I have the demo of the US version of Dissidia. As many of you may know, the Japanese version of the game has long since been released. It’s taken a while to translate the game into good ole’ English. But it’s finally here. Almost. The demo is excellent and gives you plenty of content to mess around with to get familiar with the mechanics. So far I haven’t found a single game to match up to Tekken: Dark Resurrection. Dissidia, I’m hoping, will finally be able to match or surpass Tekken in terms of gameplay, story, and longevity.

SoulCalibur is also in my dreams of surpassing Tekken. Tekken, in my opinion, was the single most well polished fighting game on the PSP system. I’m hoping that SoulCalibur does everything Tekken did right and better. More importantly, Kratos is in it ^_^.

Post your thoughts about the potential of these two games. Leave in the comments section which game you think will be better.

Microsoft and Yahoo! are on the verge of announcing search and search marketing alliance that will combine the No. 2 and No. 3 players in internet search into something that may have a chance of competing with Google. However, combined they still would have less of the search market share than Google, which has ~65%. The official announcement will be held shortly after signing which could be as early as Wednesday (today!).

If this deal closes, it will complete the 18-month long negotiations that began with a $45 billion merger offer. On February 1, 2008. Here are some specifics:

Deal (Finally) Inked: After a nearly three-year mating dance, Microsoft and Yahoo have agreed to a joint venture. The official announcement (hopefully with the financial implications) is expected tomorrow, July 29, the day before Microsoft’s annual analyst day.

Bing becomes the algorithm: Importantly, Bing is expected to become the default search engine for Yahoo, as it has become across Microsoft’s network since its launch in June. By combining both companies’ engineering talent, search indexes and ad platforms, Microsoft believes it can improve its ability to drive innovation in emerging areas such as video, mobile, and online commerce; all areas where Google is currently focused. The combined Yahoo-Bing search would have 28% share in the U.S. according to comScore. But combining search indexes and reorganizing a global sales force across two companies is not a trivial matter and a distraction that Google can take advantage of. It is unclear what the cost savings would be to Yahoo. A year ago Yahoo management (headed by former CEO, Yang) indicated outsourcing all of search would yield a $750mn annual benefit. Given this deal covers only the algorithmic side and Yahoo has been cutting costs over the past year, we estimate the savings would be less than half that amount.

Ad sales primarily owned by Yahoo: While details are still trickling out, it appears that Yahoo is slated to sell search inventory across both networks, capitalizing on Yahoo vertical strength in entertainment, finance and sports and Bing’s emerging strength in travel and retail. In addition Yahoo could gain the ability to sell display inventory across both networks along side search. The deal allows the parties to focus on core strengths: for Yahoo it’s selling and Microsoft it’s engineering.

No Upfront Payment—Where’s that “boatload of cash?”: The reported deal does not include an upfront payment to Yahoo, a previous element of prior proposals, which may mute upside in Yahoo shares. Several critical details have yet to emerge: like the revenue share agreement and split levels, renewal terms of the partnership, cost savings and ultimate ownership of the data. For example, if the search deal is an 80/20 split, Yahoo would cede about $400mn of 2010 revenue to Microsoft. In addition, we estimate that Microsoft generates about $2bn in annual display revenue. If Yahoo got to sell half of that at an 80/20 split suggests Yahoo could see $200mn in incremental revenue.

DoJ Scrutiny Risk: Importantly, the deal is likely to face a fair amount of interest from regulators regarding display advertising, which could delay the partnership by several months to several quarters.

Basically, no body expects an upfront payment to Yahoo. However, Yahoo! stands a chance of making a LOT of money from this deal. These past months have seen record lows in Yahoo! income. This could be the break that they needed. However, Google is still a major player in the search field. It currently has the largest database and many “mini” search engines such as the blog search, the scholar search (for students or information research), and many others. It also has released some top-notch software such as Google Earth, Google Chrome, and more. Also it has the award winning calendar. I still haven’t found an online calendar that surpasses or even matches that of Google’s. Microsoft and Yahoo! still have a long way to go if they hope to even match the mighty Google.

Original Source: Tech Crunch

CIY is hosted all throughout the country. The basic rundown: You stay at a place (Lee University for me) for a week with no cell phones, no computer, no electronics (besides essentials). You stay for a week experiencing God and witnessing his moving through your friends and yourself. We do all kinds of things at CIY:

• Sports tournaments (Basketball, Volleyball, and dodge ball)
• Listen to band every morning and evening (Aaron Pelsue Band for me)
• Have some intense classes about God
• Have free time so you can connect with your friends
• And much, much more.

I have never been in a place where I have see so many people break down. And that’s not a bad thing! Many people made very important decisions that week. People broke down at the gentle power of the worship. We learned so much about God that words can’t possibly explain how that week really was. To come to the realization of how much God really loves us is awesome.

I connected with so many people. I had friends in my church, but now they became my best friends. I hardly remember my friends in school. They are so different from the ones in church. At church, it’s difficult to get a single curse word out of any of the students. All are very encouraging and loving towards one another. At school, you have to watch what you say because someone might go to the extremes with it. Often you just can’t speak plainly to other people like you can with your true friends. I’ve found my true friends at my church.

Also, I got baptized at CIY! My youth minister baptized me, and I would have it no other way. There is almost no one else that I respect more than him. Very loving and intelligent. Incredibly social person that can make anyone laugh. CIY was changing for everyone. It used powerful visual media and word pictures to make the lessons that much more intense and wonderful. If ever you want to find out more about CIY (MOVE), please go to: Christ In Youth

OR you can leave your question in the comments. I urge you to attend a CIY conference. I have never laughed so hard in my life or experienced that awesome wonder that is God than at CIY.

Most of my Youth Group

This is most of my youth group. We had so much fun at CIY. Comment and tell me your thoughts or questions about CIY (MOVE).