Kevin Nguyen - Bloging Everything in Between

Passenger Lands Plane After Pilot Dies

2009-04-13T20:51:00.002-04:00

Doug White, who is 56 years-old has logged close to 150 hours on a single-engine Cessna 172. However, his flight with his wife and two daughters turned into a life threatening situation when the pilot, Joe Cabuk, has died while in the middle of flying a King Air. With the help of air traffic controllers, Doug was able to successfully land the King Air at Fort Myers, Florida.

Via Yahoo! News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/passenger_lands_plane

Philip Stein Watch Initial Review

2009-04-07T21:34:00.008-04:00

Here’s a photo that closely resembles the watch I have, my camera took crappy photos of it so I couldn’t use my actual watch.

This is my second Swiss Made watch that I own, a Philip Stein watch. I decided to go with this watch instead of a Breitling or a Longines was because of a watch buying PowerPoint that the cruise setup with some experts that are “well known” in the field that they did and recommended stores that the ship would insure purchases from those stores. This watch uses a Multiple Frequency Technology (MFT) chips that succeeds the Teslar Chip. Things that you can expect from the watch are as follows:

• Deeper, more restful night sleep.
• More calm and less tension in normally stressful situations.
• Improved concentration and ability to focus at work.
• Increased levels of energy.
• An over-all improvement in well-being.

I’ve only have the watch since April 4th, and what I can say about my Philip Stein watch is that it so far works as advertised. I now wake up more restful, note that I sleep close to six hours on school nights (from midnight till quarter to six in the morning). I do feel more concentrated and focused when I am at school, but I did dosed off when my teacher kept lecturing on about the Cold War. Compared to my sleeping in class in the past, I was able to recover quickly from the spacing out. On the cruise ship, I noticed that I was full of energy than I was before when I first stepped on the ship. When I notice more perks about this watch I will report about it on a future post.

Note that I am no Oprah Winfrey fan and I haven’t seen her on television since Barack Obama won the presidential election. The whole she crying on some random stranger’s shoulder was also the other time I have seen her on television. A good warning to anyone interested in Philip Stein watches, DO NOT BUY A REPLICA!!! Buying a replica will defeat the purpose of having the Multiple Frequency chips and will not benefit you in anyway. Buy from an authorized dealer and if they are discounting it more than 15%, then It maybe a knockoff. That is because Philip Stein is a new watch brand and is selling well, since Oprah advertises it on her show.

My first Swiss Made watch was an Omega Seamaster Professional Chronometer. Yes, like a James Bond fan, I liked Pierce Brosnan as Bond. I grew up with him as Bond as a kid and I loved it, till this date my favorite Bond game is Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64.

I love this watch! It's being serviced right now so I don't have the watch on me right now.

I'm Back

2009-04-06T20:39:00.001-04:00

Apologies for the lack of posts for the past six days, I was away on a Spring Break cruise. It was a four day, five night trip to Key West, Florida to Cozumel, Mexico that departed from Miami on a Carnival cruise ship. I came back before noon but I am still in cruise ship mode, so I will resume posts tomorrow.

Preview of tomorrow’s post will be an initial review and impressions of a Philip Stein watch that I purchased in Cozumel.

Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 1 - Over a Million Downloads

2009-03-31T20:07:00.003-04:00

Treyarch’s Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 1 has been downloaded over a million times on the Playstation Network and Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The new map pack has been out since March 19, and in its first weekend was able to reach the million download. Map Pack 1 contains three multiplayer maps: Nightfire, Knee Deep, and Station as well as a Nazi Zombies map, Verruckt. This shows that Treyarch was able to produce a game that people enjoy.

“I’m proud that the team at Treyarch delivered an experience that so many people are enjoying,” said Mark Lamia, Studio Head for Treyarch. “We’re excited that the success of Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 1 will continue to drive the popularity of the game’s Nazi Zombie mode, competitive multiplayer and chart-breaking success online.”

“The success of Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 1 speaks to Treyarch and Activision’s ability to provide fans with quality content during a time when people want to get the most out of their Call of Duty experience,” said Maria Stipp, Activision’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of Owned Properties.

Map Pack 1 is out now and goes for 800 Microsoft Points and retails for $9.99 on the Playstation Network Store.

Via Gamers Digest:

http://www.gamersdigest.net/2642/codwaw-dlc-over-1-million-downloads/

Infinity Ward Dropping Call of Duty?

2009-03-30T12:59:00.003-04:00

Goodbye Call of Duty, you may or may not be missed.

