Verizon MiFi: Mobile broadband + WiFi

This device connects to your cell carrier to provide a little mobile WiFi hot spot for up to 5 devices.  Expected to be in stores next month for $99 (plus all the other mobile phone fees).

Also available for Sprint customers at about the same time.

MS to build 300k simul game

Microsoft has a job posting for a server developer to create the backbone for a game that plans to have 300,000 users online at once.  Which is cool, I might apply for the job except I'd have to move so I will not apply.

How are they figuring that they are going to need 300k of capacity?  Why not 200k or 500k?

Matrix Online shutting down

Last minute you will be able to "enjoy" MoX will be:  July 31, 2009 at 11:59PM PST.

I can't believe they took so long to get around to it.  This is also the first Sony MMO to get das boot.

Sims 3 hits an internets near you

Sims 3 was leaked!  Which is sure to cause it get to downloaded a bunch because no can buy till June 2.  

Word from EA is this is a prerelease with half the game missing.

Apple plans a $1 billion data center

Which is twice what Google or Microsoft normally spend and massive compared to what they got in place today.

Oh what could Apple be up to?  This BK does wonder.

Vista SP2 out

Microsoft has made available Vista Service Pack 2. So cross your fingers, do a little prayer, dance a good luck jig, shine up your good luck coin, and finally hope that this service pack is less adventure packed then the last one...

As scared as you might be from SP1, a service pack update is always recommended.

64-bit stand alone installer here.

32-bit stand alone installer here.

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4 Beta 1

Available for download at the title link above.

I feel like I just got general adaptation of .NET 3.5. Now I have to go back on the campaign trail selling 4 to the powers that be.... by the time I get done with that campaign it should be time for me to start over with 5.

I'd say that Microsoft would do me a favor if they slowed their roll but 4 is looking pretty darn hot - no need to halt real progress.

Celron overclocked past 8ghz

That's what it looks like to get a Celron D processor overclocked to 8ghz.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 unveiled

COD6 will be released 11-10-2009. Trailer on the title link. The best news: Infinity Ward is doing it, not subbing it out, which automatically means it will be quality.

While I can't imagine them doing a better job then COD4 (because I don't believe that is possible)... I'd be happy with half as good + co-op. Now if they could make it about 20% longer then COD4, that would be a good thing!

Resident Evil 5 sells 5 million copies

Great game, well deserving of the sales. Even better, it ensures 6 will get made.

All of those sales and no PC release doesn't bode all that well for futures of big name titles on the PC. Soon we will be reduced to MMOs only.

One more interesting point of note: 4.5 million of those sales were in month one, the rest over time.

Terminator Salvation review

Way back when I first saw Terminator 1 (1984) the part that I wanted to see more of was the future flash forwards. I always thought "that would make a cool movie all by itself". 25 years later I finally get that movie that I was looking for.

What's better is I feel that it lived up to my 25 years in the making expectations. I think I'm in with a 7.5 rating.

We have also learned certain l33t individuals that like to "warn people away" should reconsider what really makes a good movie... they can't all be the greatest movie ever made... just because its not better then random awesome movie title here, doesn't mean it wasn't highly enjoyable, there is room between best ever and suck. ;)

TF2 unlocks change to random drops

Sited as more casual player friendly, Steam decided to change the unlocks system to random drops.

Oh the screams on the forums are delicioso!  From mostly pure fire-bomb-your-house to less frequently holy defenders of the Valve faith battling in a desperate defense.  People HATE when they have a system that can be gamed (via the so called achievement servers) to a system not so easily gamed.

While I didn't think the old system was horrible... I really did hate how it was based on sometimes really bazarro events that I really just lucked into more then knew about.  

The only change I would make to this system is have it not give you stuff you already got.  Maybe the right change here is to only give unlocks for the class your currently playing.

Sword of the Stars expansion: Argos Naval Yard

Just when I thought I finally had it out of my system they spring another expansion out for next month.   

For the first time ever they don't seem to be adding a new race... this expansion is all about new techs and ships.  Which I'm cool with but I hope it also adds some new grand menaces and randoms as those really add a lot of spice.

Look for this June 17, 2009 for $9 as a digital download.

Bill Clinton was asked to do Fallout 3 presidents voice

Of course he said no but that would have been pretty awesome if that 1% chance would have panned out. I would have hoped that they would have added a cigar somehow to the presidents image...

TF2 update: spy & sniper go live

Glad they did it as a pair... at least that will cut back on the servers filled with one class only.

Two more Fallout 3 DLC's inc

Point Lookout(June release 360) – Explore a massive new swampland area filled with new quests and content. 

Mothership Zeta(July release 360) – The aliens have returned, and they’re pissed. Experience an alien abduction first hand and find out if you’re tough enough to survive. 

TF2: The Ambassador

TF2's rail gun!  Sweet!!!!!

Though I might have to go to one of those "cheat" servers to "earn" this unlock as I can't see me grinding with a spy.  I will have to really scrub myself down after dirtying myself in such a way!

