Thursday, November 29, 2007

At least I'm not alone

So I've been thinking lately that maybe I've downloading a bit too many Virtual Console games for my Wii. But this article on IGN made me feel alright again.

Apparently I'm not the only one going crazy for the retro goodness of Virtual Console. Since the release of the Wii not even a year ago 7.8 million games have been downloaded, for a total sum of about $33 million!

The coverage on Destructoid also made me wonder exactly how much I've forked over to Nintendo for my frequent trips down memory lane. So here's my list:

  • Super Mario Bros (500 Wii Points)
  • Kid Icarus (500 Wii Points)
  • Ice Climber (500 Wii Points)
  • Gradius (500 Wii Points)
  • Punch-Out!! (500 Wii Points)
  • Mega Man (500 Wii Points)
  • Metroid (500 Wii Points)
  • Xevious (500 Wii Points)
  • R-Type (800 Wii Points)
  • Super Castlevania IV (800 Wii Points)
  • Gunstar Heroes (800 Wii Points)
  • Super Metroid (800 Wii Points)
  • Donkey Kong Country (800 Wii Points)
  • Mario Kart 64 (1000 Wii Points)
  • Super Mario 64 (1000 Wii Points)
That's a total of 10000 Wii Points. Not that much, but still quite a few.

Oh well, at least now I know that there are many that share my obsession with the past. So how much have you guys spent on Virtual Console games? And be honest ;-)

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Why isn't this guy locked up in an institution?

First of all, how the hell can anybody be a Zune fanboy? I mean, take a look at it. It looks like crap, and on top of that just like everything else from the big Satan in Redmond it's a handicapped device weighted down by DRM and functionality that only works a little bit (such as the retarded song-sharing). It's ugly, stupid and the claim that it was the "iPod killer" is the silliest ever.

But still, there's people actually delusional enough to willingly call themselves fans of the device. The most radical example of a Zune fanboy is the wacko with all those Zune tattoos and apparently now he's taking it one step further - he wants to change his name to Microsoft Zune!!!

This guy is beyond retarded. I'm really at a loss for words here. It almost makes me want to buy an iPod just to counteract his "Zune-love".

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Game companies, give us your spoils

Every now and again it happens that a much anticipated game gets canceled or for some other reason never gets released.

In recent memory there's "Manhunt 2" which was stopped completely but has since then, after it's developer Rockstar Games had censored parts of the game, been released for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii and PSP in the US. Europe has yet to see it's release since the BBFC rejected even the modified version of the game.

Also there is the case of "Project H.A.M.M.E.R.", a game for the Nintendo Wii announced at E3 2006 which received much initial interest from the gaming community, myself included. The prospect of playing a raging cyborg armed with a huge hammer in his quest to cause massive blunt-force trauma to evil alien robots was one hard to pass on, especially considering the Wii's controls. The Wiimote was practically made for games like this.

However, for reasons unknown "Project H.A.M.M.E.R." will probably never see the light of day since Nintendo decided to cancel or "pause" indefinitely it's development earlier this year.

When I read about this I was beside myself with disappointment and quite a bit pissed off, that's how much I'd been looking forward to crushing malevolent robots with my Wiimote.

Why Nintendo would decide to cancel a game that has already received a fair bit of push and exposure, and that there has obviously existed some sort of playable demo of for well over a year, is beyond me. I think it's a waste and really stupid.

But OK, so they will not finish "Project H.A.M.M.E.R." and I'll have to live with that, but what about that demo that they showed at E3 last year? Could we have that? Slap it up on The Shopping Channel and make it a cheap download. That would at least make me a little happier. At least then we can crush a couple of robots and delight in some aggressive flailing of the Wiimote, even if it's not a full game.

As a matter of fact, why doesn't the game companies do the same for other titles that get canceled but are still kind of playable? I'm sure plenty of gamers would be willing to fork over $5 or something like that for a small morsel of what could've been. I know I certainly would.

The "Manhunt 2" story got a lot funnier a couple of weeks ago when it was widely reported that the fully playable uncensored version for the PS2 was available for download in various locations. It made me chuckle to say the least, but it was no surprise - I knew this would happen sooner or later.

The gaming world wants "Manhunt 2" and it wants it unedited and uncensored. I'm not saying that the final release isn't a great game even though lots of gore has been taken out of it, but the uncensored version is really the game as it was meant to be, and that's way the gamers want it.

It's later been revealed that the leak that put the game out there for download was someone working at Sony in Europe. Normally I wouldn't condone this sort of behavior, making intellectual property available for illegal download I mean, but in this case I say give the guy a friggin' medal!

I have no idea why this guy took the risk and did what he did, but I'm hoping it has to do with him being someone who actually gives a shit about gaming as an art form and understands that as such the uncensored game deserves to be made available.

More than anything though, this effectively shows that censorship doesn't work and is just plain stupid. Just like me and my friends found a way to get uncut copies of gory horror movies back when I was a teenager, as long as an uncensored version exists of a game or any other kind of media, it will eventually end up in the hands of those who really want it.

So let grown ups decide for themselves what they want to play or watch. Period. Censorship is stupid and doesn't work.

And give us the spoils of your canceled projects. Now.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

WoW, what a retard...

I always suspected it takes some sort of mental disorder to really get into "World Of Warcraft". I think this video pretty much proves me right, no matter if it's supposed to be a joke or not.

And why the hell is there Celine Dion playing in the background about 8:30 into the video? This guys a dork if I ever saw one.


Real men play "Resident Evil 4" on the Nintendo Wii motherfucker. And I'll pwn your ass in "Wii Sports" too bitch ;-)


Tuesday, October 23, 2007

What time is it?

Seriously now, what's up with all these huge clocks that seem to be a part of every piece of software these days? These things are everywhere!

Windows Vista's desktop gadget application? Huge frickin' clock. Google Desktop? Huge frickin' clock. iGoogle homepage? Huge frickin' clock.

Has every computer user suddenly become half-blind or forgotten how to read the ordinary clock that's been part of desktop systems for twenty years now? I don't get it.

Monday, October 22, 2007

And the Idiot-Of-The-Month award goes to...

Akira Yamaoka, the sound designer for "Silent Hill V"! In a recent interview on Wired this Konami employee is quited as saying in response to if there will be a version of said game for the Nintendo Wii:


No plans. The Wii user isn't a hardcore user.

What the fuck?! I'm so friggin' tired of all this "hardcore gamer" bullshit. I love the Nintendo Wii, I can play it for hours and hours until my hands bleed, and I play all kinds of games too.

