SC123's Blog

Kristen Wiig is Ruining the Entire World

2011-10-24T02:17:00.000-04:00

Since 2003 Kristen Wiig has been ruining America and to a greater extent, the world.

This character is not funny.

It's been a fine how-do-you-do over these past six years. With her anniversary as a cast member on Saturday Night Live approaching in November we can all look back and, in hindsight, see that Kristen Wiig has brought more pain and suffering to the world than any single human being has in our entire recorded history.

This may initially seem shocking, but the facts don't lie. Since 2003 when Wiig was first seen on television in The Joe Schmo Show America has been involved in no less than four wars, simultaneously, costing millions of lives and over a trillion dollars. Rather than peace there is further unrest in the Middle East. We're on the brink of war in Pakistan, and we've recently dispatched troops to Uganda. Coincidence?

Only two months prior to Wiig's first show at Saturday Night Live, Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast of the United States killing more than 1,800 people and causing over 100 billion dollars in damage. The sociological and economic ramifications of Katrina are still being felt today by people all over the world. Isn't it strange that one of the most devastating hurricanes in history hits just as Wiig gets her "big break" on SNL?

This is mostly
Lorne Michaels' fault.

Death and destruction weren't the only tools Ms. Wiig brought to bear upon an unsuspecting world. With the guile of a thousand crooked politicians she set into place the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression. It can hardly be a coincidence that the seeds were being sewn for this calamity just as Wiig's star was rising.

As the subprime mortgage crisis reared it's ugly head in 2007, Wiig enjoyed her first major motion picture role in Knocked Up. Even in a minor role she was not funny, and millions of Americans have lost their homes since her debut.

Also not funny, and ugly.

Wisely choosing not to risk box office failure by giving Wiig a leading role in a film, Hollywood producers still offered her supporting roles that would prove disastrous for the global economy. From 2007-2010 she had 16 forgettable performances in mostly unwatchable films. As she continued to practice her unique brand of comedic torture, the rest of us watched our 401k's disappear, lost our homes and sold everything we owned in order to keep the lights on. Meanwhile in 2009, Kristen Wiig bought a two million dollar condo in New York City.

The root cause of all this suffering? It is the objective opinion of everyone who matters that Kristen Wiig is not funny. The characters that she has created are, one and all, detestable. Not a single one can be relied upon for anything more than an annoyed chuckle with any consistency, and many of her most famous characters not only lack creativity but rely on tediously linear plot lines to drive their dubious machinations.

As the powers that be continue to give Wiig opportunities to further damage the human race, we must all brace for what is certain to be a future laden with unimaginable pain and suffering for our species. Rumors abound that 2011 will be Wiig's final season on SNL. Should this be true, the prayers of untold millions will be answered and the world may yet recover from what will henceforth be known as "The Wiiger Years".

Mr. Muggles is one of the 99%

2011-10-19T16:09:00.007-04:00

Mr. Muggles, on a casual stroll pondering world peace and tachos, today ran into one of the last bastions of the elite - the yacht club. The Norfolk Boat Club, to be precise.

For more than 100 years this has been an exclusive sanctuary for the 1%, where they can hide from all of the hunger and pain they have caused by being successful.

Well, that can't be allowed. This country wasn't built by enterprising men who risked everything to form a more perfect union. No sir. It was built on the backs of those who couldn't afford custom made carriages from London. Then later made improved upon by immigrants, aka the ancestors of most of the people you know (and probably you).

Unite! Down with the man! Unless the man is paying your salary. In that case, pardon my shouting. Can I get you a gyro, sir? Well, Mr. Muggles is having none of that nonsense - he quickly spots a weakness in the iron gate which he exploits to gain entrance into the den of evil.

Huzzah! Now you're mine, corrupt overlords. Beware the wrath of Mr. Muggles - bringer of doom, master of evil.

Shit. That's a long walk. Besides I can't really open doors, anyway. I guess I'll have to find another way to topple this capitalistic beast that's made our nation a super power and given us unimaginable wealth and prosperity in less time than any other nation in the history of the universe.

Maybe this weekend. After all, I have a job. Oh look! A swing!

I want to have friends

2011-06-18T22:33:00.005-04:00

Over the years I've found that instead of becoming more socially graceful and therefore accepted by the rest of humanity, the opposite has happened. I've blossomed into a misfit of the curmudgeon variety who, despite his best efforts, can not seem to create any deep friendships.

In an effort to curb this trend with positive thoughts, I'm going to write something purely kind about each and every friend on my Facebook profile. This should be interesting and if it doesn't work, I give up. Let the love commence:

Adrianne Hairston - I like how you rarely go more than a minute in a conversation without a smile and know a little something about everything.
Aja De Coudreaux - You have are one of the sexiest, more creative and interesting people I know.
Alexandria Clayton - I've never seen you angry. I wish I had half of your positivity.
Alisa Dunn - Effortless charm.
Alison Carter - You want what we all want to want, and you will find it some day because you deserve it.
Allison Jada-Flick Lilly - In the brief time we've spent together, you made me smile.
Allison Jones Holyoak - The little girl I remember was curious and sweet. Never grow out of it.
Amanda Caulder Ritter - You are dedicated to your family and and have an endless supply of love for them.
Amie Manka-Fulghum - A true friend who cares without expecting anything in return.
Amy Carol Nix - I've rarely met such a selfless person.
Amy Rubio - True emotional depth and beauty that comes through immediately and never ceases to amaze me.
Angela Gauldin - You look like a sexy, more feminine Sigourney Weaver.
Anita Rose - Kind and always willing to reach out a helpful and interested hand.
Anna Marie Gehrcke - Never repeats her interesting stories about her many, many men and has great taste.
Aria Maisey - Is the pride, joy and hope of Ghent. Everyone loves you for a reason.
Asha Dore Baisden - Looks at her child like I hope my wife would one day, with the kind of love that cannot be measured.
BC Wilson - Juggles being an excellent father, involved citizen and all around good guy with aplomb.
Beansprout Darian Flanery - Is a natural beauty that makes the room lighter with her smile.
Becca Kline - Exudes a warmth unrivaled by many, and shows interest in you when others would just move on to the next person in line.
Benny Burgess - Loves VA Tech almost as much as my aunt.
Ben Phelps - Will never stop being just who he is, a wonderful musician and a charming fellow.
Blake Drewry - He thinks I'm funny, and I think he is, too.
Bradford Davis - Is one charming, bearded man. Word.
Bradley Monahan - Handles AV gear like a boss, and takes it just a seriously.
Brandie Carter Zelaya - Life hasn't been easy on you, cuz, but you have risen above it and never taken the easier path if you didn't like it. I admire that.
Brandon Gray - Is being a father with the excitement that I hope to have one day.
Brett Carter - Didn't give up when life threw him a curve ball.
Caitlin Carter - I'm more excited to see how your life turns out than my own.
Caitlin Neary - I can't say why, but I'm very proud of where you are in your life and what you've overcome.
Candace Triplett - What a fun and kind person.
Carly Elizabeth DeCerce - I like your face, and the things it does when you talk and walk. You're also pretty damned funny without even trying.
Casi Hansford - When you moved to Franklin it was a breath of fresh air. I will never forget it.
Cassie Diane Scarboro - Is a rock star, and a mom.
Cathy Benton - Gives me hope that I can be a successful business owner as long as I want to :)
Cecilia Bull - Sweden gave us a true gem. She's going to cure something. Someday.
Celina Davis Shrader - I've never seen so many sexy photos of a mom outside of a celebrity photo shoot.
Cheli Scott - Adorable.
Chris Evans - Is a bigger game nerd than I am, but somehow manages to be less nerdy than me.
Chris Reed - Is doing things that we all want to do.
Christy Daughtrey - Don't take no guff.
Clint Dalton - Isn't afraid to do anything, ever.
Courtney Smith - Exudes kindness and has an amazing presence that makes you want to bottle her up and carry her with you.
Cynthia Daniels - A saucy minx who takes amazing photos.
Danielle Britt - Is an awesome person, from excellent stock.
Dave Cavanaugh - Is a swell guy who you can count on.
David Floyd - Is a DJ.
David Guy-Decker - Has more layers than baklava and each is more interesting than the last.
David MCrea - Is a sexy, sexy black man.
Dawn Weaver Holland - Is the best mom anyone could ever hope for, and does it by being a true friend.
Debbie O'Connor Lankford - Gave birth to two ostriches, who are each fine young men.
Dee Mayhew Pierce - Is a loyal and devoted employee and daughter.
Deidra Cowins Shoemaker - Is one of the sexiest red heads I've ever met. Why didn't I have any game when I was in my early teens?
Denise Bryant Fleetwood - Has been through a lot in her life but rises above, courageously.
Devonda Smith - Took such excellent care of my grandfather that I wonder if she was put here just to do it.
Diana Ray - Is nerdcore, but has more depth and compassion than most people will ever know.
Dianne Sharp - Had a stressful childhood but didn't let that get her down.
Donald Blake - Shares the same love and lack of understanding of women as I do.
Doug Gantt - Will someday do something awesome with his art.
Elizabeth Gordon - Makes great bread and happy people.
Eric Virgil Henderson - Managed to be cool in computer programming class, without doing anything.
Erin Leigh Wilson - Is a real funny bugger.
Erin Mack - Was one of the sweetest people I knew in high school, and is probably the same today.
Gabriel Robinson - Flows through life with ease.
Hannah Serrano - Gets people to do things without them realizing she did, and it always makes our community better.
Jaime Simpson - Is always smiling. I think she knows a secret, and I want her to tell me.
Jamaal McCoy - Never boring, always gay.
James E. Holland Jr. - Is the perfect step-father, and a good man.
Jameson Dungan - Is a tall hippie with dreads, but doesn't smell at all. This is amazing.
Jamie Atkinson - Has one of the sexiest voices I've ever heard, and is adorable in general.
Jamie Grisham - Loves her dog. A lot. Also has a cute little lisp.
Jamie Lynn Caulder Cook - Was always nice to me, and very upbeat.
Janet Carter - Does what she wants, and does it well.
Jason Levesque - Is an amazing artist who has perfected his style while maintaining an active connection with his fans and community.
Jason Rountree - Gets all the cool toys other boys want, and even shares.
Jay C. Ford - Is the one man I would cuddle, and I think he would cuddle me back. He also has one of the sharpest minds I know.
Jenny Bailey - Has the most adorable laugh and covers her mouth a little when she does it.
Jen Stringer - Says things on Facebook that make me think she must be an awesome mom.
Jerome Langston - Is a proud black man.
Jerome Spencer - Is a funny man who always seems to be thinking.
Jesi Owens - An eager your woman who is going to do big things, probably related to music.
Jesse Scaccia - Intrigues me. I want to be an old married couple with him. Wait, we already are.
Jessica Hare White - Cuts everyone's hair to look like her own, which is fine, because she has amazing hair. Oh, and she's crazy sweet, too.
Jill Gornto Raymond - Accepts people when no one else will, and has a wide open heart.
John Carter - Is twice the man he thinks he is, and getting better every day.
John Shellito - Has sexy eyes and lots of charm.
Jonathan Burkett - Is completely, genuinely nice.
Jonathan McAchran - Is someone I must know, but can't recall. Sorry about that.
Josh Loving - Makes me laugh harder than almost anyone I know, just using his face.
Joval Martin - Is so handsome it should not be permitted by law.
Julie Griggs - An amazing aunt and friend who is always there.
Justin Lankford - Went from nerd to cool to redneck, but is still nerdy and cool.
Kaitlynn Holland - Makes me happy.
Karen Dunn - Works harder than almost anyone else I know, and succeeds.
Kate Hofheimer Wilson - Makes a positive difference in the lives of so many people, while being an amazing mother.
Kate Rawls - Is someone I barely remember, but what I do remember is that she was kind.
Kat Hart - Is more than you bargain for.
Keith Boyce - If you polled everyone who knew him, they'd all say that they like him.
Keith Gogo Gadget Ayers - I don't really know him, but he seems like a nice guy.
Kelly Godfrey - Is one of my favorite people to make laugh, because she has a great one.
Koren Dorta - Really puts herself out there in a way most people are afraid to do.
Kristen H. - Is not afraid to hit a full grown man, but somehow gets away with it.
Kristie Rountree Dailey - Always asks how you are, and cares.
Kristy Cavanaugh - Is fun yet laidback.
Lama Al-Hossain - Triumphs, and is not a princess at all.
Laura Evans - Is bright and full of life.
Laura Watkins - Is funnier than I am and a better story teller. One of the few people I am jealous of.
Lauren Bolton - Is cute and very, very proud to be a mother.
Lea Ann Douglas - Is probably a witch, but the best kind of witch.
Leslie Marie Courtney - Has forgiven me for never sending her bread. I hope.
Linder Lue Lawrence - Hollywood is simply amazing. She cares without wanting anything in return, and makes so many people happy.
Lindsey Benson Blythe - Was the first girl I liked, and not just because our moms willed it to be so.
Lisa Sharp - Bubbly and kind.
Logan Taylor Kemper - Is always on the move trying to make it better, and succeeding.
Manee Woodbury - Sweet, with mischief in her eyes.
Marcelo Rocha - At 49 years of age, Marcelo does what most people half his age can't.
Marialena Burkemper - Lives each day fully, and never leaves you with any doubt that she is there for you.
Marie Snyder - Seems to always choose the path that helps others.
Mark Fussell - Applies himself to everything he does.
Mark Weaver - Helped me become the nerd I am today.
Mary Duck - Never let jokes about her last name affect her.
Mary Duffy - Has an amazing smile that got me through tough times in high school.
Mary Summerell Hamilton - Is beautiful. In many, many ways. I will always feel connected to her.
Matt Belcher - Is a guy you can just hang with. No pretense required.
Matt Dunn - Is making the best of everything.
Matthew Doherty - Always says hello, and that means a lot.
Matt Insull - Has a deep, complicated mind that most people never get to see.
Matt Paddock - Is a guy I don't know, but I think I should.
Mckenzie Oast - Surprises me in good ways.
Meagan Rundell - Is going to find the happiness she deserves.
Meghan Betz - Wears a little black dress when no one else will, and rocks it.
Melanie Epperson Cramer - Is a sentimental, caring mom who will never give up at Blitz.
Melanie McManus Robertson - Is just like me but short, athletic, sexy, female and with the ability to be popular if she wanted to be.
Melissa Dunn - Has a heart of gold and always makes me happy.
Michael Curry - Is there to help you find your way.
Michael Jones - Wears funny Halloween costumes.
Michael Tiger Brown - Never let height get him down.
Michelle Conrad Westervelt - Is the only person who is serious about animal rights I have ever thought was hot and gave me my best friend.
Miranda Mulligan - Gets it done and will find what she's looking for once she looks within.
Miranda Reid - Has an amazing smile.
Myreen Moore Nicholson - Is quiet but powerful.
Nancy Parrish - Rolls with the punches and comes out on top.
Nancy Weaver - Cares more than we think she does.
Natasha Berardi - Is having another child on her own, and I think that is amazing.
Nate Riddle - Was better than me at computer programming and probably still is.
Nathan Galvez - Is someone I think I have a lot in common with, because we seem to loathe everything equally without being mean about it.
Nikki DiDomenico - Despite having issues with migraines, makes everyone else feel better about themselves.
Paloma Moen - Has a tough road ahead, but will persevere as she always has.
Patty Weaver - Puts up with my Uncle Mark.
Philipp Knapp - Is my sweetie and has raw artistic talent yet to be tapped.
Rickey Hall - Despite disagreeing on everything from politics to sports, is one of the easiest people to get along with that I've ever known.
Ron Weaver - Is the most patient and caring man that I know. He is going to set a record.
Rufus Davis Riddick III - Is a good guy and a strong man.
Sam Pope - Fun without being pushy.
Sandy Miller Atkinson - Managed to pull the wool over everyone's eyes for decades claiming to be a teacher, when she was really a friend and counselor.
Sarah Gawricki - What a face and a smile. They absolutely pop.
Sarah Gregory-Dalton - Is about to become a mom for the first time, but she is already a mom to everyone she knows.
Sarah Kingsley - Is tired of being alone but never is, because everyone loves her so.
Savannah Houston - Is a great aunt and is going places in the medical field.
Scott Thomason - A fun and nice guy.
Shannon Bowman - I don't know her, but from her pictures I wish I did.
Skye Zentz - Is so talented that I can't begin to choose one to write about.
Sydell Linsicombe-Hall - Plays more games than a 15 year old boy, and is fun to play them with.
Sydney Harrell - I'm pretty sure she let me beat her at one-on-one basketball, because she saw that I needed it. That's how sweet she is.
Sylvia Fitting - When you meet Sylvia she smiles, and never stops. She is selfless and kind and beautiful.
Tamra Charles Clotfelter - Has surprised me by becoming something I never expected.
Tatum Sumners Ford - Makes everyone in the room feel special, because she is special.
Tatyana Kholdkov - Isn't Russian at all.
Tien Nguyen - Makes other women jealous and loves it.
Tim Weaver - Always seemed interested in me when we met, and I appreciated it.
Tom Carter - A wonderful, caring man who always asks about you first.
Tracie Guy-Decker - An interesting and eclectic woman.
Veronica Sherae - Was one of those people who reminds you that there are good people when you need to be reminded.
Vicki Robertson Daughtrey - Lets me know that she loves me by not showing it at all.
Virginia Pharis - Is going to get everything she deserves and more, because she deserves it.
Wade Watson - Is someone I wish I could spend more time around, because he is just great.
William Huberdeau - Quietly makes everything better.
Zak Wade - Is better at games than I am, and better looking. This mans has genes that just won't quit.
Zane Hurst - Plays a mean game of Sequence, throws like a man and can talk about anything.
Zanthanee Parker - Was one of the coolest guys I knew, and probably still is.