Infinity Ward, the developers of Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and now Modern Warfare 2 are going to most likely drop the all favorite title, “Call of Duty” of their latest FPS (first person shooter). On the game's site: http://modernwarfare2.infinityward.com/, it shows a teaser trailer and what’s noticeably absent is the “Call of Duty” in the new title. Their reason behind the name change is still unknown; however, a simple assumption is that the modern warfare has taken on a life of its own. Despite the name change, we can only hope that Infinity Ward will still try to continue an aging franchise or push a new franchise through the gates. If Modern Warfare was to continue the Call of Duty franchise, it would have been the 6th installation the series. Modern Warfare 2 will be released on November 10, 2009.

LG Phone with Transparent Keypad

2009-03-30T09:55:00.004-04:00

The LG-GD900 was introduced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, initially as a concept. Now the LG-GD900 will be showcased at CTIA 09 with a revised UI (User Interface) and will allow everyone attending CTIA to play with the phone. The star feature of the slider phone is the transparent keypad that is concealed by sliding the screen down, and revealed by sliding the screen up. At the moment there are no technical specifications on the GD900, more specs and information will probably be available by the time CTIA 09 rolls around.

Via Engadget and Akihabara News:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/30/lgs-gd900-with-multi-touch-transparent-keypad-gets-s-class-u/

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_details.php?id=17854

Eight Killed in Nursing Home Shooting

2009-03-29T22:12:00.003-04:00

In Carthage, North Carolina, 45-year-old Robert Stewart went into a nursing home and killed eight people. He didn’t work at the nursing home but shot and killed seven patients and a nurse. He will be charged with eight counts of first degree murder and one count of assault on a police officer. Witnesses saw him armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and other weapons; fortunately Officer Justin Garner was able to confront him and prevented the carnage from getting anymore out of hand than it already was.

Article via CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/29/nursing.home.shooting/index.html

130 Year-Old Women

2009-03-27T17:43:00.001-04:00

A woman from Kazakhstan claims to be 130 years-old. She has lived through Lenin and Stalin and is currently celebrating her 130th birthday. However, she cannot enter the Guinness Book of World Records because of the lack to a birth certificate, which didn’t exist back in 1879. The video below will give you the fully story of her and how she is living now (Via Yahoo!).

Guerilla Games is Cracking Down on Cheating on Killzone 2 Mulitplayer

2009-03-26T21:09:00.004-04:00

They are on the lookout for cheaters on Killzone 2 multiplayer.

Beware cheaters on Killzone 2; Guerilla Games is cracking down on cheaters. On their Twitter they announced that gamers that cheat are at risk of losing their PSN ID.

@TheXFrame Glitchers risk losing their PSN ID altogether. We've been quite lenient so far but that's going to change.

So to the gamers that cheat on Killzone 2 or to any other online game on Playstation Network, you’ve been warned. You may end up losing your PSN ID one day and possibly losing your hard earned Trophies.

From Twitter: http://twitter.com/KillzoneDotCom/status/1376274956

The World's Cheapest Car

2009-03-25T20:49:00.002-04:00

No it's not the Smart Fortwo that is the cheapest car, but one of the smallest.

Tata Motors of India has released the world’s smallest car, the Nano. The Nano retails for a 100,000 rupees or 2,000 US dollars. The car is only 10 feet long and has a top speed of 65 miles per hour. The Nano has a two-cylinder engine and four-speed manual transmission but no air conditioning, electric windows or power steering, although those options should be available in the deluxe trims.

You can read more from Yahoo!: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090323/ts_afp/indiacompanyautotata_20090323144905

Scammer Scams Apple out of 9,000 iPod Shuffles

2009-03-24T18:51:00.003-04:00

Nicholas Arthur Woodhams a 23 year old man from Kalamazoo, Michigan, was able to correctly guess out 9,000 valid iPod Shuffle serial numbers; he also got Apple to ship him the Shuffles using a Prepaid Visa and UPS store mailbox (while not sending anything to Apple). Once he got the Shuffles from Apple, he would then sell them for less money than the MSRP. Now prosecutors have just brought federal charges to Woodhams for fraud and money laundering, his scam lasted from March 2006 to October 2007.

Story via Macworld: http://www.macworld.com/article/139522/23yearold_michigan_man_busted_for_ipod_fraud.html

Why Everyone Still Plays Pokémon

2009-03-23T22:23:00.005-04:00

The world of Pokémon has evolved from its beginnings in Japan. I remember watching Pokémon on Cartoon Network with Ash from Pallet Town who gets a Pikachu as his first Pokémon. Now Pokémon the anime is in its 12th season in Japan; spawning various manga, movies, merchandise, and the ever popular videogames (Pokémon Snap or Stadium ring any bells on the N64?). On Sunday, Pokémon Platinum is released in the US on the Nintendo DS; easily selling like hotcakes (just went to my local Best Buy and found scarce amounts of Platinum lying around).

