This Star Wars musical parody by The Piano Guys is one of the best Internet videos I’ve seen in 2011. It’s funny, creative, and awesome all the same time. The music is great. The costumes are great. The comedy is fantastic. I completely love this video! If I wasn’t poor, I’d donate money to The Piano Guys just for making this highly entertaining video.
How about you? Check it out and let me know what you think (please!).
Today I’d like to talk to you about Halloween candy. What candy did you love getting in your trick-or-treat bag? What candy did you loathe? Is there a particular candy bar that left you with a feeling of “meh”? Let’s review and analyze Halloween…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Verve’s Ethiopia Biloya, Jennifer Aniston’s wrinkly hands, or posthumous albums, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Today I’d like to talk to you about Halloween candy. What candy did you love getting in your trick-or-treat bag? What candy did you loathe? Is there a particular candy bar that left you with a feeling of “meh”? Let’s review and analyze Halloween candy together!
Treat: I loved getting 100 Grand candy bars. The combination of chocolate and caramel is a timeless classic. I’m pretty sure the rice appealed to me because I’m Asian. The name makes it sound like a luxury. Hmmm, I might have to get one for breakfast….
Trick: Necco Wafers are, by far, the worst candy in the world…unless you’re fond of Tums and chalk. Every time I saw this dreaded candy being thrown in my bag I thought, “Screw you lady!” At best, Necco Wafers are useful for when you run out of poker chips. At worst, they’re Necco Wafers.
Meh: I never understood the popularity of Three Musketeers candy bars. They’re not bad at all, but they’re not particularly good. The whipped filling and lack of density gives it a rather unsatisfying feeling. Despite the swashbuckling name, they’re just fluffy and boring. I didn’t mind getting Three Musketeers during trick-or-treat runs, but I wasn’t thrilled to get get them either.
Now it’s your turn! Kindly share your favorite, least favorite, and meh Halloween candies.
This is probably the most important question you’ll be asked in October. What’s the bigger news story — Lindsay Lohan posing for Playboy or McDonald’s bringing back the McRib? Kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss in the comments section!
This is probably the most important question you’ll be asked in October. What’s the bigger news story — Lindsay Lohan posing for Playboy or McDonald’s bringing back the McRib? Kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss in the comments section!
[poll id=”138″]
Here’s a great clip from The Daily Show that features Walter Isaacson talking about his book, Steve Jobs. In addition to talking about the book and Jobs, jabs at Microsoft, Bill Gates, and the Zune are thrown. That’s always fun. The Daily Show is awesome. By most accounts, this book is awesome. Give it a look (please)!
Last night 60 Minutes ran an outstanding piece on Steve Jobs and the man’s biography by Walter Isaacson. The segment contains insights from the author, audio clips from Jobs, and more. If you were on the fence about the book then you’ll want to give these clips a watch. As a Jobs admirer, I found them completely fascinating. Check ’em out and let me know what you think (please)!
Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs comes out on Monday and the Internet is already swimming with juicy quotes from people with early copies. The book, Steve Jobs, contains loads of great stories and insights, including Jobs going ballistic on Google over Android and telling President Obama that he’s headed for a one-term presidency.
As most of you know, I’m fascinated by Jobs and admire his work. I’m looking forward to reading lots of behind-the-scenes dirt and learning more about the (extremely private) man. How about you? Are you going to pick up the Steve Jobs bio? Kindly take today’s poll and let me know!
[poll id=”137″]
Amazon recently announced the Kindle Fire, an Android-based tablet with a killer $199 price point, DC Comics graphic novel exclusivity, a unique server-assisted web browser called Silk, and more. The killer price should make it an attractive option to first-time tablet-buyers and those looking for a secondary tablet. Its heavy tie-ins with Amazon digital services give it an enormous advantage over competing Android, BlackBerry, and webOS tablets. I’m positive that this is going to be one of the killer products this holiday season.
Today I wanted to see if you guys and dolls were interested in the Kindle Fire. Kindly take today’s poll and let me know what you think about Amazon’s aggressively-priced foray into the tablet computing world.
[poll id=”134″]
It’s frustrating talking about Google+ with my friends in the videogame business. Most of them are missing the big picture. Most of them can’t think of it in terms other than Google+ vs. Facebook. Certainly Google+ competes…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Yankees jobbing to Tampa Bay to stick it to the Red Sox, Facebook and Spotify sitting in a tree, or remembering your favorite indie-pop bands from 2001, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
It’s frustrating talking about Google+ with my friends in the videogame business. Most of them are missing the big picture. Most of them can’t think of it in terms other than Google+ vs. Facebook. Certainly Google+ competes with social networks like Facebook and Twitter. It even competes with messaging services like BlackBerry Messenger and the upcoming iMessenger. While it’s fun for writers, analysts, and consumers to talk about these “wars”, that’s really not what Google+ is about. Ultimately, it all comes down to search.
Remember way back in 2007 when Microsoft invested $240-million in Facebook? At the time, Google was concerned about two of its biggest rivals teaming up. Remember earlier this year when Microsoft’s Bing search engine got a huge social boost powered by Facebook “likes”? That’s when Google’s biggest fears about the partnership were realized.
