Random Fraggings

2007-05-15T22:29:00.000-04:00

I'm fine. How 'bout you?

2006-12-25T09:51:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Matters of the heart?

2006-09-27T15:51:00.000-04:00

Too Funny

Small & speedy

2006-08-14T09:04:00.000-04:00

Codemasters game Micro Machines V4 is an arcade racing game that will appeal to a wide range of gamers. It's a fun diversion that doesn't require a long learning curve or any special peripherals.

You can race against computer opponents or against friends which makes this game a party and family favourite. The race tracks are set in various locations around a house such as bathrooms, kitchens and rooftops. Each offers different challenges and hazards to avoid.

The gameplay is fun and covers everything you would expect from an arcade racing game. Power slides and power ups will help the player win a race. The single player mode allows the player to play out a race campaign through various challenges (76 in total) and various difficulty levels. All in all there is a lot of gameplay here. All the time you are winning races you are also collecting micro machines and unlocking tracks. There are 750 micro machines to collect and the game allows you to trade them with friends.

The only negative I found with this game was with the camera angles. There are different race types in the game. The standard "first to complete 3 laps" mode is here and is what you would expect. The only thing missing was a radar screen to see how far ahead or behind you are of your opponents. The other mode is a kind of elimination mode. If you get a screen length behind you are eliminated from that leg of the race. This is where the camera angles get a little whacky at times. In an effort to show all the cars left in the race the camera will pan out with the lead car at the top of the screen. Then when a car is eliminated, the camera will zoom in to the remaining cars. This can be very disconcerting especially when you are the lead car. The lead car gets no warning to changes in the track and must pretty much drive by memory. As the camera zooms back in it makes driving difficult as you are left trying to match a changing camera angle to your control of the racer. This one aspect will probably cause 90% of your crashes and accidental off-track falls. But as you get used to it, you do eventually learn how to handle your car through these changing views.

With over 50 tracks to play, the game offers a lot of variety, but if that isn't enough you can also build your own tracks. The track build interface is very easy to use and you can have your own custom track built in a matter of minutes.

The game is available on PS2 (the version reviewed), PC, PSP and DS. Check out this funny ad campaign: Size Matters.

Overall this is a great game to add to your party and family favourites collection. I play tested this with both my kids (Girl 10, Boy 11) and both agreed that this was a game worth having in their collection.

Terrorists have no rules

2006-08-01T21:10:00.000-04:00

I have changed my position somewhat on this whole middle-east mess. I originally was feeling very bad for the innocent civilians caught in the cross-fire between Hezbollah and Israel. And I still do. But where I have changed is in my feelings that Israel should back off. They should not.

If you follow the rule of not negotiating with terrorists, then Israel has little option but to destroy the threat. A softening of Israel's attacks would only give the Hezbollah terrorists an opportunity to regroup for later. Fighting terrorists is like fighting an infection. You need to administer the anti-biotic until the infection is dead and gone or else the infection grows stronger and more resilient against the medicine. The Hezbollah terrorists would use any lull in the attacks to figure out a way to come back stronger and with more determination. Israel, and any country that truly despises the spread of terror, needs to continue the battle against those that spread fear and lies around the world.

Assuming risk

2006-07-21T17:04:00.000-04:00

The whole fiasco going on between Israel and Lebanon (more specifically Hezbollah)is another example of how pathetically powerless the U.N. has become. The U.N. has condemned the actions on both sides and called for a ceasefire. Both sides ignore them.

Israel especially appears to care very little for the citizens of other countries trapped in the area. In their blind rage to exact revenge on Hezbollah, they have invaded a sovereign country and disregarded the U.N. that is supposed to protect the greater good of all nations and citizens.

The Canadian government has sent evacuation resources to the area and the Prime Minister even made a special trip from Paris and picked up some citizens from Cyprus on his Canadian Forces airbus. But with 50,000 Canadians in Lebanon it is a nightmare to imagine the resources necessary to evacuate them all.

But unbelievably, some of the evacuees have the gall to complain. They complain about everything from the time it is taking to the fact that they got sea sick on the boats taking them out of a WAR ZONE they chose to go into. Canadians are such bleeding heart suckers that we are allowing Canadian citizens who have not been resident to Canada for years to also jump the ferry out of the zone in some cases ahead of those there on vacation/family visits. Didn't these people assume a certain amount of risk for making a choice to reside in such an area? While I think the government should do everything it can to evacuate our citizens I think there ought to be a priority given to residents of this country.

The other part that gets me with this is people criticizing the government for not having a plan to handle the situation. Huh? So now we need to have plans in place for evacuating every corner of the globe because, guess what, folks, Canadians are literally everywhere. Again, I say that if you make the choice to live in a region that has the potential for war, tornadoes, tsunami, volcano or your next door neighbour going postal, you can't expect the government to be ready at a moments notice to save your ass. If you assume the risk you need to step up and assume some of the responsibility of a contingency plan.

Fortunately, my neighbours seem rational and well-adjusted. But if any of them get an evil-eye going on or a weird nervous tick, I'm not waiting for the government to send a limo to take me to another location. I'm picking up and moving.

TF2

2006-07-20T10:27:00.000-04:00

Valve announced that they would release Team Fortress 2 (TF2) with the next episode of Half life. I may have to re-think my position on not buying the episodes until they are all available at a reduced price.

Team Fortress has been around in various flavours since the days of Quake (1996). Team Fortress Classic was the most popular multi-player first person shooter for many years until it was de-throned by Counterstrike. TF2 has been in the making for a long time. So long that many had written it off as vapour ware. Keep your eye on this one.

Sin: Episodes

2006-05-19T22:14:00.000-04:00

Valve Software's other claim to fame (after that little game called Half Life) is it's online content delivery software called Steam. Steam enables the delivery of game content with customers needing to go to stores and worrying about CD/DVD compatibility problems or worrying about discs getting lost, stolen or damaged. Steam keeps track of a customer's purchases and allows them to load any purchase on any machine they own now or in the future (so long as the software isn't running at the same time on two computers simultaneously). Steam is also being used to delivery smaller games and allow the customers' feed back to be incorporated into future games. The first such game to follow this model is Sin: Episodes. For $20.00 you get the first chapter.

Sin

On the surface this seems like a good business model. The games can be tailored to feedback received, presumably making for a better end product. If the developers miss the mark on the first chapter they should be able to make it better on the next chapter. Contrast this with the idea of dropping $50-60 on a full 5 or 6 chapter game that you know after playing the first chapter was a waste of money. You can see where there is room to make gamers happier and at least feel like they aren't as likely to waste their hard earned money using the episode model.

The first chapter of Sin Episodes is called Emergence. You play the part of a cop named John Blade and you are chasing your nemesis Alexis around. The game looks terrific and the scripted story sequences play out like a movie.

The enemy AI is adequate and the game tracks how well or poorly you are playing and adjusts on the fly in an attempt to keep you challenged to the level you asked for when you started the game. After about 6-10 hours of game play, you are done. The chapter is over and you are presented with a teaser as to how the story will progress in the next chapter.

Jessica

As much as this game is not ground breaking or special in game play, it was enjoyable and presented enough of a challenge to keep things interesting. But was it worth the $20.00?

Without multiplayer and with under 10 hours of game play, my vote is "No". This site leads us to believe that there will be 9 chapters. (I have read that multiplayer will eventually be included.) So that means I will be spending $180 to see this whole story. So far there isn't any multiplayer and there isn't anything innovative to warrant a premium price. I just can't recommend that kind of investment. I could stomach a $10 per episode price tag. I'd still be paying more than if they released the game all at once but if they truly were tweaking the game and implementing feedback into future chapters then I might be able to justify the extra cash.

I really like the model that Valve & Ritual have come up with here but I think they need to tweak the value for the consumer dollar.

Oblivion

2006-05-15T09:14:00.000-04:00

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the latest role playing game (RPG) from Bethesda Softworks. The Elder Scrolls series began in 1994. You can read a history of the games here.

Although I haven't played any of the other games, I am really enjoying Oblivion. I'm not much of an RPG gamer as I rarely get absorbed enough into the game to finish them. But Oblivion has kept my interest. Oblivion is visually gorgeous and the gameplay is wide open. You can follow the story and complete missions or you can just explore the huge area where the story takes place and do as you please. I have already spent over 80 hours playing and I am probably only half to two-thirds of the way through the main story line. In addition to the main story-line there are many many side quests.

From a hardware perspective, the game is very demanding. Only a powerful gaming machine will be able to run this with all the eye-candy turned on. However, you can turn a lot of option off and still play the game.

If you like RPG games then you probably already have this one. If you are more of a casual RPG player (like myself) and you have a hefty enough computer, you ought to get this one. It is worth the coin.

Keeping Busy

2006-03-23T19:45:00.000-05:00

Since I'm not working right now I have put an inordinate amount of time into being the basketball junkie I used to be back in high school and college. I seem to have an insatiable appetite for all things hoops.

I am coaching three teams, watch NBA TV most of the day even though I have seen many of the programs once or twice already and I scour the internet looking for plays and new coaching techniques.

Fortunately, the season is coming to an end for the teams I coach. My girls team is playing this weekend and ranked 3rd in their division, 11th for the province. My boys team plays next weekend and are ranked 10th in their division, 50th for the province.
I'll let you know how we make out.

The NCAA tournament is in full swing and while I haven't watched a lot of them I check the scores and news of happenings around the tournament. It has been an interesting year with a lot of teams without a lot of tournament history making it through to the Sweet 16. It should be an exciting tournament the rest of the way.

I haven't done a lot of gaming lately. But I have tried out a few new games. Without getting into too much detail, Age of Empires III is excellent. Good single player campaign and the on-line is fun.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (PC version) is great. Not for younger kids as the language is ridiculously harsh. I don't think it would have taken away from the experience or gameplay to have toned down the language a little. But having said that, the game does boast the voice acting of Samuel L. Jackson and James Woods. A couple of pretty heavy hitters. The game is also so open ended that you can literally never stop playing. There is always something you can do or try to do that keeps the game on my hard drive even though I have completed all the story missions.

The Movies game. It was fun for a little while and then it got really boring and tedious. It's kind of a cross between a Sims game and a Tycoon game. It didn't hold my interest long enough for me to recommend it.

That's all for now.
Cya.

Beware the Hordes

2006-01-02T10:37:00.000-05:00

Expansion packs are games that must be installed over (or added to) an original game franchise. The idea is that if an original game has sold well then that base of consumers will pay to add some more gaming to the original game through an expansion pack. Generally, these add-ons simply give the gamer more of what they got in the original with a few enhancements. Since the add-on can't be played without first having the original game, sometimes the original game will get a second life of sales if the add-on is well received. Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion (RTWBI) is an expansion pack to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Rome: Total War (RTW).

I generally find expansion packs to be a hit & miss proposition. For some games I am glad to pay a few more bucks (generally about half the cost of the original game) to extend the life of a game I really enjoyed. I know full well that I am not buying anything that is going to rock my gaming world. Other games are good but don't warrant spending the extra cash. RTW didn't fit into these two categories. The game was good enough that I wanted to play more but the original was so deep and allowed so much variety in game play that it was hard to imagine that I would need anything added to it. But now that I have played the expansion pack, I'm glad I have it.

RTWBI takes you forward in history to 363 AD. Rome is feeling pressure from all sides as the world was changing. This changes everything and makes the game just feel different. You will do many of the same things that you did in the original RTW but there are enough subtle changes that you feel you are playing something a little different. That is a good thing.

Some of the changes to pay attention to are:

Religion. The influence of religion is felt in your civilization. If your faction is of a different religion from the people you are trying to conquer then you will suffer from revolts and riots. Revolts and riots cripple your ability to build a profitable empire.

Hordes. Nomadic hordes wander the countryside and they can sack a settlement. In other words, destroy your city and just move on making the losses huge.

Night battles. Not only are these stunning to see but they add a new dimension to your strategy. If your General has he ability to lead a night battle over an enemy without that ability, you have a big advantage.

There are also new units with new abilities and new races of people that all add some twists and interest in the game.

The on-line component is also enhanced by these changes. There are enough subtle changes here to at least force a little bit of re-thinking some of your strategies.

There is enough added here to warrant the purchase. If you enjoyed the original this is going to give you hours of extra game play.

Merry Christmas

2005-12-25T00:55:00.000-05:00

Best of the season to you all.

Wax on, Wax off

2005-11-29T10:27:00.000-05:00

R.I.P.

Sony Sucks

2005-11-04T10:04:00.000-05:00

CD compatibility. If I buy a CD, I think it ought to work on any CD device. But apparently a CD is not always a CD. Sony has implemented an anti-piracy strategy that severely cripples legitimate owners of CD's from actually using their purchase. That's just wrong.

When you buy a CD make sure it actually says it is a true CD disc. If it doesn't carry one of the compact disc logos then it may not work.

As usual these companies react to criminals and only end up punishing the average legitimate consumer. These companies never seem to learn from past mistakes. The criminals will always stay ahead of ANYTHING you can throw at them. It's their business to do so. It shouldn't be record company business to mess with my legitimate purchase.

Geriatric Gaming

2005-11-04T07:39:00.000-05:00

My future.

