Evening Reading
by Steve Gibson, Sep 12, 2008 6:36pm PDTSo hopefully a few of you guys have noticed the little opinion/analysis thingies
showing up in a few news items. As we get a bit more comfy with things I'm sure they will
show up more often assuming we have something worth while to add. The idea being to add a
bit of a knowledgeable analysis to things as they happen. Faylor talking about EA
publishing on Steam or Blake talking about console makers and their budget title
approaches, etc.
- Ike is hitting
Texas
- txt message are
href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/SmartHome/story?id=5780435&page=1">totally
expensive
- 3D movies are hot
As for the the videogame news around these parts:
- F.E.A.R. 2 trailer recaps story
- Spore accounts controversy
- Wipeout HD preview and interview
- Activision buys music game
developer
- Guitar Hero World Tour tracklist
revealed
- World of Warcraft opens PvE to PVP
server transfers
- Mercenaries 2 demo
- First Batman: Arkham Asylum screenshots
- Wanted: Weapons of Fate revealed
with screenshots
- Wii hates third party games
- NHL 09 may be the best sports game
ever
- Microsoft fire a dude for talking
about RROD
- Free Burnout DLC next week
- Taking Stock of the week
- Crysis & Crysis Warhead heading
to Steam
Lastly, the new iPhone firmware changed my 3G logo and I dont like it. I'm rolling
back.
Alan Wake 2 would be 'much quicker' than first game, says Remedy
Darksiders 2 releases June 26, pre-order bonuses announced
PlayStation Home getting avatar 'fighting' game
Girl Fight bringing fighting girls to XBLA and PSN
Skyrim Workshop touts 2M downloads, 2,500 mods
I'd like to build a comp that is super fast compiler but has a graphics card on par with the 360's.
Build me a comp please!
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Phil Collins \m/
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LEGENDARY!
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http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html
Quality, like all the other TED talks. My thoughts in reply.
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My question is this: how do planes fly upside down? How do planes fly sideways (with one wing pointing down the other pointing up)?
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Interesting Newsweek article here by George Will about emergent phenomena, unknowing cooperation, market forces etc... http://www.newsweek.com/id/158752
The article mostly talks about a book which teaches economics through stories of fiction, but highlights some of the key ideas in the book and a few things Will thinks many people miss. My favourite quote from the article wasn't written by Will, however: "Hayek, a 1974 Nobel laureate in economics, said, 'The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.'"
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... looks like I'm about to become one of you (one of us, one of us). What's up?
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http://www.woot.com/
Is it worth it?
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My computer has frozen 5 times in the past 2-3 days out of nowhere. I can't figure out what's up, I've looked thru dr.watson logs and event viewer and nothing in either matches up w/ the freezes. They come out of nowhere, 4 of the 5 times when just in Firefox, looking at pictures or reading something. The most recent was when I was typing in MS Word. There doesn't seem to be something that's triggering them, as the freezes aren't happening just when i minimize or maximize or open a program, but in the middle of using them for hours on end. What could be wrong with my PC and how do I find out?
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Clarkson island
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I agree with everyone who has come before me, this app is great!
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i just saw a commercial about how it's not evil.
http://sweetsurprise.com/
i still think both it and sugar are evil.
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So this supposedly unlocks in 3.75 hours. Any others who just couldn't resist the temptation? Yeah yeah inevitable bugfest, but I need something to play, and Shadows of Chernobyl was a ton of fun.
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Played is back again, making up for lost time with a beefy episode. First up is discussion of Ensemble’s disassembly, leading into whether Rare is actually living up to its astronomical price tag and how honest Microsoft is being about its commitment to Games for Windows. We have a bit of a disagreement about Bethesda’s reaction to Australia’s threats to ban Fallout 3, but no disagreement as to whether the iPhone is actually the best handheld gaming platform around (hint: it’s not).
