A Request to the General Populace of the Earth May 9, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Random Info.add a comment
I understand that I look weird. I’m inside 95% of the day (the other 5% being short trips, and the five second walk to the kitchen), so I might be a little whiter than you. And I also understand that there’s nothing I can do to stop you from staring at me. I do, however, have a few requests.
First, use a little discretion. I should take a moment to say that I, too, have done my fair share of staring. But I strive to use the corner-of-the-eye stare. Please stop doing the full-face stare and the somewhat less common full-body-stare. Be a little more discreet and let me save a little of my self-esteem. Second, if I happen to catch you staring, look the other way. Maybe acknowledge my presence, and then turn. I would appreciate it if you would not continue to stare and stare even after I’ve “caught” you. And finally, in third place, it is common courtesy to use the 10-feet-stare. If you walk by me, and you’re one foot away from my face, try to wait off at least 10 feet before you start your “zoo mode”.
Perhaps I’m just overreacting, and I’m just so insanely beautiful (so beautiful, in fact, that even males find me attractive). But I don’t think that’s it (what I mean is it’s true, but it’s not what’s causing the stares). So please follow my guidelines and I’ll go a little easier on you next time I see you staring.
Yours Truly, Very White Guy in South America
Random, Rants and Reviews #2 April 16, 2008
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I’ve come up empty…: That’s right, no real random info for you this time. Sorry.
Auto-Play: Or what ever you want to call it, it’s the default action Windows takes when a certain media type in inserted into your PC. It’s a great concept, but it really frustrates me. I frequently use two types of removable media: DVDs and my Flash Drive. I want my DVD (all video DVDs) to automatically open in PowerDVD (the only DVD playing program I have). But instead, a dialog box opens up which says Open with PowerDVD, Open in Windows Explorer or Take no Action. Hmmm… That’s a hard one. I tried editing the default action in the drive’s properties dialog, and it seems to work for a while, but after I turn the PC off, I get the dialog again, but this time with a checkbox (that’s checked) saying “Make this the Default action”. Now for my Flash drive. I want it to open in a folder when I stick it in. So, I edit the default action in the drive’s properties, but I have to select one for Music Files, Movie Files, Pictures and mixed Content. Since I don’t have any music or videos, I shouldn’t have to do it, but I still do. Anyways, I select Open in Window Explorer for all options, Apply, remove the flash drive, and pop it back in. It opens up a windows explorer window! Woo-hoo! Do it again, however, and I get the stupid, stupid dialog box. Maybe Linux (Ubuntu) is right in making an icon on the desktop whenever you put a flash drive in. I really despise this system.
Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos (PSP): I just hit 100% completion of Gundam Battle Chronicle, so I’ve moved on to Aedis Eclipse. AE is a unique strategy game with a mix of a few genres. First off, there’s the field map. This one plays like a board game (similar to most strategy games, but along straight paths). On the map there are element blocks, city blocks, etc. Also present are a Player base and an Enemy base. If either is captured, the other side automatically wins. On the field map, should you land on the same square as an enemy soldier, you will enter combat with him. Combat is done in real-time, and the only thing you directly control is the basic strategy/movement of your soldiers, and the use of skills and items. Movement might sound like a big thing, but it’s a lot more limited than in most RTSs. The game is great, but there’s too much great implementations to write about here, I’ll be doing a more in-depth post later.
Review of Afterworld 1-20 April 6, 2008
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After watching the first twenty episodes of the online show Afterworld, I’ve decided to share my opinion on the series so far. For those of you who haven’t heard of Afterwrod, it’s an online show, like I said earlier, and all 130 episodes can be found on YouTube (I think they’re all out by now). If you can’t get them where you are, just head over to video.aol.com or megavideo.com and you can catch them there. AW starts after the “fall” in which 99.99% of Earth’s population die, their bodies are “taken” and all technology in the world is also gone. The story revolves around Russel Shoemaker and his mission to discover the cause of the fall, and find his family in the process (at least that’s the story’s point so far). So, what might have caused the fall? Here are my opinions on the two most accepted in-show theories. Note that there will be some spoilers for the first twenty episodes, so read carefully.
The EMP Theory: So, the first theory that’s brought up is the EMP theory. An EMP would explain the lack of technology, but it doesn’t explain the death of most of the people on the Earth. Also, wouldn’t there have to be a HUGE bomb, or a huge number of bombs to knock out all of the technology in the world? Then again, we all (yes, we all) saw something similar to this in Jhon Carpenter’s Escape from LA, so if it can happen there, why not in AW? In my opinion, though, the terrorism story is a little unbelieveable. How did they launch a HUGE EMP attack and a likewise huge chemical? attack that took out 99.99% of the population out and their bodies? Also, wouldn’t that mean that of the .01% of people, most of them would be from the terrorist group, or is .01% a lot more than I’m thinking?