The article raises a good point. Gaming gives you a lot of value (usually) for your entertainment dollar. If the average game gives you 20 hours of play time, and you spend $60(CDN) on it, you are looking at a $3 an hour entertainment value. Compare that to a movie , sporting event, or whatever your paid pleasure happens to be and I think you will be hard pressed to find better value.

Busy

2005-10-19T11:48:00.000-04:00

Basketball season has hit our household again. Last year my daughter played for a Rep team and I helped coach the team. It was a very positive experience for both of us. My son didn't make the team last season so I decided to make sure they both got the experience this year. The only way to accomplish this was to agree to coach both teams. I didn't know what I was letting myself in for.

I love to coach. Seeing kids pick up the skills and the expressions on their face when they realize they are performing the skill properly is just amazing. The teaching side of coaching is what I really enjoy. Politicking, administration and budgeting are things I don't like. As a head coach I get plenty of each.

But so far I am still glad I have taken on these tasks. I am exhausted but happy. So long as the kids get something positive out of it, I'll be happy.

Ka-boom

2005-09-09T21:40:00.000-04:00

Mercenaries is a PS2 game I have been playing lately. It is like Grand Theft Auto without the bad language and racist slang. You play the part of a soldier for hire and complete missions for various factions in war torn Korea. Allied, South Korean, Chinese and Russian Mafia are your potential employers and everyone's enemy is a North Korean dictatorship. The missions range from simple "point A to B" speed tests to "wipe the enemy out". They are very challenging but not impossible. As you complete a mission for one faction you probably have teed off another faction and need to mend your relationship with them. Cold hard cash tends to buy their forgiveness or you just have to kill some of their enemies.

A big part of the fun is that virtually every building can be reduced to ruble if you have enough fire power. And the variety of vehicles available makes for a lot of variation in how you approach a task. Everything from airport baggage carts to helicopter gunships are in the game for your destructive pleasure.

On the negative side, the AI isn't always very smart and occasionally your vehicle blows up for hitting a bump in the road. But this doesn't take away from the fun. Also there isn't an on-line component which could have been fun.

My advice is rent it and see if you like it.

New Hockey Rules

2005-08-30T18:54:00.000-04:00

Wondering how some of the new NHL rules are going to work? Check it out. EA and the NHL have put together some quick videos to explain the changes using the NHL 2006 game. Cool.

Vacation

2005-08-10T18:29:00.000-04:00

Good view and good times. Who could ask for anymore?

Sunset on Crystal Lake

Tranquil

Tubing

Semantics

2005-07-12T18:25:00.000-04:00

Telemarketers. They must think that the people they talk to are brain damaged or are all learning English for the first time.

I get a call from a telemarketer the other day and they wanted to give me a gift. A few days earlier I had taken 2 minutes to answer a phone survey. Doesn't bother me to do that so long as the questions don't get too personal or start going into finances. So this call was the call back. The survey was to do with respiratory health, the product was some kind of air purifier.

The lady told me they had a gift for me because I took the time to do the survey. They could deliver a $400 travel voucher to me that night. "Well thank you." I said.

Then she informed me that the person who would come to my door would like to show me an air purifier and that if I liked it they hoped I would tell a friend about it. But she assured me that there was no pressure to buy and no strings attached.

Ok so let me get this straight. I am supposed to get a $400 voucher for answering the survey but the delivery person needs to come into my home to show me a product that I have no interest in. Hmmm. Sounds like a "string" to me. So I said, "I will be glad to accept the voucher but I will not allow someone to come into my house to demo a product I don't need or want."

Here's where I think these telemarketers think they are dealing with morons...

She says, "No, sir. It isn't a demo it is a product preview and we would like your opinion on the product."

Now read that again. I'll wait.

Am I the only one who finds that absurd! So I replied, "Sorry I don't have time to have anyone coming into my house to demonstrate a product." Then she responds, "Sir, a demonstration takes hours this is a 20 minute preview."

What? Conversation was over at that point. And I didn't get a voucher either. I guess my opinion wasn't as valuable as they first thought.

This is your life...

2005-07-10T10:15:00.000-04:00

One of the items I picked up with the new computer parts purchase is something called the Moviebox. It allows me to connect analog video devices to my computer via the USB port. I have spent the last week and a half capturing almost 11 years worth of video. I'm about 3/4 of the way done.

It has been an incredible journey looking through all this old video. The memories that come back are priceless and has a way of calming and centering my focus. All too often everyday events and the day to day drudgery can stress me out or make me wonder why the hell I bother sometimes. But seeing where you have come from, the happiness and innocence of young children just seems to make all the stress and angst diminish. Seeing how my family has grown, seeing my Dad again, and reliving the games I used to play with the kids just leaves me completely contented.

Fear the Vader

2005-06-24T09:59:00.000-04:00

Check it out.

The deed is done

2005-06-17T22:46:00.000-04:00

I started the ball rolling today. I placed my order for all the stuff I figure I need to build an excellent PC. Even though the mission was to spend some money, I still wanted some bang for my buck so I didn't just buy the most expensive items in each category.

Here's what I came up with:

WD Caviar 200GB Serial ATA HD 7200/8MB/S-ATA-150
Corsair Value Select 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz
MSI K8NNeo4 Platinum Socket 939 Motherboard
Samsung Black 16 DVD Burner oem with software
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Sckt 939 (Venice Core) BOX CPU
Diamond Radeon X800XL 256MB PCIe
Diablo Red ATX Samurai Case
Coolmax ATX 550w PS w/ Silent 120mm Fan Black

plus keyboard, mouse, webcam, XP, Office, and Pinnacle MovieBox USB 9 all for under $2300 Canadian. Once it arrives some time next week, the fun of putting it together starts. I guess its kind of like Dr. Frankenstein putting the parts together and waiting to see if it becomes alive.

I also found out through placing this order that my credit card company is looking out for me. I decided to use my Mastercard from Canadian Tire to finance this purchase. I get Canadian Tire Money on the card and this big purchase was too tempting to pass up on the extra payback. I had never used this card on-line before. Within minutes of my submitting the order, a credit card representative phoned me to make sure it was me who had made the purchase. I don't know if all credit card companies do this sort of thing as I have never purchased this amount of stuff on-line before, but I was impressed and relieved to find out that such a change in my spending triggered a response from them. I know they are protecting themselves as well as me but it's nice to know a company gives a crap at all.

Revolving Door

2005-06-15T21:31:00.000-04:00

It's that time again. Although I have resisted the "New Computer" urge for over a year now, I finally have an excuse. I need to spend money. Well at least my business does.

My business has made more money this year than last. Working from home has drastically reduced my expenses so I have to find a way to whittle a little income away. So I will make the ultimate sacrifice and buy a new computer rig. I'm due anyway. The one I am using now is three years old.

This time though, I am going to buy the parts and put it together myself. It is amazing how much you can save putting the parts together yourself. I'm guessing about $500-$800. Should be fun and scary at the same time.

Technology..better?

2005-06-07T17:16:00.000-04:00

Turn the clock back ten years, maybe fifteen. Place yourself at the same event. The friend/family member would have called your home and left a message. You would have got the message on your return home. No one panicked because they couldn't get you immediately. It seems like now, people expect to be able to get in contact with their family members at any time no matter where they may be.

Work seems to have the same attitude. Last time I checked though, the relative pay of people in positions where they carry cell phones hasn't changed when compared to their counter-parts from a decade or two ago. Think about that. A person who was ,say, a sales manager 15 years ago probably didn't have a way to be in constant contact with the office. He was probably paid well and worked 5 or 6 days a week for his salary. But when he left the office, his time was, for the most part his own.

Fast forward to today. Sales Managers are paid about the same today as they were back then if you take into account regular cost of living allowances. In fact, with so many companies freezing salaries in the '90's, they may even be paid a little less. But today they are generally required to have a cell phone with them at all times. So they are basically available to work 24/7. I find that bizarre.

Then today a lady, late-40's-ish pulls into the drive through of a fast food place while she is on her cell. She stops at the menu post and looks like she is reading it. I guess that's ok but then she pulls up to the speaker and tells the person on the other end to hang on a second while she finishes her call! I couldn't believe it. Lady, put the phone down and order your damn food!

This "always available" concept reminds me of a funny story. I was out at an event several years ago and had to use the public washrooms. As I was sitting there minding my own business (so to speak) the guy in the next stall over gets a call.

Guy in Stall: Hello?

...pause

Guy in Stall: Ah, ya...ya..well...ya..ok...

...pause

Guy in Stall: Well I'll check it when I'm done here. I'm not in my regular office right now...

Not his regular office? Too funny. That implies he's at his irregular office.

So callers beware. You never know where the person is or what the person on the other end is doing. I think if nature calls or you're just out with nature, it should be ok to be unavailable. I like not being available.

Felt like a change

2005-06-04T17:59:00.000-04:00

Decided to change my blog template. Kept the stuff from the old template I liked and trashed the rest.

I've been busy with work and family stuff. But I have been able to squeeze in some games. Of course.

I finished God Of War for the Playstation 2. It was very well done and reminded me of the Prince Of Persia games. Puzzles, story and action. I rented it so I couldn't replay it and unlock all the extra content. It's rated "M" for Mature (over 17) so there is plenty of gore. There is even some nudity and sexual themes. But what do you expect from a Greek god? Recommended.

Check out this flash game of the original Prince of Persia game.

On the PC, I have played through one campaign of Pirates! There are lots of things to do in this game and many ways to play out your career as a pirate. The game allows you to increase and decrease the difficulty as you progress so that you never feel that the game is impossible but you can still challenge yourself. It's rated "E" for Everyone so it's not a game you'll have to hide away until the kids go to bed. Recommended.

Canadian MVP

2005-05-09T20:53:00.000-04:00

Steve Nash, the Victoria, BC NBA star of the Phoenix Suns, has been named the league's Most Valuable Player. Back on February 1, I wrote,

Steve Nash...is hands down the MVP. I don't think anyone is having a bigger impact on their team with the possible exception of Shaq.

That pretty much sums up how I feel about it today. The right choice was made.
I'm hoping that his rise from humble basketball beginnings inspires kids all over this country to try hard and let their dreams come true. Nash is proof that you don't have to be the best player from the moment you pick up a ball. But if you stick at it and commit yourself to improving every year (even when you have made it to the pros) you just might end up being the best.

Life (and death) lessons

2005-05-03T19:21:00.000-04:00

The new hamster we brought home died through the night last week. Apparently a victim of "Wet Tail". Many tears were shed by my daughter and it is very hard to explain that even though it was her hamster and she was caring for it, she didn't have anything to do with it's death.

So we have a new hamster. A dwarf hamster she has named "Mucky Snowball" or just plain "Mucky". This thing is a little dynamo. It is super active and very entertaining. They are fascinating little creatures even if they are rodents.

Grow Up

2005-04-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

This article says Apple has removed all books published by John Wiley & Sons from Apple stores simply because Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn't authorize a biography published by John Wiley & Sons. Seems kind of silly to me. Certainly, I would agree that not selling the biography makes sense if you feel it is unfair or incorrect. But some of the other books pulled were Apple tech books that their Apple customers want. I guess this story just proves that big business is still run by people and people can let personal bias affect their decisions. Wouldn't it be nice if the heads of companies used moral principles to guide their decisions instead of petty personal ones?

Children need the right motivation...

2005-04-20T22:17:00.000-04:00

My daughter is, I guess, a fairly typical nine year old. Remaining focused on a specific task isn't a strong suit. Remembering simple duties from day to day without being reminded pretty much never happens. But if she wants something, she sinks her teeth into it like a pit bull.

About a month ago, she was on about wanting a pet. One day she wanted a kitten. I flat out said no. Kittens become cats and cats are just not my thing. Then she wanted a puppy. I wasn't totally against that except for the concept of the stoop and scoop idea. I'm sorry but I had a dog as a kid and one of my jobs was to clean up the yard after it. There is not enough money in this world that could make me want to have to bag doggie do-do in a public place. So we moved on to the next animal.

"A hamster", she says.

Hmmm. Small rodent. Craps in a contained area. Feed it, water it. If she neglects her duties then it isn't so bad for me to pick up the slack. So I have a brain storm.

"Alright, I'll make you a deal. If you can keep your room clean for one month I will buy you a hamster".

Now, I'm thinking there is no way she will pass this test. Her room ALWAYS looks like a tornado just touched down. It took her three days to clean her room for the time trial to begin.

To make a long story short...we have a new family member. His name is Toffee.

Winter's over...no really

2005-03-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

We got hit by more snow on Wednesday. So Thursday morning I was out shovelling snow as I had an appointment to get to, to check on an eye infection I have been battling for a couple of weeks. About half way through the chore, I snapped the shovel. So by my calculations, that clearly means winter is over.