Sure, I play "Wii Sports" like a maniac at times, and I indulge myself in a lot of retro gaming courtesy of the Virtual Console. And of course I love that silly plumber and just about every game he's been featured in, especially the "Mario Kart" series. But I also play games like "Resident Evil 4", which is as hardcore as they come with it's gallons of blood splatter and delicious horrors galore, and I've been looking forward to the gruesome and very adult "Manhunt 2" for the Wii since practically forever.

But apparently I'm not "hardcore" since I'm playing the Wii and not an easily overcooked red-ring-of-death flashing Xbox 360 or an overpriced brick with less than five good games like the PlayStation 3. Give me a break...

I've got a big "fuck you" right here for Mr. Yamaoka and anybody else that insists on this "Wii is not for hardcore gamers" crap. In fact, I'll take on anybody claiming this in the steel cage and we'll see who's hardcore or not. And Akira, that means you too. Bring it on bitch.

So a free iPhone wasn't enough for ya?

This is too funny. Take that, you greedy bastards! And iPhwned == hilarious.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Xbox Media Center 2.0, I finally updated

I finally got around to updating my Xbox with the latest version of Xbox Media Center and damn, a lot has certainly happened in the three and a half years that have passed since my previous version was released.

Yeah, that's right I was running a version from 2004 and yes, it's scandalous. So enough about that.

The reason it's taken so long is that up until recently it's been sufficient for my needs and working flawlessly. But lately I've stumbled upon several media-files that have been giving me problems so I cracked and got myself an upgrade.

XBMC has really matured and I gotta say that now it's about as good as a media center application can get. I've been wracking my brain the past ten minutes trying to think of a feature that I really miss, but just can't think of one. That's how good I think it's gotten. It's free, it's open and it's very, very usable. What more can you ask for really?

It's displaying movies in real 16:9 ratio on my big screen LCD-TV, and, even though I might be imagining this, I believe the quality of the media looks better than before. I just can't praise this software enough. Until there's something like this for the Xbox 360 the original black monster is still the better of the two, no matter how many awesome games there are for the 360.

The scripts addition I especially like. Being able to easily watch movie trailers from Apple.com for example directly on my Xbox rocks my socks off.

All this and "Halo" too! Praise the Xbox! Praise the modchip! And especially praise the Xbox Media Center developers!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Mine! All mine!

Bought me a new, although used, computer the other day. I've been looking for a machine to use as a fileserver (running NFS, Samba and such) and stumbled upon an auction for a dual-processor PowerMac G4. I really love the way those boxes look so I decided this was to be my fileserver.

The specifications for this model of PowerMac are not that impressive, 450MHz processors hardly scare anybody even when they come in pairs, but there are some pretty neat upgrades that can be made for a reasonable sum of money and that would make it a fairly powerful beast.

I won the bidding however and I'm picking it up on Tuesday next week. Yay me!


Monday, October 15, 2007

11 days 'til Samus

Do you own a Nintendo Wii? Is it hooked up to the internet?

Well then... Have you downloaded the free preview clips of "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption" yet?

If not... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?

The clips are very cool and if I was interested in this game before I'm completely obsessed with it now. I'm so happy that the really awesome games finally are starting to pour over the Wii, just like it deserves.

October 26th will be a glorious day in video gaming history, that I am sure of.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

So much for selling your soul to the devil Novell...

Begun the Linux wars has...

As reported and thoroughly investigated in this article on Groklaw a lawsuit has been brought to Linux-distributors Novell and Red Hat. In the article a good case is made for who's really behind the lawsuit (no, it's not really the plaintiff IP Innovation..) and you guessed it, it's Microsoft.

This should come as no surprise though. We all know that Microsoft are scared shitless of the little penguin that could, particularly Steve Ballmer it seems. In my opinion, unlike in the SCO-case this time they're not even trying to hide that it's them behind it all. The trail back to them is not very elaborate and good 'ole Stevie B. even predicted that a lawsuit was on it's way just the other day, which makes it look like he said "we could do this" and then went on and proved it. Not very smooth if they really were trying to remain the secret backer of yet another patent-claim catastrophe.

Interestingly enough Apple were previously attacked by IP Innovation with a similar claim and apparently have now paid the patent-trolls in order to keep them quiet.

Novell must be damn proud of themselves right now. First they sell their soul to Microsoft and now they're being stabbed in the back. Nice one, Stevie.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

USB on/off-switch mod

Last week I got the idea to create a USB-cable with an on/off-switch. This because I have several USB-devices (mug heater, mug chiller, reading light, battery charger, etc.) that have no on/off-switch and I think it's really tiresome having to unplug them every time I want them turned off.

So I looked up USB on Wikipedia and learned, amongst other things, that the 5V power that a USB-port supplies travels through the red wire inside the USB-cable. So it should really not be any more difficult than just cutting the red cable and connecting the ends to an ordinary on/off-switch that you can buy in any store that carries electronics and such.

It took me a couple of tries to get it right though. Inside a USB-cable there's not just the four wires (red, black, green and white) that send power and data back and forth but also foil that wraps around all four wires and a bunch of thin metallic wires and apparently this foil and possibly also the metallic wires should not be removed when pealing the outer insulation off the USB-cable because then it will not work. It took me three USB-cables to figure that one out. Very frustrating.

But anyway, on the third try I got it right and I now have a USB-cable with a nice on/off-switch mounted on it and I can turn my mug chiller on and off just like I do the reading lamp by my bed. Mission accomplished.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Windows Vista provides the greatest user experience ever

Yeah, you got me. That sure was sarcasm.

A couple of weeks ago I assisted my dad in buying a new laptop. Their old laptop was state of the art when they bought it about five years ago, but today it's not really cutting it. So, time to buy a new one.

We went to the Sony Center and there my dad fell in love a pretty sweet Vaio-machine. It's really a damn sexy piece of hardware and after inspecting the specs I gave it the thumbs-up. Only one problem really, it ran Windows Vista.

Now why is this a problem besides the fact that I loathe Windows? Well, it's no secret that plenty of people that have gone from Windows XP to Vista have had and still are having a shitload of problems with Microsoft's new and sparkly OS. My dad is not a complete computer imbecile at all, he's a pretty ordinary user. He does some e-mail, surfs the web, plays some simple online games, does his banking online, organizes photos from his digital camera and things like that. Nothing fancy, nothing very advanced or odd at all.

So, while I was sceptical I thought that since good 'ole dad's computer habits were nothing out of the ordinary I said "what the hell" and hoped for the best.

Silly me. Stupid damn fuckin' silly me.

I assisted with starting up the new laptop, installing all of the bundled software (Norton Security-stuff, a bunch of Google-apps, etc.) and configured it as best I could (remember that this was my first hands-on experience with Vista and that I haven't been a regular Windows-user for over six years) and when I left my parents' house it seemed to be working fine.