There are two sorts of men in this world: the sort with blood pouring out of a hole in their heads, and the sort holding the Ambassador. It has the ammo count of a revolver and the pinpoint accuracy of a sniper rifle, even at long range. (But remember, a gun that packs this much heat needs to cool off between shots, so make every shot count.)

With its rosewood grip and likeness of your enemy’s mother (please send photo) engraved on the barrel, the Ambassador is eight motherloving pounds of steel your enemies won’t want to negotiate with.

Enterprise bridge panorama

This is pretty cool... you can get a detailed look at some of the panels.  Click the title link.

Champions Online delayed...again...

Bill Roper (Flagship/Hellgate infamy) is on the J-O-B once again deciding to delay the very often delayed already super hero Champions Online MMO.  I think he's look for some extra time so he can work in a lifetime membership program heh.

Supposedly this will now come out Sept 1, 2009 unless, of course, it changes again.

To tide you over here is the latest Roper interview on Champions Online.

3D Realms not out of business afterall

Despite a big GOODBYE post on their web site.... they are still out telling people that they are opened for business, just a lot smaller.  

Like down to one dude behind the smoke and mirrors sorta smaller ;)

Klingon Anti-Virus program

In an nice PR stunt Sophos AV has released a localized version of their free AV app into Klingon.

I'd never heard of Sophos before now so I have no idea if its any good.

But I do know that the PR stunt must be working because I have now heard of them. ;)

Assassin's Creed 2 team of 450

Three times larger then Assassin's Creed 1's team.  That's crazy.

PIOBS does Mansfield Reformatory

Paranormal Investigators of Bull Shit (PIOBS), on location...

Here's your bottom line:  Absolutely not scary but neat old building to explore.  Hope you like stairs...

The funnest event of the trip was us running into some of the same WJ's (that's Whack Jobs in the PIOBS lexicon) we encountered at the last PIOBS trip.  Which wasn't expected but maybe it should have been.

I have some video... wish it was better but I was still trying to figure out the device so I really didn't get very much of quality.  The video clip here is about the best thing I got, showing some of the hall used in many movies that adjoins the two cell block wings.

I think the big paranormal mystery solved this trip was photo orbs.  You know the ghosts orbs that appear in photos but not the the eye?  Its definitely dust refracting light.  The building was very dusty and it was easy to purposely run my foot across the floor, take a picture to reveal BK created ghost orbs by the dozens.

I enjoyed the trip but it wasn't even a blip on the thrill seeker radar. 

Take Two sues 3D Realms

A clear attempt to stake a claim to anything that is left in the 3D Realms shut down.  Apparently Take Two send 3d Realms for check for $12 million for publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever back in 2000.

I hope they realize that's a wasted effort.  Can't milk a turnip... but they also might be trying to get complete control of the IP.

Creative Labs rebate CF

One of Creative Labs recent rebates for $10 is sent to people as a debit card.  This debit card has a $3 per month maintenance charge. Nice.

Adventure rebooted

Long long ago on the Atari 2600 game system their lived a game called Adventure.  With out a doubt I played this awesome line art title more then any other game.  

Apparently I wasn't alone as some industrious individuals set out to recreate this classic title.

The game is available right now and is free.  Take a trip down memory lane by clicking on the title link of this post.

Intels EU 1.45 billion anti trust fine

They need to shoot the rod at EU and just say "good luck with out us"!  Its blackmail.

Riddle me this:  Microsoft got the same situation in 2004.  Did this fine in any way change anything?  Its been years now so we should have seen SOMETHING happen.  MS still have around 95% share today and that's what they had before the judgement.  So its a blackmail payment that achieved nothing.  

Clearly the powers that be realize they have a good racket going now... no point in stopping a good thing, right?

Anti trust laws are an antiquated concept much like unions.

EAs new bonus plan

This is a good example of how not to make a bonus plan.  I'm sure there is more details then what has been revealed but from where I sit, if I was an employee of EA, this bonus plan would incent me to:  Walk around kissing peoples asses to make the bonuses...claim/steal credit at every opportunity. 

As there are no clear metrics for how you make a bonus so basically its just a "pennies from heaven" bonus plan.  If you are well liked by the powers that be (aka god) then heaven shall rain pennies down upon your person based on your perceived love.  This is actually a worse bonus plan then the "everyone automatically gets X% of salary as long as we are making money" plan because it creates favorites and fosters ill will.

A good bonus plan is aligned with the company's goals and gives a person clear cut definition what they have to do to excel - it empowers them to achieve the result and its very limited on the results of others.  Anything else is bullshit.

GRRM updates

That's George RR Martin for those unenlightened individuals. The greatest writer of our time (it's my blog I can have what ever opinion I feel like!).

The pace is picking up on Thrones now and rumor has it that the pilot will be completed or aired in the fall of 2009. I'm unclear as to which but my guess is on completed. I know I'd feel a lot better if it was Showtime doing it over HBO or if they had more then a pilot on the planning books.

Speaking of Showtime, The Tudors is currently the only show being aired that I tune in for the actual broadcast as they are being aired. I guess that makes it my current favorite show, though its likely not for everyone. This being completely unrelated to GRRM... I bring it up only because I envision Thrones being a better version of Tudors. They are not with out some similarities.

