Netflix received another redesign. It feels bland and needs more red. The biggest difference is the logo. It is simple. It works. I prefer the old logo, but I am sure that after a few weeks I will stop caring about it.
It’s flat!
The “Kids” button stands out. I guess this is done to make the button more distinguishable for children to access the family-friendly selection. The button seems pointless if a child sees the full “adult” section while waiting for the kids section to load. It would be smarter if Netflix asked which section you want to view sort of like what the Xbox 360/PS3 apps used to do. I thought the picture of Mario from “The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!” as the button for the kids section on the apps was hilarious. So edgy.
I just think it is a bad decision to make the site even lighter. It was already blinding at night. I wish it is designed more like the Netflix apps on mobile devices and other hardware. A nice black finish that is pleasing to the eye. It does not seem too unreasonable to want a darker interface. Movies are meant to be viewed in dark environments. If this was not true, movie theaters would leave the lights on.
I like to take advantage of everything that my Amazon Prime membership offers so within minutes of reading the tweet, I was listening to Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories”. The album was added to the cloud player and was mixed in with my few MP3 purchases.
Prime songs have a convenient label to indicate that the songs have not been purchased.
I tried seeing how Prime Music worked on Android, but the Amazon MP3 app had not been updated yet. I was probably trying it too soon. Not even Amazon’s homepage had changed to indicate that Prime Music was now live. By the time I got up this morning, the app had been rebranded as Amazon Music and now supports Prime Music.
The Amazon Music Android app has just about everything I was expecting from it. Support to browse the Prime Music library and download music locally for offline listening are features that are present. There is also a slick new interface that is ruined by the Prime logo being placed on the album art.
Isn’t there a better spot for the Prime logo
Spending time using the app and browsing through what was available made me realize how small the music library currently is. I do not think my music tastes are that obscure and was surprised to find out that many bands that I listen to were missing from the Prime Music catalog.
A list of bands/musicians that are currently unavailable (in no particular order):
Muse
Radiohead
Nirvana
Queen
Vampire Weekend
Arctic Monkeys
Arcade Fire
Weezer
Red Hot Chili Peppers
AFI
Frank Sinatra
The Who
The White Stripes
Wolfmother
Caravan Palace
Chvrches
Even if a band is is included in the Prime Music library, it usually does not contain a band’s entire discography. Green Day is missing “American Idiot”. Phoenix is missing “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”. My Chemical Romance is missing a couple of albums and Daft Punk is missing the Tron Legacy soundtrack.
Don’t accidentally buy a song.
Just like Prime Instant Video, Prime Music has paid suggestions mixed in with the free offerings. I find this excusable for Prime Instant Video as it gives the impression that the library is bigger than other competitors such as Netflix. I think that is practice for Prime Music is slightly embarrassing for Amazon as all of the paid songs that it has recommended to me can be found on Spotify without any additional fees.
I had signed up for Spotify Premium a couple of weeks ago and currently do not have any plans of canceling my membership. Amazon Prime Music will most likely continue to grow but at the moment, there are better offerings for streaming music online. I guess it is nice to know that the extra $20 a year for Amazon Prime is not going to waste.
The art is so uninspired. It is a disgrace to the original shows. Look at how much of a mess that article is. Why do only some pictures have a list of the characters that appear? More confusing is the headline, a “Tumblr artist”. Nowhere in the article is a link to the artist’s Tumblr. The source for each image is just a link to the artist’s deviantART profile. The person writing the article didn’t even take the time to link to each individual image. So lazy. This is not the first time BuzzFeed has posted an article like this.
BuzzFeed posted an article in July titled “This Is What The Rugrats Look Like Now“. Which article am I supposed to believe and why are people so interested in what the Rugrats would look like grown up? There was an entire TV series based off of that premise. I guess there is a novelty seeing memorable cartoon characters being redrawn in various art styles, but the drawings that BuzzFeed is showing off in both of these articles are uninteresting. It just seems redundant, redrawing human-looking cartoon characters as human-looking cartoon characters.
Redrawing cartoon characters so that they look like a human works best if the characters in question are not human to begin with. Take a look at this creepy drawing of SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward as humans. It may not be a particularly pleasant drawing to look at but at least it tries to capture the spirit of the characters instead of merely creating a generic caricature. With the way BuzzFeed is publishing articles, I would not be surprised if there is an article showing off “cool” drawings of Rugrats as babies. How far is it going to go?
