Still Lovin’ Vista?

You know, you’d think after the scathing insults and type-shouting I have recieved from my last post with dozens of so-called “experts” in the field telling me how much Vista sucks I’d probably want to shut up about the whole issue and yet, here I am writing this piece on a Vista machine running perfectly fine. Sure, it may run a little slow when it had 2gb of RAM but $50 and 2GB later I am now running a machine that is twice as fast as my old XP machine and with none of the painful UI limitations that XP presented.

But that’s just my own personal opinion. I love Vista because it works for me, but in order to figure that part out for yourself you need to stop listening to the people shouting “Vista Sucks!” and actually try it. Don’t worry about what they are saying because their experiences won’t be your experience.

And remember, there is a reason why the vocal minority is referred to as such… people who have good experiences are nowhere near as likely to voice their opinions in as many places as somebody who has a bad experience with the same product. Vista may have it’s problems, but it is a solid OS now regardless of what some people’s experiences may want you to believe.

Will MGS4 Affect the Box Office Sales for The Incredible Hulk?

Probably not, despite both being released very near each other (6/12 for MGS4, 6/13 for Hulk) . Although I have yet to hear about any of the “mainstream” entertainment news sources make such outrageous claims I have no doubt that they will at least try. Let’s face it, these types of stories make headlines and, as such, make money. However, that said, just like GTAIV didn’t adversely affect the sales of Iron Man, I can pretty much guarantee that MGS4 won’t affect the sales for Universal’s probably-gonna-be-a-hit movie, The Incredible Hulk.

Perhaps I just don’t get “it” from a mainstream perspective, i.e. a non-hardcore gamer, but who seriously thinks that these types of mediums actually interfere with each other. Even in today’s day and age of competing markets and recession talks, the entertainment industry (movies and games alike) won’t be competing for a long while, at least not on these grounds. Assuming, of course, that the Incredible Hulk is any good (and from the buzz I have been hearing it actually is) both of these mediums should maintain high profits for both companies involved (Konami, Universal). But let’s get to the real issue of this post: why is there always this “them versus us” mentality when it comes to video games and movies?

In recent months the movie industry (i.e. the media) has been having a field day with video games. It has become the latest blame craze. Kid shoots up a school (my thoughts to the families affected)? He must have been a hardcore Halo/Counter-Strike fan. How about if a video game pursues even the slightest sexual content? Well, it must be because they are trying to corrupt our children. And now, apparently, they are attempting to subvert out movies… When will it end?

Like we saw with Iron Man, the targeted audience for these two mediums (young, 20-30 y/o males) have enough money and time that both should do fairly well. Any fault on the movie “The Incredible Hulk” will be the fault of it’s own acting, CGI, and history (the original was horrible). So please, when you do see these headlines start popping up, ignore them. They want money and they get money by getting you to read their bullshit. What will be really interesting to see is if the casual-friendly Wii starts to affect movie sales of popular movies that aren’t geared towards the young male. An audience that is definitely more hesitant about where their next dollar goes… Keep an eye out for those headlines.

WiiSports 2 vs The Notebook 2… FIGHT!

I’m Sick of Vista Complaints

Anybody who buys an OS and expects it to be as stable as the last iteration is an idiot. I mean no personal attacks on anybody but it’s true, and I won’t be easy on anybody who thinks that. It’s the 21st century, there is no reason why people should expect such things.

Do you expect a game to ship without bugs?

What about your favorite MMO?

So why did you all expect Vista, on day one, to be so f-ing great? Who cares if Microsoft told you that it was, you were a sheep lured into a wolves den then. Game companies hype their games the same exact way. Anybody who knows anything about computers should know this. Hell, when Vista came out I held off on buying it for about 8 months because I knew that it was not going to run properly with every game or piece of hardware and you know what? I was right! Like every OS that preceded Vista it did not work with every game or piece of hardware. However, now, after a year it works great for my gaming PC.

