... and I'm feeling.
I'm not sure what it is that I'm feeling, exactly, but, I know I'm feeling it. It's as if there's some sort of weight that's settled into my chest, and it's just sitting there, trying desperately to force gravity to do it's bidding. I haven't succumbed yet, I'm still standing... well, lying here in bed. I can't explain exactly why I feel the way that I do, perhaps it would help if I had some idea of what it is I'm feeling.
I guess that's neither here nor there, because, as we all know, it's best to just ignore these things, they have a way of going away all by themselves. You could say they sink, or perhaps become compressed until they are a tiny ball of something tucked out of the way. Hopefully, where these things end up is actually a massive, cavernous pit, that way, they can remain hidden so that I never have to deal with them again.
*Note* - Since I'm on my laptop, and the mouse of flaky, I'm not bothering with any links... so... oh well, just read stuff.
The Colbert Report is on...
I have to admit that I generally enjoy Stephen Colbert, and, while he can sometimes get to a point where I really would rather sit down to a meal of my own vomit than to listen to him for another moment. He does have a huge plus going for him, he spells his name correctly.
There's one thing that I really hate about his show. The fact that whenever he introduces the show, he tries to pronounce Report the way that he pronounces Colbert, as if the glaringly obvious T is silent. I just wonder, if deep down inside, he really thinks that people will pick it up and run with it.
Seriously though, for the most part, I preferred his antics as an occasional thing on the Daily Show, I don't mind flipping it on every now and again.
Finally, something that doesn't work right...
OK, that's not entirely true, there's been a few things that haven't worked right. Hell, very little seems to work right for me most of the time, but, in this case I am talking about Windows Vista, and a particular piece of hardware that seems unwilling to cooperate on the a 64-bit environment.
I refer to the Belkin Nostromo SpeedPad n52. First, let me explain what it is. It's a game controller, that, is basically just a 1/3 keyboard, which, under your average plug and play os, appears to the system as an HID-Compliant keyboard. How does this work? Well, simply put, it's just a little device with keys, and, so, just like any other keyboard, when you press keys, it sends signals to the computer, which the system interprets and translates into various actions. I press 'F', and 'F' appears... it's like magic.
How does this device help me? I'm glad I asked that. It's a game controller, which is designed to be more comfortable to play games. Does it make me a better gamer? Of course not, but it helps.
Anyway, what's my problem? Well, this device, which is basically just a partial keyboard, doesn't work correctly under the 64-bit version of Vista. What's the deal there?
I mean, I can plug it in, and the system will tell me that it's found hardware, but, immediately you know something's wrong, because it told me it's found hardware. Normally, the system will tell you that it's installed hardware. When it tells you merely that it's found it, that means it hasn't the first bloody clue what to do with it. But, to be kind, it does present you with a series of options, 2 of which involve magically finding the drivers you need... drivers that it would have installed had they been there in the first place, but, being a loyal Windows user, I still ask it nicely to just go right ahead and give it another shot. When I do this, it actually feigns action for a moment, then a screen comes up to tell me that it's install a mouse of some kind, but it's scared, and would like it very much if I would just give Windows a big warm hug.
Rather than hug Windows, I just curse at it and mash the keypad of my would be controller. This, however, leads to the discover that it's actually functioning just fine as a keyboard, although the system seems confused as to why it's happening. The problem is, that when you try to install the software, which is used to configure this glorious device, so that you can take advantage of all it's great features, you find that it just doesn't work.
That... is a problem.
I don't understand why this doesn't work, but, I'm under the distinct impression that this is all Belkin's fault.
Of course, none of this matters as I don't really do my gaming under Vista... and the n52 works fine under XP....
and that's it... I know, it's pretty thin.... deal with it. Back another time, probably.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Just a Few Points....
So, I had a nice long weekend, I got out and had some drinks, I spent some time doing some cleaning, and catching up on a few things that I'd let go. I also watched a couple of really bad movies... hopefully now I can watch some GOOD movies... hopefully.
I'm still playing a lot of N, because I love me some platforming fun, even if it does get a little maddening at times when you can't get past a level. Oh well... it's all worth it... right?
Oh, I went to Costco today and bought some groceries. Ouch. Buying in bulk isn't cheap, but, I have enough hamburger now to last through the coming nukULAR winter.
Anyway, on to the links...
Quick... Everyone hate Bank of America!
Well, it seems the Wall Street Journal thinks the Bank of America is just awful. So says sites like MSNBC.
It seems BoA is offering secured credit cards to people who are not legal citizens of this fine country of the U S of A. So, it seems that people are looking at this as if BoA is actually urinating right in the face of the American Flag...
I believe what they are offering is a basic secure credit card with no credit check, which actually isn't that uncommon. Secure credit cards have been around for years, because the bank has very limited risk.
The concept is simple, customer gives the bank $500, they now have a 'savings account' with $500 in it, the bank gives them a 'Credit Card' with a $500 limit and a ludicrous interest rate.
It's no different than paying with cash except that it builds a credit history. Over time, usually a year or so, the bank will raise the limit without requiring additional security.
What's different here is that they are actually aiming the thing at illegal immigrants. Most secure credit cards will require a SSN but, I've seen them that do not before, and I always figured that's who they were aimed at... My only question is, if they're saying that it's to help them build a stable credit history, how can you build credit without a SSN? I mean, sure, Bank of America will trust you, but, it's not like you can walk into a Wells Fargo and get a mortgage by just telling them that BoA trusts you now.
Now, all of this, of course, hinges on the idea that this is something they are truly doing. So far it seems that the Wall Street Journal is the only source on this thing. My guess is that this program may be more geared toward people in the U.S. on work visas, who also do not have U.S. SSN's.
And, from that I think that I will point out that it seems very unlikely that a lot of immigrants are going to jump on a secure credit card, because, it's hard enough for them to make a few hundred dollars, I can't imagine the average immigrant worker just handing it out in favor of getting a hunk of plastic.... of course I could be wrong about that.
You can't fire me, I shot that man in the face because I have a medical condition!
Similar to the retarded excuse listed above, a man who was fired for surfing pr0n on the intarwebs at work is suing IBM, stating that he's addicted to the internet.
He claims that he is addicted to the internet due to the stress of seeing friends die during 'Vietnam'. He says that he became addicted to sex, then internet sex, then therefore the internet. Because of this addiction, he says that he's protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Anyway, this all too long article tells you all about it.
I think it's amazing the amount of press coverage this is getting. Even more amazing is that the guy is actually asking for $5M.
I don't know... I guess I could ramble more, but I think the story stands all by itself...
Polymer Displays are Neat!
2005's Hottest Announced
Now in 2007 we get a tangible product.
It's like the future is now!
Star Wars... Gangsta Rap?
I hate to say it... but this is actually pretty damn good... although, it's been rated NSFW for language (just language... You don't see Natalie Portman or Carrie Fisher naked... so, just click back to whatever Google search you were up to you sick sick person... GET HELP!)
And. I'm. Spent.
That's it for me now, but, I'll be back with more soon.... very very soon...
Be afraid.
I'm still playing a lot of N, because I love me some platforming fun, even if it does get a little maddening at times when you can't get past a level. Oh well... it's all worth it... right?
Oh, I went to Costco today and bought some groceries. Ouch. Buying in bulk isn't cheap, but, I have enough hamburger now to last through the coming nukULAR winter.
Anyway, on to the links...
Quick... Everyone hate Bank of America!
Well, it seems the Wall Street Journal thinks the Bank of America is just awful. So says sites like MSNBC.
It seems BoA is offering secured credit cards to people who are not legal citizens of this fine country of the U S of A. So, it seems that people are looking at this as if BoA is actually urinating right in the face of the American Flag...
I believe what they are offering is a basic secure credit card with no credit check, which actually isn't that uncommon. Secure credit cards have been around for years, because the bank has very limited risk.
The concept is simple, customer gives the bank $500, they now have a 'savings account' with $500 in it, the bank gives them a 'Credit Card' with a $500 limit and a ludicrous interest rate.
It's no different than paying with cash except that it builds a credit history. Over time, usually a year or so, the bank will raise the limit without requiring additional security.
What's different here is that they are actually aiming the thing at illegal immigrants. Most secure credit cards will require a SSN but, I've seen them that do not before, and I always figured that's who they were aimed at... My only question is, if they're saying that it's to help them build a stable credit history, how can you build credit without a SSN? I mean, sure, Bank of America will trust you, but, it's not like you can walk into a Wells Fargo and get a mortgage by just telling them that BoA trusts you now.
Now, all of this, of course, hinges on the idea that this is something they are truly doing. So far it seems that the Wall Street Journal is the only source on this thing. My guess is that this program may be more geared toward people in the U.S. on work visas, who also do not have U.S. SSN's.
And, from that I think that I will point out that it seems very unlikely that a lot of immigrants are going to jump on a secure credit card, because, it's hard enough for them to make a few hundred dollars, I can't imagine the average immigrant worker just handing it out in favor of getting a hunk of plastic.... of course I could be wrong about that.
You can't fire me, I shot that man in the face because I have a medical condition!
Similar to the retarded excuse listed above, a man who was fired for surfing pr0n on the intarwebs at work is suing IBM, stating that he's addicted to the internet.
He claims that he is addicted to the internet due to the stress of seeing friends die during 'Vietnam'. He says that he became addicted to sex, then internet sex, then therefore the internet. Because of this addiction, he says that he's protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Anyway, this all too long article tells you all about it.
I think it's amazing the amount of press coverage this is getting. Even more amazing is that the guy is actually asking for $5M.
I don't know... I guess I could ramble more, but I think the story stands all by itself...
Polymer Displays are Neat!
2005's Hottest Announced
Now in 2007 we get a tangible product.
It's like the future is now!
Star Wars... Gangsta Rap?
I hate to say it... but this is actually pretty damn good... although, it's been rated NSFW for language (just language... You don't see Natalie Portman or Carrie Fisher naked... so, just click back to whatever Google search you were up to you sick sick person... GET HELP!)
And. I'm. Spent.
That's it for me now, but, I'll be back with more soon.... very very soon...
Be afraid.
Wherein I Review 'The Messengers'
A copy and paste of my review on filmspot.com. I gave it 1½ Stars out of 5.
A growing trend in modern movies seems to be spending more budget on advertising than that the actual production of the movie. Perhaps that isn't the case, it's the just the general feeling that I get.
I went into this with expectations of mediocrity... and even with that, I was disappointed.
To begin, this movie seems to be trying to capitalize on the formula of 'give as little as possible'. The story, if you can call it that, is meant to unfold before you. Unfortunately, they don't give you enough to really care.
You begin by seeing that some sort of tragic events that happened in a house. Then you meet a family who is moving into that house, apparently years later, how many is hard to gauge. There are many 'tidbits' that are left for you, like breadcrumbs, and you are meant to follow them.
The house itself is an ancient, dilapidated relic of a farm, where, apparently this family is making their 'new start'. It's supposed to be clear from the get go that the family has suffered from something, but, exactly what doesn't become known for a very, very long time. When it is revealed, you just want to want to smack the stupid out of them for suffering from being a family.
As the movie progresses, slowly, there are a few 'scares' which come from a penchant the writer has with crows. We don't know why there are crows, and we never discover why there are crows. We assume that it might have something to do with the farms historical problems with producing a good crop. Perhaps.
The crop in question, by the way, is sunflowers. Now, for whatever reason, the family has bought this house, and the Father has decided to try and make a go with the crops, though it's clear that this isn't actually a huge money making venture. The father is faced with planting, tending, and harvesting a crop all by himself... that is, until the random stranger shows up and helps scare away some crows. The man pitches in with only the promise of being paid after the harvest and room & board. It's not the slightest bit strange that a man with a shotgun is meandering across their farm, and then just agrees in a split second decision to live with them for the several months of crop of this type would take to grow, although, you really don't feel more than a few days have passed by the time you reach the end.
The movie continues to progress slowly with minimal scares from creepy 'Japanese Horror Style' ghouls, stains, and puddles. The ghouls are seen, at first, only the youngest member of the household, who can't speak. Scares also include atypical forays into unknown destruction of the home, seen only by one member of the family, and therefore, unsubstantiated, and various thuds and bumps.
Eventually, it all comes together... sort of. But, not without failing miserably at making any type of sense at all. The breadcrumbs we'd been following eventually come to abrupt end, when, in the C story, the girl who's scared to death, runs away to find a picture that's half hidden on a wall she only saw for a brief moment. After she's seen that, a newsclipping, she rushes back to save the day.
When everything is finally over, you really don't understand why any of it happened, and you feel sort of hollow and empty inside.
I will warn you, there is a scene in the end, where the family comes together, and it's so very clear that there's a deep and meaningful subtext, you might feel compelled to physically throw things at the screen.
The bottom line? Reading this review is infinitely more entertaining than this movie, and I don't really think this was all that entertaining at all.
A growing trend in modern movies seems to be spending more budget on advertising than that the actual production of the movie. Perhaps that isn't the case, it's the just the general feeling that I get.
I went into this with expectations of mediocrity... and even with that, I was disappointed.
To begin, this movie seems to be trying to capitalize on the formula of 'give as little as possible'. The story, if you can call it that, is meant to unfold before you. Unfortunately, they don't give you enough to really care.
You begin by seeing that some sort of tragic events that happened in a house. Then you meet a family who is moving into that house, apparently years later, how many is hard to gauge. There are many 'tidbits' that are left for you, like breadcrumbs, and you are meant to follow them.
The house itself is an ancient, dilapidated relic of a farm, where, apparently this family is making their 'new start'. It's supposed to be clear from the get go that the family has suffered from something, but, exactly what doesn't become known for a very, very long time. When it is revealed, you just want to want to smack the stupid out of them for suffering from being a family.
As the movie progresses, slowly, there are a few 'scares' which come from a penchant the writer has with crows. We don't know why there are crows, and we never discover why there are crows. We assume that it might have something to do with the farms historical problems with producing a good crop. Perhaps.
