Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, J.Lo as an American Idol judge, WWE banning Soma (even with a prescription), or Britney Spears’ engagement rumors, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Let’s be real — this can’t possibly be the only web site you visit on a daily basis. Don’t worry, I don’t get (too) jealous when you spend time reading other sites. Having said that, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite Internet writers. Whether it’s games, sports, tech, or whatever, let me know who some of your favorite ‘net scribblers are. Here are some of mine:
- Games: Christian Nutt (Gamasutra), Chris Kohler (Wired), Brian Leahy (Shacknews), and Dean Takahashi (VentureBeat) [Full disclosure: Kohler and I do a stunning karaoke duet of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, Christian and I used to be roommates, and Leahy…well, most of you know.]
- Tech: Om Malik (GigaOm), James Kendrick (JKonTheRun), MG Siegler (TechCrunch), and Fake Steve Jobs (FakeSteveJobs)
- Sports: Bill Simmons (ESPN) and Doug Fischer (The Ring)
Now it’s your turn! Who are some of your favorite Internet writers?
Honestly I just go here, fb, espn, and huffington post and lame book. Rpad you are my only source for cool shit bro.
In all honesty I don't really read too many other sites. I visit wired occasionally, but I don't read anyone too specific. I do read Kohler's pieces if they look good because I know he has been here before and seems pretty cool. I used to like Stephen Johnson's pieces (I'm pretty sure that's his name) but it wasn't so much about him as a writer, but the things he covered. I go to CNET sometimes too, and I am not a big reader of sports writing so that one is out.
On occasion I will read something on N4G or gamekicker, but that is totally at random. I get GameInformer magazine, but I rarely read that site. The opinion pieces in the magazine are usually my favorite.
Unless I want to read a quick review or I'm trying to look for information on something very specific I pretty much stick to this site and Nightshade's as well. I guess I'm just pretty loyal to those sites and only read everything else sporadically. These are about the only two places I comment as well.
As far as game content is concerned Rpad.tv is the only place I visit. I do visit some other tech blogs because I can't seem to ever get enough information. I need to know everything.
I like Karl Bode from DSLreports.com. He's a bit strange but I enjoy his rants. As far as other writers go, I don't know any really. None have been near as remarkable as you have.
Anymore… I don't visit too many other sites. I just want to work, go home, catch up on gaming when I can, play with the kids and sleep.
I really have no time for any other sites. I read the headlines of some sites but that's really it.
I'm on board with N8. I don't like to spend too much time online like I used to. I would prefer to use that time to catch up on my games and sleep (I don't have any kids… yet)
This is my main site, as well. I really don't visit other sites on a regular basis like I do here. I do visit theescapistmagazine.com about once a week or so to see Yahtzee's game reviews and movie reviews. I also like some of thier segments like "There will be Brawl" and "Unskipable". The articles on the site are also very well written and thoughtful. There was one WoW article that just blew my mind… I thought of Smartguy when I read that.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/col…
I also go on Yahoo! frequently since I have three fantasy football leagues, one baseball, and one pro pick 'em league there.
-M
Raymond Padilla
Apparently Sprint sent me an Epic 4G for review and it arrived while I was in Asia. The security desk at my building signed for it and logged the package in the books, but it's missing. *sigh* I don't know if Sprint will believe that it's really missing. i suspect someone stole it. Do you think I'm jumping the gun on that?
@Ray
Oh wow. How can I get phones sent to me for review?
@iceman
Good read. Thanks.
@ topic
I must say though, there really has only been one writer who I enjoyed enough to track down after they were unceremoniously relieved of their position and offer my free services to help build a brand new website that focused on displaying the verbal entertainment talents of the writer in question.
As a writer, you really do have to make an impression on me for me to even consider doing that. I'm way too lazy to do that for a writer I just "like".
I just pulled down the demo for Vanquisher off of Xbox Live. I'm buying that game when it releases. It is so damn fun and straight up balls to the wall. It also sounds damn good on my surround sound. If anyone has yet to play the demo, do so. It runs on the Bayonetta engine so I don't know how it will run on the PS3.
I was on the fence about Vanquish I will give it a shot.
This missing phone thing is pissing me off. The FedEx door tag said it was left with security. The security desk has the packaged logged in the books, but can't find it. The FedEx driver believes that he left it in front of my door. Someone is not telling the truth.
I don't want to go back to Sprint, because it looks bad on my part, but I might have to. If it was stolen, I hope the person was dumb enough to make calls on the phone. That can be traced easily.
@Ray
Good luck with finding the phone. That does sound suspicious about how they are all saying they did their part and the phone is still no where to be found. If they left it at the door that is just poor shipping. I went to my night class late the other day because UPS took all day (literally, from 5:55 AM to 7:03 PM) to get my xbox to me. If I wouldn't have gone late to class so I could be there for delivery then they would have just left it sitting outside my door. That really upsets me that they would just leave a $400 piece of merchandise laying around for anyone to have access to. I would make a complaint to FedEx if they left it at the door first before going back to Sprint. If for no other reason than to be able to explain to Sprint the actions that FedEx took that led to this happening.
