Hung Truong: The Blog!

The Popularity Dialer: Makes You Look Important…

So there's this thing called “The Popularity Dialer” that lets you pre-schedule a call to your phone…

Maybe you wanted to look extra important or popular on that hot date. Or maybe you just needed an excuse to escape from an unpleasant meeting.

With “The Popularity Dialer”, you can plan ahead. Via a web interface, you can choose to have your phone called at a particular time (or several times). At the elected time, your phone will be dialed and you will hear a prerecorded message that's one half of a conversation.

Here's what the call might sound like:

The idea is that people will think you're really important or busy. While this might work for avoiding people, I have a feeling it won't make you look cool on a date. Aren't there enough asses that take cell phone calls at inappropriate times already!?

Someone needs to combine this with the previously mentioned Samuel L Jackson call. Can you imagine how important you'd look having SLJ call your cell phone? He'd be like, “Whassup, I being attacked by ninjas right now. You got my back?” and you'd be like “Hell yeah, Samuel J!”

Get A Customized Message From Samuel L Jackson! For Snakes on a Plane!

I saw this on anandtech, and I'm pretty sure it'll be everywhere soon. It's a promotional thing for Snakes on a Plane. You give it some information and Samuel L. Jackson can either call or email a friend with a message saying that they have to watch Snakes on a Plane. It's pretty entertaining hearing SLJ go insane about a movie starring himself.

Here's one that I made using a fictional “Samuel” and his copilot “Johnny.”

It actually sounds pretty good for being one of those cut and paste customized messages. Mr. Jackson is very convincing, and I'm kinda scared that he'll kill me if I don't see Snakes on a Plane. This is pure genius viral marketing, right here. The only complaint I have is that SLJ doesn't know how to say a lot of names. Including “Hung.” Oh, I guess it would've been cool if he had dropped the F-bomb a few times, or even if he just said “ass” instead of “butt.”

Oh, if you didn't know, Snakes on a Plane is a movie. About snakes. On a plane. And Samuel L. Jackson's in it. It's already gained cult status for having a cheesy plot. I read somewhere that Samuel L. Jackson only agreed to do the movie because of the title. Now that's what I call quality cinema.

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories Pre-order at NIS America!

Okay, so here's the deal: I'm a total Nippon Ichi fanboy. I loved Disgaea, Phantom Brave was cool, Makai Kingdom was better. I even have the rare (well, not anymore) Rhapsody: A Musical Interlude for PS, though I haven't played through it yet (it seems kinda primitive in comparison). If you're still not convinced, read this post.

Disgaea 2 is coming out in America on August 29, so I gotta be ready! NIS America actually has a somewhat sweet pre-order package available.

For $75, you can get the Disgaea 2 game (duh), A strategy guide, a volume of the Disgaea manga, an art book, and the official soundtrack. Yeah! There's some other digital download things too, like the game manual and some mouse cursor or something. There's also a different package for $65 that only doesn't include the manga. Lame.

The way I calculate it, the video game is worth $50 (or more; I've been waiting forever for it!), the manga will probably be worth $10, and the strategy guide would be $20. Add another $10 for the soundtrack and $75 isn't looking so bad. Plus I get to support my favorite video game company ever, Nippon Ichi!

Okay, I'm going to stop right now, because I sort of sound like a commercial. But that's what fanboys are for! N1 forever!

Asian Guys Doing Karaoke (Badly)

So while I was on Youtube looking for actual karaoke videos (like for me to sing along), I found these videos of two asian guys playing Karaoke Revolution. The guy on the left is pretty good, and the guy on the right is not quite as good…

There's something to be said about hearing two Asian guys singing endless love to each other… And California Dreamin' is just terrible! They seriously need to switch parts.

Anyway, these videos are the real reason why Youtube is freakin' popular, so I thought I'd share the wealth:

Greatest Love of All

Endless Love

California Dreamin'

Believe it or not, these videos really make me want to run out and get Karaoke Revolution. They have “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”? I must get it.

Why David Letterman Is Clearly Superior to Jay Leno

I'd always known David Letterman was better than Jay Leno, but after he implemented a new feature I like to call the “Kevin Eubanks Laugh Clip,” David Letterman is the only late night talk show host (besides Conan ‘o Brien).

Basically, David tells a joke, then they show a clip of Kevin Eubanks laughing like a dumbass. Pure brilliance.