Handheld nitendo games

The handheld Nitendo DSi is almost out. Should be pretty interesting. I can bet my brother will be walking around with one soon.

Revamped Nintendo Handheld To Hit Domestic Shores This Week
But should you buy one?

By Gordon Cameron and Mike Smith

In the handheld gaming market, Nintendo reigns supreme -- thanks to the spectacular success of its 100-million-selling flagship, the DS. With the system still going strong, you might think, "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" – but then, you’re not Nintendo. They’ve been tinkering with their favorite toy, and after a preliminary run in Japan, the newly-souped-up DS -- now called the "DSi" -- is poised to hit store shelves in Europe and America.

In-Depth Video: The DSi

The design changes in the new device are subtle but significant. The DSi features a slightly larger viewing screen than its predecessor, with superior speakers to round out the experience. The case is slimmer, thanks to the removal of the largely obsolete Game Boy Advance cartridge slot. Particularly noteworthy is the addition of internal and external cameras, allowing the DSi to double as a versatile camera – not unlike that other handheld device that has a lower-case "i" in its name.

On the software side, the DSi's been given a slick new browsing interface that’s reminiscent of its big brother, the Wii. Accessible via any wi-fi connection (find out how), the DSi shop will give you access to numerous applications and low-cost games. Some of the apps – including a suite of photo-manipulation tools that will let you tweak your pictures in humorous and creative ways – are ready to use out of the box.

10 Things You Didn't Know About The DSi

All of this adds up to a lighter, leaner package that blurs the line between games console and general-purpose handheld tool. Whether Nintendo explicitly designed the DSi as an answer to Apple’s iPhone – itself making a surprisingly effective stealth entry into the handheld gaming arena – is questionable. But the vibe we’re getting from the device is that it’s a little more versatile, a little more grown-up, and a little more pitched to the same non-hardcore audience that has made the Wii such a smash.

So it's an even more mainstream design -- but is it a good deal for consumers? If you're one of the hundred-odd million existing DS owners, it's unlikely you'll see too much benefit from upgrading. Sure, the ergonomics are improved, but it remains to be seen whether the camera and DSi shop will give rise to genuinely better games, or just be remembered as gimmicks. You might well want to watch and wait before taking the plunge. On the other hand, if you're pondering your first DS purchase, the DSi is definitely a better bet than its older cousin, even though it'll be selling at a $40 premium.

How is the DSi expected to sell in a sluggish economy? Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising at game-retailing behemoth GameStop, isn’t worried. "In the U.S., we've got reservations that are more than double where the prior DS launch was," McKenzie told us. McKenzie also foresees a continuing market for the DS Lite alongside the DSi. "The DSi will outsell the DS Lite in the first two weeks, but… we anticipate the DS Lite will continue selling well because of the economy, and the value that it has." GameStop is preparing midnight DSi launches on Sunday night at some 2400 stores around the country, including the main event at the Universal Citywalk Store in Burbank, which will feature music, live entertainment, and attendance by top Nintendo execs.

Want to know more? Check out IGN's DSi Starter Guide.

I found a baby bird that was learning to fly and who lost gas in the bushes the other day. He died after a day. I'm so gutted about it. Had I closed the toilet lid I would still have the little fellow with me now. augh.


Don't forget to watch and vote Karma Kula Mystic Warrior

Birds falling out of trees

So I had a pretty ordinary day today. Just swam in the morning, went to town to pick up some school stuff and went to the grocery... did heaps of math in the afternoon, then I babysat. I went to get some snacks for the kids and there was this little bird just learning to fly, sitting on one of the plants. It went to our kitchen a few times. It can't really fly much more than a few inches off the ground, so I figure it fell out of its nest in an unsuccessful attempt to fly. Its parents were really freaking out just right about my head, and when I scooped it up in my hands it just came right on. Right then one of the huge fat cats that like to hang out around here scampered off. Had I come a few minutes later this little bird would've been dinner. He or she is a stubborn little thing tho- it still won't open its mouth. I've taken care of quite a few birds already and this one is just so not wanting to open its mouth - at least not yet. I've crushed berries and just fed it juice from those berries. It's sleeping now tho, real cute little fellow. It's the nicest specie of wild birds that I've gotten so far. Usually I just find the most ordinary sparrows around and nothing more.

I hope it lives. I've yet to name it.

Break

It was another beautiful day out at the beach. I swam with my neighbors again. It was wonderful. The water is so perfectly clean, the waves were great and we all had a fun time swimming- and the others, surfing. Paddle boards are pretty cool. I haven't tried it with the waves yet but it looks like good fun.

I've been doing a lot of updating with the computers to prevent the April 1st worm from getting us. Hopefully it works. So far so good tho, right?

I had a pretty good night. I've just been dreaming of math. I only just have a math subject left and I'll be done with my 1st college course. I've failed this subject thrice before, and I'm not willing to fail it again for the world.

