Another Random Page

You know those times when you are bored on the net, thinking you have been to every single site know to man!?!? Well, maybe if you click on a Random Site you will find something interesting. I'm not exactly sure how he is doing it, but I have gotten a lot of dog links... Just click the link right in the middle of the page, and where you go nobody knows!

Electronic Arts - Taking the NHL

Great... EA grabbed more exclusive game rights. It is rumored now that they are the holders for the National Hockey League video games. I know this has been happening, and will be part of our lives soon, but what do you think. I have seen tons of forums posts about lack of innovation and higher prices because that is the only "real" game. The NHL hasn't even has a season this year, and probably not next year either, so I doubt this one has as much impact as the NFL liscense. Read thefull articleand see where the rumor came from. Do you think this might actually be good for the industry? Post in the comments!

Linux Helper

I do not have Linux. One of the main reasons I have not decided to use Linux, is because beside a MythTV (which requires a new or fress computer) I don't have any needs for it. Another reason, is because I have gotten used to Windows and the folder systems, command lines, file names, etc. TuXfiles might just make me want to get it. It shows how to use the Linux command line, keyboard shortcuts, directory structure, and do other various things to your Linux computer. If you are new to Linux, or are maybe thinking about getting Linux, check out these tutorials.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Review

I brought back Splinter Cell Chaos Theory the other day, after hours of non-stop...ok maybe some of the action stoped in a lot of parts, but it's a stealth game! This is my first review for this site, so this is how it's gonna be done. These are not professionally done, they are fan done. Even though a million of these reviews are out, check this one out, of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. (I am leaving out sound, because for me it didn't impact the experience any)
Graphics: - Wow...this game is pretty! When you just sit and look at the water, you know they did a fine job. The lighting is suberbly done, and not only does it make it look realistic, it has many gameplay attributes. Walk around and just check out the environment. You have four different visions,normal, EEV, NightVision, and Thermal. It is really a shame that most of the game is spent in the night and thermal visions, which is good for gameplay, bad for the graphics, since you can really never appreciate them to the fullest extent. The animations are just incredible, and cut-scenes are nice. I am giving the graphics for this game, a 5.

Gameplay: - I am comparing this game, to another highly praised series in the stealth genre, Metal Gear Solid, which I played for the first time a week before I played Splinter Cell. If you read my first impressions, you know I liked my first hour of the game. I played on, and got a pretty decent amount of playtime out of it. Of course this was made longer by the multi-player! I'll start with the game story first. Something about South Korea, China, crime people, and other stuff. The story, in my opinion, was not this games strongest suit. The cut-scenes were cool, some were though like a news channel. The gameplay is where this ones at. This isn't a game where you could go through blasting down every dude in your path. Theoretically, you could shoot everyone, but why? The game is a stealth game! You go around doing the same types of things every mission. Get a person, get some data, scan some stuff, kill someone. The game doesn't show this repetiveness, becayse every time you get tired, something comes at you, like lling from the ceiling, distant computers to get into a room, stay in a guards "shadow" to not get caught by the motion sensors, hack a computer, or pick a lock. I had so much fun in the normal Single Player campaign mode in itself. Then, I played co-op with someone else. It was just a re-done single player, with two people. It was a completely different campaign, connected to Sam Fishers quest in single player. You use a ton of co-op moves for everything, from doing a push-kick thing towards and enemy and knocking them out, to having to stand on another players back to place an e on an anti-air machine. We were in the same building, so we could talk without the sound going off in-game. Online, if you talk, it might alert the enemies. I didn't get to play the mercenaries vs. spies multi-player games, but spent a good while watching some people play at a gaming cafe. It looked cool, and definently innovative. Overall, the gameplay is fun, and will keep you occupied for a while (ever tried getting a 50% mission rating...I can't get that, much less 100!) I give gameplay a 5!

Overall: - I will give Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory a 5 out of 5. Great gameplay, multi-player, mixing up gameplay, and great graphics get this one a 5.
Note: This is a stealth game, and what I have experienced in the past with stealth games, is that they usually have a love or relationship. I d Metal Gear Solid, but loved Splinter Cell 3. (Didn't like the first two, via demo's I played) Stealth games for me are in-the-mood type games. So I would suggest playng a friends or trying a demo before a $50 buy, with you maybe not liking the genre!
Like the review? I will post them here for now. Still in the process of getting my .com domain name, and it will branch off into blog, reviews, so on. Oh yeah, they told me to kill you...