I got to my appointment on time and the optometrist wanted me to continue taking the drops he gave me a week ago and to also see my doctor to get some anti-biotic. The infection I have is under the eyelid and looks and feels like a little pea is stuck in the lid. The drops should have loosened and reduced the size of it but they haven't done so to the point that the optometrist wanted so he recommended the anti-biotic. But since he isn't an MD he can't write a prescription and I had to make an appointment with my doctor. The doctor was reluctant to prescribe the anti-biotic and started going on about how these things usually clear up on their own and that he could refer me to a specialist but that would take time...blah, blah, blah. So I finally asked if the anti-biotic would cause me any harm. The answer was no. I then told him that the optometrist saw my eye a week ago so he knows how bad it was and that the drops have made an improvement but mostly to the extent that the external part of the lid looks clean and un-infected. But if someone (the optometrist) who sees these kinds of things on probably close to a daily basis thinks the next step in treatment is an anti-biotic then that is probably the best plan of attack. I got the prescription.

Then he takes my blood pressure and it's high. I have to go see him again in a couple of weeks with a list of blood pressure readings from one of those drugstore machines. Great. I am so NOT looking forward to that.

Now carry on about your business. Oh and Happy Easter to those that celebrate it.

Beta Games

2005-03-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

In programming, especially programs that are to be released to the public (like Windows and games) go through several stages of development. There is alpha were the software works but is no where near optimal in performance or features. Then there is beta where the software is often released to a select group of the public. In the case of games, game companies will often hold contests or limited time sign-ups for the chance to win a position as beta tester.

For the company, they get any number of testers they wish to release the product to and it costs them almost nothing. The testers are not paid and many are eager to be the first to see a new game even if it isn't ready for prime time. The testers spend hours playing a game they like before anyone else and often get a chance to give feedback to the company on things they like and dislike as well as reporting problems that the game programmers will fix before the game goes retail.

One of the reasons I've been away from my blog is that I have been playing a game called Matrix Online. Matrix Online in a massively multi player online game (MMOG) that allows the players to build a character and interact with thousands of other players on various levels. You can create teams and take part in some missions or you can go solo and perform missions for yourself. This particular game is, naturally, set in the world made famous by the Matrix movies.

While I am not normally a fan of these types of games this one has me hooked to a certain degree. My main gripes about this type of game is that there is a monthly fee (subscription) that players pay for the privilege of continuing to play a game they already bought for say $50. There are plenty of games out there that allow you to drop $50 and play forever and never pay another penny (Half-life and all its mods for example). So paying to play isn't high on my list of things I want out of gaming. Since this game is still in beta I am able to play for free and enjoy at my leisure. The thing I hate about the fees is that since they are usually a flat fee, it compels me to want to "get my money's worth" and I play to the point of losing interest. When things are free, I tend to play because I want to have fun. The enjoyment factor lasts longer.

Under the terms of the agreement of being allowed into the beta I am not allowed to divulge specifics of the game. So in general, your character has recently awakened to the existence of the matrix and you spend your time trying to master the matrix through different skills. You can read more about it at the beta website. The graphics and game play are very well done and have the right feel for the matrix setting. The interface didn't take long to get used to and is fairly intuitive. Martial arts and hand to hand combat play a big role in the development of your character and is done really well, capturing the "wire-fu" feel of the movies.

Anyway, I am enjoying my "free ride". I am glad I am getting a chance to experience a game I would have wanted but would have passed on due to the subscription format. If you are a Matrix fan and you don't mind the subscription fee you might want to keep your eye on this one. Or better still, get in on the beta.

Dude looks like a lady...

2005-02-22T19:31:00.000-05:00

The Governor General of Canada figures it would be a good idea to award the Stanley Cup this year to the North American Women's champion. Please. It's a non-starter. The Cup is for professional hockey. Specifically the NHL champion. Get over it. There is no season. Get the girls their own championship trophy. Look at the WNBA and NBA as a guide if you don't understand the concept. NBA champions have their trophy. WNBA has their own trophy. Same sport. Different leagues. Different trophies. Seems almost symmetrical.

And while we are on the NHL subject. How dumb are the players? This little "show of solidarity" cost them collectively somewhere in the billion dollar range in salaries. As Mark Cuban points out, 30 teams at say an average of 35 million dollar salary level per team is $1.05 billion. You can't get that back. The only guy that got paid was Goodenow. Two minutes for delay of game while his bank account grows and everyone else's shrinks.

Bargain Gaming

2005-02-11T09:58:00.000-05:00

Do you ever check out the bargain bin for games? Usually at Christmas I'll check out the bargain titles and older titles and pick up some as stocking stuffers. I was able to pick up 3 games for less than 20 dollars.

Tropico is a Civilization type of sim game where the player plays the part of a tropical dictator that must build up his island and keep the people happy so that he stays in power. While not nearly as deep as the Civilization franchise, the game is interesting and the cartoonish graphics reminded me of the old Theme Hospital game. The game allows for open ended play and mission based.

Stronghold is a real time strategy game (RTS) where the player is a knight sent on various missions. Economy building and castle building are the main activities here. Some of the characters in the game are pretty funny. Overall, the game is a good diversion but nothing extraordinary.

The last game I picked up was Medieval Total War. This was the second in the Total War franchise and while not as pretty as the recent Rome Total War, it is still a very robust game with a lot of aspects to master. This is an excellent pick up for under 10 dollars.

The other thing that makes bargain titles even better is that since they are usually older titles, the hardware requirements are reasonable enough that you can get some extra life out of an older PC. Since my kids inherit my older PC's this is a perfect fit.

World of Sports

2005-02-01T00:19:00.000-05:00

NFL Super Bowl

New England by 13. Maybe 10 if T.O. is back. Even though I have no time for guys that think they are bigger than the game you can't deny he is an impact player. But the Patriots are too solid and no matter what's thrown at them they just find a way to win.

Steve Nash

He is hands down the MVP. I don't think anyone is having a bigger impact on their team with the possible exception of Shaq. It's hard to gauge Tim Duncan as he is in the same situation he's been in for the last few years.

NHL Lockout

I'm passed caring. Even if they get something down on paper the season will be a farce. Of course the Leafs would stand a chance then.

Rafer Alston

He has some growing up to do. But he sure is good to watch when he plays the right way. It's not easy taking the street out of someone who's reputation and "legend" is so closely tied to the street game. Kudos to management for sticking to their guns (again) and staying focused on turning this franchise into a respectable organization. The NBA needs more front offices that aren't afraid to put the burden of responsibility for player actions where it belongs...on the players.

Vince Carter

He is playing like he should have been playing from the start of the season when he was in Toronto. Admitting he wasn't putting in the effort in Toronto is going to come back to haunt him in later years. There is no denying that the change in scenery has helped him out but the help has come more from within himself. He's putting forth the effort he's paid for.

Jalen Rose

His handling of coming off the bench was very professional and I respect that. He made it known that he didn't like it but he didn't let that negatively effect his game. Instead, he goes out every night and does his best for the team and if that means torching the opponent then that's what he does. He's starting again. Not because he whined or threatened but because he earned it.

It was there a second ago

2005-01-24T13:28:00.000-05:00

Busy weekend. I spent the weekend at a high school gym attending a basketball tournament for my nine year old daughter. No big deal but a major snow storm rolled in while we were there and I had to decide if I ought to brave the weather and drive home (about an hour away in normal weather) or get a hotel room and spend the night. I decided things weren't all that bad so I started home.

Just about half way I entered the brunt of the storm. It was the first time I had ever been out in what was literally zero visibility. I could not see the front of my car far less the car in front of me. I put on the hazard lights and tried to stay on the road. Traffic was moving on the single lane highway at about 25-30 km/h. I passed several cars in the ditch. I probably passed more that I wouldn't have even seen due to the waves of white outs. It wasn't safe to stop and pulling over was not any better of a notion. So I concentrated on the car in front of me and hoped he was able to lead the way.

Every time a white out wave came by I slowed down as did the guy in front. Then as it passed we continued. Except for one time. This one time the white out hit, I slowed down, the car in front disappeared. I kept creeping along thinking that I would see him any second. Then I thought that maybe he went right off the road and I didn't see it. Then I saw the shadow of his car right in front of me and I knew that despite my low speed I still might not be able to stop. I hit the brakes and started to slide. My only real option was to hit him flush on his bumper. Well nudge him actually. He started to move forward again just as I made contact. He just kept driving, about another half kilometer and then pulled over. Fortunately, there was no damage. I eventually made it home.

Next time my wife calls me and suggests I ought to spend the night somewhere due to weather at home, I now have a point of reference for asking "How bad is it?" If the answer is, "As bad as January 22, 2005" then I know to stay in the hotel.

Creativity

2005-01-17T09:55:00.000-05:00

If you have Half-Life 2 and you like to create things you should check out a mod called Garry's Mod. It allows you to use pretty much everything in the game and place it wherever you want. You can use this to just play with the game engine's physics or pose the elements into weird and wonderful scenes.

Alyx does it Matrix style

Posted by Hello

It's free so check it out at Garry's Mod.

There is more to life...

2005-01-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

According to this article gamers don't fit the gamer stereotype. You know, gamers are geeky, socially inept, overweight and satan worshippers (okay I exaggerate..maybe that's another trait). But the article claims gamers are pretty well rounded folk (not necessarily rounded physically).

According to a survey conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, computer and video game players spend more than three times the amount of time exercising or playing sports, volunteering in the community, reading, or engaging in religious, creative, and cultural activities than they do playing video games. In total, gamers spend 23.4 hours per week on these activities, compared to 6.8 hours per week playing games. Avid gamers -- those who play games 11 or more hours per week -- spend 34.5 hours per week on the activities mentioned above.

See? Balance is good and gaming is part of the balance in life. Now excuse me while I exercise my fingers and play a game.

You kids don't know games

2004-12-29T14:08:00.000-05:00

From Slashdot...this article mentions this article. Today's kids playing yesterday's games and giving their spoiled opinions. Very cool idea. I get that same sort of response from my resident kid-gamer. When I show them an old game he is all "Ya that's neat. Can I play Playstation now?" I get really jacked at the old games. So many skipped classes and so many wasted quarters.
I have to get one of those "plug-into-your-TV-and-play-old-arcade-games" things. My nephew got this one and it was all I could do to not hog the thing. I need help...but I don't want any.

I'll never make it on Jerry Springer

2004-12-28T20:29:00.000-05:00

I AM 12% WHITE TRASH!

I, my friend, have class. I am so not white trash. I am more than likely Democrat, and my place is neat, and there is a good chance I may never drink wine from a box.

Take the WHITE TRASH test at Fuali.com

Gotta love a good hoax

2004-12-27T23:42:00.000-05:00

Apparently many people tried controlling Alek Komarnitsky's lights over this holiday season. And many succeeded in turning the Christmas lights on his Lafayette, Colorado home, on and off. At least they did if you can believe everything that you see on the Internet. But it was all just a good hoax as this story details and Mr. Komarnitsky admits on his site.

I think it is brilliant. Not from a technology point of view but from the idea that so many people could be taken in by what is apparently a series of photos of his house and a little program. This holiday wonder was covered by major news outlets and was covered on technology shows like The Screen Savers. Good going Mr. Komarnitsky. Maybe now the media will feel a little more compelled to check facts a little more thoroughly than the National Enquirer in the future. I only have one question. How the hell do you top this for April 1?

Won't you be my neighbour...

2004-12-23T19:17:00.000-05:00

Mr. Roger's would have been appalled. Neighbours ignoring neighbours. We had the first significant snowfall last night and by morning it had changed from snow, to ice pellets to freezing rain. The roads were slick and messy. The end of our street was a two foot snow drift car trap. As one car got snared the line up of other cars grew.

I watched the dance from my window as I didn't have to go to work today. Telecommuting rocks.

Anyway there are three cars watching the first snared car spinning its tires and going nowhere. Do you think anyone would get out of their cars and help this poor sod? Nope. They just sat there with their wipers going back and forth. I know it was raining but c'mon, people. If the first car doesn't move, neither are you. After about five minutes of this I started to get my gear on so I could go help. Fortunately they got unstuck before I got out.
Later in the day a postal truck got stuck. One guy just drove around her (yes her) instead of helping or at least offering to help. Chivalry is in a coma. I tried to get her moving but there wasn't much I could do other than try to get her to rock out of the bad spot. But chivalry woke up when a guy in a 4-wheel drive vehicle and a tow rope was able to pull her out of the rut she was in.
Then I was able to get another lady on her way after her Neon got stuck at the end of her driveway. Again, a couple of guys in a pick up truck just drove around her instead of stopping and helping. Nice.

But remember, karma keeps score...those unneighbourly bastards are working on the wrong side of the karma ledger. Wouldn't it be great if when something crappy happened to you, a stranger in a black raincoat handed you a scorecard so you would know exactly where you screwed up? Like the guys in the truck. Say they slip on some ice and break their arm. Some guy hands them a card in the x-ray room that reads, "Next time, help people stuck in the snow you selfish bastard. signed Karma."

And if something bad happened when it wasn't warranted you would get a card that said "oops...sorry... We were aiming at the guy beside you. We owe you some of the good stuff. signed Karma".

Balance is good.

Carter Traded

2004-12-18T13:49:00.000-05:00

Vince Carter is off to New Jersey. The Raptors get Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams and Aaron Williams plus two first round draft picks (one for 2005 and 2006).

I am sorry to see Carter go. Despite his lowered production and his penchant for being injured, he is still one of the best all-round players at his position. He demands special attention from the opposing team and is a good passer. Much of his lowered production this year has been due to his reduced minutes. If you factor in the minutes (about 7 minutes a game) then you can see he is actually pretty much on pace for his career average.

