Dreams Dashed

Well the ultimate keyboard: Optimus 103. Has been ultimately nerfed.

Color and a number of other features were killed(may return in later models) but the greatest killer is the $1200 price tag. Yikes!

Oh well couple more years this thing will be sold at CVS for $12, that's the great thing about tech....always better, faster, cheaper.

Remote Desktop Fix

From time to time I have an issue connecting with remote desktop and every time it takes me some time to find this exact fix. So I place it here so I never have to look again.

This solves the "The connection was ended because of a network error. Please try
connecting to the remote computer again." for Windows Remote Desktop:

A frequent cause of these problems stems from issues with some registry
values in the TermService\Parameters registry key. To fix, select the
following key:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermServices\Parameters

After doing this, delete the Certificate, X509 Certificate, and X509
Certificate ID values, and restart. The key will be regenerated. I only
had the Certificate value, but should any of these exist, delete and
restart.

wow commercial

Seconds before sleep took me, I cracked an eye to spy this. lol nice!

Battlefield 2142 Update Alert

Might I suggest not using the EA link to update.... I'm sure they got that fixed heh

Not really anything to wonderious but I didn't really have any issues in the first place.

Battlefield 2142 ReadMe File V3.5
November 14th, 2006
Copyright Electronic Arts
Battlefield 2142

==================
VIII. PATCH 1.05
==================
ISSUE FIXES
- Ground Defence kills now count towards Ground Base Defence Ribbon
- Using the Medic Hub now counts towards Silver Medic Excellence Badge
- Silver Titan Destruction - Badge awarded when core is destroyed
- Debriefing End of Round screen displays player stats
- Enemy Squad Leader Spawn beacon is no longer visible on the 3dMap
- Can now bind same key to crouch for common and land vehicles
- User now unable to repeatedly spam a squad leader to join a locked squad
- Spinning tank turret no longer pushes player inside clipped geometry
- Users can play single-player (offline) mode when EA servers are unavailable
- Fixed issue that caused Battlerecorder Playback And Camera Control Interface function
- Corrected missile silo numbers in Titan Mode
- Squad Leader Spawn Beacon can now be used after a round or map change in online games
- Missing game information in Swedish and Danish when a mutiny occurs against your commander added
- Inconsistent game references removed
- BF2142 showing up as Battlefield 2 in Windows firewall exception list fixed
- Patching update message will shut the game down instead of minimize if EA Link is installed on users machine
- Stats tracking optimizations
- Revised AR's deviation per bullet
- Titan no longer moveable by the Commander once Titan shields are down
- Installer checks for BF2142 running in the background before installing patch LOL!
- Improved player collision protocol
- Optimized EA Master Server connection calls

Game-dar update

If I was ever going to play an mmo again....

Looked sweet at gen con this year also, had a nice line of people waiting for a turn at helm.

Slated for Summer 07.

CPU & GPU Integration

I say again the future of computers is in CPU & GPU integration. AMD has been fairly public with about it but Intel is clearly planning something as they have gathered a large number of graphics engineers in the last few years.

In an interesting reversal AMD is now saying that they will continue on as is with ATI… meaning ATI branding GPU cards.

My guess is they decided (wisely) that its going to take a few years to phase the world into accepting a completely different way of thinking about processors.

complainers

Fun little Wired writeup.

Jericho meta plant

The above link takes you to a cached wikipedia copy for Ravenwood. Its already been removed from wikipedia.

I find it intresting that Ravenwood owns a TU-95 Bear, thats a heavy bomber... a modified verison was used to drop the TSAR bomb...

Intresting way to use wikipedia.

TV viewing info

Lost: Gone till Feb 7 [whores]
Jericho: End on Nov 29, returns on Feb 21 [expected]
BSG: Uninterrupted through March 2. [nice]
Weeds: no information on season 3 start date yet. [cant wait]
Huff: No season 4, ending on 2x 2 hour wrap up, date unknown [see ya, not sure why I ever watched you]
Deadwood: Final 4 start 8-6-2007 [wtf! also 5 million per episode production costs!!]
Entourage: Season 4 starts summer 2007, 12 eps.
Shield: The sixth season of The Shield returns to FX in January 2007. FX has already green-lit the seventh and final season of the acclaimed cop show, to premiere sometime in late 2007 or early 2008.

I think I must watch more TV now then I ever have in my entire life.

