New BlackBerry Perl Firmware

Well folks I know I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping the site updated missing podcasts and not doing updates but I have a perfectly reasonable excuse for that. I have been sick as all hell gets but I finally dragged my wuss ass to the doctor to get meds and am finally back up and running, not at full speed mind you but enough to the point where I can promise a great show later this week and this here article that I am writing for you at the moment.

So Sprint has finally pushed out an update for their version of the 8130 BlackBerry Perl, v4.5.0.131 to be exact. Not at all an overhaul of the OS on the phone but adding some much needed new features and bug fixes that the previous version had and taking me to the point where I can finally say I am truly happy with my phone.

Most important of all they finally fixed the issue where if you had AIM installed on the phone it would randomly wipe your call and text log and it's about damn time. Since I have gotten this phone about a year ago it has been the bane of my existence that I would go and check the phone just to find out that my call and text history has been cleared. I am not saying that the phone no longer randomly clears call history or texts but it happens rarely at this point and on top of that no longer clears my entire history, just one or two. This is still unacceptable for a phone that is marketed at business savvy professionals but a big step up at least for me.

Other new features include MMS messaging so I can finally forward pics of my pooh to people without having to send an email which is a huge relief for me. Included in the new media features is a new look for the camera and video functions on the phone. Not a huge change mind you but a bit more streamlined looking than the previous look which is nice. My favorite new media feature though has to be the inclusion of geotagging in pictures. It doesn't transfer to Facebook or in emails or MMS messages but it does show oh the BlackBerry GPS which is hella cool that I can see on a map my usual stomping grounds and the pics I've taken there.

Not a revolutionary update but enough to actually keep me interested in my phone and be happier with it than I have been since I first received it. I did notice that the phone is running a little slower than it was before but that is most likely due to bloat from all the apps I have added and removed on the phone without doing a complete reinstall of the OS so I am not going to hold that against this update.

So that's about it and like I was saying earlier check back in later this week for episode 9 of the Would You Kindly Blog Podcast it's going to be a doozy because we have a metric shit ton to cover from my recent Twitter project, new laptop, the results of the Oscar Awards, and Nick's pilgrimage to Megacon see you all later this week.

-Jeremy

Would You Kindly Episode 8: We've Covered Wars You Know

Well this week's episode is a bit of a cluster fuck. We talk randomly of games and movies that are upcoming as well as attempt to start an intelligent conversation on the recession but that lasts for only about three seconds before we get distracted by the fact that we have Christian Bale bust into the studio to tell us how he feels about our show. All this and more on this episode of the Would You Kindly Blog Podcast.

Show Audio Found Here

Feel free to contact us at wouldyoukindlyblog@gmail.com
Look us up on the Facebook as Would You Kindly Blog and Podcast
Follow Nick and Jeremy on Twitter

Music In This Episode
Data Funk by Le Piocheur off the album 7 tracks for keepin it rollin'
Meaning Isn't Based On The Importance Of Being, But On The Relationships In Between. by Hussalonia off The Public Domain EP
Christian Bale song by the people on the internets


Take care folks keep checking the blog for occasional updates during the week and have a new show for you next week.

-Jeremy

It's 5 am and I'm too tired to pick a freaking title

So as you can tell by the title of this post... it's Five O'clock in the f---ing morning.  I'm not sure if I'm allowed to drop the F-bomb here but I want this podcast to succeed so I'm going to be classy and not resort to profanities. Rest assure loyal READER, if this does take off, I will most likely post a blog that is nothing but George Carlin's list of the 7.. wait no.. 13 oops, no.. 12,000,0000 things you can't say on television or radio. I know this blog is neither of those things but people tend to frown on them anyway.

This blog entry is sheer fluff (since apparently I am a self proclaimed, self fluffer. Darn you first episode!) But it's my hope to at least vent some of my anger or aggression. It's still five o'clock in the morning and I have a 13 hour day starting in just four hours. Why am I not sleeping? Well it's because real life crap is stepping all over me like that stupid Stomp The Yard flick. Does any one else think dance films in general need to just die off? I digress.

Jeremy will probably give me crap for this.. so to him, I make this one small concession and actually talk about something. I've been reading lately. A little book titled Angels and Demons. For those of you unfamiliar with this title.. It is the prequel (even though it was written before..) to the hit phenom, The Da Vinci Code. It deals with something cooler than The Knights Templar. Instead it deals with The Illuminati. The question is though, how are they going to work Mister Fantastic, Iron Man and Professor Xavier when three different companies own the film rights? (That was a little Marvel Comics humor. Ba-zing!) I'm only about halfway through the book but I'm mesmerized by it's twists and the historical fact he puts in his books. Hopefully they don't butcher the movie. Some thing tells me they will though.