Having said that there is no second guessing Raptor's coach Sam Mitchell's decisions to sit Carter, Rose and others for not putting out an effort. I love Mitchell's attitude. The only important name on a jersey is the one on the front. Unfortunately, that is a tough sell sometimes to these millionaire ball players. But it is that attitude that makes college hoops more fun to watch. Every game means something and every player wants to win for the team. But I digress. A team attitude is also the best way for a lesser skilled team to over achieve. Make no mistake. The Raptors are lesser skilled.

As far as the trade being a good or bad thing for Toronto...I think it is too early to tell. Mourning may never show up. He may just retire (kind of like Olajuwon) did to the Raptors a couple of years ago. The two Williams will certainly beef up the front court and may improve the rebounding situation. But they won't command the kind of attention that a Vince Carter does so they won't make their teammates better. From that perspective, Raptor fans should get used to the style of scrappy basketball they have been exposed too lately. The Raptors will have to execute and beat teams on hustle and desire more than talent (not that they really ever had an edge in that department but at least Carter was a legitimate threat that freed up other players). So as far as this season and probably next season goes, the Raptors lost on this trade. But...(there's always a but) the draft picks could swing this in the favour of Toronto. The picks come from Denver and Philadelphia (I'm not sure exactly which year belongs to which team). I don't think either Denver or Philadelphia are poised to make a run at a championship (Denver can be good but in the West they are just going to be good not great) so the picks should be pretty good. They may be able to package one of the picks to make another deal that may fix or alleviate their salary cap woes.

Good luck in NJ VC. I hope he finds what he's been looking for the last couple of seasons. It will also be interesting to see if he gets some other nick name. Air Canada doesn't fit any more.

Sheriff Playstation

2004-12-12T10:44:00.000-05:00

According to this news story at Slashdot, it looks like Grand Theft Auto is the latest in home security.

The G-man wants you.

2004-12-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

I finished Half Life 2 a couple of weeks ago and haven't had time to express myself on the subject. In a word, Half Life 2 is AWESOME. It looks great, sounds great and plays great. What more can you ask for.

Eli Vance..voice by Robert Guillaume (you know..Benson)
Posted by Hello

Half Life is all about the experience. Doom 3 was able to scare you with things jumping out from the dark, but I was still somewhat disconnected from the experience that should have been great. Half Life 2 delivers on immersing the player into the game. I really felt a part of the story. The only time I felt disconnected was when I wanted to interact more with the characters that you meet. For example, there were times when people would tell you something and then pause as if waiting for a response. I really wanted some way to interact and respond. Hopefully, HL3 will give the gamer that opportunity. But that didn't take that much away from the experience overall. I still felt a wide range of emotions while playing. Everything from helplessness to pity to fear to elation. The game is really that good.

Valve has already released extras for those that have bought this game. For example there is now a Half-Life 2 Deathmatch which allows you to run around with the gravity gun finding inventive ways to off your opponents. They have also released the SDK which allows modders to use the same tools the developers did to create levels or entire new worlds/games. I haven't tried any level mapping since Duke Nukem but having the tools available and knowing the engine allows so much freedom I may invest the time to try this out.

I have also been playing some games that were included in the package I bought that I never thought of buying when they came out because I wasn't convinced there was much value in them. Specifically, Counter-Strike Condition Zero. But I have been pleasantly surprised at how much fun I have had playing the bots in this game. The bots that make up your teammates are usually pretty stupid (don't follow orders and get in your way on a regular basis) but the enemy bots act pretty well together. And the missions which require you to get a certain kind of kill (eg. kill 3 enemies that have been blinded by a flashbang) really make you think of strategy. Along with Condition Zero there is an expansion pack included called Deleted Scenes which continues the carnage. While I haven't enjoyed this quite as much it does provide a good distraction.

The money I spent on the original half life was easily the best money I ever spent on a video game. The money I spent on Half life 2 is shaping up to be just as good a purchase.

It's not all fun & games.

2004-12-05T13:34:00.000-05:00

Electronic Arts (EA) is arguably the largest and most successful game developer/publisher in the industry. I would think it nearly impossible to find a hard core gamer who hasn't played at least one EA title. But apparently the company doesn't understand people when it comes to their employees and more specifically, the employees that build their games. They also don't understand that for every employee they abuse, they may also be abusing their family. (Although the rant on this link is long, it is well worth the read)
When people go above and beyond the call of duty, they deserve to be recognized and compensated. EA doesn't seem to do either.

We consider our artists to be “creative” people and our engineers to be “skilled” professionals who relish flexibility but others use the outdated wage and hour laws to argue in favor of a workforce that is paid hourly like more traditional industries and conforming to set schedules.

I think this misses the point. The problem is that the managers of the engineers and artists seem to think that mandating 12 hour days seven days a week somehow constitutes flexibility. EA's problems can be placed squarely on these managers' shoulders. There seems to me to be a disconnect between the "creative" and "skilled" and these managers who are probably more worried about meeting some ridiculous deadline than providing an environment that is compatible with creativity and skill. The managers are clearly taking advantage when they try to use wage & hour law exemptions.
I also know from my own experience that skill and creativity can diminish drastically when you start to feel the effects of prolonged pressure from what may seem to be arbitrary deadlines.

NBA Troubles

2004-11-23T10:34:00.000-05:00

The recent trouble in the NBA has lead to a lot of discussion around water coolers and gatherings of sports fans and non-sports fans. It was one of the ugliest sports events ever.

The suspensions were justified and for the most part it seems that the players are going to accept their punishment. The players union will likely be successful in getting the Artest suspension reduced. I wouldn't have any problem with that as the league certainly has made it clear that the player reaction to fan stupidity was, to say the least, inappropriate. But one stupid fan and one angry player-millionaire is going to deprive the Indiana franchise and all their fans of an entire season of what the season ticket holders paid to see. This will seem a little out of balance especially if the video evidence shows that the fan behaviour instigated the entire affair. There is absolutely no room in sports for the type of behaviour that was exhibited by the players AND THE FANS.

Basically, the instigator fan is getting off and will come out ahead of the game if there isn't any criminal charge brought. First, banning him from the stadium and all NBA venues is a good start but in reality it will be impossible to enforce and he can always watch the games on TV. He can sell the remaining tickets of his season pass and be out of pocket very little. Second, any media inconvenience/notoriety he may be experiencing will pass.

I don't know what the right answer is here. It just seems that the instigator of the entire problem is not being held accountable.

For a different perspective of NBA problems I came across this article. While I don't agree that the race of the player is at all relevant, the article makes some interesting points. For me the flamboyance of the NBA players has far less to do with their race than their immaturity and the fact that some don't have a great deal of respect for the history of the game. There are plenty of African-American athletes that do have respect for the game. Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd and Ray Allen come immediately to mind.

On the other hand, you reap what you sow. Our society rewards individual achievement. Top-scorer, MVP, game-winning shots. They all lend themselves to indulging selfishness. We don't ever hear (nor probably want to hear) about the eighth or ninth best player on a team getting his five points and five rebounds a game. So when the rewards for being noticed are so huge why wouldn't athletes do things that are selfish? Oh, and by the way, the people doing the noticing and the ultimate paying (through endorsements) is Corporate America a.k.a White America.

The Free Man is Back

2004-11-22T13:30:00.000-05:00

Well my inner brat won out yesterday. I bought Half-life 2 in all it's glory. So far it is terrific. I have only played the first three chapters but I am very impressed. The environment is almost totally interactive allowing you to manipulate almost everything you can touch. The graphics are stunning, even on my one-generation-removed Nvidia Ti4400. My CPU is slower than what is recommended but so far I haven't experienced any problems apart from some long load times between chapter sections.

The package I bought was through the Steam delivery system. The process was very convenient and straight forward. It is a little weird buying software and not having something tangible to hold (Steam lets you download the software, you don't get a CD or DVD). But you do get a confirmation number and so long as you provide a real email address you shouldn't have any problems. If I get a new computer I can install steam and have the game re-delivered to me using the email address I supplied.

I will be sure to report back when I get further in the game. It may take a while as I am pretty busy with other things right now. A game like this is best played when you can play for a decent stretch so that you can become immersed into the game environment.

Visual Nuggets

2004-11-17T09:38:00.000-05:00

Check out stupidvideos.com. It is full of little "nuggets" like this.

Half Life 2

2004-11-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

It is finally here.

Early reports seem to indicate it is bigger than Doom 3. My dilemma is, do I buy now or beg for it as a Christmas present? The list-keeper already figures I spend too much time playing games so I can only imagine her reaction to my asking for a game that promises to make me disappear for a couple of weeks. And that's not including the "mods" that come with it. And if I wait, and I don't get it for Christmas due to the supreme veto power of the list-keeper, then I will be very disappointed and bummed. Scrooge will seem like a jolly old elf in comparison to my mood. Man, do I sound like a brat, or what?

Bottom line is, I will have this game. "When?" is the question.

Lest we forget.

2004-11-11T10:16:00.000-05:00

Remembrance Day. Check out the video/song here. A pittance of time. It is self explanatory.

Beer.com

2004-11-10T21:57:00.000-05:00

The subservient chicken gets a make over. They call her Tammy. Try "fight", "lick", "splits", "beer me" and, my favourite, "kiss" (although "eat a banana" is not too shabby) . There are lots of others.

Sadly, I am a pig

2004-11-04T23:36:00.000-05:00

Pigs are strange animals. Apparently they are smart. You can train pigs to do lots of stuff. I wonder if I could train one to clean my office?

As I look around my office, I realize I am a pig. Not the filthy kind, but the untidy, too lazy to put stuff away kind. I have papers on my desk dating from 2002. Papers that ought to be filed away. Do you think I will take the 2 minutes it would take to read the paper, decide on its content and subsequent proper filing location? No, not this little swine.

My mess is ok I guess. I can dislike it but I can deal with it even though I don't do anything with it. I can categorize my untidiness and be at peace with it. But as I look around my office some more, I notice some other things. Things that are not mine. Things my wife has left on my desk. Or things that the kids have left on the floor. So why does that mess, really tick me off? Is my mess somehow superior to the mess of my family? Are all messes not created equal?

I am a pig and a mess bigot. I wonder if there is a 12-step program for that?

Busy

2004-10-30T14:49:00.000-04:00

Well I have hit busy season. This time of year is usually just insane and tends to remain that way right through to after Christmas. In past years, this time of the year has meant kids birthdays, basketball and cubs/girl guides. This year we are adding another basketball team that I am helping coach, a basketball team that wants me to play for them and a new job that is an hour and a half commute away. I usually referee right through the basketball season also but I am wondering if I will have any time left to do that. Oh well, you only live once and even though we are all busy at least the family is busy together.

Move over Olympics

2004-10-18T23:32:00.000-04:00

San Francisco hosted the World Cyber Games October 6-10. Games from Counterstrike to Starcraft were played by players from all over the world. Canada scored a silver in "Halo". A total of 20 players made the trip for Canada. There were over 500 players there. The winners took home not only a nice medal but also some cash. Next year it is in Singapore. Start practicing.

Rome wasn't built in a day

2004-10-07T10:47:00.000-04:00

A new game called Rome: Total War (RTW) came out a couple of weeks ago. If this came was crack, I would have to check into a rehab centre. It is a truly magnificent game.

Box Art

Posted by Hello

The game is set in ancient Rome from about 270 BC and you take the role of one of the ruling families of the time. Your goal is simple. Conquer Rome and become emperor. But that only covers one aspect of the game. You may also replay historic battles or jump on-line and battle other players. There is so much to this game that after a solid week of playing I have only scratched the surface of the game.

RTW is a Strategy game. You will need to build cities and command troops in battle. The battle field is varied and tactics are very important as everything effects the outcome. Sheer numbers do not necessarily win the day. Weather, terrain, and morale will all play a part in the outcome of the battles.

Visually the game is beautiful. You can zoom into each battle and witness the carnage of the battles as horses trample infantry and war dogs chase the faint of heart from the field.

If you like war simulation or real time strategy games then I highly recommend this game. It has that special game quality that seems to force you to take "just one more turn". Then when you look at the clock you can't believe you have been playing for hours that seems like only a few minutes. There is a learning curve (as there is with most games of this nature) but it is well worth the time and effort.

Blinded by the light

2004-10-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

So the big presidential debate went down last night. Didn't watch it and didn't really care who won. But what I did get a kick out of was all the preparations that went into the whole event. Apparently there was a 32-page document that had to be agreed to covering everything from the temperature of the room to the height of the podiums. There was also some heavy discussion concerning timing lights. These are the lights that let the participants know time for their comments has expired. Apparently these lights were "distracting". Ok. Am I the only one who sees the irony in the fact that someone running for the job that basically gives them the power to wipe out the world finds flashing lights distracting? I can see the news story now:

Several large countries wiped out. President claims distraction involving flashing lights. The President said "Well, I thought two flashes meant fire a warning shot over Korea. But it really meant take a clear shot at Europe. So the missiles were fired at Europe. Sorry, my bad."