The 10 Worst Games of All Time

Every mag runs one of these every year but I liked the story about the number one worst game of all time: E.T., which I actually owned and disliked at age 8. The only other game I played on that list was Smurf Rescue which I didn't think was so bad but really hard.

Daikatana making any list is an honor..... John Romero is trying to make an MMO, be afraid.

The Party is canceled.

Thanks for giving her a good run Eric, closest she’s had. Truly a dark day (literally).

I would like to think she doesn't have too many good years left in her but I think its likely they will stuff her and run her again anyway...

Nov 06: Value PC

This year I had a lapse in sanity and decided that $500 per video card was a good idea. Among other foolish excesses in hardware I ended up spending 3x-4x more then I normally would have on a replacement machine. Sadly my over 3 year old sounds-like-a-jet-on-take-off former pc isn't really much slower(which I spent under $600 on at that time + a video card update after about 16 months). Matter a fact, due to some shifting around of drives the old PC loads everything faster!

I guess I did this, even though I expected the results I got, because I never had before. I wanted to be that idiot one time. Done, mark it off the list.

Now that that’s over I can go back to the perfect science of value spending. Heed my warning: your uber pc will be run of the mill in under 6 months! Buy smart, upgrade often.

Value PC means literally best value computer not to be confused with cheapest. This is the exact pc I suggest you buy if your strong on getting an absolutely maximized dollar-to-speed ratio. Each of the primary components have been measured to create an exact balance of spent dollars vs return on investment. Everything is from Newegg... you could shave a couple of bucks shopping around but ultimately its not worth the savings to go to multiple sources. Note that this assumes that you want to play current games, not just browse the web but are uninterested in over clocking.
1. $184 Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
2. $ 80 MSI 945P Neo3-F Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
3. $200 CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) System Memory Model VS2GBKIT667D2 - Retail
4. $210 ATI 100-437808 Radeon X1650PRO 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
5. $ 78 Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
6. Misc: $65 Case, PSU(min 500w), DVD burner. I don't pick these because they are all much the same anymore.
7. Monitor: I haven't selected one because your monitor should live on to your next machine. I suggest you get the best you can afford. I normally recommend Dell monitors but ViewSonic has been impressing me lately.

$817 is higher then I generally target but this machine will give great service for multiple years because of that little extra.

Final tips: Put the extra money you save buying smart into a kick ass display or chair. As they last longer then the system; they are a wiser thing to put more money into.

I tracked down some tubed Internets

Carbon Filtered Water
I live in an area where the water contains greatly heightened levels of THM. I had been considering all sort of elaborate whole house water purification systems.
I have concluded that simple carbon based filters are going to be enough.

AMD first platform
First post ATI integrated platform.
Note to AMD: Still not going to be enough to stop the slide.

Delete your bad rep Service
Damn, why can't I think of things like this.

SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition
2mb footprint database. This link I posted here so I wouldn't forget about it. Its for me, not for you!

Browser Speed Tests
My stock in Opera continues to climb. But this web site leaves much to be desired in terms of design.... eye bleed.

Pure Pwnage Eps 12

Have not watched it yet but you should.

Friend Rituals

I have friends… well, that’s their official title. Sometimes I have other names for them dependant on how much they frustrate me on any given day. Each of them has a unique set of strange characteristics attached to them. Things that a normal person would shake their head at and label the person as definitely not normal (might even use the word ‘psycho’ in some cases). Each of these peoples quirks are above and beyond the normal quirkiness level that every person has. I include myself in this statement as I know that I have many endearing flaws.

Time continues to mellow each of us and tone down these quirks, yet they still exist. Please remember I am not trying to bash one of my friends, just making a note of fun behavior. Sorry if I offend (be less delicate?).

Today’s friend story is about “The New Thing Ritual”. Basically this friend has a process (ritual) in which he will try something new, could be anything: a game, tv show, a magazine, etc. This ritual must be carefully followed step by step or the New Thing will not be attempted. I refer to my friend, in code, as Bob.

Step 1: Social Discussion.

You tell Bob about a New Thing over some social function. Keep in mind that Bob has been known to historically like past examples… were not talking about some new form of mold here… this is something he really likes normally. Bobs reaction is generally one of guarded interested. He wants to know more but doesn’t want to seem like he is overly interested.

The discussions breaks down to three phases: Bob asking a question about the New Thing. You answer the question. Bob telling you why he isn’t interested followed immediately into a new question about the Thing he isn’t interested in.

