Merry Christmas!

From 1337Preach to all you out there have a merry Christmas!

What a n00b!

As most of you observant readers have already found out, there is a new writer on board. My younger brother has also answered the call to preach, and is just as ( if not more) geeky as I. He is a talented writer, and usually has an opinion about something, so he should bring alot to the team.
I'm excited to see where this leads us!
Join me when I say, " Welcome n00b!"

Another Perspective

First of all, I would like to think my esteemed brother for allowing me to participate in the great work he has going. I am really impressed at what he has done. So, without further adu...

JJay's Old School Classics!

Video Games are alot like movies. New ones come and go. Some are good, some are bad. The only true test is the test of time. What game will we be talking about in 5-10 years? These games might not be perfect, but they are etched in our minds as a great expierence. Every once and a while, I would like to point out some great oldies that might bring back some nastalgia.

One classic that has caught my attention recently is the PC RTS, Star Craft. Amazing gameplay, engaging story, and endless stratagies all make this game a winner. Even while being played many years after it's release, it's graphics are'nt a hinderance. Not that they are up to par with today's, but they suit the game well. If you are a fan of engaging story lines; you will not be disapointed. Every side's story of the three pronged war in shownin great detail. So, if you are yearning for a interglactic conflict of epic proportions (and don't mind a challenge. This game is hard!) then pick up a copy. It can be found rather cheap at your local Wal-Mart. Trust me, it is worth every cent of that twenty bucks.

Peace unto you, and Merry Christmas!

Xbox 360 MMO Fans Rejoice!

Thanks to the dedication and just plain awesomeness of OXM, ( Yes, of course it is a word!) the Official Xbox Magazine will be bringing the US Xbox 360 owners the FULL beta version of Final Fantasy XI!

In a U.S. exclusive, Official Xbox Magazine will be the only place Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft gamers and FINAL FANTASY® fans can go to get a sneak peek of Square Enix’s highly successful FINAL FANTASY XI, a massively multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG).

Official Xbox Magazine will include the limited edition, playable FINAL FANTASY XI beta disc in the February 2006 issue, hitting newsstands January 17, 2006. The beta disc provided with this issue will have full versions of the Rise of the Zilart® and Chains of Promathia™ expansion packs and will be available both on newsstands across the country and to Official Xbox Magazine subscribers. [More]

To be honest, I was afraid it would be ages before a MMORPG ( Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ) would ever be on the Xbox 360. The Xbox had great potential to be a host for a MMORPG ( Harddrive, Networking capabilities came standard ) but never saw a drop. The closest the Xbox ever got was True Fantasy Live Online, which sadly was cancled late in development. ( NO! I didn't cry! There was dust in my eyes!) Finally our time has come! I believe the 360 will finally allow me to say goodbye to mandatory driver updates and out dated hardware. Bye Bye PC, I have found a new love to share my MMO time with!

Not exactly a party trick.

Alright, here's the scenario. You walk into a store and gather your items at the checkout. You don't have any cash on hand, and are out of checks, so you decide to use your credit/debit/shopping card. You pull out the dingy overused card, and examine the magnetic strip with a grimace. Your mind flashes back to the many times you have repeatedly had to swipe the card numerous times, only to have the poor cashier hand key in the number. (Angering many impatient customers behind you.) Shouldn't they have fixed this problem by now? Well a absolute solution I don't have, but I have a trick that just might save you a few headaches!

All you have to do is grab a plastic shopping bag, ( A fresh on mind you. One that has never been opened, or it won't work.) open it up, and insert the card where there are no wrinkles and you can see the magnetic strip clearly. ( This has only been tried on white bags. ) Slide the card through the reader as you would normally and.... Shazaam!... the card works again. (This isn't 100% accurate, but it has worked for me 90% of the time.)

Now I can't tell why this works, ( I assume the static field from the bag has a big part. ) but I can tell you it does work. Plus in doing this you can impress the cashier and all those around with your Macguyver like abilities. Who doesn't like Macguyver? ( Oh C'mon! Put those hands down!)

The Wal-Mart that stole Christmas?

Alright, it's Christmas time and people are doing one of two things at Wal-mart. They are either spending every last dime and cramming into the narrow aisles at the last minute, or they are standing outside displaying themselves for the news cameras protesting Wal-Mart's decision to take Christmas out of the holidays.
As a pastor you would assume that I would would pat the protestors on the back and tell them " good job". However, that couldn't be farther from the truth. I tell them, " Get a life and get a clue."
First off everytime I go to a Wal-Mart I hear "Christmas" music , popular christian music, etc playing non-stop. Feels pretty Christmasy to me!
However check out this story:

Right away, a store manager approached the award-winning group, announcing that they did not have an appointment and that the sheer size of the group posed a fire hazard, Anthony said.
The teens then sang one song - "Guide Me," a classic Welsh tune - to the delight of the customers.
"Sing more!" Anthony said the shoppers were screaming. But Wal-Mart was adamant and even called police. The students left peacefully before police arrived and no arrests were made.