The crop in question, by the way, is sunflowers. Now, for whatever reason, the family has bought this house, and the Father has decided to try and make a go with the crops, though it's clear that this isn't actually a huge money making venture. The father is faced with planting, tending, and harvesting a crop all by himself... that is, until the random stranger shows up and helps scare away some crows. The man pitches in with only the promise of being paid after the harvest and room & board. It's not the slightest bit strange that a man with a shotgun is meandering across their farm, and then just agrees in a split second decision to live with them for the several months of crop of this type would take to grow, although, you really don't feel more than a few days have passed by the time you reach the end.
The movie continues to progress slowly with minimal scares from creepy 'Japanese Horror Style' ghouls, stains, and puddles. The ghouls are seen, at first, only the youngest member of the household, who can't speak. Scares also include atypical forays into unknown destruction of the home, seen only by one member of the family, and therefore, unsubstantiated, and various thuds and bumps.
Eventually, it all comes together... sort of. But, not without failing miserably at making any type of sense at all. The breadcrumbs we'd been following eventually come to abrupt end, when, in the C story, the girl who's scared to death, runs away to find a picture that's half hidden on a wall she only saw for a brief moment. After she's seen that, a newsclipping, she rushes back to save the day.
When everything is finally over, you really don't understand why any of it happened, and you feel sort of hollow and empty inside.
I will warn you, there is a scene in the end, where the family comes together, and it's so very clear that there's a deep and meaningful subtext, you might feel compelled to physically throw things at the screen.
The bottom line? Reading this review is infinitely more entertaining than this movie, and I don't really think this was all that entertaining at all.
Wherein I Review 'Ghost Rider'
A copy and paste of my review on filmspot.com. I gave it 2½ Stars out of 5.
(Please note, it was this review that shows me you can't write in Word 2007 and then just copy and paste...) :(
This film further cements my opinion that Nicholas Cage is one of the worst actors on the planet.
First though, let me say that I love Marvel. I really appreciate what they are trying to do, apart from make money, by producing films based on the comics their loyal fans love.
However, even with all the power they have now in casting and producing these movies, there are still some things that you just can't get around... such as bad acting, poor implementation, and terrible writing.
Understand that I love comics, I grew up with the X-Men, I read many of the Midnight Sons titles (when they became that), and I still enjoy the occasional foray in the Marvel Universe. As I grew up and became more enamored with creator owned and independent titles, I still retained my love and fondness for the world of super heroes.
It's for those reasons that I hate to see a movie like this.
There are some excellent elements to this flick. First, and most obvious from the trailers, would be the incredible CGI / special effects. It's hard to find fault with the incredible skill that went into building the Ghost Rider's truly awesome appearance. And, I do mean awesome less in a vernacular way and more in an 'awe inspiring, truly believable' way. The same holds true for the actual shooting, the action translate well, and during certain points there comes a time that you truly feel you are there, flying over the Ghost Rider as he whips himself from the top of the building and goes barreling full throttle down the side.
With that said, however, the casting in this movie is almost saddening. While I will agree the Eva Mendes is extremely gorgeous, and that Nicholas Cage vaguely resembles that of Johnny Blaze, the acting is awful. Neither are really all that great in this flick, that latter being nearly as awful in this as he was in the Wicker Man (search You Tube for “Wicker Man: Comedy of the Year” for more on this).
Much of that comes from the terribly corny writing, which, when in a speech balloon above a character’s well drawn head on a comic book page inspires joy and elation. It falls completely flat when delivered on the big screen, though, and this is something that many other comic-to-film releases have done a good job adjusting for. Why they didn’t even try to pull it off here I couldn’t tell you.
Another major problem with this film is the story itself. While I understand that they are trying to take years of Ghost Rider storyline, where a character has been developed meticulously over many decades, and cram into an hour and forty minutes, they still fail completely in developing much of anything.
The plot is fairly simple: Johnny Blaze makes a deal with the Devil to cure his father of cancer while at the ripe age of 17. Being the devil, however, the deal doesn’t really work the way that Johnny hopes. He continues his father’s legacy of stunt motorcycle riding, leaving the love of his young life Roxanne behind. Many years later he’s become a reckless stunt driver, but the Devil comes forward and tells him that he’s needed; he must fulfill his end of the bargain.
An example of the problems (Semi-Spoiler):
For some reason, there’s a contract, and this point is only vaguely made, and the Devil’s own son (I think) is after it. Ghost Rider goes after this guy, because it’s what he’s told to do. He meets up with an old rider who sort of explains things, and there’s a bizarre seen where we discover this rider has the contract that’s being sought. They both change and go tearing off through the desert.
When they reach the scene of the final battle, the old rider says that he could only change that one last time, and now he’s done. He didn’t actually do anything, it just made for an interesting scene, watching the two of them move quickly across the sand all aflame.
It’s things like that that really detract from the overall quality. I can’t in good conscious recommend this movie to anyone. The only reason that I rate it as highly as I do is because it’s Ghost Rider, and it has some great special effects.
If you are like me, this is a movie you will see, and hopefully, if you’re like me, a review like this might put you on your guard. Maybe, if you go in expecting a poor film, you might actually be more inclined to enjoy it. Just don’t expect to enjoy it much.
-Stephen.
(Please note, it was this review that shows me you can't write in Word 2007 and then just copy and paste...) :(
This film further cements my opinion that Nicholas Cage is one of the worst actors on the planet.
First though, let me say that I love Marvel. I really appreciate what they are trying to do, apart from make money, by producing films based on the comics their loyal fans love.
However, even with all the power they have now in casting and producing these movies, there are still some things that you just can't get around... such as bad acting, poor implementation, and terrible writing.
Understand that I love comics, I grew up with the X-Men, I read many of the Midnight Sons titles (when they became that), and I still enjoy the occasional foray in the Marvel Universe. As I grew up and became more enamored with creator owned and independent titles, I still retained my love and fondness for the world of super heroes.
It's for those reasons that I hate to see a movie like this.
There are some excellent elements to this flick. First, and most obvious from the trailers, would be the incredible CGI / special effects. It's hard to find fault with the incredible skill that went into building the Ghost Rider's truly awesome appearance. And, I do mean awesome less in a vernacular way and more in an 'awe inspiring, truly believable' way. The same holds true for the actual shooting, the action translate well, and during certain points there comes a time that you truly feel you are there, flying over the Ghost Rider as he whips himself from the top of the building and goes barreling full throttle down the side.
With that said, however, the casting in this movie is almost saddening. While I will agree the Eva Mendes is extremely gorgeous, and that Nicholas Cage vaguely resembles that of Johnny Blaze, the acting is awful. Neither are really all that great in this flick, that latter being nearly as awful in this as he was in the Wicker Man (search You Tube for “Wicker Man: Comedy of the Year” for more on this).
Much of that comes from the terribly corny writing, which, when in a speech balloon above a character’s well drawn head on a comic book page inspires joy and elation. It falls completely flat when delivered on the big screen, though, and this is something that many other comic-to-film releases have done a good job adjusting for. Why they didn’t even try to pull it off here I couldn’t tell you.
Another major problem with this film is the story itself. While I understand that they are trying to take years of Ghost Rider storyline, where a character has been developed meticulously over many decades, and cram into an hour and forty minutes, they still fail completely in developing much of anything.
The plot is fairly simple: Johnny Blaze makes a deal with the Devil to cure his father of cancer while at the ripe age of 17. Being the devil, however, the deal doesn’t really work the way that Johnny hopes. He continues his father’s legacy of stunt motorcycle riding, leaving the love of his young life Roxanne behind. Many years later he’s become a reckless stunt driver, but the Devil comes forward and tells him that he’s needed; he must fulfill his end of the bargain.
An example of the problems (Semi-Spoiler):
For some reason, there’s a contract, and this point is only vaguely made, and the Devil’s own son (I think) is after it. Ghost Rider goes after this guy, because it’s what he’s told to do. He meets up with an old rider who sort of explains things, and there’s a bizarre seen where we discover this rider has the contract that’s being sought. They both change and go tearing off through the desert.
When they reach the scene of the final battle, the old rider says that he could only change that one last time, and now he’s done. He didn’t actually do anything, it just made for an interesting scene, watching the two of them move quickly across the sand all aflame.
It’s things like that that really detract from the overall quality. I can’t in good conscious recommend this movie to anyone. The only reason that I rate it as highly as I do is because it’s Ghost Rider, and it has some great special effects.
If you are like me, this is a movie you will see, and hopefully, if you’re like me, a review like this might put you on your guard. Maybe, if you go in expecting a poor film, you might actually be more inclined to enjoy it. Just don’t expect to enjoy it much.
-Stephen.
Friday, February 16, 2007
The World Comes Crashing Down
A new film site!
I've always been a big fan of C|NET networks. They've always been my choice for solid reviews of most of the things that I care about, and their massive download.com is a great source for getting the files that you need. I've been a member of GameSpot.com for years, and generally take their reviews of games to heart, because, to be honest, they do things right. As time has gone on, GameSpot.com has grown to be more than just a simple game review site, and has blossomed into a really powerful game community, allowing their users to rate and review games, and keep track of games they own and want. To see what I mean, check out my user page, which, is pretty basic, there are users that have posted reviews, blogs, and are really active in the community.
Now, to the point, C|NET has had a few other sites for a long time, and while I've always meant to check them out, because I can use my same login info between each of them, I really haven't gotten into mp3.com or tv.com. However, there's a new addition to the lineup called FilmSpot.com, which, much like GameSpot.com is designed to be a large community revolving around film. The tagline of the sits says that it's still in beta, but, overall, it seems pretty slick so far.
I've already started posting my 2¢ and, the interface is pretty slick. The one thing that I would like would be a 'DVD Collection' feature, but it wouldn't surprise me if they added it at some point.
Anyway, if you like movies, you might want to check it out, because C|NET remains a great media company, and they've yet to truly let me down.
Windows Live OneCare!
I mentioned before that it was a little frustrating to discover that Microsoft's anti-virus software was not x64 compatible. What I didn't point out that this information is NOT ON THE PACKAGE, nor is it on their website yet under the system requirements. As a matter of fact, on their webiste, to find this out, you need to launch their support system, type in '64 bit', say that the information present was not helpful (the system requirements page), and it will present you with a list of options, you then have to say that none of those options are helpful and it will pull up one last pane which says: "Windows Live OneCare cannot be install on an x64 System", or something to that effect anyway.
It seems that this is common knowledge for some people, however, if you're standing in a store reading the box, and at no point does it make a distinction between x64 and x86, how are you to know it doesn't work for you? You won't until you launch installation.
As if that wasn't bad enough, here you will find people who are also upset about the situation, including quite a few that finished installing the 64-bit version of Vista, then clicked the button on the welcome center that offered to sell them OneCare, so, they go to the website, pay for their subscription and download the software. It's at that point they discover that it WILL NOT WORK for them!
It's pretty sad that Microsoft, who has been so loud in station that 64 bit operating systems are the future, and that everything must be updated to take advantage of a superior architecture, yet when they launch a new version of their Anti-Virus to be Vista compliant, they not only don't have it 64 bit version, and don't tell people that it's not 64 bit.
It's frustrating. I really wish that there was a mega company out there that did EVERYTHING right, and you could never get upset with them for any reason!
HA!
A Jab at a The Register Article...
in which I copy and paste my forum reply to poster...
My Reply:
"Writer is an idiot. His biggest complaints are of price, which is very common for those on the little Emerald Isle, where everything is significantly more expensive than it is here in the U.S., and then to the interface being more and more like Aqua, which, for someone who claims to be a linux user, should not be unusual, everyone is copying apple, they've got great designers. Of course MS isn't reinventing the wheel. Beyond that, he makes it sound as though a brand new interface is as simple as buttering toast. I can't imaging the trouble these guys had trying to build a system that used the already solid foundation of previous version of windows, yet incorporated the things that people were ASKING FOR, which, in essence, is exactly what they've done; a Windows system with touches of Mac OS.
There's numerous errors in the editorial, a good example:
The truth, it's a pretty basic 'Tab' convention in a windows system, if tab goes one way, shift+tab goes the other. This holds true for the flip3d, of course, he could also have tried the mouse wheel for scrolling, up and down scrolls through the windows. I now use it constantly.
Further, he speaks to having no idea which version to use, or that he'd have to do a back-up and clean install or not. Honestly, anyone who upgrades ANY operating system is a moron. This, for most tech savvy people, is pretty common knowledge, the fact that he couldn't take a couple of minutes to look at the box he was spending so much money on speaks volumes to his level of stupidity. Why are consumers so incapable of thinking for themselves? Worse, why can consumers not read things? Does it really seem like such an inconceivable notion that one might want to 'know' what they are doing when dealing with a massive change to their extremely complex computer system.
Oh, and the chart he refers to that is "NOT" on the package, is, by requirement of Microsoft, part of the P.O.P. display from which he picked up his copy of Vista. Also, it's on the package, under the flap on the front...
He then continues to complain about his inability to disable the 'security' center. First, there's no conceivable reason for someone to do this, but, even if there was, it's a massive component of Windows, it's not something that can be disabled. Of course, since he's not even running Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, he wouldn't know about that, now would he?
I'm not sure how someone this completely retarded was charged with the task of testing Windows Vista, but, yet again, I find myself loathing another 'almost' news article on The Register. It's very hit or miss for me, but, more often than not, it's usually miss.
Seriously, there's many more problems with the article, although, that isn't to say he doesn't have SOME valid points, I could spend a lot of time arguing the points, but, you get the idea.
My opinion of this article is *pffffft*."
There are, like I said, numerous things about this article that are just completely ignorant, and I truly wonder how someone could actually get paid to write it.
Sad.
That's all for now, but, you better believe that I'll be back!
I've always been a big fan of C|NET networks. They've always been my choice for solid reviews of most of the things that I care about, and their massive download.com is a great source for getting the files that you need. I've been a member of GameSpot.com for years, and generally take their reviews of games to heart, because, to be honest, they do things right. As time has gone on, GameSpot.com has grown to be more than just a simple game review site, and has blossomed into a really powerful game community, allowing their users to rate and review games, and keep track of games they own and want. To see what I mean, check out my user page, which, is pretty basic, there are users that have posted reviews, blogs, and are really active in the community.