It took about two days until I received the first desperate call from my dad about his new computer "not working". I googled some stuff and helped him out as well as I could over the phone. That was just the first of a seemingly never-ending series of calls, and all of them had to do with the new and fancy features in Vista fucking up my dad's computing experience. In most cases I managed to hook him up with some sort of temporary work-around to the problem that he could live with until I had the time to get over there and get under the hood of the thing.

This week however things got so bad that my dad called me to say that he needs the old laptop back (I'd borrowed it to do some experimenting on) because the new one was completely unusable to him.

He couldn't send e-mail properly, no applications except Internet Explorer 7 were allowed access to the internet, every time he tried to do just about anything useful he was driven mad by a bombardment of security pop-ups, the list goes on and on. What finally did it though was that IE and Vista wouldn't allow him to install the certificate for his bank, thus making it impossible to pay their bills online. Awesome. Now tell me what's so great about Vista again? Fuck.

So here's someone that uses computers at work and has been using Windows XP both at home and at work for the past five years. Not a dimwit at all, actually pretty computer-savvy for a man in his late fifties. He goes out and buys a brand new awesome computer for $1800 with the "latest and greatest OS" and after three weeks he switches back to his old piece of cyberjunk because he's being terrorized by Vista. Good one Microsoft.

Seriously, Vista must be the biggest piece of shit ever released by Microsoft. When experienced XP-users can't get the damn thing to work properly you gotta call it a freakin' failure, because that's what it is. I don't give a rat's ass if it's "more secure" (I doubt it) or looks snazzier than XP. It's completely unusable to ordinary computer users as proven by my dad and many others I've read about online.

If it wasn't for my dad having to run a few work-specific applications (which requires Windows) on his computer I'd have him buying a Mac or switching to Linux in a heartbeat.

And you know I'm gonna have to go over there next week and spend a hundred hours "fixing" that brand new Sony Vaio. Just because it's been soiled by Vista. Damn.

Windows Vista is a sad piece of shit and once again Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves for releasing such a pathetic excuse for an operating system.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Memory upgrade day

Yeah, bitches! I can has memory upgrade on all my computaz!



And life on this side of 4 Gigs of memory is schwee-ee-eet, that I can tell y'all!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Hilarious competition! Win a Wii!

If I didn't already own a Nintendo Wii and could get my friggin' webcam to work on my Linux-box I'd so enter this:


OK, now you lost me again Apple

I long since accepted the fact that I don't need an iPod. It wouldn't make any sense at all for me to get one, especially since I loathe iTunes and if you don't live your life according to what is dictated by iTunes, your iPod is pretty much a crippled device. Also, I only have one Mac-computer (my iBook) and all my other boxes run Linux, so even if I swallowed my pride and started using iTunes it would still be a pain in the ass. So, no iPod for me.

However, lately I've heard from friends and fellow Linux-zealots that there are application available that actually work pretty well if you want to use an iPod with your Linux-computer. I've been told good things about Amarok for example, and there have been other pieces of software mentioned as well. This has naturally gotten me thinking that maybe an iPod could be in the cards for me after all.

But nooooooo, Apple doesn't want me to buy their hardware as is proven by what they've come up with for the current generation of iPods. From the article:

The latest iPods have a cryptographic "checksum" in their song databases that prevents third-party applications from synching with the portable music players. This means that iPods can no longer be used with operating systems where iTunes doesn't exist -- like Linux, where gtkpod and Amarok are common free tools used by iPod owners to load their players.

Notice that this has nothing to do with piracy -- this is about Apple limiting the choices available to people who buy their iPod hardware.

What the fuck Steve? Why the hell would you do something like this? That's just plain evil and stupid as hell.

It's not gonna get anybody to switch to Mac that hasn't already done so. I mean, it's not like I'm gonna go out and replace all of my Linux-boxes with MacPros and iMacs just so that I can bask in the glory of iPod-ownership. That would be really stupid.

Instead, Apple have just decided for me that if I buy myself some sort of portable mediaplayer in the future it will not be an iPod. I know they'll get buy pretty well without my $299 but it strikes me as odd and damn stupid that they'd actively reject some customers in this manner, especially since the existence and development of iPod-software for other platforms than the Mac doesn't impact Apple in any negative way what so ever. It expands their user base without costing them a dime.

Real dumb Steve, outright moronic really.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Updated my Twitter-widget

If anybody gives a shit I updated my Twitter-widget tonight. It now parses URLs in the text and turns them into links, and I also tweaked the CSS a bit.

You can download it from the same 'ole place. Enjoy!

And you Mr. Internetsupportman are an idiot

The past three months or so I've been experiencing some problems with my internet connection. It works and is stable like it should be, the problem is though that it's waaaay slower than it should be.

When I measured it three months ago I had a download speed of about 12 Mb/s, which is OK. But since then it has decreased to about half and that is simply not acceptable. So today on my lunch hour I went home and called my provider. Little did I know that I would be talking to the biggest moron in internet support ever.

After waiting in line for five minutes I get to talk to Mr. Internetsupportman and here's how it went:

Me: Hello, my name is so-and-so and I have a problem... (I explain my problem as per above)
Mr. Internetsupportman: According to my measurements you're connection is fine. You have 14 Mbit/s.
Me: No, I don't. I used TPTest and tested and it clearly states that my speed is way lower than that.
Mr. Internetsupportman: You know that TPTest is only reliable 80% of the time don't you? (Note: this might very well be bullshit, I've never heard anything like that about TPTest)
Me: Well, even if it is I've been doing these tests every day for weeks and it shows the same results every time. I think it's safe to say that TPTest is not the problem here.

Mr. Internetsupportman then starts to blame all manner of things for my decrease in speed ("your cables could be busted", "is your router properly configured?", "maybe you have a weird firewall or antivirus software?", "your network card is probably old and defective"), and I claim him to be wrong in every single case. I'm not running any particular firewall or antivirus software on the computer doing the test (my iBook G4), I've done the test straight into the modem without my router and I know there is nothing wrong with my hardware.

He's basically trying to bullshit me so I'll give up and stop bothering him. Well, that didn't make me give up but little did I know what kind of superior moronic firepower I was up against. The conversation continues...

Mr. Internetsupportman: Did you say you ran TPTest from a Mac?
Me: Yes, it's an iBook. So yes, it's a Mac.
Mr. Internetsupportman: Well, you see these days Macs run Unix which is a very safe and stable system. But you see, Unix demands a lot of resources so I think that's probably your problem. Could you run TPTest from a PC?

WTF?!?! So because my Mac runs Unix (or Mac OS X in reality), which it has done since I bought it a couple of years ago, all of my computers are experiencing a slower connection? This guy is clearly an idiot.