I was selected to watch Walt Disney. My only task was to ensure he did not commit suicide. When I met him, I was stunned. He did not look like a man that was about to die. Maybe he was just trying to fool me, but he seemed legitimately happy.
Our day together was just that, happy. We shared a delightful breakfast and proceeded to explore various antique shops in the city. I was weary about letting Walt into these shops as they typically sell various forms of weaponry that could inflict self-harm. He remained relatively calm and only purchased one item, a gold pen and pencil set.
It was time to head to our room over at the Sheraton hotel. The night was peaceful. In the morning while I was brushing my teeth, Walt decided to make a run for it and jump out the window. I ran after him and caught him, but as soon as I did, the hotel exploded.
We were sent flying through the window. I was fine, but Walt was too shocked. I carried him in my arms to a nearby park. He died. I put his body down on the grass where a person walking by spray painted his body so that it would blend in with the grass.
I was rearranging some files on my computer and came across an Omegle chat-log that I had saved from earlier this year. I am impressed that the conversation lasted as long as it did and the other person was able to catch onto all of the references I was making.
Stranger: are you now or have you ever been a dolphin? You: Monroe? You: Is this you? You: http://i.imgur.com/3mqYh.jpg Stranger: YES! You: OMG I finally found you You: I was getting worried for a moment Stranger: ♥
Stranger: No need to worry. Stranger: 😀 You: Will you take care of the evil monsters of the dark? Stranger: of course. You: What is your favored technique? You: Bow staff? Stranger: i grow a fist and falcon punch them You: Well, it does solve teen pregnancy. Stranger: but yet we still have that 16 and pregnant show… You: Touche You: So…you do some shopping? Stranger: yeah, i’m in the need of a new pair of rain boots You: Do they hide your ankles from those embarrassing flood pants? Stranger: yes, that is a contributing factor as to why i wear them. Stranger: i want some with a bunch of poka dots You: Do they squeak when you walk? Stranger: i always de-squeak them. Stranger: it’s a challenge You: Oh, I’m guessing you don’t like the sound you get when you rub two pickles together Stranger: i do…with my… Stranger: BIG Stranger: MEATY Stranger: CLAWSS! You: I bet they provide excellent results when playing with mayonnaise Stranger: No Patrick mayonnaise is not an instrument. You: What about You: Horse raddish? Stranger: nope. You: Chuck Testa! Stranger: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU Stranger: DX You: His profession is rather odd You: You would think that by now they would have found a way to perform taxidermy on humans. Stranger: I once read a story about a guy who lived in the attic of a hotel, and whenever someone would stay in a certian suite he would kill them and stuff them. Stranger: and he had this huge collection of people. You: Oh, I think I know what you are talking about You: Is that room 613 of the Tipton hotel in Boston? Stranger: No no no you’re thinking of the crazy lady who throws shards of mirror at people. You: Yeah, that’s it. I always get those two confused. Stranger: it happens to the best of us. You: True, but it is still sadistic You: Especially if you don’t have a goal Stranger: my goal is to spread my wings and turn into a tree You: interesting You: I want to be the very best You: Like no one ever was You: To catch them is my real test You: To train them is my cause Stranger: i will travel across the land Stranger: searching far and wide You: Each Pokemon to understand You: The power that’s inside Stranger: POKEMON Stranger: GOTTA CATCH EM’ ALL You: You teach me and I’ll teach you! You: POKEMON! Stranger: I wonder what it would be like if i really could catch them all, and carry them around with me. and stuff You: I could fly across the world free of charge Stranger: that would be wonderful You: Yeah, no need for American Airlines anymore. Stranger: i’m saying. 😀 You: One day the Pokeball will be invented You: and when it is, rich celebrities will use them to carry dogs in purses -____- Stranger: god i hope not… You: The soundtrack to Inception makes everything sound more epic You: Not sure if it is more epic than the Guile theme, but still enjoyable Stranger: It’s kind of like how i drive to school listening to my StarWars soundtrack. Stranger: it gets me through the morning. You: Hmm…I guess it puts bread on the table Stranger: for the most part. You: Are you a volunteer policeman? Stranger: Not generally. You: Sounds like you have tried before You: Or maybe just maybe you are a super hero Stranger: Shhhhhh…. You: *cough* umm…yeah alien hunting You: No, we better not talk about