This is too cool. Well, I think so anyways. Microsoft has created this barcode technology that embeds digital information in a 2D image, like the one you see to the left. It’s a lot like QR Code, which is apparently widely used in places like Japan. The main difference: Triangles. QR Code barcodes are just black and white and look more like a pixelated mess. 

The cool thing is, you can now go to http://www.microsoft.com/tag/, create your own tag, and publish it for the world to see. Your next step is to use an app like Microsoft’s Tag Reader (iTunes Store link) on your iPhone, or other mobile device, to take a picture of the 2D image, and wait for the app to do its magic. If you were to take a picture of the above image, your phone would take you to my website, adamsawicki.com. Cool, eh?

The app also works on Blackberry, Android, PalmOS, and other devices. Get it here: http://gettag.mobi/

The app is free and so is the image creation tool. I doubt the creation tool will be free forever, so use it while you can. If you create a tag, post it on my Facebook wall, I will give you a Rock Band 2 t-shirt. Embed whatever you like in the image. 

I am definitely an Apple supporter, but when Microsoft brings something like this to the masses, I embrace the gigantic company with my skinny and boy-ish muscular arms. I think it’s a great move on their part to get this kind of technology into everyone’s hands. 

Love,

Adam Sawicki.

As a sort of apology for not updating this blog for a while, and as a sort of nudge for you guys to read more (don’t worry you don’t have to after this), I’ve decided to give away the many Rock Band 2 t-shirts I have laying around the house. I have a lot because I love the game and because I work at EB Games. I tried giving these away to customers, but most of them said I could keep them or give them away to others. So I kept them.

Now I want to share!

I also want to have a little fun with this. So to win a t-shirt, all you have to do is answer the following questions related to sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll:

1) What is your most embarrassing guilty pleasure (band and/or song)?

2) What was your first favourite band?

3) What do you think is the best song to copulate to?

There are some rules:

-You must live within a reasonable distance away from me.
-You must be at some sort of gathering that I’m at in the next few months (this is easy if you know me).
-You must reply truthfully and honestly, only because it makes it more fun.
-You must reply in the comments section.

That’s it! So let’s hear your answers.

Love,

Adam Sawicki.

I haven’t updated this space in just about a month. Completely unacceptable. I will not step away from this blog for such a long period of time again. Well, maybe just once more. I will yet again have a bunch of essays to write and exams to study for in April.

I just want to wish everyone a happy New Year. I have a good feeling about this one.

Also, to everyone that came up to the cottage at Blue Mountain with us, thanks again for coming. I hope you had an amazing time. And the above picture with Heather and I, taken by Daniela Ribeiro, was taken at the cottage, and yeah, it’s sweet, okay? What? You don’t think I can be sweet. Okay, I don’t blame you. Still. Sweet, eh?

Love,

Adam Sawicki.

When I first started up this blog, I didn’t pay too much attention to the design. I just wanted a blog and I wanted it to work. It worked. Now it was time for the design to get a bit of an overhaul.

What you’re looking at now is the culmination of hours of procrastination. Yeah, not so good when you have hours and hours of studying to do, but hey, I need a break sometime! I just took a few too many breaks.

The biggest addition, in my opinion, is the music player. Go ahead and click on a track to listen to it. All the music has been written, recorded, and produced by me. So, at times the quality isn’t so great, but I’m happy enough with it.

So yeah, have a look. Also note that I’m working out all the kinks that have popped up from the re-design.

Gotta get to work!

Love, Adam Sawicki

It is now most definitely winter. You can tell by the great amount of snow falling, and sitting, in the above picture.

It’s funny, but I feel warmer in my car when it snows in winter, than I do when it rains in spring. I think It’s because I think of the awesome drive home from snowboarding up North, and by “up North” I mean an hour and a half North of Toronto.

It takes a few minutes to get all the gear off and to get it all packed up in the trunk and wherever else you can squeeze it in, so the wait to get inside the warmed up car is almost excruciating. But once you’re in the car and you’re starting to feel a bit warmer, the best part of the trip home is realized: the removal of the winter jacket. Sitting in the warm car with your winter jacket off and watching the snow fall outside in the freezing weather just meters away from your very own body…well, it’s all a truly satisfying experience.

