Michael Montez Online

I can already feel the backlash from this entry, but I am tired of people living here and not being able to speak English! The other day I was surfing BLOGGER at lunch. Since the name of the place is INTERNET and the internet was in English, I didn�t think much of it.

first click takes me here: http://tumiami.blogspot.com

second click takes me here: http://atasheen.blogspot.com

third click takes me here: http://pksivakumar.blogspot.com

How can you write something on the internet that isn’t in English?

And now I hear people on the radio speaking Spanish and Chinese. I tune to these stations and I don’t understand wht they are saying. Why are they speaking non-English.

This may be a bit extreme, but how about making people who want to post on Blogs or listen to the radio take a test to show at least a basic understanding of the English language?

Looking back, I wish I had taken Spanish in school as well as German.

For a more indepth look at the problem with non-English speaking service workers, check out Page’s Pages.

For all of you who have been waiting for the Apple Store to have a sale, your time has come. Sadly, it’s Black Friday. So if you’ve been holding onto that Apple Gift card you got for your birthday, Friday might be the day to use it. iPods, iPod Minis, and all computers will be discounted for the day.

Visit http://www.apple.com/retail/thanksgiving for more details.

Wednesday, Kelly called to tell me about a possible position at Universal. I received the contact information on Thursday, sent over my resume and cover letter, and had an interview this morning (Friday). I guess they don�t mess around over there.

So this morning I interviewed with Jin Whang. She was a very cool twenty-something in the marketing department of Universal. She works with/for Maria, the head of the marketing dept, or something like that. It�s a pretty cool, yet stressful position (much like �The Wheelbarrow�), and I think it will be rewarding. Of course I still have to get a second interview and then charm my way into the position. So maybe sometime next month, but I hope sooner.

I must say that my interviewing skills are most rusty. I found myself starring at Jin, thinking of answers. I was not my normal, witty and hilarious self. I hope she say through that and I get another chance. She kept talking about having to work close with the assistant and how they have to be on the same page and stuff like that. I kept thinking, �say something funny, she�s not smiling, crap, you�re blowing it.� You know stuff like that. The interview lasted about twenty minutes and I left feeling not so superior. But that was this morning, we�ll see what, if anything happens on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

I hope other candidates included a skinhead, Black Panthers, Hitler Youth, smelly southerners, anybody not from Michigan (Michigan natives are the only ones I�ve met who actually work in the biz), high school grads, and the deaf, blind or sick. If so, then I have a great chance at a second interview. At least she complimented me for being on-time. Who shows up late to an interview?

Well, I’ve finally stopped reading Halo 2 Stats online and I�m writing a blog entry today. So what can I tell. Nothing has really been going on. Things are pretty much the same. Except that I�ve been playing a ton of online Halo 2. It�s really great. I don�t care too much about the story, and I�ve heard the game conclusion is uneventful. Jon was saying that the bonus DVD implies that they didn�t have enough time to finish the game, so they cut it where they were, tacked on a �kind of� ending, and shipped it. Looks like things at Microsoft (owner of Bungie) never change, even if the company does.

So whatever, now they can make Halo 3, which is the second half of Halo 2, and ship it for another $50. At least this Microsoft product works, even if the story is good, but incomplete. I think the point I�m trying to make is, the game is great, the story ends weirdly, but the multi-player is amazing. So who cares about the rest?

Here are some recommendations for Halo 3. My guess, look for it next x-mas.
• New maps similar to the old maps, including Hang�em High, SideWinder, and Longest.
• The ability to play campaign mode with your friend, over the xBox Live. So Matt and I would be in our homes, across town, playing the story mode over the internet.
• The option to be placed in a party, where you will stay, until you decide to leave. This is different than the current mode, where you are placed into a game with a bunch of strangers. Instead, you are placed on a team with a bunch of strangers and you play against another team of strangers, but after the games, you remain on that team, and play new strangers. Make sense?
• �Best of� matches where you play on the same team best 4 of 7. Again, you get placed into a team of random people, play a best of 7 and then the team is split up and you join another team. This would allow for team building skills and everybody would have to pitch in over the long run.

Those are some of my suggestions; please feel free to leave some of your own. And thanks for reading.

Where shall I begin? This game is awesome. The graphics are great, the imagination and story (so far) are compelling, and the new weapons are awesome. Everything is better. The general interface (where you go after you press start) is clean, the flow and logic from screen to screen is intuitive, you can modify your character in many different ways (mostly color), the xBox Live integration is flawless, and the online game play is quick and exciting.

The campaign story is really good, and I�m not that far, I�m sure it gets better. The cinematic elements are really breathtaking. There is a small bug in the loading of movie scene, but it does remedy and render quickly. I love the new human guns, so much better than the old ones. Duel wielding weapons is awesome, yet has drawbacks, as in real life (which this is not so shut-up already).

Online play is quick, so far. The new maps are great. All the players are learning so get out there and kick some ass. The online interface is clean, fast and easy to follow. While online, if you speak, only those around you can hear unless you press the WHITE button and speak to all you team members. That is very cool. You can play online as a human or an alien, another cool feature. Your online personal and clan stats are available at bungie.net, and soon at eightyfirststreet.com.

So get an xBox, Halo 2, and an xBox Live account, and join us on the couch for the next 6 months.