There has been and still is a lot of buzz on the internet lately about a couple of bills making their way up to the United States Congress. The first of those bills is SOPA, which stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act of 2011. The person behind the idea of SOPA is Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas. Namely, the corporations who support the bill are the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Podcast Episode 2: SOPA will Change How you Do Things

Now, let's get it straight. If you live in a country other than the U.S., the American government isn't all as perfect as you may think it is. It's been corrupt for the longest time in that the government runs on money. The "people" who are trying to pass on these bills are corporations. We all know that corporations can influence a decision to an extent because they have money. The problem is that there are morons who don't realize that they are trying to govern the internet when they have probably never used the internet enough.

The main purpose of SOPA is to protect American content creators from piracy by targeting foreign websites who put American businesses at an inconvenience. The way SOPA works is that when a court order is granted, it will be carried out on the infringing website to make it, simply put, disappear.

Protesters of the bill argue that because the way that the bill is now written, it will alter the principle of freedom. Many of the websites that you visit often are most likely protesters of SOPA, and just to name a few: Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Twitch.tv, and many other websites oppose the bill. Even the White House has announced that  if the bill ever reached President Obama's desk, then he will veto it.

How SOPA can Change the Way you Use the Internet

There's no denying it: It's going to change the way you use the internet. This bill, if it does ever happen to pass, is going to allow those swindler corporations to destroy the internet when they see something they dislike. You just don't destroy the internet just because it doesn't fit your business standard.

One example of what could happen is at home. It's here at Drift Apex. If our website happened to get taken down because of SOPA, then it will injure the passions and ideals of our community. It's hard to let go of something you're dedicated to. If the Congress is going to interfere with that, then they are morons.

Pirates are pirates. They don't care about the law. Those people in the Congress believe that just because one person pirates a single file, then they are losing money. That is the problem. Think about it. Most people who download content illegally are not going to even buy the product they are pirating in the first place. What the Congress needs to do to defeat the pirates is give a better service than the pirates.

The language used in the bill is so vague that almost anything could be taken for copyright infringement. An example of that would be Wikipedia. All that it takes is a single link on a page to something that Viacom thinks they own for a website to be taken down without proper due process.

One of the largest podcast networks on the internet has seen how dishonest the Universal Music Group is. In one of their videos, they used a clip of the Megaupload song for reporting and commentary purposes, which falls completely under the realm of fair use. Their video was removed unjustly by the UMG in that they don't have the rights to the Megaupload song. They just take down whatever video they think harms their business.

It's Time to Do Something about It

Listen to the people who have the right perspective. It's time to not just sign an online petition, but to go do something about it with bigger actions. Many websites are "blacking out" on the 18th of January to show what the internet would be like if we did not have access to certain websites that we all enjoy. It's better to focus on things we can actually change to help everyone. It seems like the best choice right now is to keep piracy the way it is.

There is another bill that is closely related to SOPA. It's called the PROTECT IP act, or PIPA. It denotes the Prevention of Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011. If these bills were to ever be passed, and they are very close to passing, Congress would be taking away the fundamental doors for creating jobs and growth not just from people who pirate, but from normal internet users as well. Internet censorship is not a good thing. The U.S. is already suffering in many ways. Please, don't make it worse.

It's time to stop being ignorant. These bills are not just going to lower the number of pirates. It's going to threaten due process, free speech, and is just simply, a bad, bad bill. Keeping things in order is usually a good thing, but too much control is harmful.

Drift Apex is joining the group of people who are against SOPA. If you're still pondering how to side on these matters, then just know that you can help make a difference if you believe in the following: The internet is supposed to be a wide network of limitless knowledge, a place to express yourself, and create.

Please, communicate with your congressperson, head on over to AmericanCensorship.org, share this article on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and so on to help spread the message that SOPA and other bills like it are just plain evil.

In the last match of Street Fighter, Justin Wong went up against Ricky Ortiz, a player that he sent to the loser's bracket and then only to face him again. They both played Rufus, a rare sight since the release of Arcade Edition due to balance changes, better, and newer characters; but character loyalty played a good part in this match-up, and their combos and zoning was solid throughout, but Justin Wong came out on top.

Shortly after the grand finals of Street Fighter, the Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 tournament started. The top 8 matches were well-played, but with pressure building up, we saw many players drop their combos which in turn caused lost games. We saw many people use Wesker as an anchor, with Doom as an aid, which was quite devastating to players due to both rush down and keep away abilities. The characters that stood out the most were Clockwork's Doom/Strider combo, Noel Brown's Frank West, Jago's Trish, and Justin Wong's Ironfist, who was actually a low tier character.