Me: But it's not just the Mac that's feeling the decrease in speed. All of my computers are having the same problem. I clearly notice the difference from now and three months ago no matter what computer I use.
Mr. Internetsupportman: I don't know what to tell you. From here your connection looks fine. Can you run TPTest again, but from a PC this time?
Me: Sure. I'll do that. (and this is where I hang up)

Seriously, how much dumbass bullshit is it possible to shovel in one day? I just gave up at this point and hung up because this guy had obviously crawled out of the ocean just 20 minutes ago.

I'm calling them back when I get home from work though. Hopefully I'll get to speak to someone with at least a quarter of a brain this time.

Friday, August 31, 2007

MySpace - BAD! Facebook - better? We'll see.

I make no efforts to hide the fact that I think MySpace is a skidmark in the underpants of web 2.0 and more or less represents everything that is wrong with the internet today. I loathe MySpace basically.

Most of my ill thoughts towards MySpace is because of the way they let people bombard their pages with all manner of crap making most of the pages on the site completely unviewable unless you wanna risk an epileptic episode of grand proportions. I agree that people having bad taste and no judgment is not the fault of MySpace, I already knew that people are idiots way before MySpace got into the game, but the core of the matter is that MySpace is the enabler here. There are tons of other communities that look really neat and that don't make my brain's synapses lapse into a screaming rage when I visit them.

The only thing that I actually enjoy with MySpace, and that I repeatedly curse for being a feature of said website and not some other site less worthy of my hatred, is what it's done for underground music. It's awesome to be able to go on there and listen to and occasionally download songs with less known bands worthy of greater fame. This is, as I see it, MySpace's only feature worth any praise and the only reason that I don't want it completely wiped off the internet.

Sure, it's probably nice that MySpace helps people keep in touch and stuff like that, but that's hardly anything new as far as online-communities go. I've been active on various communities on and off during the past ten years but none of them have even come close to being the cesspool of bad taste and animated GIFs gone wild that is MySpace. This is why I would rather choose almost any other community out there over MySpace.

I actually had a MySpace-account once, but I closed it down after a few months because I just couldn't live with being a part of it. That's how bad I think it is.

It was brought to my attention today through an article on TechCrunch that MySpace are apparently not only enablers of crap but also testy bastards that enjoy shutting down companies that supply services linked to the MySpace-site, i.e. companies that add value to their business without it costing them anything except some bandwidth and CPU-time.

In this web 2.0 day and age I think this is pretty appalling and it's just another reason to steer clear of MySpace. Sure, they're looking into opening up their platform to developers, something that Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and a myriad of other web 2.0 sites have already done aeons ago, but even if they do they're pretty late to the dance and with them having behaved badly towards third party developers already I'm guessing that such a venture could be actually be a failure.

I have very little experience with up and comer Facebook, practically none actually. But although I've told several of my friends that have wanted me to get on there that I'm not interested in another generic online community, I'm actually now thinking about setting up an account. This is partly to check out what all the fuss is about but mainly to play around with the site and its API. Yeah, I know that's a really dorky reason but hey, that's what I am - a dork.

Plus, Facebook doesn't give the members the right to soil their pages with a multi-colored vomit of Flash, animated GIFs and movie-clips. At least, that's what I hear, and if I do set up an account that's what will determine if I stay more than a few minutes or log off immediately and delete my account while screaming profanities at the top of lungs.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Bullshit by any other name is still...

So Microsoft has decided to pull the plug on the much despised FUD-campaign "Get the facts". In it's place it has erected a new site called "Windows Server compare".

As far as I can see this new site serves the exact same purpose, i.e. to throw dung on Linux, it's just a new name for the same old crap. Completely ridiculous and pointless in other words.

How hard is it to understand that bullshit and lies are just that no matter what you call them?

It is particularly interesting how they seem to come down extra hard on Red Hat, with them being one of the major Linux-distributors that have refused to sign a patent-protection agreement with the devil (unlike Novell and Linspire, for example). "So Red Hat doesn't wanna play with us? Then let's behave like babies and make a site that makes them look bad. Oh, and our dad is stronger than Red Hat's dad." Geez...

Microsoft needs to get a grip and concentrate on improving their deeply flawed software instead of embarking on new hate-campaigns against Linux. This is just plain embarrassing.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Mario Kart to the rescue!

With both "Manhunt 2" and "Project H.A.M.M.E.R." being effectively shut down the dreams I had for my Wii game collection have been dealt some pretty severe blows the past few months. But now there is once again sunshine on the horizon. "Mario Kart Wii" is coming!

This preview article is showing every Wii fanboy that there is a bright future ahead of us. The screenshots are not very sharp but they reveal enough to make my mouth water and my fingers itch. I want this game now!

I've been in love with the "Mario Kart"-games since practically forever and this one looks like it will be the best one yet. The thought of playing against up to eleven other people online gives me the chills. It will be fucking awesome!

Luckily, since this is a Mario-game there is absolutely no way it will not reach the stores. "Mario Kart Wii" will be mine, and hopefully sooner rather than later. I can hardly wait.

AWESOME.

Off topic, but yummie!

OK, so this has nothing to do with computers or other tech-stuff but...

Damn, this is some awesome goodness!

Mustard, good! Wasabi, good! Wasabi-mustard, fucking awesome!

So now you know.




And just so you know my girlfriend is the greatest because she's the one that bought this for me!


Friday, August 10, 2007

This is how much of a dork I am

So we've been visiting my girlfriend's parents for a couple of days and this afternoon we were sitting in the kitchen chatting about this and that. It's a pretty hot and especially clammy day so I glance at the thermometer by the kitchen window to see how hot it actually is. When doing so I also notice the small text at the bottom of the thermometer's front and immediately this makes me think "wow, it would be so cool to have one of those".

The text reads "wireless thermometer"...

Now that's how big of a geek I am. All it takes is the word "wireless" to make me want something. I clearly need help.


Monday, July 30, 2007

Still alive, still gaming

Yes, I know it's been quite a while since my last update. But I've been real busy with work and other things. In no way have I stopped or even cut down on my gaming and related activities though.

A couple of weeks ago I had a marathon run of "God Of War" which actually left me with a bruise (!) on my left thumb. Oh, how I love this game. It is totally one of the top five games ever in my opinion (I have yet to play "God Of War 2" though..).

I'm also making good headway in "Manhunt" and I believe I'm nearing the end of my blood drenched rampage. I'm enjoying the game quite a bit, and therefor I'm utterly pissed off by the fact that the sequel "Manhunt 2" has been more or less banned around the globe. It just sucks that adults can't decide for themselves what kind of media want to subject themselves to. I for one was looking forward to "Manhunt 2" quite a lot and it saddens me that a game that I believe would have been awesome and a lot of fun now might never be released, and if it ever sees the light of day it will probably be a toned down version. Thanks a lot censorship-fascists. What's next? The banning of all games that don't exclusively feature cute and cuddly creatures? I love Sonic, Mario and games like that but for fuck's sake, I'm 32 years old and I want to be able to play adult games just like I'm able to enjoy other "grown-up" things. Censorship is never the proper way of dealing with things.

