Moving This Blog...
to MatthewBlock.com! Unfortunately, I was unable to import my posts (fucking Blogger Beta!), so I will get a fresh start and will actually promise at least ten posts per day due to the fact that I cannot import old posts.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Monday, December 4, 2006
About
This is the about post for Matthew Block Blog. Will be updated as time goes on.
Matthew Block is a 14-year-old gamer/geek living in Haverford, PA. He works. Well, kinda. Matthew is the founder of oddindustries where he, by himself, designed and coded Tudit.com, a yet-to-be-released web2.0 service. At Tudit.com, he holds the following positions:
- Editor In-Chief
- Managing Editor, Gaming
Sunday, December 3, 2006
McDonald's
Well, I recently took a trip to the closest McDonald's I could find, and frankly, I hated it. The food was bad, and somewhat cold, they forgot about our drinks, yet still charged us for them and also charged us for an extra cheeseburger which we had never ordered. In short, never going back!
Also, the fact that they messed up our order got my mom and I into a fight, which I am quite upset about (you hear that mom, I'm sorry!). I hate McDonald's now more than I ever did in the past.
So, now I present my overall list of why I hate them:
- They have messed up my orders who knows how many times
- The food can occasionally taste good, but most of the time is kind of cold
- They kill animals in the worst ways possible
- They have fattened up America
- Also, their meals never leaved me satisfied (I am still hungry right now)
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Sick Still Sucks
...because I am so tired! I don't want to be tired! Nor do I want to have a stuffy/runny nose, sore throat, and a bad headache!
I Really Would
...like to start making real money using this blog. Why? A couple reasons...
- Besides Tudit.com, I would like one other way to make money
- Tudit.com is being designed for bloggers, news junkies, and people who read blogs. I would like to become a serious blogger!
- Blogging is awesome, and it would be even more awesome if I could earn some cash so I would have more things to write about
Friday, December 1, 2006
And So It Begins
Tomorrow Tudit.com development "crunch-time" begins. I want to have a beta I can test by myself in two weeks and I need to have a private beta ready by January 1st. By the rate I am working at I expect to have a public beta ready by February 14th. Well, here's to me being able to survive with little sleep!
Sick Sucks
Well, I left school early yesterday because I was sick and, alas, I was still sick today. I feel really crappy, and don't have much else to do but write, watch movies, game, eat and sleep.
James Kim, Family, Missing
Shit. I really hope nothing has happened to them; James Kim is an excellent editor and writer, and his reviews have helped me a lot when choosing an mp3 player.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Why I Support HD DVD and Not Blu-Ray
I am a supporter of HD DVD, and not Blu-Ray. This would be true regardless of whether I owned an Xbox 360 or not, and here's why...
My first argument has to do with scratches. Blu-Ray discs have their data written very close to the top layer of the disc, hence, a minor scratch on a regular DVD, CD, or HD DVD would translate into a major scratch on a Blu-Ray Disc.
My second argument is very, very short. Two words. More DRM (Digital Rights Management). HD DVD only has one layer of DRM where as Blu-Ray Discs have three!
Lastly, Blu-Ray players are much more expensive (excluding the PS3, the least expensive is $1,000) where as I can buy the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on for $199 (which I will hopefully be getting) and a stand-alone HD DVD player for less than $500.
My Dream Job
...is definitely being a professional gamer. But, until then, I am going to continue programming and designing! Though maybe watching movies for a living would be better...
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Homework (LOL)
I have done no homework this week, which leaves me with a one-page paper to write tomorrow night; but a book to read, a half a page of notes to take, and two journals to write- all over the weekend.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
What I Want For Christmas...
or Hanukkah, whichever you prefer. I want something special, or even more special. Depends how much of my money I can contribute to my parents. Or maybe I'll ask for something else...
