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E ' R E S T I L L A L I V E . . . ... just a little out of gas after the herculean effort on completing the 50 Most Beautiful People article. We really appreciate the feedback that's been given on the message board. That's what Rice World is all about! =) Hm... anyways, I just thought I'd shoot a quick update to notify everyone that we're still breathing. Heh heh. Football season is starting soon! September 12th is opening day, I believe. Football is currently my favorite sport to watch. With the games bunched together once a week, it doesn't make me feel rushed to keep up everyday, such as baseball (and basketball, to an extent). Plus, the bone crunching hits, and the exciting mix of aerial and ground offense really gets the adrenaline rushing. By the way, you know something interesting? I think football is the least temperamental sport out of all the major leagues. You see your share of brawls in basketball and baseball, and of course, hockey fist-fights are the only reason why sometimes watch the games. Football... hm... you don't see many fights breaking out often. Usually a little push or shove, and then it's onto the next down. I guess it's because the sport offers so many opportunities to hit people anyway, plus you'll get flagged if you get aggresive. Speaking of football, I happen to have landed my hands on a copy of Microsoft's NFL Fever 2000. I'm hoping to rush through a quick season and crank out a neat little review of the game before real live NFL fever catches on. Then, you guys can decide which football game you'd like to pick up to help soothe your cravings of American football. Yeah! Not sure what Gerry is doing. Seems kinda busy lately though, but he's never let us down yet, so keep your eyes open. Until next time, Cheers. L I N K S O F
T H E D A Y Heh heh... haven't seen this title around for a while. More like "Links of the Millenium".... but I digress. For those fanatics that enjoyed THE MATRIX, it's set to be released on DVD on Sept. 21st. However, dig this: it's only $12.49 + shipping/handling (tax?) at Reel.com. For those interested, click! I'm sure most of you have heard of Auric.net or NetZero.com. Yep, those are the infamously slow "free ISPs". On one hand, you have free internet access. On the other hand, it's agonizingly slow plus it bombards you with advertisements. Add one more to the database of free ISP's, introducing AltaVista MicroPortal Free Access. AltaVista is generally known for their superior search engine and other minor innovations to the internet. For those using an illegal account and have their conscious nagging at them (har har), click! A R O U N D T H E
R I C E There has been some rumors flying around about Rice World v3.0... Well, the fact of the matter is, I was originally planning a version 3 overhaul, with a completely new format, built from the ground up. Alas, after some discussion, v3.0 has been dashed. However, Rice World will enter its birthday with a brand new section, labeled the "Gaming" section. It will be run by me good pal Wisdom, who is a one of a kind gaming fanatic. Preliminary plans are for him to cover all sorts of games, console, computer... different genre's such as 1st person (my fav.), RTS (Real Time Strategy), etc... I may also occasionally jump in and write a few articles on sports games, as Wisdom is a real couch potato when it comes to anything related to physical activity (except maybe tennis). I guess that earns Rice World a mini-upgrade of v2.5 huh? =) Stay tuned... P E O P L E M A G A Z
I N E . . . ... eat your heart out! Rice World's 2nd Annual 50 Most Beautiful People is finally online. This baby is absolutely massive, with the most gorgeous photos of everybody on the list. I hope you guys appreciate what we had to go through (especially Gerry) to bring you the sweetest eye-candy article ever to grace Rice World. If you can, try to set your monitor to 1024x768 (or higher! Higher is better...) resolution, but at least 800x600 before you view it, because some of these photos may bring 640x480 machines down to its knees. Click! After you finish grazing through the 50 Most Beautiful People, take a bite into my own Deep Blue Sea review. Between these two articles, it ought to be enough to hold you guys off until next time. Click! T H E A M D
A T H L O N Finally, the AMD Athlon processors are shipping out to public now. Let me tell you know, the Athlon is probably the most hyped processor I have ever read about in my entire life. As the hardware review sites unleash their massive reviews of the Athlon 600 MHz and 650 MHz, I began to realize that the hype was "da real thang". All the tests show the Athlon handing the Pentium III its own ass MHz for MHz, due to the major architechtural differences. You see, the Athlon is the first TRUE 7th generation chip, built from the ground up. The Pentium III is still lagging behind as a 6th generation chip, using the same basic architecture the old Pentium Pro used. Even the new Coppermine and Camino from Intel won't change the results drastically. Now AMD is the king. Now, consumers will crowd Best Buys and CompUSA demanding an AMD Athlon processor based system, not an Intel Pentium III. The only