Aviously

Star Wars Battlefront – Review

@iAmAviG

November 17, 2015

Once again thanks to EA Access I’ve been playing Star Wars Battlefront for a few days now, and have discovered its ups and downs.

One of the first negatives I noticed, is probably my own fault for not realizing sooner, is that the game is not a Storyline, but as the title suggests, just lots of boards of “Battlefront”s meaning plenty of “first to 100 kills wins” matches.

These range from everything as Allies vs. Empire to hero battles, where you can take on the roles of Luke, Leah, Han, Darth Vader, Lord Palpatine or even Boba Fett and fight against rival troops.

But where the game really shines is the graphics and remakes of the lands we’ve all come to know and love, from AT-AT battles on Hoth to flying speedbikes through the forests of Endor this game really brings the Star Wars world to life.

And jump into the multiplayer mode (something I rarely talk about in my reviews) and you’ll be facing off in intense battles including:

Large battles of two teams — the standard for most shooter games
Flying battles – Escorting and taking down transporter ships in the (not-so-friendly) skies
Hero Battles – One player is the leader and everyone needs to kill him/her (who plays as one of the aforementioned Heroes), and the one who kill him/her takes on the role

But despite all of this, the game just doesn’t justify the $60 price tag…there is barely a player progression, there is nothing about the multiplayer that stands out from other games (in fact it’s subpar with bad powerups and a lousy radar), and it just isn’t thrilling like Star Wars should be.

For graphics this game would get an 8 or 9, but unfortunatly overall this game is a 4 out of 10.

Ex Machina – Review

@iAmAviG

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November 16, 2015

Over the weekend I watched Ex Machina which came onto Amazon Prime Saturday.

The story is about Caleb, a programmer, who wins a lottery set up by his boss to come to his villa. and run the Turing Test against an AI…which may indeed pass the test.

In a movie full of futuristic themes, it suggests throughout that one day AI will think enough to try and take us over…be it with emotion, brute force, or just plain old intelligence.

This is a good movie and gets a ~~7.5 out of 10~~. AMENDED: an 8 out of 10.

Some Of What I'm Listening To #SOTD

@iAmAviG

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November 13, 2015

Here are some of the songs I’m listening to these days:

Love Myself – Hailee Steinfeld

No, I don’t need anybody else

Hailee’s new album drops today.

This one is a throwback

Stan – Eminem ft. Dido

My tea’s gone cold I’m wondering why I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window and I can’t see at all
And even if I could it’ll all be gray, but your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that it’s not so bad, it’s not so bad.

Confident – Demi Lovato

I used to hold my freak back
Now I’m letting go
I make my own choice

Alive – Sia

I had a one way ticket to a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don’t change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow
No hope, just lies
And you’re taught to cry into your pillow
But I survived
I’m still breathing
I’m alive

Some Of What I’m Listening To #SOTD

@iAmAviG

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November 13, 2015

Here are some of the songs I’m listening to these days:

Love Myself – Hailee Steinfeld

No, I don’t need anybody else

Hailee’s new album drops today.

This one is a throwback

Stan – Eminem ft. Dido

My tea’s gone cold I’m wondering why I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window and I can’t see at all
And even if I could it’ll all be gray, but your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that it’s not so bad, it’s not so bad.

Confident – Demi Lovato

I used to hold my freak back
Now I’m letting go
I make my own choice

Alive – Sia

I had a one way ticket to a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don’t change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow
No hope, just lies
And you’re taught to cry into your pillow
But I survived
I’m still breathing
I’m alive

Charity Miles – Walking For Charity

@iAmAviG

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November 12, 2015

There are all sorts of ways to give to charity, and most of those ways involve giving from your own wallet.

Well, what if there was a way to exercise AND give to charity, all while costing you nothing?

Well, Charity Miles (available on Android and iOS) is there to help. Whether you are walking, running, jogging, or biking, giant corporations will give money to charity to promote your good health.

When you open the app you get to choose from a list of charities (which include St. Judes and Autism Speaks among others) and from there it’s all up to you. You’ll be donating .25 for every mile you walk/run and .10 for every mile you bike.

So whether you are a professional training for a marathon, or just going for a walk around the corner, turn the app on and let Humana (among other sponsors) give to charity.

DOT Making A Mess of NYC – #FixNYC

@iAmAviG

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November 11, 2015

Recently New York City added some pedestrian islands to Coney Island Avenue, between Avenue O and Roder Avenue.

The intent of these islands are to reduce hit and runs, and pedestrians hit, by giving them a place to stop if they are crossing at the crosswalk and run into a flashing red light, so they don’t have to scurry across.

To give these islands some flavor, the city put in dirt pits, possibly with the intent of planting trees in them.
But instead these pits have sat empty, and are now facing an overabundance of weeds and growths, with them approaching a few vegetation levels already, and spilling out onto the lanes on both sides.

Besides for this ugliness, the NYC drivers have decided that the signs that indicate “Island here, go around”

shouldn’t be there. They have taken out their displeasure by mashing their cars thru the signs, and they now lie in the islands, amongst the weeds.

The city is trying to make things safer, and possibly nicer and greener…but similar to the Rocky Balboa Tree failures (Read: ginkgo biloba) the cities constant attempts to better the city keeps running into issues that they like to ignore.