The last round had Justin Wong (Iron Fist, Wolverine, Akuma) and MINE (Wesker, Taskmaster, Magneto) as the players. Justin was just sent to loser's bracket by MINE the previous game, but won in that bracket, causing a rematch as the grand finals. Previously dropping combos in the last match, Justin finally got himself together and turned the tides against MINE, able to reset the set, and take victory against MINE's team, playing a solid Ironfist throughout. Although MINE put up a good fight, Justin Wong came out victorious yet again.

When you become a senior in high school, people are going to come up to you and ask you "what do you want to become when you grow up?" You probably won't have a solid answer to that question nevertheless, so being in school is going to help you decide what you want to become when you grow up by providing you the opportunities and programs to explore the various fields of science, technology, sports, and so on.

The fact of the matter is that if you aren't sure of what you want to do with your life and you are still in school, then you should definitely explore the various clubs offered through the school to help you decide what you want to major in and pursue as your future career.

What are you going to do with your life?

The FIRST Robotics Competition is a event that allows many high school students to come together to build robots and to compete to complete a specific task. The Drift Apex crew had taken a rare chance to interview Kevin Ross, a regional manager for FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), and sit down with one of the groups that had partaken in the competition, Team 2930.

The audio recording of the interview with Kevin Ross allowed the Drift Apex crew to start up a podcast on technology (and gaming, of course)! Listen to the first ever episode of our new podcast below:

Podcast Episode 1: Interview with Kevin Ross

FIRST Robotics Competition Overview

Kevin Ross at the FRC Seattle Regional 2011.

The Drift Apex videography crew dedicated their time to capture footage of under six hours throughout the three days spent there at the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Seattle Regional during March 17th-19th, 2011.

Volunteer cameraman, Andrew Kim, who helped us capture footage at the FRC while we were on the field interviewing others.

Eight, highly educational, clips were uploaded straight to the Drift Apex YouTube channel for all of those interested to find out what happened at the competition. Watch the clips below:

Read what Nikhil C., a member from Team 2930, who, in his own words provided a general overview of the FRC:

Let me tell you about a world of robots, companionship, sleepless nights, and gracious professionalism. That world exists in the hands of FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. An organization dedicated toward the inspiration and teamwork of children and teenagers everywhere in the world through the use of  repeated cooperation.

A member from Team 2930 holds up an award for gracious professionalism.

FIRST was founded in 1989 by already successful inventor, Dean Kamen. His dream was "to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." His dream has stayed alive for 20 years, and this year's competition at the FRC celebrated the times. Kamen has expanded his reach out in not just the United States of America, but in other countries like Isreal, Turkey, Japan, and much more as well.

I would like give a big, big thank you to all of our cameramen, photographers, presenters, and interviewees for making all of this possible. We hope to visit the next FIRST Robotics Competition in 2012.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a role-playing video game. Within a demo video shown at this week's E3 by Bethesda Game Studios, the developers of the game, we see the use of a new engine that renders this game to amazing detail. Bethesda has adjusted the gameplay make do for the casual audience. The previous releases of The Elder Scrolls in the series were of slower pace than many other games in the genre, but in Skyrim the gameplay is much more fluid. Also, they changed the leveling system to seem like Fallout. Now, it is much more easier to understand how to level up.

The enemy AI are ways smarter and have a lot more detail. There are dragons and large trolls that are colossal, and unlike the prior releases of The Elder Scrolls there weren't many large enemies that you could fight. The dragons attack at random and can do runs to pick up people, alongside shooting fire, making them very dangerous. When you kill one you absorb its soul and you gain "shouts," which are very strong spells. Bethesda has made changes with how you hold on to your weapons. It is at a point were you hold on to a spell on one side and sword on the other. You may also dual-wield swords.

The UI has also changed to where the menus are even more cleaner and faster. It includes a new map system and 3D models of every item in the game that you can get that makes it possible to look at any angle you want to. All together, I think that this game will be a milestone for the company, being that we would be able to easily accomplish making an amazing land that we can do anything on.

The game will be released on November 11, 2011. Are you going to buy it? Leave a comment to let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Today is the day that Sony has finally come to fully restore the PlayStation Network from the recent attack on the network a couple months ago. Sony welcomes all PS3 consumers back with a customer appreciation program, which has already been passed around long before the official availability of the program today.

The program allows all PSN members to select two free PS3 games, all yours to keep, from a specified selection of:

1. InFamous
2. Super Stardust HD
3. WipEout HD Bundle
4. LittleBigPlanet
5. Dead Nation

Moreover, Sony is allowing two free PSP game downloads from a selection of:

1. Killzone Liberation
2. LittleBigPlanet PSP
3. ModNation Racers PSP
4. Pursuit Force

In addition to those two offers, PlayStation Plus will be given for 30 days free for non-subscribers and an additional 60 days for current subscribers. PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items for download. Lastly, movie rentals on Ghostbusters, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and Bad Boys will be offered for the first weekend of June for free.

