I recently purchased over the last weekend, Dance Dance Revolution Universe.  I am a big fan of DDR and this latest rendition on the Xbox 360 is no exception.  The game features a lot of new songs that I haven’t ever heard before and I am enjoying the change-up.  Overall there are more than 65 new songs, with a lot more to unlock and even more will be downloadable for a fee over Xbox Live.  The cost is 100 points per song or cheaper if you buy them as a bundle.  I haven’t bought the songs yet, but I figure it will help stretch out the lifetime of the game if I keep having new material to dance to.

One of my favorite features is back, the Workout Mode.  I really like the idea of keeping track of how much i use the game, it allows me to see how much energy I am using playing the game.  It displays the total for the day in the Workout Mode section, as well after every song it will say how many calories I burnt. It always looks good to see that the game is a form of a workout.  What more can I ask for in a game?  It’s a really fun game and I get the side benefit of a workout.  I am definitely recommending it.

“So you want to ditch your corporate cubicle and join the ranks of web workers? But you have a mortgage, maybe a dependent or two, and a taste for Venti Mochas from Starbucks? You can make money in the new economy, though it might not be as easy or cushy as keeping your old economy job.”

I read through the ten new ways to make money, and it seems that for people to make money in this new internet, people have to have skills. If you have these skills its all about using them and letting people know you have them. I better make a list of what skills I have so I can narrow down to what areas I can make money online. Although I suppose I could just continue to make my money offline and spend it online. I don’t have much to worry about since I still have plenty of school left before I join the ranks.

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I am in the planning phase of my next project.  I am really interested in retro gaming, so when I saw the possibility of modifying the Atari Flashback 2 to play actual cartridges I immediately took notice.   In case you don’t know, the Atari Flashback 2 was released probably a year or two ago. It resembles an actual Atari 2600 machine made back in the late 1970’s and is about 2/3 the size of the original.  It comes with 40 built-in games, some of which are rare, and unreleased.   There are even some home-brew games that have been developed by fans long after the Atari was stopped production.  It also comes with two joysticks but old classic controllers work just fine as well.

The steps to my project.  Buy Atari Flashback 2.0, parts to modify and add the cartridge slot, and then great success.  The assembly and modification is going to be assisted by using an online guide that goes through all the steps to adding the cartridge slot. I am also planning on modifying the console to put the slot in there so it looks nice too.

**Update**
I have purchased all the parts for the modification from some Atari Distributer in California, and I purchased my Atari Flashback 2.0 from Zellers since Ebay was making me cranky.  I have yet to do the modification yet, as I cite lack of time and soldering iron.

Well with the news back a couple weeks ago, with the possible threat in Boston, its time to poke some fun.  In case you missed it, Aqua Teen Hunger Force was doing some publicity in Boston to promote its show.  The show is on the Cartoon Network and maintains a relatively stable but small audience.  When the blinking boxes started appearing around the Boston area, some people noticed them and reported them to police.  They immediately suspected terrorism and destroyed a couple devices which were basically light brights.  Overall they took things a little too far. Now its time to laugh at them.  What kind of terrorist act is this anyway?  Osama Team Hunger Force.

I remember back when I was in China, we would get the occasional sandstorm.  Since we were on the side of a small mountain it would look very odd. It would start off with a grey cloud forming on the horizon, and then it would move in closer and closer.  Once it got close enough it would block out the sun and it would seem as though it were night.  The winds would then pick up and the sand would blow in.  I never adventured outside during this time and I’m sure most people would have took cover inside buildings.  The worst part of the sandstorm didn’t last more than an hour but it sure did bring in a lot of sand, dirt, and dust into the air.  The sand that I saw in Jinan was from winds blowing it in from the desert in western China.   It was interesting since they provided forecasts and weather reports that predicted when these storms would happen.  Now for a gallery of pictures from a sandstorm in Iraq or just a single picture.

In the latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine for March of 2007, the editors have replaced their normal mugs with their Mii counterparts. Although it might seem strange for apparent competitors to be so friendly towards one anothers products, it just goes to show that they aren’t really direct competitors. I wouldn’t even consider the Wii to be a competitor of the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The PS3 and 360 are both high performance gaming machines, that try to do more with multimedia and online connectivity. Although I hate to say it, the Nintendo Wii is more of a toy that any age can enjoy. Some day I think I’ll belond to the Wii60 club, probably sooner rather than later. Pics from the magazine and more at the link below.

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I noticed at work yesterday that there are new fees as part of a SWEEP program that are being charged when people buy Computers, Laptops, TVs, and Printers.  Effective February 1st, the new costs range from $5 for laptops, $10 for Computers, and then vary depending on the size of TVs (46″ and up are $45).  The fee chart can be found here.  The interesting part is that GST is being charged on these fees so it seems to hurt twice over.  The positive side effect from the new fees is that you can take your old electronic equipment to SARCAN for recycling now. No, you won’t be paid for it.  The program is called the Saskatchewan Waste Electronic Equipment Program. For the program details you can check out their webpage at http://www.sweepit.ca/  Surpisingly, there has hardly been any media attention about this so far.  Normally when they introduce new fees like this it is news and people talk about it.  I wonder if this will affect purchases from out of province over the internet?  Either way its going to suck if I want to buy a new TV now.