Well, I'm going to try my hand at sleep again. Good night fair readers. Hopefully you all are better off than yours truly. Farewell.

- Nick

P.S.  To get the squeaky voiced teen off my back, I signed up for a twitter account. You can follow me on that here. Thanks for reading and listening everyone.

P.P.S. I apologize for the bad spelling and grammar. As I stated several times, it's five a.m.

Halo Wars Demo Impressions

Halo Wars is the anticipated console RTS from Ensemble Studios for the Xbox 360. Ensemble is probably best known for their Age of Empires RTS games for the PC and are now attempting to bring the genre to the consoles, which is a difficult task considering the difficulty of bringing the complex control scheme of the mouse and keyboard to a controller.

Well I am glad to say that though it may not be perfect they have done a damn good job from what I saw in the demo and this may possibly the best controlling RTS for the consoles. They made unit selection easy by making the shoulder buttons select screen and select all units so grouping your troops is a breeze, but most importantly they made a pretty damn fun game.

Base building and resource gathering has been dumbed down and combined, your base has a limited number of bay where parts can be added onto and the resource gatherers are just addons that automatically bring in more resources for you. This may put off some players as there is no real strategy to where you put your base (in the story missions the places you could drop a base were pre determined and I haven't had a chance to dive into the skirmish or multi player yet) but this is a good thing as it allows you to focus on the battles.

The battles in this game are rather balanced with some cool environmental add ons such as being able to take cover behind wreckage or using the Covenant's hovering sniper towers to increase your view through the fog of war. Speaking of the fog of war it's very different than what many PC players may be used to as you can see all the terrain through the fog just not the enemy placement allowing you to plot your best course of action but making you still have to be ready for ambush at any point. The units and vehicles have a very Halo vibe to them which if you are a fan of the series is a very good thing.

I was actually pretty surprised to find how much I enjoyed this game considering how much of a PC RTS elitist I am. Will it be replacing StarCraft or Sins of a Solar Empire anytime soon as my go to RTS games? Probably not because I prefer the more complex nature of PC real time games but it will still be an enjoyable romp through the Halo universe and will be a great fleshing out of some more of the pre Halo 1 back story.
-Jeremy

No Podcast This Week

Unfortunately due to technical (my pc crapped out) and health (I lost my voice) we are unable to bring the weekly podcast to you this week. I apologize for the inconvenience but rest assured we will be back next week to bring you the latest geek news in the most offensive way possible. Take care folks and keep reading the blog as I plan on posting most of the topics from the show notes as entries into the blog tonight. See you all next week.
-Jeremy

Would You Kindly Episode 7: We Have Too Much Free Time

Well this week was fun and exciting. We cover new pc parts, new game add on and demos, and how the new administration is adjusting to old outdated tech in the White House. All this and probably not much else on this week's episode of the WYK Podcast.

New thing we are starting on this week's episode and which we will continue for future episodes is the use of Open Source songs for our transitions, which means that if you like something you hear on the show follow the link in the blog and feel free to download distribute and listen to the artist as much as you like.

Music in this episode
No Stress by Rock Steady
Showtime by NoSushi off the album Body
A Girl Alone by Hungry Lucy off the album Before We Stand... We Crawl

Don't forget the ways you can get in touch with us.
Follow Jeremy on the Twitter
Send us an email or audio message at wouldyoukindlyblog@gmail.com
Look up our facebook group by searching Would You Kindly Blog and Podcast

Audio for this episode found here

That's about it for this week take care and till next we will make sure to keep geeking out so you don't have to.

-Jeremy

Facebook Group is up and mini gaming update

Finally got around to setting up the facebook group so feel free to search for us on the facebook as Would You Kindly Blog and Podcast.

On the gaming front had a chance to finally get around to playing the Resident Evil 5 demo and it's good, not great, but not disappointing. Graphics are crisp amazingly detailed, action is frenetic and intense and it is rather difficult as are most Capcom games which is a good thing. The down sides are that the controls are complicated as hell, it feels like your controlling a tank instead of a person in the environment and the AI is dumb to say the least. I'll have more on the demo and some impressions of the Knothole Island download for Fable 2 for the podcast.

Thats all for now folks take care and enjoy the rest of your Superbowl Weekend.

-Jeremy