I've also made some progress in "The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess", although it's depressing how much I have left considering I've had the game since four or five days after it was released.

I bought "Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition" on release day and I've found to be nothing short of fucking awesome! I haven't played it all that much but enough to be seriously impressed. The wiimote is a perfect fit for this game. Blowing the heads of zombies and angry villagers never was more satisfying than on the Wii.

Speaking of new games, another huge disappointment was the news that "Project H.A.M.M.E.R." seems to have been canceled and will not be released. Possibly it will just be released much later, but I'm not holding my breath. I have no idea why this is but it makes me very sad that I won't be able to play it since I've been looking forward to it A LOT, and it looked like such an awesome game. I want my blunt-force crusher game doggammit! Please Nintendo, rethink your decision and give us this game. I'm begging you.

Also I've immersed myself in some serious retro-gaming. Mostly Sega MegaDrive and games like "Mortal Kombat", "Mortal Kombat II", "Golden Axe" and "The Revenge Of Shinobi", but also plenty of Virtual Console goodies like "Ice Climber", "Kid Icarus" and "Punch-Out!!". Because of my increased amount of retro-gaming I've also had a bit of shopping spree on a couple of auction-sites.

For the MegaDrive I've bought "Golden Axe 2", "Bio Hazard Battle" and "Zero Wing" and for my GameBoy Advance I got "The Legend Of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords". I also got a couple of PS1 games; "Tenchu: Stealth Assassins" and "Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins".

I've found that "Zero Wing" deserves a lot more credit than it gets. It's actually a really decent shoot-em up. Although I have to confess that I bought it mainly for the hilarious intro-sequence, but that's not the reason I've ended up spending several hours with it the past week. So if you haven't already, please check it out and give it a chance OK?

As if that wasn't enough I also bid for and won "Golden Axe 3", "Thunder Force 4" and a "Mega Key 2", all for the MegaDrive. The last item is a cartridge that makes it possible for me to play games from the US, Japan and Brazil on my European PAL-console (which I need since "Golden Axe 3" for example was only released in Japan). These items have yet to arrive though.

Anyhoo, my summer vacation started today, I celebrated it by playing "Super Smash Bros. Melee" for a couple hours with a friend from work, and I'm looking forward to many more hours of gaming in the forth-coming weeks. Yay!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

iPhone hackers work for Apple

It's been widely reported about various progress in the hacking of the iPhone. A couple of days ago Engadget reported that apparently a hacker named "Nightwatch" has compiled and launched his very own application on the device.

In order to accomplish this feat "Nightwatch" has constructed an ARM/Mach-O toolchain that henceforth can be used by others to follow his example and consequently have third party native applications running on the iPhone instead of just Web 2.0 apps running in the Safari-browser.

Of course this is a positive breakthrough since developers and iPhone-owners have been screaming for an API and the possibility to develop and run real apps on the iPhone. But it shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody. As with all such things they are always broken sooner or later, it's just a matter of how long the apparatus can resist the efforts of it's hackers.

But most of all, I'm very sure this came as no real surprise to Apple. In fact, I'm positive they counted on this happening sooner rather than later, and they surely will reap the major benefits from it.

By releasing a device that's received more pre-release hype than anything I've ever seen before Apple has assured (almost at least) it's success and that it will sell millions of it. By then refusing to give third party developers access to an API or an SDK they've assured that the caffeine-crazed hackers of the world will do their best to break into the device and have it run third party software. Once there is a fairly stable way of developing apps for the iPhone, which shouldn't be far away now, a new market opens up which while not feeding money directly into Apple it does making their money-making product even more desirable. And they've done nothing themselves to make this happens except release the phone and withhold the API, all the real work the hackers have done for them. So basically, they've been working for Apple all along. They've just not gotten paid a dime for their hard and commendable work.

Another positive thing in this scenario, from Apple's point of view, is that as long as no official API or SDK has been released they don't have to deal with support and complaints regarding third party applications. It's not their fault if you installed and ran some app on your iPhone that made it go up in flames since it's not their toolchain that built that app and they certainly didn't license it.

So even if it looks like Apple 0 - Hackers 1, it's really the other way around if you think about it.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Twitterer and widget maker

The past couple of days I've been playing around with Twitter and it's API. It's pretty simple to use, hardly astrophysics or anything, and with the widget for Blogger looking like ass I decided to hack my own. And so I did.

The fruits of my labour are plainly visible to the right in this blog. It's nothing fancy, just some basic HTML, CSS and Javascript, but I think it looks pretty good. And if anybody gives a damn the code can be downloaded from here.

In the days ahead I'm gonna pleasure myself (oooh...) by writing a Twitter-applet for the Gnome desktop as well. Now don't misinterpret the sudden focus on Twitter. I don't think I'll ever be an avid twitterer (is that a word? probably not) and I'm not exactly falling head over heels with excitement over the thing. I just wanna play around with some free API:s, and for that purpose this one is as good as any. Also, anything that allows me to interact using the command line gets a "yay!" from me.

curl -u someaccount@somedomain.com:somepassword -d status=Posting+to+Twitter+using+curl+is+teh+shit%21 http://twitter.com/statuses/update.json

Thursday, June 28, 2007

GPL 3 launches on the 29th of June!

Now this release is way more important than all the iPhones in the world!

And there will be a live stream too.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

I hate the iPhone

It's not even out yet (unless you're special) and I've never seen one in real life, but damn, do I ever hate the iPhone.

To be more precise it's not the actual gadget I hate as much as all the exaggerated hype and media hoopla surrounding it. For goodness sake people! It's a friggin' cellphone! It's not some magical device that will bring peace, stability and prosperity to the Galaxy.

Goddamnit, there are actually people camping outside of the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York already, just to be the first to get one. I'm sorry, but that's simply retarded.

Every damn tech news site I read is completely drowning in iPhone-spam (i.e. repetitive articles about how awesome it will be) and I'm just sick of it. On top of it all now that's it's just a couple of days until release the reviews are starting to pop up. I wanna puke.

But it's not just the hype that gets on my nerves, it's also the fact that I don't see what is really that special about the iPhone. Sure, it's most certainly a nice gadget, Apple's stuff usually is one way or another, but it's not that great. I mean, calm down people.

