Happy Cinco de Mayo From The Atomic Playground!

Que pasa? Here on the east coast, it is officially Cinco de Mayo, and you know what that means baby - the tequila will be flowing!

There are only a couple days a year that it's considered okay to get completely drunk off your ass and go nuts, and today is one of them. So make the most of it - just try to steer clear of the alcohol poisoning.

Speaking of which, the party just started, and I think these guys are wasted already:

So Happy Cinco de Mayo, and viva la raza!

Play The Sims On Your PS3! Oh, It's Just The Beta For Playstation Home

You were excited for a second there, weren't you? Well, allow me to throw some cold water on you. Reports are coming in from around the interwebs that the beta testers for the upcoming Playstation Home service are now able to download the software from the Playstation Store via their PS3. Early reports stated that the software could not yet be installed, but later stories surfaced that the service is now active.

Playstation Home was announced earlier in the year at GDC by Sony, as their main online presence for the PS3. The service resembles The Sims or Second Life, in that you navigate a humanoid avatar around a 3D world and interact with other users. There are public spaces, but each user also has their own private "apartment" in which they can entertain friends and store their game trophies (the PS3 version of achievement points).

Just how useful the service will be remains to be seen. No one really knows what level of integration PS Home will have with games, and whether or not the service can act as a lobby for online multiplayer battles. I'm guessing that type of functionality won't be present at first, but it should serve as a way to interact with your clan after a match.

As more users enter the beta, updates should come fast and furious. That's what's good about the internet - we'll probably have the juicy details before Sony does. But if you didn't sign up for the beta, it's too late now. You'll just have to wait until the service officially launches this fall to get your virtual groove on PS3 style. Back to World of Warcraft for you.

Something Free From Microsoft - And All It Cost You Was $480

You couldn't just be happy with the version of the Xbox 360 that you had. No, you had to go and upgrade to the Elite, with it's precious HDMI port, 120 GB HD, and sleek black finish. Yes, I'm jealous. But in the process of handing over $480 to Bill Gates and friends, you ended up making your video game life just a little bit harder. And that's because the Elite wasn't designed for you - it was designed for new customers.

Apparently, the suits at MS thought that all the complaints about the lack of an HDMI port on the old 360 came from people who flat out refused to buy one. So, the Elite was made for them. It never occurred to them that existing 360 owners would want to "upgrade" to the new system, so MS left out one crucial piece of the upgrade puzzle - the HD transfer cable.

You know all that crap you download off of Xbox Live? It's stored on your existing hard drive. And in order to make use of it on your new console, with your new hard drive, you need to transfer the data via a special cable. Unfortunately, MS decided not to package the cable with the Elite, and only packages it with the separately purchased 120 GB HD. So, those people replacing their old consoles were left out in the cold regarding their save games and downloadable content. Unless they wanted to shell out even more cash for a memory card to transfer the data that way.

But once upgraders started to complain, the boys in Redmond finally decided to give them the transfer cable free of charge - it's really the least you should get for $480. If you need the cable, you can get the PDF form here. Too bad you have to mail or fax it back - there's no online submission. Hell, it's not like these people make software to access the internet or run servers or anything.

And once you receive your cable in the mail (8-12 weeks later, I'm sure), you can get the instructions on how to use it here. See, even Microsoft can do the right thing eventually. Why, I'll bet in 20 years, they'll even turn off product activation in Windows XP. I won't bet much, of course...

Friday Freebie - The IE Alternative That You Should Really Already Have

I'm going to guess that a lot of our more seasoned readers already have this freebie, but for all the rest, it's worth the feature. The majority of the world surfs the net with whatever browser came preloaded on their PC, and that usually means Internet Explorer. And while Microsoft did step up its game with the (long overdue) release of IE7, that piece of software still isn't necessarily the best browser for the job. Not to mention the new interface is downright ugly. But fear not - an alternative is at hand, and it is named Firefox:

Back in the late 1990s, the browser war was a big deal. The internet had just exploded (not literally - that won't happen for a few months yet at least), and Netscape Navigator was king. But thanks to some alleged unfair business practices, MS was quickly gaining ground with its buggy but upcoming IE. So what was Netscape to do? Put a hex on Bill Gates? No! They decided to completely redo their browser, using a project known as Mozilla. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for the company, and they lost their market share before a meaningful new browser could be born.