New toys and Star Trek nerdiness

2011-03-04T18:27:00.003-05:00

The past few months have brought a few interesting, and of course nerdy, new toys into my life.

In my ongoing search for the best wireless headset ever of all time, I'm now using the Logitech G930. After a few months of use I can safely say this is the best wireless headset I've ever used - and I've had quite a few. It has 8+ hours of battery life, works 10 feet further than most others at about 40ft of operating range, and comes equipped with the most comfortable ear cups I have experienced so far. They could still be a little more comfortable on my giant head, and there is no button on the headset to answer Skype calls. Other than that, these are truly gets cans.

After reading about the resurgence of mechanical keyboards over the past year or two I finally decided to take a risk and purchased the Rosewill RK-9000. This cherry MX switch keyboard is affordable, reliable and sturdy. The click clack of the keys helps me type faster, as the audible nature of the key presses triggers the finger movement in my brain. The spring from the keys always contributes to a higher word per minute count, and I always feel as though I'm doing more when I use it - in a good way. My only niggle here is that the feet aren't very big, so the keyboard rests at a slightly lower angle than I'm used to.

First Christmas I got a third generation Kindle. This has proven to be exactly what I had hoped it would be - a rock solid e-reader. Sadly, it isn't much else. The web browser is laughable, the interface needs some work and the keyboard/directional pad combo is weak at best. However, for reading - especially long form - I haven't seen anything better. I doubt I'll ever buy a physical book again. The reading experience is completely seamless. The Kindle just disappears and you forget that it's there. Which is exact what Jeff Bezos at Amazon said was the intention. You certainly can't be the price, and considering 3G service comes bundled with no contracts or fees, it's far and away the best value. One thing I really love is being able to send documents to the kindle so I can read them and carry them with me, rather than having to print them out and time, ink and paper.

Finally, I've made it about 3/4 of the way through Star Trek Voyager - the only Star Trek series I haven't watched all the way through. Voyager feel more like Star Trek to me than Enterprise did, but like Archer, Janeway isn't a very stable character throughout the series. The captain should be a rock, and changing that really makes the show less credible somehow. Not to mention how the Voyager crew, billions of miles away from home, always manages to repair all of the damage to the ship between each episode and how there seem to be a limitless supply of shuttle craft, and the fact that the crew slowly grows in number even though someone dies (on average) in every episode. Most disturbing of all is Kes' change from short to long hair, which gave me nightmares.

I'm on season five right now, and things are starting to get really boring. Season 4 was by far the best so far, thanks in large part to Seven of Nine and much better scripts. Every so often some one on the crew mentions how it doesn't make any sense that they keep stopping to "explore" and monitor nebulae and other such nonsense. This is completely true. It's also naggingly apparent that someone gave the order to cram Sexy and Fine into as many scenes as possible, which begins to get a little tedious. She's no Data, and certainly no Spock. The Doctor is a constant source of amusement though, and he's excellently portrayed by Robert Picardo. He's the only thing that makes some episodes worth watching.

Cyborg R.A.T. 7 Review

2010-11-03T12:44:00.004-04:00

After a few years with a pretty generic Logitech wireless mouse, I decided it was time for an upgrade. I wanted something sturdy, affordable and equally useful in gaming and daily computing tasks.

I recalled a review I had read about the R.A.T. 7 Gaming Mouse by Cyborg. They proclaimed it "the best gaming mouse ever", and although I wouldn't go that far, the R.A.T. is a great mouse.

I won't go into how customizable it is, or how great the sensor is, or even how cool it looks - that's all been covered better by others. I will simply say that after using it for two months I've been very pleased. The only problem I can see so far is that the sensor gets a little dirty since it's somewhat recessed which leaves a small area for dust to gather.

Go get one, or get the wireless R.A.T. 9.

Netflix vs. Blockbuster Total Access

2009-04-09T22:26:00.022-04:00

I've been a long time Blockbuster member and have rented at least a thousand movies from them. Yes you read that correctly, and I agree it is sad. Back in February I wrote about how frustrated I was with Blockbuster's lack of titles in stock. Sadly, things haven't improved. In fact if you compare the list of movies I had queued in November 2008 with the current list (below), you'll notice that exactly half over them are still in my queue six months later and don't appear to be coming any time soon.

How can it be possible to have over a dozen movies listed as "Long Wait", seven as "Very Long Wait" and two as "Unavailable"? Why even list the movies if they stand no chance of ever being sent out? All good questions that Blockbuster has never answered for me, despite my asking.

Recently I added a number of titles to my queue hoping to start actually receiving movies again. A few came in the mail about a week later. I watched and returned them and awaited my next delivery. No E-mail notifications came telling me of shipments, so I checked my queue. A few items were marked as "Available", so I E-mailed Blockbuster asking them why I only have one of my movies out of three that are supposed to be shipped at a time. The answer I received was strange, to say the least. I was told that in order to ensure that there are no shipment delays, I should always keep at least 15 available titles at the top of my queue. That little nugget isn't presented to you when you have a queue full of unavailable titles, but rather in an obscure FAQ article.

Blockbuster claims to do this so that you always receive the titles you want the most as soon as possible, but I think it's clearly their way of compensating for a terrible shortage of titles in stock. Based on the available movies in my queue, which is 14%, I would need to have at least 100 movies in my queue in order to find 15 that were in stock. I think that is ridiculous.

I was finally ready to try Netflix, and seeing it pop up on my Tivo is what convinced me to sign up for a free trial. Unlike Blockbuster, almost all of the titles I wanted were available from Netflix. I found the Netflix web interface to be easier to use, and after rating a few dozen movies Netflix began recommending some really great movies - some of which I haven't seen and would really be interested in. Blockbuster on the other hand has long since run out of movies to recommend me and usually suggests garbage I would never think of renting. I also like how Netflix presents recommendations by category and uses the stars to tell you how much they think you will "heart" the movie. Blockbuster just shows you how other people have rated it.

I also love the fact that I can easily stream movies to my HD Tivo, which can't be done with Blockbuster's service (yet - it should be coming later in 2009). To be honest, the quality really isn't there yet with streaming - not as clear as a DVD and no where near Blu-ray quality, but it is certainly the future of distribution. There is also the occasional load time involved, but that is pretty rare.

Netflix does cost a dollar or two more per month than Blockbuster Total Access - if you sign up for Blu-ray discs - but I think it's worth it. If you view even one movie electronically per month it's cheaper than Blockbuster because they charge $3.99 per title (and you have to download and watch it on a computer - lame).

Conclusion:
I'm making the switch to Netflix because of their greater selection of titles and the fact that they are actually available. Tivo streaming and a better interface and recommendation system are just gravy.

Check out the comparison between my Netflix and Blockbuster queues below.


Netflix Queue	Blockbuster Queue

Availability
Total Number of movies that I attempted to queue: 21

Blockbuster has three available.
Netflix has 18 available.

Winner: Netflix - Blockbuster isn't even close.

Blu-ray availability
Blockbuster has 10 titles in Blu-ray.
Netflix has 10 titles in Blu-ray.

Winner: Netflix - They actually have the Blu-rays in stock, and Blockbuster does not.

Downloadable titles
Blockbuster has 3 titles available to download.
Netflix has one title available to download.

Winner: Netflix - I can stream the movies directly to my Tivo for free. Blockbuster charges $3.99 extra and I would have to watch on my computer. Having a few more titles that I can download isn't very enticing if I have to pay extra and sit in front of my computer to watch them. Not to mention everything else mentioned above.

Creative HS-1200 Wireless Gaming Headset Review

2009-04-06T15:49:00.003-04:00

After a few months with my Creative HS-1200's I can easily declare them superior to any other headset I've tried. They are more comfortable, better sounding and include more features than the Logitech headsets I reviewed back in December, 2008. Other headsets are either much more expensive, lack comparable features, or are wired.

The Hs-1200 cans hold a solid charge - at least five hours straight. It's advertised for eight, but I don't think I have ever gotten more than six. Kudos to the wireless dongle though, as it is more powerful than any other I've seen. Though again, I doubt the advertised 72 feet is possible unless you're in an empty warehouse with line of sight to the dongle. In the real world I can go upstairs and into a few different rooms if the headset is fully charged. The longer you wear it, the weaker the signal will be at range.

The microphone sounds clear to others and is flexible, which is nice. It would be great to have the little red indicator that the Logitech set has and the ability to mute without having to place the mic in the "up" position. The cans are a bit tight on the ears, but certainly not the worst I've worn. For the most part they cover my ears - though I wouldn't consider them noise-canceling.

The sound quality of the HS-1200's is great. The only flaw with them is that in Vista you have to deal with Creative's ALchemy program in order to get the best quality (EAX) from games - which either works great or not at all, and in my experience even crashes some games. I ended up disabling ALchemy altogether.

Performance in Skype is excellent as well, though it should be noted that the software doesn't work with Skype 4.0 - so pressing the button on the right can doesn't do anything (it's supposed to answer calls).

All things considered the HS-1200 headset is a great product, and is certainly worth the street price of around $100.00. It's not flawless, but hopefully the next edition will address some of the shortcomings.

Galaxy Online Review

2009-04-06T11:01:00.003-04:00

Currently in Open Beta, Galaxy Online is a free-to-play MMORTS. This means you don't pay for the game directly, but through optional purchases of "points" to be spent in the game. A business model that never seems to work long term, but always attracts interest from the community.

The game itself is truly quite massive. With hundreds of star systems to conquer and build up, there is no end of things to do. Except for the first month or so - where there is almost nothing to do.

Yes, you read that correctly - for the first month of playing Galaxy Online you can expect to do nothing but build up resources and research sciences. It takes a solid week just to get comfortable in the game, and after about three or four days you begin to realize what you've gotten yourself into. Resources are painfully slow to collect, and you require such a vast amount of them to research science advancements that getting your fledgling empire off the ground will literally take weeks. In fact, the beginner quests will only take about 30 minutes to complete, and after that there is almost nothing to do but acquire planets and resources until you're advanced enough to build a useful fleet.

It's because of this massive delay and steep learning curve that Galaxy Online is doomed to failure. Without a large infusion of quests for beginners, much better documentation and serious science and resource balancing Galaxy will have a hard time retaining most players for more than a week.

For example, just today I was researching Mesology, which is required for an important building upgrade. The first three upgrades only cost a few hundred science points - no big deal. Level 4 required 1,000 science points. The next level requires 30,000. That's right - thirty times as many science points are required for no particular reason - you don't even get anything from the Level 5 upgrade. I'm told that it just keeps going up from there, eventually costing upwards of 100,000 SPs. Insane. I have worked hard to pump out science points and I'm only at 850 per hour. At this rate I'll have enough SPs to get the next level of Mesology in about two days. Since everything revolves around science points, that means it will literally be weeks before I can upgrade enough to have a fighting force worth anything, which is unacceptable and illogical.

Why would the developers of Galaxy, IGG, decide that this is the way they want the game to function? It's clear that the vast majority of new players will leave due to the high learning curve and lack of documentation and tutorials, and those who make it through that will have to face down the fact that they are in for a month of monotonous button mashing before they can get to the fun part - space battles. IGG has created a game where the elitist gaming community of the unemployed can thrive at the expense of everyone else.