Now, to the point, C|NET has had a few other sites for a long time, and while I've always meant to check them out, because I can use my same login info between each of them, I really haven't gotten into mp3.com or tv.com. However, there's a new addition to the lineup called FilmSpot.com, which, much like GameSpot.com is designed to be a large community revolving around film. The tagline of the sits says that it's still in beta, but, overall, it seems pretty slick so far.
I've already started posting my 2¢ and, the interface is pretty slick. The one thing that I would like would be a 'DVD Collection' feature, but it wouldn't surprise me if they added it at some point.
Anyway, if you like movies, you might want to check it out, because C|NET remains a great media company, and they've yet to truly let me down.
Windows Live OneCare!
I mentioned before that it was a little frustrating to discover that Microsoft's anti-virus software was not x64 compatible. What I didn't point out that this information is NOT ON THE PACKAGE, nor is it on their website yet under the system requirements. As a matter of fact, on their webiste, to find this out, you need to launch their support system, type in '64 bit', say that the information present was not helpful (the system requirements page), and it will present you with a list of options, you then have to say that none of those options are helpful and it will pull up one last pane which says: "Windows Live OneCare cannot be install on an x64 System", or something to that effect anyway.
It seems that this is common knowledge for some people, however, if you're standing in a store reading the box, and at no point does it make a distinction between x64 and x86, how are you to know it doesn't work for you? You won't until you launch installation.
As if that wasn't bad enough, here you will find people who are also upset about the situation, including quite a few that finished installing the 64-bit version of Vista, then clicked the button on the welcome center that offered to sell them OneCare, so, they go to the website, pay for their subscription and download the software. It's at that point they discover that it WILL NOT WORK for them!
It's pretty sad that Microsoft, who has been so loud in station that 64 bit operating systems are the future, and that everything must be updated to take advantage of a superior architecture, yet when they launch a new version of their Anti-Virus to be Vista compliant, they not only don't have it 64 bit version, and don't tell people that it's not 64 bit.
It's frustrating. I really wish that there was a mega company out there that did EVERYTHING right, and you could never get upset with them for any reason!
HA!
A Jab at a The Register Article...
in which I copy and paste my forum reply to poster...
Poster: "Vista first look: Bugs and confusionReview: A massively multiplayer beta test"
My Reply:
"Writer is an idiot. His biggest complaints are of price, which is very common for those on the little Emerald Isle, where everything is significantly more expensive than it is here in the U.S., and then to the interface being more and more like Aqua, which, for someone who claims to be a linux user, should not be unusual, everyone is copying apple, they've got great designers. Of course MS isn't reinventing the wheel. Beyond that, he makes it sound as though a brand new interface is as simple as buttering toast. I can't imaging the trouble these guys had trying to build a system that used the already solid foundation of previous version of windows, yet incorporated the things that people were ASKING FOR, which, in essence, is exactly what they've done; a Windows system with touches of Mac OS.
There's numerous errors in the editorial, a good example:
Moron: "Next, there's the Flip-3D feature, which gives you a moving Rolodex view of your open windows. When the one you want comes into view, you stop flipping at that point and it opens for you. Unfortunately, there seems not to be a reverse feature on this little merry-go-round, so if you miss your stop, round you go again. I wonder when I might ever find it useful, as I rarely have enough windows open to make a challenge out of finding whatever I want in the taskbar. I rather think it's there merely because it's "cool". And I'll confess; I've played with it a few times. I've never used it, mind, but I have fiddled. And it is rather cool, actually. And pretty useless."
The truth, it's a pretty basic 'Tab' convention in a windows system, if tab goes one way, shift+tab goes the other. This holds true for the flip3d, of course, he could also have tried the mouse wheel for scrolling, up and down scrolls through the windows. I now use it constantly.
Further, he speaks to having no idea which version to use, or that he'd have to do a back-up and clean install or not. Honestly, anyone who upgrades ANY operating system is a moron. This, for most tech savvy people, is pretty common knowledge, the fact that he couldn't take a couple of minutes to look at the box he was spending so much money on speaks volumes to his level of stupidity. Why are consumers so incapable of thinking for themselves? Worse, why can consumers not read things? Does it really seem like such an inconceivable notion that one might want to 'know' what they are doing when dealing with a massive change to their extremely complex computer system.
Oh, and the chart he refers to that is "NOT" on the package, is, by requirement of Microsoft, part of the P.O.P. display from which he picked up his copy of Vista. Also, it's on the package, under the flap on the front...
He then continues to complain about his inability to disable the 'security' center. First, there's no conceivable reason for someone to do this, but, even if there was, it's a massive component of Windows, it's not something that can be disabled. Of course, since he's not even running Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, he wouldn't know about that, now would he?
I'm not sure how someone this completely retarded was charged with the task of testing Windows Vista, but, yet again, I find myself loathing another 'almost' news article on The Register. It's very hit or miss for me, but, more often than not, it's usually miss.
Seriously, there's many more problems with the article, although, that isn't to say he doesn't have SOME valid points, I could spend a lot of time arguing the points, but, you get the idea.
My opinion of this article is *pffffft*."
There are, like I said, numerous things about this article that are just completely ignorant, and I truly wonder how someone could actually get paid to write it.
Sad.
That's all for now, but, you better believe that I'll be back!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Obligitory Anti-VDay Post?
Yes, thank you multi-billion dollar company, for letting me know that while I'm searching the interwebs, today is a 'holiday'! Great job with that. This year, I'm single over Valentines Day. The negative, I probably won't be having any sex. The plus side, I'm saving at least $200 between a date and gifts.
There's always a bright side to things.
On with the blogging!
Fake Blogs / Bloggers?
The Times Online posted an article about a new law that's going into place soon. Apparently the new trend of companies and people reviewing themselves in the guise of customers is about to come to an end in the UK. Not only can people be named for doing so, and shamed and shown for being asshats, but they may also be charged criminally.
It's a sad state of affairs that we live in a world where businesses can't pose as customers and post glowing reviews of themselves.
Quoting Morons!?!
"Formatted PC, installed Vista, updated any drivers possible. Now half [of my] games will not run, or run with corrupt graphics," lamented one poster on Jan. 31 in a discussion forum at graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp.’s Web site."
This quote made it into an "article" on computerworld.com about the 'problems' of Windows Vista with gaming.
Now, here's the problem with that. Quoting a forum is silly. Yes, your average forum goer is the target audience, and yes, it's true that there are people who have had some trouble with Windows Vista. But, if you follow the link, you'll see that the poster claims to be a Network Administrator. If that was the case, he would not have dived head first into Windows Vista. It's more likely, given the spelling and grammar errors present that he's actually a young gamer who managed to get his hands on a copy of Vista without first doing some research and then found out the hard way that there's still some driver issues.
Alright, that's fine. But, the problem here is that you aren't getting an actual sampling of what REAL people are experiencing. As a matter of fact, there's a slew of regurgitated information throughout that thread about the inability to use unsigned drivers, stability, and the actual feature set of Vista.
Regurgitated? Yes, it seems like the majority of the people out there merely have a few buzz 'facts' about Vista and are spouting them off whenever they get a chance, even though they've never used it, or seen it in action. A lot of people talk about instability, driver problems, and lack of features.
I would like to pose a question to people in regards to features, to anyone who claims that vista is not an upgrade to the features found in XP. Do they know what the difference between Windows XP and Windows 2000 are? How about the difference between Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME?
The problem is that the 'average' user doesn't have much of a clue when it comes to what makes an OS work. They don't get what an API is, the difference between a 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit operating system, or what 'layers' are. Most of them couldn't tell you the difference between a process and a thread.
Why is this a problem? The problem lies in the fact that these 'average' users are far more vocal on the internet now than ever before. Our world has gotten smaller since the release of Windows XP, where all of these same 'problems' plagued the system. I stayed away from XP for a little over a year back then, choosing instead to stick with my Windows 2000 install because it was stable and more secure. Sure, there were rumors, but, when XP first hit the shelves, the word 'blog' was just a twinkle in some guys eye.
So, back to the 'article', which seems to be written around the same hearsay and conjecture that plagues the internet these days. The writer seems to be merely parlaying about more rumors.
Yes, gaming under Vista is not like gaming under vista. For the most part, my own tests show that gaming under Vista is slower. However, I've yet to find a game that just doesn't run, and so far the differences between XP and Vista are small enough that it's fixable with minor tweaking of the game, such as dropping the resolution by 1 notch, or disabling 1 or 2 bits of eye candy, but, like I said, it all runs. I've had to do some special things to make them install or start correctly, this is true, but, a visit to each games website, or a simple search in google has helped me to that end.
So, what's the big deal? I knew going into this new operating system that it would be flaky. I did research before I did so, and, because I don't want to do anything that would degrade my game's performance, I dual boot with Windows XP for now.
This is nothing new. I suppose the long gap between XP and Vista means that there are a lot of people who didn't experience the driver and stability problems when migrating from Windows 9x systems to XP (Very few people ever even used 2000 because it was considered too radical to go to an NT based system at the time). I suppose that all the kids then weren't aware of the huge performance hits they took by upgrading to Windows XP, though, if you google it, you will find there are still a few articles out there that talk about the evils of XP and how it broke so many things.
Now, in that article, it mentions NT Compatible, which on the surface seems like a great website concept. Here's how it works: if you want to know how an application will work under the new OS (or, an old OS that's NT based, such as XP or 2k), you can search there and it will tell you how it fares. It includes games, productivity and utilities. Where's the problem with that site? It includes anonymous posting. The same morons I've already been talking about can, without even registering, post their experience with any piece of software. Do you see the problem with that? I sure as hell do. It's moderated, so, someone has to approve your comments, and I'm assuming they are trying hard to keep all the posts reasonable. Here's my post on Adobe CS2, because, if you read the previous 3 posts, no one seemed to have the first clue as to what was going on. You see the problem now, don't you?
What was this entire rambling about? I don't even know anymore. I guess it's that you can't trust everything you read on the internet. There's an amazing number of complete idiots out there who are just throwing around random 'facts' they read from 'some guy's blog' who don't have the first clue about what they're talking about.
It drives me crazy. Windows Vista is stable, and it works pretty damn well. My windows XP installation has become my Xbox 360, I use it to play games, all my productivity now is in Vista, and I don't see that as changing.
Where's Waldo?
Waldo's fucking EVERYWHERE!!! In this case, though, Waldo is actually Sony's PS3.
There was an interview conducted with Sony Entertainment of America's President, Jack Tretton, actually put a bounty on the PS3. Now, this interview was conducted in mid-January, but, none-the-less he stated "If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on the shelf for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1200 bucks for it."
Hmm, since early to mid-January, my local Super Target has had tons of these things just sitting there. So has my local Best Buy, and, as far as I know, most of the retailers near me.
Apparently, it's the same for Gabe and Tycho and the folks over at kotaku.
Now, if only I could find a damn Wii!
Who is Russell Carroll, and why is he so stupid?
First, I'll present you with an article, by some guy, called "Offline: Why Online Multiplayer isn't all that Important."
Here's the skinny: This guy thinks that multiplayer games are stupid, and likens them to having a dance party in your living room where you're by yourself, and your only company is people across the country who are all connected by their Televisions. He claims that he would much prefer single player gaming, and local multiplayer where everyone is in the same room.
Really? Single player games with ZERO social interaction are more socially satisfying to you than multi player? That makes sense. I suppose the guy also shuns telephones as being far less satisfying than just driving a couple hundred miles to visit your family, or that web cams are not a viable alternative to just hopping an airplane to the U.K. and meeting up with people at the corner pub.
It's a pretty asinine concept, considering the fact that most reviewers can't seem to praise a game unless it has a viable multiplayer option. Of course LAN games are more satisfying. It's the reason that there are so many people that will set up big gaming events, but, how is it that you should shun multiplayer gaming otherwise?
I suppose the millions of WoW players probably agree, because, let's be real, $15 a month and hundreds of hours of game time logged, they really just wish they were at the coffee shop hanging out with their friends and reading poetry. And, you know the internet hasn't turned into a giant social networking system anyway. Second Life isn't becoming more and more popular every day....
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I think online gaming isn't without it's flaws. Though, it looks like Halo 3 is going to take more steps at getting rid of them (if only they could prevent tea bagging). It's true that prepubescent kids and under sexed adults plague the online gaming world with words like 'pwnzord' and 'headshotboom'.
*le sigh*
Zombies!!!
And, continuing to disprove the above article's audacity, Urban Dead, A Massively Multi-Player Web-Based Zombie Apocalypse, which has over half a million subscribers, is growing every day as well. It's actually a lot of fun.
:)
That's all for now, but, I've still got a few things in the works and a 3 day weekend on the horizon!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Short and to the point...
I've got other stuff going on, so, I'm just going to hit a couple of points, there will be a deeper post soon, but for now, these tidbits will have to do. I'm working six days straight at work, but I'll have a 3 day weekend, followed by a 3 day weekend, so, I should be able to get some things done. I know you're all just salivating in anticipation for what I've got coming. A glimpse of things to come - I've got Office Ultimate 2007 now, I've been taking some macro shots with my camera of doom, I tried out a new mouse and I'd like to tell you all about it, I finished my daughter's party invitations, Mike suggested a great project idea I'd like to talk about a little bit, oh, and there's a new website coming down the line (but, it's more of a review of a service I'm trying...
For now, however, on with the links!
Cartoon Network CEO Takes the Fall!
This is almost sickening, a CNN Money article talks about Jim Samples, the (former) CEO of Cartoon Network, resigning over the advertising snafu I talked about previously.
Basically, [adult swim]'s aqua teen hunger force has a movie coming out. To promote it, a marketing company put up light boxes in various cities. Boston's populace flew into a panic when (a) passerby (s) mistook the box for a bomb and their crack police force spent a lot of resources defusing an advertisement. Turner (the company that owns Cartoon Network, and thus [as]) settled the matter in court for $2M, paying the city for the resources used and 'donating' to training and awareness programs.