What brings them gamers of all ages coming back to Pokémon is the games simplicity. Junichi Masuda says that the game is approachable by anyone, he goes on to say:

Junichi Masuda, a member of the Pokémon design team since the first title (as well as a board director of Game Freak) who's held duties ranging from scenario director to music composer, obviously knows the game very well. When asked what he thought the major reason that people still eagerly await the release of each new title, his immediate response was its simplicity. "Pokémon games don't focus just on hardcore players; they're accessible, approachable by everyone. Anyone can pick up and play the game without feeling overwhelmed. When you focus too much attention on just the hardcore, things get complicated." And, obviously, with its cute graphics, Saturday morning cartoon tie-ins, and watered-down narrative, the game is skewed toward a younger audience. But it remains almost as popular among adults, and the reasons for that come down to strong game design.

While the game does have the same elements at in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl; it brings the sense that it's a sequel and it has some updated features. By the way, I will be getting Pokémon Platinum by the end of the week, so I can pack my DS with me on my Spring Break trip.

Read more from the source article here: http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3173364

Asu no Yoichi - Episode 11 (Summary and Thoughts)

2009-03-22T12:26:00.004-04:00

Ibuki does not know that she has bigger breasts than her younger sister, Ayame.

Episode 11 starts out with the Ikaruga family and Yoichi coming home from the hot springs trip. Back inside their home, Ibuki keeps searching for her parents while Ayame, Chihaya, and Kagome watch in disbelief. They concluded that she did not lose her memories, but rather reverted back to the time she was four years old. She does not recognize Kagome at all and does not acknowledge Kagome as her sister.

That evening, Yoichi talks to Ayame about a fiance that Ibuki might have had; however, Ayame does not know of any. Yoichi tries to form a plan to find Ukyou, his sister, or Hinagawa in order to revert Ibuki back to normal. That next day, they try to hold practice for the students and ending up sending the kids home after Ibuki defeats Masashi without regard for his safety.

Back in the house, Yoichi and Kagome find Ayame trying to attack Ibuki again with Chihaya intervening. Chihaya was almost involved in an accident with a pair of scissors. Then the members of the Saginomiya clan (Ukyou and Sakon) arrive at the door and are seated across the table and discuss plans on Ukyou taking Ibuki and leaving the rest of the family living in luxury. She follows a cat out of the house into Washizu and Torigaya who were running late to practice. Washizu suggest that they go back to the house, but she asks Washizu to take her somewhere which he obediently follows.

Ibuki and Washizu are building sand castles in a park where Torigaya decides to go back and find out what is going on while the two are alone. Ukyou and Yoichi are in the dojo alone and are discussing why Yoichi is here and what he did that made Ibuki forget about him. He then proposes to Yoichi to leave the Ikaruga family and train with Angela and restore her dojo. Meanwhile, a butler of the Saginomiya comes to take Ibuki from Washizu, he tries to stop him but is ended up shocked by a tazer and kidnaps Ibuki.

Torigaya stumbles in to find everyone in lavish clothes and furniture. They found out that Ibuki is with Washizu and that Yoichi is leaving the house and will leave with Angela. However, Yoichi has a change of heart; he asks for Angela to wait for a day and wants to bring Ibuki back.

The next episode of Asu no Yoichi is going to be the last episode of this series. I felt that his show has only just begun but now is ending. I’ve only seen Tsubasa and Angela only a small number of appearances and wanted more from them. I would have liked to see more development of Washizu and Torigaya and see what would happen to them. Hopefully, the last episode will be a good ending to an interesting series or be a flop at the every end.

Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or Nintendo Wii?

2009-03-20T21:13:00.004-04:00

Still playing a last generation console (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)? If you are still unsure of what next generation console to get, there is an article on About.com that answers that question. They give five reasons why the console they picked is the best console to buy. A brief snippet of the article below:

Deciding between the PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Xbox 360 can be a daunting task. While all three systems are vastly superior to the last generation of videogame consoles, they are also far more different from each other than ever before.

Please note that this article has actual facts, but is opinionated to favor a certain console.

