Knuckles Reviews

Welcome!

2010-09-13T23:07:00.002-06:00

Howdy Folks! Sorry for the detour! Hope your trip out here wasn't too bumpy!

Many of you guys might wonder about this reviews blog and why I decided to go and release this blog. There's many reasons behind this blog and one of which is because quite frankly, I'm sick of Hollywood.

As a child, I love going to the movies, I love watching Disney films and dream of having a magical carpet that will take me wherever I wish to go and a genie that will be my best friend in the world.

That have long changed. Ever since I saw the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button then read the famous short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I was just blown away at the amount of difference that Hollywood added to the film just so it would "stand out more" and be more "interesting" to the viewers. I'm a fund believers in our authors and the hard work they put into their writing. Within matter of seconds the hard work turns into "entertainment" and the true beauty of such works ruined by the Hollywood folks

On top of that, I am sick of Hollywood's view on the military and the film it produces. Though it is not to say that there are many great military related films out in the industry, majority of the films not only tells a false side to military life but hides the reality from the general public. Why? I'm not sure. But I am sure without the "fun" and "exciting drama" of such films, there will be no audiences. And no audience means no box office and that means no money.

Thus, I have decided to to start a blog of many different reviews (not only on films) and share my thoughts to my readers. But also recommend different books, films, products that may be useful to others. One of the greatest freedom being an American is the freedom of speech and believe it or not, most of us never truly practice that freedom. Let your words be heard by the people and for the people. Join me in my journey.

I thank you for reading this blog and of course, feel free to add me onto any blog-roll as you wish. Also feel free, of course, to contact me for questions, concerns, comments, review request(s), and of course if you wish to submit your own reviews, feel free to contact me also.

So come on in and have a good read.

Also check out Reality Fairies. The blog started by a group of the most awesome military folks I've ever known. Follow 'em on their journey as they take a stand against the Hollywood version of the Military and show you the reality of our lives. Good work ladies!

From Paris, With Love

2010-02-14T19:19:00.006-07:00

From Paris, With Love
Directed by Pierre Morel
Produced by Luc Besson and India Osborne
Written by Luc Besson and Adi Hasak

I never thought much of this movie when I first read about it online. Other than the fact that John Travolta is the supporting actor for this film, I didn't find a great reason why Nicole and I should go and watch the movie. But guess you won't ever be able to tell just how good a movie is until you seen it right?

Anyways, this movie starts with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as James Reece (an employee for the US Ambassador in France) and John Travolta as Charlie Wax (a special agent). Basically Reece loves his job in France but wishes for more and ends up being paired up with Wax.

There's bits of comedy, LOADS of action, and of course, bits of drama here and there. I was laughing within 20 minutes of the film.

"It was invited by a Jewish guy in San Francisco, there's nothing Chinese about the dish."

That line, made me laugh.

There's definitely some major suspense through out the movie and you just might be as surprised as I am when you see Travolta's awesome kick-butt moves!

Overall, though, I felt like the movie was just a bunch of guys testing their ARs and see who runs out of ammunition first. Remember that this is a R-rated movie and I guess there's no R-rated movie like bunch of firefights between good and bad guys. I did enjoy looking at two EXTREMELY different people working together and the amount of "conflicts" that Reece and Wax created. There is a twist towards the end of the film though, nothing too huge but guess it made the film just that bits more exciting.

If you're a fan of either John Traolta or Jonathan Rhys Meyers, I'd check out this movie. Otherwise, don't be surprised if this isn't the BEST action movie you've seen.

Seen From Paris, With Love? Feel free to contact me and share your own
reviews!

Ping.fm Product Overview

2009-08-19T04:49:00.014-06:00

These days, social networks are a hit, there are the usual top ones Twitter, Facebook, and even MySpace. But have you heard of hi5, xanga, bebo, or even plaxo?

If you have heard of all those social networks and even other blogs and use all different services, it can get frustrating when you want to update every single one of them by hand. That's when Ping comes in handy!

With Ping.fm you can update ALL of your social networks and blogging sites by using text messages, your iPhone, iPod Touch, instant messengers (Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, Windows Live Messenger), e-mail or 3rd party applications like iGoogle, twhirl, and even twitterfeed.