As to what we’ve been playing, Liz has reenergized her dormant Viva Pinata addiction with the new Trouble in Paradise, and Chris has gone back to Call of Duty 4 and is both impressed and slightly dismayed. Mark found a lot to love in Spore if you stick with it, and was actually pleasantly surprised by Too Human–after initially being unpleasantly unsurprised.
Link: http://www.playedpodcast.com/2008-09-13/played-episode-45/
Direct Download: http://www.playedpodcast.com/wordpress/podpress_trac/web/70/1/Played-Episode-45.mp3
Discussion: http://www.playedpodcast.com/discussion/
Enjoy--it's a fun episode!
-Mark
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http://www.gametrailers.com/gametrailerstv_player.php?ep=38&ch=2&sd=0
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/10/liquid_bomb_verdicts/
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that was probably the SMOOTHEST MMO launch in the history of MMO launches. seriously.
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LONDON SHACKMEET
UK Shackers - I will be in London at the end of September with my girlfriend. We're staying for a couple of nights and I'm proposing a mini-shackmeet during my stay. Anyone up for it?
The dates I'll be down are the 28th September-1st October (Sunday-Wednesday), and I was thinking something along the lines of a few drinks in a decent bar, but feel free to suggest something!
As it stands, I think a Monday evening is the most workable for me, but I understand this is awkward if you dont live inside London (with work etc). So far marmitey} and Vincenoir have agreed to come along, but the more the merrier!
Also, I'd welcome any recommendations for what I should do while down there. We have some ideas but tell me about the awesome things you've seen or done in London. (I've been loads of times before, but just for drinking and shopping, been to the tate modern, but that's about it)
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So I managed to get my empire to a state where money is no longer a concern. I can pick up 99 of 3 colors of spice by flying to only a few systems and offload it for millions.
So I placed an Uber Turret and an Eco Stabilizer on every planet I had (about 20) with the hopes that I could then go off and do whatever I want and ignore when my colonies are under attack. I tested it when I was raided by pirates and it worked; I ignored the attack and then soon after the message went away and my colony was unharmed. The Uber Turret at work!
Once I met the Grox though, it fell apart. On Hard at least, the Grox are so beefy that it takes an Uber Turret a good 20 seconds of blasting to kill one of the bomber ships. That's plenty enough time for them to destroy colonies. If I ignore an attack from a Grox, the colony will be destroyed even if it has the Uber Turret and full base defenses.
That was my last hope for putting the game in to a "sandbox" mode where I could just go explore and terraform and paint and sculpt and do the wildlife preserve thing and maybe blow up a planet or two without having to worry about anything.
I think I'm done with this game until they add a cheat to turn off all attacks and eco disasters. Unless there's an actual "goal" I can work towards that I don't know about, the game has hit a wall for me. It's just fly around and avert disasters without enough time to do anything fun. :(
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Basically, going by my rough budget of a max $3000 to spend on home theatre goodness I'm being hamstrung by TV.
There are blu-ray theatre systems (by Panasonic etc) or PS3 / receiver & speaker combos that price around the same, $1400-1700. Given advice around the Shack, it seems audio is not the area one should compromise.
So then it comes down to the TV. I'm favouring plasma at this stage for a number of reasons but when we get down to brass tacks, I can't afford TRUE HD. As in 1080p.
Compare: (A) 42" 1080p Plasma = $2190
http://panasonic.com.au/products/details.cfm?objectID=4343
to (B) the "not full HD" Panasonic 42" = $1200
http://panasonic.com.au/products/details.cfm?objectID=4324
Is this an acceptable compromise? Am I going to notice the 1080p to whatever-p difference at 42 inches? Or does that shit make more of a difference if we're going to 50" and beyond?
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If you have a balla new home cinema set-up what are the must have Blu-Ray titles for eye-watering awesomeness?
I'm currently eyeing a list including:
Pirates of the Carribean
Full Metal Jacket
Casino Royale
No Country For Old Men
Batman Begins
Die Hard
Master and Commander
Goodfellas
Wondering where the fuck Jaws is :[
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