Microsoft, Sony, and Best Buy have joined the fight with Amazon against the terrible packaging! After all the struggling and the thousands of injuries reported by hospitals each year, major players in the technology retail world are joining the fight. Yes, we are all aware that it is because of the security reasons, but designers can invent clever ways of packaging products that won't hurt us, or the earth!

I might even start getting into eco-friendly packaging design semi-professionally, just to help this movement. Plus, I love coming up with new ways of doing things. Death to steel-like containers!

Let's face it. We all love free and cheap stuff regardless of how well we try to hide it. If you agree, then I reward you with a link to your new favorite website: SampleADay.com. These guys post A LOT of things you can get your hands on for free including coffee, diapers, toothpaste, sharpies, body wash, and more. You have to be MAD not to check this out!

PS. For those of you who don't agree, it's okay. You can be cheap too - we won't tell anyone. Promise.

Disclaimer: It is your responsibility to read all terms and privacy policies before giving your info. In other words, if you start getting 100 new emails/calls a day (or the likes) to buy something, it aint' my fault.

A friend of mine called me today to get together for a small experimental photoshoot. Hands, of course, was the topic of this shoot. Click the photo to view the whole set on Flickr.

I have been reading a lot of reports lately about how Facebook is headed towards financial issues, and how MySpace is just...you know, MySpace. Have you asked yourself what a lot of people's lives would be like without them?

Over the years, Social Networking has turned into the "must have" of the online world like the almighty euphoric Tomogotchi of the past! The millions of accounts that have been created and the type of connectivity that has developed was simply unthought of just a few years ago. Now, it has grown to a point where it is the primary method of communication, getting in touch with old friends, event planning, etc.

Imagine if the 2 giants, Myspace and Facebook, were to fail. What would people do, go back to email? Not gonna happen. People will try to find the next big thing to bombard by the millions so they can maintain their dosage of social network morphine. After all, everyone is turning into online junkies for everything. Work? Online. Staying in touch? Online. Fun and Games? Online. Sexual pleasure? Online (how unfortunate). More after the jump...

First, I want to begin by thanking everyone who went out there and voted in the elections. The United States has proved to me that change can indeed happen. Not long ago, it was nearly impossible to come across someone who would agree that a man of color can take the role as the President of the United States.

President Obama, I want to thank you for proving to everyone in this world what America as a nation truly represents. We have all seen better times not only in this country, but around the world. I started following the Presidential campaigns roughly a year into the process and I realized that change was imminent. My interest in politics was weak, but now I understand that we all have to work towards the bettering of our country.

As you gave your speech, I started to remember every history class I ever took, telling myself in amazement, that we have achieved what many believed could not be done. I could feel the tears of joy about to start flowing down my face, hearing that the change many have longed for is finally here. I am confident that we, as a country, will face our problems directly and work together to bring forth the great possibilities of our lifetime, regardless of who you are.

I will continue to support my country in every way I can, helping and guiding others to do the same. I will help refresh the promise of this country, proving that, as one, we can achieve the greatness we all seek in our lives, to bring an end to our economic turmoil and halt the progressive endangerment of our planet. We are a country of opportunity, equality, and enlightenment. Let us take advantage and prove to our future generations and the whole world around us all of the things we will accomplish, for we are the United States of America.

Tonight, I will close my eyes and fall asleep with a smile on my face, knowing that tomorrow will be a brand new day. I am grateful that I have taken part and witnessed these marvelous events that are now forever carved into history. I can happily say that my faith and belief in achieving greatness in the United States has been reasserted, and from this day on we are headed towards a better future.

Thank you.

Tomorrow is the day I will make history in my family. I will be the first person in my family line to participate in the elections, or anything dealing with voting, for that matter. I am pretty confident who my vote will be going for, and it will be the opposite of what of my conservative family would generally support. They are not exactly the "voting type" as they would continue living life as if nothing happened.

I found out a couple of hours ago that my professor canceled tomorrow's Typography class. This means I can get to my voting destination early in the morning since I will have several things to do throughout the rest of the day. I encourage everyone to go out there and VOTE! I get all sorts of excuses from my friends saying that New York is gonna vote Democratic regardless if they vote or not. I believe that the right to vote is a privilege that everyone who can should exercise.

I cannot foretell what my political views and beliefs will be like a year or so from now, but I will try my best to make as a great of a difference as I can in this world. I give my thanks and appreciation to all of those around the country that will be voting with me tomorrow. Thank you!

I don't know about you, but every time I get a chance to test something in its beta form, I'm psyched and excited to catch and squash every single problem! Apparently, this is not the case with many beta testers out there. This applies to video games, websites, software, and so forth. Yes, I know; you're probably thinking about how many times you've ran into stupid problems with software that didn't make sense.

I'm not the one to usually point fingers but this time, I will be putting together a list of applications, websites, and games that I encounter these problems in. A lot of problems include interface bugs, illogical layout design, bad placement of elements, lack of searchability, and so forth. If you're interested to see what I'm talking about, I'll post a list of things that bother me (and others) really soon.

If you're a beta tester, I urge you to stop taking advantage and start paying attention to actually fixing and bettering the product you are testing. If not, STOP! You're hurting the company and everyone else that will use the product.

Out of curiosity, I would like to see what annoys you guys about some websites, applications, etc. Thanks!

It has been a while since I last talked about things that have been happening lately. School has been in full force and while it started off a bit bumpy, it is now steady. Lot's of design and web related projects are being assigned and I must say, it can be a challenge at times - managing each one, getting it all right, conducting necessary research, and so forth.

Earlier today, I sent out my DSLR to Canon for repair and cleaning. There was a loose piece inside the camera and it interfered with my viewfinder by with black blemish appearing on the top. I paid $35 for commercial shipping with insurance, tracking, and all that good stuff - still a ripoff if you ask me! Hopefully I'll have my camera back by the end of this week so I can go out and shoot! I've been meaning to do that for a while (about 5 months), and now I have. I hope this serves as much of an initiative as I want it to so I go out and start snapping away! Continue reading for the rest...

A little under a week ago, I purchased two new sweaters and a pair of jeans on sale from Aeropostale. I walked into the door expecting to see a nice small package waiting to be opened. Instead, I saw a massive 14" square box lying there only to find roughly a quarter of the space being used. Utter disappointment spread throughout my body, albeit excited to try on my new clothes.

I am generally not that big on online shopping but when I do purchase something online, I expect it to be shipped efficiently. There's really no excuse, to be honest. Why would a company waste money on oversized shipping boxes when they can save on both equipment and shipping costs?

This is definitely not the first time something like this has happened, and I am not the first to complain. I gotta hand it to companies like Amazon, Apple, and Logitech for using efficient shipping methods (from my experiences) and for keeping their shipment carbon footprint low. Have you had any negative experiences like this? I'd like to know.

With all the politics going on, I've been wondering whether or not people are willing to pay more taxes for greater benefits. Everywhere I go the only thing I hear from people are complaints about how much taxes the government is taking from them. On the contrary, what if the government was giving a lot back to you in return?

Maybe it's just me, but I certainly would not mind paying more taxes if things like health care and job security were guaranteed by the government. People think that the socializing of something like health care will not work in the United States but it seems to be working in MANY other democratic countries. Besides, if things like Social Security, Federal Reserve, and the National Education Association are socialized, why not health care?

All I'm trying to say is this; If I get sick or injured I just want to have the ability to walk or stumble into a hospital and get treated for free without having to worry about my life (which most hospitals don't care about). Another thing that bothers me is that when I get sick, I don't want to be at risk of losing my job. Are your thoughts different from mine? If so, I'd love to see what you have to say no matter where you're from.