Now, after all of this, Mr. Samples has actually stepped down, taking responsibility.
This is the most ridiculous series of knee jerk reactions I've ever seen. The fact that this was a ludicrously inexpensive marketing campaign makes it even funnier. I just don't understand this. I mean, I suppose the fact that this cost Tuner $2M might seem like a big deal, but, how much does advertising cost a company, really? This can't be written off as a reasonable expense?
Whatever, I guess I won't feel too bad, I'm sure the guy made more money than he deserved, and likely won't be heading for a life in a cardboard box. That doesn't mean it makes a lot of sense.
THIS LINK PLAYS A VIDEO THAT IS NSFW!
If you don't understand that, NSFW means Not Safe For Work. While you probably shouldn't even be reading random blogs at work, I'm sure, this video contains boobies... really great boobies, so, do yourself a favor, e-mail yourself the link and check it out when you get home.
Denmark gets hot naked chicks to hold up signs to convince drivers to slow down.
I really think that MNDOT needs to adopt this methodology, although, with wind chills in the negative double digits, I'm sure there might need to be some kind of adaptation. But, something must be done... I have a renewed interest traffic safety, that's for sure.
Need to make a quick buck? How about a quick 25 million bucks...
A $25M bounty has been offered to anyone who can come up with a remove 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere a year.
That's right, it's just that easy.
I'm going to try breeding massive lizard creatures that breathe CO2. My goal is to make them big enough to put their heads into lower ionosphere. Keep your fingers crossed, I might be moving up in the world.
I don't like Rolling Stone Magazine.
I don't. This artiblog is dumb. I get what they're trying to say, but, it's just dumb. Don't even bother to read it.
N and Soldat - 2 great games for free!
N... I still can't get enough of this simple platformer, I've mentioned it before, and I may mention it again...
Soldat... I just tried it, but, it harks back to the days of IPX/SPX networked games of Abuse. Try it out, I love platformers, they're the classic cool!
Welcome Chinese people!
I keep an eye on my traffic here, which, while not stellar, it is steady, and there are actually a few people that seem to be keeping tabs on this thing.
To you I say WORD!
However, something strange... over the last week, I've had quite a few hits from China. Stranger still, they have no referring link... it's as if they just out of the blue typed fyrephlie.blogspot.com into their browsers...
Anyway, WELCOME COMMUNISTS! ENJOY YOUR VISITS!
Also, I'd like to welcome folks from: U.K., France, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, Canadia, Pakistan, and Redmond Washington (yes, that's right, there's actually a hit from tide503.microsoft.com, which I assume is some sort of bot/spider, though it's referring from this google search).
Anyway, just thought I'd take a moment to recognize my readers. ;)
That's all folks....
I'll see you right here next time!
For now, however, on with the links!
Cartoon Network CEO Takes the Fall!
This is almost sickening, a CNN Money article talks about Jim Samples, the (former) CEO of Cartoon Network, resigning over the advertising snafu I talked about previously.
Basically, [adult swim]'s aqua teen hunger force has a movie coming out. To promote it, a marketing company put up light boxes in various cities. Boston's populace flew into a panic when (a) passerby (s) mistook the box for a bomb and their crack police force spent a lot of resources defusing an advertisement. Turner (the company that owns Cartoon Network, and thus [as]) settled the matter in court for $2M, paying the city for the resources used and 'donating' to training and awareness programs.
Now, after all of this, Mr. Samples has actually stepped down, taking responsibility.
This is the most ridiculous series of knee jerk reactions I've ever seen. The fact that this was a ludicrously inexpensive marketing campaign makes it even funnier. I just don't understand this. I mean, I suppose the fact that this cost Tuner $2M might seem like a big deal, but, how much does advertising cost a company, really? This can't be written off as a reasonable expense?
Whatever, I guess I won't feel too bad, I'm sure the guy made more money than he deserved, and likely won't be heading for a life in a cardboard box. That doesn't mean it makes a lot of sense.
THIS LINK PLAYS A VIDEO THAT IS NSFW!
If you don't understand that, NSFW means Not Safe For Work. While you probably shouldn't even be reading random blogs at work, I'm sure, this video contains boobies... really great boobies, so, do yourself a favor, e-mail yourself the link and check it out when you get home.
Denmark gets hot naked chicks to hold up signs to convince drivers to slow down.
I really think that MNDOT needs to adopt this methodology, although, with wind chills in the negative double digits, I'm sure there might need to be some kind of adaptation. But, something must be done... I have a renewed interest traffic safety, that's for sure.
Need to make a quick buck? How about a quick 25 million bucks...
A $25M bounty has been offered to anyone who can come up with a remove 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere a year.
That's right, it's just that easy.
I'm going to try breeding massive lizard creatures that breathe CO2. My goal is to make them big enough to put their heads into lower ionosphere. Keep your fingers crossed, I might be moving up in the world.
I don't like Rolling Stone Magazine.
I don't. This artiblog is dumb. I get what they're trying to say, but, it's just dumb. Don't even bother to read it.
N and Soldat - 2 great games for free!
N... I still can't get enough of this simple platformer, I've mentioned it before, and I may mention it again...
Soldat... I just tried it, but, it harks back to the days of IPX/SPX networked games of Abuse. Try it out, I love platformers, they're the classic cool!
Welcome Chinese people!
I keep an eye on my traffic here, which, while not stellar, it is steady, and there are actually a few people that seem to be keeping tabs on this thing.
To you I say WORD!
However, something strange... over the last week, I've had quite a few hits from China. Stranger still, they have no referring link... it's as if they just out of the blue typed fyrephlie.blogspot.com into their browsers...
Anyway, WELCOME COMMUNISTS! ENJOY YOUR VISITS!
Also, I'd like to welcome folks from: U.K., France, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, Canadia, Pakistan, and Redmond Washington (yes, that's right, there's actually a hit from tide503.microsoft.com, which I assume is some sort of bot/spider, though it's referring from this google search).
Anyway, just thought I'd take a moment to recognize my readers. ;)
That's all folks....
I'll see you right here next time!
Friday, February 9, 2007
Some things to think about....
In essence, I'm going to post some articles,
and then editorialize their contents. It's not new, so, let's get on with it...
First, a follow-up...
So, a couple days ago, I mentioned, in passing, that Steve Jobs had written an open letter talking about the future of digital music and DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Today, the Chicago Sun Times is reporting that EMI, who owns is in talks with online retailers about selling their music DRM free. We're not talking about a few songs here and there, like some others are considering, but EVERYTHING, their entire catalog of music. Considering they are in control of such assets as The Rolling Stones, Norah Jones and Coldplay, that's a pretty interesting consideration.
I thought it was an interesting follow-up, coming on the heels of Steve Jobs's editorial. It's pretty clear that his letter had nothing to do with the decision, because EMI has been testing the idea for months, and certainly, record label execs aren't likely to just abandon their current strategies in just a few days because of something a computer mogul like Jobs' said, but now I wonder if his letter had anything to do with the impending news of EMI's DRM destruction.
Food for thought.
Porn industry may NOT be the deciding factor, after all.
Another follow-up, where I had mentioned that the Porn Idustry might be the deciding vote for the HD-DVD vs. BluRay controversy, as they were for the VHS vs. BetaMax rift so very many years ago, it seems, according to this article, that the numbers they are putting up regarding their sales numbers and what kind of effect they might have on the world my be slightly 'inflated'.
I can't help be say that it's not hard to believe the numbers that were thrown around, based entirely on the firm knowledge that people loves them some pr0nZoRz, but, it seems that, while not uncommon in the world of sex and such, some exaggerations might have been made.
World's biggest waste of webpage?
The maker's of this site claim to be the 'World's Highest Website', and oddly, it has nothing to do with weed. It's actually a CSS experiment, CSS or Cascading Style Sheets, are basically exactly what they sound like, though, the technology behind them is a little more complex. Literally, it's a sheet, that can be layered over others to provide a uniform style to a site. Make sense? Good.
The reality is that the web page you load has a source consisting of only about 55 lines of html, yet, if you actually scroll down through the page it will take you hours, because, it's designed to be 11.769 miles high. Silly, yes? Waste of time, perhaps, but, it's funny none-the-less.
Zie German's are looking to ban freedom to deny...
This article on bbc.com talks about the German's wish to push through measures that would criminalize speaking out in denial of the holocaust, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
I've read a few posts discussing the topic, where people are claiming 'the Nazis are still in charge', and it's wrong to deny freedom of speech, no matter what the topic. The thing to understand that Germany doesn't have freedom of speech, and, as whole, has been, since WWII, a hugely xenophobic country, trying desperately to stamp out any negative public speech that might portray the country in a negative light. It's not hard to understand why, since the country was responsible for so very many atrocities. They've even banned video games that have anything to do with WWII imagry, such has Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and have even pushed for games like Call of Duty and Company of Heroes to be banned within their borders. On top of that, a lot of other media that broaches on subjects of WWII, religion, and violence are banned within the country.
So, why are people so surprised by this?
I don't think it's right to ban free speech, even if what someone is saying is really stupid. Of course the holocaust happened, it's generally accepted, but, there's no reason you can't say it didn't.
Excellent Video!
This is a video of a group of people throwing dynamite into a pond and then riding the waves out on a surfboard. Many people, the world over have screamed "FAKE" as if it wasn't painfully obvious when you reach the end of the video and see the 'Quicksilver' logo. It's a viral marketing campaign, and I think it's working pretty well. There's no need to break out your engineering degree and tell people that there's no way to displace that volume of water with dynamite, etc...
Check it out, because it's still a lot of fun to watch.
Thai women ends up lost for 25 years... no she's gone home...
I know it's my cultural insensitivity, but, I can't see how this story is even possible, much less plausible. I suppose, when you lay out the facts as reported, it's plausible, but, it just makes my head hurt.
A synopsis: Woman in remote part of Thailand gets on bus to neighboring Malaysia, then, mistakenly gets on bus to Bangkok, then, when unable to communicate, speaking an obscure Malay dialect called Yawi, she gets on another bus to somewhere else that's wrong. In the end, she ends up in a homeless shelter for a couple decades, until a student checking out homelessness for a project over hears her singing an old song, places the dialect, and helps her to get home.
The article can be found here. I think my only problem is that, as a father of only 2 children, I couldn't be separated from my children, no matter what the odds, I would fight my way home, I wouldn't ever just settle down in a homeless shelter and prepare to die. This woman left 7 children behind in 1982... it just doesn't make sense. On top of that, it seems like, just from talking to enough people who speak a SIMILAR LANGUAGE, that you might be able to pick up enough to be able to relay your predicament, and appeal to peoples sense of decency to help you get home. I mean, really, you can't say that it would take you more than a few years to pick up another language in complete immersion.
I can't help but laugh, however, that the story was written by someone named Rapee Mama. Sorry, but that's just... funny to me.
Family in CA tries to sell painting for college money.
According to this article, a family in California put up a painting they'd had for auction. They hoped to sell it for a few bucks, recognizing that it was very old, and therefore likely worth something. The auction house they brought it to was unable to authenticate it, however, in the end, a rumor about it being a lost work of an Italian master, Pier Francesco Mola, from the 17th century bumped the bidding all the way of to $600K. Talk about cash in the attic.
Brain Scanner?
There's a lot of buzz about this new contraption, which can, we're told, read the brain patterns of a person and predict their behavior / intentions. The guardian has an article on the subject.
There's apparently a lot of ethical debate about the thing.
If it works, great... but, if there's even a margin for error....
Well, polygraphs aren't admissible in court in the U.S., I can't imagine that this will be.
The uses of the technology range from improving artificial limb interface, and mind controlled computers, to minority report style 'future crime' detection. The latter, which is mentioned in the article, escapes me, as I can't imagine that this is a ray-gun you can just point at people to get a read, how would you even know to hook people up to this machine to find out if they are going to commit a crime?
The future of operating systems!
As you may have noticed, I have a lot of interest in technology, so, it's no surprise that I read a lot of articles about Operating Systems.
This article didn't escape my purview as it's an estimation about the coming age of the OS world.
I think it's pretty well written, it touches on current standards and the likely-hood of modularization of OS's, the *nix condition, and the fact that Mac OS is actually drawing customers from the linux world simply because the new Mac OS hardware can run Windows. It discusses the idea of pure internet based applications and OS systems, and, also talks a little about the current, and impending rifts of the OSS community.
It's a good read, though, much of the suggestions have been floating around since the late 90's, a fact the writer actually calls to light.
and finally, half life 2: episode 2, the one driving force in video games keeping me going...
it's been announced hl2:ep2 will be delayed even farther in to 2007, being pushed back now until sometime closer to 2008. but, on top of this horrible news, they've also announced the box art for the 2 editions. they will be 'black' and 'orange'. it's obvious that the box art is NOT what keeps causing the delays.
it's amazing what these talented folks can come up with...
*le sigh*
they're damn lucky that i love the game, and that portals looks like it's going to be the best thing since sliced bread.
and then editorialize their contents. It's not new, so, let's get on with it...
First, a follow-up...
So, a couple days ago, I mentioned, in passing, that Steve Jobs had written an open letter talking about the future of digital music and DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Today, the Chicago Sun Times is reporting that EMI, who owns is in talks with online retailers about selling their music DRM free. We're not talking about a few songs here and there, like some others are considering, but EVERYTHING, their entire catalog of music. Considering they are in control of such assets as The Rolling Stones, Norah Jones and Coldplay, that's a pretty interesting consideration.
I thought it was an interesting follow-up, coming on the heels of Steve Jobs's editorial. It's pretty clear that his letter had nothing to do with the decision, because EMI has been testing the idea for months, and certainly, record label execs aren't likely to just abandon their current strategies in just a few days because of something a computer mogul like Jobs' said, but now I wonder if his letter had anything to do with the impending news of EMI's DRM destruction.
Food for thought.
Porn industry may NOT be the deciding factor, after all.
