Keefer Madness

About Done With American Idol

// February 21st, 2008 // No Comments » // Kelly Clarkson, Music, Reviews, TV Reviews, TV Talk

So we’re sitting here watching last night’s American Idol and for the second show in a row, I’m bored to tears. I’m just not engaged this year one iota. None of the contestants are standing out to me. There’s not a single contestant I’d waste my time and effort to call in and vote for! The bickering between the three judges is tired. Randy is lame. Paula is incomprehensible, and… well I usually agree with still. Plus, I’m so tired of Fox dragging the show out night after night *and* Fox’s shameless self-promotion and product placement.

So anyway, I’m bored with the show and I think Amanda’s getting there too. I’m this close to cancelling TiVo’s season pass. The show’s run its course. They ignited the careers of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry. Now it’s time to close the curtain on the show.

Added Comments (Amanda): Yeah, I am totally done with American Idol. I was so frustrated and utterly bored last night with the performances, lack of talent, the bickering between the judges, the goofy youthfulness of the contestants… the whole thing was annoying and old. They’ve worn out their welcome for sure. Long gone are the days of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry.

Keefer Madness – Vowing For Longer Posts More Often

// February 21st, 2008 // No Comments » // Keefer Madness, Personal Crap

So far, so good this year with my promise of having at least one new post everyday. We’re 52 days into 2008, and I’ve been able to keep that up. The biggest challenge will be during travel. The trusty iPhone should help with that some.

But anyway, after writing my long-ass post the other day on my first crit of 2008, I realized I not only need to keep the daily posting up, but also make more longer posts that are my own content like that one – partially for the SEO benefits, but also just so that my whole site isn’t just one link aggregator. Most of the site, I’m making these posts just for myself – things that interest me and pique my interest, but I’d like to think I have others out there reading Keefer Madness on occasion.

I’d love to get some feedback, comments, questions, etc. once in awhile if anyone else is actually getting anything out of the site, besides me. But regardless, writing the longer content is fun, but time-consuming. I’m going to be trying my best to write more of those posts.

If you have a moment, please register and comment on occasion. I’d love to hear from people actually regularly reading, or those who’ve stumbled upon Keefer Madness somehow (except those damned spambots!).

What Would Super Mario Bros. Look Like on the Atari?

// February 21st, 2008 // No Comments » // Funny Stuff, Gaming

Nice video of what Super Mario Brothers would have looked like on the Atari 2600. It definitely looses a lot of its classic video game visual appeal.

Great rendering on what it would have looked like, though I question the sound. Atari’s crappy graphics were never as crappy as its sound effects and God forbid – music. I honestly don’t think it’d do anywhere near the same on the “advanced” sound of SMB from the NES. Also, I don’t think Atari every could render text that small – both the text at the top for the score, coins, etc., but also the little score numbers that appeared when smashing blocks, etc.

What Would Super Mario Bros. Look Like on the Atari?

New Spot to Post Photography Related Finds

// February 21st, 2008 // No Comments » // General Posts, Internet / Web, Photography

So I’ve decided to make a little off shoot of Keefermadness that specifically deals with Photography and the similar topics. Since the recent purchase of our SLR, I’ve been very interested in getting back into photography. Check out my little site on WordPress.

TiVo Software Roundup (Mac Only)

// February 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // Apple, TiVo Bytes

This is a great list for us TiVo users who are also Mac users. I need to go through this list in depth to see if I can get more out of my Mac/TiVo relationship. At quick glance, the first on the list, TiVo Desktop, is pretty limited. It lets you stream music (MP3s only I believe. I don’t think AAC) and show photos from your Mac. This is the official piece of software from TiVo. The Windows version is a lot better, allowing you to transfer shows, etc.

I’ve also used the “TiVo NowPlaying” widget. It’s alright, but the initial install is fairly limited. There’s more you can do with it, but I haven’t been able to get it to work.

“SeasonPassGetter” sounds like it could be great for getting content onto my iPhone. I’ll give that a go soon.

TiVo Software Roundup (Mac Only)

Wolfpack Classic Criterium – Fast and.. Fast!

// February 19th, 2008 // No Comments » // Cycling, Personal Crap

So my first race of the season is in the books. I felt good going into it, riding all fall and winter on a combination of my trainer bike and a spinning bike at the gym, plus taking two spinning classes weekly for some interval training.

I’m down ten pounds from last season, and working on dropping more. I’m hovering right around 190 now and hope to eventually hit 175. That should be just about right for my power to weight ratio.

Anyway, onto the actual races. My teammate Adam, who moved up to category 4 raced first. The race was a combination of Cat 3 and Cat 4. He stayed with the lead pack and close to the front the entire 40 minute race, ending up with the best race of his career so far. Adam placed 9th in a race that included a bunch of riders an entire category higher than him, and a few big teams. He was the only Cat 4 Trike there, so he did exceptionally well considering all of those obstacles. Congrats!

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The 15 Most Annoying Video Game Characters (From Otherwise Great Games)

// February 19th, 2008 // No Comments » // Funny Stuff, Gaming

Oh man, this list is so right on. I had forgotten about most of these (or maybe it was that I blocked them out), but the list is so right –

Slippy Toad from Star Fox was always annoying and incompetent, kinda like some of my co-workers. I love the write-up about Waluigi, but had no idea that his first appearance was in Mario Tennis as a doubles partner for Wario! That is pretty lame.

It’s nice to know I wasn’t alone in my hatred of so many of these lame characters. The dog from Duck Hunt is a great number 1, IMHO.

The 15 Most Annoying Video Game Characters (From Otherwise Great Games)

Michael Jordan Talks About Roy and Dean

// February 19th, 2008 // No Comments » // Sports Stuff, UNC-CH

Nice interview from one of, if not the most famous Tar Heel. Jordan has lots of nice things to say about Carolina’s current coach, Roy Williams and Williams’ teacher, Dean Smith.

Flash on iPhone Political Calculus

// February 18th, 2008 // No Comments » // Apple, Internet / Web, Tech

This article makes some good points about why the iPhone’s mobile Safari (WebKit) implementation will never support Flash.

I had always thought Flash’s omission was just a hardware limitation, issue, etc, but this article really points out that there’s a lot more to that limiting iPhone Flash support. Apple site itself has been devoid of any Flash technology since before the iPhone’s release.

Apple does really only want to support its own proprietary technologies whenever possible for starters, and on top of that it makes total sense that Apple would resent Flash over its own Quicktime and would not want to give Adobe an in on the mobile platforms that Apple itself has really advanced with the iPhone.

Flash on iPhone Political Calculus

Fight Club – The Return of Hobbes

// February 18th, 2008 // No Comments » // Film, Funny Stuff

Interesting, albeit long and slightly humorous in-depth look at how the unnamed alter ego (or would it just be ego) of Tyler Durden in “Fight Club” is actually an all grown up Calvin of the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes.

Fight Club – The Return of Hobbes