Although it has its fingers in many pies, at the end of the day, Google is a search company that makes the vast majority of its money serving ads. Google was not pleased that the most popular social network in the world was helping Bing serve up more relevant results and serve more relevant ads. This is what Google+ is really about — the socialization of Google search.
As someone with nerd friends in Silicon Valley and the videogame industry, I have a lot of friends and acquaintances that actively use Google+. More importantly, they actively use the “+1” buttons found on numerous articles. When I search for something on Google that’s tech or game related, I usually see articles that my friends have recommended. This is enormously powerful! I’m more likely to click on a link that my friends recommend than one without that seal of approval.
While some people at Google would love to see the Google+ installed base surpass that of Facebook’s, I’m sure that most don’t see it as a realistic possibility. I’m also sure that a lot of them don’t care. This is not a head-to-head race. Google+ is growing at a rapid rate, as is the use of “+1” buttons. Google executives are just fine with collecting more user data, making search results more socially relevant, serving up more relevant advertising, and swimming in ad dollars. That’s way more important than getting into a numbers contest with Facebook. I’m just surprised that my gaming friends don’t get that.
I’d love to hear what you think of the Google+ vs. Facebook “war”. How do you feel about the socialization of search? Do you want the search algorithm to do all the work? Or do you like having your friends influence your search results?
[Also, don’t forget to drink your Ovaltine click on the +1 button for any RPad.tv articles you enjoy. It really helps!]
I’ve been playing around with Facebook’s new “Timeline” feature for the last few days. It’s definitely bold and different, but I’m not yet sold on it. Although it’s arguably Facebook’s biggest initiative since the social network launched, I have a feeling that it’s going to pan out similarly to other new feature introductions — some people are going to love it and some people are going to hate it, but few people will leave Facebook because of it. Here are some random thoughts from my three days with Timeline.
– I hated Timeline for the first few hours. This was hardly surprising. Hundreds of X-Men comics have taught me that people fear and hate what they don’t understand. I definitely didn’t understand Timeline at first. Using it was jarring and overwhelming. Hell, just looking at it was confusing. I didn’t know where anything was and in many cases I wasn’t sure where to look for it.
– As I got more familiar with Timeline, I became fascinated by it. It’s definitely a new and different way to look at and organize personal information. I found myself thinking, “You know, if I used Facebook for purely personal reasons, this would be totally neat!” Unfortunately, I don’t. I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow that I was only going to have one Facebook account. Several of my friends have personal and work Facebook accounts. That’s definitely the more practical thing to do, but I also think it’s slightly pretentious. Because I mostly use Facebook for interacting with readers, promoting articles, and keeping tabs on videogame industry peeps, I limit the personal info I put on the service. As an atypical Facebook user, I won’t get as much out of Timeline as someone that uses Facebook primarily for personal enjoyment.
– Sorting through my birthday wishes was outstanding for getting used to Timeline. At this point, I was accustomed to where everything was. Getting a steady stream of birthday wishes got me used to how information flowed. This made Timeline click for me. I can see myself having a sad February day in 2012 and clicking on September 2011 to cheer myself up with my birthday wishes. I can also see myself randomly clicking on a month and year just to remember what happened. It’s like the “pensieve” from the Harry Potter movies…but with tech instead of magic.
– Today I tried to upload old photos to see how they would behave in Timeline. After uploading a batch of pictures from the Spike TV 2003 VGAs, I was disappointed to see that they didn’t pop up in the 2003 section of my Timeline. This is absolutely stupid. The meta data is right there in the files. The pics should automatically be placed in 2003. I didn’t see a way to manually do this either. There’s a chance I’m missing the menu for this option. There’s also a chance that this feature will be implemented later. Either way, it’s moronic that this isn’t done automatically.
– Three days later, I’m not sure if I like Timeline. I’m having fun playing around with it because it’s new, but I’m still not sure it’s better for the way that I use Facebook. It’s certainly bold and interesting, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good. Obviously I’m stuck on Facebook and can’t leave. It’s too powerful for networking, marketing, and outreach purposes. That’s where you come in! If you’re already using Timeline, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. If not, let’s revisit this on September 29 when it starts rolling out to everyone.
Alberta scientists have discovered what they claim to be ancient dinosaur feathers. I, however, know the truth. These are chocobo feathers! I’ve always known that chocobos existed (and will rise again). Now I have proof. Here’s more from The Globe and Mail:
The most diverse amber-preserved, fossilized feather collection ever found — unearthed in the Prairies of southeastern Alberta — is offering new insight into the evolution of dinosaur and bird feathers.
The fossils were recovered from pits once used to store tailings from coal mining near Grassy Lake, a hamlet about an hour’s drive east of Lethbridge.
This is completely awesome news. I can’t wait until the rise of the chocobos. It will start with the innocent yellows and then the all-powerful blacks take over. I, for one, welcome our new chocobo overlords!