Normally the disinterest comes in forms of “I am to busy for this Thing because of _insert reason that no one believes here_ .” At no point did I ask him if he was going to try this New Thing, yet he answers as such always.

Step 2: The Sale

IMPORTANT: Step 1 and Step 2 can NOT be attempted on the same day. Bob needs time to internally consider this Thing has he is also a cautious person.

Bob must be sold something before he will attempt it. The number of sales people (otherwise known as other friends) required to make the sale is directly proportional to how fast the sale of the New Thing will be made.

To some extent the same resistance will be encountered, as in step 1 through out this process but to a lesser degree. You will also hear less BS excuses in the responses.

Bob already knows he wants to do what ever it is he is currently being sold or you wouldn’t have made it to step 2. Matter a fact if you don’t attempt step 2 on him he will steer you in that direction while still attempting to maintain partial disinterest. He wants to be sold.

Bob is also a very loyal guy at heart. Why would this matter? Well he’s loyal always and to everything, not just people, as he is loyal to Old Things too. New Thing replaces Old Things and that’s disloyal.

Generally speaking the New Thing is not sold on the first sales attempt. This is a true shopper folks; he kicks every tire multiple times! You or one of the other sales people have to make that pitch a couple of times. At some point the deal will get done.

Step 3: The Post Sale Transition/denial

Now he’s got a problem. He got the New Thing but what to do about the Old Thing and everything tied to it? Worse! There could be other loyal friends still tied up into the Old Thing! Now he’s disloyal to the Old Thing and to The Friend.

Bob(actual paraphrased statement) two years ago: “I am just going to play WoW here and there… just something to do every once in a while. My main focus is on EQ2.” Lets just say WoW is still being played heavily to this day and EQ2s couple of months of glory are a distance memory. The speed at which EQ2 died, for him (and the world), occurred at a stunning speed yet the entire time the “part time” statements continued to be made.

At some point the denials stop and what ever the New Thing is becomes officially the Old Thing. The cycle is complete until the next New Thing.

Analysis

To varying degrees you have to sell your friends on anything new. Sometimes it’s an easy sale… other times not. I pick on Bob because he is the most clearly defined example of this process taken to an extreme.

Recently I have decided not to sell my friends on anything new. Adopting an “Why the hell should I go through this process, its your entertainment after all?” attitude. Your loss, not mine. Why struggle with the effort? I guess I must like to hear myself speak? (Its possible)

The point is I wouldn’t have brought it up in the first place if I didn’t already know it would enhance your life in some way. Why mess with me and make me go to such pain to please you?

Resistance….Futile…..blah blah blah

1UP pulls Neverwinter Nights 2 review

1UP gave NWN2 a 5/10 rating but pulled the review. I think the reviewer was right on the money but I guess that no one is allowed to say anything even slightly bad about the holy title.

I see 5/10 as dead center of average. Not bad, not good. Seems right on the money as really its the same game with better graphics.

How the heck does this work?

In December 2005, the Air Force mission statement was amended to include cyberspace as an operational area, along with air and space.

Games Overload

MMOs somewhat screwed things up in the world of video games. Vets of online hits have a hard time looking at a game with out the taint of the MMO filter; in other words if it doesn't last at least a year and have an "end game", its not a quality title. Causing people to often pass on short but sweet games. That, in addition to about a dozen other issues, have lead to a decline in the pc game industry.

Back in the day a normal game was played heavily for a month and then the next title was moved in. In November and December things often got a little crazy and choices had to be made as there were often many games to pick from.

But that boat sailed many years ago. Now we're lucky that EB still has its single free standing rack for PC games.

However, this year has been quite a bit different. This year we have had a resurgence to a release level that I do not believe I have ever experienced. The quantity hasn't really expanded but the quality certainly has. I have more games I would like to play then I could possibly play... even if I had 15 hours a day to do so....

The end isn't in sight yet either, I see at least a half dozen more titles of interest to come before the year is out. With January also seeing a couple of very heavy hitters.

Keep in mind I am somewhat selective as to what I will buy/play. Far more then I used to be actually (no Hello Kitty Island Adventure here). These titles really have ended up being quite good as I don't think I have purchased a complete dud title in quite some time.

Anyway, if your reading this and thinking how dull things have been in your MMO lately.... the sky is the limit right now, walk out and fall over a solidly enjoyable game title across every genre. Don't let the opportunity pass as some of these games will become legends.

Also, download the free xfire program. Great utility for the gamers, I wish I would have looked at it sooner.