The Hercules

Ever since we were boyfriend-girlfriend, I know that he is someone who will forever be young at heart. He is a certified music lover, passionate with video games, updated with different consoles, and a techie-lover!

I am lucky because he can play and be in tune with my daughter's hobbies and playful moods. I know that I will never understand his enthusiasts with the games that he have been playing (i.e. magic cards, network games, dungeon and dragon board games, catapult board games and there are more in the list).

Now I am saving up for something that he is eyeing for - the Hercules. No it's not the Roman God. Neither it is the Disney character or figurine. Hercules is a unique DJ Console Mk2. It is a revolutionary complete portable DJ controller, Mixer and USB audio interface for desktop/laptop PCs.

In his younger years, he used to be a DJ and he had made some money out of it by playing on parties and bars. Growing competition made him set aside his hobby. As the years passed by so with his equipment that he used to play with. Inspired by my brother who plays in hotels and who enjoys a lot with his JLB mixer, he drools out for this Hercules thing.

I got curious and bean researching what he constantly talks about. Internet articles states that the Hercules DJ Console Mk2 is perfect for digital DJs and has been labeled the next generation award winning DJ Console.

What are its features? It is compact and portable, a dual-deck controller with integrated audio for mixing MP3s, WAVs, WMA etc on a PC. A major new feature of the DJ Console Mk2 is the ability to connect up to two external analogue devices such as vinyl turntables, CD players or MP3 players - Multiplying the possibilities for DJs to master the art of MP3 mixing while also integrating the analogue equipment used by DJs.

Another good deal about it is that it is ideal to use with all of the latest music and audio applications including: Image Line FL Studio (Fruityloops), Cakewalk SONAR, Cakewalk Pro Audio, Guitar Tracks Pro, Home Studio, Steinberg Cubase VST, Cubase SX, Cubase SL, Cubase SE, Nuendo, Wavelab, Adobe Audition, Syntrillium Cool Edit Pro, Cool Edit Pro 2, Sonic Foundry Sound Forge, Acid, Samplitude, Propellerheads Reason, Ableton Live, and other music software.

The real war outside Playstation goes to Congo, Africa

What has the world been up to? War in video games has already surfaced outside the microchips and memory box of Playstation 2. War has been brought to the Democratic Republic of Congo and it's all because of Coltan.

Coltan is a rare unrefined metallic ore which is necessary in the manufacturing of Sony's Playstation 2 game console and other electronic devices including cell phones and computers. Its name is derived from the contraction of columbium-tantalite, the scientific nomenclature.

It has ignited and heated up a brutal conflict in Africa specifically in Congo. Why Congo? The eastern part of the country holds 80 percent of the world’s reserves of Coltan. It is a heat-resistant mineral ore widely used in cellular phones, laptop computers and video games.

There are reports that prisoners-of-war and even children are forced to work in the mines caused by the increasing demand for Coltan. It has even incited Rwandan military groups and western mining companies to ransack hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the rare metal.

Oona King, an ex-British Parliament Member, said that kids in Europe and America kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms while kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die.

Having sold through over 140 million units, Playstation 2 indeed is the current best-selling video game console of all-time. But is it worth the buy when you know that there are kids in other part of the world that suffers while you enjoy?