total randomness…

I just finished playing the Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty video game (for the Sony Playstation 2), since I wanted to catch up on it before the new Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots debuts for the Sony Playstation 3 this summer. Sons of Liberty is a direct sequel to Guns of the Patriot, which is set to release on June 12, 2008.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a story-driven adventure game for the Playstation 3, with seasoned hero Solid Snake drafted for one final mission. Set across stages including the Middle East and South America, the now aged Snake has been asked to assassinate his old adversary, Liquid Ocelot. To do this, however, he must make his way through a series of battlefields, using his legendary stealth abilities and all-new OctoCamo suit to avoid detection and to reach his target. With series favorites such as Meryl Silverburgh, Raiden, Hal ‘Otacon’ Emmerich, Eva and Roy Campbell returning, and with all new gameplay features including a remote-controlled Metal Gear Mk. II and enhanced CQC (Close Quarters Combat) system, Metal Gear Solid 4 rounds out the Metal Gear saga with a fittingly cinematic and gripping final outing.

Developer(s): Kojima Productions
Publisher(s): Konami
Designer(s): Hideo Kojima (producer, director, writer), Shuyo Murata (director, writer), Kenichiro Imaizumi (producer), Yoji Shinkawa (director, character designer), Harry Gregson-Williams, Nobuko Toda (composers)
Series: Metal Gear
Platform(s): PlayStation 3
Release date: Flag of World June 12, 2008
Genre(s): Stealth Action
Mode(s): Single player
Rating(s): ESRB: M (Mature)
Media: Blu-Ray-DL Disc

For more information, check out the official Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot teaser site!

So, now you have finished posting an initial burst of blog entries and start to wonder about the perception of your blog. Are readers interested in your blog? Do they think it is good and worthwhile? Are your blog entries too much about you and less about the readers? How does your blog compare to others?

Following are five simple ways to measure the quality of your blog.

1. Number of comments per blog entry – Only quality blogs evoke user responses. If readers took the time and effort to comment on your blog, then it means that they found your blog entry to be of high quality.

2. Rating of your blog entries – Your blog ratings should give a general sense of the attractiveness of your blog. The more ratings you have, the more accurate this becomes. Obviously, you want ALL your readers to give you rating; you should strive to deserve that with your writings.

3. Number of Repeat visitors – Besides your closest friends, are you getting a good number of repeat visitors? Did all the readers who commented on your previous blog entry come back to comment on your current blog entry? Just as in business, there is nothing more indicative of quality than repeat clientele.

4. Number of New visitors – Are you seeing comments from a few new faces with every new blog entry? Good blogs spark conversation among people. If that conversation and word-of-mouth is happening for your blog, you would find a trickling stream of new readers for your blog. Refer to my old post, Building Readership.

5. Number of websites that link to you – While this is tricky to measure, it is a good way to evaluate the value of what you write. There are several blogs, forums and websites in the internet today. If you write something valuable, it will be picked up and linked too. You should consider every incoming link (external websites that link to your blog) as a badge of honor and a strong indication of the quality of your content.

Your blog is your brand. It says a lot about you. It defines you in some ways. Constantly keeping an eye on the above five quality metrics and using it to improve your blog is the sure fire way to build a killer brand for your blog.

2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals - Round #1

Montreal Canadiens (#1) vs. Boston Bruins (#8) - Canadiens lead 1-0

Pittsburgh Penguins (#2) vs. Ottawa Senators (#7) - Penguins lead 2-0

Washington Capitals (#3) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (#6) - Capitas lead 1-0

New Jersey Devils (#4) vs. New York Rangers (#5) - Rangers lead 2-0

2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals - Round #1

Detroit Redwings (#1) vs. Nashville Predators (#8) - Redwings lead 1-0

San Jose Sharks (#2) vs. Calgary Flames (#7) - Series tied 1-1

Minnesota Wild (#3) vs. Colorado Avalanche (#6) - Series tied 1-1

Anaheim Ducks (#4) vs. Dallas Stars (#5) - Stars lead 1-0

SCHEDULE: Saturday, April 12th

Boston vs. Montreal - 7pm ET

Nashville vs. Detroit - 2pm ET

Dallas vs. Anaheim - 10pm ET

Stay tuned for regular updates!

Who’s your favorite Victoria Secret model? Out of all the Victoria’s Secret models, Alessandra Ambrosio has to be my favorite!

This Brazilian bombshell was born on April 11, 1981, and is best known for her work in Victoria’s Secret. She was claimed to be “the future of the modelling world” by Tyra Banks, and was rated by Askmen.com as #2 out of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008 (just behind Katherine Heigl).

Alessandra Ambrosio has appeared in dozens of fashion campaigns, for the likes of GUESS, Revlon, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren. In 2008, Alessandra signed on to replace Gisele Bundchen in Victoria’s Secret’s popular Angels campaign

Check out her pics below and for more information, visit her official page at alessandraambrosio.com.

Well it’s that time of year again! The NHL will kick start the Stanley Cup Playoffs tomorrow, April 9, 2008! I’m from Vancouver, BC, so my resident team would be the Vancouver Canucks, but unfortunately they didn’t get to make the play-offs this year. But nevertheless, here are the match-ups for the each of the conferences.

2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals - Round #1

Montreal Canadiens (#1) vs. Boston Bruins (#8)

Pittsburgh Penguins (#2) vs. Ottawa Senators (#7)

Washington Capitals (#3) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (#6)

New Jersey Devils (#4) vs. New York Rangers (#5)

2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals - Round #1

Detroit Redwings (#1) vs. Nashville Predators (#8)

San Jose Sharks (#2) vs. Calgary Flames (#7)

Minnesota Wild (#3) vs. Colorado Avalanche (#6)

Anaheim Ducks (#4) vs. Dallas Stars (#5)

SCHEDULE: Wednesday, April 9th

Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh - 7pm ET

Calgary vs. Anaheim - 10pm ET

New York vs. New Jersey - 7pm ET

Colorado vs. Minnesota - 9pm ET

Stay tuned for regular updates!