But that wasn't the end of the Mozilla project. That team kept chugging along, slowing building a better browser. And eventually, after a few naming problems, Firefox was born. At first, few people took notice. Over time, though, people grew tired of IE's inherent flaws and MS's lack of innovation in the browser market, and began to look elsewhere. That's when Firefox really took off. So to speak.

The truth is, even with all the support Firefox receives from the web elite, IE is still used by over 80% of all web surfers, just because it's there and it's what people are used to. But if you're willing to give something new a try, Firefox is worth the download. The interface is clean, but customizable. Plus, there are plenty of add-ons for the browser, so you can incorporate a whole bunch of additional tools right in one window. It's also very fast, due to Mozilla's minimalist approach to coding - always a good thing. And the best part, besides the lack of a price? It's stable. Aside from the occasional memory leak, the browser isn't going to crash on you two or three times a day. That alone makes this a must have.

As for downsides, there's really only one. Many web pages today are designed specifically for IE. What that means is they follow IE's coding requirements, and not necessarily web standards. So, it's possible that a few of your favorite pages won't look quite right when viewed through Firefox. This has improved over the years, as web developers started to realize how popular Firefox was becoming. But you'll always have IE to fall back on for those few pages if necessary. And the truth is, it's a small price to pay for a slicker, faster, more stable browsing experience.

Downloads for Windows, Mac, and Linux machines can be found right here. They've even got our foreign friends covered, with versions available in multiple languages. So next time you visit the Atomic Playground, I expect you to be viewing it through Firefox. Don't worry - the site looks just as good through it as it does IE.

Note - no foxes were set on fire during the making of this browser, or during this review. Well, not on purpose at least...

God Bless The Internet - HD-DVD Is Officially Cracked!

The internet is a wonderful, magical entity teaming with people from all walks of life. Okay, it's mostly a bunch of old creepy guys in chat rooms trading porn. But there are a few shining stars in the tubes - people who dedicate their time to making information free, and tearing down the barriers to freedom erected by those greedy corporate fatcats. And those fine folks have struck again, this time taking down one of the next gen HD formats. That's right - HD-DVD has been cracked!

For most people...this isn't news. No one really cares about the so-called "next gen format war". The average consumer is happy with his regular DVD, with only those bleeding edge early adopters taking the plunge on the new stuff. But this crack isn't about helping the masses now - it's about helping them in the future.

Every day, more and more of our digital rights are taken away at the hands of DRM. And the DRM found in the next gen optical disks is some of the strongest stuff as yet unleashed on the public. Some in the industry even went so far to say that it would never be cracked. But that statement is like issuing an open invitation to all the hackers, crackers, and netizens with too much time on their hands to pool their resources and take down the system - and that's just what happened earlier in the week.

News of the crack spread across the internet fast, and quickly became the top story on sites like Digg. Now, it shouldn't come as any surprise to find that the corporate bigwigs didn't want this information disseminated to the masses, so they quickly sent their hell hound lawyers into action. As a result, the stories disappeared from Digg. But that wasn't the end of this tale. As a mighty army, the internet nerds rose as one, and pushed every article out there on the HD-DVD crack to the top of the Digg charts. And Digg heard the call.

Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, posted a story to the site explaining why the initial articles were removed. But, more importantly, he also stated that the company respected the wishes of its users, and that all other stories referencing the crack would be allowed to remain on Digg. He even posted the crack code himself in his blog.

I really respect Mr. Rose for standing up to the big corporations, and standing behind the wishes of the people that have made his site the success that it is. I hope that this will not be the end of Digg, but if it is, to put it in Mr. Rose's words, "at least we died trying".

Let this be a lesson to everyone on the internet. Don't let your rights be taken away without a fight. You have to stand up for the little things - if you don't, there won't be anyone left to stand up for the big things. If you want to help, start at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization created to help people fight for their digital rights. And again, a thanks to everyone on the net that made both this crack possible, and made it known. There is freedom in information.

It's Finally Okay To Play Video Games At School

Personally, I never got the whole DDR thing (that's Dance Dance Revolution for those of you completely removed from reality). I make lazy an art form, so any game that makes me get off my duff and actually perform some type of physical activity is strictly verboten. But someone seems to like these games, as there's no shortage of them for just about any console you can think of. Even arcades aren't safe. Wait...do arcades even exist anymore?

Anyway, there's one good thing about DDR - it's bringing games to school. Now kids can get their fix without sneaking their DS into class and risking detention. A large number of schools across the country have decided to incorporate DDR into the phys. ed. curriculum, giving kids an alternative to the kickball and ping pong that we grew up playing in school. The hope is that video games like these will make it fun for kids to get some exercise, so they can shed all the McDonald's pounds in time for the prom.

