| Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 |
| 9:16 pm |
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| Sunday, April 25th, 2010 |
| 1:31 pm |
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| Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 |
| 8:31 am |
Mass Effect
I purchased the game at a measly 19.99 last night and downloaded it from Steam without issue. I've been told the game is great and I was a big fan of the Knights of the Old Republic games. Sadly my experience has been terrible. The interface for setting up the name of your character is an epic failure in user interface design. I didn't realize I could not change the last name of the character and thought I had skipped the step. So I had to wait for some stupid filler about the database having corrupt data. (no obvious way to skip this?) Not only did I proceed back to have to experience the worthless fluff a second time... no I had to watch the damned thing three times. Okay so now I'm in the game and I'm able to walk around and talk to people. By the second actual conversation the game crashed complaining about a missing file. Wow that's pathetic. I'm sure no actual file is missing, though I took the precaution and had steam validate the files. I'm guessing there's some virtual file in memory that fell apart. Maybe this update explains it...  To top it off... it didn't even save my profile after creating and starting the game. |
| Saturday, October 24th, 2009 |
| 5:19 pm |
The Game Crafter and a new board game: Grid Lions
I recently decided to check out The Game Crafter game production/printing company. I'm impressed with the quality of the printed components and the idea in general of print-on-demand games. I think it's a great creative outlet for people to make playable games that don't feel like they just came out of a home-office printer. The cost isn't too bad considering my previously experiences with printing at an office supply store. The shipping cost isn't too bad, but it's not cheap either. The labor alone of cutting cards with rounded edges covers just about any cost though.  Grid Lions is my first game printed through The Game Crafter site. It's intended for 2 players and shouldn't eat up an entire evening... |
| Saturday, October 17th, 2009 |
| 4:09 pm |
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| Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 |
| 8:43 am |
Star Trek
With overwhelming praise for the new Star Trek movie I wanted to complete my epic journey as a dork and review it myself. There are no spoilers in my review because there is nothing to spoil. The only thing that could be considered a spoiler would be if I mentioned the name of the planet that no longer exists in this "alternate" Star Trek time-line... seriously there's nothing to spoil. The biggest problem with Star Trek was the lack of originality. I felt like I was watching other movies where someone tweaked the script with Star Trek names. Examples:
- Spock recreates a sequence from Lord of the Rings where Gandalf attempts to stop the Balrog.
- Chekov recreates a sequence from Galaxy Quest attempting to perform a risky beam. I swear I kept waiting for Kirk to yell "Digitize me." (or whatever they called it) Ironically I'm sure the scene in Galaxy Quest was a parody of Star Trek itself... so it comes full circle.
- Revenge story... hmm never seen that in Star Trek before.
- Time Travel, need I say more? I know they didn't want to have to fight with the fact that anything they tried to do would be scrutinized because it wouldn't line up with the known time-line...
With all the hate for Star Trek: Nemesis I wish the writers watched it so they wouldn't have recreated all kinds of elements from it. I wish they had come up with a story that meant something more to the universe instead of just a device to reset the franchise in a new time-line. Nero was really a pathetic adversary... not to say that Shinzon was much better. I'll give them some minor appreciation for the planet they destroyed... but only if that plays a major factor in future movies. Kirk spends the entire movie getting his ass handed to him. In addition every main character in the movie saves one another about 15 times too many. I would love to see a chart of all of the saves that people do for one another (mostly to prove my statement wrong). It becomes a little ridiculous. I guess this is how Star Trek decided to form relationships: "Hey you saved my ass, so now I trust you." Why is this movie 2 hours long? Because it is 120 minutes of action interrupted by minor and mostly worthless dialog. There are a couple scenes I could have gone without: - Kirk driving the car over the cliff. I'm sorry I don't get this. Is this how we establish Kirk is a bit extreme/rebellious? I didn't see any Mountain Dew advertising so I don't get it.
- Blowing up the drill sequence... I guess at least they killed a red shirt. Although it was obvious he was going to die the moment he opened his mouth.
- Anything with Spock in a romantic setting. I know they want him to push away from logic but unless it has been 7 years something doesn't feel right. If they setup a Kirk vs. Spock fight over a love interest I will be extremely disappointed.
- Chekov talking - I'm not sure whether they were mocking him or what but it was annoying.