@ Ray
Call the property manager. I'll guarantee security is to blame for this.
@N8R The leasing office has been completely lame, saying they have nothing to do with the process. I've tried calling the boss at the security firm, but he hasn't returned my calls.
I'm not sure if its security of FedEx. I've read too many stories about FedEx drivers stealing electronics.
@ Ray
Wow… that sucks.
If the security at your complex doesn't no about it, and you have 2 different reports from FedEx (the slip saying security signed for it and the guy who says he left it at the door), there's a good chance that the FedEx guy got it then.
You can go to Sprint with that. You were overseas on business and FedEx ripped you off… that sounds professional.
Your leasing office is separate from the property management. The leasing office hires a property manager who then hires the security. If your leasing office also acts as property management… then what they told you is full of sh!t.
I will add another writer named Joe Leydon, he is a movie critic for variety and a former professor of mine in college. He knows his movies
thats why you should ship UPS, we wont steal your shit, we will just break it
all i do online is fantasy sports, this site, ill play yahoo spades occasionally, do the facebook thing and check out torrents at vcdq.com
@ Thundercracker
In that case, the next time my Xbox RROD's (knock on wood) I'll just say I was sending it to them in good faith and UPS must have broke it.
Send them the bill.
I have been stupid busy with school, so I haven't gotten to hang out on the internet as much. I've been playing a lot of wordfeud in class though.
Anyway I am about 10 minute away from going to pick up my Move.
@n8r
ups will pretty much pay for any claim under 200 bucks without an investigation
even if they hand you the package, they cant physically prove that to be true. Drivers make 30 bucks an hour, its not worth an investigation for under 200
@Thundercracker
Useful information for exploiting the system. haha.
@Windows Live for PC
They are really getting me here recently with their 75% off deals and such…I just picked up Blacklight Tango Down for PC because it was $4.01 after tax. How could I say no????
yeah when i drove (for 2 months…that shit sucks) i had a dude order some jordans, then come to the office talking about how he didnt get them…while wearing said jordans
I picked up NHL 11 on Wednesday and I'll be enjoying the sheer awesomeness of that. Let me go into detail about the awesomeness:
When I first loaded the menu, I was given the pleasure of hearing Europe's epic track "The Final Countdown". As I was creating my pro, the song switched Pantera's epic "Walk". Needless to say, the default soundtrack for that game totally kicks ass. I was also serenaded by the Dropkick Murpheys' "Shipping Out To Boston" at one point.
I say "default soundtrack" because you can set up your own playlists to play during certain parts of the game. Like when you score a goal, they score a goal, someone gets a penalty, intermissions, off-plays, etc. Needless to say, I have created full playlists for all categories that include such hockey anthems as Gary Glitter's "Rock n Roll #2", "I want to ride the zamboni", a bunch of AC/DC, and several others.
I less than 3 hockey games.
I will repost this when the official post is made.
^ Looks like Ray woke up.
my custom playlist includes the elton john cover of pantera's "fucking hostile"
F.Y.I. EVERYONE
Ray's birthday is next Saturday.
@Sandrock
I noticed that yesterday. Pretty easy for me to remember since mine it the day before his.
Ok, That was a horrible game last night. But I am a man of my word. The new avatar should be up shortly.
Yeah that was a bad showing by NY. Tynes only got me 2 pts.
Shit the Pats looked liked a Pop Warner team.
@Nightshade
Haha I like it. I was glad the Colts won, but I needed the Gaints to have the ball for a little more time and get stopped so that the defense could score me some more points in our FF match up. I think you will beat me this week. I should've started McNabb instead of Orton and if your last two players score the numbers they did last week you should win by about 25 points.
@Big Blak;
I was salivating while watching that game. I sure do hope the Pats play like that against the Dolphins!
-M
@BSU: I have no comprehension of what in the world the Giants coaches were trying to do last night on either side of the ball. The Colt's weakness is the run defense and they didn't start trying to run the ball until they were already down by 24. Having Eli stand back there and try to hit streak patterns with Freeney breathing down his neck is insane. No QB is going to thrive in that situation. And on defense, I realize LB's aren't the Giant's strength, but they had 3 safeties on the field for most of the game. Michael Johnson (the Safety who got burned on the PAP to Clark) is horrible, I have no idea why they didn't cut his ass in the off season along with C.C. Brown (short for Cant's Cover). All in all, it was a terrible effort. I won't pretend I expected them to win that game, but that was terrible.
Also, I'd like to thank Brandon Jacobs for throwing his helmet into the stands, getting his ass benched, and scoring me a whopping 0 fantasy points. Mayhap he should try channeling some of that anger on opposing defenses instead of sulking like a 3 year old.
@Nightshade
I was pretty confident in the Colts ability to win that game before it even started, but I didn't expect it to turn out the way it did. I was hoping for a better showing from Eli Manning…maybe to try and justify being the most paid NFL player ever. That really baffles me, I don't see how he can play like that and get paid as much as he does.