Revolution Ad

Nintendo has kind of been in the shadows for the next-gen race. Not many reports on games at all. The only thing we are talking about for them is the controller and backwards compatibility. I haven't heard a release date rumor yet, except "After Xbox 360". Maybe this leaked poster that is supposedly going to be out around the 360's launch can tell you something. The poster might be fake, but it is one really nicely done fake. Notice the blue bar at the bottom. Whoa...what is that above the blue bar? The Revolution having a March release date? Kind of soon don't ya think, Nintendo? A controller that supposedly isn't even done yet?!? How are companies supposed to make good launch titles with a this-might-be-what-is-launched controller. Although, earlier is better, right?

Hunt Those Ducks One More Time

Old school stuff rocks. Playing Nintendo years ago, one game I distinctly remember is Duck Hunt. We had a light gun, and when you shot the screen, a duck would fall!!! It was so cool! The dog went over and grabbed the ones your shot. I am hoping that is one of the games we can download for the Revolution, and that the Nintendo controller has light gun functionality built right in! While we wait for this, we can play Johnny Slack's version of this Nintendo classic! Although it isn't quite like the real game, it is fun, and I am still playing to get a FULLY perfect score.

Learn To Build Your Own PC

Building your own PC is a hard thing to do. You need to know what parts to buy, what all the little letters stand for, then find a tutorial to learn how to put it all together. Usually, these tutorials say everything to do in big text files with few breaks in between each section. Philip Lavin has created a tutorial on how to build a PC. This one tells you everything in sections. What parts you need, what to do first, second, and so on. After you finish a section, just click next, for the next part. It is really simple to use, and will help you a lot when building your first computer. Find it and other PC How-To's here.

All You Staple People

Have you ever had that...you know...the want to just...push down on a stapler? I guess this site is for the...many people out there who suffer from gottaclickthestaplerism. There is really no use at all for this site, but that's why it's cool. Go to Virtual Stapler to play with THREE different staplers. Have fun!

Halo 3 Rumors..Holding in Fanboyism

There are some new Halo 3 rumors floating around the net. They have been around for a few days, but still, these are some rumors I am very excited about! I guess I should tell you then, huh?
It will be darker and grittier! (Please don't pull a Prince of Persia!)
It will have multiplayer in which you and some others go against bots in missions directly connected to single player.
Online Co-op for more than two people! (Yeah, what you guys said for Halo 2)
Lots of cinematics. The first one occurs 1,000 years before Halo: Combat Evolved.

A map editor will be included on a separate disc, supposedly share-able through Xbox Live Market Place.
A movie maker on the separate disc. Same with XBL Market Place I am betting.
Zanzibar, Sidewinder and Hang Em High are said to return to the multiplayer mode, completely redone for the new engine. Zanzibar will be mangled and torn apart as though a battle has taken place, and the sky will be dark red. Sidewinder will have four legs instead of just two, with bases at each end. Hang Em High will have a massive tree at its center and the structure will be deteriorated. (No Gulch (Coagulation), or Battle Creek (Beaver Creek)?!?)
Last, but the farthest thing from least, the one I am most looking forward to. 50 players playing at once online. Can you say HUGE CAPTURE THE FLAG MATCHES!?! Big Clan Wars! We need Battle Creek, because I would SO be in a 50 player rocket match there!
I am really excited about this news, because Halo 3 is the reason I will be buying an Xbox 360. Perfect Dark, Gears of War, and every other game slated for release on 360 will be NOWHERE close to what Halo 3 will bring to the table.

Well....At Least It's Smaller

We have a new -leaked- picture for the PlayStation 3 controller. Since E3, everyone thought the controller looked like a huge banana that would be really hard to play with. I thought the same thing. It looked so uncomfortable! Well, now we have this picture. I guess now it is a REALLY SMALL banana! his is a little better than we thought though. Still, this is just a rumored controller.

DVD Decrypter is still out there....

As many of you out there know, DVD Decrypter has been taken down. It is now officially stated as illegal. It isn't supposed to be anywhere on the internet, but that doesn't stop these to sites. After Dawn and Free Codecs are still hosting the files to get DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0. I am not telling you to go out and download this amazing product to back-up DVD's, because this is illegal. I am telling you, that some people will be down, but never out.

Play Monopoly...LIVE!!!

Are you a Monopoly addict? Play way too much, and never get to see the world? Well, Monopoly Live can help. Your mission, to get different places along London as your property, and hope that a lot of people are wanting to go there. You chose a cabbie, as your piece, and hope you don't drop anyone off at the other players places. This looks kind of fun, and if you know exactly whats happening at London for the weekend, you can select those places. Every person who ends the day with over 1 million pounds, gets a chance to win a years worth of mortgage payment! So go there and sign up to play some REAL Monopoly!

Who is REALLY better?

You know those fights you always have with your friends. "Star Wars is so better than Star Trek!" and "Steve Jobs could whoop Bill Gates!" Well, now you can find the real winner! With Google Fight, you can see how many links you would get if you searched for each one, and then it shows which one had more. For example, there are more links through Google for Star Wars than Star Trek, so apparently Star Wars is the best. Steve Jobs beats Bill Gates, Microsoft beats Apple, you beats me, Google barely beats Yahoo, and chicken beats rooster. I spent a long time just entering similar things and seeing which wins! Post what the outcomes of your fights were in the comments!