After all my bitching I actually enjoyed watching the movie, I just would prefer a bit more Star Trek and a little less action. (even Alias had dialog and built tension) The first sequence with Kirk's father really set me up for something really enjoyable as a fan of the characters and Star Trek in general. Unfortunately that feeling was gone shortly thereafter. Maybe now I'll break down and watch some of the original 6 Star Trek movies. (edit: it has been a while since I've seen them) I did appreciate the Kobayashi Maru sequence. I think they honored and implemented it well making it quite entertaining especially for those with prior knowledge. |
| Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 |
| 7:21 pm |
AMI Bios for the win!
My new PC does not have 100% stability. There is an intermittent freeze/crash caused by an unknown... I've stress tested all the parts and verified the temperatures at full load for the video card and the CPU are within reason. ... but this post is more about another topic. BIOS updates and failure recovery. I wanted to update the BIOS to the latest version in hopes of eliminating my crash/freeze issue. Unfortunately Windows didn't like me updating the BIOS as it was running. Mid update I hit a blue screen inflicting death upon the entire PC. No more POST, no more anything. I turned off the PC and went back to my other to begin researching what I could do. Luckily BIOS recovery is not as scary as I figured. I was relieved when I read that I would be able to recover the BIOS from a floppy disk. All I had to do was rename my BIOS to AMIBOOT.ROM and copy it to the disk. After that the machine would read the disk before posting, determine the BIOS was hosed and restore it from the file. My new PC doesn't have a disk drive so I figured I would temporarily attach one to perform the recovery. As I prepared I made a bootable disk only to find that the BIOS was too large for any floppy at 4 MB. In somewhat of a desperate panic I opted to simply copy the file to a USB key. Amazingly this worked. The PC recognized the USB stick and proceeded to update the BIOS (even with on screen status). (one example guide: http://www.biosman.com/biosrecovery.html) Now I was at least back up and running. But I still didn't have the ability to update the BIOS without a disk. (I did not attempt to use the newer BIOS during recovery... I didn't want to take any chances) After some investigation I found that HP had created a utility that makes USB keys bootable. I was able to boot my PC from the USB key with plenty of space for the BIOS file and update the BIOS without issue. (direct link from HP: http://h50178.www5.hp.com/local_drivers/17550/SP27608.exe) |
| Friday, April 24th, 2009 |
| 5:47 pm |
Dear Jon (@AMD)
Dear Jon, (@AMD)
I'm writing this letter to let you know that I think we need to see others for a while, possibly up to two years when I may return to your tender touch. We've been through a lot of good, rarely rough, times. Do you remember when I had to under clock your K6-III-450 to 428 because you were so scared to run at your rated speed? You were struggling and making all my zip files give CRC errors for no legitimate reason. ...or when you added XP to your name to look more attractive? ... or even when you went into that weird phase of using random numbers followed by a plus comparing yourself to others?
So I admit it. I lied. When you thought you saw me and Intel in that Shuttle... I lied and said it was someone else. It was me. ... to make things worse the Shuttle and Intel have been here by the television since December. Was I really so wrong?
Things started to get a bit crowded with so many generations of your family living with us... Over the years there have been nine. I hope you and the rest of your family find a good home on craigslist.
Maybe in the future we can get back together. I miss the old AMD that there was little comparison to... but now you're kind of saggy and make my electricity bill higher than I would like. I know you warned me about Intel's horrible heat sink installation issues, but I just couldn't resist this time... you'll need to come up with a more convincing argument in two years when I'm back in the market... As a Duo, Intel and I make a lot more happen in a lot less time, unlike how I end up waiting for you now...
Love,
Tim
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| Sunday, January 25th, 2009 |
| 11:59 am |
GTA 4 New 1.0.2.0 Patch
Wow now I can run the game for about 15 seconds, instead of the previous 40, before my computer becomes completely unstable and has to be powered off! So close guys... so close. |
| Thursday, December 18th, 2008 |
| 9:45 pm |
Grand Theft Auto 4 (PC) Wins!