It was a mistake to try to throw the ball as much as Eli did, although it worked out pretty well for that second touchdown at the end (when I really wanted the Colts to get me some more points on defense for FF). That was just a play well executed though.
Yeah Brandon Jacobs was a good 10th player on my roster last night. I think our scores will be pretty close thanks to him not scoring anything.
Eli is statistically the best QB in Giants franchise history. He's the only one with 5 straight 3000 yard, 20 TD seasons. Plus he's a Super Bowl MVP. He gets unfairly compared to his brother (All apologies to Big Black and Smartguy, no QB matches up with Peyton Manning. Bress and Brady aren't on field coordinators as well as QB's). But if you look at his numbers in a vacuum, he's a very, very good QB. The issue with the Giants offense is that the O-Line is getting old very quickly, particularly at the Tackles. Diehl was a converted LG to begin with and I was hoping that William Beatty would beat him out for the job in training camp.
@Nightshade
I don't think the Giants have the personnel to compete with very good offensive teams. The Saints and Colts have both spanked them pretty hard. As far as Jacobs is concerned…they overpaid him after his one good year. Happens all the time it seems. Trade him now while value is high I suppose.
Brees has put up better numbers than Manning the last 4 years. He also doesn't have a HOF wide out or 2. Just sayin. I don't think you can go wrong with either of the top 3 but I can't call one better than the other and believe it whole heartedly. There are arguments all around.
I get what you are saying though, but I don't see Manning having a skillset advantage that puts him above Brady or Brees.
@Smartguy: Hard to say "the value is high" for Brandon Jacobs when he's constantly hurt and over the last two years he's decided to change his running style to try and be more like Barry Sanders than Christian Okoye.
I have a hard time comparing the injury riddled defensive team they put out there last year with this team. I mean, at one point the Giants were starting a safety they picked up off of waivers from Green Bay last year, only to replace him with Aaron Ross, who while he's actually a CB played the only 4 games he was healthy enough to play last year at Safety. This was after they had already benched C.C. Brown for being completely terrible after coming in to replace Kenny Phillips, who had micro-fracture surgery. This current team has much better players in the secondary. They've got 3 good CB's and 3 good S's. But last night when the Giants decided to play 1 LB for most of the game and try to match up S's against TE's in both the running game and passing game. It doesn't work. If you've got Guards blocking S's in the running game, they're going to win that match up every time. If you've got S's who've been getting pounded on by Guards all game long trying to cover TE's, they're going to lose every time. And the Giant's 4th Safety Michael Johnson would bite on a play fake in a pick up game with me and my buddies. He should never see the field in a real game, but when you're playing the other 3 safeties all game long, at some point you've gotta rotate the crap in and the crap is gonna get burned.
@Nightshade
His value is related to time I meant. He's worth more right now than when it gets closer to the deadline. GB needs a RB. Never know.
Giants D, good breakdown. Maybe if their O was ran better it would take pressure off of them. I was surprised they were beat that bad though.
@Smartguy: They have the talent to win games like that. I just don't understand the play calling last night. Perfect example: First Giants offensive play of that game, Bradshaw busted an 8 yard rush. Next play, all streaks from deep in their own territory? Huh? And then an incomplete pass on 3rd and short. In '07, on the Super Bowl run, this team would have run for 5 yards on 2nd and 2….especially against a run defense that's as average as the Colts'.
Fact of the matter is, the farther they got behind, the deeper a hole they dug themselves. Thta's what teams do when the coaches suck. The KR taking the one kickoff from 8 yards deep in the endzone out to the 12 is a perfect example of a poorly coached team. He lost 8 yards just by not sitting on the ball. Lots of stupid stuff like that last night.
^I'm sorry, that was the 2nd possession. I forgot the Giants calling an end around on the first f'n play of the game. Like I said, stupid.
Haha. I agree.
Hey guys! I'm at another secret project, but am busting out for a long lunch of writing. Catch you soon!
In the meantime, I'm so thrilled that Bryan Danielson is the new United States Champion. He had a great match with The Miz last night.
@Ray
Good luck with the super secret project!
@Bsukenyan;
I sent you a message on XBL. If you are having problems with the two hunters on the second mission of Reach, go to my file share page on bungie.net (here: http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/Default.aspx?pl… Iceman) and download my video labled "ONI Sword Base- legendary" to see how to get past the two hunters.
-M
@bsukenyan This one isn't that super — just a quickie thing to help me make rent. *sigh* I need to win the lottery. If I win this week, I promise to invest a few million into making a kick ass web site with lots of video. I'd go hardcore for two years (and lose a lot of money in the process) before bringing it back to a more personal nerd blog.
@Ray
haha it would always be nice to win big in the lottery! And whatever pays the rent, that's how I look at it. You gotta do what needs to be done.
@Mr. Padilla;
Instead of winning the lottery, you could just whore yourself out to a thousand fat chicks for $50, or a hundred really fat chicks for $500.
…
What? Fat chicks need love too. But they have to pay.
-Quagmire