Still, the game is strangely addicting. Possibly because you really do have to check in every few hours to be sure you're making the best use of your resources. Buildings take anywhere from five seconds to five hours to upgrade, and you can only queue up three building upgrades per planet, so that means you'll have to login often to click things. If you can remember Furbies or those rubber electronic babies that you had to take care of in Home-Ec, then you can relate to the feeling you will get nursing your planets in Galaxy Online.

For now I'm still excited in the morning because I will have the night's resources stocked to spend, but I don't know how long that will last. I have a feeling I won't make it a month.

Dance Time

2009-02-20T23:17:00.002-05:00

My wife is upstairs having "dance time". This is one of those things I didn't realize existed until I got married and don't really understand. I have discovered that there are several important steps to a successful dance time:

-Loose fitting clothes (to allow to wild ungilations of the hips)
-A full length mirror (not required, but appears to make dance time more entertaining)
-Britney Spears (I don't know why)
-A locked door (because I'm not allowed to watch)

Where are my movies, Blockbuster?

2009-02-11T15:03:00.003-05:00

I have been using Blockbuster's Total Access service for several years now. I pay $18.89 per month and can have up to three movies delivered at a time. In general I have enjoyed it - especially the option to swap movies received via the mail at any Blockbuster location - but over the past year I've noticed that more and more movies I have queued up are never arriving.

Click on the picture to take a look at my queue as it was in late November 2008. Seven of those titles are still not available and are currently in my queue. One was removed because they don't appear to offer it anymore. That means that only two of ten movies I asked for have made it to me in the past two and a half months.

It seems to me that if you're going to list these films on the site, then you should be able to deliver them in a reasonable time frame. Perhaps I'm just picking all of the wrong movies, but a 20% delivery rate doesn't sound right to me.

375 Hours Was All It Took

2009-01-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

It's been a long road to level 40 for me in Warhammer Online, but I'm finally there! My Warrior Priest is now making tunnel and crypts runs with the best of them.

Many others have reached 40 far faster than I have, some in less than half the time, but I took it easy and enjoyed myself. I'm still having fun with Warhammer, though it is clearly developed in favor of the Destruction faction and has some work left to be done to keep it interesting for high level characters.

Logitech ClearChat PC Wireless vs Logitech ClearChat Pro USB

2008-12-07T00:54:00.007-05:00

In the never ending search for the perfect headset I have recently tried both of Logitech's flagship products - the ClearChat Pro USB and ClearChat PC Wireless. I thought I'd share my thoughts.

The ClearChat Pro USB is connected to the PC via USB and was introduced quite a while before the wireless version. Once connected, it sets itself as the default sound device and works instantly - no software to install. You may need to increase the recording level, but other than that you should be good to go right away. The headset is fairly comfortable and extended use was never a problem - I often used the headset for three or more hours without discomfort - something that other headsets can rarely match.

The audio quality of the headset was not great. It's pretty quiet and sounds a bit tinny. Forget about any significant bass. Still, it was better than I reckoned it would be and was especially good for VoIP. Oddly, there are no VoIP buttons - such as an "answer/hang up" button - for use with popular programs like Skype and Live Messenger on either of these headsets. This seems especially strange on the wired version, since Logitech went to the trouble to offer a "communications" preset which is meant for said VoIP use. With both products you can only mute/unmute and turn the volume up and down with the headset itself.

Audio quality and functionality quibbles aside, the wired ClearChat headset is a reliable device. It always works and delivers average quality for the price range. I was just hoping for a little more and I wanted to lose the annoyance of the cord, so I decided to order the ClearChat PC Wireless headset.

While the wired headset is reliable and of average quality overall, the wireless version is the exact opposite. It is extremely unreliable and the audio quality is all over the place. Two high points for the wireless version when compared to it's wired counterpart are the mic's red mute light and the audio quality. In general I found the audio to be of a slightly better quality on the wireless device, which I did not expect and cannot account for. Also, Logitech wisely placed the red mute light on the top of the mic boom rather than the middle as with the wired version - with the wireless headset you can actually see if you're muted without having the headset in your eye line.

I found pretty much all of Logitech's claims for the wireless headset to be false or at least exaggerated. The headset does not get 33 feet of range - unless you live in an empty auditorium with your computer placed on a pedestal in the center of the stage. I'd say 10-20 feet is more realistic. The device uses the 2.4ghz band, so every time you turn on the microwave be prepared to have your headset break up. On the plus side it does not appear to affect or be affected by other devices on the 2.4ghz band - such as WiFi or wireless mice. It even works if there is another ClearChat Wireless headset in the same room, though it seems to lose its connection more often.

Another problem with the wireless device is that it often loses it's connection to the USB dongle, which requires you to turn the headset off and back on. This seems to happen at random. It also doesn't maintain a charge for the six hours that Logitech advertises. I've been lucky to get to three hours, and if you use the mic a lot during that time you're probably looking at less.

You'll also notice that the microphone doesn't actually mute when it's placed in the upright "mute" position. Although it no longer records the sounds it picks up, the mic instead transmits a tone of its own - meaning anyone listening on the other end will hear an annoying buzzing sound when the mic is in the upright position. I have confirmed this with several programs, but Logitech won't acknowledge it.

So, if you don't mind the lack of range, poor battery life, so-so audio quality, non-muting microphone and random loss of signal then the ClearChat PC Wireless is the headset for you! Unless you have ears, then you might want to look elsewhere, because on top of everything else the ClearChat Wireless is pretty uncomfortable to wear for more than a half hour at a time. Oddly the cups are smaller than their wired counterparts (neither completely wrap my ears) and the head band is tighter, meaning your ears will be in pain quickly forcing you to at least shift them around every fifteen minutes or so to relieve the stress.

I don't recommend the ClearChat PC Wireless headset to anyone, and can only recommend the ClearChat Pro USB headset to non-audiophiles and people who don't use Skype of other VoIP software daily. I recently purchased a new headset and will post a review of that soon.

Pop!

2008-12-03T14:43:00.004-05:00

Late last night while in the middle of yet another happy gaming session I heard a very loud pop that sounds like a firecracker. Looking around and sniffing didn't produce any indication of the cause of the sound, so I continued on as normal. This morning I found my computer in a state of "wha?". A few minutes later I figured out the source of the noise from the previous evening - blown capacitors on my video card. Only a year and 1/2 old, it's a disappointment to say the least.

I contacted XFX, the makers of the 8600 GT video card in question, to ask for a replacement. It's covered under their big-time "Double Lifetime Warranty", but for all its double-ness they still make you pay for shipping and send the part back to them before they will send out a replacement. The "estimate" for the replacement is two weeks. Add to that the fact that XFX doesn't offer an advanced replacement service, which most other manufactures do for a minimal fee, and you have one angry customer. This isn't the first time an XFX card has failed after a short time, so I won't be purchasing from XFX in the future.

Star Trek Gift Set

2008-11-19T01:16:00.004-05:00

It's the Star Trek Gift Set - by MEGO

America Wins

2008-11-05T00:27:00.002-05:00

Tonight Barack Obama has become the next President of the United States of America. I'm speechless, and thrilled. I'm proud to say that I've been a part of his campaign. Hope is back for America.

Why Warhammer Online Works

2008-09-14T11:09:00.004-04:00

In the past I've given some pretty harsh criticism to other MMO games. They deserved it. Today I'm going to do something I've never done before - recommend a MMO.

Warhammer Online (WAR) is the kind of game that your wife or girlfriend will make fun of you for playing. It's a D&D style dorkfest that is as much a guilty pleasure as it is addictive to play. WAR puts you in the tried and true medieval era world that MMO fans have come to love and feel comfortable in. Elves and knights are here, and so are witches and dwarves. Orcs are present and there still aren't enough people playing as healers. As for the story and enviroment, there is very little here that you haven't seen before. The difference is that it is all done as well or a little better than before, and it just works.

Unlike other recent MMO titles (Tabula Rasa, I'm talking about you), there are more than enough quests to keep anyone busy for quite some time. I have to stop here and say that I only played through level 11 on two different characters (each presented me with a different quest line), but part of the reason I only made it to level 11 is because there was so much to do and it was varied enough that I actually wanted to complete the quests. The quests aren't anything special - just your typical bring-me-five-of-these or kill-ten-of-those affairs, but they all work as advertised and the handy indicators on the map mean you spend less time wandering around and more time progressing through the game. WAR has one of the best map interfaces I've ever seen.

I'd bet that with the release of WAR, most of the people playing the pitiful Age of Conan (AoC) will be making a switch. AoC is an inferior game by every measure, save graphics, and unlike AoC, WAR doesn't require a beast of a machine to run. It's not that the graphics in WAR aren't good, they are just average. In the end, this is logical considering the fact that MMO's need to be more accessable than other titles. Still, a few more textures wouldn't have hurt.

Also, WAR suffers from the general feeling of "been there, done that". I already mentioned that the quests are pretty much standard fare, but the environment is nothing new either. Castles and keeps, farms and fields are abundant in WAR. There are plenty of new creatures to kill, but none of them are very creatively designed - usually variations from enemies you've seen in past titles. What keeps WAR from feeling redundant are the little things. The NPC who for no apparent reason states "I don't like kittens". The variation of enemies and quests even from the start - there is maybe one "kill 10 wolves" quest in the first 5-10 levels, and you'll see a relitively small amount of animal enemies, unlike similar games that rely heavily on rabid dogs, evil bears, and angry bats. WAR is just barely different enough to keep you from walking away, and once you've gotten in to it, you see what is truly different about WAR - player versus player (PvP).

WAR has taken PvP to a new level. Most MMO's give players a special server for PvP or special areas in servers. Some allow you to elect when you are eligable for PvP. All of those solutions make those worlds feel less like reality and more like a game. People play MMO titles for the alternative universes that they can immerse themselves in - not to feel like they are playing a computer game. WAR gets PvP right with its realm versus realm (RvR) system. The two factions in WAR go at it full force in special areas which can be found on every map in WAR. Want to kill a real player? Just run up to the RvR area and get it on! RvR areas even adjust player ranks to give lower level characters a small boost so they can compete, although this is a very small boost (usually a level up while in the RvR area, which doesn't mean much when a guy who is three levels above you comes charging). In addition to RvR areas in every map, there are also RvR "scenarios", which allow players to jump into a purely RvR area for a little mindless PvP. These areas are all about laying waste to the enemy players, and provide a nice respite from the normal quests. PvP also gives you experience and Renown points. Renown points are like a second experience bar that gives you access to special items when you gain Renown. This helps to encourage play in RvR areas, which could generally be avoided otherwise.

A third way of gaining experience is in the Public Quest (PQ) areas. These areas are wide open quests that all players participate in just by running into the area. They generally work in three to four stages, each becoming progressively more difficult. The first stage is usually completed by killing off a few dozen regular enemies. They second by doing in a smaller number of higher level baddies, and the third and fourth by facing down champions and heroes. Heroes can be extremely difficult and must be faced by a large group of players to be defeated. Each kill gives you PQ experience points, which allows you to receive special items. Usually potions at the first level and useful gear at the higher two. Based on your contribution to the kill of the hero in the last stage of the PQ and a roll of the dice, you will recieve a loot bag that usually contains some nice items to choose from. WAR always lets you choose from several things, rather than force you to accept some helmet you don't need - a nice touch.

There are some problems in WAR, however. The is no market place system, which means that all of the items you craft you'll either have to use yourself, sell to an NPC, or tediously trade manually with other players. Hopefully this feature will be added soon after release. There aren't enough potions in the game, and there is no way to buy them. You can craft them, but that takes some time. This makes having a healer in your party even more important, and there are never enough healers in MMO's. It also means you end up fleeing a lot, which takes away from the fun.

Thankfully stability is not a problem in WAR. I only had one crash in my time playing the BETA, and that is better than any other modern MMO I've played. Performance is pretty good except for in very busy RvR areas - hopefully that will be ironed out in the coming weeks as well.

RvR and PQ are what set Warhammer Online apart from the pack. They keep you playing and excited, eager to get that next level and that new skill. It's that eagerness that MMO game developers bank on - it's what keeps you subscribed. Add in various crafting abilities, job skills and the best PvP out there and you have a lot of game on your hands.

A Part of History

2008-08-22T00:41:00.004-04:00

My wife and I attended the Barack Obama Town Hall Meeting in Chesapeake, Virginia at Oscar Smith High School this evening. We are both proud to be a part of this campaign that we hope will bring about a better future for our country. As usual, Senator Obama was on message and personable. What surprised me was just how authentic he is in person, and how very knowledgable he is on so many different issues.

Here's some proof that we attended :

(We're at the top, flanking Obama's head)

You can view the entire Town Hall Meeting here. Our heads (well, most of them), are featured throughout :)

The Disappointment that is Red Alert 3

2008-08-12T22:49:00.003-04:00

After spending some time with the Beta of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, I can say that it's the worst in a long line of flops in the venerable C&C series.

Let's get this out of the way up front - I don't care that this is a Beta. I'm judging it, period. I don't feel that anything will be significantly improved or altered for release.

Path finding is terrible, the unit abilities are a joke and you hardly have time to use them in battle because everything is over before you even realize it. The inability to zoom out to any level further than you could in the 90's is a sad development choice by Electronic Arts. You can't queue up buildings, meaning each has to be built and placed one at a time. Units often get stuck on each other or buildings, and the unit AI chooses targets extremely poorly. Your troops won't fire on nearby enemies for no apparent reason - they just stand there and wait to be shot. The graphics aren't anything special, and the scale seems less than that of previous entries into the series. The "Empire of the Rising Sun" faction is clearly dominant, especially in certain types of maps.

I haven't been a fan of any C&C game since Red Alert 2 back in 2000. It seems like EA has ignored all of the advancements made in the RTS genre and used little to no imagination in rehashing a classic. What a shame.

Star Trek Online Back On Track

2008-07-28T12:44:00.001-04:00

Cryptic Studios formally announced today that Star Trek Online is back on track for release. I formally piddled my pants.

What Crabtree & Evelyn Doesn't Want You to Know!

2008-07-15T18:25:00.002-04:00

Delving deeper into my shaving experiments, I recently purchased a shaving brush upgrade from Crabtree & Evelyn. I was terribly disappointed with my Art of Shaving brush from the "Elements" kit. The brush is poorly made, has a rough texture and just generally feels cheap. The hairs were falling out before I even began using it. Stroking it is akin to brushing a long haired cat. Very disappointing, but I suppose that's what you get for the money.