The New Tudit.com
...is keeping the same interface, but with many features being added. For starters, I am going to be adding more categories, and article caching. I will alsobe adding the abillity to send, or recommend a channel to another user- and I am incorporating the idea of citizen journalism (nothing like Newsvine or the like) into Tudit.com Last but not least, I am going to need Managing Editors for each category. Managing Editors will recieve 50% of the ad. revenue generated from the homepage and all of the channels in that category. If you would like to apply to be a Managing Editor, please email me: matthew@oddindustries.com.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Big News
I am pulling the plug on every single project I have been working on (most of which are actually now done) except for Tudit.com. I have a good reason. The only reason I added the other seven projects was because I wanted more of a challenge. Well, I have found something that will prove to be a major challenge to me, and it fits perfectly into Tudit.com. What it is I am not going to say, but it still should be done for a February 14th launch, and a January 1st private beta. Sorry for getting almost no one's hopes up with the other projects! Don't worry, oddindustries is staying- you always need a parent company.
C'est La Vie
C'est la vie! My life, in its current state, is as near to perfect as I think it will ever get. I have awesome friends, school (for the most part) is easy, and I have time to code and play Xbox 360. C'est la vie!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Haircut
I just got my first haircut in more than six months. My hair went from being very long to being short. Picture soon.UPDATE(4:50 P.M.): I posted the picture! I have to say, it is a pretty crappy picture, I had to take it with my webcam.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
I Actually Now Like Gears of War!
...please don't call me a hypocrite! Well, here's why:
- Multi player bugs had to do with my TV
- Not all of the single player mode is impossible
- Sticky bombs are only on some level
- My friend pretty much forced me to play it until I loved it (no joke)
Explaining dotdotit
dotdotit is my now no longer secret, project. So, what exactly is dotdotit? Well, for starters, it is the eigth project I am taking on (all of which will be released February 14th, 2007) and it's logo is almost too simplistic. dotdotit is (in short)...
What it does is grabs your information and data from the other seven oddindustries websites and aggregates it into one page. So, imagine it as a start page, but automatically customized to have information relevant to your life. I'm tired, so I am going to stop writing now!
UPDATE(11:54 P.M. November 27th): Canceled.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Why Gears of War Sucks
As you (probably) know, I think Gears of War sucks. Thought, since many people I know love the game, I have decided to come up with a list of why it sucks so much.
- The plot sucks. Unlike most people, I am big on having a good underlying plot.
- Though the single player mode was relatively good, there were some near-impossible parts that really pissed me off.
- The multi player mode is pretty bad, for multiple reasons.
- It is too easy to kill and be killed; the game requires no real skill.
- When you unload a whole round into some guy's chest and head, and they don't die, you get pissed. But when that happens and they run up to you and stick a bomb to your chest, and then they run away still alive, with you left to die by way of sticky bomb; you go crazy.
- There are actually some (somewhat) major bugs in the game. Motion bugs. And they really piss me off.
UPDATE(11:13 A.M.): I now like Gears of War!
AdSense Rocks. No, Really.
I love Google's AdSense. It makes me money, and since I am a (self-proclaimed) design genius, I can place the advertisements in an unobtrusive spot (bottom left, and just, bottom). Sure, it may not rack in as much cash as if, an advertiser was to directly buy an advertisement. But it does rack in cash. They key to AdSense is to place the advertisements in more than one spot per page, but have them in unobtrusive spots.
Gears of War
Well, today, I finally was able to afford Gears of War. So I went down to my local EBGames and picked it up. I will most definitely not write a review, because Gears of War is amazing sucky awesome (also, the GRAW review is coming)!
UPDATE(9:04 P.M.): I am actually going to return Gears of War, because it utterly sucks. I really don't understand all the hype around it; the game play is bad, the multi player sucks (too many cheap ways to kill someone), and there are a lot of bugs. Also, the Locust scare the crap out of me.
UPDATE(11:13 A.M.): I now like Gears of War!
Thank Not-God!
...my Performancing advertisements have been priced! So now, you, can place advertisements for on my blog for the mere price of $25/month (subject to change)!
A Definition of Each Project
I decided that it is necessary to describe each project I am working on (at the time of posting, most links will not work, also in no particular order)!