Organizational Chart of Ping

It's amazing how many social networking sites Ping.fm can support (at this point, it roughly supports 40 social networks and trust me they're adding more all the time!) Once signed up for a Ping.fm account, just click on "Click here to add networks" select your network and log in information and you can start Pinging in no time!

Starting Ping is simple!

There are both simple straight forward posting methods and advanced custom triggers on Ping, but it over all, it still help you update all your social network in a breeze! I'd highly recommend Ping.fm if you own your business with multi-social networking accounts. It saves time and get your messages across to all your clients :)

Ping's Simple Layout

Try Ping.fm for yourself!
Create a new Ping.fm account: http://ping.fm/signup/

Disclaimer: Applications/plug-ins product overview/reviews are in a random order. The order I post them in does NOT equal to how much I like/dislike a product. If I like/dislike an application, I'll let you know in the reviews. Again, these are in random order!

twhirl Product Overview

2009-08-19T03:38:00.003-06:00

Let's talk about twhirl:

If you tried Seesmic and like it's features, you might also want to look into twhirl. In April 2008, Seesmic, Inc. brought twhirl and now Seesmic and twhirl sort of work along side each other. Let's see what twhirl does for its users.

twhirl is a desktop application based on the Adobe AIR platform (If you don't know what Adobe AIR is, there WILL be a review on that in the future) twhirl’s runs on both Windows (2000/XP/Vista) and Mac OSX. It helps you connect to Twitter, laconi.ca, Friendfeed and Seesmic accounts. twhirl even shortens long URLs for you! (how cool is that? :D)

Setting up twhirl

Now if you have other social networks like Facebook, MySpace, or even LinkedIn, twhirl can help you update those services via Ping.fm (I will talk about Ping.fm later on.), if you got loads of pictures you wish to share, twhirl will post images to TwitPic automatically and share it with your Twitter friends :)

twhirl Configuration

twhirl makes configuring extremely easy, you can set how you want twhirl to look, the different notifications, and even the way you connect :D If you like using Seesmic and looking for something smaller and simpler, twhirl would be a great choice! (Keep in mind that since Seesmic do own twhirl, a lot of the functions intertwine with each other but there truly is a lot of things you can still discover on twhirl!)

Try twhirl for yourself!
twhirl download: http://www.twhirl.org/download

Disclaimer: Applications/plug-ins product overview/reviews are in a random order. The order I post them in does NOT equal to how much I like/dislike a product. If I like/dislike an application, I'll let you know in the reviews. Again, these are in random order!

Seesmic Product Overview

2009-08-18T17:27:00.003-06:00

With the growth of social networks, I've been asked by a lot of my friends and just people in general what kind of applications and plug-ins are out there. So I'll be putting a lot more techy stuff so watch out for them.

Now let's talk about Seesmic:

With the rise of both Twitter and Facebook a lot of people have been asking me if there's an applications that ties both Twitter and Facebook into an easy to use application.

Well, Seesmic is the answer!

Seesmic is a desktop AND web application (with iPhone apps coming soon!) that let's you manage your Twitter and Facebook account without opening two separate windows! There are a lot of cool features on Seesmic that you might find useful. For example, you can merge all the accounts you use into one single column and if you like, it can even be expanded into a 3 row featuring "Real Live Tweets", "Replies" and "DMs"

Single Row View

If you have both Facebook and Twitter, adding an account on Seesmic is extremely easy, just go on over to the option settings and entire both your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Updating is also simple, just make sure you have the right icon then update your status!

If you're huge on posting pictures on both Twitter and Facebook, Seesmic makes it extremely easy to upload the pictures onto both social network. Either take a picture with your webcam or drag the picture you already have over to Seemsmic and share it right there and then with your friends. Which means no more uploading pictures onto sites like twitpic.com manually, all you need to do with Seesmic is drag and drop!

Multi-row view

Another plus to Seesmic is their real time help. If you tweet to @askseesmic the people over at Seemsmic will respond to your question in real time! Talk about awesome customer service! :D

Overall, Seesmic is a great tool to use if you have both Twitter and Facebook, it makes the real time tweets and updates from both you and your friends extremely easy to manage and view :)

Try Seesmic for yourself!
Seesmic Desktop Application: http://seesmic.com/desktop.html
Seesmic Web: http://seesmic.com/app/

Disclaimer: Applications/plug-ins product overview/reviews are in a random order. The order I post them in does NOT equal to how much I like/dislike a product. If I like/dislike an application, I'll let you know in the reviews. Again, these are in random order!