The Crabtree & Evelyn Best Badger brush was highly rated and is generally considered a great starter brush. I was very excited when it arrived and used it that same day with great results. At first it was not much softer than the Art of Shaving brush, but after a few uses it relaxed and several weeks later the brush is considerably softer. There has been minimal hair loss on the brush as well. Overall I've been very pleased and I doubt you could find a better brush for $35.00.

Crabtree & Evelyn shipped a sample pack with the brush of three items from their Naturals - Solutions for Men collection. Having nearly run out of my Art of Shaving products, I decided to give the Naturals lineup a try. What a mistake that was.

As with the Art of Shaving kit, the Naturals collection comes with three primary products - a daily face scrub (i.e. pre-shave stuff), shave cream and finally the post-shave product. I began with the daily face scrub, which is described as a "Cleansing and refining scrub with exfoliating jojoba beads..." It is meant to be used before you shave, to prep your skin for the razor. Unfortunately, the jojoba beads feel a whole lot like sand on your face, and rubbing sand all over my beard before shaving is not my idea of helping to smooth the way for my razor. It was a terrible feeling and I washed it off immediately (which wasn't easy). It left my skin feeling tingly, as if I had just put after shave with alcohol on - and come to find out after carefully reading the ingredients it does contain alcohol. Who ever heard of a face scrub or pre-shave oil with alcohol in it? How is that supposed to be pleasant? I was angry, but decided to move on hoping that the shaving cream would redeem its predecessor.

Now there are several different methods of applying shaving cream. They include mixing in a bowl or mug, mixing in your hand, or applying the product directly to your face. The Crabtree & Evelyn shaving cream recommends to latter. Not being a huge fan of the "beard mixing" method, I decided to try lathering the cream in my bowl first. No go - not even close to being able to form a lather that way. So I tried again directly on my beard, only to find the product creating little more than a layer of white film that soon dribbled down my face and neck. The only thing more disappointing than the inability to create a lather was the burning sensation that immediately followed the application. It was a very unpleasant feeling, much worse than most alcohol based after shave lotions. Why, you ask? You guessed it - the shave cream contains alcohol as well. Not just one variety of alcohol, but two! No matter how much I tried to wash it off of my face it still burned. It wasn't until I had applied another shaving cream to my face that it began to calm down.

So why the title? Crabtree & Evelyn doesn't want you to know that their products contain alcohol. Check out their site for their Naturals line and view one of the products in question, then click the ingredients link. You won't see a single mention of alcohol being used - but it's actually present in the pre-shave, post-shave and shaving cream. I don't know about the "Face Shield" product because they don't send that in the sample pack. How can they advertise the products as being "Extra-mild" and "Suitable for sensitive skin", when they really burn your face off?

Shame on you, Crabtree & Evelyn, for not being honest with your customers about the ingredients in your products! May this serve as a warning to all considering the Crabtree & Evelyn Naturals line!

SpongeBob & Coldplay, together at last!

2008-07-06T22:53:00.005-04:00

My wife was watching SpongeBob SquarePants while I was working on my computer and listening to Coldplay's latest album. I looked up at the cartoon action and realized that the music matched the visuals! This is the result:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbxuWE_5QWw

How to Resolve Error 1310

2008-06-17T18:20:00.003-04:00

After months of spending a half hour here and a half hour there, I've finally resolved a problem that's really been bugging me. I recently installed the beta of OpenOffice.org 3.0 and when I tried to uninstall it I kept getting "Error 1310 Error Writing to file C:\Config.msi\*.rbf" There didn't seem to be any further troubleshooting information available, and I was having the same issue trying to remove some other programs. I tried a number of different things before finally coming across the easy, simple fix: rename the C:\Config.msi folder. After I renamed Config.msi to Config.msi.old and restarted the uninstallation, everything worked normally.

The files in Config.msi are roll back files, used by the Windows Installer. More details on what they do can be found here.

Known Issues: 239 - Microsoft "PRS": 0

2008-06-15T18:29:00.004-04:00

One tool Windows Vista offers to help troubleshoot issues is Microsoft's Problem Reports and Solutions (PRS). This tool diagnoses the issues tracked by Windows Error Reporting and goes online to find solutions.

Today my Vista Ultimate machine reported that I had 239 problems and asked if I wanted to see solutions. Sure, I clicked. A few minutes later Microsoft came back with its findings. Zero solutions. Zero out of 239. Not surprised? Me neither.

What did surprise me was the numerous items listed under "Information about other problems". I saw a listing telling me to download the latest service pack, which I already have installed. Another item told me to update to the the latest version of Firefox, which I am already running. Microsoft told me to update Quicktime, Acrobat Reader, Skype and a half dozen other programs that I already have the latest versions of as well. All of this advice in an effort to resolve "problems" with these applications - though it never bothers to tell me what those problems are. You have to go into another area of PRS to get the technical details on any issue, which are all nothing more than error codes.

It seems that Microsoft's answer to ever problem is to update your software, even if it is already at the latest version. The few other recommendations it gave me were pretty useless as well - telling me to go to the support site for the software in question. What good is a tool that gives you no answers and reports incorrect information? Not much.

How to add a shortcut on your Samsung Blackjack

2008-06-14T12:23:00.003-04:00

Interested in adding a shortcut to an application on your Samsung Blackjack, but hitting brick walls with Windows Vista? Here is a step-by-step:

My phone: Samsung Blackjack (original)
OS: Vista Ultimate SP1
WM: Windows Mobile 6

1-First, create a connection between your phone and Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC). Usually just a matter of making sure WMDC is running in Vista and connecting the USB cable to your phone.

2-Next you'll need to unlock your phone. This is a multi-step process:
A-Download and install Device Security Manager PowerToy for Windows Mobile 5.0. Yes, it works with Windows Mobile 6. No, there isn't a 6.0 version of the program - as of now.
B-Download and copy secpolicies.cab to your phone. After downloading, browse to your My Documents folder on your phone and copy the cab file there. Then, on your Blackjack, open Start>Applications>File Explorer and browse to My Documents if not already there. Then Select the secpolicies.cab file and install it.
C-If you run Device Security Manager Powertoy for Windows Mobile 5.0 now (it is listed in Start - Programs as “Security Configuration Manager”, you’ll see now you are using One Tier Prompt. Select Security Off and click Provision. It will install tool.cab to your device and then provision the settings.
(Step 2 is blatently copied from Cory E. Nielson's blog - thanks for posting it Cory! I made a few adjustments and clarifications to the instructions.)

3-Install Total Commander for Windows Smartphone (TC) to your Blackjack from Vista. This will allow you to browse and manage files from your phone.

4-Run TC from your Blackjack, Start>Total Commander. Once TC is up, choose File>More>Find Files. Search for the file you want to link to. I wanted to create a shortcut to the Calculator program, so I search for "calc" without the quotes. This displayed a number of items, including Calculator.lnk, which I highlighted and then chose File>Copy. Then you can type in the folder, or just choose the Tree button and then browse to Windows/Start Menu and choose OK. Now you'll have a Calculator shortcut in the Start menu!

I have to thank James for his Smartphone Tips and Techniques post which got me started, and with his help led me to the final solution as outlined above.

Shame on Microsoft for making it literally impossible to add a shortcut to the Start Menu in Windows Mobile! What could they have possibly been thinking?

FilePlanet: Rip Off or Must Have?

2008-06-09T12:51:00.002-04:00

Lately I've been seriously questioning my FilePlanet subscription. It costs $59.95 per year to be a "Founders' Club" member. FilePlanet used to be the site to download PC game betas and demos, but lately they have less exclusives than they used to and are even beginning to fall behind the rest of the Internet in posting patches and other updates. They routinely give glowing recommendations of new games without any hint of their bugs or other gameplay issues. Everything has gone from feeling "by gamers, for gamers" to "by IGN Inc., for profit".

I recently sent an E-Mail to "Ferret" at FilePlanet but and - not surprisingly - have received no response. Here is what I sent Ferret:

6/4/08

Ferret:
Lately I've been very displeased with my Fileplanet Subscription, and especially Founder's Club. I just don't see what I'm paying for with Founder's Club. I don't think I've seen a single exclusive for Founder's Club worth mentioning since I upgraded my account to that level. Even when I'm logged in, the FC site doesn't seem to know it - it still serves up "Join Now" and "Log In" links everywhere. Even the FP home page offers me a "Upgrade Now" link on the home page, though there is nothing for me to upgrade to.

Further, and of a more serious nature, I'm reconsidering my long standing File Planet membership altogether. There just haven't been many Fileplanet exclusives in a long time, and those that are released aren't what I'd call major "gets". Not having the ads disabled by default after I log in is a pain as well, and just makes me feel less valuable as a paying customer.

The lack of CoD4 1.6 Patch availability prompted this E-Mail. The patch has been released already, and I'm still looking at a "Reserved" download in my FP Download Manager. Not only is the patch already officially out at nZone, but tek-9.org already posted and linked to it, and Google indexed their site! This is yet another reason why I'm seeing the value of FP fade.

Please tell me that something is just around the corner that is going to change all this. I've not seen any positive changes in a long, long time. I've been a loyal FP user and customer since the Gamespy days, so I'm really at wits end writing this.

I'm sure I am just one of thousands of Founders' Club members, but I think I at least deserve a response from someone. FilePlanet has really been slacking off lately and it's just a matter of time before they lose their crown.

The Underground World of Shaving

2008-06-06T21:24:00.004-04:00

I have pretty much always shaved with a cartridge razor system, namely the Mach3 Turbo. At times I have tried various electric razors, but I never felt that I was getting a close shave, not to mention the irritation they caused my skin. With the Mach3 I have tried a number of different shavings gels, then foams, and even a shaving soap and cheap boar hair brush. None of these significantly improved my shaving experience, and I have always felt that it could be better.

Out of curiosity, a few weeks ago I Googled my way to some YouTube videos by mantic59. They have opened up a whole new world for me. I had no idea that there was an entire legion of dedicated old school shavers! They have their own jargon and secret understanding - that they known better than everyone else. They claim that shaving in the traditional manner, with a Double-Edge (DE) blade razor system is not only a more satisfying and effective experience for the shaver, but also represents a huge cost savings over modern cartridge based systems.

Let's break down that assertion, shall we? For this example we're going to estimate a few figures - 1) The average male lives to the age of 75 2) The average male begins shaving at 15 3) The average male shaves about 300 times per year, or 18,000 times in his life time, which means he uses about 9,000 cartridges or blades if he gets two good shaves out of each one.

Next we need to look at current market prices for Mach3 Turbo cartridges. The best deal I could find online was for three eight packs at $40.59. This means each cartridge runs about $1.69. On the other hand, I found DE blades made by Merkur at $14.95 for 30, or about $0.50 per blade. Most people generally feel that you can get at least two, but usually more good shaves out of a DE blade, but just to keep things even we'll assume you're only getting two shaves and then tossing them.

So, taking all of those things into account what is the final tally? It's going to blow your mind:
Total life time cost for Mach3 Turbo Cartridges: $15,221.25 ($21.14 per month)
Total life time cost for Merkur Double-Edge Blades: $4,485.00 ($6.23 per month)

Hard to believe we all spend that much on razor blades, isn't it? I find it even more dramatic that people are willing to spend more than three times as much money for these new shaving systems, when I can tell you from my own experience that they are no better than the DE shaving systems. In fact, I've recently been doing a lot of experimenting with DE shaving and I not only get a closer, smoother shave but the entire experience is infinitely more enjoyable. My skin even feels cleaner and healthier than even before! I'm hooked.

For more information than you ever wanted to know on this subject, head over to the Badger & Blade website and forums. For a wonderful introduction to the world of wet shaving check out mantic59's YouTube videos.

One Step Closer for Obama

2008-05-31T21:24:00.003-04:00

With today's decision by the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee, Barack Obama came one step closer to becoming the next President of The United States. I watched the events unfold throughout the entire day - for some strange reason I was riveted by the Rules & Bylaws committee meeting and couldn't stop watching it - even during various pandering sessions by supporters of both candidates.

In the end, I think the committee came to the only reasonable conclusion that was left to them: split the votes and allow Florida and Michigan to send their delegates to the convention. Anything else would have hurt the party in November, and we all know they couldn't allow that. If one takes an unbiased look at the entire process the committee probably should have never punished the two states so severely in the first place, as it appears that the stipulated punishment for such a violation as was committed was to reduce the offending states delegate counts by half. In order to set an example however, the committee decided to take a hard line which they have now reversed in an effort to build up the party for the national elections. In some ways the decisions made today could be seen as an acknowledgment that their previous judgments were too harsh. Republicans will no doubt call it "more Democratic flip-flopping". I'd rather support a party who isn't afraid to re-evaluate a decision, than one who never admits they were wrong.

Oh, and Harold Ickes is evil.

Firefox Add-ons I Can't Live Without

2008-05-18T20:56:00.003-04:00

With the upcoming release of Mozilla Firefox 3 everyone is abuzz about new features and enhanced performance - but I won't be ditching Firefox 2 until my favorite Add-ons are upgraded as well. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

ColorZilla
Great for web and graphic developers, this tool lets you find the alphanumeric code for any color on a website.

Cooliris Previews
Mouse over an image and a small icon appears. When clicked, you see the full sized image in a pop-up window. It's a handy little time saver.

Copernic Desktop Search 2 Toolbar
One of only two toolbars I use - it serves as a quick and easy way to search my computer from my browser window.

del.icio.us Bookmarks
This allows me to easily create and tag bookmarks directly to my del.icio.us account, so I have them wherever I go. Using tags means I can find that one in six hundred link I'm looking for much more efficiently.

Download Statusbar
It's just better to be able to watch the progress of your downloads in your active window, and the extra features it provides make managing them easier, too.

Dust-Me Selectors
A neat little tool that tells you what CSS is and is not in use on a page. Excellent for when you have been working on a complicated site for a while and forgot what you have removed.

gDocsBar
Allows you to see all of your Google Docs in a sidebar, but I rarely use it. It just doesn't save much time because I have to switch between my del.icio.us bookmarks sidebar to use it.

Gmail Notifier
Lets me know when I have new Gmail without getting in the way - a must have!

PDF Download
Prompts me to download PDFs instead of opening them in the browser - handy, but doesn't always work.