Just by reading not much more than the specs on Apple's website I quickly find the following serious flaws:

  • It's just a GSM-phone, i.e. no 3G. That sucks.
  • No videocamera, and that means no videochat. This from the computer manufacturer with the largest install base of webcams of all. Suck-o-rama.
  • It can't send MMS-messages. Come fucking on! Can you say "medieval technology"?
  • The camera is just 2 megapixels. Hardly impressive.
  • No support for other video-formats than MOV and MP4. That means no DivX/XviD, which means it's hardly an ideal video playing device. More suckage.
  • You can't use songs as ringtones. Wow, that's really fresh for a cellphone released in 2007.
  • No removable battery. Are you kidding me?
  • Non-expandable storage space. No memory-cards, nothing. Oh man, more suckage.
  • Apple decides what provider you can use, not you. Suckfest deluxe.
  • And finally, taking into account all of the above, it is way too expensive.
  • Being a programmer myself I find the lack of an API for the iPhone very disturbing. Sure, Steve says it's all gonna be webapps run from within the phones browser, but no matter how awesome the web2.0 and AJAX revolution is there are still a shitload of things that simply can't be done with webapps. So yes, a real API would be nice.

That said, will someone please give me one real valid reason why this should be seen as such a revolutionary and a must-have item? Yes, I've seen the demo-movie on Apple's website and I know all about the snazzy touch-screen and its glorious sexiness. But hey, the fact that Apple make great user interfaces shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone and still, no matter how awesome the GUI is, it doesn't make up for the lack of features.

Or are you gonna spend the time you would sending MMS-messages to your friends flipping windows about and pinching stuff on the screen instead? And instead of videochatting with your peeps, maybe you can watch a video and gasp in awe when the movie pivots automatically as you rotate the device? Wow dude, that's real productive and worthwhile.

There is basically nothing that the iPhone does that my Nokia N80IE can't do, or at least nothing really significant, and it does everything noted above that the iPhone doesn't. In comparison the new wonder from Apple is a technological cripple. My cellphone (or any other phone out there) is however not enjoying the most tremendous tidal wave of hype ever like the iPhone is.

So for $499 I could buy a phone that compared to my current cellphone more or less sucks but has the power to make all Apple-fanboys wet themselves in awe? No thanks.

And please stop yapping about it. Really. STOP.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Murderer in training

I spent four hours yesterday playing "Manhunt" on my PS2 (yeah, I bought one a couple of months ago), so I'm now not far from being a full-fledged killing machine ready to stalk and slash my fellow citizens to death.

And I will do it, oh yes I will, it's just a matter of time now (maybe after I finish the next stage or so?), because Jack Thompson says that's what happens when you play "murder simulators".

Oh man, Jack Thompson is such a dimwitted moron... And I can't wait for "Manhunt 2" on the Wii. That'll be sweet for sure.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Hardcore tourism

So I went to Italy with my girlfriend and my parents for a much needed one week vacation. We had a great time, good food, plenty of wine and good times.

We visited several cities and lots of places worthy of any tourist, amongst the most tourist-infested was Venice. I did not let the tourist madness make me lose my mind though. I kept it cool and still managed to focus on the really important stuff...


I hear there are lots of pretty architecture, gondolas, bridges and stuff like that to see in Venice. But come on, "Ecks Vs. Sever" on the GameBoy Advance is pretty sweet too!

It's all about the wireless baby

The last passage from this article nicely delievers a buzzkiller of truth to Eye-Fi's upcoming wi-fi memory cards:

There are currently digital cameras on the market that offer built-in wireless networking, but they haven’t exactly taken the world by storm. Given that you can buy a 2GB memory card for less than US$30, you’ve got to wonder whether consumers will be willing to cough up US$100 just so that they don’t have to go through the hassle of hooking up a USB cable.

Very true, but the sad part is that personally I would easily fork over an additional $70 for some wireless sexiness. You see, I'm a sucker for anything wireless.

Indeed I am. I'll readily admit that I'm a total sucker for any and all wireless gadgets. It's like a disease. I just can't help myself. I just find the "no need for cables"-thing so cool, even if it is hardly a new and revolutionary thing by now. It doesn'tmatter if I really need the gadget in question or not, if it's wireless it is just that much sexier to me and I want it bad.

I remember fondly back in the eighties when our family got our first TV that came with a remote control. It was the coolest thing ever! Just imagine the joy of not having to get up and walk over to the TV when flipping the channel! Now that's life changing technology if there ever was any.

Bluetooth, wi-fi, even infrared, I love them all. Sweet wireless technology be mine, now and forever.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

So work is out is out of the question.. Wii anyone?

We had a temporary power outage at work the other day, and because of this the IT-department (where I work) was left without any means to do any real work. So we basically got a couple of hours off until the electricians could get the power working again.

So this is what we did:


Yeah, that's right - Wii Sports Boxing! Our sysadmin lives just across the street and he has a Wii. Kick ass!

I'm hoping for a power outage once a week from now on ;-)

That's me on the right by the way...

Friday, May 25, 2007

Not quite dead

In a recent article Computer World lists the "top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills", some of the spots on the list I agree with but some I don't.

One that I totally don't agree with is number six, "C programming". Anyone who claims that the C language is dead or dying simply doesn't see the software industry for everything it is and doesn't understand how many different kinds of software there is out there.

Fine, you might not see the latest snazzy web applications from Google being written in C or even a huge amount of desktop-applications for that matter (even if I believe that quite a lot of the Linux/Unix-apps are written in C, the Linux-kernel for one). But that doesn't mean there isn't a shitload of software everywhere around us written in C.

To my knowledge most embedded software is written in C. Things like controller software for household appliances, cellphones and such things, devices like that all have a fair chunk of C spinning through their circuits.

Another great example is GNU/Linux-software. The Linux-kernel is written entirely in C I believe and so is most of the apps that make up the GNU-toolset.

So basically, C is not dead or dying. Claiming that almost makes you an idiot.

The claim that the languages Cobol and ColdFusion are dying however, I can basically agree with that. They're not dead though. I don't think it's fair to pronounce a language like Cobol as dead since there is still so damn much software out there that's written in this archaic language.

The reason there's still many mission critical pieces of Cobol code, or any dying language for that matter, running out there is simply that there are a heck of a lot of legacy systems that haven't been upgraded, rewritten and so on. The reason for that is, in my experience, that most companies are cheapskates.

Rather than invest the time and money in upgrading an ancient system they have their developers spend time on patching the system with horrible work-arounds and crappy add-ons just to keep it going. If anybody were to suggest a complete redesign and rebuild of an existing system somebody close to the company's finances probably would say "Why? It still works, doesn't it?" and shut it down with a suggestion of patching it some more if there are any problems with it.

