Monthly Archive for August, 2007

Plasmid Considerations…

Published on August 29, 2007 in WebComics. 0 Comments

I tried the Bioshock demo over the weekend and I have to say that I’m quite impressed with the look of the game. I’ve been pretty excited for this one and I must say that it looks as though I won’t be disappointed. I just wish I had little better graphics card than my aging 6800 so I could turn up the effects a bit.

However much I did or did not like this demo really isn’t the point of this post though. This post is more about Tim Buckley’s thought process. If I had to guess, I would think that most people would probably ponder how potentially cool it would be to wield the power of plasmids… but not Tim. His first thoughts apparently turn to the rather unfortunate side effects that come along with harnessing the power of the elements in the palm of your hand. Hence his comic for today…

Another Mouse to Ponder

Published on August 24, 2007 in Gadgets and Hardware. 0 Comments

And this one is the sexiest so far, at least from this angle. engadget has the goods on this one; looks like it’s got its own proprietary wireless signal, so they’re thinking there will be no lag. Also, they’ve got a couple of variants, one straight optical, and one laser. The optical mouse they’re aiming at FPS guys; no macros, no weird crap, and an ultra-reliable optical sensor should be just the ticket. For you MMO people, the laser variant does have macros, which are evidently “remembered” by the mouse without the need for drivers (once they’ve been set up). So this one appeals to me; the design is clean and functional without a lot of “styling”; think a nicely stealthed BMW 5-series compared to a hopped-up Eclipse. It’s got two side buttons, which ought to appeal to Rudeboy. Here’s a link to their press release and another to their home.

New Contender in the Mouse Debates

Published on August 23, 2007 in Gadgets, Games and Hardware. 0 Comments

Rudeboy and I have different taste in mice, but we share one thing: a fancy mouse won’t buy you any extra frags. Now, granted, you’re not going to get a lot of kills if you’re playing with your laptop’s trackpad or little eraser-thingy pointer. But I’ve almost always been happy with an ancient two-button optical from Logitech (recently got a Logitech G7, which is nice, but it is overkill), and Rudeboy’s got an old Intellimouse with side buttons. Microsoft just launched a new Sidewinder, which does look sharp, but it’s going to be pricey and I have my doubts about how useful the LCD really is on a mouse.

Still, a nerd likes to tweak, and this thing seems pretty tweakable. Might be worth a look when the prices come down, neh?

Star Wars – The Musical

Published on August 22, 2007 in Movies. 0 Comments

Supurb! Stupendous! Fantasmastical!

Just a few of the words I could think of to describe Star Wars – The Musical. Why didn’t Lucas think of this?

That opening sequence KILLS ME!!! “Red 5 standing byyyyyyyy!”

BioShock Demo Experience

Published on August 22, 2007 in Games and Gripes. 0 Comments

Well, I cranked up the BioShock demo last night. It played pretty well with my system, in spite of the fact that I didn’t bother trying to tweak and turn things off. The framerate was too low, but I wanted a feel for what a DX9 card would present. My current rig has a Core 2 Duo E6400, 2GB DDR2, and a GeForce 6800 Ultra. It’s the graphics card holding me back, but I’m hoping Rudeboy gets his rig back up so we can see what a single core will do to this thing.

Impressions? The gameplay was really pretty decent. The areas were really creepy, and it’s got style like no other game. Story seems intriguing. It’ll play on my rig, but I’ll have to turn off some of the cooler effects. I zapped guys with electricity, and fried some with fire, and shot some. Seems like lots of options for destruction.

I’d like to get a feel for how it’s running on older hardware, so if anyone’s played the demo, feel free to give a report with your specs in the comments.

Drive a Caddy in Mario Kart DS

Published on August 21, 2007 in Games and Nintendo. 0 Comments

Tired of using your lame attempt at a car badge in Mario Kart DS? Well… me too.

Good thing there’s a site like DSIcons.com to assist those of us who are less apt at creating anything other than a pixel blob in the icon editor. As the picture to the right shows, the instructions are pretty decent at helping you create that perfect car badge to help you express who you really are deep down inside.

There’s probably close to 50 free badges over at the site as well as several more packs that you can pay for (not sure why you would though with all those free ones to choose). I’ve tried a few of them out and they all look pretty decent in-game. So head on over and make everyone think that you have icon skillz.

Voltron is Coming…

Published on August 21, 2007 in Movies. 0 Comments

For all those of you who were wondering when Hollywood would get around to making a live action Voltron movie… wonder no longer.

TmZ reports that a Voltron movie is in the works and although it will most likely be crap, it will be fun to see those tenacious kids ride their robotic lions to victory over Prince Lotor’s minions. So in preparation for what will most likely be a steaming pile of cg, here’s a fun Robot Chicken sketch that really touches on the most important undercurrent of the whole Voltron franchise… giant robots composed of several lion robots are great for winning dance competitions!

These aren’t the pants you’re looking for.

Published on August 19, 2007 in Geek Fun and Random. 0 Comments

This list is kinda old, but I just stumbled on it again today and couldn’t help but laugh all the way though it. For those of you not familiar with this list, the basic idea is that many lines in Star Wars are much funnier if you replace some word within the line with the word “pants”. I’m pretty sure this list is much funnier if you’re a Star Wars fan, but I can’t really provide a non-Star-Wars-fan point a view so… who knows. As a Star Wars fan though, it’s pretty dang hilarious. Here are a few examples…

“I find your lack of pants disturbing.”

“A disturbance in the pants. I have not felt this since near my old master…”

“Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your pants.”

“Look at the size of those pants!”

Anyway… check out the whole list of 278 Star Wars “pants” quotes here.

Canadian Geek Squad Is Amazing!

Published on August 7, 2007 in Geek Fun and Random. 0 Comments

There are a few things about Canadians that make them just a little different than those of us to their direct south. There’s socialized healthcare, the welcoming attitude they seem to have for those of a more… “French” nature as well as those fantastic mounted police just to name a few. But one thing you can always count on being the same is the Best Buy Geek Squad. Or can you… new evidence would suggest that the Canadian Geek Squad may be leaving their poor American counterparts in the dust.

It seems that when you attempt to purchase a Wii from Best Buy Canada, they also suggest that you allow them to install MS Office 2007 on it for you for only $99.99. I personally think that the 360 would be a better choice if you were planning to run Office on a console, but what do I know? Wii powerpoint presentations ftw!!1! (removes the need for the lazer pointer)

Click for full size

I guess we can either take this as evidence of Canada’s technical superiority and begin preparing for an invasion from the north or else we can just sit back and laugh at the fact that the Geek Squad is retarded with no respect to geographic location. I just hope they actually ride around town seated backwards on horses like they do in my imagination. Dudley Do-Right’s got nothin on the Geek Squad.

Minesweeper: The Movie

Published on August 6, 2007 in Game Movies and Random. 0 Comments

I don’t really have a problem with movies based on games. I just have an issue with movies based on games that totally blow. Unfortunately, that one qualification means that I loathe most game movies. I admit that there have been a couple over the years that I’ve enjoyed (I won’t mention which ones to save myself from your ridicule) but for the most part, they pretty much all suck. That being said, I think I can get excited about the most recent game movie to be announced. Minesweeper looks like it could be a real box-office winner.

Favorite line: “WHY ARE THESE MINES EVEN HERE?!!!”