PicLens
A much more appealing way to view photos on MySpace, Facebook, and Google Images, among others.

Sothink Web Video Downloader
A wonderful little application that allows you to save pretty much any streaming video to your hard drive. Why wait for buffering when you can just download it?

Web Developer
This is a truly powerful toolbar, and the 2nd of only two that I use. It incorporates dozens of other tools to give web developers quick and easy access to things that make our lives easier. It's "Edit CSS" tool allows you to tinker with the CSS code from any site you're viewing, which makes CSS troubleshooting ten times easier. I can't live without this one.

You can download any of these from Mozilla's Firefox Add-ons site. Sadly, most of them aren't compatible with development versions of Firefox 3 yet, but I hope they will be when it's released!

Age of Conan Sucks

2008-05-08T11:03:00.003-04:00

After years or hype and fan boy drooling over screen shots, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is nearing launch. I have played in the Tech Test and several of the BETAs and I'm here to tell you it's not worth playing.

The game is slow, boring and unimaginative. The graphics are decent at higher levels, but when turned up that high the game slows to an unplayable crawl. Though my system far exceeds the requirements of the game, I can only play at the "Low" settings, which means textures that look like Quake 2 and boring effects. For a game that consumes 24GB of hard disk space you'd really expect more on the visual side. Even when set at "Low" I frequently have to stop moving to let things "catch up".

Even worse, I can never play for more than an hour before the game crashes. This is such a common issue that they even address it in a recent survey. Though it is common, it hasn't been fixed.

The fighting system, which is supposed to be revolutionary, feels just like a hundred other button mashers found mostly on consoles. It is more tedious than fun, and adds nothing to the game. On top of that it just doesn't work very well.

The quests are all cookie cutter - go kill this guy, go fetch this, go tell this person something for me, etc. You have done all this before in better MMOs. Yawn.

Small annoying problems abound in AoC. Hiding doesn't work very well - you never know when they AI will see you. You can only sprint for a few seconds at a time because your stamina drains at an alarming rate. Loads times are still horrible, although they have improved over the development of the game. The world that has been created isn't very visually appealing, though it isn't for a lack of content. The NPC's are all the same type of character - all weathered old soldiers who are angry at something but need you to run some lame errand for them because they are too busy .

This game gets boring fast. If this were a real review I'd tear into it further, but it's not worth the time. Just don't waste yours!

An Adobe Photoshop that doesn't work with Photoshop documents?

2008-04-01T14:22:00.002-04:00

Adobe Photoshop Express blows. It doesn't really allow you to do anything that Google's Picasa doesn't do better, and it won't even allow you to upload PSD files (Photoshop Documents)! Way to go Adobe - any other good names you'd like to kill off? You've already buried Macromedia...

P.S - You can't edit GIF, PNG, or TIFF images either - only JPG's are supported. Wow.

Obama for President!

2008-02-13T10:41:00.004-05:00

I have decided to support Barack Obama for President! Check out my Obama blog here and join the movement! Unlike other candidates, Obama needs the support of each of us. He doesn't accept donations from lobbyists or political action committees, and the campaign counts on grass roots efforts to get the word out. Finally, you can really make a difference in politics!

How TiVo Skews TV Ratings

2008-02-11T19:32:00.000-05:00

Advertisers pay big bucks to place their products on popular television shows, and one of the primary ways to rate said popularity is by use of the Nielson ratings. TiVo has a software flaw that prevents these ratings from being accurate.

Nielson uses a method of sampling households to gain a representative figure without knowing exactly what every viewer in the country is watching. Here is how they explain their method:

Nielsen TV families are a cross-section of households from all over the United States. We carefully draw our samples in a way that offers every American household with a television an equal chance of being selected.

When TiVo customers select a program to record, they do so one of two ways - by recording that individual airing or by selecting to record all of that shows episodes using a "Season Pass". The latter method is what causes the problem with ratings. This is due to a problem with the TiVo software that seems to choose recording times at random when there are multiple options.

For example, let's say you're recording "Program A" using Season Pass. This program airs every Monday night at 8:00PM. Sometimes TiVo decides to record it at 8:00PM, but other times it may choose to record the re-run at 10:00PM. It seems to do this randomly, and even if you choose the option to record new episodes only.

In this way TiVo skews the ratings by not properly portraying the intention of the viewer. The viewer probably wants to record the first showing of the episode but that wish isn't always carried out by their TiVo.

No one seems to dispute Nielson as being the de-facto statistics gathering source for television data, but someone should really investigate the effect this issue has on the numbers.

My first taste of the drug

2008-01-10T15:51:00.000-05:00

Though I had spent time fiddling with an old Tandy and a Commodore 64, my first true personal computer was a Packard Bell 486 DX/2. This was apparently a very popular model (as seen in the picture to the left), as many people now look back on it with joy. Joy that they have moved on. That model was a nightmare - but it was my first. Many hours of Doom and Sim City 2000 were played. My first experience online using a 9,600 baud modem was had on this machine. It was the first machine I had to troubleshoot, which is pretty much how I've learned everything I know about technology. Unlike most customers, I'm grateful to Packard Bell for pushing such a dog of a machine on unsuspecting customers. Had it not been for the poor combination of hardware and software bundled with this machine I'm certain I wouldn't be where I am today. The speakers, CD-ROM drive, floppy drive and hard drive all failed at some point during the systems use but mysteriously the monitor lasted for a decade after the rest of the package was stowed away. Even the power and reset buttons broke after a few years. This experience taught me several valuable lessons:

1- Never buy from Circuit City or other such chains. You're going to get ripped off.
2- Don't buy cheap computers. They always fail and never have a warranty to cover anything.
3- Research before you buy and don't rely solely on sales people to advise you.
4- No matter what anyone tells you, in the computer industry proprietary technology is bad.
5- Never give up on a problem that you truly believe you can resolve.
6- Microsoft Bob was the worst software ever created.

Tabula Rasa - Still Not Ready

2007-12-03T11:32:00.001-05:00

(This is simply an extension of my Tabula Rasa review posted at IGN.com.)

Tabula Rasa has been out for a whole month now, and a few days more that a month for those of us who pre-ordered. I have put around 170 hours into the game in the past five weeks (sadly, that's about five hours per day on average), and I am now level 41 in the game. What this should tell you is that I know what I'm talking about, unlike most of the "professional" game reviewers who have given Tabula Rasa such high marks without even playing the game through to level 30.

Anyone who has achieved level 30 or higher in Tabula Rasa can tell you that this game needs serious work, and should not have been released when it was. There are missions that can't be completed, UI quarks, stability and lag issues, bugs galore and most importantly a serious lack of high level content.

I discussed quite a few items in my IGN review, but I've since discovered a few new issues. I can now tell you that in addition to all of my original complaints, I have found more items that need to be aired. This article deals more with higher level issues and PvP, while my IGN review is more generic and addresses issues at all levels. I have grouped my concerns and gone into detail below, enjoy!

Content & Crafting Issues:

An issue at higher levels are the areas. The elder areas are bland and devoid of enemies. You can run to pretty much all of the waypoints in Thunderhead without even seeing a single enemy. Ashen Desert isn't much different. Though Ashen Desert present a nice change in scenery, all of the other high level areas as more of the same - blah textures and lava.

Enemies at the higher levels are all the same to. Don't expect to see anything new just because you have invested all of your free time in the game. Missions are all the same to. Remember that Caretaker mission you had at level 20 where you had to kill 10 to get 10 items? Remember doing it all over again at level 25 and then 35, but for different items? Prepare to do it yet again at 40, and so on.

I can't tell you how many missions there are where the objective is to tell the guy 10 feet away something, and then relay his message to the guy who gave you the original message. Seriously.

Then there are the broken promises and constant poor communication from the Tabula Rasa developers. We have all been expecting the Military Surplus buildings (i.e. the auction houses) to be functional for weeks now, yet they are still empty shells placed in game to drive us mad.

Crafting is still useless, no matter what you've heard elsewhere. Until they fix the utterly broken crafting system and enable the auction system there is simply no reason to craft. This is really getting to the community because we're all getting pretty tired of the missions and not being able to find good drops on enemies.

Community & Support:

The decision on behalf of the developers not to have an official forum is causing the players to splinter rather than find another place to rant and gather. There is still no clear winner in the un-official forum wars, and the logic given by the developers for not having an official forum wreaks of a cop-out. They believe that their time can be better spent sifting through hundreds of bug reports that could be avoided if people saw the issue in the forum. In game people are always asking if there is an official forum, and are always upset to learn that there are none.

Another issue is the lack of GM presence in game. Other than the one event that occurred since launch (more on that nightmare later), I can't think of a single time when a particular GM was online to help people. I have submitted about a dozen petitions in game and have never had any answered in game, all through E-Mail. Though E-Mails are answered within 24 hours or so, I have never had a single issue fixed. They always tell you that they have the issue logged and are working on it for a future patch. Great.

Economics:

You won't really notice until after level 35 or so, but the economic system in Tabula Rasa is completely unbalanced. For the first 30 levels you will have no issues with money, or credits as the currency is called in the game. It's not unusual for players to have several hundred thousand credits saved when they hit level 30 and people often make the mistake of wasting credits early. After level 35 you will find that you are having a more difficult time making ends meet. Weapons will require higher grades of ammunition which cost more and more money, until you simply can't afford to use them anymore. Entire weapon types are eventually rendered unaffordable, such as the chaingun and propellant weapons. You will really see this take effect after level 40. Almost no one level 40 or higher will use a chaingun or propellant weapon during casual fighting as they would be bankrupt within hours. Only two classes can really be played after 40 without constantly worrying about finances and those are Guardian and Spy, because they use weapons that don't require any ammunition. The problem is so fundamental that there can be no excuse for its existence. It simply costs more money to kill an enemy than you are rewarded for killing it. Savvy players learn early to turn on "Loot Everything" in the game options which allows you to loot "Junk" items which can be sold for a small amount, but even this doesn't make up the difference.

What this means for the serious player is that after a certain point in the game some portion of your play time will have to be dedicated to farming credits. Since this can only be effectively done in a few areas, there will soon be a lot of competition for the best spots.

Game Performance & Events:

Since I have been playing the beta of Tabula Rasa there have been a handful of events. They have all been unmitigated failures. Unplayable in terms of lag and balance. The most recent event on November 17th was extremely poorly planned and run. The developers initially announced that one area on one server would come under attack at a certain time. Too bad for everyone playing on the other servers, I guess. This resulted in a flood of players on the server in question which meant the area was unplayable laggy even before the event began. Some twenty minutes after the scheduled time for the event it still had not started, and when it did no one could play because of the severe lag. Another half hour or more went by and the GMs spread the event to other instances on the same server, which helped the performance for a time but quickly killed those areas as well. Even if you could get to the area the enemies would be killed as soon as they appeared. Of course no apologies were made from the good folks at Tabula Rasa, at least not on the website.

The event was a good example of how the developers have rigged the ping indicator to show a low ping no matter what is actually happening on the server. From their explanation of the issue you'd think that ping was broken and they fixed it, but in reality they simply changing the ping mechanics so it never takes into account the stress level of the server or area you're in. From that point on ping in the game has become completely useless.

PvP & Clan Wars:

For many players one of the most exciting aspects of Tabula Rasa was the potential for some very interesting PvP. With the blend of first person shooter and MMO, players thought they would have the opportunity to really create some interesting battles.

At its core, PvP in Tabula Rasa can be fun. There is nothing more satisfying in the game than dropping someone who talks to much smack. However, PvP needs work just like everything else. First of all, there are no PvP records. Kill someone, or kill a hundred someones, only you will know it. You will never be able to show your friends how 1337 you are. The PvP Ranks link on the playtr.com website only shows you the Clan PvP rankings - which is bugged and delayed - and determines rank by number of wins rather than the ratio of wins to losses or any combination of the two.

Being in a PvP clan is really the only way to have fun with PvP in Tabula Rasa. Otherwise you have to go around finding people to dual with, inviting them to dual, and being turned down nine times out of ten. If you're in a clan the entire clan can be at war with other clans which means you can attack any of their players on sight. Killing an enemy clan member only counts towards you clan's score if they are within four levels of your own, so hunting down lowbies is a waste of time (which is a good thing). Most of the time what ends up happening is you find an enemy and call in your squad to gang up on him, racking up as many points as you can until they give up. Every once in a while there are enough enemies on at once to have a small battle, which can be both interesting and frustrating.

You'll be aggravated further by not having any good way to find your enemies in the game, other than simply running in to them. Sure, you can add them to your friends list or "/who" them, but unless they are in an area with only one instance you'll have no chance in finding them without a small army to help you. For example, they are four instances of an area named Divide. In this area there are about a dozen different popular places to look - making about 48 locations in total. It wouldn't be as bad if the game told you which Divide they were in, but at this point you simply have to look in each one - which can take quite a long time to do.

One of the big issues with PvP is that fact that you don't get anything from killing someone. No experience, no credits, no loot - nothing. Depending on the level of your enemy you may get a small amount of adrenaline, but this is hardly worth fighting for. High level players have to limit their PvP time because they simply can't afford it.

The End Game:

Since there is almost nothing left in the game after level 45 has been reached except PvP, then one must question the logic of a PvP system that gives you nothing for victories. Everyone I know over level 45 has nothing left to do but grind and play PvP, and all of them are losing interest in both. Bear in mind that there are only 50 levels in the entire game at this point. Since there are so few players over level 45 they are having a very difficult time finding each other in PvP and killing lowbies is only fun for so long. Because the crafting system is so abysmal the highest level players literally have no way to improve themselves. They are all asking each other what there is to do and wondering when the promised "elder content" will arrive. Promises of content and features have been made and broken and we're all past the point of boredom. I think most players will give Tabula Rasa a few more patches or a few more weeks, whichever comes first. If the developers haven't resolved some of the core issues in that time, such as fixing crafting, adding more high level content and incorporating the Military Surplus stores you will see a lot of players leave the game.

I would suggest waiting another three to six months before trying Tabula Rasa. Check for forum posts from players and see if some elder content has been added and if they have resolved many of the issues I've described here. If not, leave this one for dead.

BETA Testers Piss Me Off

2007-09-22T02:51:00.000-04:00

For the uninitiated, a BETA tester refers to a gamers who tests a game in its BETA stages, meaning before the game is officially released. Game developers release their titles early for expanded testing to work out bugs and help balance the games.