And the final note to this post: A Dance with Dragons has a release date of Sept 29, 2009. Can't wait.

Ride to Work Achivement unlocked

We need to look at the fine print, cause Sunday ride to work might not qualify for this unlock.... worst case, it was a successful dry run. Definitely encountered much traffic and survived.... there was no way to get there with out having to deal with a lot of traffic.

It was starting to look like I was going to unlock "ride in the rain" achievement also but I took highway only on the return trip and avoided that. Hopefully that achievement waits a while yet.

Feeling mostly comfortable these days but I wish every time I sat down on the bike I didn't have stats instantly roll through my head... you know all the uncomfortable ones like motorcycle deaths per year etc. But maybe that's always a good thing to keep in the forefront of one's mind.

3D Realms shuttered

After 12 long years at work on Duke Nuke'um Forever, 3D Realms calls it quits. They aren't taking Duke with them to the grave so you may well still see something out of that IP...someday. If you even care, which pretty much no one does.

I was more shocked to hear that they were still around at all...I figured that party ended years ago.

Star Trek ranks update

Hear ye, hear ye, let it be known that the latest movie has been judged and found acceptable! Further more, let it be known its rank in the Star Trek movie-verse shall be #3.

Here is the complete BK Trek rankings:

1. The Undiscovered Country(6)
2. First Contact(8)
3. Star Trek(11)
4. The Wrath of Khan(2)
5. The Voyage Home(4)
6. The Search for Spock(3)
7. Generations(7)
8. Insurrection(9)
9. Nemesis(10)
10. The Final Frontier(5)
11. The Motion Picture(1)

That is right, TMP falls to the bottom cause truth be told, I'd rather suffer through TFF then TMP.

I'm glad to see that it lived up to its marketing hype...so rare these days.

Windows 7 RC1

Release Candidate 1 for Windows 7 is out, for free, and doesn't expire till June 1, 2010. Beta of Windows 7 was the most solid beta I'd ever seen come out of Microsoft so I suspect RC1 is going to be nearly trouble free operation.

Download your copy by clicking on the title link.

Empire Interactive: RIP

Opps wrong company....these folks did: FlatOut, Hello Kitty, Ford Racing and Jackass

Hello Kitty!!!!!

SSD slowdowns, in depth

There is an extremely long write up on the problem of solid state disk drives slowing down over time over at AnandTech.  If your considering the SSD leap you should read this but pack a lunch cause its going to take you bit to get through all of it.

The short answer to the problem:  As they re-write over previously used space they slow way down as they have to read the sector and then write back to it.  Though even on an SSDs worst day its still multiple times faster then a traditional hard drive.

In the end the recommendation is pretty much to wait for the next generation of SSD and Windows 7 or, if you must have it now, then buy the still pretty expensive Intel drives as they degrade the least over time.

Fallout 3: Broken Steel downloadable

This the Fallout downloadable content that expands the game to level 30.  Definitely a good reason to fire that awesome game back up for another play!

DivX7 and Windows 7 for MKV support

DivX7 under Windows 7 will play MKV file format. MKV is the most popular HD video format currently yet sometimes difficult to get to play under certain video players. The most difficult is to get it to work is under Windows Media Center (64bit even harder still - I know personally).

This small seeming news item is sure to save me some head aches in the future. For everyone else it means the end of Codec packs.

TF2 MMO

In a recent TF2 update the following parameters were added:

// TF2 MMO
"TF_MMO_LFG" "Looking For Group"
"TF_MMO_Quest1" "You must
kill %s1 %s2 to complete this quest."
"TF_MMO_Monster1" "Boars"
"TF_MMO_Monster2" "Rats"
"TF_MMO_Monster3" "Bats"
"TF_MMO_Monster4"
"Wolves"
"TF_MMO_Monster5" "Spiders"

Seemingly to indicate that Valve intends to take Team Fortress 2 into some sort of MMO direction in the future.

Most peoples first guess is this is a joke... though it wouldn't be the first time Valve has dropped something in that would appear to be a joke and then later turned out to be something real. Though this one is way out there.

My thinking is that these lines are dropping a hint at the future though the actual values are presented here are meaningless, they wouldn't really be used... its just a method to provide some sort of hint to the community of a possible future. Believe me when I say that the thought of putting together an MMO has certainly crossed their minds likely many times now.

WoW scandal

The short story of this scandal goes:  

-Player's account gets hacked.

-Player has a number of unrelated issues.

-Many months later Blizzard gets around to helping him.

-A random item (named:  Martin Fury) that shows up in the mail from Blizzard can kills all enemy's that are in short range.  It has 100 charges.

-Player in question runs off with his guild, whom many know about this cool item, they use it in a couple of raids.

-Much of the guild is perm banned a few weeks later.

I don't think I would have thought I was cheating using this item.  How can you cheat when something was sent to you by the people that run a game?  The 100 charges really throws you off too because its not forever.  Sort of does seem like a "we're sorry, have some fun gift".

They got like 8 million people over there, whats a couple of handful mean anyway? heh