If you want to know which console they picked go to this site: http://playstation.about.com/od/ps3/a/5ReasonsPS3.htm

Xbox 360 E74 Errors on the Rise

2009-03-19T19:53:00.004-04:00

In a recent Joystiq survey, they found that a staggering amount of Xbox 360 owners are having the E74 Error after updating to the New Xbox Experience. Nice its release in November of last year, the number of E74 Errors have risen in a brief four months. Note that their survey is based on their readers and possibly don’t encompass all the Xbox 360 owners that are affected by it or unaffected by it. For those who may not know Error E74, this is a statement of the error from Microsoft:

"E74 is a general hardware error on Xbox 360 indicated by a single red flashing light in the Xbox Ring of Light and an error message visible on the television. This error is unrelated to the three flashing red lights error and there is not a single root cause. We encourage anyone who receives this error to contact Xbox Customer support through www.xbox.com/support or 1-800-4-MY-XBOX. The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles continue to have a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out."

You can read more of this though Joystiq’s article:
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/19/joystiq-survey-xbox-360-e74-errors-on-the-rise-since-nxe/

Bleach - Episode 211 (Summary)

2009-03-19T17:39:00.005-04:00

Episode 211 of Bleach is in the concluding process of the Turn Back the Pendulum Arc and will continue with another Arc that will not continue the Arrancar: The Fight Continues Arc.

The episode begins recapping the last two episodes and continues right where the previous episode left off. It shifted to Captain Shunsui Kyoraku of the 8th squad checking on two guards, he then looks at Vice-Captain Aizen and has an ominous suspicion of him. He dismisses his assumption and heads back to his barracks after wishing the guards good night. Captain Kyoraku meets a young Nanao Isei at the barracks and begins to talk to her. Nanao asks if Lisa was here so they could read a book together, however, Captain Kyoraku tells Nanao that Lisa is on a special mission and that she would return safely at dawn.

The episode then switches back to the squad of Captains and Vice-Captains that were sent out to look for Captain Kensei Muguruma and Vice-Captain Mashiro Kuna whose reiatsu (spiritual pressure) have completely vanished and are resembling a hollow’s reiatsu. They are being beaten by the berserk Kensei, Hacchi tells them that he can cast a high level binding kido. However, it requires that they distract Kensei so that he can get a clear shot on him, so Love volunteers to lure Kensei into the trap and told Lisa and Rose to back him up. They successfully subdue the berserk Kensei with Hacchi’s high level binding kido.

Things looked well until Hiyori tells Shinji to let her go, but then she manifests a hollow mask and cuts Shinji. Then Love, Rose, and Lisa are stuck down by Tousen who reveals his face to Shinji and Aizen and a young Gin approach the downed Captain. They then begin to talk, Aizen reveals to Shinji his Captain that the person that was following him for a month wasn’t him but a stand in. He continues to say that Shinji should apologize to his friends for being injuring them and being the root cause for him setting Aizen’s plan into motion; all because Shinji had doubts about Aizen and selected him as a Vice-Captain.

Aizen reveals a detail that he chose Shinji because he doubted him and distanced him after making him the Vice-Captain. If he took the time to get to know Aizen, then Shinji would have known that Aizen was up to no good and could have stopped him. Suddenly, Shinji begins to manifest half a hollow mask and is able to control it as long as he kept his cool. He fights Tousen back and was able to manage on his own; because of the power gained by obtaining a hollow mask until his hollowfication process resumes, stopping him in place. Aizen tells Shinji that he was an interesting sample and is about to finish him off, then Captain Kisuke Urahara intervenes by cutting off Aizen’s Vice-Captain Badge with Captain of the Kido Corps Tessai Tsukabishi at his side and the episode ends with a To Be Continued.

My First Post: The First Step into Blogging

2009-03-18T23:37:00.006-04:00

Not a lot was planned when I spontaneously decided to start a blog; however, I am posting my very first blog post and plan on continuing to blog. My skills range from doing school work to repairing automobiles. I am new to blogging so go easy on me, it will take some time but I will get the hang of it. Things are still what I rather call a beta phase, and I am striving to revise and polish this blog into something special.

If you need an introduction, a brief description is located at “About Me” on the blog. The things that I will hopefully blog about are as follows:

· Technology Trends

· Anime

· Videogames

· National News in the United States

· Miscellaneous stuff

Technology posts will range from announcements, future trends, reviews and impressions of new products. Anime posts will expand from news, thoughts, impressions, reviews, of shows and related merchandise pertaining to the anime. The same above applies to videogames and I will forward news reports for my readers (fellow bloggers). Miscellaneous stuff will range from DIYs (Do It Yourself) tutorials to the most random thing imaginable.

This blog will most likely share aspects that I think is interesting and want to tell the people. I guess you will learn a bit more about me as I continue to blog as time moves forward. This is as much as I will put in my first post and am looking forward to posting my second post very soon.

This calls a toast to blogging.