Moving a superstar

2004-09-22T15:52:00.000-04:00

Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors wants to be traded. No one seems to want him. At least no one that he returns the want. Toronto wants him. He's their guy. But he doesn't want Toronto. He wants Orlando. But Orlando doesn't want him. He wants Miami. But Miami doesn't want him. He wants New York. New York might want him but they can't afford him. So what is a superstar to do?

Hopefully he acts as a professional and plays. Hopefully, he plays so well that everyone wants him. Let's face it. Despite scoring something like 24 points a game, he has been injured throughout his career. You can't score from the injured reserve list. If Carter wants to be moved he is going to have to tough it out and make it through a full season. Otherwise, there is a good chance he will be unloaded to a bad team just to get him out of town.

I still say Carter is one of the best all-round players at his position. Now we shall see if he is one of the most professional.

It happened last night

2004-09-17T07:37:00.000-04:00

Anyone watch The Apprentice? I might have watched a couple of last season's shows so it isn't a complete mystery to me but last night's episode was just strange.
This episode showed the two teams selling ice cream on the streets of New York.

The team that lost would lose a member as The Donald gets to say his "You're fired" bit and the winners get a reward; in this case a dinner of champagne and caviar. One of the members of the losing team was exempt from being fired because he had been the project leader the last time the team had won. In a moment of bravado, Bradford (the exempt one) decided to stand in the trenches with his troops and say he felt that he should wave his immunity from being fired. Kind of a cocky move. But based on his performance of the task he was a major contributor to the success the team did have. But his ego and cockiness bit him in the ass. The Donald said it was a stupid move to open himself up as a target. Ivana, the project manager obliged the gesture and brought him to the chopping block with her.

But the show lost a ton of credibility in my eyes. For The Donald to fire a guy he admits was the best candidate in the room means that he looks at it more as a game than a real business decision. Bradford's only flaw was having a big ego and cockiness that rivaled The Donald's. If Trump was a real leader and smart businessman, he should have found a way to harness that quality and make it work for him. Ego and cockiness breeds confidence. Confidence that can be backed up is so important to success and Bradford had so far demonstrated that he could back up his cockiness. Trump pulled the rug out from under him. I think Trump did it more so to humble him than to make the best business decision. I mean, c'mon, the project manager, Ivana, clearly was the weak link in the task and the main reason the team failed. Kicking Bradford out seriously handicaps the whole team especially in light that Ivana is a weak leader (although she probably won't be a leader again) and the other candidate on the block, Stacie J. does not seem to get along with anybody else on the team. They are now a very disfunctional group.

It did make for some pretty jaw-dropping TV though. Everyone was so stunned and Ivana will clearly have a big target on her if their team loses again.

..and now for something completely different...

Bed time at our house and the kids run upstairs. They call down to us and say, "Come find us...we're hiding."
So we go upstairs and notice that there are several things normally in the linen closet that are no longer in the closet. Now, I think early Alzheimer's is setting in because I don't think either my wife or me actually remembered that the kids had informed us they were hiding. So my wife starts into a rant about "Why are the towels and the blankets in the hallway?" in a tone the kids know as the voice of the mother who knows you did wrong and you better come fix the wrong right now!
Suddenly out of the linen closet comes my daughter's angelic voice kind of singing, "We are upstair-airs...hi-iding."
I thought it was pretty funny. It kind of reminded me of the "How not to be seen" skit by Monty Python where people are hiding behind bushes and such and the narrator asks them to show where they are and when they do they promptly get shot.

Nights of playing Knights

2004-09-15T08:45:00.000-04:00

As part of a bonus promotion for purchasing Doom 3 when it came out I received an older game called Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR). It is a role playing game (RPG) based on the Star Wars license.

RPG games are not usually my cup-o'-tea. I usually don't have the desire to stick with it long enough to play them all the way through. But this game was different. You play the part of a Republic soldier (or explorer or scoundrel) and play your way through a story to try to save the Republic from the Sith. If you are unfamiliar with the Star Wars universe the Republic is good and the Sith are bad.

Throughout the game you must make choices. Your choices will influence you to the light side or dark side of the force. As you defeat various enemies and complete missions your character is given experience points and this allows you to "level up". As you gain levels your abilities improve and things get increasingly more difficult. Your character eventually becomes a Jedi and you get to create your own light saber.

Along the way you meet other characters that will join you in your quests. Each character brings a unique set of skills and can help you complete you missions. The combat interface is excellent and allows you to pause the action to size up the opponent(s) and plot a strategy. In fact, in the later missions, if you don't pause and think you will be easily overwhelmed and die.

The story is very good and a good story is really what will make or break most games of this nature. The voice acting is excellent and the majority of the dialogue is exactly what you would expect to hear in the Star Wars universe. Most of the main races are here including Wookies, Twi'leks, Hutts and Jawas. Many of these characters speak in their native tongues which really adds to the atmosphere. Of course your character is an expert in languages so you are able to see the translations on the screen.

I played the game through as a "Light" Jedi. I am now playing it through to see how it is different if you make "Dark" choices. So far there aren't any major changes but I haven't even become a Jedi yet. I think the main twists in the story will likely occur after that point. Overall, the game delivers a Star Wars experience you will be eager to get back to each time you fire up the game.

Glad I'm not a lawyer

2004-09-07T16:58:00.000-04:00

Stories like this about a 40-year old guy and child sex in a foreign country makes me glad I'm not a lawyer. I can't imagine being his lawyer and needing to try to argue that his client somehow isn't a cockroach because he was a cockroach in another country that doesn't define cockroaches in the same way this country does.

Apparently, his lawyer has decided to not try to deny the charges. I guess the video evidence is just too conclusive. No, his lawyer feels it makes more sense to challenge whether Canada has a right to charge a citizen of this country for sexually exploiting children in another country.

Bakker's lawyer, Kevin McCullough, said while Canadians would agree sex with children is abhorrent, Canada has no right to impose its laws on people while they are in another country.

I kind of agree with that. Except for one small detail. The sick son-of-a-bitch came home. Tough break, Donny. You're going to jail.

Olympic Basketball

2004-08-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

I just watched the U.S. vs. Australia women's gold medal game. It was fantastic. The Ausies hung around and made a game of it for three quarters. Full measure to the U.S. women though. They turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter and the Ausies just didn't have an answer.

I guess I was half right yesterday regarding the men's side. I was wrong about the U.S. team's talent coming together and playing well. But I was right about a team that plays perfectly can beat a more talented group of individuals. The U.S didn't play well and Duncan was at the wrong end of some soft calls. But you would think that by now he would have adjusted. The U.S. team is deep enough that they shouldn't drop off as much as they do when Duncan is out. The Argentines played very well and got big contributions from a lot of different players.

It will be interesting to see if the U.S. team folds in the bronze medal game. I hope they don't. How they play in this last game will go a long way to dispel some of the foolishness about them not trying. I think they have tried throughout these games but just lacked some of the chemistry necessary to really do good things on the basketball court. The gold medal game should be exciting as two hungry teams go after the gold.

Looking around

2004-08-27T11:55:00.000-04:00

This story reminds us of why we really need to be friendlier with our neighbours. Of course if you live in a house the neighbours would probably be more upset at the weeds and overgrown lawn. I guess neighbours checking to see if you're dead could be another plus for home ownership but I doubt if it will ever make any marketing plan.

It's really tough to accept sports that have judges. Especially when the judges admit to problems of coercion or where it is obvious to everyone watching that the score wasn't right. First we had skating problems and now we have the problems with gymnastics. If you watched this event you saw one athlete get ripped off when another scored what turned out to be an impossible score considering he actually fell on the vault. And of course there is the Paul Hamm thing. In all these cases the athletes are the victims. It's a shame. My take on this? Shewfelt should be given a bronze medal and Marian Dragulescu should also keep his bronze. Hamm should keep his gold and Yang should only be awarded a gold if the video showed no other glaring errors in the scoring. Why the difference? Because in Hamm's case the video replay exposed the scoring error while with Shewfelt the scoring rules were not followed. You don't need a video replay to see that Dragulescu fell on the vault and the scoring rules clearly define the mandatory deduction for that. The scoring rules also clearly define the procedure to follow when the scores don't add up. In both cases the athlete who was originally awarded the medal is not penalized for the judges not doing their jobs.

Speaking of the Olympics...this story bears a remarkable resemblance to the Canadian hockey experience at the last winter Olympics. Personally, I think the American talent will prevail but I like seeing teams beat individual talent. But usually teams without enough talent have to be perfect to overcome the talent they lack. Now with the Americans starting to play better as a team and being able to rally under the "us-against-the-world" banner, I expect their talent to mesh as a team. And that's bad news for the rest of the field.

Olympic Coverage

2004-08-22T12:01:00.000-04:00

Marathon? Boring. I can't get excited about the marathon. Just tell me who wins and who passed out on the course. I don't need to see over 2 hours worth of running. Weightlifting. Again boring. Besides being so horribly tainted by drugs, it isn't exciting. Unless someone pops a limb of course. But that's more gross than exciting.

I haven't seen any coverage of handball. That looks like it might be something spectators/viewers could get into. It has elements of basketball and lacrosse. It sounds a whole lot better than two hours of very skinny people running until they can't run any more. Hmm. I think my grass is growing. Need to go watch some of that action!

Doom 3 - Part II

2004-08-19T22:36:00.000-04:00

Well I finished the single player version of Doom 3. It was very good but even though I played it on the "Veteran" setting I thought it was a tad easy. There was only one section that stumped me for any length of time. Even the final boss was not terribly challenging.

You as Space Marine

Posted by Hello

As I mentioned in my previous post, the game failed to "wow" me as much as I thought it would. The game was designed to be played in single player mode (unlike the Quake-series which were much more multiplayer-centric). The game was dark and spooky. I had plenty of "o-crap" moments and moments where I literally jumped back in my seat. So from that perspective the game delivered.

The story was good but pretty predictable. There was only one twist I didn't really see coming. In fact this twist didn't make a lot of sense and seemed to be put in more to end that particular branch of the story rather than to make the story better.

The gameplay, as I mentioned previously was just OK. Perhaps I did expect too much. The pace of the game did pick up some in the middle part of the game but for the most part there was a lot of moving around in the dark and flipping between flashlight and weapon was a skill you needed to develop. The AI was never a factor and the main challenges were simply using cover and superior fire power to vanquish your foes.

I still need to give the multiplayer a run and by completing the game I now have the option to go through the game in Nightmare mode. Apparently this means ammo will be scarce and medpacks will not exist. You will also spend most of the game at 25% health as you drop 5% every 3-seconds or so until you reach the 25% level.

Do I recommend this game? That's a tough one. As an avid gamer, I think if you appreciate the history of the genre this game is a must have. But if I had no idea about the Doom history or who John Carmac and id software is, then I would say give this game a miss until its price hits rock bottom.

Hopefully some mods for this game will make the game seem far more worth the money. Right now I don't feel I got my money's worth. Although I do appreciate the historic value behind owning this title. Of course, the list-keeper does not share the sentiment.

You know you're getting old when....

2004-08-17T10:15:00.000-04:00

...you come home from an amusement park and you are too sore to be amused.

We spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Six Flags Darien Lake. We had a really good time but, man, is my body sore! My feet hurt from all the walking and my body hurts from the rides. My favorite ride was the Boomerang. A roller coaster where you go through a loop and corkscrew turn and then get launched through the thing backwards.

R.I.P.

2004-08-11T09:53:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Joey at the Accordion Guy for pointing out the Tombstone Generator.

Here's mine:

I better be good so I can go to Heaven.

Posted by Hello

Doom 3 - Part I

2004-08-09T12:26:00.000-04:00

I just started playing this much anticipated game from id Software. It is one of the most hyped games in recent memory. As I mentioned in another post the Doom franchise has a place in gaming history. And as such an icon, my expectations are pretty high for this game.

The original Doom games were all about smash-mouth first person shooting. Hordes of demons and hell's minions attacked you and you had to use your quickness and firepower to overcome the odds. This new game is totally different (so far). The game is dark, very dark. Things jump out of the dark at you. You tend to survey a room for possible problem spots before entering whereas in the original doom games you pretty much just plowed on full steam ahead. The atmosphere is far scarier than the originals. So far I haven't been told much of the plot yet. I am still a space marine trying to get back with my unit.

I'm not really sure if I like this game yet. Don't get me wrong, it is a stunningly beautiful game from a graphics point of view. But the pace is so different from what I imagined. The gameplay doesn't break any new ground and the AI is pretty predictable. Hopefully, as the story line unfolds, I'll start to feel better about this game. Maybe my expectations were too high. I hope not.

Huzzah!

2004-08-02T22:06:00.000-04:00

Jousting Tournament

We attended the Ontario Rennaisance Festival and had a grande olde tyme. The knight in full armour shown above was just one of the many things to see there as you step back in time to taste a little of what life might have been like at a festival in 1563 in the realm of Queen Elizabeth I.

The grounds are open for 7 weekends and if you are into things like this you will have a good time. Check out their site and then check them out.

This is going to leave a mark!

Flipped his wig

2004-07-27T11:12:00.000-04:00

The story of a Montreal food inspector caught my eye today. Good on him! He's right on the money with this one. The union that negotiated this deal needs their collective heads examined. How can it be fair to allow one group of workers a different set of rules based on sex? Once they tell him not to wear the wig I wonder what his next move will be? Perhaps wearing lipstick and make-up? You go girl...err...guy.