I'm awarding GTA 4 for the PC a couple of special awards 2008 Gaming Awards
- Most likely to require hardware yet to exist
- Best use of bloated junk-ware (installed before and after the game is)
- Bonus award for above: Best 16GB game install requiring emergency updates to be downloaded and installed manually
- Shortest Functional Run Time (in less then 1 minute you too can be staring at a frozen screen while the radio continues to stream)
- Best Lack of Video Configuration Functionality
- Best Game of 2012 (when playable)
So my experience hasn't gone so well. I'm setting the game aside and likely won't return to it until the game is either patched to hell or until I have a new computer. I can't run it at anything above 800x600 with the lowest settings nor will it then run for more than a minute without freezing. I hope my $50 is being well invested. |
| Thursday, November 6th, 2008 |
| 9:14 pm |
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| 9:12 pm |
Anime Music Video Autobiography (Part 1)
I've decided to join in the fun and write my video editing autobiography. This is going to be a long journey down memory lane. It also will be a test of my memory. For those non-anime nerds here's a short cliff notes version: I was a dork, became a bigger dork, and like a dork spent a lot of time writing a huge entry few will read. I've included some pictures to make this slightly less boring... Note: I did a lot of research to compile this and get the order generally right... there are a ridiculous amount of details included in this. I get the feeling I could break out the Internet Way Back Machine and learn even more... Please let me know if you actually know something is incorrect. ( Read the whole thing...Collapse ) |
| Sunday, October 26th, 2008 |
| 6:27 pm |
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| Friday, April 25th, 2008 |
| 4:18 pm |
Intelligent Thought Update!
Original When shipping an unsealed container of liquid, one should tape the lid shut.
Thanks Amazon.UpdateI contacted Amazon a week ago about the original package and suggested they use tape or something to seal the container. I also requested a replacement. Customer service responded promptly and indicated a new package would ship shortly. I received tracking information and expected the replacement to arrive on Wednesday. Unfortunately it did not. I forgot to check the status again until today. In the middle of the tracking information I found this status entry: THE PACKAGE WAS DAMAGED IN TRANSIT. UPS WILL NOTIFY THE SENDER WITH THE DETAILS / ALL MERCHANDISE DISCARDED. UPS WILL NOTIFY THE SENDER WITH DETAILS OF THE DAMAGE... and another package has started the same journey ... |
| Sunday, April 20th, 2008 |
| 10:29 pm |
Intelligent Thought
When building parking cover structures place the supports in locations that will not block the doors of the car. I would much rather crawl over the seat and go out the other door anyway... Note: I know... I know... anything to save money. |
| Saturday, April 19th, 2008 |
| 8:14 am |
Intelligent Thought
When shipping an unsealed container of liquid, one should tape the lid shut. Thanks Amazon. |
| Friday, April 18th, 2008 |
| 7:54 pm |
Intelligent Thought
Turn on your turn signal before you brake and turn. This should help to keep my car from becoming a permanent fixture in your trunk. |
| Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 |
| 7:38 pm |
NHMK vs. Ubuntu
So I figured I've heard the name a few times so I should try it out. A free OS and access to free software like OpenOffice... (and a lot fewer worries about viruses and other crap) ... sounds intriguing. ... and so it begins.
- Download Ubuntu 7.10 disc image.
- Attempt to run Ubuntu 7.10 image in VirtualPC to test things out.
- Mouse won't function due to linux + ps2 mouse issues. (ARG!)
- Download Ubuntu 6.06 due to information indicating it will run with a ps2 mouse in VirtualPC.
- Ubuntu 6.06 attempts to start and fails. (repeatedly) (ARG!)
- More browsing and reading reveals I should try VMWare Player. 200mb later... (ARG!)
- Install VMWare Player.
- XP blue screen on startup (ARG!)
- XP blue screen on startup #2 (ARG!) (ARG!)
- Windows XP Safe mode, uninstall functionality is not available in safe mode. What the hell are you serious? This piece of glorious shit can't even let me uninstall something? (ARG!)(ARG!)(ARG!)(ARG!)(ARG!)(ARG!)(ARG!)(ARG!)(ARG!)
- XP blue screen on startup #3 (just for good measure)
- Backup everything of importance on the OS drive...
- Re-image hard drive to 6 months ago (clean windows install + drivers)
- ... next evening ...
- Install Ubuntu on actual machine (a different one)
- Install and startup times not exactly... fast.
- 186 Ubuntu updates (ARG!)
- lj post
I can't wait to use this damned OS after 186 updates. |
| Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 |
| 10:44 pm |
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| Thursday, November 29th, 2007 |
| 5:55 pm |
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nhmkamv