In the meantime, here I am, nibbling on some dried, sugary bananas and boiled corn. Life is good. Don't forget to watch a
Ninjai Chapter, and the Mystic Warrior.

Waves, waves a-pounding

The waves are crashing loudly in the ocean tonight. The ground is cool, and the wind blows softly, as if to ease the memory of day-time summer heat. The pink flowering creepers by my window shiver in the drizzle, perfuming the breeze. Awaken not, thou shallow tears, I bid you away.
The waves are pounding on the beach, as angry. So different from the calm, clear, cool water of the morn. Years have gone flit-flying by. Surrounded by change I remain the same.

Brother kills his sisters

Man decapitates 5-year-old sister in front of officer

(CNN) -- By the time the police officer kicked the door in, it was too late. Kerby Revelus was holding his 5-year-old sister, Bianca, and while the officer watched, he dragged a kitchen knife across her throat with such fury that he decapitated her.
Samantha Revelus, 17, had called 911 for help after her brother attacked his sisters with a knife.

Samantha Revelus, 17, had called 911 for help after her brother attacked his sisters with a knife.
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"It's hard to imagine that kind of horror," said Milton, Massachusetts, Police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr.

Mere seconds passed before other officers arrived and rushed into the home in the tony Boston suburb of 25,000.

Police had received a 911 call from another Revelus sibling, 17-year-old Samantha. Suffering from several deep cuts in her upper body, she was losing strength.

"It was clear that she knew she was mortally wounded," Wells said. Video Watch police chief discuss decapitation »

Samantha managed to explain that her 23-year-old brother had attacked his sisters with a knife, police said. When she was no longer able to keep talking, the injured teen handed her 9-year-old sister, Sarafina Revelus, the phone.

All the while, the kids' grandmother was doing laundry in the basement, apparently unaware of the savagery upstairs, police said. Mother Regina Revelus was at work, and father Vronze Revelus was not at home.

As officers surrounded the home and rushed into every room, Kerby ran into a bedroom where Samantha was on the floor, dead. Sarafina was on the floor near her sister's body, according to Wells.

Kerby Revelus then began attacking Sarafina with the knife, Wells said, prompting police open fire and kill him.

On Tuesday, the two slain siblings and their attacker were buried together. Sarafina Revelus returned home Tuesday after undergoing surgery Monday morning for wounds.

It was not the first time police have visited the home answering a domestic violence call, Wells said.

In September 2004, Kerby Revelus was arrested for punching one of his sisters in the face as they fought about money, the chief said. The Boston Herald identified the sibling as Jessica Revelus, who was not in the home during Saturday's attack.
Don't Miss

* WCVB: Girl who survived knife attack returns home

Jessica Revelus told officers at the time that "she was not in fear of her brother," according to a police report from the incident, the Boston Herald reported. A charge of domestic assault and battery was dismissed because she refused to cooperate, Wells said.

Kerby was then in his last year at Milton High School.

But Kerby was in trouble a year later, in 2005, when he was charged with carrying a firearm without a license after he attempted to purchase alcohol at a Randolph, Massachusetts, liquor store. He was given a six-month sentence and was released in September 2008.

CNN reached Jessica Revelus by phone Tuesday. She seemed distraught and said she had not been able to sleep. Her brother's rampage came, she said, "out of the blue."

When asked whether he had a temper or had given any indication that he might want to hurt his sisters, she said, "I don't know. I am not good right now. I am not good."

On Monday, Jessica Revelus told the Boston Herald that "I was never afraid of him. I called the police because he thought he was so big and bad."

Jessica Revelus told the newspaper that her sister Samantha "would get into arguments" with Kerby over "little stuff" and that Kerby and her father were not speaking.

Police are unclear about what set the brother off Saturday, and Wells said he's being careful not to speculate.

Vronze and Regina Revelus said through a family spokesman that they had "no explanation" for their son's savagery, according to the Boston Herald.

"How much can you put on the shoulders of one family?" Wells asked.

Wells praised the first officer on the scene Saturday.

"I don't have words to articulate how this officer maintained his ability to do his job, " he said. "To go in and witness that first thing, just as he opens the door and stay on his radio through the whole thing ..."
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He added that the horror of the day rippled through the force. "You can bet that our officers went home after this, and they hugged their wives and their children that much tighter. I hope that for this family and for my officers, that there can be a way to get through.

"We are going to try to make them whole as soon as possible, even though the events of this past weekend will stay with them forever."

Source

My god. That is horrifying.

Pigs

1. Price is around the same amount as a pedigree dog or cat
2. Non-allergenic in most cases
3. Clean and odor-free
4. No fleas
5. They are about the size of a medium sized dog
6. Long life span (12-20 years)
7. Non-destructive, unlike a puppy
8. Quickly trained: litterbox, tricks, walking harness, etc.
9. Low maintenance: annual vet visit, generally stronger immune system than a dog or cat
10. Intelligent, Social, and Communicative

I've always wanted a pet pig like that.. but of course I've never had one.. and probably never will. Oh well. I've always wanted a pet tiger too. But a horse would do, actually. I just have to get myself a huge track of land and some nice horses.

