedicated to the Trans Am line. As proof, I offer this screen capture from a Forza 3 demo video recorded last month at Germany’s GamesCom 2009. (Click it to enlarge.)

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a fourth gen WS6 in a video game, and thankfully it’s one of the best-looking racing games out there, complete with fully-modeled cockpits and a livery editor that will allow me to dress it up exactly the way I dressed up my real WS6.

Forza 3 comes out in the U.S. on the October 27th. My preorder is ready and waiting.

Edit: The 2002 Trans Am WS6 was the Forza 3 “car of the day” on October 14th. Check out this awesome gallery of a Sunset Orange Metallic T/A…looks amazing!

Apple (Computer) is Starting to Piss Me Off

Chief Oddball — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:56:39 +0000

Today comes news that Apple has started blanket-rejecting third-party eBook reader apps, claiming that because those apps can be used to read illegally obtained copyrighted content, they will no longer be published in the App Store. So what happens to eReader, Stanza, et al? I use both to read PDB eBooks that I have hand-built from my own written works.

Rumor has it that Apple is about to launch a 6″-8″ tablet-sized device which could compete with Amazon’s Kindle eBook device. This could be Apple’s way of clearing out the competition in the eBook space before launching their own solution. If that’s the case, it’s extremely distasteful and takes my opinion of Apple Computer down a huge, huge notch.

Edit: I should mention that the eBook reader ban rumor is apparently false. The reader app that touched off this firestorm was rejected because it allowed iPhone-to-iPhone sharing of eBooks, which could have potentially been a copyright violation.

Quick Takes Are Back!

Chief Oddball — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:32:48 +0000

Quick Takes (short posts of two or three sentences) are once again supported! To be fair, they never really went away, but my previous design did not handle them well, nor did it display them differently. But now, if I occasionally have something quick to say, it’ll show up in a “clipped note” like this. Anyway, that’s all — carry on.

Greatly Exaggerated

Chief Oddball — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:57:50 +0000

Much to my delight, Cilantro Tamales (my favorite local Mexican restaurant) is still in business — at least, their original North Naples location is. I don’t know why their website is down and their phone rang unanswered last time I called, but the business is very much alive. And tasty as ever.

…And He’s Clear

Chief Oddball — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:39:46 +0000

Time to spin “East Bound and Down” one more time for the road: Jerry Reed, also known as Snowman from Smokey and the Bandit, has died.