Sounds pretty evil right? Nope. Wal-Mart has certain rusles that it follows with people entering the store. If you want to put on a performance you have to get permission with managment. If you want to pass out flyers in the parking lot, you need permission. It all falls on you needing permission to use Wal-Mart's property for your own means.( Pretty sure it's the same way with any store. )
Secondly, who are we to tell a buisness what holidays it is to promote? Whatever happened to the freedom we fight for everyday? Looking at it in a buisnessmans eyes it is wiser to just say "holiday" instead of Christmas, that way you can capitalize on the other winter holidays. ( Pretty sure Wal- Mart is here to make money.)

I'll quit preaching ( Hey, it's my job right?) but I just have to say before I go, "Jesus never forced anybody to follow him, why do we?"

Xbox 360 Verdict?

Ok, Last night I finally got my hands on the Xbox 360. Finally. this fabled gaming machine is now in my possession. But enough drooling over the box....on to the goodies.

Right out of the box everything seemed a little larger than I expected. Seeing how I have handled a demo 360 in store many times, this is surprising. I guess perceptions change once it is in your home. One thing stood out in size though: the power cord. Pulling this behemoth out of the box was jaw dropping. ( Cue 2001 : a Space Odyessy theme ) The thing is literally the size of a brick. Other than that, it is relatively smaller than the original Xbox. ( But not by much. )

After setting it up I played around with the dashboard for awhile and to my pleasant surprise i found 12 songs already on the harddrive. Many of the artist I wasn't familiar with, ( With the exceptions being Skindred, and Mary Playground. ) but they were all great songs. Listening through this makes me wonder if someone from microsoft just didn't upload their ipod to the 360 hard drive. ( Bill you've got good taste pal. )

Now on to the jewel of the 360 : Xbox Live. Signing up was a breeze, and after filling all forms I went downloading. I cruised around and found the trailer to the new X-men movie, a Red Vs. Blue video, ( Score! ) and a score of developer videos. However I do expect quite abit more variety of downloads in the near future, and I certainly expect some more original Xbox game support. I can't even play Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind! C'mon!

In the end it is a great launch! Good games, great hardware and lots 'o' potential. However it is still day two and hardware problems could still crop up. I guess we'll just have to wait and see....till then, happy gaming!

Japan Prepared for Xbox

Following widespread reports of hardware issues following the North American Xbox 360, Microsoft Japan is assuring gamers it will quickly deal with faulty units of the next-gen console, which goes on sale Saturday.

Microsoft Japan saw problems when the original Xbox launched in the country in 2002, as some early units scratched game discs. The company initially declined to replace the units, since the issue "does not cause disks to become unreadable." During the console's first two weeks on the market, 590 reports of defective consoles were filed. Eventually, Microsoft Japan relented, announcing it would replace any problematic Xboxes and scratched discs sent in by customers.

Apparently Japan has learned from our mistakes. Which is good. Hopefully Microsoft will learn from this and help out it's North American customers more.
I have a launch Xbox coming my way in a few days. I'm thrilled to rip open that box, plug it into my TV and send it right back. Joy

[More]

Holy Potato!

Alright, Old news this may be but still blogworthy it is.

It was 7:30 PM, December 4th, 2005. The second Sunday of advent, in Joshua Tree, California. Personal Chef Karin Winkler started to prepare dinner. While thinking about upcoming Christmas, she was peeling and cutting a potato. Everything appeared to be normal. When she was peeling and cutting the second potato in half, a miracle happened: the symbol of a perfectly shaped holy cross appeared on both halves of the potato.

"I am cooking potatoes for 35 years now, but I have never seen something like this in my whole life!" Winkler said. She feels very blessed that this has happened to her and she truly believes that this is a special sign for the world to pursue peace. She sees the potato as a symbol of the world and the cutting of it's hidden cross in two perfectly shaped halves as a sign of God to love each other, be happy and unite!

Well, this surely is the sign we have all been looking for! However I don't think this "miracle " will finally end the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Thankfully, to avoid confusion, they added this disclaimer.

The holy potato is in it's original peeled and cut condition, unaltered, air dried and not intended for consumption.

This miracle potato is slated to be sold on Ebay a week before Christmas. Linkage

It has begun.

Welcome to 1337 Preach. This humble blog will delve into the numerous subjects of spirituality ( ie: Current events, Scripture, religious what not...etc) and any thing even closely related to being geeky. ( video games, Books, Sci-Fi, Fantasy.. etc )
Many times the two subjects will meld and many times they will collide. Thats the fun part, we'll just throw these two guys in a jar, shake it up, and see what happens.
I hope you are as excited as I am.

- Shalom, and live long and prosper.