BETA testers are an even split of whining children and hard core gamers. Some BETAs, like pretty much all first person shooters have a larger amount of the former. Strategy games tend to have a greater number of the latter. Still, in every BETA there are the idiots who say the one thing no BETA tester should ever utter:

"This is just a BETA, why are you complaining?"

I can't tell you how many times I've read some variation of that line in forums.

Gamers have it all wrong these days. When a developer releases a game for testing, they are doing so because they need the game tested by as many people as possible. By this time they have already done some level of in-house testing, and they require the expanded test bed that can only be achieved by opening up a BETA to a large number of gamers. In other words, the developers need the gamers. Remember before there were BETAs? We just waited for the demo before we decided whether or not to purchase a new game. That has changed because the developers have sped up product development times of games and don't allocate as many resources for in house testing.

BETA testers are basically unpaid employees for software developers, yet you will rarely (if ever?) see a "Thank you to the BETA testers" in the manual or credits. Developers should be grateful for our time. The notion that we should praise devs for giving us the "privilege" of testing their games is ridiculous. Yet, this is the idea that many of today's BETA testers have. Those folks fall into that "whiney children" category I mentioned earlier.

Today I participated in the "Frontlines: Fuel of War" BETA. Due to the NDA I can't tell you anything about the game yet, but even if I could there would be nothing to say - I couldn't play it. There seems to be some massive glitch or server issue preventing everyone from playing. Though there are hundreds of forum posts about this issue, the developers haven't resolved the issue or even taken the time to write a post explaining it. When a player complains about this in the forum, the children begin their flame war with "OMG!!! this is teh BETA! quit whining and be happy you can play at all!!!". You can't discuss things rationally with these infants of the mind as they seem to have their opinions lodged so firmly between the rosy cheeks of the game developers that the fumes have gone to their heads.

This goes further than just major functionality issues, however. I have seen many a gamer post about balancing issues and suggesting fixes, or simply stating what they don't like about a BETA. The babies crawl in from all angles and flood the boards with their usual trash about it just being a BETA and "wait for the full game dood". A wise gamer knows that by the time a game goes to public or even closed BETA it is almost always feature complete. This means the things we are discussing will either be addressed in a post-release patch or not at all. The best game developers address balancing issues during BETAs, but sadly many of the are just making sure the game runs on as many machines as possible.

In the past few years I've played in dozens of BETA tests and I'm sad to say that the quality keeps going downhill. From games not installing, to severe playability issues and missing functionality, there always seems to be problems with BETAs these days that never existed when the idea first came around. There used to be a time when patches were just for released games. Now they apply to BETAs, as well.

Finally, a word to developers: if you're going to launch a multiplayer BETA, at least try to make sure the servers stay up and function reliably. If you can't get the netcode to work in a limited player BETA, why should we believe it will work in the full release?

I'm all for testing games before they are released. I even believe in the concept of BETA testing with a large number of users, but gamers must get it into their heads that they are doing the developers a favor - not the other way around.

The most frivolous Google ad, ever

2007-09-13T16:06:00.000-04:00

I sent myself a test E-Mail from a client to my Gmail account, which naturally simply said "text". This triggered Google's AdWords system to display an advertisement from a site called - wait for it - www.test.com. This site has created an ad, and is paying money for clicks for the keyword "test". Amazing, ain't it?

Vista and Remote Desktop Connection are Not Friends

2007-09-06T10:47:00.001-04:00

After much pain and suffering I've finally figured out why Windows Vista wouldn't let me connect via Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) - dual monitors.

I discovered this after hours of troubleshooting. At first when I tried to connect using RDP I would see the Welcome screen and then it would turn black. Some research pointed to Aero being the cause of this, but I had no way of disabling it remotely because I couldn't access my computer! Then I remembered that I could use DameWare Mini Remote Control to remotely access my computer using the RDP protocol. Since DameWare uses the same protocol I still couldn't control the computer, but after opening some ports on my firewall I was able to push the DameWare remote control client to the computer and use it to remote control the machine. Finally, I was able to disable Aero and try RDP again. I was able to see a bit of the taskbar - though it was garbled - but it simply froze there. Back to the drawing board.

Now that I had remote access via DameWare I could actually troubleshoot the issue. Had it not been for DameWare and its ability to be remotely installed I would have been stuck without any remote connectivity to my machine for days!

On a whim I decided to disable my second monitor to see if that would make the remote connection any faster. Not only did it improve the speed in DameWare, but after disabling the second monitor I was able to remotely access my Vista Ultimate machine using Remote Desktop Connection. Victory, right? Well not really. Vista using RDP was so slow that it was unusable, so I decided to just use DameWare instead. At least now I know what was causing the problem.

Mad props to my Grandma

2007-08-21T12:21:00.001-04:00

I knew my grandma played a lot of Yahoo! Gin, but I simply had no idea how much.

Here are the astonishing statistics as of now:

Games Played: 21668
Wins: 11071
Losses: 10597
Games Abandoned: 39

The most fascinating item to me is the amount of games abandoned. That is less than 1% folks (0.17% to be exact). What fortitude! What dedication!

I know where I got my gaming chops from.

2007-07-28T18:50:00.000-04:00

I Remember The Oregon Trail

It was the early 90's and I was in middle school looking forward to only one part of my day - the lucky few moments when I led my virtual family in a trek across 19th century North America to find a better life in the West. It was a hard journey, fraught with danger and disease, but with a little luck and enough time to finish I just might achieve victory over The Oregon Trail.

It may not seem possible that a game created in 1985 could have been this epic or enduring, but I assure you it was and is. I had never played a game that was so customizable (you could name all five of the family members!), nor as deep (never before had I seen so many choices to be made in a game).

My fellow students and I experienced this classic on the classic Apple IIc in a small computer lab at what was then S.P. Morton Middle School. Though not cutting edge, the computer lab still seemed special when compared to the other places of learning in the school. It was a place where social standing didn't matter, and you could set yourself apart from your peers, for those of us who could not do so on the football field or basketball courts.

Sure, you could play Jeopardy! or Wheel of Fortune as well, but The Oregon Trail was the first to go from the limited supply of diskettes in the coveted games box. One gained access to said game box only after completing all of their typing challenges. Though not the fastest typist in the group, I made up for it with focus and almost always got my happy hands on one of The Oregon Trail disks.

I lost many a virtual family member to dysentery, hundreds of cattle drowned in rivers which I knew I could get across, and to this day I get a little too upset when 800 of the 900 pounds of meat I killed hunting gets left behind because virtual me can't carry it back to the wagon. Once a year when I resurrect this classic, a happy (dorky) grin spreads across my face. Experiences like playing The Oregon Trail are what led me to my current position in the field of technology, though I never knew it at the time. I simply thought it was a fun game that was better than trying to stay awake in math class. Little did I know I had been bitten by the bug that still haunts me to this day. Bye-bye productivity, hello fantasy world!

Feeling nostalgic? You can play an emulated version of the very same game I have so gushingly recalled in this article! Visit VirtualApple.org/oregontraildisk.html using the Firefox web browser and install the plug-in. The site even emulates the sound effects and load times. It's free and brings back great memories!

The Nightmare That Was Empire Earth III Beta

2007-07-24T21:24:00.001-04:00

Last Friday Fileplanet released the Empire Earth III Beta to subscribers. After downloading the 2.4 GB installation file and installing it I was met with a surprise. Sierra, the publishers of this "game" had implemented a system where, prior to actually being able to run the game, you must first download the executable from a website. When prospective gamers visited the site and entered their license key they were greeted with a database error telling them to try back in "some minutes". After repeated attempts to retrieve the necessary executable from the website, the site locked me out and disabled my serial number. I reviewed the Beta forums to find that this was a common happening and that almost no one could actually play the game.

The Beta remained on the Fileplanet home page on Friday and through Saturday until it was finally removed on Sunday. Sierra has made no official comment, but someone who seems to be working for them posted in the Beta forum on Monday saying the problem should be resolved Tuesday (today). Low and behold it was, and I downloaded the exe file and began playing the game. What a relief, right?

Wrong. Empire Earth III is a terrible game. Dated graphics, weak sound, worthless AI and pitiful performance mar what I had high hopes for. Not to mention it crashed during game play. The horrid experience lasted all the way until un-installation (just a few hours after my first game), when the program crashed during removal.

Shame on Sierra for putting out such trash and for not having their eggs in a barrel before they did.

Vote for me!

2007-07-21T14:12:00.000-04:00

Maximum PC has put together a contest where the winner gets a shiny new computer. It's a "megatasking" contest, i.e. doing as many things as you can in one minute. I put together a video and uploaded it to YouTube, but I need votes from my friends! I'm being sabotaged by my competitors who are giving me 1 star votes to keep me from making the finals (I have to be in the top five to make it).

Click here to view the video!

You have to have a YouTube account (free) to vote. Thanks for your time - I know I can count on my friends to put me on top!

My Da-Lite Experience

2007-06-12T13:06:00.000-04:00

Well it took over two months but I am happy to say that I now have a new Da-Lite Contour Electrol to replace the previous one, which suffered from horrible ripples. As you can see from the previous link, the screen had developed rather severe ripples which made viewing bothersome. I went back and forth with Etronics.com (who I purchased the original screen from) and Da-Lite for 11 weeks but finally managed to get the replacement shipped to me at no cost! Da-Lite actually covered all of the expenses, which is really something to take note of. I estimate that the cost of the replacement as well as the shipping was around $1,000 which they paid for despite my original screen being past the warranty date. Kudos and thanks to Da-Lite!

Married!

2007-03-15T19:07:00.000-04:00

For those who don't already know, Jennifer and I were married Monday of this week in Las Vegas. We've both been very busy since the wedding and no, we haven't won any money. The odds are more than a little against you in Vegas.
The wedding wasn't a drunken, spur of the moment decision - we planned it a few weeks ahead of time. We had no guests present at the wedding, so don't think you were left out! Jennifer and I are very happy together and excited about our life together.

Goodbye PCLinuxOS - Hello openSUSE!

2007-02-06T23:38:00.000-05:00

After years of pimping out PCLinuxOS to my nerdy friends I am now officially bringing out a new girl. Her name is openSUSE, and although I've talked about her in the past, she is now here to stay.

I was a big fan of PCLOS. They had a great community and a rapid development cycle - two vital features of a Linux distribution. Now the community has turned into a dark circle of high level Linux users who attack users with questions and are too quick to tell you to Google for answers. E-Mails to the developers now go unanswered, and they took FAR too long to release the beta of the new edition, PCLinuxOS 2007 Test Release 1 (over four months, without a word as to the cause of the delay or the release date). Not only that, but for several months they disabled updates via Synaptic (the automatic updating program used in PCLinuxOS .93), which essentially forced you to manually update each package or simply wait. As if all of that weren't enough, you also were not allowed to ask when the distro would be updated or released, as that would result in a forum or IRC ban. The official line from the developers - "When it's ready". When you disable updates in the existing version of the distro, it's simply not acceptable to tell people to sit back and wait for the new distro.

The final straw was when I actually saw PCLOS 2007 Test Release 1. I call shenanigans! Who spent months developing this? Almost nothing had changed visually, except for a theme change that took an average looking distro and turned it into one of the most bland interfaces I've seen in 10 years. Add to that the fact that you cannot upgrade from PCLOS .93 to PCLOS 2007 (they force you to perform a clean install), and I didn't see any reason to continue on with the operating system.

openSUSE 10.2 is a dream compared to the current state of PCLinuxOS. With a thriving and helpful community, fresh look and ongoing updates, openSUSE has everything going for it that PCLOS used to. I've found openSUSE to be more stable and faster than PCLOS as well, with a larger base of support and more online documentation. Within an hour I was able to setup XGL and Beryl for the fancy 3D desktop environment I'd been waiting for on PCLOS but never got. It blows Windows Vista away. Can you rotate four desktops in a 3D cube with transparency effects and custom shell graphics in Vista? I think not!

To all PCLinuxOS users - switch now and save yourself some heartache. The road that the developers are taking is a hard one for the users, and will only result in doom for the distro and its community. openSUSE works for me - try it yourself!

Apple's NEW iPhone - Remember the ROKR

2007-01-12T09:14:00.000-05:00

I've owned a ROKR since it was released and disliked it since the very first day I had it. Its software is buggy, the MP3 "iPod" like player is slow and misses the wheel, and the phone is simply mediocre on every other level.

I find it sad that all of the media outlets are ignoring the fact that Apple pulled out the same dog and pony show a few years ago in September 2005 when they launched the ROKR with Motorola. All of the events were there - a big keynote by Steve Jobs with the Motorola CEO coming in (this time it was Cingular's guy), a Cingular only party on the service front, and a phone no one was able to review until the consumers could actually buy it. The iPhone could very easily be as buggy and overpriced as the ROKR was - just be warned.

-SC

My Little World

2006-11-01T22:32:00.000-05:00

Things have been busier than ever lately - with no end in sight. Shopunitednetworks.com is coming along well as is normal local business. Some time soon I'll post a nice article about the things I've learned about selling online.
-SC

Merchant Advertising Systems Comparison

2006-07-24T09:52:00.000-04:00

After launching my webstore (http://www.shopunitednetworks.com) I have spent considerable time promoting it through some of the popular search engines and comparison shopping sites. Here is a brief run down of the pros and cons of each:

Shopping.com
Type: Comparative Shopping
Click-Through Rate: About 4.00%
Average CPC: Manually set to $0.70
Initial Investment Needed: $50.00
Pros: Reaches a large targeted audience - the people who use Shopping.com are there to shop, not to search. This means a higher sales conversion. The site is full featured and includes decent support.
Cons: Calling in for support is difficult as it can be hard to find someone to assist you. The site has a bit of a learning curve and is unlike most others. There is a 1-2 day delay after uploading your products before they appear on the site. Although my products appear correctly, many are tagged as "needing attention" because they didn't fit into an exact category. A great deal of work is needed to get all of your site data entered because the interface has so many different areas. Reporting is extremely weak and does not tell you what product was clicked on. ROI tracking is generic unless you customize the tool for each product.