The God Theory: The second theory is a little scarier: God basically got fed up with the people on Earth and killed most of them off and took out the technology too (because people were putting their faith in it and not in Him). But there’s a problem. If we’re talking about the Rapture, then why were so many taken? I’m not sure, but the amount of people in the world who have putten their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior is not that high. But, on the other hand, if God were repeating the events of the days of Noah, would his promise be void? Or would we be running on a technicality, due to it not being a flood? I guess this theory makes a little more sense that number one, as it explains the loss of technology and people, but it doesn’t seem to fit in with God’s personality or the events laid out in His Word. Then again, it’s a show, so it can make up its own rules.
That’s it for now, tune in a little later next week for episodes 21-40.
My “Third” Life April 4, 2008
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I was recently sucked into the awesome world of “Torn City”, a text-based MMO. Now, I know you’re most likely thinking “A text-based MMO?”. It does sound crazy, but it works, and it’s extremely addictive. The best part? It takes only a few minutes of your time each day. I’m normally on five minutes a day, max.
The game is based on crime. Now, you can play as a “good” person, but as we all know, that’s not what it’s all about. That’s akin to playing a pirate game and being a trader or a fisherman. Being evil is so much more profitable! But, besides crimes, there are also jobs (that give you daily income and “stats”; more on jobs later), education courses (that increase your working stats), a gym (that increases your battle stats), and a huge city to explore (with shops, a casino, a dock to buy “imported” cars, etc.). Now on to the specifics.
Stats are divided into two categories, as explained above: battle stats and job stats. Both are pretty self explanatory. Battle is a subject I don’t know a lot about, as I’ve never done it. I do know that you can attack other players, but I don’t know what the rules for initiating a fight are. Should you lose a fight, you will be sent to the Hospital to recover (likewise, if you are caught doing a crime, you must wait out in the jail, in real time; the amount depends on the crime). Jobs however, are easier, and require no action every day. After your stats are high enough, and you have enough “job points” , you will be able to get a promotion which pays more money and gives more stats increase each day. You can also use the points to get certain bonuses off-job, but they’re normally rather expensive.
Now, you might just be thinking “That sounds pretty cool, but where does the MMO come in?”. Well, it actually seeps in most of the aspects of the game. There is a market where players can freely sell items (for the prices they set); there are jobs that users can begin, and other users can join; there are factions (think gangs) which can war with each other, and many, many more things to do. Like I said, though, you can easily spend only a few minutes a day on this game and it’s still one of the most engaging things to do on the ‘net. However, should you deign to do so, there’s enough stuff to do to spend an hour or more each day, depending on your social-ability.
If you’ve not played the game yet, get on it at “http://www.torncity.com”, and send me a line, we can get togther in game.
Random, Rants and Reviews #1 February 26, 2008
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In an effort to push myself to post more often, about more useless info I’m going to start this new weekly post, return to some Yay and Nay and add just a few more random posts. RR&R will feature one random bit of info, one rant and one random review. I’m hoping that this will last long than the normal two weeks my other weekly posts lasted…
I am Legend. If you’ve seen the movie, then you might imagine where I’m heading. If you haven’t, just picture this: a virus has wiped out 99% of the population of the Earth. You have been blessed (and in many ways cursed) with imunity. So here’s the question: What do you do with all your free time? Me? I would hit all of the weapons and ammo stores I could on the first day. Unlike Smith, I would have two rifles, like five pistols, a sword and a couple knives on me at all times. That way, no matter what I run into in the following days, I’m prepared to fight. The next few days I would hit the grocery stores and stockpile all the canned/dried food I could. After that I would try to stockpile cars/motorcycles and gas. All this while I am fortifyng my base/house. Wow. I would die in the first day, I know. Maybe I should follow my mom’s advice and just kill myself on the first day. (Man, this idea would make a great game and an excellent roguelike).
Microsoft Windows. In all my pc life, I’ve only really dealed with two Windows: ME and XP. How can I rate this two OSes? I dislike them both. If you’re an avid XP/Windows user, follow this advice and never use Linux. You won’t want to come back. Okay here are some of my beefs with XP. Balloon tips, Internet Explorer, very small workspace (at normal settings, you can usually have four programs open at a time without running into the next beef), groups (if you’ve got a few notepads open, then you get a “group” of notepads). All of these are small things, but I hate them dearly. The last one can be fixed with programs like FireFox and Notepad++ I know, but they don’t come with the pc.