Another follow-up, where I had mentioned that the Porn Idustry might be the deciding vote for the HD-DVD vs. BluRay controversy, as they were for the VHS vs. BetaMax rift so very many years ago, it seems, according to this article, that the numbers they are putting up regarding their sales numbers and what kind of effect they might have on the world my be slightly 'inflated'.
I can't help be say that it's not hard to believe the numbers that were thrown around, based entirely on the firm knowledge that people loves them some pr0nZoRz, but, it seems that, while not uncommon in the world of sex and such, some exaggerations might have been made.
World's biggest waste of webpage?
The maker's of this site claim to be the 'World's Highest Website', and oddly, it has nothing to do with weed. It's actually a CSS experiment, CSS or Cascading Style Sheets, are basically exactly what they sound like, though, the technology behind them is a little more complex. Literally, it's a sheet, that can be layered over others to provide a uniform style to a site. Make sense? Good.
The reality is that the web page you load has a source consisting of only about 55 lines of html, yet, if you actually scroll down through the page it will take you hours, because, it's designed to be 11.769 miles high. Silly, yes? Waste of time, perhaps, but, it's funny none-the-less.
Zie German's are looking to ban freedom to deny...
This article on bbc.com talks about the German's wish to push through measures that would criminalize speaking out in denial of the holocaust, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
I've read a few posts discussing the topic, where people are claiming 'the Nazis are still in charge', and it's wrong to deny freedom of speech, no matter what the topic. The thing to understand that Germany doesn't have freedom of speech, and, as whole, has been, since WWII, a hugely xenophobic country, trying desperately to stamp out any negative public speech that might portray the country in a negative light. It's not hard to understand why, since the country was responsible for so very many atrocities. They've even banned video games that have anything to do with WWII imagry, such has Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and have even pushed for games like Call of Duty and Company of Heroes to be banned within their borders. On top of that, a lot of other media that broaches on subjects of WWII, religion, and violence are banned within the country.
So, why are people so surprised by this?
I don't think it's right to ban free speech, even if what someone is saying is really stupid. Of course the holocaust happened, it's generally accepted, but, there's no reason you can't say it didn't.
Excellent Video!
This is a video of a group of people throwing dynamite into a pond and then riding the waves out on a surfboard. Many people, the world over have screamed "FAKE" as if it wasn't painfully obvious when you reach the end of the video and see the 'Quicksilver' logo. It's a viral marketing campaign, and I think it's working pretty well. There's no need to break out your engineering degree and tell people that there's no way to displace that volume of water with dynamite, etc...
Check it out, because it's still a lot of fun to watch.
Thai women ends up lost for 25 years... no she's gone home...
I know it's my cultural insensitivity, but, I can't see how this story is even possible, much less plausible. I suppose, when you lay out the facts as reported, it's plausible, but, it just makes my head hurt.
A synopsis: Woman in remote part of Thailand gets on bus to neighboring Malaysia, then, mistakenly gets on bus to Bangkok, then, when unable to communicate, speaking an obscure Malay dialect called Yawi, she gets on another bus to somewhere else that's wrong. In the end, she ends up in a homeless shelter for a couple decades, until a student checking out homelessness for a project over hears her singing an old song, places the dialect, and helps her to get home.
The article can be found here. I think my only problem is that, as a father of only 2 children, I couldn't be separated from my children, no matter what the odds, I would fight my way home, I wouldn't ever just settle down in a homeless shelter and prepare to die. This woman left 7 children behind in 1982... it just doesn't make sense. On top of that, it seems like, just from talking to enough people who speak a SIMILAR LANGUAGE, that you might be able to pick up enough to be able to relay your predicament, and appeal to peoples sense of decency to help you get home. I mean, really, you can't say that it would take you more than a few years to pick up another language in complete immersion.
I can't help but laugh, however, that the story was written by someone named Rapee Mama. Sorry, but that's just... funny to me.
Family in CA tries to sell painting for college money.
According to this article, a family in California put up a painting they'd had for auction. They hoped to sell it for a few bucks, recognizing that it was very old, and therefore likely worth something. The auction house they brought it to was unable to authenticate it, however, in the end, a rumor about it being a lost work of an Italian master, Pier Francesco Mola, from the 17th century bumped the bidding all the way of to $600K. Talk about cash in the attic.
Brain Scanner?
There's a lot of buzz about this new contraption, which can, we're told, read the brain patterns of a person and predict their behavior / intentions. The guardian has an article on the subject.
There's apparently a lot of ethical debate about the thing.
If it works, great... but, if there's even a margin for error....
Well, polygraphs aren't admissible in court in the U.S., I can't imagine that this will be.
The uses of the technology range from improving artificial limb interface, and mind controlled computers, to minority report style 'future crime' detection. The latter, which is mentioned in the article, escapes me, as I can't imagine that this is a ray-gun you can just point at people to get a read, how would you even know to hook people up to this machine to find out if they are going to commit a crime?
The future of operating systems!
As you may have noticed, I have a lot of interest in technology, so, it's no surprise that I read a lot of articles about Operating Systems.
This article didn't escape my purview as it's an estimation about the coming age of the OS world.
I think it's pretty well written, it touches on current standards and the likely-hood of modularization of OS's, the *nix condition, and the fact that Mac OS is actually drawing customers from the linux world simply because the new Mac OS hardware can run Windows. It discusses the idea of pure internet based applications and OS systems, and, also talks a little about the current, and impending rifts of the OSS community.
It's a good read, though, much of the suggestions have been floating around since the late 90's, a fact the writer actually calls to light.
and finally, half life 2: episode 2, the one driving force in video games keeping me going...
it's been announced hl2:ep2 will be delayed even farther in to 2007, being pushed back now until sometime closer to 2008. but, on top of this horrible news, they've also announced the box art for the 2 editions. they will be 'black' and 'orange'. it's obvious that the box art is NOT what keeps causing the delays.
it's amazing what these talented folks can come up with...
*le sigh*
they're damn lucky that i love the game, and that portals looks like it's going to be the best thing since sliced bread.
It's been a while...
... since I've bothered to say much of anything of a personal nature on this blog. I really have been feeling rather guarded lately, actually, or perhaps I'm just becoming more of a sociopath than ever. I feel far less than it seems like I should... because, in all honesty, there's a lot of massive life things looming over me. On top of that, my birthday is coming up, and, as a whole, I'm feeling like I should be in a pretty deep depression. But I don't feel much of anything.
Perhaps I'm broken.
A couple of photos...
I finally put up a couple of photos on deviantArt. I've been wanting to try out a few macro shots. Tomorrow, if I get a chance, I might take a few more shots... check out my 'dA journal' for more information on that whole thing...
Perhaps I'm broken.
A couple of photos...
I finally put up a couple of photos on deviantArt. I've been wanting to try out a few macro shots. Tomorrow, if I get a chance, I might take a few more shots... check out my 'dA journal' for more information on that whole thing...
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Over-caffeinated
An Early Birthday Present for Me!!!
Over the last couple years, I've grown to appreciate coffee, mostly from having jobs where it was more freely available. The reality is that I'm more or less a coffee snob. So, when it came to light that I was making coffee only on occasion in my home using a 5 year old, $5 coffee maker, my family decided this wasn't acceptable. So, I received an upgrade! Happy birthday to me!
It's good, I'll tell you what! I've been drinking some excellent Ghirardelli double chocolate organic whole bean... mmmmmmm... Thank God for Costco...
Steve Jobs is against DRM?
DRM. Digital Rights Management.
The devil? Perhaps.
Steve Jobs has just released an editorial entitled 'thoughts on music'. In it, he basically lays down some thoughts on the current state and the future of digital music.
The truth of the matter is that digital music IS the future of music. There's no denying this. The problem is that there's so many people with their hands in the pot, trying desperately to get their share.
Steve Jobs editorial basically talks about how things are, how things might go, and how he wants things to be. In essence, however, he's urging record companies to stop forcing digital rights management, and, in turn, open up the market.
It's a pretty interesting read. I'm not entirely sure about his math... at least how he comes up with the figure that 3% of music on all iPods is actually DRM'd music purchased via iTunes. How does he come up with this? Simple: He takes 90 Million (the number of iPods sold), 2 billion (the number of songs sold on iTunes), 1000 (the number of songs 'todays most popular iPods' can hold), and the fact that the majority of iPods are filled to capacity or near capacity, and then gets creative. Are you ready?
90M iPods divided by 2B songs = 22 songs per iPod.
alright, that seems reasonable. now for some magic, you still with me.
22 purchased songs into the 1000 songs (remember, the most popular iPods hold this many songs, and they know they are filled to capacity...) = 3%.
Yep, that's some solid mathematics right there. I know that it's meant to be an illustration, but you'd think a genius of his caliber might be a little more realistic.
Anyway, all that aside, there's an article on the BBC World News about it, which has some interesting replies. It's interesting all around, but, I can't say that even Steve Jobs has enough clout to really get anyone up the ladder in the recording industry to really pay much attention, but, it's something.
Mac Users Whining Like Little Bitches...
This.... is unbelievable. This "article" ,entitled 'Microsoft Slugs Mac Users with Vista Tax', basically says that Microsoft is punishing Mac users by forcing them to by a more expensive version of Vista if they want to run the operating system on their Macs.
Apparently someone actually took the time to read the EULA (End User License Agreement) for Windows Vista. It seems that Home Basic, Home Premium, and Business include the following verbiage:
What this means, basically, is that you cannot use these versions of windows under a a virtual system, such as VMWare, or, via parallels on MacOS X based systems.
However, you can install the Enterprise version, or Ultimate, as the EULA states:
So, what they are saying is that, if you want to use their OS on anything but a native x86 or x64 based computer, you have to use the more expensive versions. Of course, all of this is based on interpretation, it could easily be read that you can't use the same license on the same machine for virtualization. This is why I'm not a lawyer, and, the guy who wrote said article probably isn't either... but, let's assume this interpretation is accurate.
For reference, the full versions of Windows are as follows:
Vista Home Basic, $199.99
Vista Home Premium, $239.99
Vista Business, $299.99
Vista Enterprise, $299.99
Vista Ultimate, $399.99
Here's why I'm laughing so hard at this moron. First, we're talking about using an OS in an unnatural setting, it stands to reason that Microsoft, apart from money reasons, may believe it to be in the end user's best interest to use a more advanced version of Vista. Second, pay for windows? Third, we're talking about a situation where you're using Vista for reasons other than standard day to day use. Honestly, no one runs an OS under a virtual machine because they need it for productivity reasons. They do it because there are applications they want access to, or they want to be able to test various software (programs, code, web pages, graphics, whatever...) under an environment outside of their own.
The last reason, and this is truly hilarious. Mac users gladly fork over $129 or so EVERY YEAR for another big-cat themed version of Max OS X... and for reference, we're up to about $650 worth of Mac OS X software since it's original release (that is, after leopard drops in a couple months here...). Are you following? Mac users blindly give out money by nature. It's part of what defines them. And why wouldn't they, every time a new version of OS X comes out most of their software stops working, and they have to re-buy that too, because if they don't it won't be supported anymore anyway. Does anyone really think that Mac users are really going to scoff over an extra $100? They already spent several hundred dollars more just to get a Mac.
Now, on top of that, you CAN in fact run any version of Vista under 'bootcamp', macs new dual booting system, so, the only victims here are 'developers', who would likely be purchasing the more powerful versions of windows anyway.
AND! (Yes, I'm not done). Mac OS X cannot be installed on a standard PC, or run through a Virtual Machine without some severe patching and editing, which means that you aren't paying for it at all, but pirating it instead. So, it's ok for Apple to prevent the use of ALL of their software on a PC, but Microsoft can't slightly limit how their software is used under 'virtual environments'?
I hereby call shenanigans!
More Adventures in Vista-land!
So, I finally got around to installing Half-Life 2 again. It had been lying dormant, hidden away for a while, but every time I make significant hardware / system changes, I like to pull it out and see what it can do.
Since I'm running a more powerful video card and 3GB of ram, as well as dual booting the retail Vista Ultimate and XP Pro SP2, I thought it was time to dust it off and see what's up. Besides, I've been doing so much comparison lately, it seems only fitting that my favorite game gets a side by side too.
For reference, from here on out, understand how I have my system set up... under both operating systems I am running Anti-Virus / Anti-Spyware, however, as I've mentioned before, my XP system is a more 'tweaked' because I'm more used to what is needed to make the system run. For drivers I am running Forceware 93.71 under XP (the latest WHQL release) and Forceware 100.54 (latest BETA!!! release). In both scenarios, I am running at 1680 x 1050 resolution, all settings are highest (including FULL HDR, Reflect All, 4x / 16x).
So, I will say that I had read some horror stories about getting HL2 to run under Vista, however, when I finally got the system up and running, it launched fine. It even activates in 64-bit mode automatically, no command line settings needed.
Now, let me say, just as an aside, that I hate Steam. I also love Steam, but, I think there's a lot of things they could be doing better. Here's the deal, I run a very high speed connection, Comcast gives me a 12MB/s download speed, yet, for some reason, while trying to download the game files, I was hardly getting better than 100KB/s, and for a while, barely getting more than 12-20KB/s. It's really sad that they don't seem to be able to handle high speed downloading, because, for free I can download stuff all over the 'net much faster, but for this, that I've paid money, I can't get more than a crawl. On the flipside, I have to admit that I really love the idea of not needing CD's or DVD's to install all of the games on Steam that I 'digitally own'. As long as their in business, I will alwasy have access. That's pretty cool. And, from now on, I'll be doing regular disc back-ups so that I don't have to endure such slow downloads. Now back to our regularly scheduled program....
Once I got HL2 launched, I began at the beginning, which is a good place to start in this game. It was smooth as glass, and the only issue that I ran into was that there was a slight hitch in the Audio when the system was accessing the speech files (for example, when Dr. Breen is addressing the new arrivals on their way to Nova Prospekt). However, my frame rate was good, and even the 'slight' hitching every so often, it felt smoother now than it ever had. I'll be honest, I didn't feel a difference under Vista than I did under XP. I tried both a few times just to be sure, also, that audio hitch was present under XP, but it was much more subtle, I had to really listen to hear when it was happening.