It is not known how Sony is going to improve its security as of yet, but this recent attack three weeks ago is sure to scare many of its online users off for good.

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game similar to games such as Heroes of Newerth and Bloodline Champions developed by Riot. It was created by Steve Feak, known as Guinsoo in the League of Legends community and the previous designer of DotA. The game's basis is inspired by the gameplay style of DotA, of which was was created by Eul, but with upgraded features and much more. The main selling point, however, that sets League of Legends and DotA apart is that the game is free and Riot doesn't charge for powerful items.

Part of my review uses the words "Season One," to refer to the competitive features update introduced for League of Legends.

Gameplay – 8/10

League of Legends is a relatively simple game. Immediately after you signup for your account you get to choose your summoner name, or in other words, the name people will see you as. Your summoner starts with level 1 and the highest level you can reach is level 30. As you start a game you would have to choose a champion in the game lobby. There is quite a large selection to choose from. There are five main groups of champions: Assassin, fighter, tank, mage, and support.  You also have to choose a skin which is basically how your champion will look.

There is a wide selection of summoner spells of which you can only have two. Though they have a large cool down time, they can help immensely in the battle. There are also "masteries," where you gain one mastery point every summoner level. There are three mastery trees: Offense, defense, and utility. These three mastery trees are focused on each of those aspects. The most competitive feature of all in this game are runes, or enhancements for your summoner. You start off with exactly two rune pages, and if you need to you can buy more if you wanted. Runes cost a plethora of the games currency, but it's definitely going to help you a lot in play, just as summoner spells do.

Summoner's Rift Map Layout

As you go onto the Field of Justice there will two maps readily available and visible: A 5v5 map called Summoner's Rift and a 3v3 map called the Twisted Treeline. I will be focusing on the Summoner's Rift for now. There are 3 lanes: Top, middle, and bottom. Creeps spawn every 30 seconds as far as I know. See the photo of the Summoner's Rift map above.

In a casual game, there will be 2 champions at the top and 2 champions at the bottom. A champion would carry the team to the middle (mid) so they can end up saving or killing a lane by over crowding one lane while they level up faster and while they gain gold faster. Each lane has a set of turrets. You have to destroy each turret before advancing to the next turret and then to the inhibitor. The main goal of the game is to destroy the nexus, which are located at the end of your defenses.

Purple Team's Nexus with Minions

You can only destroy the nexus when a inhibitor is destroyed, so you can destroy the 2 turrets defending the nexus. After a inhibitor is destroyed super minions will spawn in that lane. If every inhibitor on one side is destroyed, each lane will have 2 super minions spawn. Inhibitors respawn after a period of time as you can turn the tides of the battle.

In addition, the League of Legends lore, or background story to a multiplayer map, mostly led by Shurelia, a creator, has one of the most unique ideas when it comes to writing a story. I love the lore and its as unique and sleek as the Warcraft lore.

Graphics – 6/10

The graphics of League of Legends looks okay. This game doesn't require very fast graphic cards. The textures aren't very detailed. You can adjust your graphics from very low to high.

Sound – 9/10

The sounds are one of the reasons I like League of Legends due to the fact they don't make my ears bleed. Each champion has their own unique joke, taunt, and laugh. The in-game music isn't as bad as most other games in the genre.

Interface – 7/10

Every champion may have four spells that consist of a passive spell and three other spells, and most times an ultimate spell. Unfortunately, some champions don't have a ultimate and they have a special limit instead.

Basic UI

The interface is easy and simple to understand. It has a mini-map at the bottom right hand corner for you to be able to see your allies. Near the middle area of the bottom is where your spells are located. Right next to your spells are two summoner spell buttons. In the bottom left corner is your champion's face portrait, along with their stats which lists how much gold they have. The interface, compared to some games is average overall. The interface has changed a lot since League entered Season One.

Community – 5/10

The Game Creators are really talkative with the rest of the whole community which is both an upside and a downside as they listen to ideas. Most of the community is full of ragers and complainers as they usually complain about how underpowered a champion is as they become the flavor of the month in a few weeks. They often end up forcing Riot to modify certain champions into a weaker state but that's just due to people not thinking more in-depth in my opinion. Overall, the community is the worst part of League of Legends.

Overall – 8/10

Finally, to conclude, League of Legends is a well made game with cooperative game creators, unique styles, and a sleek interface. The sound is better than most games. The community could improve by a large margin, but at this moment in time, it's not that bad. League of Legends has a big potential to become a large online competitive game. Let's see what the future brings League of Legends to.

