Ah, yes, the holidays. Everyone is traveling, this time including me. I shal be spending the next two weeks up in cold Minnesota, near Brainerd to be exact. The coldness sounds worse to me because of where I am native: Arizona.

I will be gone from tomorrow, December 23rd, and will return on January 4th. During this time, as you may have already guessed, I will be unable to post any entries to my blog. I will try to pop something good off before my departure, but I make no promises.

Happy Holidays, and have a good New Year!

I’m headed out on a family trip this Saturday.  We’re going to see Arizona’s Grand Canyon and then enjoy the entertainment in Las Vegas.  What are some fun geeky things to do there?

This is not my first visit to the sights.  When I was thirteen or fourteen, Nanny (Grandma) and I went to Las Vegas as an extension of a larger tour that included Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon.  In Vegas, I got treated to comedy shows and saw the construction of the Mirage.

Five years later, I still not eighteen, we went again to Las Vegas with my nuclear family.  The best thing we did was watch a magician get hazed by a drunk.  When “The Magnificent Steve” vanished and re-appeared —"Steve, oh my G-d you’re alive!"—Steve even picked him as a volunteer.

Then we went to the Star Trek exhibit at the Hilton.  When you enter the area it is like stepping into Quark’s bar on Deep Space: Nine with space-themed slot machines.  Everyone lines up for his or her tour:

From Wikipedia: “Initially, a group of about twenty visitors enter a rather confining room… Once inside the room, one of the ride directors begins speaking…
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It relation to Nick’s Article.

A World of Warcraft Question was featured on Jepordy!

“Leroy Jenkins is a popular player of this game” - What is World of Warcraft?

Didn’t see the episode but many people have told me about this.

Sam You Wool

The feeding frenzy is about to begin.

Microsoft’s next-generation gaming console, Xbox 360, is set to be released at 12:01 AM tonight/tomorrow morning. According to a Microsoft press release, “more than 4,500 retailers [will] open their doors at 12:01 a.m. to answer the demand for the Xbox 360 console and 18 launch games.” The Xbox 360 is the first of the next generation of gaming consoles (PlayStation 3 and Nintendo revolution are the other two) to be released to the general public. Sony and Nintendo plan on releasing their new consoles next year. This represents a nice reversal of fortune for Microsoft, which has been hounded with bad press over security concerns, Windows Vista delays, and sweaty dancing CEOs.

If you are planning to go to a launch event and would like to write about it for us, let us know.

For the past few months, the gaming world has been abuzz with anticipation over Nintendo’s new game console and its supposedly revolutionary new controller. Well, while delivering his keynote speech from the Tokyo Game Show yesterday, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata finally put an end to the suspense, unveiling the controller that will be used for Nintendo’s next generation console.

The new controller resembles a TV remote more than it does a conventional game controller, and it is designed to be held like a TV remote, with the thumb falling on the cross pad and large ‘A’ button below it, and the index finger gripping the ‘B’ trigger underneath the controller. Midway down the face of the controller are the Home button (whose purpose Nintendo has yet to elaborate on) flanked by the requisite Start and Select buttons. Further down are the alternate ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons, placed such that the controller can be turned on its side and used as a standard NES controller.

The industrial design of the controller exudes a very iPod-like air of understated beauty, as does the console itself. Both console and controller will be available in a variety of colors.

The controller’s most striking feature,…
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