Video: Stony Brook Press

Not long into the event, as the crowd started to increase, the University police broke up the festivities saying that they couldn’t perform in front of the Staller Center. Thinking quickly the crowd began to file into the Melville Library next door and started the rave again right in front of the central reading room.

Armed with beach balls, strobe lights and glow sticks, these students conquered the majority of the library’s first floor and the entire second floor balcony. They even managed to inspire many students who were studying and preparing for their upcoming finals. Intoxicated by the music students began to crowd surf, dance, and scream in fulfillment of their accomplishment.

Those responsible for the flash rave may be in some academic troubles for what they did… but that can’t compare to bringing smiles to the faces of many students during a week in which many do nothing but study and work.

Photos: Wikipedia

Read the article: Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook

Facebook’s ability to collect and essentially own information about its users raises serious questions about privacy and what the site’s parent company could do with the data, like sell it to marketers. What these students are shooting for is a site with all the same social possibilities but without the centralized control.

Heath Ledger’s last film is a visually captivating piece with a plot that seems more complicated than it is. It is an imaginative story about imagination, the devil, and redemption.  The story is set somewhere in England; a traveling stage that looks like some kind of gypsy wagon from the late 19th century stops at street corners and in front of bars, advertising a trip into Dr. Parnassus’ imaginarium. Through a shiny curtain lies a world created by Parnassus’ mind and shaped by the imagination of whoever passes into it.

The story line involves the devil, who the doctor made a deal for immortality with. He now needs to compete with the devil for five souls by enticing people who enter the imaginarium to choose between wholesome things or the seedier side of temptation.

Heath Ledger’s performance is good, although it doesn’t come close to having the power of his role in the last Batman movie. Vern Troyer plays Dr. Parnassus’ driver and right hand man, and he does a good job for being a side character. Every character in the movie seems to be something of an exaggeration or parody.

The special effects are probably the film’s best feature, even in a time when cinematic special effects are hardly mentioned anymore with the vast array of possibilities available to filmmakers. The imaginarium’s scenes are colorful, whacked-out worlds where things transform quickly but almost imperceptibly.

My favorite aspect of the movie was seeing what was on the other side of that curtain whenever somebody disappeared through it, and what else unfolded as they ventured through the spectacular scenery.

At one point in the movie, Johnny Depp, who steps in for Ledger’s character for one scene in the imaginarium, has a line about dying that seems an eery but profound tribute to Ledger’s memory and untimely passing. It was a good addition for the light-hearted film that turned out to be the actor’s last.

I love superhero movies, especially good ones. When I saw Sherlock Holmes over winter break, I also saw a preview for a movie I knew I had to see.

Iron Man 2 was everything I had hoped for: great action, good story line, and another unbelievable performance by Robert Downey Jr. The question always is however, was it as good as the first movie?

I never really like the sequels as much as the first movie, especially when it comes to super hero movies. Why? Personally, I love the character development that is illustrated in the first movies. Batman, Iron Man, and Spider man, all have one thing in common. That is that at one point, they were all just men, ordinary, regular people.

I like to see how the superhero develops. I love witnessing what the man has to overcome to transform into the hero people love. In Iron man 2 however, Tony Stark was already Iron Man, and everyone knew it. In the second movie, Stark has to deal with a new villain (of course). He also had some personal issues, like working out a relationship with his girlfriend Pepper, and creating a new element that would save him from the glowing orb inside his chest that was slowly killing him.

The movie was good. Was it as good as the first movie? Of course not. Well at least that’s my opinion. If you’re a superhero movie lover then you’ll like Iron Man 2. But if you’re looking more for a in-depth story on Tony Stark and the Iron Man character, just rewatch the first Iron Man movie.

Photo: nickgilmartin

Davies has been recovering from a car accident suffered on October 13, 2009 after the end of the Confederation’s Cup.  Davies was arguably the United States’ best player in that competition.

It was not a surprise to many, because Davies had not yet been cleared to play for his club, Sochaux in France.

But it comes as a huge blow to the World Cup hopes of the United States.  Davies was phenomenal paired with Jozy Altidore, a striker for Hull City, last summer in the Confederation’s Cup.

He led the United States to some shocking victories, including one over the number one team in the world, Spain.  The US then came up just short in the tournament’s final, losing to Brazil thanks to a second half collapse.  A toothless American soccer team was suddenly walking among giants, not yet a contender but certainly not the walkover they were in the late 90s.

Despite the loss of Davies, the squad has added Eddie Johnson who plays alongside former wunderkind Freddy Adu at Aris in Greece.  Adu was not selected, but has contributed to the recent brilliant form of Johnson, who has scored three goals in the Greek playoffs this season.