Nikon's latest announcement was only considered a rumor a few weeks ago but in the nick of time the new DSLR camera has introduced a few features such as a 3" articulated screen and the capability to record 1080p video at 24p, those of which are enough to convert most die hard Canon DSLR consumers to using the Nikon D5100.

Among those features, the D5100 introduces what Nikon calls "night vision mode" where the user is able to shoot at ISO 102,400, though the image will be very noisy. The sensor isn't anything new; the 16.2 MP sensor is the same one found in the D7000. The Nikon D5100 DSLR camera is considered very balanced than the many other models in the D series, placing itself between the entry level D3100 and the consequential D7000 in terms of versatility alongside being an update to the D5000 which was released in 2009.

Nikon D5100 In-depth

The Nikon D5100 features the capability of real-time autofocusing during video recording, of which is able to utilize the face tracking feature of the camera for up to 35 faces and also the normal, wide area, and subject tracking features. The duration of each video clip can be at the most 20 minutes with 1080p video because of the usage of the AVCHD video codec.

The Nikon D5100 provides some of the features that the recently released Canon 600D (T3i) has like the 3" articulated screen which is, more specifically, a very sharp 921,000 dot, 1000:1 contrast ratio, and vari-angle LCD screen that is able to turn 180 degrees horizontally and vertically. The camera is able to continuously shoot as 4 fps and is packaged with an f/3.5-5.6G AF-S 18-55mm VR kit lens as well. It also adds a special effects mode accessible by a twist of the mode dial to enable the user to apply effects to photographs such as color effect, selective color, and miniature effect. The Nikon D5100 includes HDR effects as well.

Conclusion

The biggest motto for Nikon's including of these features is to promote the creativity of the photographer, or videographer, for that matter, by making shooting photos more convenient with DSLR cameras. The D5100 is a great update to the D3100. It has been said that the Nikon D5100 will be released in the fourth week of April and is estimated to be priced around $799 for the body only and $899 with the Nikon AF-S 18-55mm lens.

The Nikon D5100 is a great contender when put up against the Canon 600D, what, with its modernized screen, features to further increase the friendliness of the camera for new first-time DSLR consumers like the special effects mode and real time autofocusing during video recording. The D5100 is priced competitively to the Canon 600D, being a little bit cheaper. The Nikon D5100 will irritate those who bought the 600D, including those who bought the 550D (T2i) and 60D, because of the balance of features for photography and videography, combined with the excellent image quality and low amounts of visible noise at a high ISO levels.

The Nikon D5100 is a great choice for those looking for their very first DSLR camera with superb image quality and to be able to enjoy it at the same time. It's also great for those wanting to tinker with recording video on a DSLR camera, however, it is still unknown as of yet if it has manual audio controls.

Drift Apex's first web design was explicit. The colors were well balanced between black and white and objects partial to the design just needed avant-garde optimizations. Instead, many members of the Drift Apex community suggested a fresh look might be better.

Drift Apex's Second Design

Three weeks ago, I produced a design that was plain and simple. It had a fixed width of 980 pixels and a light, all white, appearance. This design has the block style that the prior design had for the main column and sidebar column. In addition to this, I introduced a new portal like front page for the blog which helped optimized Drift Apex's main landing page tenfold.

I received feedback from members of the Drift Apex community stating that the new design was a huge improvement, though, it needed more colors. I actually expected to hear this.

Now, on to the Third Design

This design took about three days to conjure up. The third design is actually a temporary replacement for the second design which was a little bit too simple while I work on another one. This design isn't the best out of all of the other designs nor is it my favorite, however, it is still interesting as I utilized text shadows and serif fonts for the headings to try to contrast the text better over the dark background of which I wanted to experiment with.

I personally prefer light themes but just wanted to a dark style a try. With a dark background, it takes a bit of time to find colors that will contrast text properly on a dark background. I had to go with neutral colors such as grey, smoky white, and bisque for the moment – something that didn't really look out of place – until I'm finished with the other design I'm creating now.

Besides this, I included new features such as a new image floating overlay which is applied for thumbnails that are linked to larger images on blog posts. I also included a lazy loading script which forces images to not load until it's visible on your screen. Not just that, it makes the website feel more snappier.

What's Next?

The next design for Drift Apex will most likely be light themed with possibly a light grey or white container, a block that simply divides the content from the body of the page, with a dark body background. It will be more colorful and possibly have a new logo design. My main goals for the next design is to have something more streamlined, easy to navigate, optimized, clean, and professional.

Remember that the third design is only just an experiment to help myself learn as much as possible from the various techniques I've employed. I'm already working on the fourth design at the moment so I'll appreciate as much feedback as possible.

Please feel free to leave feedback about the design on the Drift Apex forum and the comments section down below.