Bottom line is that people expected Vista to be the “wonder OS” to save them from their computer troubles, which is perhaps Microsoft’s fault for hyping it too much. I’ll be straight about this 100%, there was no fucking way that every driver for every hardware/software/etc. was going to be available on Vista’s release. There were just damn many things for the Windows platform, which is actually part of the allure of the Windows-based system.

The whole sticker thing is a different issue altogether, and Microsoft should definitely feel some repercussions for it. That said, however, I am so sick of hearing people complain about Vista.

“Ohhh Vista won’t do this.”

“My Vista is so slow compared to XP.”

That’s the price of change and expansion! Sure XP was a stable OS, but it’s old. It had two SPs under it’s belt with numerous upgrades and fixes before that. It did not come out as the “wonder OS”, although Windows 2000, and ME definitely helped XP’s image. Vista, on the other hand, was offering something truly new to the Windows platform since Windows 95. It was birthed out of the legacy that XP built and when it wasn’t as fully functional on day one as XP was at four years people through temper tantrums, like bloody school children. Well guess what? Vista is better than XP, if for nothing else than the mere fact that it’s change and it’s different.

Truth be told, technology advances differently from most other things. When a new technology that is replacing something else comes out it is usually not as good as it’s predecessor. Actually sometimes it can seem downright horrid in comparison. What people don’t realize is that the predecessor is a base for the new technology, a goal for the designers to bring it up to that level. Usually this comes fairly quickly and then they are able to build upon it to make it even better, something that was impossible with the previous technology. XP was great, but, as a technological society, we could not use it forever. Vista is out now, and it will eventually become better. . .

Oh, and for those who are waiting for Microsoft’s rumoured 2009 OS to come out, I wouldn’t hold my breath. For one, that’s probably gonna get delayed by at least a year. Second, and this one is really my main point, the next OS will not be a “wonder” OS on release either. Expect it to ship with the same shitty bugs that Vista and XP were shipped with. . .

Welcome to the 21st century.

StudentStuff.com Article

This is an article I wrote for StudentStuff.com about the advantages of taking Advanced Placement classes while still in high school.

But I Want to go to the Beach. . .
By: Geoff Gibson
StudentStuff.com

Or the Block, or the Brea Mall, or the Mountains. Let’s face it, living in Orange County you have a lot of access to a lot of different places. There is almost always something to do, or something going on somewhere in this county. Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you are a high school student who is also burdened with a seemingly endless amount of homework. So does that mean you should skip on those Advanced Placement classes in order to catch a few more hours of freedom? No way!

Take it from me, a full-time college student who is also running a full-time business, AP classes are no waste of time. In today’s college world, competition is tough. Chapman University, UC Irvine, and Cal State Fullerton are all brimming with students from Orange County, California State, and the U.S. Not to mention, in addition to competing with other high school seniors for valuable spots within these universities you will also be battling with transfer students from some of Orange County’s best community colleges such as Fullerton College, Cypress College, Santiago College, Golden West College, and Orange Coast, amongst others. These transfer students have a greater chance of getting into any one of these three universities than your average high school student with a 3.5 GPA. Getting into college today is no simple task.

So why AP classes? Advanced Placement classes are high school classes that allow you to get ahead of your average high school student. Sometimes they will even count towards college credits. That means when you do finally start college you won’t be burdened with all of the college classes that is usually expected of you. Think of it this way; right now you are a high school student. You don’t have much freedom, and your parents probably pay for most of your expenses. When you goto college you are going to have much more freedom, but also many more responsibilities. School will be taking up the majority of your time and you won’t be able to get a job, or goto parties or your favorite O.C. hangout locale. Taking AP classes now will help lighten your college load so you can get a job and earn some extra money during a time when extra money is tight.

Don’t hesitate! In order to get into some AP classes you are going to have to start right away. Make an appointment with your high school counselor to see if you are eligible. Start preparing for the AP tests, and make sure you are ready for a bunch of work. It may not seem like it is worth it now, but when college rolls around in a few years you’ll be thankful that you can start enjoying life much faster than the rest of the college students around you.