Shopzilla.com
Type: Comparative Shopping
Click-Through Rate: 0.00%
Average CPC: Manually set to $1.00
Initial Investment Needed: $150.00 (May be $100.00)
Pros: Compared to the others sites there is very little that can be called "special" about Shopzilla.com. I can't think of anything that is worth mentioning here.
Cons: Easily the worst management utility of any of the sites. The layout is horrid and functionality is spread out over dozens of pages. The delay after uploading products is normally 1-2 days, but took even longer for me at times. There is almost no online support. Attempts to call in were met with confusion by the employees - they didn't know how I got their numbers. They also consistently told me to submit help requests through the online system (which is just an E-Mail form that does not generate trouble tickets). Placing bids is more complicated than it needs to be and poorly laid out. Managing listings after upload is extremely time consuming and un-intuitive. The reporting tool requires you to CTRL-Click and highlight every category. Bids and products didn't become active until I called and got things moving.

Yahoo! Shopping
Type: Search Based Shopping
Click-Through Rate: 0.00%
Average CPC: Automatic
Initial Investment Needed: $50.00
Pros: Yahoo! was the easiest to sign up with and has the simplest interface. The system is also one of the fastest when processing uploaded products and has a nice auto-indexing feature which works fairly well. More information can be included in the product upload file than in any other system.
Cons: I was never able to reach Yahoo!'s phone support and left a message. The call wasn't returned until late the following day and the technician was unable to assist me. The biggest problem with the Yahoo! system is that it lacks functionality. I uploaded about 300 items and only half of those were accepted. Of the 100 plus items that were rejected, I could only find a reason for rejection for seven of them. Yahoo! told me that there system threw out products that it couldn't automatically import without error, and that there were instances where the system simply didn't have a message to display to the merchant. The end result is you don't know why your products weren't accepted, and neither does Yahoo!. You are forced to manually troubleshoot your file and this is simply not acceptable. Yahoo!'s upload format is also very different from any other that I have come across. This means you will be spending a lot of time reformatting your upload file. I can't comment on reporting because I have never had a click through with Yahoo!.

Google AdWords
Type: Search Based Shopping
Click-Through Rate: 0.04%
Average CPC: Manually set at $1.00, with higher amounts required on some keywords
Initial Investment Needed: Custom
Pros: AdWords has the most intuitive and fully featured interface of all the systems that I have used. Online documentation is better than most systems, and the ad campaigns are easy to create. There are many options which allow you to tailor your service to fit your needs and your budget. The "Site-related keyword" feature is very helpful in automatically creating keywords for your campaign based on the text of your site, although it seems to be selective in what it considers. AdWords has one of the most elaborate and easy to use reporting tools as well. System changes, while not in real time, are very quickly implemented.
Cons: Google now requires higher bids on more popular keywords, effectively eliminating them as options for anyone but the largest advertisers. For example, a keyword such as "software" requires a $5.00 per click bid to activate. This renders some of the most popular keywords useless. I have used AdWords off and on for over a year now and the effectiveness of the system has been considerably reduced. I used to see impressions in the hundreds of thousands and now I'm lucky to break 10,000 impressions a week. Due to the popularity of AdWords it is more expensive than most systems to get your ad listed in the top 10.

Microsoft adCenter
Type: Search Based Shopping
Click-Through Rate: 0.34%
Average CPC: Manually set at $0.70
Initial Investment Needed: $50.00
Pros: This system is similar to AdWords in function but quite different in presentation. adCenter is much more visually appealing with a slick interface and graphical reports and analysis tools. I also see a much higher number of clicks on the MSN network than with Google.
Cons: Although the number of customers sent to me from adCenter is fairly high, the number of sales generated from those visits is very low - an unfortunate drawback of Search Based systems. Creating a campaign in adCenter is straight forward, but going back and editing settings for the campaign such as bids can be tedious. There is also an extremely long delay in adCenter's reporting, sometimes three days or more. I spoke with someone at adCenter and they acknowledged that they were working on improving the system's speed, but at this time you will have to wait for accurate data. adCenter also had more downtime than any other system I have used. adCenter's keyword generation tool is nothing compared with Google's. At times the amount spent exceed the limit you specify, although the people at adCenter tell me that I will not be charged the difference.

Conclusion
Comparison shopping systems such as Shopping.com seem to be more cost effective than search based engines like AdWords and adCenter. Don't forget to list your products with Google Base as well for some free advertisement. My thoughts on online advertising are mixed. On one hand you get your name out there, but on the other you are spending a lot of money and time for very few sales. Be very careful choosing systems to use and tailor them as much for your target market as possible.

Webstore Launched!

2006-07-03T08:27:00.000-04:00

I finally decided to launch a fully featured webstore and after spending a week or so researching I chose MonsterCommerce as my provider. It has it's shortcomings, but it was the most complete package I could find. It isn't the cheapest either so I'm hoping that I can make the webstore work and become profitable. It will offer great pricing on software ranging from office suites to navigational utilites. Eventually I hope to expand to hardware as well. For now people can still E-Mail or call for quotes on anything they may need that isn't listed in the new webstore. Check it out at http://www.shopunitednetworks.com!

What's Up?!

2006-05-17T15:41:00.000-04:00

A lot for me! I've been a busy boy lately. Between business, the band and life in general I haven't had a moment to stop. Things are going fairly well on all fronts. I recently bid adieu (again) to Andy who worked with me, as he is off to work for the local public schools (again). No more afternoon games of catch.

I have been busy with band items lately, such as building up the Myspace.com profile and having stickers printed. The stickers didn't turn out well and it was one of the worst experiences I've ever had with a printer. Myspace is coming along nicely, going from 434 friends to over 3,000 in a matter of weeks.

I recently had a birthday where I turned a year older bringing the total up to 24. Did I feel any older? No. Did my life change because of this additional number? No. Hopefully when I turn 25 my insurance will go down. When I'm a big boy (25) I can also rent a car. It's insane that I can vote, drink, smoke, and own a house and my own car, but I can't rent a hatchback for a day.

It won't be long before all of the people I went to school with finish college. Many of them have already, but the rest will be done soon. I'm curious to see who returns home and who stays away. It will also be interesting to see what kinds of jobs those who return will find, as the area is in a stagnant state for white collar jobs.

If you like Billie Holiday...

2006-04-21T10:26:00.000-04:00

...then you'll love Madeleine Peyroux. Although she sounds a great deal like Billie, her voice is a bit more youthful than Holiday's. Her music is a mix of old and new songs. The classics have original arrangements giving them a fresh sound. That's it.

The Internet Has Created A New World

2006-03-19T21:20:00.000-05:00

I am addicted to being "connected". Being online (or at least being no less than one hour from a web enabled location at all times) is now one of the most important things in my life. I never realized this until I lost my connection a few years ago. It was like watching a drug addict suffer withdrawal symptoms. I wandered from room to room lost in a world of emptiness - no news, E-Mail, online games, buddies, forums and chat rooms. I refreshed my browser to no avail. I reset my cable modem every 15 minutes. It was sad. I was sad.
Of course the connection was finally restored and so therefore was my link to the world. I was reminded my previous experience when I returned today after almost two days without accessing the Internet. I felt the need to get online deep within me when my computers were only yards away. It grew stronger as I entered my house until it overcame me and I galloped up the stairs to quell my hunger. For a few brief moments while I check the few "important" items the physical world exists merely to sustain my body while it reconnects with the virtual world. After checking a few accounts I lean back with a sigh and turn around to find my girlfriend staring at me with a sly grin. She knows, and I hope she understands.

Do I have ADD or am I just lazy?

2006-03-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

I can't focus. I work, then I stop and listen to some music. Then I work for a while longer and stop to go get a drink. A little more work then a lot of sitting in the tub being warm. \Some more work then an hour (or two or three) for lunch. A power session of working, then distracted by some E-Mail or blog post or news article. Distracted again by music. Focus lost now due to E-Mail/Blog post/new article thingies. Even writing this I find myself wondering what I'm going to do when I finish. Maybe I'll cut it short so I can go

Linux Madness

2006-03-09T23:42:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh!!!! My PCLinuxOS server crashed (peace out Maxtor hard drive), and so I went about attempting to recover the data. It took me almost 4 days of off and on troubleshooting but I am proud to announce that all of the data has been recovered. That was thanks to OpenSUSE 10.1 Beta 6 and it's robust set of module and drivers. Unfortunately OpenSUSE is not as user friendly or package complete as PCLinuxOS .92 so I'm currently working on re-installing that. I say working on it because I'm getting a lame Kernel panic error that I'm trudging through at the moment.

During these events I tried the most current release of the popular Linux distro, Ubuntu 5.10. Color me not impressed. There are to many issues to list, but the first and most apparent problem I have is the use of the "sudo" account. The sudo account is the Ubunutu equivalent of "root" and in order to make changes to the system you have to enter a special "sudo -s" command or choose to "run app as root" in the GUI. This means if you want to change the monitor power settings you enter a password. If you want to edit a config file (or most any file) you have to launch a text editing program through "Run Application As...". I spoke with on of Ubuntu's developers and he said that sudo is here to stay. There are many other bugs and functionality issues to numerous to mention, but the devs say those will be resolved in Ubuntu 6 coming in April/May. Ubuntu is definately for novices only. If you plan to make changes or additions to your system, or ever have the need to modify something other than the screen saver look elsewhere.

Linux Links Approved by Me:
PCLinuxOS
OpenSUSE

WFMU Needs Your Help

2006-03-02T23:21:00.000-05:00

In the world we live in there are not many things left that can be described as "pure". WFMU (wfmu.org) is one of those that still can. I first discovered WFMU over a year ago when a friend of mine turned me on to Seven Second Delay, one of their radio shows. Ever since I have been a supporter of the station. Do I like everything they play? No. Hell, I hardly like anything that they play, but I do not support WFMU because of the music the play, rather the principle they support. There is a phrase that they are very proud of at WFMU, and that is "Listener supported". That's a term we have all learned to associate with PBS, but even at its most honest PBS isn't listener supported. While it may be true that they rely on our support for a small amount of their budget, I hardly think that if a few hundred of us didn't pledge that PBS would suffer for it. WFMU however, is a different story. They not only rely on our support, they can't exist without it. There are times when we do a thing because we like what they provide and then there are times when we support a cause because it stands for something larger than musical taste. If you can, please spare a few dollars for WFMU during their pledge drive. See below for their online pledge form and links:

How This Works...

Support Freeform Radio! 800-989-9368

Freeform links:
WFMU Home Page
Seven Second Delay Archives

Recent News & my Myspace.com Rant

2006-02-27T00:02:00.000-05:00

Well I have been very busy lately! I've been working on the new Ben Phelps Project website which is coming along nicely as well as other bands related items. Business and all other aspects of my life are going well and I have therefore not had a moment to breathe these past few weeks.

I hate myspace.com. It's a horrid implementation of an idea that's been around since the beginning of the Internet. Plagued by technical issues, one wonders how it has become so popular. Many times you can't log in and I can honestly say I've never seen the site fully functional. E-Mails and other messages are delayed and IM'ing has simply never worked. It boggles the mind that the youth of the world would embrace such a clearly inadequate means of communication. At its best myspace.com is a glorified profile system, not unlike that used by Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN for years. In reality it is a sheer waste of time. Want to contact someone online? Use an IM program. Want to contact them less directly? E-Mail them. Need to post things about yourself to inflate your ego? Get a blog. Spend more than a few hours a week on myspace.com? Get a life.

That said, visit my myspace.com profile here : http://www.myspace.com/sc123a

Why do I have a profile? The Project. That's why. I still hate myspace.com.

Sesame Street Yip Yip Martians!

2006-02-14T10:02:00.000-05:00

It's funny how we forget about these things when we grow up, but I remember a time when Sesame Street was a show I used to wait in happy anticipation for. Here are a few things I found today, courtesy of a WFMU Blog Post:

Yip Yip Martians Brrring - Audio
Yip Yip Martians Computer - Audio
Yip Yip Martians Computer - Video

PS - I still get excited when I hear the Sesame Street theme song. Awe.

Now Managing The Ben Phelps Project!

2006-02-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to announce that I'm now managing The Ben Phelps Project, a progressive rock band playing throughout Virginia and North Carolina. Do us a favor and add us to your myspace friends and check out of site. I'm currently working on a brand new website for the band and when it's done I'll post a link here!

Experience The Link:
Myspace.com/benphelps

A bit of humor...

2006-02-08T11:02:00.001-05:00

Found this browsing the web:

Then there was the Jon Stewart show joke watched several days after it aired on my lovely Tivo which provided this bit of priceless humor:

"Hillary Clinton: Where boners go to die."-Jon Stewart

ARRR! SNL's Pirate Convention Sketch

2006-01-30T15:36:00.000-05:00

It was one of the highlights of the show. This is just delicious. It made me laugh hARRRd!

Wooden Legged Link:
Click here to watch the video

Lazy "Monday" Video

2006-01-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

Two 5th graders took it upon themselves to re-cut the classic "Lazy Sunday" SNL Video. What they came up with is simply hilarious.

Crazy Delicious Link:
Lazy Monday at YouTube.com

Art + Ego =

2006-01-18T12:05:00.000-05:00

Boredom and a new camera...that's why.

Is this the only snow I'll see this year??

2006-01-15T11:45:00.000-05:00

Hopefully it isn't! Picture taken while visiting Norfolk, VA.

Why do we nod our heads for "yes" and shake them for "no"?

2006-01-13T10:01:00.000-05:00

An interesting article on our universal gestures and expressions. This is something I've always wondered about and thought some of you may find interesting as well!

Linkage:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_450b.html

The Best Religion In The World

2006-01-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

Whenever I'm asked what God I believe in a smile comes to my face. For I believe in the His Noodliness, The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Yes, I am a Pastafarien. You see, we Pastafariens believe that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe and all of its inhabitants. He tends to our needs with his Noodly Appendage(s). We believe global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s.
Want to learn more about this exciting new religion? See below!

Noodly Links:
Pastafarianism Home Page
The Gospel of The Flying Spaghetti Monster Book
The FSM Game

Flyff (Fly for Fun) Review

2005-12-27T15:08:00.001-05:00

OK, so Fly for Fun is probably the worst name ever for a MMORPG. Let's go ahead and move past that. Flyff is an interesting entry into the growing list of MMORPG. What sets it apart is its price tag (it's free) and the world the game is set it. For a free game there is a lot to do and see, but don't be mistaken - there are many flaws and issues to be worked out. Like Dungeons & Dragons Online (see my previous previews) this game has a dedicated fan base and a good deal of support and communication from its developers via web and forum postings.

Many very strange things occur in Flyff. It snows for no apparent reason. Shouting can be heard by everyone, everywhere. There is no group window to see the stats on your "troupe" mates. The grammar and spelling are the worst I've ever seen in a game, ever. The are bugs in nearly every aspect of the game. Private player run stores are so prevalent that popular areas become difficult to navigate, due to the excess text on the screen.