Pretty much the only thing that'll convince the people at the top of the company food chain that a new system needs to be developed is if the old one crashes and burns completely. When that happens though, the software people are most likely to be blamed for it and having a shiny new software bundle in place and up and running will be something that will be expected of them in a snap more or less.

I really wish that the people handling the money in companies that rely on IT for their business had a little more knowledge as to what IT and software is about and how it works. That way we'd see less and less of things like medieval systems running Windows 3.11 software patched into oblivion, and I can guarantee you that most developers would me happier with putting in some extra hours building something new and exciting than spending their days fixing and working around the short-comings of ancient code bases.

Friday, May 11, 2007

I don't get how some people still have jobs

I don't get how some people still have jobs. Not with the moronic things they think up and say. Like this guy, HBO's chief technology officer Bob Zitter, who probably makes millions every year.

His latest mindvomits are possibly the stupidest things that've been said the past week (I can't be sure though, haven't checked up on George W. Bush in a while). It's already been reported on in plenty of places online (here, here and here for example) and the verdicts are unanimous, the man has no concept what so ever of what DRM is or the kind of problems people have with it.

To him DRM is just some acronym that he's been told will help HBO make even more money. He doesn't give a shit about the crippling and annoying effects of DRM and I'm seriously questioning if he even knows how pissed off the public is with it.

Digital Consumer Enablement, would more accurately describe technology that allows consumers "to use content in ways they haven't before," such as enjoying TV shows and movies on portable video players like iPods.

Wow, that's a load of bullshit so thick and heavy that it can't even be shoveled with an industrial strength shoveling-machine. Way to go Bob. You really are a retard.

Please tell me Bob, about these "enabling" effects. What is it that I can do with the media I lawfully buy that isn't possible without it being maimed by DRM?

I'll tell you what: NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. The consumer doesn't want DRM, you do and only you. DRM, DCE or whatever you call it is a contraption put in place to limit what the consumer can do with the product that he's bought and paid for. It does jack-shit against piracy.

If I was to download an illegal digital copy of a movie I could most likely play that movie in any of my multimedia-devices (Xbox, cellphone, DVD-player, computer, etc.). The same would not be possible with a movie bought and downloaded from iTunes Store for example. It only plays on a select number of devices and using special software. So consequently the only people annoyed with DRM are the ones that obey the law. The pirates don't give a rat's ass, their media is free to play on any multimedia-device with support for the encoding-format of the mediafile.

Many of the most monumental struggles throughout history one way or another have to do with freedom. Somebody wants freedom, while somebody else refuses to grant it to them. This is the very same thing. The consumers want the freedom to use media they've paid for in any way they choose, the media-corporations will not let them.

But believe you me, sooner or later the consumers will get fed up with it and the media-corporations will be the ones suffering losses in revenue and possibly even bankruptcy if they don't get their heads straight in time.

It's time they wake up and realize that the old economical models that have kept them afloat for the past century need to be revised for the digital future, and the sooner the better.

No more DRM. Free all media now.

Oh, and Bob... I hope you lose your job very soon. You sure as hell don't deserve it you idiot. Fuck off.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

And this is one of the reason I will never let anybody else touch my computer(s)

This is just fantastic.

We don't have this disease Geek Squad in Sweden where I live but from the enormous amounts of articles about them I've found online I have a pretty good idea what they are.

Basically it's the inhuman corporate machine dressing up as the cute and geeky computer guy and the unfortunate people that don't know better go there to get their hardware fixed and end up taking a grenade up the poop-shoot, right?

Not only have previous employees admitted to downloading private images and stuff from their customer's harddrives, but now they're actually saying that they'd raid a harddrive simply handed to them by a customer claiming some sort of relation to the owner of the harddrive. I'm no legal expert but this has to be illegal!

This is one of the reasons I will never let anybody but myself come close enough to meddle with my data. I would never drop my computer off at a service shop. I'd rather go buy a new one honestly. Not that I really have anything real to hide, every warmblooded male with internet access has gigabytes of porn stashed somewhere and anybody who says otherwise is a liar, but on the other hand I have nothing weird or criminal stored in my closet and I wouldn't let some complete stranger ransack that either.

It's a question of personal integrity. I don't want people I don't know all up in my business fidgeting about. My stuff is mine, so hands off. That, and the fact that people simply cannot be trusted because they are... well... human! So not only will they view my personal stuff but, as proven by the Geek Squad confessions, they will make copies and steal my stuff too. What if I had blueprints for some awesome invention in there and some snotty teenager stole them and sold to someone? That would really be no fun at all.

I understand that not all people are IT-professionals and that Joe Schmoe or Auntie Bea on occasion needs help with his or her computer, but with all the shit that's been raining on Geek Squad I don't see how they are even staying in business. Is it that people in general don't read ANY of the sites I read (I've seen stuff on Geek Squad on at least twenty different sites) or are they really that oblivious to what's bad for them? Or could it be that they just don't know that there are other places that also fix computers? And by that I'm not saying that some other place will not rip you off, because they will if you go to the wrong place.

I don't know, it's just crazy to me, and it makes me even more happy about the fact that I can handle my own computer hardware better than most.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

I'm sorry, but you're too much of an asshole for that cellphone

One recent occurrence in our high technological society that really ticks me off is that of people with MP3-playing cellphones that walk around with music playing through the cellphone-speaker. You've probably stumbled upon a couple of these morons roaming our streets and shopping malls yourself.

They wander around with (most of the time) third rate bullshit R'n'B streaming from the substandard and loudly crackling speakers of their cellphones as if everybody in the world had the same crappy taste in music that they have.

Hey fuckheads, I'm not interested in listening to R-Kelly against my will while I'm shopping for groceries OK? Turn the shit off right now dumbass!

What is it that motivates these morons to terrorize their surrounds like this?

It can't be that they think the song is so awesome that they simply have to share it with everybody, because there's no chance in hell of making out wether it's a good song or not when it's wailing from a tiny speaker on somebody's cellphone and completely destroyed by distortion.

Could it be that they think somebody will be impressed that they own a MP3-cellphone? If so, they're even dumber than I thought. Hey cockbrains, everybody and their dog has a cellphone that plays MP3s these days, it doesn't make you special!

I suggest that cellphone dealers from here on give their customers an IQ-test and check for any signs of an asshole personality before selling them an MP3-cellphone. If they don't, I just might be arrested for assaulting a moron with his own cellphone in the near future.

Cellphone-toting assholes of the world, consider yourselves warned.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Link is my homeboy

I finally took some time to clear some more of "Legend of Zelda: Twilight princess" for the Nintendo Wii and I gotta say I'm loving it more and more for every minute of gaming.

I never thought that a Zelda-game could be spooky like this one is from time to time, while at the same time maintaining the same childish playfulness that I've grown accustomed to from playing the previous games in the series.