True Social Networking

2009-07-24T05:28:00.004-06:00

After reading the new Twitter Status regarding their yet another attempt to fix the follower and following counts and talking with my good friend Erica over Twitter, I began to wonder, what is social network exactly?

Course, we all know of the social network sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and even Bebo. But what does true social network actually mean?

Thinking that my friends over at Common Craft never have let me down before. I went on over to their YouTube page hoping to find an answer to my social network question. (Common Craft are the awesome people who take complex subjects like RSS feed and the US presidential election and turn them into three-minute videos in a language that anyone can understand)

And sure enough, Mr. Lee LeFever already thought of putting up a social network video on YouTube:

But really...somehow that still don't tell me what TRUE social network brings to the people that I don't know and whether or not that brings people closer together.

Some say they do bring people closer together...but how, with more than 100k followers on Twitter, do you really know all of them? You can't possibility know ALL of them on a personal basis. And if it's impersonal, what's the point of bringing people closer of they're not "closer" and you don't know them as a person, rather than just a number on your follower chart? Then, in turn, what is the point of having social networks?

Like I told Erica, balancing between true social network, keeping people closer AND know them on a personal level can be a hard thing to do. If that's the case, I don't want to be part of the social network anymore. In fact, I think I already zoned myself away from the "social network" trend.

Just another social network

As you can see from this screen shot of this other social network I belong to, I "only" have 72 friends. I've even been laughed at and scolded at by others how many friends I DON'T have and now much of a "loner" I am. And my natural response is...

"I know all 72 friends by a first name basis, where they live, what grade their in, and even how many pets they have. Tell me, can you do that with your 4000 'friends'?"

Their response:

Silence

So after all this, I think those who wish to start "social networking" should ask themselves one question. Do you want to join social network or do you want to join a TRUE social networking?

And you, the one who already are part of the Tweetaholics Anonymous, what's YOUR response to that question?

Do You Google?

2009-07-18T14:22:00.026-06:00

Ok so this just might be a rant/tutorial to start off my weekend. I've been through many sites since I learned how to get online and ever since blogging and news got bigger, I tend to look for something that will make my web-surfing experience as easy as it gets.

And really...when I think of it, there is only one company I can trust to do all this for me and that is...

Yes, Google™. And I'm going to say it again. Google™.

Why? Because really, Google™ is more than just search engine now and believe it or not, there are still people who don't know the services that Google™ provides. And I am sick of hearing people saying "what's that?" when I ask them if they have Google™ Docs just so I can share some of the work I've done with them. So here it is people, just SOME of Google's services I like and use and short description about them. Trust me Google™ is working on more services so this list will just go on and on. For most updated services check here. (And to make it easier on you, you can click on each of the services I mentioned here to go directly to the Google™ page)

If you're a blogger like me and love looking for new blogs about things you are interested in, you'll love Google™ blog search. A lot like its search engine, Google™ Blog Search helps you search for BLOGS with topics you want so you don't waste hours just finding things you don't even want to read.

If you love books and you love reading but not sure if you want to actually go out and buy the book or go and borrow it from the library, Google™ books would be awesome to use just to check that information and even more. Say you have a book title name but you're not sure what it's about, you can search it on Google™ Books. Or if you don't know the book title but the author's name, Google™ books can find it for you. Google™ books even list book reviews, previews, and sites to link you where to buy or borrow the books. And here's what's best, if the book is available for online copy, you can read the entire book online! How awesome is that.

If you're a online shopper like me and hate creating multiple accounts and password and sometimes worry about how safe it really is, use Google Checkout™! With Google Checkout™ you can quickly and easily buy from stores across the web and track all your orders and shipping in one place. Where? At Google Checkout™! You can even keep your email address hidden and even turn off unwanted emails from stores. How cool is that?

Here's a newbie that people probably still haven't heard of. Google™ Chrome browser? If you're still using the slow poke Internet Explorer to surf the internet, evolve! Google™ Chrome is the newest browser brought to you by a major company. Even though it's just a baby, it already got a bunch of awesome things it can provide. Speed is this browsers best weapon so if you like speed this will definitely be the browser for you. Check out this video to learn more about Google™ Chrome.