The developers have chosen the cutesy anime/cartoon look and feel for the game which is tired and boring. The graphics are not bad, but they aren't fantastic either. Sound effects are...interesting. The music heard fades in and out and is repetitive. Every time you engage in combat you here the same song. Lame.
Quests are simple enough to complete, but are impossible to do without outside help (i.e. the forums or another player). The NPCs (Non-Player Characters) give you almost no information on the quests they distribute. For example, a NPC might tell you to go find Rooney and ask him for a gift. They don't tell you where Rooney is or how to ask for the gift once you find him. Luckily there is a section of the Flyff forum dedicated to quest assistance. The FAQ leads to a forum as does the Quick Guide. In-game help is better than some but not great. It covers the basics in broken English.

So why am I even playing it? It's fun. It's just good, clean, FREE fun. You can't ask for everything when you're not paying for it. Considering what's out there I believe this to be one of the easier more beginner friendly MMORPGs, if you're willing to spend time on the forums looking for quest assistance. It's easy to pick up the feel of the game, and most of the initial quests are simply "go here, kill this, grab what it drops, and bring it back to me" deals. At level 15 you can choose a class and begin the real work.

Jump in and play, just be ready to wade through minor irritations. At times you will not be able to connect, or there will be extreme lag. Sometimes bugs prohibit you from accessing quests or completing them. Hang in there and have fun. The devs promise fixes soon.

Links:
Flyff Homepage
Download Flyff

Jesus Is Funny

2005-12-24T18:35:00.000-05:00

I think you all will enjoy this video! Watch and laugh as Jesus sings "I Will Survive".

Video (In MOV Format ~4MB): Click Here

SNL "Lazy Sunday" & "Christmas Time For The Jews" Videos

2005-12-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

Quality work. Absolutely hilarious. Download the video and/or the MP3!

Video (In MP4 Format ~28MB): Click Here
Audio (In MP3 Format ~3MB): Click Here

Another funny short was "Christmas Time for The Jews". Link below.

Video (In MP4 Format ~20MB): Click Here

You may need the Quicktime player to view the videos.

Thanks to Saturday Night Live for beggining to turn the page in what had (in my opinion, of course) begun to look like a failing show.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach - Stress Test 2

2005-12-19T11:56:00.001-05:00

Round Two! I am happy to report that DDO is even better the second time around. Many minor issues were resolved and the graphics have been improved. There were minor changes to some of the quests (I made it to Level 3, Rank 1), but all in all the experience was the same. I really like the addition of the Rank system, which I won't discuss in detail due to the Non-Disclosure Agreement. The community is growing stronger and the magnificent developer support is still there. My only gripe - I have submitted a BETA application and participated in no less than three events designed to give players a chance to win a BETA account, yet I have never even seen a GM (Game Master - they came around and gave them out in the game). Boo-hoo.

"Colorize Black and White Photos"

2005-12-12T15:04:00.000-05:00

Recolored is a very functional application which allows you to easily color photos which previously had none! Check it out: http://www.recolored.com/

Thanksgiving 2005 Aftermath

2005-11-25T20:43:00.000-05:00

Three turkeys, a ham and countless fixins later...

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach - Initial Thoughts

2005-11-19T16:03:00.000-05:00

The DDO stress test is over and I find myself blankly staring at my notebook pondering what I will do with my spare cycles. Due to the non-disclosure agreement that was agreed to by me and all of the other participants, I am not allowed to go into detail about the game. I will however point a few things out for those of you wondering what it is all about.
I'm not a D&D fan. I have never played the pen and paper version, nor the board games or even the electronic versions. DDO has been my first experience with the genre. The DDO world is an immersive and entertaining one, rich with content and attractive to see and hear. Being that this was a stress test, one cannot hold against it any server issues that occurred. I will say that the developers were the most responsive I have ever seen to server crashes. Not only did they quickly resolve issues (I don't recall being unable to play for more than an hour or two at a time), but they constantly posted updates and information about progress and server status. Not only did this let us know that they cared, but it allowed the testers to plan their time more efficiently.
In the past I have tested many Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG), such as World of Warcraft and City of Heroes. The involvement and feedback from the developers of DDO stands far above others in the genre.
The game itself plays well and is very much like other MMORPG titles. I can best describe it as a mix between WoW, Asheron's Call 2 and Ultima Online. The quests a straightforward but immersive and the story is compelling enough to keep your interest, although it doesn't stand out from the crowd.
Another stellar aspect of the game is its community. It's rare to see such dedicated yet friendly players. People are willing to help each other, even if it doesn't benefit them directly. Higher ranked players took time, even from the limited timetable of the stress test to assist their juniors. This is a good sign as nothing determines a MMORPG's long term success more than its community. After all, who wants to spend the better part of their life leveling up a fictional "you" in a world filled with people you disdain as much as those who live in the real one?

Links:
Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach Website
Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach Forum

Guess what this is!

2005-11-12T17:57:00.000-05:00

Civilization 4 Review

2005-11-02T11:01:00.001-05:00

I have been playing Civilization since the original game was released in 1991. I love the series. Many hours of my life have been happily spent positioning cavalry and capturing enemy tiles. Needless to say I have extremely high expectations for any game in the series and Civ 4 does not disappoint.
The best way to describe Civ 4 is to say that it's the best of all of the previous games and then some. Units and technology that we are so fond of are all present and accounted for, with some additions to mix things up. As with previous versions of Civ things are bigger, better and more polished in the latest release. The new graphics engine provides a clean and attractive interface for governing your people. The game has excellent sound effects as well as music. I feel as if I'm watching The Lion King every time I open the game. Tim Rice and Sir Elton would be proud.
Single player is, to no ones surprise, fantastic. Enemy AI is better than ever and you really have to be on your toes to win. Some things are annoying, like the constant pop-ups suggesting that you build settlers, but these don't dampen the otherwise pleasant experience of the single player game.
The biggest issue I have, and it's been reported by others, is the fact that the end game is so busy that your hardware may not be able to keep up with it. This causes turn changes to take longer than normal and communications with other civs to become tedious since they take time to load and disappear. The larger your empire the worse this gets. Again, this is a hardware dependent issue, meaning the more machine you have the less this problem will present itself. Still, I think this could be optimized.
Multiplayer, a welcome addition to the shipping game, is the weakest point of Civ 4. Although possible, it is extremely difficult to play in a game of more than two people without synchronization errors and players dropping. The interface for choosing games also begs for help as you will find browsing nearly impossible without using arrow keys. Many people want to play quick, bloody games with no strategy or thought. These are the same lowlifes who seek the fastest rushing strategy in RTS games such as Age of Empires. Civ 4 is not the place for you. Go back from whence you came.
Civilization 4 is a quality game that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a challenge. It will provide endless hours of entertainment and you might learn something along the way (*gasp*). Buyer beware: you will lose friends, your tan, and gain weight if you buy this game. Don't worry though, it's worth it:)

Thoughts on Tivo

2005-10-30T22:05:00.000-05:00

I've spent some time playing with my new 80GB Tivo Series2 DVR. The primary reason for purchasing this was not for the ability to pause live TV or even to record it, but simply to enhance the video and audio quality while adding the aforementioned features. Generally speaking the Tivo unit increased the quality of both the audio and video output from my cable connection (over the standard Motorola Cable Box). Unfortunately the Tivo unit does not support HD content, so the difference between HD and standard definition broadcasts is slight, although noticeable. It has an intuitive and near flawless interface, although there are delays between screens which will annoy anyone not used to this. Delays are also present during channel changes. There are also long load times for software and TV listing updates, although you can continue to watch Live TV during these periods. Initially I couldn't get the Tivo Desktop software to allow me to transfer my recordings to my computer, but after finding a forum post describing the solution that was easily remedied*. I bought the unit from Best Buy for about $340 including a four year warranty. There are $175 worth of rebating so that drops the price of the initial purchase to $165, which I believe is a good deal. Unfortunately you have to also plunk down $12.95 a month or a one time fee of $299 for the service itself. That is as they say, how they stick it in. Time will tell if this product and service is worth the money spent, but as of now I'm leaning towards yes. The unit does what it advertises and with some modifications (hehe), maybe a bit more!

* NOTE: After trying this I found that it actually did not work. I called Tivo Network Support to find out that you have to wait up to 72 hours (not the 24-48 it says on the website). Sigh.

ADDITION: TVHarmony makes a program called AutoPilot that automatically downloads and converts the Tivo files into popular formats including PSP.

ADDITIONAL ADDITION: The Tivo Desktop software finally works after much waiting. The transfer over my 802.11g (54MB) wireless network is abnormally slow, but it does work.

Tivo & Civilization 4

2005-10-28T23:02:00.000-04:00

Wendy and I just got back from dinner at Ultra Bistro in VA Beach and buying some new toys. Ultra Bistro = meh (so-so). Tivo & Civ 4? Working on setting those up now:) If they are any good it may take me a while to add a new post...

Me vs Age of Empires III

2005-10-27T21:15:00.001-04:00

Well folks, I am furious again. After dishing out more dough for the latest whiz-bang game I've been disappointed again. After playing the AOE 3 demo I decided to give the full version a whirl when it was released, thinking there would of course be more content in the full version. Wrong. Sure, there are different nationalities and they have unique units, but as far as tech trees and unit types go, you pretty much have them all in the demo.
OK, so now that you know that you're throwing away your money, let me tell you what will really piss you off. Multiplayer blows. AOE 3 is the same rush-fest that all of the other AOE games have been. The forums are full of ways to get the cheapest units the fastest, or to get the best unit to the enemy base before he can mount a defense. Most games don't last 30 minutes, and an hour long game is considered extraordinary. What a sad state RTS games have come to. Not only are single player campaigns boring and stale, but multiplayer is frustrating and completely lacking in tactics. Your most important decision will be what to rush with.
Finally, because I know there are still some of you out there who will buy the game due to your feelings of nostalgia, let me announce the worst flaw to date of any RTS game - the online "Home City" system. This system is totally FUBAR. You begin with a level one home city. Win or lose, that city is going to level up (allowing you to add more cards, i.e. choices for unit deliveries that you get when you have enough experience points). What does this mean? It means that even a crappy player (like myself) who loses more than he wins will be faced with tougher and tougher opponents, regardless of your wins and losses. It's easy to get to level 6 after only 4-6 games, and at that level you're playing against some skilled players. The system only lets you limit the auto-matching to players within 5 ranks of you, so you never know if your playing a noob or the grand master himself. I admit I'm not good at rushing. I'm opposed to the thought of short and angry little battles, with someone being furious at their inability to click or use hotkeys as fast as their opponent. The RTS genre needs a breathe of fresh air in multiplayer, and that could be Blitzkrieg 2, if they ever patch it to a point where it's playable.
-SC

Jamie Cullum's new album - better than his first

2005-10-24T00:04:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd mention Jamie Cullum's new album, Catching Tales. It's very good, even better than his first!

Consumers prove that the ROKR is garbage

2005-10-22T21:08:00.000-04:00

Here is an article validating my post (here). The article lists some of the same concerns I had. It's interesting that companies can still get away with releasing bug ridden products. A Cingular rep told me that the phone automatically updates its software, but gave the impression that updates are rare on the Cingular network. Other networks, such as Alltel require that you dial a special number to recieve the firmware upgrade.

Operating Systems Currently in Use

2005-10-21T10:44:00.000-04:00

His is a quick list of OS' I currently have installed on various machines:

-Windows XP Home Pro

-openSUSE 10.0

-PCLinuxOS .91

My favorite is PCLinuxOS. It's easy to install, easy to use, and works most often. Unfortunately it didn't work with my Dell Inspiron 9300 notebook - for that I have installed openSUSE. Although I still haven't gotten the wireless working on it (openSUSE) it appears to be working well otherwise. I'll post again if I get that working.

Updating the blog!

2005-10-21T10:33:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I will be updating my blog soon...it needs it!

Dell System Offers

2004-11-16T01:16:00.000-05:00

Check out our Dell Holiday Specials here:
http://www.unitednetworksonline.com/sales/04holiday.shtml
Sincerely,
-SC

Work

2004-11-15T04:22:00.000-05:00

Work is endless. I'm playing with some new Linux systems and building a new print server for the High School. Both are time consuming and tiring. In the past three days I've worked over 30 hours on these two things alone. I hope the High School appreciates their printing later today...

I've been working a lot with Novell Linux Desktop 9. It's really quite interesting. I think with time it may become my OS of choice, although it can never replace the pure functionality of Windows XP. I wish applications were more compatible with other platforms.

One of the cool things about NLD 9 is that you can use GNOME or KDE. Each has it's own benifits, but I prefer the clean and more efficient GNOME so far. Anyone know a good place to find basic Linux bash commands? I need to get my feet wet.

What's lame about NLD 9? It doesn't make any progress towards greater compatibility with existing Novell offerings. There is no easy way to connect to GroupWise unless you install a BETA client that is missing key functionality. This client isn't quite as user friendly or responsive as the Windows client. There is no Netware client to log into your existing servers with. You have to configure tricky LDAP settings or use ncpfs which is even more frustrating and backwards than the LDAP functionality. You'd think they could have at least incorporated a simple client in the OS. A simple search of the NLD documentation comes back with nary a response to "Netware". GroupWise is hardly mentioned either, only referring to GroupWise Messenger. Where is Novell going with this? How long will it take them to get there? Will they actually make it work? Good questions. All without answers.
-SC

Posting Rules

2004-11-12T01:29:00.000-05:00

Feel free to post whatever you wish, but try to keep it interesting. No "junk mail" type crap here please.
-SC

Mozilla Thunderbird - The Better E-Mail Client

2004-11-12T01:14:00.000-05:00

Mozilla Thunderbird 0.9 Release Notes

Mozilla - The Better Browser

2004-11-12T01:13:00.000-05:00

Mozilla - Home of the Firefox web browser, Thunderbird and the Mozilla Suite

NOVELL: Novell Linux Desktop

2004-11-12T01:11:00.000-05:00

NOVELL: Novell Linux Desktop

NOVELL: Worldwide

2004-11-12T01:10:00.000-05:00

NOVELL: Worldwide

Opening Post

2004-11-12T00:47:00.000-05:00

Welcome to all who venture into my little Blog! I hope you enjoy the commentary here and find some useful information.
Sincerely,
SC