CPU Magazine review

It's been too long since I've been able to break out the happy monkey rating scale. So, I figured what better way to get back in the swing of things than to review my favorite magazine, CPU magazine.

Let me start by saying that I used to read Maximum PC and PC World and a pile of other PC magazines. Most of the mainstream magazines I used to read turned into business related PC Software review mags and geared their content towards business issues. This didn't please me... at all. The most recent exception to that rule was Maximum PC.

It seemed that as I went through college, getting a little older, wiser, and chubbier, I got a little tired of reading Maximum PC. It was still edgy, and still geared for a much younger audience than most of the other PC magazines at the time, but it was mostly about expensive hardware, overclocking and gaming. As I've been doing less and less gaming, and never really took much of an interest in overclocking my systems. I guess I've moved on past the demographic that can appreciate and snicker consistently at the Maximum PC Kick ASS product rating.

The best magazine I've found to meet my needs is CPU Magazine, CPU being an acronym for Computer Power User. They have a better mix of hardware reviews, coding information, hardware hacking, and interesting articles on where the industry is headed.

They have a great cast of writers that submit articles for each issue about different aspects of computing. These writers include Chris Pirillo, and Anand something or other (the guy who created the huge site, anandtech.com), and other various, relatively unknown to most, computer industry figures.

The major selling point for me on the magazine was that the information in the magazine was high tech enough to keep me interested. It's really a magazine for people who are already tech savvy, but want to keep up on the latest in the computer world. It covers material like Tivo and ReplayTV hacking, developing XML schemas, in-depth descriptions of hardware standards that are under development, and of course the must-have hardware reviews.

I've yet to find another magazine that I can read from cover to cover and feel like I've made a good purchase. I give CPU Magazine a rating of 5 Happy Monkeys out of 5!

For more info on the happy monkey rating scale, see the explanation.

I shall attempt to rate some of my things!

In a daring attempt justify the creation of the Happy Monkey Scale, I will now attempt to rate a few things.

First, the newbies.

My new Dr. Martens: Style 2B06. They slightly resemble bowling shoes, but they're the most comfortable casual/semi-fancy pants shoes I've ever had. They were kind of expensive, but will probably last forever, like my 9 year old boots. I give you... 4 Monkeys!

Motorola V551 w/ Cingular Nation 450 GSM: The phone is a great little gadget. It's got mp3 ring tone capability, sharp LCD display, great speakerphone feature, Video Capture, Still Capture, Bluetooth, and best of all, it's shiny. Cingular, you've also been good to me so far, but two days after I got the phone my voice mail was unavailable most of the day. Too bad. I give you both... 4 Monkeys!

Subway Turkey, Ham, and Bacon Melt: The newest addition to the crew. I ingested you about 2 hours ago. You've made me quite gassy, and that's unattractive. However, you were quite tasty on the way down. So, you... you tasty morsel of a sandwich... you get 3 Monkeys!

Canon Powershot A85: This little camera is quite the nice package. It's a great point and shoot camera. I was able to take it right out of the box (when teaching my grandparents how to use it... it's theirs) and start snapping great pictures. It has enough manual settings to enable those who know a little about photography to create some nice shots. Size is not an issue, and image quality is very good. The only down-side is that it takes AA batteries. Some people think this is a plus, but I prefer higher capacity Lithium Ion cameras in most cases. Maybe I'll change my mind if I spend more time with a AA camera. However, for now, Canon A85, you get 4 Monkeys!

My Pinky: You worthless, dainty little thing. I see you down there plotting to overthrow the thumb and forefinger. I've had my eye on you since the day you refused to extend while drinking a cup of tea. You get 1 Monkey... purely for old times' sake!

The Happy Monkey Rating Scale Explained

It's pretty simple folks. I needed a simple rating scale for anything on the site that I need to rate. So, I figured what better way is there to quickly convey a rating than to graphically indicate the happiness of five little monkeys.

If something is utter poo, it will receive no happy monkeys. If it is the grandest of the grand, it will receive 5 monkeys. All other measures will fall in between in whole monkey measurements. After all, you can't make half a monkey happy.

The breakdown:

	=	Utter Poo. Steer clear.
	=	Has been known to wallow in poo. Handle with gloves and lysol.
	=	Hangs out with poo every once in a while. Use lysol.
	=	Associated with poo in college. You might get some on your shoe, but should risk it.
	=	Saw poo from a distance once. Worth a look.
	=	Has never even heard of poo. Embrace.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Review

So, here's a primer for those of you who haven't heard of paper mario. Paper Mario is a Role-Playing Game (RPG) set in a 2-dimensional world made of paper. This means the buildings, the scenery, and the characters are all made to act and look like they're made of paper (thus the paper mario). The special abilities that mario possesses when he's not in battle revolve around this theme of a paper world. For instance, mario can fold himself into a paper airplane and float long distances when necessary. He can roll himself into a tube and roll under obstacles. This paper theme seems limited to the world when mario is not in battle though.