Truth is, it’s most likely because I throttle the heat in my car to max during the cold winter months.

I really want to go snowboarding soon.

…

If you’d like to see the original, non black and white picture, just click on “more.”

Love,

Adam Sawicki.

(more…)

…and Heather’s just sleeping it all away, probably dreaming of me. In her dream, I’m most definitely slaying dragons, protecting her from their devastating breaths of fire. I’m also, without a question,  a buffed up, handsome as hell dude. I’m so damn powerful, I can’t even believe it.

Oh and Heather’s probably the beautiful princess.

But, I’m undeniably the coolest part of her dream. Nah, the RADDEST! Hell yeah.

Love,

Adam Sawicki.

Left 4 Dead is an amazing game, and it’s even more amazing when four people play it together. Heather and I have been playing it a bunch, but we haven’t gotten that far yet. School work got in the way most of the time. But the next time I play it, I want to play it with at least three people, Heather included

Not only could we beat the entire campaign over time, but we can try the harder difficulties which completely change up the game. After that, we could play versus other teams of four, taking turns playing as the survivors or the infected.

Here are the prerequisites for joining the Zombie Resistance:

• You must be able to play on Thursday nights (open to suggestions for other nights)
• You must own an Xbox 360
• You must own a copy of Left 4 Dead for the Xbox 360
• You must be an active member of Xbox Live Gold
• You must have a love/hate relationship with zombies

So this will obviously only work if people want to get in on the zombie killing action. If you’re interested, please comment in the comments section of this post. Also, add your gamertag to your post.

And just because Heather’s and my name are in the above picture doesn’t mean Heather and I always have to play. I want a bunch of people to participate so it’ll be easy to always have 4 people playing.

Let’s see if this’ll work…

Love,

Adam Sawicki.

P.S. If you don’t have a copy and you want to get one, I can get you a discount of 15% off the game at EB. It’ll be my Christmas present to you.

Presenting Overheard at EB Games, a feature wherein I quote a conversation I overheard while working at my part time job at EB Games. Sometimes people say something funny, sometimes people say something interesting, but most of the time, people say something stupid. You be the judge.

A mom and her 2 kids are looking at DS games, when one of her kids picks up a yoga game and hands it to her, exclaiming, “Mom, check this game out. You can borrow my DS if you want to play it.”

Mom: Grandma’s going to love this when she gets her DS.

Kid: She’s getting a DS?

Mom: Yeah.

Kid: Why?

Mom: For her brain.

Ahead of me this week are three vacuums of time: essays. Two due on Wednesday and one due on Thursday. For me to distinguish these vacuums of time, I’m going to need to spend a night on each, starting tonight. What I’m trying to say is that you may not see me for a few days. Do not worry. I am alive. Not well, but alive.

I cannot wait for Thursday, for my exams to be over and done with by mid December, and I cannot wait to finally be able to just relax.

Prediction: If at the end of this week I was to rate out of 10 the amount of fun I had, I would surely pass out before being able to.

As many of you who have Xbox 360s and are connected to Live already know, the NXE update has gone live. One of the pretty cool new features is the ability to create an avatar, very akin to Nintendo Wii’s Miis. What’s awesome about the Xbox Live avatar feature, compared to the stale Mii feature, is that new clothes, accessories, and other details will be updated regularly. Think about it. You could end up with an avatar wearing a Master Chief helmet, with Marcus Fenix’s body armor, with, how about Lara Croft’s skimpy little shorts? I don’t think I’d dress my avatar in such a fashion, but it sounds like it will be a possibility in the future.

Other than the relatively pointless (even though I love it) avatar feature, the rest of the NXE update is very much welcomed. You can have a party chat now with up to 8 people, the blades are gone and replaced with a slick, shiny and extremely quick interface, and there are a bunch of other updates and fixes I still have to explore. I’m very happy with it so far.

That’s it!

Love,

Adam Sawicki.