On to Half Life 2: Lost Coast, which is an AWESOME FREE BENCHMARK! I fired up the stress test, using the above settings. Under Vista, I scored a 53.8 fps. A solid score for sure, however, under XP, I scored a more respectable 68.9 fps. Now, this is a far cry from the 1-2 frame per second disparity many gaming sites are reporting on their benchmarks, but, it's not a big enough difference to make me reboot just to play HL2.
Now, for the sake of 'showing off' a little, I thought I would post some screen shots of Episode 1, because, this card supports full HDR, High Dynamic Range, and it's SOOOOO pretty! Be warned, these are fairly large images, and if you're not using a screen with higher resolution than mine, they'll require some scrolling...
Check 'em:
Apart from the gaming, I did want to mention something that I find absolutely maddening. I looked at Windows Live! OneCare, which is Microsoft's Anti-Virus software, and discovered that, while it supports Windows Vista, it does not support the 64-bit version. How ridiculous is that? It's not like I was really likely to pay for Anti-Virus software, but, I'm still amazed that there's not x64 support. It seems like they would have come up with that by now, especially when the free version of Avast! that I'm using has native 64-bit support.... and it's FREE!!!
Not Safe for... Well, Anyone...
Ah, The Onion. The world's greatest recyclers of the same 15-20 jokes, and regurgitation pop culture references. This is an article from 1998 that was re-posted on a forum, I'd actually forgotten how funny it is. I will post the title, and hopefully you can decide if it's appropriate for YOU to read...
Why Do All These Homosexuals Keep Sucking My Cock?
Final Thoughts?
The title of this section indications that I've had thoughts prior to this, which, you might guess is not the case, but either way, it is what it is....
You may notice that I am using CaPitAl LetTerS, which is a bit of a depature from my usual lowercase methodology. I've decided to, at least temporarily, lift my long time boycott of capital letters. Why? No idea, but, it's happened, so, you'll need to get over it.
Tomorrow (Thursday, February 8th, 2007) will be my older daughter's parent/teacher conference. I'm eager to hear what she has to say about my daughter, and her incredible brilliance! :)
Also, in other child related news, Tristan (said daughter) turns 7 on March 2nd! March 3rd will be her birthday party, which we are doing at a skating rink! It should be a lot of fun, because it will also be her first REAL birthday part y (where she'll be inviting all of her little friends from school, something we haven't done before). I've talked it over with my ex-wife, and she will be allowing the party to take place on Saturday, when Tristan would normally be at her Mother's. It's not much of a change, but, still, it's nice that she's not nixing the whole thing in favor of 'Mommy / Daughter' time. We'll still both be doing separate 'family parties', her family when she has her on the weekend, my family when I have her during the week. I'm pretty excited though, I haven't been roller skating since I was in Middle School, so, it should be.... interesting. :)
I'll be making some invitations tomorrow or Friday, because the 'downloadable' ones that I can use from the Skate Place are pretty lame. When I get them done, I will post an example for you to see. When I said that I was making invitations, it was pointed out that these were going to 6 and 7 year olds, so, I don't need to go over the top... so, I will have to try and hold back on the crazy eye-candy... ;)
Oh, the cold snap is coming to an end... hooray... my car will be happy starting again! :)
Over the last couple years, I've grown to appreciate coffee, mostly from having jobs where it was more freely available. The reality is that I'm more or less a coffee snob. So, when it came to light that I was making coffee only on occasion in my home using a 5 year old, $5 coffee maker, my family decided this wasn't acceptable. So, I received an upgrade! Happy birthday to me!
It's good, I'll tell you what! I've been drinking some excellent Ghirardelli double chocolate organic whole bean... mmmmmmm... Thank God for Costco...
Steve Jobs is against DRM?
DRM. Digital Rights Management.
The devil? Perhaps.
Steve Jobs has just released an editorial entitled 'thoughts on music'. In it, he basically lays down some thoughts on the current state and the future of digital music.
The truth of the matter is that digital music IS the future of music. There's no denying this. The problem is that there's so many people with their hands in the pot, trying desperately to get their share.
Steve Jobs editorial basically talks about how things are, how things might go, and how he wants things to be. In essence, however, he's urging record companies to stop forcing digital rights management, and, in turn, open up the market.
It's a pretty interesting read. I'm not entirely sure about his math... at least how he comes up with the figure that 3% of music on all iPods is actually DRM'd music purchased via iTunes. How does he come up with this? Simple: He takes 90 Million (the number of iPods sold), 2 billion (the number of songs sold on iTunes), 1000 (the number of songs 'todays most popular iPods' can hold), and the fact that the majority of iPods are filled to capacity or near capacity, and then gets creative. Are you ready?
90M iPods divided by 2B songs = 22 songs per iPod.
alright, that seems reasonable. now for some magic, you still with me.
22 purchased songs into the 1000 songs (remember, the most popular iPods hold this many songs, and they know they are filled to capacity...) = 3%.
Yep, that's some solid mathematics right there. I know that it's meant to be an illustration, but you'd think a genius of his caliber might be a little more realistic.
Anyway, all that aside, there's an article on the BBC World News about it, which has some interesting replies. It's interesting all around, but, I can't say that even Steve Jobs has enough clout to really get anyone up the ladder in the recording industry to really pay much attention, but, it's something.
Mac Users Whining Like Little Bitches...
This.... is unbelievable. This "article" ,entitled 'Microsoft Slugs Mac Users with Vista Tax', basically says that Microsoft is punishing Mac users by forcing them to by a more expensive version of Vista if they want to run the operating system on their Macs.
Apparently someone actually took the time to read the EULA (End User License Agreement) for Windows Vista. It seems that Home Basic, Home Premium, and Business include the following verbiage:
“You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system"
What this means, basically, is that you cannot use these versions of windows under a a virtual system, such as VMWare, or, via parallels on MacOS X based systems.
However, you can install the Enterprise version, or Ultimate, as the EULA states:
“You may use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed device. If you do so, you may not play or access content or use applications protected by any Microsoft digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other Microsoft rights management services or use BitLocker. We advise against playing or accessing content or using applications protected by other digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other rights management services or using full volume disk drive encryption.”
So, what they are saying is that, if you want to use their OS on anything but a native x86 or x64 based computer, you have to use the more expensive versions. Of course, all of this is based on interpretation, it could easily be read that you can't use the same license on the same machine for virtualization. This is why I'm not a lawyer, and, the guy who wrote said article probably isn't either... but, let's assume this interpretation is accurate.
For reference, the full versions of Windows are as follows:
Vista Home Basic, $199.99
Vista Home Premium, $239.99
Vista Business, $299.99
Vista Enterprise, $299.99
Vista Ultimate, $399.99
Here's why I'm laughing so hard at this moron. First, we're talking about using an OS in an unnatural setting, it stands to reason that Microsoft, apart from money reasons, may believe it to be in the end user's best interest to use a more advanced version of Vista. Second, pay for windows? Third, we're talking about a situation where you're using Vista for reasons other than standard day to day use. Honestly, no one runs an OS under a virtual machine because they need it for productivity reasons. They do it because there are applications they want access to, or they want to be able to test various software (programs, code, web pages, graphics, whatever...) under an environment outside of their own.
The last reason, and this is truly hilarious. Mac users gladly fork over $129 or so EVERY YEAR for another big-cat themed version of Max OS X... and for reference, we're up to about $650 worth of Mac OS X software since it's original release (that is, after leopard drops in a couple months here...). Are you following? Mac users blindly give out money by nature. It's part of what defines them. And why wouldn't they, every time a new version of OS X comes out most of their software stops working, and they have to re-buy that too, because if they don't it won't be supported anymore anyway. Does anyone really think that Mac users are really going to scoff over an extra $100? They already spent several hundred dollars more just to get a Mac.
Now, on top of that, you CAN in fact run any version of Vista under 'bootcamp', macs new dual booting system, so, the only victims here are 'developers', who would likely be purchasing the more powerful versions of windows anyway.
AND! (Yes, I'm not done). Mac OS X cannot be installed on a standard PC, or run through a Virtual Machine without some severe patching and editing, which means that you aren't paying for it at all, but pirating it instead. So, it's ok for Apple to prevent the use of ALL of their software on a PC, but Microsoft can't slightly limit how their software is used under 'virtual environments'?
I hereby call shenanigans!
More Adventures in Vista-land!
So, I finally got around to installing Half-Life 2 again. It had been lying dormant, hidden away for a while, but every time I make significant hardware / system changes, I like to pull it out and see what it can do.
Since I'm running a more powerful video card and 3GB of ram, as well as dual booting the retail Vista Ultimate and XP Pro SP2, I thought it was time to dust it off and see what's up. Besides, I've been doing so much comparison lately, it seems only fitting that my favorite game gets a side by side too.
For reference, from here on out, understand how I have my system set up... under both operating systems I am running Anti-Virus / Anti-Spyware, however, as I've mentioned before, my XP system is a more 'tweaked' because I'm more used to what is needed to make the system run. For drivers I am running Forceware 93.71 under XP (the latest WHQL release) and Forceware 100.54 (latest BETA!!! release). In both scenarios, I am running at 1680 x 1050 resolution, all settings are highest (including FULL HDR, Reflect All, 4x / 16x).
So, I will say that I had read some horror stories about getting HL2 to run under Vista, however, when I finally got the system up and running, it launched fine. It even activates in 64-bit mode automatically, no command line settings needed.
Now, let me say, just as an aside, that I hate Steam. I also love Steam, but, I think there's a lot of things they could be doing better. Here's the deal, I run a very high speed connection, Comcast gives me a 12MB/s download speed, yet, for some reason, while trying to download the game files, I was hardly getting better than 100KB/s, and for a while, barely getting more than 12-20KB/s. It's really sad that they don't seem to be able to handle high speed downloading, because, for free I can download stuff all over the 'net much faster, but for this, that I've paid money, I can't get more than a crawl. On the flipside, I have to admit that I really love the idea of not needing CD's or DVD's to install all of the games on Steam that I 'digitally own'. As long as their in business, I will alwasy have access. That's pretty cool. And, from now on, I'll be doing regular disc back-ups so that I don't have to endure such slow downloads. Now back to our regularly scheduled program....
Once I got HL2 launched, I began at the beginning, which is a good place to start in this game. It was smooth as glass, and the only issue that I ran into was that there was a slight hitch in the Audio when the system was accessing the speech files (for example, when Dr. Breen is addressing the new arrivals on their way to Nova Prospekt). However, my frame rate was good, and even the 'slight' hitching every so often, it felt smoother now than it ever had. I'll be honest, I didn't feel a difference under Vista than I did under XP. I tried both a few times just to be sure, also, that audio hitch was present under XP, but it was much more subtle, I had to really listen to hear when it was happening.
On to Half Life 2: Lost Coast, which is an AWESOME FREE BENCHMARK! I fired up the stress test, using the above settings. Under Vista, I scored a 53.8 fps. A solid score for sure, however, under XP, I scored a more respectable 68.9 fps. Now, this is a far cry from the 1-2 frame per second disparity many gaming sites are reporting on their benchmarks, but, it's not a big enough difference to make me reboot just to play HL2.
Now, for the sake of 'showing off' a little, I thought I would post some screen shots of Episode 1, because, this card supports full HDR, High Dynamic Range, and it's SOOOOO pretty! Be warned, these are fairly large images, and if you're not using a screen with higher resolution than mine, they'll require some scrolling...
Check 'em:
Apart from the gaming, I did want to mention something that I find absolutely maddening. I looked at Windows Live! OneCare, which is Microsoft's Anti-Virus software, and discovered that, while it supports Windows Vista, it does not support the 64-bit version. How ridiculous is that? It's not like I was really likely to pay for Anti-Virus software, but, I'm still amazed that there's not x64 support. It seems like they would have come up with that by now, especially when the free version of Avast! that I'm using has native 64-bit support.... and it's FREE!!!
Not Safe for... Well, Anyone...
Ah, The Onion. The world's greatest recyclers of the same 15-20 jokes, and regurgitation pop culture references. This is an article from 1998 that was re-posted on a forum, I'd actually forgotten how funny it is. I will post the title, and hopefully you can decide if it's appropriate for YOU to read...
Why Do All These Homosexuals Keep Sucking My Cock?
Final Thoughts?
The title of this section indications that I've had thoughts prior to this, which, you might guess is not the case, but either way, it is what it is....
You may notice that I am using CaPitAl LetTerS, which is a bit of a depature from my usual lowercase methodology. I've decided to, at least temporarily, lift my long time boycott of capital letters. Why? No idea, but, it's happened, so, you'll need to get over it.