Passing time

2004-07-26T11:30:00.000-04:00

News Flash. I am a gamer. I play computer games often. Everyday, usually. I look for new games coming out and read with great interest the industry rags that keep gamers informed about changes in technology and gaming trends. So does that make me somehow juvenile or developmentally stunted?

I probably play games somewhere around 10-15 hours a week. This seems to be an issue with the List Keeper. She seems to feel that gaming takes me away from her and the family. Well she may have a point sometimes. If I get a new game I am driven to finish it and will be so focused on it that I do ignore other responsibilities. I admit that, and try to keep that to a minimum. Hey, step one in a 12-step program.

However, when there are not any new games on my shelf, there are plenty of old standbys that have multiplayer on-line components to them. Competition. Friendly, no pressure, competition. Great stuff.

"C'mon. You're competing against little kids. Grow up." you might say. Ummm, no. It's not kids and teens necessarily. In fact, most of the servers I go to are more likely to be populated by young adults. And call it the on-line version of a mid-life crisis, but there is something very satisfying about competing and defeating people much younger and supposedly better at something. It's the same sort of satisfaction one gets on the playing field as an older athlete getting the better of younger ones.

Which brings me back to the family. I generally do not play games while the kids are awake. I may be on the computer, but I am not playing any games. If I am needed then they can just ask, and they know this. In fact, chances are they are the ones playing games and ignoring me. Funny thing is that I can ask them if there is anything they want to do with me and they usually have no ideas. But I am still the parental unit that is most likely to cook dinner. So what's that? Number one or number two on the hierarchy of needs?

As for neglecting the List Keeper, she may have a point. But I don't call it neglect. I simply ask, "What would we be doing if I was spending my time with her as opposed to playing a game?" Answer: Watching TV.

There is nothing I feel any great need to watch on TV. I generally steer towards a sporting event. The List Keeper has no interest in that. Unless it's skating or the Tour de France. Boring! Skating is fixed (remember the French judge!) and cycling is about as exciting as watching golf. Just give me the highlights on the news and I'm good to go.

OK. What about a documentary or History channel? Nope. She'd rather watch Fear Factor. C'mon. Fear Factor? How many times do I need to see somebody drink cow bile? Or chew some crickets? Sorry, but for $50,000 I'm not eating bugs. I'd do the stunts. They look like fun. But eating gross stuff has nothing to do with fear. It has more to do with your gag reflex. Maybe they should call it Gag Factor. The only real plus to that show is the skimpy attire the women usually wear. But I digress.

So if I wasn't gaming I would be watching TV, with the List Keeper (audience response: Awww.). In the words of the Church Lady, "Well isn't that special?" Chances are she isn't just watching TV, though. She's probably doing some cross-stitching or some other hobby. Hmmm, doing a hobby (not doing her hubby :wink: ). Isn't that the same as what I would be doing if I was playing a game?

And that is the main point of all this. Gaming is a means to pass my free time. It is a hobby. It is entertainment. It is cheap entertainment. I am still playing a game I bought in 1998 for $50. Beat that. Not to mention the seemingly endless free games available on the 'net.

I won't be giving up gaming. It's my hobby. It's cheap entertainment. Be thankful I'm not a gambler, drinker or womanizer.

Anticipation

2004-07-17T10:38:00.000-04:00

One of the most anticipated games of the last couple of years has gone gold. Which means a final retail version has been sent to the duplication company to be burned onto CDs. Doom 3 from id Software will be on store shelves the first week of August.

The Doom franchise has a special place in the hearts of gamers, especially first person shooter fanatics like myself. Much of the on-line, multiplayer mayhem that we know of today can thank Doom for leading the way.

I remember playing Doom at work on lunch breaks and staying after work to get a few rounds in with co-workers. It was some of the most fun I have ever had in the work place. Of course some people don't like others having fun so we had to pack it in when some "knickers-in-a-twist" tight ass ratted us out. Hmmm. That was a long time ago and I'm still bitter.

The ironic thing is that the game sessions we had, kept us in the office longer, and therefore available, if something went wrong in off hours (I work in I.T.). Once the gaming stopped, people left the office at lunch and were gone at quitting time. At that point the "wedgie brigade" (a.k.a. "knickers-in-a-twist" tight asses) were left wondering why they couldn't just drop in at noon and expect I.T. to skip lunch for them.

Oh well, water under the bridge. The only thing left to figure out is will my system handle Doom 3. (sarcasm)It would be really too bad if I had to upgrade my computer just to play this game (/sarcasm).

Buckets-o-fun

2004-07-14T10:10:00.000-04:00

My son woke just before 3 a.m today. Right in the middle of a big thunder and lightning storm. But the storm didn't wake him. He was sick with some kind of stomach bug. Then a half hour later, my daughter is awake due to a bad dream and crawls into bed with us. Another half hour later, my son is up for round two.

Then at 7:00 a.m., I am jarred awake from a restless slumber by my wife asking my daughter, "Why couldn't you have used the garbage can instead of the floor?" Hmmm, I guess I am on clean up detail. You see my wife has a weak tolerance of this sort of thing. If she witnesses someone being sick, or gets a whiff of that smell, she is going to be gagging right beside them. So the clean-up detail and care giving duties are always mine in this situation.

So my little ones are curled up on the couch watching TV each with a bucket nearby. There have been numerous verses of the bucket-hugging song. My wife is at work. I'm just hanging around for the next verse (same as the first).

But interestingly, chances are that my wife will be the one to catch the bug going around while somehow it passes me by. I recall my mother rarely got ill even when the rest of the house was in the throws of a barf-o-ramma. The bugs just passed her by. This makes me wonder if there is something in a person who must provide care for a sick person that kicks into overdrive and battles flu bugs better than someone who doesn't.

Of course, now that I have written this down, I am destined to be "bucket bound" in the near future.

Truths of Life

2004-07-12T14:04:00.000-04:00

Camping with the family for four days has a way of enlightening you to the truths of life far faster than any Buddhist priest could ever hope.

5 truths to enlightenment:

Children have a need to whine, complain and bicker among themselves.

74 degrees F pool water is friken cold.

Bouncing on an air mattress is fun when awake but annoying when asleep.

There is nothing soothing about the sound of crows at 5:30 a.m.

Mosquitoes suck (pun intended)

No Surprises

2004-07-07T16:29:00.000-04:00

Shocking news. This guy was sent back to prison just one day after his prison release. He has stated that he wants to become "Canada's most prolific killer".

While in prison (most of his adult life) he refused to participate in treatment. One can only be thankful this piece of work didn't hurt someone during his little day-trip.

There is something wrong with a system that can't lock somebody up who has 63 convictions that include sexual assault and forcible confinement AND HAS SAID HE WANTS TO BE CANADA'S MOST PROLIFIC KILLER. I mean, really, duh.

Enter the Matrix

2004-07-01T14:16:00.000-04:00

I finished the game Enter the Matrix (PS2 version) and while the game play itself was nothing ground-breaking, the experience was ultra-cool.

The game takes place during the second of the trilogy (Matrix Reloaded). The script for the game was written by the Wachowski brothers (the same ones that wrote the trilogy) and was designed from the beginning to be a part of the entire Matrix story, a companion, if you will. The main characters in the game played somewhat minor roles in the movies but are given some excellent character development during the game's unfolding. In fact, the game fills in some questions about the movies and provides motivation for what these characters do in the films.

You chose to be Niobe or Ghost of the Logos ship. Once your character is chosen, the plot follows their role during the Matrix Reloaded movie and some of the cut scenes are actual footage from the movie where these two characters actually met up with the main characters of the series. Once you have completed the game as one of the characters, you will want to re-play as the other character. Even though there is some overlap, most of the missions for each character are unique. This is a refreshing change from most games that allow character selection.

The game play is mostly about hand to hand combat in the Matrix and each character has their own signature moves to dispatch the bad guys. Your main challenge is to manage your "focus" which is what enables the player to manipulate the Matrix. This is accomplished in the game by slowing the action down allowing your character to gain an advantage on all the other characters. Bullets wiz past you as you run in slow motion to your target and finish them off. But the player is only allowed a certain amount of time in this mode. Once the focus is used up it will replenish but you must fight in real time while your focus meter goes up. Most of the acrobatics from the movies can be pulled off including multiple spinning kicks, dive rolls and various cartwheels.

The cut scenes are really the best part of this game. Apart from actual movie footage and footage not in the films, the animated models of the movie characters is excellent. The game makers have not only animated Niobe and Ghost but you will also see an animated Trinity, Seraph and Agent Smith. The "Twins" also play a main role in one of the missions as you play out Niobe and Ghost's role in the famous highway chase. Other cool tidbits in the movie scenes are the first glimpses of the new Oracle (explaining how she can look completely different) and some girl on girl action when Niobe must kiss Persephone (the Merovingian's wife) as she forced Neo to do in the movie.

In general, this title isn't great as a game. After seeing the slow motion moves a number of times, it can become tedious. But the levels usually provide some challenging areas and you must complete them to see the cut scenes (incentive). In fact, there is one mission that if you fail you will miss out on a couple of cut scenes as well as several resulting levels of gameplay. The last unique thing about this game is the "Hacking" selection. Basically, this is a built in cheat system that allows you to manipulate your save games to enter cheat codes. It also allows you to view other content that isn't directly in the game. There is also a multiplayer mode that can be unlocked in the "Hacking" mode but I never tried that particular code so I am not sure what actually happens.

Overall, I recommend renting this one, especially if you are a fan of the trilogy. You won't be disappointed if you are a fan wanting to see the never seen before movie footage. Where most games based on movies just re-hash what you see in the movie, Enter the Matrix adds to the story and enhances the whole of the experience.

Star Wars Galaxies

2004-06-17T15:11:00.000-04:00

Ultima Online, Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, Sims Online and countless other games have been created to whisk the gamer into some fantasy world or another and allow them to be an active participant in the creation of an online world. Now there is Star Wars Galaxies.

Set in the Star Wars Universe, you create an alter-ego and start playing. There are hundreds of players on-line and hundreds of non player controlled characters in the world. Your goal is to learn skills and go on adventures. I tried this game for a 14-day trial period. I won't be buying anymore time.

The problem with all these types of games is that the really cool stuff, you can't do right away. On the surface, this isn't really a bad thing. Afterall, it took a few missions to be able to access the light saber and jedi powers in the last Star Wars game I played, Jedi Knights 2. But that wasn't an online game in the MMO genre (Massively Multiplayer Online). I payed one price, played at my own pace and eventually I got to the cool stuff in the game. And I knew that I would get to it, as it was only a matter of time. That's where MMO's are different.

"Only a matter of time" means you're going to be shelling out cash. The 14-day trial I received was for just that, 14 real world calendar days. How many days did I play? Maybe 5 days for a total of 10 or so hours. This is hardly enough time to give the game a fair shake review but therein lies the problem. I could only devote 10 hours of time to play this thing over a 14 day calendar period. Because I was not able to play extensively, I have pretty low skill/ability in the game. Because my skill/ability is low I can't do any of the cool stuff in the game. Because I can't do any of the cool stuff, I think this game sucks. Do you see the problem here?

Obviously, the 14-day free trial is a gimmick to try to lure more casual people into the game. After all the diehard fanatical fans are into this just because of the Star Wars name. They don't need a trial, they are buying as soon as it hits the shelves and will be playing every waking moment. I wanted to find out what this was going to be like; tough to do in only 10 hours. My point is that a 14-day trial ought to be 14 days of logging in to the game.

The game environment looks great. You can travel to many familiar Star Wars locations like Tatooine. All the major Star Wars races are there from the Wookie to the Tuskan Raider. Imperial Soldiers patrol some of the cities and various critters lurk outside the cities.

The interface is mostly point and click but there are also hot keys available. The help system is good and comes in the form of an R2 droid that follows you around. You can choose not to have them visible if you like. It is kind of funny watching twenty different R2 droids chasing various players around the environments.

Your purpose is to build up your skill in one of several categories. There is pretty much everything imaginable here. From Scouts to Marksmen and Artisans to Entertainers. You build your skills by completing missions given to you by NPC's or accepted from mission terminals scattered throughout all the cities.

The missions are catered to your character's abilities so there is some risk but not a huge amount. This is another area that makes it very difficult to judge whether the game is something I would want to keep playing. Most of the missions available to me were going out and killing a set number of bugs or similar critters or delivering a package to someone. Doing this over and over became tedious and I still don't know if the missions get more complicated, or dangerous because I didn't get to see any. It would have been good if I was at least teased by a future mission when selecting from the mission terminals.

From a technical perspective, the game ran smoothly even with large numbers of players and characters on the screen. The only jumpiness I encountered was when I entered new areas and the game engine had to render the new environment. My only complaint in this area were the very long initial load times when you first logged onto a server. Traveling via shuttle from city to city or planet to planet also caused long load times. Hopefully they can optimize this in the future.

Other cool stuff I wasn't able to do (but I saw others doing) included riding vehicles like speed bikes and landspeeders as well as animals (none of which I remember names for). I've also seen screen shots of light saber battles. I know I only scratched the surface of this game. It's too bad there wasn't a better trial system in place.