So I just finished a two hour and twenty eight minute session and I can't wait until the next time I can clear my schedule enough to immerse myself in this game again.

Awesome, just plain awesome, is what it is.

And also mad props and love to my girlfriend for letting me hog the living room TV for almost three hours on a weeknight ;-)

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Taking web 2.0 too far

Today in our digital age everybody is, or should be, worried about their personal integrity and paranoid about being watched and having their internet-habits recorded. New "1984"-esque laws have been taken into effect or at least proposed by people that wish to take away our rights and enslave us by the very tools that gave us digital freedom in the first place.

Enter Cluztr, quite possibly the most moronic browser-extension ever.

This piece of software let's you surf the web in a more "social" manner, i.e. other users will be able to read your browser history in real time! But wait, there's more. It let's you (and other users) see who is reading the page you're currently on and (wait for it...) you can send them messages! Yay! How very goddamn "web 2.0"...

Isn't this taking the whole "web 2.0, let's be a community on the internet"-thing a quite a bit too far? Why the hell would I want other people to know about my surfing habits? Why would I want to share my browser history with the whole online planet? It's just stupid, plain and simple, and the only people jumping on this bandwagon will be morons and teenagers who have already been MySpace-lobotomized.

And what's with the name? "Oh, I'm so hip and down with the next generation of teh internets that I can't spell. I'm so cool and web 2.0. I speak fluent Ruby On Rails and all my web applications are Beta too." Retards.

I think I'm gonna start a website where people can share their email inbox with each other. Wouldn't that be awesome? Everybody can read everybody's emails and leave comments about them? Awesome! Totally web 2.0 too! I think I'll call it stupdfuckr.com. Cool name huh? Very web 2.0.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

No, Linux can't save Palm. It's just not that simple.

It has been widely reported that Palm Computing is gonna put out PDAs in the near future that run on Linux-based software.

Almost as widely, articles like this have been popping up asking the in my opinion very silly question: "Can Linux save Palm?"

To anybody that knows anything about Linux, who actually knows what it is, the obvious answer is "NO". Linux is an operating system kernel, not a magic wand. Simply basing your new product on Linux will not make the product an instant success, although Linux is truly awesome and I love it to bits (and bytes).

Just like a flashy car will not make you a world-class race car driver, Palm Computings new PDAs based on Linux will not automatically be awesome products, boost sales and save the company. The software will probably be better and more stable, but the decline in purchases of PDAs is by no means simply an effect of previously crummy software. The time for the PDA is simply over. The new king of the hill is the cellphone.

A high-end smartphone/cellphone today does everything a PDA is supposed to do and everybody already has one. Take my cellphone for example, a Nokia N80. This phone plays music and videos, it has a really good calendar that helps me remember and keep track of things, I can read PDFs and MS Office files with it, it's got bluetooth, wifi, GPRS and 3G to connect me to other devices and the world, and loads of other crap that I have yet to discover. Now tell me, why would I need a PDA? I wouldn't.

My phone isn't even the most advanced cellphone out there. There are smartphones that are twice as expensive and that contain even more software and magic than mine does. It is my firm belief that the advancements made in cellphone technology have effectively killed the PDA and that's the bottom line ('cuz Stone Cold said so).

Basically the only reason for owning a PDA these days is because you love gadgets and need to have more of them. Otherwise, you'll settle for a modern cellphone.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Xbox 360 Elite will be released with a slight limp

OK, so the Xbox 360 Elite is on it's way and all the fanboys are so psyched. But over at Gizmodo there's a story that reveal some unflattering details about the much longed for HDMI-addition that the Elite sports.

Apparently the cheapskates at Microsoft have chosen to not supply the Xbox 360 Elite with HDMI 1.3 but with HDMI 1.2 instead. This is particularly odd, as someone commented on Gizmodo, since TrueHD and DD+ (which are the advantages 1.3 holds over 1.2) are optional on BluRay but mandatory on HD-DVD (the chosen HD-format of the Xbox 360). The choice of 1.2 over 1.3 thus makes absolutely no sense.

Are they doing this to save a buck? Because if so, that's just retarded. I mean, how big can the difference be in manufacturing costs? A dollar maybe? Even if the Elite sells two million copies in the first quarter after it's release that's still not even close to a dent in Microsofts economy. For fuck's sake, two million dollars is not more than lunch money for Steve Ballmer.

If you're gonna upgrade the Xbox 360 then please do it right, go all the way and don't be cheap about it. It's bad enough that the HD-DVD drive wasn't included in the new package. Cheap fuckers.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Yep, it's the "Super Mario Bros." theme - with lyrics!

OK, so this has already been reported lately by the awesome Destructoid.com but it just cracks me up so I had to post it here too.

Friday, March 23, 2007

I so need this game to come out!!!

Adblock

It's coming sometime in 2007. Last I heard it was June but that seems like years away since I want it so much!

Must. Smash. Robots. With. Huge. Hammer. NOW.

Oh, and the game is "Project H.A.M.M.E.R." for those of you not familiar with it already.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

The allure of Apple

I don't get it. I'm usually a pretty rational individual. I'm good friends with "logical choices" and "smart thinking". Usually, that is...

So why the hell do I always lose my mind over Apple's products? There's something about them that always gives me a serious itch for new gadgets.

I don't need a MacBook. I already own a two year old iBook (12", G4) which is still doing it's job (mostly acting as an expensive toy for surfing the net from my couch) very well. So why the hell do I want a MacBook?

I don't need a MacPro. I already own several high-end PCs that run Linux, enables me to do everything that I need to do (and a whole lot of unnecessary stuff too) and basically kick serious ass. So why the hell do I want a MacPro?

I don't need a MacMini. See above for the reasons why. So why the hell do I want a MacMini?

I don't need an iPod. I already own a very expensive top-of-the-line mobile phone that plays music and movies just fine. So why the hell do I want an iPod?

And finally...

I don't need an Apple TV. I have absolutely no use for it. Quite honestly I'm not even sure I know exactly what it does. So why the hell do I want an Apple TV?

This is a pure hardware urge too. Don't get me wrong, I love Mac OS X and all, but Linux is still my number one choice for an operating system. As a matter of fact, I'd probably install Linux on some of the above mentioned hardware rather than keep their pre-installed operating software. Or at least set up some sort of dual boot.

Luckily, I've managed to mostly keep my urges under control this far. But they're still there and I keep drifting in to Apple's website again and again, reading about the stuff and drooling over pictures.

I need help. Or just a truckload of cash.

Yes, that's my iBook in the picture. Yes, the light is blue and not the ordinary white. Yes, I know it's awesome. Worship me. And my iBook.