that, if we do they’ll know we are on to them. Stranger: yeah, you know how they are, watching conversations and all/ Stranger: . You: It’s all a scam by Major League Baseball You: Mark McGuire is watching our every move You: via satellite images Stranger: damn, that means i have to put my shirt back on. You: uhh…you do that. Stranger: oops, i said too much. You: I’m assuming you were changing from your super hero costume to your normal clothes Stranger: you assumed right. You: Were the dolphins after you again? Stranger: there every where man! Stranger: they’re You: Tell me about it, I was at the mall last week and I found one in the fountain You: He ate my penny You: Now my wishes will never come true 😦 Stranger: those bastards. Stranger: don’t worry, i’ll get your wishes back! You: That’s great! You: Just like Frosted Flakes Stranger: i’m here to help. Stranger: and eat cereal You: Mold mereal? Stranger: waffles? You: I got it on the internet? Stranger: philip! nooooooo! You: He was my favorite nickel! Stranger: nickels are for squares, like pants! You: No pants are for morons Stranger: oh blah blah blah your needs. -.-‘ You: My shiny teeth and me Stranger: icky vicki. You: ooh ooh You: Chip Skylark FTW Stranger: is it sad that i remember most of the words for shiney teeth and me?
Arrowhead has reached a new achievement in water dispensing technology. Upon first glance it may just look like an ordinary water bottle, but it isn’t. Every water bottle should be envious of this glorious design.
Take notice of the blue cap. I don’t know about you, but when I think of water, I think of the color blue. Sometimes I buy other brands of water just so I can get a blue bottle. Now I don’t have to. This “special flip cap” as Arrowhead refers to it has a convenient design. Unlike other bottles that have a similar design it is impossible for the cap to go missing as it is attached to the bottle. The cap also has a very a reassuring snap to indicate that it is properly closed. I have not had any problems with the bottles leaking so the cap is doing a perfect job. Really, the only problem with the cap is how difficult it is to open it for the first time. I’m not sure if I have ever seen another water bottle that gives directions and illustrations about how to get it open. Grip small tab, peel off, then flip cap open. Usually such instructions are redundant, but in this case they were actually helpful.
Then you have the obligatory choking hazard warning. I love the description at the bottom of the warning, “the easy grip sports bottle from Arrowhead is designed to fit naturally in your hand, and in your life”. Wow, such a profound statement at the end. It actually does fit naturally in my hand though. As you can see there is a slight curvature to the bottle, but wait there’s more. It may be difficult to see but there are ridges that allow your fingers to comfortably rest while you are holding the bottle. Also there is a nice textured surface with bumps separated into three parts that provides a grip for the palm of your hand. If you were to count each bump located in this area of the water bottle you would find that there is 12 bumps in the first and third sections and 13 bumps in the second. Add these numbers together and you got a total of 37 bumps. The 37th President of the United States is Richard Nixon who is mostly remembered for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Hmm… Notice how the mountain is pointing only at the letter W in Arrowhead. It’s a conspiracy. Why else would there be a phone number to call about water quality and information? People are catching on. The colors on the label: red, white and blue. A subliminal message to get Americans to buy more bottled water. How strange, no other water bottle has these hidden messages.
Well, I’m getting way too off-track here. In conclusion, if you ever need to quench your thirst, make this Arrowhead water bottle your first choice.
Tumblr was just not cutting it as a blogging platform. I imagine a blog as being a place where a user can share thoughts and opinions. Very rarely did I see that in the form of text posts on Tumblr. Sometimes a simple image can capture a moment perfectly and that appears to be the mentality of most Tumblr users.
As a source for images and animated gifs, Tumblr is amazing. I will continue to use it for that reason alone. The novelty blogs available can be hilarious with my personal favorite being the Same Picture of Dave Coulier Every Day. I just think that a blog needs to be a more substantial than just a feed of images. More specifically, a blog should host original content. From what I have experienced on Tumblr it is just reblog after reblog.
Now I am here. My recent statuses on Facebook have been far to long. If a post is too long for Facebook then it is too long for Tumblr.
Laneous Missile 