Tomorrow (Thursday, February 8th, 2007) will be my older daughter's parent/teacher conference. I'm eager to hear what she has to say about my daughter, and her incredible brilliance! :)
Also, in other child related news, Tristan (said daughter) turns 7 on March 2nd! March 3rd will be her birthday party, which we are doing at a skating rink! It should be a lot of fun, because it will also be her first REAL birthday part y (where she'll be inviting all of her little friends from school, something we haven't done before). I've talked it over with my ex-wife, and she will be allowing the party to take place on Saturday, when Tristan would normally be at her Mother's. It's not much of a change, but, still, it's nice that she's not nixing the whole thing in favor of 'Mommy / Daughter' time. We'll still both be doing separate 'family parties', her family when she has her on the weekend, my family when I have her during the week. I'm pretty excited though, I haven't been roller skating since I was in Middle School, so, it should be.... interesting. :)
I'll be making some invitations tomorrow or Friday, because the 'downloadable' ones that I can use from the Skate Place are pretty lame. When I get them done, I will post an example for you to see. When I said that I was making invitations, it was pointed out that these were going to 6 and 7 year olds, so, I don't need to go over the top... so, I will have to try and hold back on the crazy eye-candy... ;)
Oh, the cold snap is coming to an end... hooray... my car will be happy starting again! :)
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
moral compass?
i'll start with a random thought...
i know that it's a topic that's been talked to death for years and years, i was thinking last night (when sleeping was not taking place, a common ailment), i wondered about the moral implications of fantasizing about immoral things.
not sick immorality like rape and murder, but plausible immorality like embezzlement and bank robbery....
hmm.
hooray for free stuff!!!
so, for some reason, perhaps my present blind love for pc gaming, i paged through a recent issue (issue 3, actually) of 'games for windows'. i know that it's simply a thinly veiled advertisement for microsoft licensed games. however, i've always had respect for the fellas over at 1up.com (though the c-net based gamespot.com is still my home for gaming info...), and since it's actually them that produce it, i felt a little less dirty for holding it's amazingly well constructedness... i mean, damn it's a pretty publication.
anyway, all that aside, in said issue (see the 'synopsis (i.e. SUBSCRIBE OH GOD PLEASE!!!) here) there's a section called 'freeloader's 101 free games', and, amazingly, the same information is simulhosted (look, i think i just made that word up!) on 1up.com here.
the front cover of the issue talks about that crossover game, which i seem to recall mentioning before.
anyway, the list of free games is actually pretty good. there's actually a few games that i've already played and loved, and more than a few that i've just tried and enjoyed, and even more than i need to find time to check out, because, as we all can agree, free stuff is AWESOME!!!
the one little gem that i found, at least, one that i feel is definitely worth mentioning (and expect that i might mention more as time goes on) is frets on fire, which you can get here.
a quick rundown... it's basically guitar hero for PC... the best part is that it's designed in a way that you'll pick up your keyboard to play, like an actual guitar hero controller!
sounds awesome (literally) and works pretty damn well. if you do a little googling, you can find yourself so more songs to play, too.
a desk that i feel i should have...
it's a mini cooper desk! you can't say anything bad about it! i dare you to! (man, if i had an infinite amount of money...)
ATHF stunt costs turner's [AS] as ass load of money!
if you hadn't heard... there was a bit of a snafu over some light boxes that were put up in a few cities to advertise for the new aqua teen hunger force movie. apparently, some 'morans' in boston thought that, ready... it was a bomb! yep. people are fucking stupid.
so, it's been reported by the new york times that turner and the city of boston reached a $2M settlement, half of which goes to the costs of defusing the non-existant bomb, the rest goes to readiness funds and public outreach.
i suppose the reality is that this is probably still drawing more attention than they would have otherwise, and will work out to be a cheaper marketing scheme in the long run anyway.
but still. people are dumb...
a quick mention on windows vista and games... 'cause, it's a part of my life right now...
extremetech.com has a great article where they run some tests on about 25 different games to see if and how well they run under windows vista.
there's some buzz that the openal project may actually fix some of the sound card hardware problems that have cropped up since the nice folks at microsoft decided to rebuild the sound stack from the ground up. creative is working on the ALchemy project, using openal to fix the fact that the sound hardware abstraction layer in vista is borked. currently in beta, it only supports the x-fi card, but, i assume that they will add audigy support before too long, if it works. of course, you'd think that there would be a better way to fix this problem, like work with the new HAL that microsoft built (i assume there is one, i haven't researched it too much yet...), and make the x-fi work native under windows again...
n-gage? 'in think not!' (sorry... obligatory inside joke...)
well, it seems that enough just isn't enough for the folks at nokia. after failing to get a foothold in the gaming market, not once, but twice now with the n-gage, they are DOING IT AGAIN, according to this article.
i've said this before, about many a product: it's a good idea on paper.
so's communism.
they've failed with this thing before, i can't see how they can expect not to fail again. i mean, if there's some MASSIVE improvement to the platform, and a HUGE drop in the cost of ownership, maybe... just maybe they might be on to something. but i just can't see them garnering any favor from the nintendo ds folks with this thing... it's just un-possible.
you can check out their 'semi-official' blog here. the device is due out Q4 of this year, so, we'll have to see...
(please note: i actually knew a guy with the thing (a qd even). he was ridiculed at every turn. while my cohorts and i were playing twisted metal ad-hoc on our psp's during our lunch breaks, this kid would sit in the corner booth and play bejeweled or some such shit. occasionally, he would get a phone call, where he would immediately have to go outside, and you could hear him shouting "WHAT", and "SORRY" when he had to get the other party to repeat themselves, or when he'd have to repeat himself... it was very comical)
and i'll leave you with some absolutely nerdery!
yes, this is, in fact, the nerdiest thing that could possible happen to you today.
star trek (the original series even) and... monty python: the search for the holy grail... AT THE SAME TIME!!!
NI!
i know that it's a topic that's been talked to death for years and years, i was thinking last night (when sleeping was not taking place, a common ailment), i wondered about the moral implications of fantasizing about immoral things.
not sick immorality like rape and murder, but plausible immorality like embezzlement and bank robbery....
hmm.
hooray for free stuff!!!
so, for some reason, perhaps my present blind love for pc gaming, i paged through a recent issue (issue 3, actually) of 'games for windows'. i know that it's simply a thinly veiled advertisement for microsoft licensed games. however, i've always had respect for the fellas over at 1up.com (though the c-net based gamespot.com is still my home for gaming info...), and since it's actually them that produce it, i felt a little less dirty for holding it's amazingly well constructedness... i mean, damn it's a pretty publication.
anyway, all that aside, in said issue (see the 'synopsis (i.e. SUBSCRIBE OH GOD PLEASE!!!) here) there's a section called 'freeloader's 101 free games', and, amazingly, the same information is simulhosted (look, i think i just made that word up!) on 1up.com here.
the front cover of the issue talks about that crossover game, which i seem to recall mentioning before.
anyway, the list of free games is actually pretty good. there's actually a few games that i've already played and loved, and more than a few that i've just tried and enjoyed, and even more than i need to find time to check out, because, as we all can agree, free stuff is AWESOME!!!
the one little gem that i found, at least, one that i feel is definitely worth mentioning (and expect that i might mention more as time goes on) is frets on fire, which you can get here.
a quick rundown... it's basically guitar hero for PC... the best part is that it's designed in a way that you'll pick up your keyboard to play, like an actual guitar hero controller!
sounds awesome (literally) and works pretty damn well. if you do a little googling, you can find yourself so more songs to play, too.
a desk that i feel i should have...
it's a mini cooper desk! you can't say anything bad about it! i dare you to! (man, if i had an infinite amount of money...)
ATHF stunt costs turner's [AS] as ass load of money!
if you hadn't heard... there was a bit of a snafu over some light boxes that were put up in a few cities to advertise for the new aqua teen hunger force movie. apparently, some 'morans' in boston thought that, ready... it was a bomb! yep. people are fucking stupid.
so, it's been reported by the new york times that turner and the city of boston reached a $2M settlement, half of which goes to the costs of defusing the non-existant bomb, the rest goes to readiness funds and public outreach.
i suppose the reality is that this is probably still drawing more attention than they would have otherwise, and will work out to be a cheaper marketing scheme in the long run anyway.
but still. people are dumb...
a quick mention on windows vista and games... 'cause, it's a part of my life right now...
extremetech.com has a great article where they run some tests on about 25 different games to see if and how well they run under windows vista.
there's some buzz that the openal project may actually fix some of the sound card hardware problems that have cropped up since the nice folks at microsoft decided to rebuild the sound stack from the ground up. creative is working on the ALchemy project, using openal to fix the fact that the sound hardware abstraction layer in vista is borked. currently in beta, it only supports the x-fi card, but, i assume that they will add audigy support before too long, if it works. of course, you'd think that there would be a better way to fix this problem, like work with the new HAL that microsoft built (i assume there is one, i haven't researched it too much yet...), and make the x-fi work native under windows again...
n-gage? 'in think not!' (sorry... obligatory inside joke...)
well, it seems that enough just isn't enough for the folks at nokia. after failing to get a foothold in the gaming market, not once, but twice now with the n-gage, they are DOING IT AGAIN, according to this article.
i've said this before, about many a product: it's a good idea on paper.
so's communism.
they've failed with this thing before, i can't see how they can expect not to fail again. i mean, if there's some MASSIVE improvement to the platform, and a HUGE drop in the cost of ownership, maybe... just maybe they might be on to something. but i just can't see them garnering any favor from the nintendo ds folks with this thing... it's just un-possible.
you can check out their 'semi-official' blog here. the device is due out Q4 of this year, so, we'll have to see...
(please note: i actually knew a guy with the thing (a qd even). he was ridiculed at every turn. while my cohorts and i were playing twisted metal ad-hoc on our psp's during our lunch breaks, this kid would sit in the corner booth and play bejeweled or some such shit. occasionally, he would get a phone call, where he would immediately have to go outside, and you could hear him shouting "WHAT", and "SORRY" when he had to get the other party to repeat themselves, or when he'd have to repeat himself... it was very comical)
and i'll leave you with some absolutely nerdery!
yes, this is, in fact, the nerdiest thing that could possible happen to you today.
star trek (the original series even) and... monty python: the search for the holy grail... AT THE SAME TIME!!!
NI!
Monday, February 5, 2007
the number 23
a quick note about a movie that really speaks to me...
i thought that i would take a minute to mention the new movie coming out: the number 23. before you ask why i'm talking about this semi-obscure movie... here's the main motivation:
my birthday is on february 23rd, my favorite number as always been 23 and... well... since this movie has the number 23 in its title, is all about the number 23 and comes out on february 23rd... besides that, any movie that has such a ludicrous number in it's title has got to be good! so, this post has a mulitple purposes, in that it allows me to point out that my birthday is coming up and let's me plug a movie that might actually be good....
so, here's the concept, jim carrey (yes, that jim carrey, the ace ventura pet detective mask cable guy inspector fire marshal bill burns, jim carrey), plays a man obsessed with a book that seems to point out an odd relationship to his life and the number 23. it seems to have something to do with a murder that's not yet been commited, but, apparently carrey believes that it will, and, if i'm not mistaken, he believes that he's the one to die.
the plot synopsis from imdb, as spartan as it is:
i've never been a huge fan of carrey, but, i certainly don't hate him to the point that i want him to die in a fire, and the guy's actually done a few things that i've really liked, and if the trailers are any indication, he actually plays a normal human in tis movie. and, as much as i might hate to admit it, i thought bruce almighty was actually pretty damn funny.
anyway, it's directed by joel schumacher, who, despite the fact that the 'ch' combination appears twice in his name with two different pronunciations, neither of which are the common usage, has had a rather sketchy directorial history. the only movies on his imdb profile that are worth mentioning are 8mm, Phone Booth, and The Lost Boys.
in addition, carrey stars opposite of virginia madsen, her imdb profile has her credited for some seventy-odd movies and television shows... very few of them worth paying even the slightest attention to.
so, with a semi uninteresting cast and a director who's not had the hottest track record of all time, the chances of this movie being great are about 50%... at best.
however, the trailer does make it look pretty good, which, i know is exactly what trailers are supposed to do, but, i've got my fingers crossed, because there's absolutely every sign, portent, or omen that this might be something worth my seeing....
if you believe in such coincidences...
to check out the trailer, go here, because the one on the official site is pretty low resolution, and of you make the mistake of clicking anywhere on the page while it's playing, you'll actually stop the damn thing... at least, that's what happened on my crappy laptop that hates me.
anyway, thank you very much for your time and consideration in this matter, as it's quite important to me...
also, i'll be expecting many gifts. thank you.
i thought that i would take a minute to mention the new movie coming out: the number 23. before you ask why i'm talking about this semi-obscure movie... here's the main motivation:
my birthday is on february 23rd, my favorite number as always been 23 and... well... since this movie has the number 23 in its title, is all about the number 23 and comes out on february 23rd... besides that, any movie that has such a ludicrous number in it's title has got to be good! so, this post has a mulitple purposes, in that it allows me to point out that my birthday is coming up and let's me plug a movie that might actually be good....
so, here's the concept, jim carrey (yes, that jim carrey, the ace ventura pet detective mask cable guy inspector fire marshal bill burns, jim carrey), plays a man obsessed with a book that seems to point out an odd relationship to his life and the number 23. it seems to have something to do with a murder that's not yet been commited, but, apparently carrey believes that it will, and, if i'm not mistaken, he believes that he's the one to die.
the plot synopsis from imdb, as spartan as it is:
"A man (Carrey) becomes obsessed with a book that appears to be based on his life but ends with a murder that has yet to happen in real life."
i've never been a huge fan of carrey, but, i certainly don't hate him to the point that i want him to die in a fire, and the guy's actually done a few things that i've really liked, and if the trailers are any indication, he actually plays a normal human in tis movie. and, as much as i might hate to admit it, i thought bruce almighty was actually pretty damn funny.
anyway, it's directed by joel schumacher, who, despite the fact that the 'ch' combination appears twice in his name with two different pronunciations, neither of which are the common usage, has had a rather sketchy directorial history. the only movies on his imdb profile that are worth mentioning are 8mm, Phone Booth, and The Lost Boys.
in addition, carrey stars opposite of virginia madsen, her imdb profile has her credited for some seventy-odd movies and television shows... very few of them worth paying even the slightest attention to.
so, with a semi uninteresting cast and a director who's not had the hottest track record of all time, the chances of this movie being great are about 50%... at best.
however, the trailer does make it look pretty good, which, i know is exactly what trailers are supposed to do, but, i've got my fingers crossed, because there's absolutely every sign, portent, or omen that this might be something worth my seeing....
if you believe in such coincidences...
to check out the trailer, go here, because the one on the official site is pretty low resolution, and of you make the mistake of clicking anywhere on the page while it's playing, you'll actually stop the damn thing... at least, that's what happened on my crappy laptop that hates me.
anyway, thank you very much for your time and consideration in this matter, as it's quite important to me...
also, i'll be expecting many gifts. thank you.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
i must apologize...
i've been oh so absent!
well, this last week has been left me ludicrously out of the loop. it all started with working the weekend, followed by an overnight shift on monday to prepare for the
launch of windows vista on tuesday. since then, it's been a chore to try and get my life caught back up. so, i haven't really posted much. even more obnoxious is the fact that i haven't been bookmarking things that i've found on the great internets with as much ferver as i normally do, so, content here is going to be a bit thin.