Really, one of the best program I have ever used. Have you ever want to travel the world but don't want to leave your couch? Really, Google™ Earth would be awesome for you. You can look anywhere in the world by searching it or even look around the states. Google™ Earth 5.0 even let's you dive below the surface of the ocean and check out cool fish deep in the sea! (That's great for dry ducks like me!) Or for you history people, it let's you go through historical images! Even record the "travel" and share it with your friends! How awesome is that?

Are you sick of checking your bills just to see some stupid fee for calling 411? Come on you called to get free info not for the companies to charge you just to find a number to your favorite pizza place! Google's new 411 service is free and easy, just check this out!

If you're like me who are at a constant aware of your health and sometimes, need all the health record in the least amount of time possible, Google™ Health is for you. With Google Health you can store all your health information online and YOU get to determine who gets to see how much of it. You can track a medical history and learn about your conditions. You can even create additional profiles for everyone in your family! Google™ Health even partnered with hospitals, labs, and pharmacies so they can import your health history for you! Best of all with Google™ Health you can see how different medications might interact, that means no more searching around on WedMD! Last and my favorite feature of Google™ Health, you can print a wallet-sized version of your health profile for use in case of emergency. How awesome is that?

There is just so much features to Google Maps...you got to see it to believe it! Check these out!

How many times have your friends or co-workers ask you "hey you want to go out for lunch today?" or "hey want to come to the party this Saturday?" and time after time no matter how many times you tell them they still ask you again and again. Won't be a problem if you use Google™ Calendar! Add an invent to the calendar and your schedule and you can share it with anyone you wish. This way people can see what you're doing and you can see what they're doing without even asking the person. Of course there are more features involved with Google™ Calendar but the fun is in discovering it!

How many times have you been so frustrated with Microsoft Word you want to kill your computer? How many times do you go and try to email your research paper to your professor just to have it fail on you last minute. This won't happen with Google™ Docs. With Google Docs you can create documents, spreadsheet, presentations, even forms and tons of templates and share it with anyone on your contact list! Check this video out and see how cool Google™ Docs really is! (Oh and did I fail to mention Google™ Docs spell checks for you in other 30 languages! Microsoft Word can't do that!)

Gmail needs no introduction so here goes!

Picasa! Really, at this time of age, please don't tell me you're still using Photobucket to store or share your digital images. Wait, you do? Geeze...check out Picasa! Picasa is free photo editing software from Google™. Easy to edit digital pictures, upload pictures to an online album, even add text to your pictures! Stop using Photobucket and check out Picasa!

I'm sure you're bored of me talking about Google™ so here watch this fun video!

Now this, this you just got to hear. How many times do you read or see something in a different language but don't know what it means? Or even, how many times do you not remember how to say "what's for dinner?" in German or say Chinese? Instead of going to billion of pages just to find out the best way to say "What's for dinner?" in German or Chinese, use Google™ Translate! It's simple and easy to use. Even if you don't know the language, Google™ Translate will automatically look for it's best match, how cool is that? And look 晚餐是什麼? There it is!

Last but not least, I have one final link for all you on the go people. There are a lot of features and services from Google™ that's also available for your phone! Just hop on over to and see what they got! (and if you're reading this on your phone right now...WHY ARE YOU NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE ROAD? Ohhh you're walking, I see, well in that case, type in "m.google.com" on your phone, it'll take you right to the page!)

Well...that was my rant/introduction for you people who haven't heard of Google™ or some of its awesome, awesome services and features. So hopefully after you read this and saw all those videos, you won't come to me saying, "What's Google™ Docs?" and you'd actually message me to ask for my email so we can look at documents ON Google™ Docs.

Wait, what's that? Oh you say you can't use all this features and services without a Google™ account? You got to be kidding me, go over to Google.com and sign up for an account, right now! DO IT!!! You'll be glad you did because there are plenty of applications that will make you go "ahhh cool I love Google" in the future. So go go go! (If you really don't get how to get a Google™ account, contact me, I will hook you up with an invite.)

And remember to pass on the word of how awesome and how much you love Google™ to your friends, co-workers, and family. Help them make their lives easier! Use Google™ Docs! Use something! Google™ Calendar? Google Chrome™? How about Google™ Health?!? Google™ Mobile?!?

Google™ Google™ Google™!!!
Google™! (Yes I'm nuts, I know. ABOUT GOOGLE™!!!)