Tudit I have already explained in depth. So I really don't feel like explaining it again. But you can look at what I said about it here.
I love food, especially delivery. surdelivery is all about finding reviews, maps, menus and more about the local delivery places in your area. I am even working on a restaurant suggestion algorithm.
Once I tried to get all my friends together to go out somewhere over the weekend. It was a hassle to plan, and ended up falling through. I thought to myself "There has to be an easy way to invite people to an event, and allow them to RSVP or add suggestions with no hassle!" Well, there wasn't. So prtyr was born.
I love politics. But there is no place where you can just type in what political related thing you are looking for, and automatically find it. Well, now there is!
Citizen journalism is great, I love it. I love how the power is starting to return to the people. But, frankly, I do not think any citizen journalism site has it right. So I set out to make something that does do it right.
My school is a great school, and has a great intranet where homework is posted by teachers (most of the time) and your schedule is easily accessible. But I thought that it was missing something. Well, a couple things. Sometimes a teacher would not post homework, making assignments easily missed, so I thought that it should be a student that posts the homework. Why? My grade has maybe six teachers. And around eighty students. Do the math. Also, if you miss a day of class, you cannot exactly get the minutes or the notes from that class! I plan to change all that.
Sorry, I cannot reveal what it is yet! It is my secret project...
UPDATE(11:55 November 27th): Most have been canceled.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
'Tis Thanksgiving
Since I have not posted a "true" Thanksgiving post yet, I have decided to do so now. Thanksgiving is upon us, with Black Friday only a day away. Thanksgiving is a quite odd holiday- we are supposed to give thanks to a group of people (the Native Americans) who we stole land from, and slaughtered. It seems that we are thanking them for having absolutely no military genius. Thanksgiving is a holiday about family, and being thankful for, more than just a lack of Native American military genius. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have and not taking anything for granted. So, happy Thanksgiving everyone (even those few readers who are not in the U.S.)!
GRAW=Done
Well, I just beat GRAW (on easy, though) and my gamer score has taken a rise all the way to 425. Over the next couple days I plan to beat the game again, on Hard, and the on Warfighter (which I think is unlocked after I beat it on Hard). GRAW was a really amazing, challenging, game and it also had a great plot line! Maybe I will write a review of it, or maybe not!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Please Post Comments!
Dear readers, I know you are out there! But it encourages me to blog if you comment, so please, comment!
Performancing Ads
I am quite annoyed, it has been over 48 hours, yet Performancing has still not priced my blog. It was only supposed to be 48 hours! Either way, it looks like I will probably be making $25/advertisement. If you would like advertise on my blog, please click here!
LinkBucks: I Like It
So, recently I have been testing out something called LinkBucks, and frankly, I think it is pretty cool. Whenever a user clicks on an outgoing link, they are presented with an intermission page, or a banner is placed on top of the target page. I choose intermission instead of banner, because, simply, it will make me money faster! I get $1/3,500 impressions- which, I think, can be accomplished quite easily. Does, anyone think I should switch from intermission page to a banner? If so, comment!
Food Rocks
...really. Food rocks. I love food- I love to cook it, and eat it. Surprisingly, unlike most people I know, I can actually cook well- no matter if it is a seared steak, pizza, or chicken. Even though I love to cook, I also love to order take-out or delivery. Tonight is (somewhat) special- Indian food. Can't get enough of it. I literally could survive off of Tandoori Chicken, Nan, and rice. Well, back to watching Comedy Central!
Yay! The Weekend Has Arrived!
Around one and a half hours ago, my four-day long, Thanksgiving weekend, began. Here's to four days of gaming, coding, writing, eating, and (I hate to say it) studying!
A Conglamorate of Advertisements
For a class, I created some (not-that-great) advertisements for all of the oddindustries products. They can be viewed here.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Details About Tudit.com
...for those faithful! Well, I been busy most of the night so far, and I decided I really needed to get a post in tonight; so here goes nothing. This post is (a list of ) details about one of the two flagship products from oddindustries, Tudit.com.