Who knows - maybe this is just the start of things to come. If video games get a legitimate foothold in schools, how much longer will it be before standardized testing is replaced by Big Brain Academy, driver's ed. is replaced by Gran Turismo, and algebra is replaced by Grand Theft Auto? If they had that when I was in school, I might have gone more often. Yeah, probably not...

Tuesday Trainwreck - Beware The Chick Flick

I picked this week's Trainwreck based on the assumption that no women actually read this site. This theory is based on a couple factors. First, more than half the stories on this site are about video games, and the only three girl gamers that I know don't bother to read this page. Second, I haven't had any hotties email me pics of their boobies as a direct result of this site (though I did receive a pic of this boob). So with all that in mind, this week's Trainwreck is the biggest chick flick of the year, Dreamgirls:

If you like movies about singing, feelings, and relationships, then you're a wuss. Go read another website. But, as long as you're here, let me tell you that you'll like this movie. For all the rest of us that just want a few explosions and some full frontal nudity, this flick is two hours of torture.

Based on the cast list alone, you'd think this one was worth the price of admission - you've got Eddie Murphy (without the fat suit), Jamie Fox, Danny Glover, and Beyonce Knowles for some much needed hotness. But even this cast can't change the fact that this is a touchy feely movie, and honestly, not even a great one of those.

In short, the plot revolves around three women who want to become music stars. They start as backup singers for Murphy, and eventually form their own group. But, jealousy and infighting in the group over who is the real star ultimately causes their downfall. Yeah, it's the same thing that broke up Poison - no one in the music biz is safe.

The one saving grace of the movie is the music - say what you want, but that Jennifer Hudson can sing. Unfortunately, the music is incomplete, as most of the songs are only presented as clips in the movie. What's there is gold, but there's just not enough of it to make this movie worthwhile to a male audience.

Bottom line, this isn't a bad movie - if you're a chick, you'll love it. But if you're a dude, getting through it will be rough. On the plus side, sitting through this with a chick will probably score you some major points, and could mean an even bigger score later in the night. So when this DVD ends, fire up the Barry White and make all her dreams come true.

And for any girls that are actually reading this - you can send those pics of your boobies to me right here. Thanks!

A Debut To Forget - No One Cares About The Xbox 360 Elite

I had a late night Saturday night - I'm just starting to recover. It was so late that Saturday night magically turned into Sunday morning. It was the craziest thing - this big glowing disk rose over the horizon, and suddenly, a new day was born. I'm told this is called a sunrise, and that it happens every day. I'm not usually conscious during the time this supposedly happens, so I can't say for sure. But I'm glad I got to see at least one.

Anyway, this Sunday marked the official launch of the Xbox 360 Elite. Assuming you hadn't already snagged one, this was your opportunity. So, since this was essentially free time for me, I decided to head down to my local Target to cover the "launch event".

I arrived in the parking lot at 7 a.m., exactly one hour before the store opening. There was already a line of about 10 people in front of the store, which seemed like a reasonable number. Then I started talking to the crowd, and I found out the horrific truth - today was a Wii day. That's right, 10 people were at Target at 7 a.m. on the Xbox 360 Elite's launch day to buy a Nintendo Wii. Fantastic. But, there was still an hour to go, so I held out hope.

By the time the store opened, two lines had formed out front. The larger was for the Wii, with about 30-35 people. The smaller was for the Elite, and it consisted of...1 person. That's right: o-n-e. I guess technically that shouldn't be called a "line", but I'm editorializing here.

Of course, none of this is much of a surprise. Almost no one was clamouring for a more expensive version of the 360. If anything, people wanted just the opposite. And with the supply/demand ratio for the Wii where it is, I'm guessing that most Sunday mornings outside of Target look just like this one. So what's a slightly-upgraded console to do? I guess a rampant 360 killing spree is an option, but more than likely, it'll just be back to the boardroom for Bill Gates and the gang.

Until a new battle plan can be drawn up, we'll just have to live with the fact that the 360 is the "middle console" that just doesn't get it's fair share of attention. Instead of focusing on a good value console that delivers a wide library of games, people would rather talk about the sexy console that costs an arm and a leg and treats you like dirt in front of your friends, the PS3 (even if only to bash it - it's kind of a Paris Hilton thing), or the fun baby console that saves puppies and reverses global warming, the Wii. But don't cry for the 360 - it doesn't want your pity. It just wants your money.