Nvidia GeForce 7800 GFX...Worth $599?

The newest graphics card from Nvidia was released yesterday, and they have named it the flagship card from them this year. The GeForce 7800 GTX is going to cost you $599 from online stores, but expect that to go up a little when they debut at stores around next month. There are several sites that have gotten their grubby little hand's on them already, and posted reviews for all of us to see. I looked at ExtremeTech.com for mine. After reading the review, it seems like it was running about every game they had at 60 FPS, on highest resolution. They tested it with Unreal Tournament 2004, which is older, so it got in the 90's. They also used Painkiller, FarCry, Doom, Half-Life 2, and some others. All had exceptional results. Compared to the last Nvidia card though, it isn't a lot a of improvement. It is going for under $500, so if you have the money, go for the 7800 GFX, but if you want to save some, get the previous .

What Will Google Steal Next?

I have had two posts already that have dealt with Google trying to get into new markets. They have been taking other companies into their big name, and taken some down on the way. Just how many companies has Google acquired? So far 11, and this site names them all! It also has a list of companies that Google would be smart to grab. Technorati, del.icio.us, and even TiVo! I didn't see Yahoo or Microsoft on there though... I truthfully think that eBay needs to be there, because that is what people are going to use more than all of these. Post what companies you think Google needs to get on the way to getting total internet tion!

For the Napoleon Fans!

Yeeesssss..... Will you be in Preston, Idaho on June 24 or 25? If so, go check out the Napoleon Dynamite Festival! Preston is where Napoleon lived in the movie, and this town is gratefully taking him in. There will be bowling, Tater Tot eating contest, Rex Kwan Dojo tours, dancing in the street, football throwng, and you can even test your SledgeHammer in the bike and roller blade races! Sounds like fun to me, and if you are one many wearing a Vote for Pedro shirt and stuff Tater Tots in your pocket before classes start, you should go there! Find more information here.

Call You Music

If you watched Attack of the Show a few days ago, you probably saw DittyBot. It is a program for Mac OSX Tiger that allows you to send a text message from your phone to your computer that contains a song name. The computer then sends you a call with the song you put in the message. It seemed really cool! On air, there were a few problems, and on Kevin Pereira's podcast he mentions it was mostly his fault, and he was very, very sorry. Scott Moschella's hack will work, just not how they tried to fix it.

There is only one problem. It is Mac only. What about us Windows users? Scott posted another link on his site Plasticbugs.com. This one is a program, DialMP3, that does almost the same thing, just for Windows!!! There is only one reason I haven't downloaded it. It needs Windows Media Player, and won't work with iTunes! I guess all us Mac wanna-be's with Windows that run iTunes and the like will just have to wait until DittyBot is ported to Windows, just like GIMPshop!

Here are the links to DittyBot and DialMP3.

Another Game to Waste Time!!!

I know you need another thing to have fun between download times for various weird stuff... So we have Poom. At first I thought it was going to be some weird mix of Doom and Pong. You could shoot demons and they block it with a BFG and somehow it comes back and you block it again, until somewhone gets killed! Well, I was wrong, but in that good sort of way. It is a simple game, where a silver ball drops, and you bounce it up. My highest is 24, but some people where in the thousands! It is simply addicting. Really hard to explain it, but you will want to play again and again. Find Poom here!

Old Opening Goodness!

I remember back in the day, I had a Sega Genesis, and played it almost daily! At the beginning of each game was a cool little animated movie type thing from the game you were about to play. Like maybe Sonic would run by or electricity creating the Sega logo. My personal favorite was the Vectorman one. Your character actually moved when you made it. I spend long times just in the opening playing around, the big SEGA and jumping off-screen, only to come crashing down! This site lets you watch (can't play the Vectorman one though) all of the animations in .gif format. There is a pretty good selection, and this site will no doubt branch off and do other cool animations for games, like all of the cool LucasArts ones. Go check out this Sega logo fun!

Making Cool Stuff With Paper

I found this link about a year ago, just doing that "Type it in google and see what you get deal" with Star Wars. Yeah, I was bored, cause I got this link more than a few pages back... Now that he is getting some publicity, he might as well be on here! Check out Star Wars Origami!

This is a cool site with a lot of origami projects, all relating to Star Wars. Boba Fett, Bantha's, Jedi Starfighters, Naboo N-1's, Green Jedi Masters, Holocrons, X-Wings, Sandcrawlers, 1/2 SCALE JABBA THE HUTT!!!! Most of them come with instructions and pictures. If you are good with paper (not me) or if you just want to see some cool Star Wars shaped paper, go to it!

