Classic Games

Here are two classic games. I'm sure that you'll be familiar with the first. The second wasn't quite as popular, but is pretty funny.

Oregon Trail:
Everyone played this in school. I suppose it was used as a learning tool, but I don't think I really learned much. I did learn what it meant to ford a river.

Download Oregon Trail here.

Hugo and Penelope:
This is a game that our neighbors had on their computer when I was younger. My sister and I used to play it with our friend Lauren. Not really sure what the point of this game is, and I don't think we every really played it to win. All we would do is type in swear words to watch Hugo reply "eh?". Download it to see what I mean...

Download Hugo and Penelope here.

XM Satellite Radio

I've been sensing a lot of pressure to update this blog, so here it is -- an update.

Let's talk about radio. I used to be a pretty big fan of local radio stations. Rock108 and Cool 105.7 here in Cedar Falls and 93X in Minneapolis used to satisfy my music needs. But after years of listening to these same stations day in and day out, one begins to realize that they're really not that great. Bland, corporately programmed music selections, hours of commercials everyday and less than stellar DJ's make these stations, well, boring. Furthermore, none of the local stations play the kind of music that I really like.

When satellite radio was introduced a few years ago, I assumed that it would never become successful. Who would want to pay for radio? The satellite companies said that their product would be as appealing as cable television, but I just didn't buy it. I was happy with my mix of local radio, CD's and the songs on my mp3 player.

But after awhile, I get tired of listening to CD's and mp3's. Even though they are all songs and artists that I like, I can only listen to the same songs over and over for so long. And I've already told you how I feel about FM radio.

My new car came with XM Satellite Radio built in. After a month of driving the car around and listening to CD's and radio, I paid the $10 activation fee and got XM in my car. And I fell in love.

At $12.95 per month, I really feel that paying for XM is a great value. Why?

• 170 channels
• 69 commercial free music channels
• XM Radio online for free
• Sports
• News
• Live concerts

There's so much more, too. Finally, I am able to listen to the exact type of music that I really like. With 69 channels, it's not hard to find something that you like. My favorite station is Ethel 47, which plays modern alternative rock. I also really like Lucy 54, which is alternative rock from the '90's through today. Right now, there are also eight holiday stations that are fun. I also love the decade channels (spanning from the 50's through the 90's). It's also nice that I can listen to CNBC or CNN on the radio 24 hours a day. Just last week I listened to the Republican Debates live on XM.

The best part -- it's all music on the music channels. What a concept! No commercials! Just think about how many more songs you hear when there aren't commercials. And the music is so good, especially on Ethel. Most of the music on Ethel is stuff that I would never hear on local radio. I was missing out on so much amazing music while listening to FM.

Now, I am an XM subscriber, so that's what I like. However, I'm sure that Sirius is just as good as XM, although it does have fewer channels than XM. Either way, I am positive that whichever service you subscribe to, you will enjoy it much more than AM or FM radio. Also, XM and Sirius are in the middle of a merger, so maybe one day soon there will just be one service.

If you're a music lover and spend a lot of time in your car or listening to the radio at work, I urge you to check into satellite radio. It really is affordable, and is worth every penny. Browse the XM website and you'll see the value in satellite radio. You can search for your favorite artist to see where you'll hear them on XM, get samples of music you'll find on the different channels, and even sign up for a 3-day online trial. The radios are pretty inexpensive, and if you sign up now, you'll get three months of programming free.



Some of my coworkers have XM radio, and we all agree that we will never go back to regular radio. I think that most people would feel the same way -- so try it out.

A great weekend for UNI

What a fun weekend for UNI Athletics. Three men's basketball and one football game. As predicted, the football game was a blowout, but it was still a good show. Check out this YouTube video of Johnny Gray's punt return:






Here are videos of the football post game press conference:
Video 1
Video 2

Saturday's win means that UNI is the sole champion of the Gateway conference. If UNI is able to beat Southern Utah next Saturday, it will mark the first time that a Gateway team has finished their regular season undefeated.

Also, the men's basketball team is off to a great start as they defeated UMass Sunday night. The win puts them at 3-0, marking the second time in eight years that UNI has started the seasons with three wins. Next up for UNI is an away game at UW-Milwaukee this Sunday night. Next home game isn't until Dec. 1.

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Listening to "Island (Float Away)" by The Starting Line -- a good song from a traditionally punk-rock band (this song is not punk...).

New Blog

So, I've decided to start a blog. I have been thinking about doing this for some time, and think that now is a good time to get started. I'm not exactly sure of the content that I'll have, but it should be a good mix of my opinions on many different subjects.

As for my first post, we'll discuss cars. As you may know, I just purchased a VW GTI MkV (MkV stands for Mark 5, meaning the fifth generation of this type of VW). I recently found an online VW forum with over 300,000 members! It's a pretty cool site (if you're into VW's), with a lot of great information for VW owners, as well as thousands of photos of "modified" V-Dubs.

Here is a photo of a VW Rabbit that has been slightly modified. This bunny has been modified perfectly, in my opinion.

If I had the know how and the money, I would do something very similar to this to my GTI. The stance of this car is just p-e-r-f-e-c-t! The wheels are perfect for the car, and the car has been lowered just enough for it to look sharp, but not low enough to look stupid. More pics can be found here.

I'm currently listening to the Arctic Monkeys -- "Fluorescent Adolescent" and "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" -- two pretty darn good songs.

More to come soon...