Hijinks Inc.

Author: Fred Smith

  • The phone that (probably will) get me fired.

    (Editor’s Note: This isn’t a review, just a sad story)

    In the past month I have been late to work 3 times. If I’m late again, my employment will be terminated due to unacceptable tardiness. Would I be sad? No. But what I want to focus on is why I’m in this situation. Concisely: The Droid made me do it.

    It started out simple enough. My trusty Motorola Razr (the fifth replacement in my two year contract) was on its last legs. The outside screen was shattered, the interior screen was broken, and not having my phone as an alarm clock was forcing me to rely on my old bedside clock/radio/iPhone dock. It was time for a new phone.  In the minutes before I left for the Verizon store that fateful morning I hurriedly glanced at some phone reviews. Palm Pre Plus, Blackberry Pearl, and the Droid all scored well. These were not the iPhones I had dreamt about, but they would do.

    I entered the Verizon store. I looked at the fifty dollar Palm Pre Plus; too cheap. I glanced at the Blackberry Pearl; too ugly. I walked up to the Droid display; my bank account looked at me with sad, reproachful eyes. I was moving on to the ‘Multimedia’ phones when something caught my eye. It was a Droid, but it carried a price tag under a hundred dollars. What was this? The UI was friendly and intuitive, almost like it made (wait for it) Sense. I had my Goldilocks moment…this was just right. (more…)

  • And now for something completely different

    Aaron posts useful hacks, technical expertise, and drops knowledge on a semi-weekly basis? Me? I post YouTube videos.

    Well not normally, but I’m making an exception. A video producer friend of mine has a buddy that makes music using only his mouth, voice, and water glasses.  His song choice wouldn’t be my first option, but he nails it.

    Check out his YouTube channel if you like it.

  • Musing about EGM, journalism, and life in general

    When I was growing up I didn’t give a whole lot of thought to my future career. I either wanted to be a private detective in the style of Frank and Joe Hardy, or a farmer like my biggest hero, my dad. Sometime in the last couple years of high school I suddenly grew an affinity to writing, and almost literally overnight I started writing pages and pages of the most random crap you could imagine.

    Being 16-17, a lot of it was just me trying to make sense of life by emptying out my thoughts onto paper. I created my own fantasy setting, complete with six different races and a complete world map. I tried to describe exactly what true love was (all I figured out were dozens of things that it wasn’t), and theorized on the meaning of life, and more importantly, where I should go with my life. Pretty run of the mill teenage stuff. (more…)

  • Dear ex-1UPers

    (Ed: This is meant to be an open letter to the fine folks at 1UP.com and EGM who lost their jobs a couple days ago. It covers a general concept of what I’d do if I were in their shoes. Enjoy.)

    Hey guys,

    After listening to the first episode of Rebel FM, I started thinking about what I would do in your situation.

    Try this on for size (all names subject to change of course).

    1UP Show 2.0
    Rebel FM
    1UP Yours 2.0
    LAN Party 2.0
    Sports Anomaly 2.0

    All for the low price of [insert price here] per month/week.

    As I write this Anthony, Nick, and Phillip all have between 2,500 and 3,000 followers on their Twitters. Its safe to say a good amount of them would pay to hear Anthony, Nick, and Phillip every week. Right now Garnett Lee has 6,592 followers, and ShaneWatch has 3,541 followers. I bet a LOT of those people would pay to hear Garnett and Shane podcast together every week. It wouldn’t have to be a completely coordinated deal, but even just a central portal to access these podcasts would be marketable.

    I have no idea what John, Garnett, and Shane have planned for the rebirth of 1UP Yours, or if Todd Zuniga will still desire to continue to lead the Sports Anomaly, or if Ryan Scott has time to host a PC podcast every week; but if there was a way to launch an informal rebirth of the 1UP Radio Network with the majority of the core personalities intact, THAT’S something you could charge for and THAT’S what the community wants right now. (more…)

  • Hearst Corporation acquires 1UP, dissolves EGM, fires best employees.

    The rumors were true. Gaming giant 1UP.com and Electronic Gaming Monthly are effectively kaput.

    Yesterday afternoon 1UP announced that it has been bought by Hearst Corporation, owners of UGO.com. Hearst owns large chunks of various press outlets, including ESPN and a handful of major newspapers.

    So far the corporate line is something along the line of “1UP is full of great personalities that will continue to provide great content under the new leadership.” Unfortunately, the acquisition involved the axing of the entire staff of EGM and the 1UP show, which accounts for 99% of the personalities anyone cares about.

    A list (in progress) of the lay-offs can be found here.

    The full story can be found here.