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I am sick. I don't know how it happened, but it's not fun coughing and wheezing. I did manage to do two podcast recording, with Sally and Cristina, which will likely be edited for this week and next week's show.
I also picked up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, at Walmart, which came with a lot of bonus items like a DVD and Soundtrack (all at the normal cost of a game product). They are on the right track, I definitely feel like you get more value out of it, when this is the 'standard' version of the game. There is a collector's version, which is way too expensive for my blood ($129).
Unfortunately, the game is plagued with problems. Activation was a nightmare (finally got it to work eventually), downloading bonus content wasn't working (it kept saying the code was bad, when in fact, it was the correct code - eventually this worked out), and the game does not work on my Nvidia 7800 SLI. I understand that this card is old, but I can run modern games on it just fine at 1280x720 (which I'm OK with). But seriously, they need to fix some of these bugs... but I don't think they will because their minimal support is Nvidia 8800 card, just a generation above mine. So, right now, it's not recommended if you have an older card.
Since I can't really play it until they patch it, or if Nvidia update their drivers, I might actually go back to the first Witcher game, which I never finished.
The bonus soundtrack is composed by Adam Skorupa & Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz, and it's what you expect for a gaming soundtrack. The DVD is in Polish, so be prepared to read a lot of subtitles.
I also picked up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, at Walmart, which came with a lot of bonus items like a DVD and Soundtrack (all at the normal cost of a game product). They are on the right track, I definitely feel like you get more value out of it, when this is the 'standard' version of the game. There is a collector's version, which is way too expensive for my blood ($129).
Unfortunately, the game is plagued with problems. Activation was a nightmare (finally got it to work eventually), downloading bonus content wasn't working (it kept saying the code was bad, when in fact, it was the correct code - eventually this worked out), and the game does not work on my Nvidia 7800 SLI. I understand that this card is old, but I can run modern games on it just fine at 1280x720 (which I'm OK with). But seriously, they need to fix some of these bugs... but I don't think they will because their minimal support is Nvidia 8800 card, just a generation above mine. So, right now, it's not recommended if you have an older card.
Since I can't really play it until they patch it, or if Nvidia update their drivers, I might actually go back to the first Witcher game, which I never finished.
The bonus soundtrack is composed by Adam Skorupa & Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz, and it's what you expect for a gaming soundtrack. The DVD is in Polish, so be prepared to read a lot of subtitles.
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I got the latest Spin Magazine in the mail today and it's pretty sweet that they are offering not one, but two, free albums this month. Like I've previously mentioned, it's free for all US residents. You can grab them at spin.com/itunes (expires June 30th) and spin.com/itunes-lolla (expires Aug 31st), what a good deal! Especially for Sleater-Kinney and Isobell Campbell.
While you're enjoying the free music, you can consider subscribing the magazine. For one year, it's $9.95. I do recommend the print version, you get more content for the buck, and I've always been a fan of glossy magazines vs digital ones.
Not to say that the iPad digital version doesn't have a lot going for it, but it just seems like the iPad version is more or less about pictures and very, very few words. The only advantage you have on the digital Spin Magazine is that you can stream the month's soundtrack, and "breaking" news is constantly flowing. I actually turned off auto-renewal for the Spin digital magazine, but I am definitely keeping my print subscription.
That's not all, for late April and this month (May), you can purchase a 2-disc special Spin Magazine "Must-Hear Music" edition, available only at Target stores. For the price of the magazine $4.99, you get two 16-track bonus CDs, featuring Mumford & Sons (they are on the current cover), and The Strokes (they were on last month's cover).
The full CD track listings are:
Update: Here is a picture of the Spin Target Edition next to my iPad with the Spin digital issue. As you can the see the Target Edition is a smaller print, you can find the issue at the music/CD area, not magazine area.
While you're enjoying the free music, you can consider subscribing the magazine. For one year, it's $9.95. I do recommend the print version, you get more content for the buck, and I've always been a fan of glossy magazines vs digital ones.
Not to say that the iPad digital version doesn't have a lot going for it, but it just seems like the iPad version is more or less about pictures and very, very few words. The only advantage you have on the digital Spin Magazine is that you can stream the month's soundtrack, and "breaking" news is constantly flowing. I actually turned off auto-renewal for the Spin digital magazine, but I am definitely keeping my print subscription.
That's not all, for late April and this month (May), you can purchase a 2-disc special Spin Magazine "Must-Hear Music" edition, available only at Target stores. For the price of the magazine $4.99, you get two 16-track bonus CDs, featuring Mumford & Sons (they are on the current cover), and The Strokes (they were on last month's cover).
The full CD track listings are:
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Disc 1
1. Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know 2. Matt & Kim - Block After Block 3. Saigon - Bring Me Down 4. Royal Bangs - Grass Helmet 5. Innerpartysystem - American Trash 6. A Day To Remember - Better Off This Way 7. Funeral Party - Finale 8. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Monkeys Are Coming 9. Baroness - Swollen & Halo 10. Kopek - Cocaine Chest Pains 11. Trampled By Turtles - Wait So Long 12. Meat Puppets - Damn Thing 13. Juke Kartel - Bullet Wearing Trademark Clothes 14.Bear Hands - Crime Pays 15.Foster the People - Helena Beat 16.Go Radio - Any Other Heart |
Disc 2
1.Cage The Elephant - Shake me Down 2.She Wants Revenge - Must Be The One 3. Peter Bjorn & John - Breaker Breaker 4. Red - Feed The Machine 5.Emmure - Solar Flare Homicide 6. Flogging Molly - Don't Shut 'Em Down 7.Old 97's - The Grand Theatre 8. Aiden - Hysteria 9.Royal Bangs - Fireball 10.AWOLNATION - Sail 11.OTEP - Fists Fall 12.Steve Earle - Waitin' On The Sky 13.No Justice - 2nd Avenue 14.Acrylics - Nightwatch 15.Computer Magic - Running 16.New Politics - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah |
Update: Here is a picture of the Spin Target Edition next to my iPad with the Spin digital issue. As you can the see the Target Edition is a smaller print, you can find the issue at the music/CD area, not magazine area.
Lastly, The Hype Machine (hypem.com) is a very popular blog music indexer. We were lucky enough to have been featured on their iPhone Application. As a result, we're getting a ton of mobile traffic, and suddenly the song we posted by Scattered Trees climbed up the Hype Machine's Twitter Chart. I think by the time you read this, it would've dropped off the charts, but here's a screen capture (see picture).
Details of the application below:
>>>
Hundreds of Stations Included
Gorgeous Playing Experience
Enjoy artwork and the ability to read each blog post behind the music directly within the app. Includes every blog in our Music Blog Directory as its own radio station. Don't know where to start? Browse music by genres like acoustic, british, dance, electro, experimental, indie pop, psychedelic, shoegaze and more.
Details of the application below:
>>>
Hundreds of Stations Included
- LATEST: freshest music posted from music blogs
- POPULAR: a collection of the most popular music on blogs
- RADIO SHOW: monthly highlights of music + bloggers
- GENRE STATIONS: latest music from blogs filtered by genre
- BLOG DIRECTORY: featuring every blog from our directory
- MY MIX: a mix of music from blogs you watch
- MY FRIENDS: what your social music circle is loving
Gorgeous Playing Experience
Enjoy artwork and the ability to read each blog post behind the music directly within the app. Includes every blog in our Music Blog Directory as its own radio station. Don't know where to start? Browse music by genres like acoustic, british, dance, electro, experimental, indie pop, psychedelic, shoegaze and more.
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