motivational, and then some...
i really love despair.com's demotivators. however, i also really enjoy the internet phenomenon of emulating these great works. now, if you've ever seen these
some of them are really funny, and truly speak to me. such as this, because i am a procrastinator by nature. so, it says, "hey, stupid, you procrastinate!" i don't know if it would ever help me, but oh well. of course, i'm well aware of my poor habits, and, ironically, i spend a lot of time stressing out over them, so, anything i can do to dwell on my failings will likely help me out.
then there's some of them that make very little sense at all other than being really, really funny. this is a classic example. while 'is that a bear?' can hardly be called into play in most office settings, it clearly a very humorous image of a group of golfers... and a bear. so, who cares?
of course... there's lot of funny pictures on the interwebs...
now, in all honesty, i can say that i love things that make me laugh, and this definitely makes me laugh. these images all came from xkcd.com's current 'top funniest' images. basically, xkcd is a really funny comic that tends to operate on a slightly higher level. the 'top funniest' is a collection of various funny images ripped from all over the tubes of the interwebs. it's a dynamic system that presents you with a pair of images and you pick the one you think is funniest. the list is constantly updating it seems.
what's great is that they also have the the fairest, which is where they've taken various photos and you choose the one you think is prettier, and then there's the cutest... i'm sure you can guess what that's all about. i will say that it's probably the birthplace of many a fark cliche.
how i've been wasting me time...
so, i've been playing a bit of star trek: legacy, which is far better than i was lead to believe. in addition, i also picked up tomb raider: legend from the clearance bin at target. i can't complain about only paying $5 for pretty much any game, but tomb raider is more than worth the price. i'm still playing me some rainbow six: vegas, and, microsoft released their first 'windows vista ultimate extras' on the release date which included a free texas hold 'em game.
now, i wanted to talk a little bit about windows vista and gaming. they do not go hand in hand... yet. here's a little break down, and of course, i know there's a lot of websites out there like driverheaven.net and tom's hardware that have done some breakdowns already, but i really wanted to throw my 2 cents into the ring.
so far, i've had time to play star trek: legacy, tomb raider: legend, rainbow six: vegas, and company of heroes under both windows vista and windows xp.
for a little reference, my system specs are pretty 'upper middle of the road'. i run a hand built system with an amd athlon 64 3800+ on a bfg nforce ultra 4 motherboard. i have 3gb of low latency ram (2x1gb kingston, 2x512mb pny optima), and a pny verto geforce 7900gs pcie with 256mb gddr3 vram. it's all driven my an asus truepower 2.0 500 watt psu. as to windows, my windows vista ultimate is the 64 bit version, and my windows xp is professional with service pack 2. in fairness, i will point out that my xp install is pretty heavily tweaked for performance, so that i have only 27 processes running while my vista install is running with a much scarier 54 processes.
so, here's the skinny. the only game that runs similarly under both operating systems is rainbow six: vegas. as a matter of fact, i can't say for sure, but it seems that rs:v actually runs better under windows vista than it does under windows xp. it seems to load at the same speed and play at the same or better speed. graphics are clear and smooth.
tomb raider: legend, however, has given me a lot of trouble. under windows xp i can play it at 1680 x 1050 (i have a 21" 16:10 gateway monitor) with all the 'next gen' features turned on, and it runs very smooth and crisp. however, under vista, when i try to play at the same settings, the game will load into a level, and then within 30 seconds the video locks up. the sound continues, and if i hit keys, you can hear lara croft making noises as she runs and jumps and shoots her gun. IF i turn off the 'next gen' options, the game runs fine, although, it seems to actually run slower than it does under xp with all the bells and whistles turned on.
company of heroes, which is a big 'games for windows' title, which has been touted as being 100% compliant with windows vista... runs pretty poorly under vista for me. again, i run the game at 1680x1050 with everything turned on, and it's smooth as silk under xp, but under vista it will hitch and lag a bit as the camera turns and changes. now, if i turn the resolution down a notch, it will play fine and dandy, but, it's a little frustrating that i have to.
lastly, star trek: legacy. under xp, again, this game runs like a champ, it's beautiful with all the settings cranked at a 1680x1050 resolution, but, under vista, i can't even load into a 1680x1050 res, so, i run at 1280x720. i can have the settings cranked, but, the sound will hitch occasionally, and anytime that i fly through a 'nebula', or even have a 'nebula' on screen, the game acts as if i've gone into slowmo mode... which is more than a little annoying.
now, in windows' defense, i am running the 64-bit version, and all of these games are 32-bit. what that means is that each of these games has to run through a compatability layer to operate under vista, which, i'm assuming may have a bit of impact on the performance. i'm hoping to get a 64-bit version of farcry soon to try out, becaue, i've played the 32-bit version and love it, and i would love the try 64 vista vs. 32 xp comparison, just to see if it makes any difference.
the other problem is that windows has decided to completely rebuild the way that the sound stack works, so there's no hardware support for sound, so everything is 'directx'. this means that any audio processing is now done by the cpu only and the sound card as no say in the matter. needless to say that creative labs is a little pissed about that.
now, a big pro for windows is that my adobe products actually run better under vista than they did under xp, and, it seems that everything the system does is more stable. vista and productivity do seem to go hand in hand. tom's hardware seems to agree with me about photoshop, but they point out a whole lot of other applications that are nearly 100% slower.
now, what i will say, and again, this is in defense of windows. there has never been a windows release that was faster than the previous, and, by all rights and regards, the features typically far out way the performance hit. also, this is, far and away, the most stable first release of a windows system ever to hit the market.
however, for now, anyway, i will continue to dual boot into windows xp for the purposes of gaming.
*note* i have read a lot of opinion articles about people who's hardware failed to work under the rtm, and about people who spent six hours or more installing their copy of windows vista. i'm not sure about that, because, for me, everything worked except my sound card, which was fixed in about 5 minutes after the system was up and running. install took me a whopping 29 minutes (yes, i timed it), from the time i reboot the system with the install dvd in the drive to the time that i had a functioning desktop. i will say though, my system's 'experience score' is a 4.9, and my average (because i like averages better than the lowest) subscore is 5.5, i would not want to run vista with a much slower system...
beyond games and operating systems...
i have not mentioned much in the way of books, music, or movies lately, because i really haven't had much to do with either, but, i have a small pile of books, a short list of bands, and thin stack of dvd's that i need to get to, and hopefully i'll be doing that pretty soon.
in addition, i haven't really been doing much writing, arting, or picturing... so, i'm hoping to get a little of that done soon as well, but, that remains to be seen.
in movie news...
mike sent me a great new york times article about grindhouse. it may want you to login in to read it and see the pretty pictures, but, bugmenot is a great tool for such things.
and because you have to watch this every so often...
the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny!
and one last thing... the new challenger is schmexy!
the fact is, this thing really recalls the original 60's challenger...
and that's it for today!
well, this last week has been left me ludicrously out of the loop. it all started with working the weekend, followed by an overnight shift on monday to prepare for the
launch of windows vista on tuesday. since then, it's been a chore to try and get my life caught back up. so, i haven't really posted much. even more obnoxious is the fact that i haven't been bookmarking things that i've found on the great internets with as much ferver as i normally do, so, content here is going to be a bit thin.
motivational, and then some...
i really love despair.com's demotivators. however, i also really enjoy the internet phenomenon of emulating these great works. now, if you've ever seen these
some of them are really funny, and truly speak to me. such as this, because i am a procrastinator by nature. so, it says, "hey, stupid, you procrastinate!" i don't know if it would ever help me, but oh well. of course, i'm well aware of my poor habits, and, ironically, i spend a lot of time stressing out over them, so, anything i can do to dwell on my failings will likely help me out.
then there's some of them that make very little sense at all other than being really, really funny. this is a classic example. while 'is that a bear?' can hardly be called into play in most office settings, it clearly a very humorous image of a group of golfers... and a bear. so, who cares?
of course... there's lot of funny pictures on the interwebs...
now, in all honesty, i can say that i love things that make me laugh, and this definitely makes me laugh. these images all came from xkcd.com's current 'top funniest' images. basically, xkcd is a really funny comic that tends to operate on a slightly higher level. the 'top funniest' is a collection of various funny images ripped from all over the tubes of the interwebs. it's a dynamic system that presents you with a pair of images and you pick the one you think is funniest. the list is constantly updating it seems.
what's great is that they also have the the fairest, which is where they've taken various photos and you choose the one you think is prettier, and then there's the cutest... i'm sure you can guess what that's all about. i will say that it's probably the birthplace of many a fark cliche.
how i've been wasting me time...
so, i've been playing a bit of star trek: legacy, which is far better than i was lead to believe. in addition, i also picked up tomb raider: legend from the clearance bin at target. i can't complain about only paying $5 for pretty much any game, but tomb raider is more than worth the price. i'm still playing me some rainbow six: vegas, and, microsoft released their first 'windows vista ultimate extras' on the release date which included a free texas hold 'em game.
now, i wanted to talk a little bit about windows vista and gaming. they do not go hand in hand... yet. here's a little break down, and of course, i know there's a lot of websites out there like driverheaven.net and tom's hardware that have done some breakdowns already, but i really wanted to throw my 2 cents into the ring.
so far, i've had time to play star trek: legacy, tomb raider: legend, rainbow six: vegas, and company of heroes under both windows vista and windows xp.
for a little reference, my system specs are pretty 'upper middle of the road'. i run a hand built system with an amd athlon 64 3800+ on a bfg nforce ultra 4 motherboard. i have 3gb of low latency ram (2x1gb kingston, 2x512mb pny optima), and a pny verto geforce 7900gs pcie with 256mb gddr3 vram. it's all driven my an asus truepower 2.0 500 watt psu. as to windows, my windows vista ultimate is the 64 bit version, and my windows xp is professional with service pack 2. in fairness, i will point out that my xp install is pretty heavily tweaked for performance, so that i have only 27 processes running while my vista install is running with a much scarier 54 processes.
so, here's the skinny. the only game that runs similarly under both operating systems is rainbow six: vegas. as a matter of fact, i can't say for sure, but it seems that rs:v actually runs better under windows vista than it does under windows xp. it seems to load at the same speed and play at the same or better speed. graphics are clear and smooth.
tomb raider: legend, however, has given me a lot of trouble. under windows xp i can play it at 1680 x 1050 (i have a 21" 16:10 gateway monitor) with all the 'next gen' features turned on, and it runs very smooth and crisp. however, under vista, when i try to play at the same settings, the game will load into a level, and then within 30 seconds the video locks up. the sound continues, and if i hit keys, you can hear lara croft making noises as she runs and jumps and shoots her gun. IF i turn off the 'next gen' options, the game runs fine, although, it seems to actually run slower than it does under xp with all the bells and whistles turned on.
company of heroes, which is a big 'games for windows' title, which has been touted as being 100% compliant with windows vista... runs pretty poorly under vista for me. again, i run the game at 1680x1050 with everything turned on, and it's smooth as silk under xp, but under vista it will hitch and lag a bit as the camera turns and changes. now, if i turn the resolution down a notch, it will play fine and dandy, but, it's a little frustrating that i have to.
lastly, star trek: legacy. under xp, again, this game runs like a champ, it's beautiful with all the settings cranked at a 1680x1050 resolution, but, under vista, i can't even load into a 1680x1050 res, so, i run at 1280x720. i can have the settings cranked, but, the sound will hitch occasionally, and anytime that i fly through a 'nebula', or even have a 'nebula' on screen, the game acts as if i've gone into slowmo mode... which is more than a little annoying.
now, in windows' defense, i am running the 64-bit version, and all of these games are 32-bit. what that means is that each of these games has to run through a compatability layer to operate under vista, which, i'm assuming may have a bit of impact on the performance. i'm hoping to get a 64-bit version of farcry soon to try out, becaue, i've played the 32-bit version and love it, and i would love the try 64 vista vs. 32 xp comparison, just to see if it makes any difference.
the other problem is that windows has decided to completely rebuild the way that the sound stack works, so there's no hardware support for sound, so everything is 'directx'. this means that any audio processing is now done by the cpu only and the sound card as no say in the matter. needless to say that creative labs is a little pissed about that.
now, a big pro for windows is that my adobe products actually run better under vista than they did under xp, and, it seems that everything the system does is more stable. vista and productivity do seem to go hand in hand. tom's hardware seems to agree with me about photoshop, but they point out a whole lot of other applications that are nearly 100% slower.
now, what i will say, and again, this is in defense of windows. there has never been a windows release that was faster than the previous, and, by all rights and regards, the features typically far out way the performance hit. also, this is, far and away, the most stable first release of a windows system ever to hit the market.
however, for now, anyway, i will continue to dual boot into windows xp for the purposes of gaming.
*note* i have read a lot of opinion articles about people who's hardware failed to work under the rtm, and about people who spent six hours or more installing their copy of windows vista. i'm not sure about that, because, for me, everything worked except my sound card, which was fixed in about 5 minutes after the system was up and running. install took me a whopping 29 minutes (yes, i timed it), from the time i reboot the system with the install dvd in the drive to the time that i had a functioning desktop. i will say though, my system's 'experience score' is a 4.9, and my average (because i like averages better than the lowest) subscore is 5.5, i would not want to run vista with a much slower system...
beyond games and operating systems...
i have not mentioned much in the way of books, music, or movies lately, because i really haven't had much to do with either, but, i have a small pile of books, a short list of bands, and thin stack of dvd's that i need to get to, and hopefully i'll be doing that pretty soon.
in addition, i haven't really been doing much writing, arting, or picturing... so, i'm hoping to get a little of that done soon as well, but, that remains to be seen.
in movie news...
mike sent me a great new york times article about grindhouse. it may want you to login in to read it and see the pretty pictures, but, bugmenot is a great tool for such things.
and because you have to watch this every so often...
the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny!
and one last thing... the new challenger is schmexy!
the fact is, this thing really recalls the original 60's challenger...
and that's it for today!
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