The United States will not have a great chance this time around, but come 2014, with a more experienced side and Davies back at full health, the United States could very well be a force to be reckoned with.

The United States current roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England).

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico).

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Brian Ching (Houston), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico), Eddie Johnson (Aris, Greece).

In the beginning Facebook seemed a great match for game developers. With one of the most popular websites in the world, it seemed like a natural fit for developers like Zynga to flock to the site. That’s where the people are. But recently Facebook has been making changes that have prompted Zynga to venture out on it’s own, away from Facebook.

What are these changes? Cutting back on the automated updates made by the games that clutter news feeds, and Facebook’s creation of a unified Facebook currency, instead of Zynga’s own type of money. This would allow Facebook to take a cut of any money that Zynga makes, potentially up to 30 percent.

In the future, anyone looking to play Zynga’s games will be logging into a Zynga specific website, not Facebook. So far it seems like most other developers who are more dependent on Facebook will be sticking with the social-networking giant. But with Zynga boasting 120 million players a year, they may have a big enough audience to leave Facebook in the dust.

Photo: Business Week

This will be the second to last season for the high school football drama. In February, it was announced by NBC that the series will wrap up after the upcoming fifth season. This season finds the normally united Town of Dillon, Texas split into two separate high schools, with Coach Taylor in charge of the rundown, understaffed and underfunded Dillon East Lions. After spending the first four seasons turning the now West Dillon Panthers into a football power house, Taylor is now forced to start from scratch.

Along with the mainline story of the season, most of the characters from the past will be returning along with a number of new ones as well. You can watch the first episode on NBC’s website here for free.

Photo: AVClub.com

The dates been set. According to Shacknews, on May 12 the Mac version of Steam will become available, giving Mac users the chance to get a part of the digital distribution goodness that is Steam. Not to mention all the great sales that are offered on a regular basis.

So who would win in a fight? Justin Long or the Portal Turret?

The Mac has never been known for video games, but maybe the backing of a big name developer like Valve and a great publishing platform can change that perception. Valve has already said that many of it’s games, such as Counter Strike, Portal, the Left 4 Dead series and the Half-Life series, will all be available the first day. But it remains to be scene if the majority of PC games will make it to the Mac.

So tell us what you think. Will the Mac version of Steam be a hit? What games are you most excited about playing? What game do you want them to add most? Let us know in the comments.

Photo: G4TV

The Seawolves celebrate their America East title on Saturday. (Photo: Sam Kilb)

Stony Brook University’s #7/6 men’s lacrosse team will face #12/12 Denver in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, it was announced today.

The Seawolves (12-3) are in the national championship tournament after winning the America East championship tournament by defeating Albany on Saturday.  The team was also all but guaranteed a spot thanks to its high ranking.

Stony Brook, the #8 seed in the tournament, will be looking for revenge after Denver handed the Seawolves one of only three losses they have suffered this spring.  The Pioneers prevailed, 13-12, at LaValle Stadium on March 30. 

Stony Brook is on an eight-game win streak which stretches the entire length of the America East regular season (5-0) and the conference tournament (2-0).

Denver is on a nine-game win streak.  The Pioneers are in the NCAA tournament by virute of winning the ECAC championship tourney and that conference’s automatic bid.

As the higher seed, Stony Brook will host the next round.  The game will be played on May 15 at 5:00 p.m. at LaValle Stadium.  Tickets go on sale on Monday.

Bhagat has been playing the harmonium for two years and the tabla since he was five, when he lived in South Africa. Bhagat was born there and moved to the United States in 2000.

“I wanted to play the tabla since I saw it during temple,” Bhagat says. “I recently picked up the harmonium and a friend is helping me learn”.

Both instruments originated in India. The tabla has a setup similar to that of bongos. There are two drums: the Bayan (left-hand drum) and the Dayan (right-hand drum). The drums are covered with animal skin and the players can produce a variety of sounds by using their fingers on different parts of the skin.

The harmonium is an Indian organ. The player pumps air into the instrument while playing on a keyboard. “It’s just like a piano, but sounds more Hindi-like” Bhagat says. He is of Indian descent – his mother is Indian and his father comes from South Africa.

Bhagat says that he chose to play these instruments because they are the basic instruments used in temple, and back in South Africa, he wasn’t introduced to Western instruments. But he enjoys his tabla and his harmonium, and doesn’t see himself stopping anytime soon. “Of course” he laughed, “I love playing. The sounds calm me down and I love it.”

Photo: Google Images