New Xbox Revealed
Yesterday, the design, features, and specs of the new "Xbox 360" were officially released by Microsoft. As expected, it contains all of the necessary bells and whistles to make gaming a gajillion times better than it was before. Two of the best rundowns I found on it were here at Game Informer as well as the basic AP story at Yahoo! news.

Comments: Overall, I like the design and think the system has plenty of power and features to make things interesting. Of course, we can still expect the over-the-top hyperbole common with every system launch these days about how it will change life as we know it. But still it would appear to be a good start.

Second, the controller. There's a good overview of the controller at xbox360.com. It looks like a massive improvement over the current Xbox's controllers, much more smoother and finally replacing the stupid black and white buttons with shoulder triggers. As an added bonus, they're wireless and the controller itself can turn the system off and on.

Finally, the fact that the system was formally unveiled during a half hour show on MTV! This is some really interesting marketing here and of course only someone with pockets as deep as M$ could pull this one off. As of course I don't have cable I'm going to have to wait to see it, but I still think it was an interesting tactic from a marketing point of view.

How I'm Living
Things are going alright here as school winds down and graduation nears. I finished my Middle East Politics exam on Friday, and I thought it went well. I knew pretty much every thing the teacher asked, so I should be looking at a decent grade for it. Problem is, Dr. Piazza uses a seven point scale, so pulling out that "A" will be tricky. I only got a B on a book report in that class for some reason, so I'm looking at an uphill battle to get all A's this semester.

I had dinner with a bunch of Japanese students Friday at Chen's Bistro. It was fun, but a little sad too as a lot of them will be leaving to go home shortly. I know how that feels. Still, it was good to see everyone one more then even if I ate too much at the buffet. After that, some people got together for a party me and Sammy had at our apartment. It was for sort of an unofficial premier of our friend Carlos' movie, "Death of a Paddleboat Lover". Don't ask. Those guys have a seriously cracked sense of humor is all I gotta say.

Sunday, I stopped by Tom and Lib Philips baseball field one last time to watch the Niners play and say goodbye to some people. It's a bit sad to go, I had a good time overall covering baseball for the school paper and I would definitely consider doing it again. Unfortunately, I don't think the Niners are going to have enough gas in the tank to make it to the CUSA tournament this year. But they've got a good group of players who should be able to step it up next season and really make an impact in the Atlantic 10.

It was also Mother's Day, so I got to meet up with the parents and go out to dinner. We went to Logan's Steakhouse on Harris, it was the first time I'd been there and I'd have to say overall that I liked it. It was nice to chat with the parents and of course getting a steak is a rare treat for me. After that we went to Target, and I told my mom I'd buy her a DVD. So which one does she choose? Con Air, starring Nicholas Cage. An interesting choice from a mom to say the least, but whatever she wants. Then we went back to the apartment and talked a little bit more, then they went home. I spent the evening cleaning up and making a powerpoint presentation about Hidetoshi Nakata. Fun Times. Well, I'll talk to you all again later.

Long Day
Today was just epic for me today. First I woke up, ate breakfast, and immediately went to work finishing a book report for Middle East class at 11. After that, I came back, and had a couple of hours to make up a speech for Public Speaking Class at 4. Somehow, I managed to pull that one out, then I went to study in the library for two and a half more hours before taking a 90 minute online exam. Finally, it's all done. I'm tired.

Lack of Updates
It's exam season again, and you know what that means- time to disappear into the library for awhile. Ah, seems like old times. Bottom line is, things will be light around here for awhile. I've got a ton of reading to do though for real and I'm not looking forward to it at all. Well, at least after this it's summertime- oh, wait.

Thoughts on Train Accident near Osaka
I'm sure many of you have heard by now about the terrible train accident that occured yesterday. It's a real tragic situation, with many people possibly still trapped under the rubble. The train driver was only 23, not much older than me. I wonder if they will establish an age limit after this.

When you go out on a train, a lot of trust is involved. You're going at a high speed in what can be a very crowded car. Once when I was on a train that was leaving Machida, it had to stop abruptly for some reason. It was a crowded car during rush hour and every body flew forward on top of each other. Even at a low speed, it was a rough jolt- I can't imagine what this accident could have been like.

I send my condolences to the families of anyone who lost or injured in this tragedy.

Interesting Weather Today
I was out and about enjoying the weather today, but I kept noticing something seemed a little out of the ordinary- then it hit me. The weather was like a cool fall day, but all the trees and flowers were in full bloom. After a couple days of heat and humidity, it was a nice break. Still, I'm ready for the warm spring weather.

21st Century Technology
Thanks to Google Maps, you can now see satellite pictures of just about anywhere in the United States! Neat! Of course, both MapQuest and Microsoft have had these features for a couple of years, but since it's Google, it gets all the press. Go ahead, check it out- type in your address or the city where you live and odds are good it will show up.

Just like anything else on the internet, this has led to some, ah, interesting applications. Check out this webpage for sights to check out.


Edit: Be sure to click on the "Satellite" link in the upper right corner at the Google Map webapge!

Sad News to Report

Sam Mills, 1959-2005

Atama ga Itai
It seems I've gotten a rather intractable migraine-ish headache going on today, and I can't say that I'm too happy about it. In fact this whole semester I've been getting them regularly every few weeks or so. In trying to figure out what causes them, it seems that I always come to the conclusion that it's somehow food-related- too much sugar, not enough sugar, eating too little, caffeine-related, etc. I'm still not entirely sure what it exactly is though. I used to get migraines pretty often when I was a kid, so living with headaches is nothing new.

But it's strange now, instead of puking like I did with migraines, I normally just fall right to sleep for about 10 hours, no matter what the time of day. If I get one of these bad headaches it's not uncommon for me to sleep from 8pm or earlier until the next morning. Now I'm all about a good night's sleep, I just wish that it wasn't forced on me by a headache, you know?

Why aren't I sleeping now, you ask? 24 comes on at 9, and you know I can't miss an episode. Silly question.

S.O.P.
Normally I try to do two things on this blog. One is link to other blogs, especially when I think I can say something myself. Two, discuss politics. So linking to political blogs has got to be really out of the question, right? Well, not today. Read this post about the estate tax and just let it marinate for a while.

Josh Marshall- Talking Points Memo