Don't forget to check out Mystic Warrior. The 2nd chapter is bound to come out in a few days.

Impatience, Fitness tips, and more

This morning I tutored the two kids I tutored all summer last year. They're real smart like, especially the boy- who's also older, but they can get on my nerves sometimes. Today I had them studying for 2-3 hours straight and by the time the boy just had 3 more questions left, my patience was running very thin. I was really losing it fast. Anyway, I just told them it was recess and stopped there. PMS, hunger, and smart kids who refuse to think are not a good combination!

The waves are back! My neighbors kids, (12-14) year olds, and their cousins who are all about the same age- were having heaps of fun surfing out there this afternoon. I could see them riding the waves from way out where they break all the way to the shore. I usually go and swim with them, as I did this morning, but I had stuff to do this afternoon.

Oh and look, fitness tips!

Get Fit In As Little As Two Hours a Week

Like most time-pressed women who juggle their career, errands, family and friends — and much more — many firefighters scramble to find the time to exercise on a regular basis. But there is a difference between them and us. Firefighters have to stay fit to do their jobs. So Discovery Health Online asked Michael Stefano, author of The Firefighters Workout Book: The 30-Minute-a-Day, Train-for-Life Program for Men and Women, for his recommendation on the most efficient way for busy women to get in shape and stay there. We asked him to keep three goals in mind:

* Losing or controlling weight
* Building muscle strength
* Boosting overall health (with our society's emphasis on looking good, we sometimes forget that a key benefit of regular exercise is that it protects us against the progression of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, type II diabetes and some forms of cancer.)

Alternate Cardiovascular and Strength Training
According to Stefano, you can accomplish all three goals by doing a 30- to 45-minute cardiovascular workout on Monday, for example, and strength training the following day. The strength training should consist of eight or 10 short bursts of intense effort (sets) performed in a series or circuit at least twice each week. This alternating workout program "will give you a two-for-one bonus of both fat burning and toning," he says. The end result is four or five workouts weekly (including cardio) "that can be as little as two hours of total exercise each week."

Insist on Intensity
Getting results is more a matter of how intensely you exercise than which exercise you choose to do. Stefano explains: The benefits of cardiovascular or aerobic exercise depend strictly on the heart and breathing rate achieved during the activity.

Ideally, you need to elevate your heart rate to between 60 or 70 percent of your maximum heart rate for about 20 or 30 minutes at least three days a week. (The simplest way to do this calculation is to subtract your age from 220. The result is the maximum number of times your heart can beat in one minute; take 60 or 70 percent of this number to obtain your target heart rate.)

The more intensely you train (without working above 85 percent of your maximum heart rate), the less time you'll need to exercise to get the same results. Walking, jogging, swimming, bicycling are all good fat-burning exercises when done at your target heart rate.

Similarly, the point of strength or resistance training "isn't necessarily how many sets you do, or how often you lift," says Stefano, "but how intensely you train while adhering to perfect form. This intensity level is relative, varies with each individual, and depends on many factors, including age, sex, and current level of fitness."

Stefano says the top resistance exercises for improving muscle tone are the captain's chair for abdominals, squats for the buttocks and push-ups for the arms, shoulders and chest.

The "Interval" Workout
Greg Florez, spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise and chief executive of FitAdvisor.com, agrees with Stefano that you can accomplish a total body-conditioning workout in 30-45 minutes. "The key issues are working large body parts in a strength program and getting the correct intensity in both the cardiovascular and strength training portions," he says.

To do this, add a strength exercise approximately every two to three minutes to your cardiovascular workout. In other words, stop jogging, stair climbing or doing the elliptical trainer and hit the mat to perform 12-15 push-ups. Then immediately resume your cardiovascular exercise without rest. Continue doing intervals throughout the cardio routine to work your way through the major muscle groups in your body — shoulders, back, chest, arms, hips/buttocks and legs.

Intervals Increase Caloric Burn and Fitness
Interval training can help break up the monotony of jogging on a treadmill for 30 minutes, but more importantly, it can help you maintain a relatively high level of intensity, which increases the number of calories burned and helps to build your overall fitness level. "That is why interval training is so valuable," says Florez, who suggests doing one such workout each week as well as varying your normal cardio routine to add a bit of speed, incline or distance. Perform your cardio workout three to five times a week at a minimum of 20 minutes per session.

Quality is the goal when doing the strength portion of the workout. The 12-15 repetitions should be hard enough that you could not complete any more without compromising form and correct posture. When you pass that level, you should increase the weight/resistance.
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And of course, don't forget to drop by IGN to watch some Mystic Warrior stuff!