problem that remains for AMD is the biggest one. They have the technology, they have Intel beat in their own battlegrounds.... but can they put it in the hands of the consumers? AMD's old processors, the K5 and the K6-x's have always suffered from shipment delays and poor yields at their fabrication plants. If they cannot ship the K7 Athlon with regularity, all the hype and power of their new processor would be for naught. Because to us power hungy end-users, the Athlon would be merely a processor that exists on paper and hardware magazines. It would be merely... a dream. Although nearly any hardware related site out there would have information on the AMD Athlon, I recommend two that I believe are the absolutely most comprehensive reviews, plus serves it up in an easy to read format. Enter Toms Hardware Guide (click!) and AnandTech (click!). Disclaimer: These articles are not in anyway short. As a matter of fact, both exceed 20 pages in content. However, if you take the time, and you read what they have to say about the Athlon, you will become a believer of AMD... just like me. =) T H E S I X T H
S E N S E Gerry here w/ a review of the scariest goddamn movie this summer. BLAIR WITCH PROJECT seems like Care Bears compared to this masterpiece, starring Bruce Willis and the splendid Haley Joel Osment. You will be terrified. You will believe in the walking dead. Click! In other news: - It seems like the Clippers traded Lorenzen Wright to the Hawks. Damn, the Lakers shoulda gotten him. They need a rebounder who doesn't slack off. - Congratulations to Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs on their 3000th hits. It's an unbelievable milestone if you think about how friggin long your career has to be to reach it. Gwynn can reach 4000 and probably Pete Rose's all-time mark of 4192 if he just stays healthy. - Congrats to Mark McGwire on his 500th home run. He reached it faster than anyone else in history. And it woulda been sooner if he stayed healthy. I think he'll get 700 before his career is over, but not 755, the record by Hank Aaron. Griffey will break that one. He'll go down as the best CF in history. - I can't believe the hype THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is getting. I think I ruined it for myself for doing too much research on it. At first I thought it was real, and I was like, Oh shit! But then I found out it was a mockumentary so I was let down. Of course, I told all my friends it was real, and they ended up being scared. I guess that's the mindset you need to enjoy this movie. - Anyone see the new Ford Excursion? It's is a freakin tank. 19 feet long, seats 9 passengers. Add a turret on top you've got yourself an urban assault vehicle. If someone cuts you off during rush hour, just run him over like a monster truck - Everyone, go to Cold Stone on Main Street. Choose and ice cream, and then choose as many items you want in it. All custom made! I got chocolate ice cream w/ Twix Bars. Little did I know caramel freezes hard as a rock. - See you guys later. 50 Most Beautiful People article coming up. Prepare your eyes! K I N G P I N A N D
R O U N D 4 Here at Rice World, we work tirelessly to churn out articles after articles, reviews after reviews for our rabid fans. What do we get? Zippo. We lure no big-name advertisers. We don't display cheap porno banners, and we definitely don't receive donation checks in our mail. So what motivates us? Our readership. You people are the reason why Rice World is alive and better than ever. I like to think of it as a small community of friends that can get together for about 10-15 minutes every other day and waste their time here browsing the articles and discussing any random thoughts that are on their mind. Once upon a time, during the glory of BBS days, I was a member of SPARTAN BBS, located somewhere in Covina. The sysop (system operator) there taught us one thing, and that was that a BBS may feature Door Games, Files to download, or any other activities, but it's the message board that makes it alive. I don't believe it's any more different here than at SPARTAN. We waste free time and sleep to compile entertainment for Rice World'ers, and all that we ask in return is simple feedback and community interaction. Many things have changed as we near our one year anniversary, internally and externally, but one thing that has remained static is the goal of the website. Consistent updates, fresh new content, and friendly interaction amongst visitors. We don't focus on one single subject alone. We don't specify in gaming news (a la Blue's News) nor hardware reviews (AnandTech), we have an evenly distributed interest in nearly every area. Technology, sports, movies and music, games, and the all time popular subject here: girls! Sure, we cannot compare with those big sites with a full-time staff. Rice World originally started out as sort of a place where I can keep my interests alive, and share it with the people of the web. Gerry's original article was a gaming review on Madden NFL '99, and if you whip it out and compare it to the reviews we offer today, I am sure you will be surprised as I was yesterday, when I read it again. Gerry was originally meant to be a guest writer because my computer back