A roll of quarters

2004-06-16T13:44:00.000-04:00

Through high school and post-secondary school, I spent entirely too much time and money at the arcades. Especially at University, I would skip class to play some games at the student centre.

Or, instead of jumping on the second bus I took to get home, I would spend some time downtown at the arcade. This site takes you back to the golden age of video arcade games. It literally brings back floods of memories of some of the best wasted time of my life. And these don't require you to feed them real quarters. The cool meter is off the charts!

My favourites were Joust and Spy Hunter. What were yours?

Charity begins at home.

2004-06-14T18:33:00.000-04:00

Well, actually, with the nicer weather, it begins at my front door. It must do. Why else would I have a steady stream of people wanting to make my pockets lighter in the name of every charity possible?

It seems that each year there are more and more door-to-door charity collectors. Some are slick salesmen types while others you know are just volunteering for a cause that may be close to their hearts. But really, I can't give to everyone.

Does anyone else feel under the gun when these people come to your door looking for donations? With the lack of education funding I seem to be constantly reaching into my wallet to fund something. My kids' school had something like five different fund raising events this year. I can't go to friends and family on five different occasions asking for hand outs. They are supporting their own kids' schools. On top of that there are sports team fund raising and scout/guiding popcorn/cookie sales. It gets to be a little bit much. This year we refused to participate in one fund raiser at the school and most of the other events I just paid the "expected" per child minimum. I hate putting people on the spot by asking them for these things.

Then the neighbourhood kids come by and are looking to have their particular school funded. Then someone else is looking for help for their hockey team, or scouts, or baton twirling, or dance or....well you get the picture. I hate to disappoint the little ones and will try to give them something but one can only eat so many chocolate almonds.

And then there are the young teens that come by with a bag full of over priced chocolate. I feel so bad for them. They recite their little speech and pull out their "goods" but, c'mon...five bucks for a two dollar candy bar? And some of the candy bars look like they are six years old. I'm really glad you are off the street and learning about business but a three dollar delivery charge for an old candy bar is a little steep. And just how much of that will these kids see? Probably next to nothing.

But some of the adults are the worse. They show up at the worst times, look completely defeated and then launch into their rehearsed pitch. Then when you inform them that you will not be donating, they kind of humph away like you just told them to piss off. Man, if rejection hurts you that badly you should not be going door-to-door.

With the election going on, I am sure I will be having the candidates or some volunteer canvas my door for that as well. They'll be trying to show me how great they are and how much they have done for the community and how they plan on being my voice in Ottawa. Well, unless their boss says shut up and vote how I told you to. Then I guess my voice gets kind of quiet. While not asking for money, these canvassers will be asking for my vote. Hmmm. Maybe I should ask to be paid for my vote then I can use that money to give to charity?

Manhunt

2004-06-07T14:13:00.000-04:00

Rockstar Games is at it again. Already insanely successful with their Grand Theft Auto games, they upped the ante of brutality in video games with Manhunt. The game is rated "M" for mature(17+ to play) and earns this rating over and over.

You play the part of James Earl Cash, a death-row convict who is supposed to be dead. He was executed but it was all a show so that an even more twisted individual could use him as the star of a reality murder film. Cash will be taken to different locations and let loose while other criminals and street gangs hunt him done. The body count determines the winner.

Normally, this game would not have made me interested in it. I would never have even bought it, but I wanted to see what all the noise from the would-be game legislators was about. Two of the stores I normally buy games from, do not carry the game. I assume due to the controversy. That just made me want to see what was really wrong with the game, or right with it, since it was getting so much attention. So I played the game trying to be critical of not only the game play but also the content and entire premise behind the game.

The settings in the game are done very well. You view the proceedings mostly from a third person view. Your goal is pretty simple, kill or be killed. But you are given your tasks by the director of the movie you are starring in. He tells you where to go and who to kill. He opens the gates to your freedom, or at least he keeps telling you that you will be free.

The game control is simple and easily mastered. The toughest part in the whole game is learning to be patient and stealthy. One-on-one, face-to-face confrontation is not rewarded. Those characters that are hunting you are rarely alone for long and all are better fighters than you. So you must be stealthy and learn to hide in the shadows. Pouncing on your prey from the dark is the best method of winning the game. The more bloody the executions, the better the "scene" ratings. The executions are carried out in a cut-scene style and some are quite graphic. But there is also a cartoonish element to some of them. Getting a good rating on a scene will unlock some bonus features in the game which will extend the life of the game and gives you more bang for your gaming dollar.

Adding to the atmosphere of the game are the characters themselves. Gang members and various psychopaths wander around the levels searching for you. They taunt you and try to bait you to show yourself. And the language is not the Queen's English. The dialogue is every bit inspired by the streets. If you have a problem with the F-bomb being dropped on a regular basis, then give this game a pass. But the most (and best) aspect of the atmosphere is the omnipresent voice of the director, Swackhammer. He just makes your skin crawl. Two-thumbs up for the voice acting here.

The AI in the game is pretty mediocre. Nothing ground breaking in this department. In fact I think they could have done a better job in having the bad guys hear footsteps behind them. Most of the time I was able to walk up behind my prey from a good distance and execute them. I could hear my own footsteps but the bad guys were oblivious to them. But the AI does get a little tougher later in the game when dealing with the SWAT teams and special Cerebus Guards.

Overall, I found this game to be everything it should be. The stealth element adds a level to the gameplay that forces the player to ponder situations a little more carefully. The brutality of the killing was a little unnerving at first when learning the game but soon it was a challenge to get the most gruesome executions when there were many bad guys hanging around.

Simply put, the game works. But remember the rating. The game earned the rating. I can imagine this game being made into a movie one day. Bruce Willis as Cash and Danny Devito as Swackhammer. It could work!

Roses are red...

2004-06-05T15:23:00.000-04:00

Got this from Garry's blog. Petals around the rose game. There is also an interesting story about Bill Gates' encounter with the game. My wife is mad at me now because I won't tell her the solution. But I can't tell her. I'm in the Fraternity of Petals Around the Rose now.

Howdy, Neighbour

2004-05-28T19:29:00.000-04:00

What is considered appropriate when a new couple/family move into the neighbourhood? Perhaps across the street from you?

What do you say to said neighbours when, immediately after the introductions are over, they announce, "We aren't looking for new friends"?

My suggestion: "Great! We weren't looking for humans. Glad we've all found what we were looking for."

I'll be working late...see you in six months

2004-05-26T14:30:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder how far you would have to be pushed to stand up to "the man"? Ever wonder what you would have done if faced with a choice of following your conscience or following the herd?

Soldiers are put in this situation probably far more often than we know. First, let me preface this by saying I am not a soldier and have never been a soldier. But I can imagine, in my non-soldier mind, different scenarios that a soldier might face. For example, they might be told to shoot first and ask questions later in a "hot" zone. Then they see a child running down the street with what looks like a gun. Do they shoot? Do they give chase? If the child was a teenager, does the response change? What about a woman? Young? Old?

So what if our hypothetical soldier (you) has decided that, "So long as its not a little kid I will have to shoot". He may even be able to rationalize the response by saying that if he doesn't shoot the potential combatant, they may end up shooting you or one of your company. Now the guy next to him may have drawn the line on where to use lethal force, somewhere else. The first soldier uses his definition and kills a young man. This is witnessed by the second soldier and he feels that this is, in his mind, a clear contradiction to "what he signed up for". Superior officers support the first soldier and feel that the "Rules of Engagement" were followed. How is the second soldier supposed to come to terms with what he sees is happening and what he knows is against his conscience?

While all of the above is hypothetical, some U.S. soldiers have been coming to terms with their role as soldiers and their conscience. At first glance, my reaction was to say, "You signed up to be a soldier so now you are at war...what did you expect?" But actually, when some of these soldiers signed up, there wasn't war and the risk of an armed confrontation was pretty minimal. Or when they signed up they were young and un-attached. Now there is a very real risk that they may be killed and that will leave their spouses widowed and their children missing a parent.

I suppose that soldiering is a profession that not everyone is cut out for. Sometimes you have to "walk a mile in their shoes" to appreciate what they do. Those that have decided soldiering isn't their bag, I can understand. One would have hoped they would have been weeded out before they are really needed but facing death can change one's outlook on what one does when they get up in the morning. How many of us have known they needed a career change but haven't been able to muster enough strength/guts to actually change? These deserters/objectors have made the first step. They have decided to break away from their herd.

For those soldiers that are professional at it, I salute them. It can't be easy and they aren't paid all that well (at least not in Canada). If you want to "walk a mile" in a soldiers shoes check out the articles on the CBC site by Russell D. Storring. They are well-written, and at times heart-wrenching, stories of what it is like to be a soldier. Not only the effect on the soldier but also the effect on spouses, parents and their children. As a father, I can particularly relate to his stories on that level. I can't imagine being in a job that required me to be away for six months at a time.

Stanley needs a tan?

2004-05-25T21:25:00.000-04:00

The Stanley Cup final starts tonight. I'm torn as to who I want to win. On the one hand, you have to be impressed at what the Flames of Calgary have done in these playoffs and they are the underdogs. They also have Jarome Iginla who is arguably the best in the world right now.

Tampa Bay on the other hand are exciting to watch and have Martin St. Louis the regular season scoring champ. They also have Dave Andreychuk who is from my home town. So if Tampa wins then the cup will be making a trip there. That's just cool.

But forget anyone's attempt to make it a U.S vs. Canada thing. There are more Canadians playing on both rosters than any other nationality. But if you want a humourous look at the cross-border rivalry, check this out. Some of the comparisons are priceless. My favourite:

End their sentences with: USA: "no'm say'n?" Canada: "eh?"

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2004-05-21T08:13:00.000-04:00

The Ontario Budget handed down this week was a joke. The Liberals campaigned on a platform of no tax hikes and a balanced budget. They delivered neither. By putting in place tax hikes, the Liberals have broken the Taxpayer Protection and Balanced Budget Act which received Royal assent in 1999. That means it is the law. Simply put, this law says that the government must go to a referendum BEFORE any tax hike is put into place. So the Liberals have not only lied during their campaign, they broke the law. I never have trusted politicians.

While I am on this, the Liberals have stated over and over that the reason they have had to go back on their word is because the previous government left them a deficit and its all their fault, blah, blah, blah. Well, if the problem was that the Liberals didn't know, then why were they making promises? And if there is a problem with disclosure of the books of Ontario, then why aren't they legislating that the books be open, and just like corporations, if the books are cooked then people get a "Go to Jail, Go Directly to Jail" card? I should be able to find out what is happening financially in our province. But you can't believe anything they tell us.

...o my aching head

2004-05-17T21:13:00.000-04:00

Mario is one smart plumber.

Life Imitating Gaming

2004-05-12T13:10:00.000-04:00

I saw this on Tech TV. What a very cool concept. This could be easily made into a charity event or a team game. I wonder what other games would translate to a real life model like this?

Sasser

2004-05-12T00:34:00.000-04:00

The author of a computer virus (Sasser Worm)turns out to be an 18 year old German. He was turned in by informants hoping to cash in on a bounty that Microsoft has put up for information leading to the successful prosecution of virus writers. I hope they catch them all.

Even though, as a consumer, I would hope that Microsoft would put out a bullet-proof OS, I know as a programmer that this is never likely to happen. Most of the exploits that are used by virus writers are in the OS for good reasons. They may have had a very good reason for including them or they provided some benefit in the early development of the OS. But sometimes these good intentioned things can be misused and that's how a virus writer gets their thrill. Even if the security flaws were outright errors, it still doesn't give a virus writer the right to exploit it in a way that causes others a hardship.

Even if I leave my front door unlocked, it is still a crime to enter and take my belongings or vandalize my possessions. In a sense that is what virus writers are doing. They walk through an unlocked door and vandalize someone else's property. I hope this kid gets punished to the full extent of the law. Giving the maximum sentence (5 years) sends a message that others doing this can't ignore.

Raising the stakes....

2004-05-11T20:06:00.000-04:00

Almost everyday we see in the media the reporting of the death of innocents in Palestine, Israel and Iraq. It's almost a given that we will read about another child, businessman or innocent bystander is killed by acts of cowardice and in the name of revenge.

The sickening pictures of the U.S. Army personnel mistreating their prisoners was unnerving but not surprising. I still remember Somalia where weak leadership and one or two soldiers of poor moral fiber were responsible for atrocities on another human being. A sixteen year old suspected thief was their victim.

So I was not at all surprised at the possibility of the U.S. having its own black eye situation. But you can add to the victims an American civilian. Al-Qaeda used the news of the poor treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison to some how justify his execution. It seems that these people are bent on keeping score and raising the stakes. "Torture and humiliate ours and we will kill yours", is what they seem to be saying.

Notice his executioners are all hiding behind masks. Cowardice in the name of revenge.

Poor Game Design

2004-05-05T11:01:00.000-04:00

As I have mentioned a couple of times, Far Cry is a great game. I always play a new game on the most difficult setting until

It kicks my butt so bad I surrender and drop the difficulty
I get bored and just want to finish.

