price cut

I recently, very recently blogged about Microsoft's Xbox 360 and how efficient they were in getting the problem fixed on peoples Xbox360, if only they had taken some more time they wouldn't have needed to continue to keep fixing everyones Xbox 360, but they are stuck with this problem and handle it in an effecient manner. Recently to make themselves competitive in the market again Xbox 360 just had a price cut on tehir console's. The core system which comes with a 60 gb hard drive is now $299 and the upgraded "elite" version with 120gb is now only $399. This is still alot of money but from what they were when they first came out it has dropped enough for people to go out and purchase one of their sytems apparently. According to Microsoft "the payoff for the paycuts have been immediate...they have seen a 100% increase in sales since the pay cut has occurred." This raises the question to me as to why this drop in price would occurr. Apparently Ps3 has seen their system have a steady increas over the past year more so in recent months and Xbox360 has seen a decline. The console though that everyone is chasing is the WII. They have not slowed down their sales and with the upcoming holiday season have put into production double the amount they would normally have during a regular season. Any console makes for a great gift for a loved on or family member, with these price cuts its the perfect time to look into getting one for the upcoming holiday season.

xbox 360

I have had a xbox 360 now for over a year and have never had a problem with until recently. I got the "three red rings of death." I was really frustrated and wanted to just throw my xbox out the window but i had heard about the xbox warranty repair. I called xbox explained what had happened and they requested that i send them my xbox so they can repair it. I hesitated and asked how much it would cost and xbox said it was all free, that they would take care of it. Within 24 hours i recieved my shipping label and sent it out. I recieved my xbox 360 in about two weeks. Overall i was very pleased with the turn around and service that they had provided me. What concered me the most was the rate at which these systems are failing.
Just from the people i know within the past year i know of 5 friends that have had to turn in their xbox 360 because of a problem. This system seems to have a high rate of failure. I recently read an article and it said, "there are numerous factors as to why this console continues to be sent in for repair, poor testing in early stages, memory issues, bad soldering and to top it off it went as far as to say before its launch 68 out of 100 systems we coming off the assembly line non-functional." This coming from a game pro magazine, but to just read that and think why didnt microsoft take some more time to re-think and get this all right, this could have saved them money?
Either way i look at it, they pushed for the release date on their consol and it was a major success. I just wish that they would have fixed all of their kinks before hand. Their great customer service and free handling of your broken xbox makes up for the problems this console has given so many people in my opinion.

Summer blockbusters

Its becoming that time of the year when all the big blockbusters are coming out to DVD. The big name movies are coming and for the right price can be yours. Movies such as Indiana Jones, Iron Man which have been relased already and i believe soon Kung Fu Panda, . You have Batman probably dropping before Christmas. It is exciting time for me, anyways. I went to the movies way to much this summer and saw just about every big blockbuster, and for the most part they delivered. There really wasnt a movie i saw this summer where i left saying why did i just pay 10 dollars to watch this. The box office had a nice summer but currently with the economy going down the drain the movies are suffering at the box office. What i dont understand is how did beverley hills chihuahua makes tops at the box office and is currently the week of october 10th still a top the box office? according to imdb.com it has grossed abotu 18 million this week and quarintine is like 4 million behind. Regardless the big summer blockbusters are coming to dvd and i cannot be more excited. Some good ones i would recommend purcahsing would be Iron Man and if you are a fan of Indiana Jones i would recommend that one as well. The big one is the Dark Knight i believe everyone should see that movie as well as purchase it.

Schedulin finnnnnnallllllyyyy made easy

I am a senior and all i can say is it is about time. For three years I have been blocked out of classes and told teachers wont sign me in, but that all finally changes this year. This year i get to sign up before the juniors and sophomores. I do not have to worry about not getting into classes. This all raises the question that Mercyhurst needs to provide more of the common classes for students and not be limited. There are classes that students have to wait for until they are a senior to get into. Some of the Distributive Core classes appeal to underclassman and they cant get in because the seniors take it over and the juniors fill in what they can get. This leaves Sophomores and Juniors out of luck and possibly stuck looking for classes that are on their "D" list. This has been a problem with a lot students and i feel like we all pay way to much money not to get into the classes of our choice. The school should look and see what classes may need to be taught more often then the others and change that. That way the students can take the classes they want and not the ones they dont

upsets are becoming the norm.