- It will land on February 14th, 2007 (though I will choose some people to invite to a private beta)
- It is based around RSS feeds, no matter what they contain (audio, video, or text)
- It is an RSS reader on steroids, in a certain sense
- It is based around things called "channels" which are created and edited by the community (with some moderation)
- These "channels" are made up of sources, usually five or more
- "Channels" are browsable in a tabbed interface
- The tabs show a total of five channels at a time, but being the geek I am, I decided to implement scrollable tabs
- Of course, users subscribe to "channels" of their choosing
- Because "channels" are created and edited by the community, users will not need to spend valuable time searching and finding topics and content that interests them
- Sources are displayed in an OriginalSignal/popurls style (after much debate, I decided this was the best way to display them)
- Yes, I don't know why I keep using quotes around "channels"
On a (some-what similar) note, if you would like to be invited to the private beta of Tudit.com, or any other of the oddindustries products- drop me a line: matthew@oddindustries.com!
An Eigth Project
Eight is a lucky number! But, regardless, this means more work for me. This will be the second flagship product for oddindustries (Tudit.com being the first). This project is called dotdotit. Don't ask.
Good News
Like, really good news! As you (might) know, I am the CEO/Code Monkey at oddindustries. We (I) are (am) currently working on seven products. Officially, all of them but two are over half way done! And the launch date isn't even until February 14th (Valentine's Day)!
Busy Schedules Suck
Really. My schedule today is so busy, so, posting could be sparse. Or not. I'll keep ya' posted.
Over The (Long, Thanksgiving) Weekend
Monday, November 20, 2006
Done a Science Project
Well, I recently finished a science project that is due tomorrow. Yes, it is a website. In fact, you can even check it out if you really want!
Pissed. Well, Sorta!
I'm annoyed that there isn't a Gears of War demo in the Xbox Live Marketplace. Grrr... If I can't have the game yet, I really want to play the demo!
Why the Panic! At the Disco Concert Rocked
So, as I stated earlier, I was at the Panic! At the Disco concert in Philadelphia last night. Right now, as a watch Bill Maher, I feel to lazy to write a full post. Hence, I will sum up the show in a list:
- Since Bloc Party couldn't make the rest of the tour, I had to sit through the crap that was the Plain White T's.
- Jack's Mannequin rocked the house, and played some really good numbers.
- Panic! At the Disco cleaned up all, in a play-like performance. They really are the best band I have ever heard. The also played covers on Killer Queen on Eleanor Rigby.
Ninety-Nine Nights: In Short
Ninety-Nine Nights (N3) is a Japanese Role-Playing Game (RPG), which I got a little while back. I got around to playing it recently, and I love it. It is a slash-and-hack RPG, and has Manga-style graphics. Full review coming, sometime soon!
Sunday, November 19, 2006
My Name is Matthew Block, and I am a Competitve Gamer
I have many memories of competitive gaming (going to a gaming camp for a week can do that to you), but here is one that sticks out:
At this gaming camp, we would have many, quite random, competitions. But the one competition that has stuck with me was with a game called Jedi Knights II: Jedi Outcast. Teams of two were pitted against each other in an ultimate showdown containing 8 pairs of people.
But something else made this competition stick out: the person using the keyboard and mouse was blindfolded, and their partner had to direct them where to go, and when to attack. It was a very intense competition.
Now me, being amazing at gaming and all, pwnd the holy hell out of everyone else playing. My partner and I won both competitions (at the end of the first round I took over the keyboard and mouse, and we played again), and we actually got two prizes! Unfortunately, these prizes were not money, but were two pretty old games.
Well, that's the end of that memory!
Need To Get a Game
I really need to get Gears of War. Like need to get it! In fact, my friend just called me up just to tell me how good it is!
Tonight
...at 5:30 P.M. I will be leaving my household and head to the Wachovia Center to attend my second Panic! At the Disco concert. Yes, that does mean that I like them.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
...is very addicting. There, I said it, GRAW is the most addicting game I have played to date. The only thing that can draw me away from this game is a comedy special on Comedy Central...
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