The first reason is a good one so long as the second isn't creeping into the real reason for dropping the difficulty. So far I am still playing Far Cry on the highest difficulty level.

But most games don't let you drop the difficulty setting on the fly. You are stuck with the difficulty setting you selected at the start of the game. One notable exception is Blizzard's Warcraft 3. If the game defeats you on a mission it actually asks you if you want to set the difficulty lower. There have been times in Far Cry where I have felt the odds have been so stacked against the player that it would be impossible to get through the level. One level I actually just ran as fast as my player would take me to avoid a horde of nasty enemies until I got to a spot where I could hide and wait for the enemy to loose interest.

Another design issue I have is the ability to save your progression in a game. Many games allow you to save at anytime in the game. This allows the player to micro-manage his progress so that you never need loose much ground when the game beats you. Many first person shooters use this method. Another method is to allow the player to save whenever they are not in a mission. This method is used in games like Grand Theft Auto. The only drawback of these methods, that I see, is the frustration that may be caused when a player forgets to save. I have often been well into a game and suddenly my virtual life ends. Then I realize I have to start at the very beginning of the mission or from the last time I saved (as in Grand Theft). Totally frustrating. I want a game that makes me feel immersed in the action so I don't want to have to remember I need to save.

Far Cry uses an automatic game saving scheme or "checkpoint" system. The game automatically saves your progress at predetermined checkpoints on each level. A little message is displayed telling me my progress has been saved. If I die, I get to start from the last checkpoint. But now the gamer is at the mercy of the level designers. You must start from where the designers want you to. That, on its own, isn't too bad so long as the designers are generous in their save points. For the most part the designers of Far Cry picked natural checkpoints and you were able to restart just before you got into the next fire fight.

But there have been a couple of spots where the checkpoint was at a stupid spot. The most infuriating so far has been a level where the start of the checkpoint has you turn a valve to flood the area you are in so that you can swim up to a vent which leads the player to the next action area. My frustration came in having to restart and swim and then crawl through a vent (which is slow) over and over and over, before I get to the next enemy. Couldn't the designer have put the checkpoint at the end of the vent? There was no other exit point. It would have saved nearly two minutes on every restart. I really didn't need all that extra swimming and crawling.

The other spot that was infuriating was a spot where you had two choices. Either grab a hang glider or grab a boat and travel to the next area. The checkpoint occurred as soon as I launched the glider. Wouldn't it have made more sense to have the checkpoint either before I launch my transportation choice (but then I would have the useless voyage every time) or better still, have the checkpoint once I arrive at the next area? This level was particularly difficult the further into the area you got and it was absolutely maddening to get to about the half way point to the next checkpoint only to be overwhelmed and have to start again gliding to my destination.

I guess my preferred game save option would be one where the player is allowed to save progress between automatically saved checkpoints. I know there are games like that out there. I just can't think of them off the top of my head. I don't mind a game frustrating me due to its game play but I don't like a game frustrating me because of something I should be able to control but some designer decided to take away.

Leaving no rock unturned...

2004-05-04T14:28:00.000-04:00

Somebody found this site by googling (is this a legit word now?) "How to break a habit". I am obviously not what they were looking for but even though I was way down the page, they must have clicked anyway. I think it is hilarious to imagine this person scanning my site to find my April 12 entry about "Simple comforts and solitude".

Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to jump to this conclusion, however. Perhaps the person had the rare, yet debilitating, Crap-a-lot Syndrome. Perhaps my head's up to breaking habits by breaking the routine may come in very handy for the habitual pooper. Ah, yes. My work here is done. Another satisfied customer.

Power

2004-04-30T09:57:00.000-04:00

I get a weekly newsletter from ZDnet. The articles in the newsletter vary week to week but essentially they discuss everything from the latest trends in technology to free downloads. If you are at all interested in technology and how it is shaping our world, I recommend trying this on for size. I have never received any spam at the email I use for these newsletters so don't be worried about ZDnet selling your email address to spammers.

An article last week and this week caught my attention. The first article starts the ball rolling with the debate of whether it is better to leave your PC running 24/7 or to turn it off when not in use. I have almost always been in the "leave it on" camp. My computer stays on all day and most nights although I do shut it down the night before when I will be away during the day. I figure the power savings warrant this despite the wear and tear on components that going from cold to hot might cause. I also use the power savings settings available in XP to put things into "standby" when I am not around.

This "standby" power saving setting is what caught my attention in the second article:

Alan Meier at U.C. Berkeley is one of the smart guys on this subject. He added up the standby machines in some typical homes and found that it's like leaving on a 60-watt lamp--for your entire life. With 102 million households in the United States, that's roughly a 6,120,000,000 watt-level of standby draw.

I have never really thought about all the appliances a typical household has that uses this type of technology. Not to mention the number of "always on" devices around like clocks. There is a clock on the oven, the microwave and of course the VCR.
Will any of this change my daily routine? Probably not. But it is interesting to think about.
Do you worry about power savings? What is your computer shut-down practice?

A lot of nothing keeping me busy.

2004-04-27T20:06:00.000-04:00

Wow. It's been a week since I made an entry. I'd like to say that, "I have just been busy as hell" and "one thing led to another..." and "I couldn't find the time" and "I'm taking one game at a time". But all that would be verbal diarrhea and untrue. So here is the mundane of my last week (there wasn't any excitement):

Last Wednesday:
Work, bought Far Cry with the gift certificate my brother gave me last fall at EB Games and commenced playing. Watched (sort of between gaming deaths) NBA playoffs. Bed.

Thursday: Work. Played basketball. Leafs update. Far Cry. Bed.

Friday: Work. Told it was my last day until they can get a plan in place as to what direction I.T. is going to go. Got paid. Car "brake system warning light" comes on. Make car appointment for Monday. Boss asks me to come back in on Monday to "finish up" some last minute things he threw at me to do. Told him it would have to be Tuesday due to uncertainty of car. He was cool with that. Got home and watched the Celtics take a beating. Decided at that moment to jump on the Indiana bandwagon for the same reason I jumped on the Celtic bandwagon in 1979...Larry Bird. Watched the Lakers go down to Houston. Much rejoicing (I admire the Lakers but I CAN'T EVER like them - see NBA History Celtics vs Lakers). Far Cry. Bed.

Weekend: A blur of children going to sleepovers and swim meets. Leafs. Basketball. Playoffs rock! Far Cry. Watched Rundown and Timeline on DVD.

Monday: Car appointment. Need brakes (duh). Need to return next week when parts arrive and will cost $1000+. Watched Kill Bill volume 1. It is way cool even though I am not a Tarantino fan. If you like the old Chinese/English dubbed kung-fu movies you have to see this. The movie is over-the-top but is done in the style of the old kung-fu movies.

Today: Work. Really done.

So that's it. Exciting, eh? Well I warned you it was a lot of nothing. By the way, Far Cry is awesome. It is kicking my ass but I keep coming back for more. That's the sign of a good game.

No Sympathy Part 2

2004-04-20T19:19:00.000-04:00

Still no sympathy even after reading this ridiculous assessment. The facts are unchanged. He stole. He turned himself in. The only thing not 100% certain is if he knew he had been caught on surveillance. My guess is he was tipped off that he would soon be exposed as a thief and decided to "spin" the event. Maybe what really gets to me is the blatant inequality in the system. Read this editorial. Something isn't right.

Where's that guy from?

2004-04-19T21:21:00.000-04:00

I'm watching game seven of the Boston-Montreal series. Half way through the 3rd period it is a scorless tie. The Boston fans start up a chant of "U-S-A U-S-A". Too funny. The Bruins have only five Americans on their roster. Stick with the "Let's go Bruins!"

Figures. As I am writing this Montreal scores.

No Sympathy

2004-04-16T20:49:00.000-04:00

I have no sympathy for Svend Robinson. Stealing due to stress? Medical leave? Give me a break. If this guy runs again when he's all "better", then the folks in Burnaby-Douglas need their head checked. For all the slamming Hamilton took for Sheila's GST fiasco, she certainly had help in her problems. Chretien reneged on his promise to scrap the tax and left some members of his caucus holding the bag. Robinson can blame nobody but himself and his alledged stress.

Now, please excuse me. I've had a stressful week and I figure I might as well "snap" big. I'm going to walk out of a store with a new TV I haven't paid for.

Painkiller

2004-04-14T20:32:00.000-04:00

Check out this new game. Rated "Mature" with blood and gore this game is a rocking good time. A typical First Person Shooter (FPS) action game you play the part of a guy trapped between heaven and hell. Your role in this world is to beat back the scores of hell's soldiers.

The action is unrelenting. Wave after wave of baddies come after the player and you must mow them down. You must dispatch each and every one of them or else you can't move on to your goal of reaching heaven, or at least finding out why you were denied access.

I enjoyed this game not because it is anything new or revolutionary. I enjoyed it because the game doesn't try to be anything it isn't. The game was designed to be frenetic and succeeded. Well worth the download if you like this sort of mindless distraction.

Simple comforts and solitude

2004-04-12T23:35:00.000-04:00

Men, from the beginning of time, have tried to carve out a small bit of the world they can call their own. A place where no one else dares to venture as there is no mistaking the said area to be theirs. Primitive man picked an area outdoors that was far enough away that they could not hear the "keeper-of-the-lists", letting him know that she needs something.

"Og, I need an area rug for the cave. When are you going to go kill a bear?" she would ask.

"Ok. I'm on my way. If I'm not back when the sun has risen and fallen six times, you are free to give the list to someone else." he would grunt back, and off he would go.

While out on these "tasks", man found comfort in the silence and solitude. He knew he could get a bear in just two suns, max, but those extra four suns were just bliss. It was time to commune with nature and really get in touch with the softer cave dweller that was trapped in all early men. As men evolved and the list-keepers got wise to their game, (notice the list-keepers didn't evolve....they were already far advanced and were just biding their time while man caught up) man had to find other ways to sneak some solitude. The answer was...the bathroom. The throne. The reading room. Guys know what I'm talking about.

Real men know how to work this to their advantage. The aftermath of a good "throne speech" allows even longer quality time with ourselves. Ever notice how the paint can be peeling off the walls and birds are dropping from their nests, but you hardly mind your own stink? In fact, the worse it is the more we admire it. That's how we carved out our solitude. No one comes into another man's zone without the risk of respiratory failure and yet the creator of the zone breathes free and easy. Shear genius.

But in my family, the queen list-keeper and the list-keeper in training have devised a way to disrupt the solitude in a sort of Pavlovian conditioning scheme. I already said they are smarter. You see as boys become men and this right of passage is played out, men develop a definite routine. It may be that the time of day never varies, or it is always after the morning coffee or only a Reader's Digest gives just the right stimulation. Whatever it is, the routine must be followed. And the routine doesn't end until the room is vacated and the manly warning, "Don't go in there!" is proclaimed. But ask any behavioural scientist how to break a habit and they will tell you that the routine must be broken. This is where my list-keepers are waging war on my solitude.

It's very simple. It's very shrewd. It's very insidious. What my little list-keepers have started to do is use up all the toilet paper and not replace it. The whole solitude comfort zone is horribly disrupted by this.

Imagine, if you will, the solitude seeker coming to the realization that now that the ritual is about to come to its natural conclusion, the end game is not possible. The ritual folding, and all that follows, can not take place. What's worse is that the scheming list-keepers are no where to be found and the solitude seeker is left to his own devices. He must rise from the throne, clench tight his cheeks and waddle to the cupboard/closet where the toilet paper is kept and waddle back to the throne room. By then, the magic of the zone has been disrupted and the solitude seeker's stink immunity has worn off. He becomes very aware of the fact that he does indeed have severe gastro-intestinal issues that medical science has yet to figure out. The remaining parts of the ritual are either rushed through or completely ignored. He may even spray an air freshener in the room! (The ultimate wussification of the ritual!)

I'm fighting back though. I have added the "checking first" ritual. What will the list-keepers do next? It's their move.

"So let it be written. So let it be done."

2004-04-08T19:00:00.000-04:00

The old company name was being painted over on all the signs at the plant. The whole process reminded me of the scene in the Ten Commandments where Rameses (Yul Brynner) is banishing Moses from Egypt. Rameses declares that the name of Moses must never be spoken again and that all references to "Moses" must be removed from monuments and records.

It's interesting that such a simple gesture visibly boosted some people's morale. It demonstrates just how betrayed many have felt over the gradual decay of the company.

Full Steam Ahead

2004-04-06T19:09:00.000-04:00

The bankruptcy process I have mentioned over the last week is moving right along. My group implemented the name change to the company documents and 99% of everything went very smoothly. Only one form had an issue which was easily solved by changing a value on a file and some users have complained about some reports being printed with smaller fonts than they are used to.

This is more due to a change in the technology used to deliver the reports than the work that our group did but we will try to figure out how we can make some of the old printers get happy with the new technology. I guess this curse of the old technology can be expected when a company has neglected its office technology for so long. After these small items are sorted we will move on to phase two and change the documents to be ready for the next name change in about a month.

Although this doesn't affect me, the next hurdle for the company will be the day the old company dismisses its entire staff and the new company hires them at a 10% decrease in salary. There will also likely be some who are simply not re-hired. That won't be a day with a lot of "warm-fuzzies".