Spreading Firefox High School Style

Kid's usually never get heard. They are said to be heard, but no one really cares, because there is always an older, wiser person who will argue against it, and win from just having more authority. Not the case with Liz. She converted over 1000 computers to having FireFox! They still have Safari and Internet Explorer on them, but FireFox wil be the one that is pushed. It is a great article, and the comments are great. I just want to point out one comment I thought was cool. It said, "Lose Control, gain Command. I am really wanting a Mac!! You can send me one if ya want! :D

Get the full article about it here.

Google Payment Service...Another Google Service?

Google is trying to take over the market ,little by little. Here is another thing to add onto the things Google wants to be a part of.

"Google Inc. this year plans to offer an electronic-payment service that could help the Internet-search company diversify its revenue and may put it in competition with eBay Inc.'s PayPal unit, according to people familiar with the matter.
Exact details of the search company's planned service aren't known. But the people familiar with the matter say it could have similarities with PayPal, which allows consumers to pay for purchases by funding electronic-payment accounts from their credit cards or checking accounts. Some consumers like PayPal for the security it offers, since it allows them to share their banking or credit-card numbers only with PayPal without having to divulge the information to merchants." Read the full article from the Wall Street Journal

PayPal has become THE electronic payment service. I am sure there are other competitors, but PayPal is the service everyone uses, so most sites support it. If Google wants to compete, or even grab the PayPal service (I wouldn't doubt they get Ebay itself eventually) they can try, but I doubt they can suceed at EVERYTHING!!

iTunes 4.9 Release Date

iTunes 4.9 is coming out earlier than expected. Reports of podcasts being changed for the new version of iTunes were saying it's close. This article says just HOW close it is:

"On May 22, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said that iTunes would debut within 60 days of May 22; however, sources tell AppleInsider that iTunes 4.9 is reportedly nearing the final stages of development--about three weeks ahead of schedule. The company now plans to unveil the software at the end of June or by the first week of July." Read the remainder of the article at Apple Insider.com



I am overly excited for this release, more so than the previous iTunes updates. Podcasting has recently been my "music" of choice. I listen to Kevin Pereira's, The Force.net, The Laporte Report, The KFI shows by Leo , and This Week in Tech, which stars former TechTV'ers, regularly. Sometimes I download a Daily Source Code, and other various tech podcasts. I have only downloaded (legallly through iTunes) around 5 songs the past couple months because of me listening to podcasts. If I can get them through iTunes, I won't have to transfer them. Transffering really isn't that hard (double-click it and wait a few seconds) but I'm lazy, so this will be for me!

HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray...Let the Battle Begin

Reading on Tom's Hardware, I found an article about HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Read the following snippet from his site:

"The consumer electronics market has traditionally been a little slower at imposing planned obsolescence on its customers than the computing industry, but it violated that rule with the work on the next-generation DVD. Before DVD even hit the market in 1997, consumer electronics manufacturers were already at work on the next iteration of the standard.

Word about these new technologies began to trickle out in early 2002, with demo units making their debut at the January 2003 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Sony made a great deal of noise with its Blu-ray format and had considerable support from other OEMs. Toshiba and NEC seemed like a dark horse with their Advanced Optical Disc (AOD). Given this, a lot of people were shocked in 2003 when the DVD Forum, the trade association that shepherded the DVD format from spec to market, adopted AOD as the official, Forum-endorsed next-generation format. It was felt that Sony's Blu-ray had the edge in every way, but the Forum picked AOD, which was renamed HD-DVD." You can read the rest of this long article at Tom's Hardware.

Toy Story 3 - Missing Something...

Well, apparently Disney is going to make Toy Story 3 without Pixar. I mean, you can see why they are, with the failure that was The Incredibles....wait? That movie got good sales? What about Finding Nemo? Well, Monsters Inc. was a huge flop.... No? OK there is no reason why they should be doing this. Just wait it out. Disney really hasn't done a great first-party animated movie since...The Lion King! Disney is also making some other should've-been-made-by-Pixar 3D animated movies, which I have a sinking feeling...won't be that great... We love you Disney, but you guys are losing your touch! Read a snippet of the artcle here:

"Disney has announced that they are proceeding with production of a Pixar-less Toy Story 3 under its contractual right to produce sequels to the Disney/Pixar films. At a recent recruitment pitch, Disney offered up story details. Buzz Lightyear is recalled to Taiwan after a series of malfunctions. Learning of a productwide recall, all the toys in Andy's room, under Woody's leadership, head to Taiwan to save Buzz from doom. This surprisingly doesn't sound bad. But do I have faith that Disney can pull off a good Toy Story sequel without Pixar?" Read the entire article at
Cinematical.com.