then (Pentium 100) was unable to handle the strains of most games. Anyways, I digress. The bottom line is that I really continue to strongly encourage feedback and postings on the messageboard. It's the soul of the site, and it's what keeps us here at Rice World well oiled and motivated. Okay, end of mission statement. As you can see above, round 4 of Gerry's creation, the Beeotch contest is now underway. Vote for your favorite hottie, and well, if you happen to be female, vote for the chick that you would most likely lay if you were a lesbian! Haha, just kidding, no hate mail, please. =) As for your humble webmaster, I put together a Gerry'esque review of the computer game, Kingpin. Gerry'esque in the manner of pictures spread across the article rather than piled at the end. Some may remember me rambling about it in a few of my updates. Well, read the entire enchilada here! Click! Upcoming include a review of DEEP BLUE SEA, which I had the opportunity to see today, Gerry's 2nd annual Rice World's Most Beautiful People, and last but not least, Cruise's phantom console article. Who knows when it'll be completed. Bug the living crap out of him to finish it here! Click! =) A R O U N D T H
E R I C E Just a mere few hours after announcing Gerry's album reviews, they've now "gone gold" and posted in the reviews section. It features FOUR albums, and some witty commentary (watch for the notable guest singers under the KC & JoJo album... it's a riot). Click! As many of you know, I am a fan of 3rd person shooters. My first AMD 386-40 was graced with Wolfenstein 3D, featuring a gun-tootin', Nazi-squashin' prison camp marine. Those were the days when the makers of Quake (id software) and the makers of Duke 3D (Apogee / 3D Realms) teamed up together and pushed the market of computer games. Ever since then, I have followed closely upon the heels of breaking news coming from both companies. id (pronounced as in Freud's id, ego, super-ego... not I-D as many people thought) is hands-down the most successful 3rd person shooter developer ever, with titles such as DOOM and QUAKE and their respective sequels. They began the "clone-wars", when every single company was developing 3rd person shooters, trying to grab a share of the then-fresh market. Naturally, they all sucked pretty hard (any one remember CHASM: THE RIFT?), and id's Quake 2 sold over 1.1 million copies (and counting!). All of their employees have money coming out of their anus, and all drive Ferrari's down to the drag strip once in a while to measure the size of their testicles (and engines). Why am I telling you all this? Because Quake 3: Arena, the latest game to be developed by the Gods at id, are having a road tour! Lucky winners will win all sorts of prizes from id, and also Activision, their publisher. By far the most exciting part of the news is that they're passing by Los Angeles, and possibly UCLA!! Click! Those who don't give a rat's ass, please ignore the last couple hundred characters I typed above. =) T H E H A U N T I N G
. . . ... review is up in the "reviews" section (duh). Check out whether the special effects are complemented by a good scare! Click! Upcoming on Rice World: Man... that console article is starting to resemble Ion Storm's DAIKATANA. Heh heh... You've heard of shareware, freeware and nagware etc... THIS is called vaporware. =) Damn. Messageboard is shot again. What a bitch. Ah well, it's a free messageboard. I guess I can complain only so much. You get what you paid for! D I N G E R S G A L O
R E Mac and Sammy are at it again! Both have 40 home runs now. Both lead the majors. Dammit, I bet they have corked bats or something. Haha... just kidding. It's the over-the-counter steroid drugs, not the bats. =) Hm... other sports news (even though I despise the major league): Tony Gwynn almost at the sacred 3,000 hit plateau; Mark McGwire nearing the 500 HR mark; Sampras breaks record of holding the #1 position for 271 weeks; Barry Sanders retires... Oh, did I tell you guys? I saw Michael Chang and Pete Sampras play at UCLA in the flesh. Well, actually, I didn't have tickets so I stood outside and peeked through the fence for about 15 minutes. Hehe... still, pretty cool experience for me. =) Man... Sampras hits pretty hard. Some tech goodies (for those that are interested): Pentium III 600 and the Celeron 500 have been released recently; 3dfx announces their next generation technology "T-Buffer" which allows for more realistic graphical output onto the screen. Their ultimate goal is to make computer games look like Pixar's "A Bug's Life"; No indication of whether the video card will be called the Voodoo 4; MacWorld conference announced the iBook. Personally I think it looks more like an oversized make-up kit. I wouldn't be caught dead using that thing. But then again, I look down upon Apple and pity the Macintosh crowd that naively believe that their system is so much more powerful than a Wintel. It's also way overpriced too; 3dfx is shipping the Voodoo 3500 now. Check out my "Pentium III, Voodoo 3" article in the articles section (duh) for more info on the V3500. That's it for now. For some people that are moving to their college schools soon, good luck in the future and keep in touch. Cheers. |