For the review section of the post, I’m going to cover Gundam Battle Chronicle (PSP). I got this game a few days back, and even though it is only in Japanese, I haven’t played any other PSP game since. I absolutely love this game. You play through the events of the One Year War (0079), and folloing story lines up to Zeta Gundam (I think). Also, you have the option of being either the EFSF (good guys) or the Principality of Zeon (the bad guys). If you like Gundam, then get this game, there’s no excuse not to have it. It’s simply awesome.
That’s it for now, maybe next time we’ll go a little deeper into the rant. Where would you like to go now?
How to Remain Neutral in Review Writing January 20, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Awesome, Random Info, Reviews.4 comments
We’ve all been there at one time or another. You’re either asked to write a review, or you’re just doing it on your own, and for one reason or another you feel you can’t write a neutral review. Well, I’ve written a number of reviews, and I’ve compiled three tips to help you out in the reviewing process.
1. There is no such thing as absolute neutrality. Yes, that’s right. It is almost impossible to have zero biases on any one subject. No matter what you’re reviewing there’s always something that influences your review. Even if you’re so very perfect and you can put your personal likes and dislikes away for the remainder of the review, there’s always one major thing that shows: Did I like the product or not?
It’s impossible to remove that question from a review. But, at the same time, isn’t that what a review is all about? Sharing a personal opinion? Or is it about stating the facts, and not so much what I got out of the product? There’s a huge difference there, but would it be a true review without an opinion? Does John Doe want to know how much I enjoyed the product, or does he want to know the quality of the product? That’s the fine line you need to walk when writing, and every once in a while you’ll have to cross over one side or the other to complete your review.
2. Think about your product before you purchase it. If you’re buying a product with the intention of reviewing it, take a second to think about your preferences. No one wants to read a review of a Star Wars product written by someone who hates Star Wars (unless, of course they agree with the reviewer). If you don’t like a subject: don’t buy the product! It might seem like common sense, but I can’t tell you how many reviews for Star Wars products saying “I hate Star Wars, and this is really bad.” However, at the same time, people don’t want to read a positive review for a crap product just because you like the subject. If Super Bombad Racing was a mediocre game, get over your love for the subject and state the facts!
3. Do not compare! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a review for any product, and the whole review is about how the product compares to another. If you glance at a few Cell Phone reviews, you’ll get what I mean. Some mobile phone reviews are very long (up to 6 or 7 pages, some times), and the whole review is just a comparison. These reviews are great, but only if you have experience with, or own the other product. If you don’t, then there’s no reason to read that review.
If you’re writing a review, keep the comparisons to a minimum. If you don’t, then the review turns into a review of the second product, and the first product is either left aside or insanely influenced by your opinion of the other. If you don’t believe me, check my Ultimate Spider-Man review. You’ll see how I tried, but couldn’t get the comparison of that game and Spider-Man 2 out of my review. To put a long story short, read over your finished review and take out any comparisons. Then, add a small note at the end of the review, something like: Ultimate Spider-Man was a [insert opinion here] game, but you might want to check out Spider-Man 2 first. Or something similar.
Well, that’s it for now, enjoy these tips, and try to stay neutral (I’ll try to, too).
Why the Break and The Resolutions January 2, 2008
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Like the title implies, I took a small break from the site. Not for thinking things over, or anything sissy thing like that. It’s just that I’ve been insanely busy lately. It got to the point that with Church, studying for web programming and doing the job I was at the middle/end of December, I was busy literally from 7am to around 10pm. Now that it’s all over, I have a little more free time to play some new games, work on web developing and writing posts like these. Anyways, here are my 2008 resolutions (some are really more just goals), besides a few I didn’t feel like putting on the Internet. (more…)
Top Four Ways to Prevent Spam on Your Blog December 12, 2007
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There are many ways across the internet to prevent your blog from being eaten up with spam. Which are the best methods? Read on to find out (in no particular order). (more…)
What it Feels Like to be a Millionaire… December 6, 2007
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Awesome, Random Info, Web Programming.2 comments
…or something like that anyway. This past week I got my first job, and my first paycheck. Due to my current living arrangement, I’m not allowed to have a real job here (receiving money from the people here is against some contract I signed). So, I had to turn to the online world of jobs.
A Quick Tidbit Bidi Post November 21, 2007
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If you are ever talking about someone behind there back (no!), and that person should enter the room, there’s always a few moments of uncomfortable silence as you try to think of something else to talk about. Should this happen, here’s a nice little tip to help you out.
Use the following phrase: “My code was overwriting the default Unicode directionality algorithm.” This can be preceded by phrases like “Turns out the problem was…” or, “It was a simple solution, as my…” The best thing about this line is that it easy to remember, and, unless you deal with character encoding, you most likely won’t know what it means. It sounds rather technical, though.