The Girl In The Spider’s Web – Millenium Series – #Review

@iAmAviG

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November 10, 2015

The famous Millennium Trilogy, by Stieg Larsson, added a new book recently, called The Girl In The Spider’s Web, and officially became the Millennium Series. The Girl In The Dragon Tattoo series was originally published in Swedish, and translated into English, with the books being published posthumously.

Now eight years later, David Lagercrantz continues the series, and the stories of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist come back to life.

This time it’s the story of a computer programmer and his possibly savant child, the potential of an advanced AI, and the hunt for a killer…and did someone say there is a Camilla appearance?

Anyone that read the first three of the series will definitely enjoy this one…and if you haven’t read the first ones, be sure to add them to your bookshelf!

Delirium by Ellie Goulding – Review

@iAmAviG

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November 6, 2015

Ellie Goulding’s newest album, Delirium, hit shelves this morning, and it’s a slight let down.

What made Ellie so good in the past was her unique style and sounds. Her voice is pure, and she can hit notes at all levels without even trying.

But Ellie dubbed this album as her “big pop album” in the original press release, and she’s certainly trying in this album to make that leap to pop…but the question that needs to be asked is: Why?

The songs sound good. They’ll play well when they slowly seep onto the radio, but they aren’t Ellie.
Her voice shines through, yet the undertones of the songs just don’t have the feel that is expected with her.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving “On My Mind” and I’ll certainly “Keep On Dancing” with this album, it’s not leaving my playlists or repeats anytime soon…it’s just not the followup to songs like “Figure 8” and “Goodness Gracious” that one could hope for.

Overall this album is a 7.5 out of 10.

P.S. The Deluxe edition of the album is 78 minutes long…that’s one long album on anyone’s standards.

Priceline Express

@iAmAviG

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November 5, 2015

When traveling on the road it’s often hard to choose where to sleep for the night.

Whether you don’t know where you’ll be, or you don’t know if you’ll need to/want to stop at all it’s difficult to plan ahead.

On my recent trip I tried to use Hotel Tonight, and found that while in big cities, such as New York City or Chicago, they find you lots of great deals, as you get out into the middle of nowhere, the offers on there are less and less, while the pricing deals there are fewer and fewer.

So I turned to Priceline, or more precisely Priceline Express, to help book my stay, for a few minutes later.

The things to look out for on Priceline Express:

How many Star Hotel is it? Priceline Express won’t tell you where you are staying until after you book. But that’s okay, because they do tell you “This hotel is similar to, and may include ____, ____, ____” so you know what sort of hotel/motel/inn it will be.
They also tell you the amenities it will include, so you can look for what you need.
User Ratings – These I feel are even more important than how many stars the hotel has, because this will tell you how previous users experiences were.
It’s rated on a scale of 1-10, and you should stay away from anything lower than a 7, and preferably aim for something greater than an 8.

Good luck, and safe travels!

The Cost of Vacation – #AvisTravels

@iAmAviG

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November 4, 2015

Let’s go all out, and talk about how much my road trip to Niagara Falls cost me last week.

Below are Attractions + Hotels, Gas Costs, and Tolls

ATTRACTIONS + HOTELS

Sunday
NYCFC vs New England Revolution – Tickets cost me nothing (the joy of being a season ticket holder and making my money back on the year)

Hotel – Country Inn and Suites – Booked with Priceline Express (more on that in the upcoming days) — $62 + $14.59 (taxes+fees) = $76.59

Monday
Corning Museum of Glass — Admission $18 — Glass Blowing/Sandblasting $12 — Souvenirs $30.78 — Total: $60.78

Niagara Adventure Pass – $54CAD — In American terms $48.10 + $1.44 (FTF <Foreign Transaction Fee>) = $49.54

Casino Niagara – I won’t count any money here, because money lost (or in my case gained) at a casino should be held separately from trip costs. Stay smart, and don’t walk into a casino with more money than you are willing to spend!

Hotel – Days Inn By The Falls – Booked in advance via their website – $64.34CAD — In American terms $53.48 + 1.60(FTF) = $55.08

Tuesday
Souvenirs in Canada – American money $24.05 + 0.72 (FTF) = $24.77

TOTAL COST OF ATTRACTIONS AND HOTELS = $266.76

GAS COSTS

The mileage and gas costs are calculated via the Automatic insert in my car.

Home –> Yankee Stadium — 19 Miles — $1.78

Yankee Stadium –> Corning. NY — 254.1 Miles — $21.14

Corning, NY –> Niagara — 149.6 Miles — $10.77

Niagara –> Albany, NY — 302.2 Miles — $21.88

Albany, NY –> Home — 175.6 Miles — $12.09

TOTAL COST OF GAS = $67.66

TOLLS

Going
Hugh L Carey Tunnel – $5.54
Delaware River Toll – $1.00
New York State Thruway – $2.32
Niagara Falls Bridge – $3.25

Coming
New York State Thruway – $17.44
Garden State Parkway – $0.50
New Jersey Turnpike – $3.60
Gowanus Bridge – $9.75

Unfortunately I choose different routes on the way back, and it cost a LOT more.

TOTAL COST OF TOLLS = $43.40

TOTAL COSTS
Attractions + Hotels — $266.76
Gas — $67.66
Tolls — $43.40
TOTAL = $377.82

NIAGARA FALLS = PRICELESS

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