It seems like every week there is at least one major upset. For the third consecutive week we will have a new number 1 college team a top the polls. With every week a top team going down i think it is time to put in a playoff system to really find out at the end of the season who the best team really is. It seems like every week a team that is supposed to win just takes the week off looses and then they win out the rest of the season but its that one loss they had that will hurt their national championship hopes. Any weekend any team can win, the team that comes the most prepared is typically the team that wins. I believe everyone would benefit from a college football playoff system. In this case you get the top teams to compete and really do see who the top team in college really is. Instead we have a flawed system and then public opinion, which in either case is not accurate. Every professional sport has a playoff system and it proves who the best team is. People play the regular season to get the playoffs and from there the best team is determined. College football is as big as some professional sports and any team has plenty of fan support across the nation, it would make sense for them to go to a playoff system. Coaches have been pushing for this to be implemented, but will it? not this year and not for a while. Hopefully in the future College football will adapt a playoff system

rowdy fans?

I work at the Mercyhurst ice center and there was a youth tournament there all weekend. There were not very many fans there at all. The only people that sat in the stands were the parents or relatives. I worked friday night the start of the tournament and parents were going nuts. I understand kind of were they are coming from, I mean I was a child once playing sports and had my parents supporting me but not to the extent that these few parents were. These parents were so into the game that at every play they were yelling at some child. They knew every child by their names and any time they did something wrong, the parents were there yelling at them. Isnt that what a coach is for, not parents? These few parents, you would have thought this was a matter of life and death winning this game. I think parents like these take the fun out of the game when they are constantly analyzing every childs play and yelling at them to "go forward" or "hit someone." Instead i believe that parents should be yelling supportive and encouraging comments to every child at that age to get better. The children dont know everything thats why they are playing to learn and get better in the first place. Calm down

the start of the end....

I am senior and have just passed the midway point of my final year of my first term, and all i can say is where did the time go? It seems like just a few days ago i was a freshman living in McAuley Hall. Over the years i have learned a lot and have had my ups and downs, and i wouldn't trade it for a thing. The friendships i have made and the people i have met will stay with me forever. From the tailgates to the different bar specials on weeknights to the late nights down at the galley Mercyhurst has been great and in my final year i am really taking everything in. Mercyhurst has helped me shape the person i want to become. I am writing this blog for all the underclassman so that if you read this and as you progress over the next years at Mercyhurst dont leave questioning, could my stay here at this college been better? Enjoy college live it up, thats what it is all about.

It came and went...

Homecoming has come and gone and does anyone even know who won king and queen for 2008? The winners just in case anyone was wondering were Matt Williams and Heather Schwager. But that wasn't even the main headline of the whole homecoming weekend. Homecoming weekend this year was called "Hurst Fest." Hurst Fest combined homecoming, parents weekend, and fall fest. There were so many festivities that i do not think it was possible for anybody of any age to not find something to do. There was a barbecue before the football game, the football team won and their season is looking good, again. After the football game there were inflatables and side games such as a hot dog eating contest, a pie eating contest and many more. While the parents and alumni and students were enjoying the inflatables the womens hockey team opened up there season with a home game as well after the football game was finished. The Womens team won in dominating fashion. Overall it was a succesful weekend with both teams really dominating their opponents. This was the first year they decided to combine all three events and if you chose to take part in all of the festivites from the "tail gate" all the way till the end of the inflatables you would have been going from 11 am till 7 pm. It was a long saturday filled with fun for the whole family. I asked several students that were at the game after the festivities and asked them do you know who won this years king and queen, and they replied "no? who did?" The Hurst Fest weekend was a success but as i blogged about earlier no one really cares or pays attention to who wins king and queen at Mercyhurst.