In typical RPG fashion, the game revolves around completing different tasks by travelling to different locations beating bosses and collecting items. There are many different, unique locations in Paper Mario that keep the game interesting. Mario and his party of allies will travel around trying to collect Crystal Stars to unlock the Thousand Year Door. When travelling around in the 2d paper world, there will often be enemies lurking about. Running into these enemies will begin a battle with them.

When mario enters a battle with an enemy, the gameplay reverts to normal role-playing style. Mario and his team will attack, using special attacks and items to hurt their enemies. After Mario's team has attacked, the enemies will each attack. Each character on your team, and each enemy, has a maximum number of health points (I think mario starts out with 10). So, if an attack does 3 points of damage, and a character (of yours or an enemy) has 9HP, it will take 3 of those attacks to kill that enemy. This is because an enemy dies when his health points reach Zero.

With that primer, I think you should be up to speed on the general idea behind Paper Mario and how the gameplay will work. So, now I'll talk about the features of Paper Mario that really set it apart from most other RPG's and other Gamecube Games.

First, let me say that I really enjoyed the looks of the game. The graphics were crisp, and very cartoonish in their smooth animation. The worlds were immersive and beautifully created. Spooky locations were created with drab colors and great scenery. Towns and forests were created with bright, contrasting colors that made everything look great. This smooth animation and great scenery led to an immersive gameplay experience.

I have to say that the other main feature that made the gameplay enjoyable was the group of abilities that mario learns throughout the game. The ability to turn into a paper airplane, or turn sideways to fit in cracks, or roll into a tube, etc. were all great ideas and enable the creators of the game to make the tasks lack a repetitive feel that some other RPG's have. Although, I do have to say that some parts of the game you just know that soon you'll be back there using a different ability. In that aspect it is kinda repetitive in parts, but I thought the different abilities and storylines were creative enough to minimize that repetition.

I do have to say that I would have liked to see a mix-up in the order of the characters you play with during the game. Certain parts of the game are played by Mario, others by the Princess and others as Bowser. This is a great idea, as it provides a little variety in the game. However, after each level you come to expect that you're gonna be playing as Mario for that level, then Princess, then Bowser. It was still fun, but I'd have liked to see some variety in the mix there. That's one of the very few complaints I had about the game.

One of the other things I really enjoy about paper mario is the way they make the battle sequences interesting. You fight all your battles in front of audiences. As you move further in the game, you'll become a bigger star, drawing bigger audiences. These audiences are an important part of the battle system in the game. If you put on a good show, with lots of spectacular attacks, they will give you feedback. This feedback is gauged in a meter at the top of the screen and can be used to perform special attacks. The bigger the audience, the more feedback you'll get when you do something good.

Additionally, audience members can throw harmful objects at Mario and his party members. They can also throw helpful objects such as Mushrooms and Jellies. You're able to press the X button before you attack if you see someone with a harmful audience. Mario, or your other character, will jump into the crowd Ron Artest style and hit that audience member, making them emit a girly little scream.

I know I didn't really get into the details of the game, or reveal attacks, or talk about the story line all that much. I don't enjoy reviews that give the game away, or all the features away. That's part of the fun of playing the game. Discovering some of the abilities and the storyline.

I will just say that this game is great. It's probably the best game I've played for the Gamecube. Actually, it's second only to the Zelda windwaker game.



So, I'm gonna have to give it a rating of 5 out of 5 happy monkeys (New to the happy monkey scale?).

Visit Gamespot's collection of screen shots from the game if you want to see more action shots.

Songs currently in my winamp playlists

A while back I posted a list of the songs I was infatuated with at the moment. So, here's an updated list.

1. Fiddler on the Roof - If I Were a Rich Man
2. Soundgarden - Fell on Black Days
3. Rick James - Ghetto Life
4. Joe Cocker - Cry Me A River
5. Team America: World Police Sndtrk. - I'm So Ronery
6. Andrea Bocelli - Nessun Dorma
7. Tennessee Ernie Ford - 16 tons
8. Phantom of the Opera - Think Of Me
9. Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
10. Pantera - I'm broken

Chances are that if you end up trying to track down a few of these songs that you'll only like a few. My taste in music is pretty broad, so this list covers a lot of different genres. This doesn't make my taste in music better than anyone else's, just a warning for those who generally stick to a few genres.