Getting older is a bitch

I just had my ass handed to me by what I'm guessing is a 14-year old kid.

During five grueling minutes I was utterly humiliated in an online game of "Mario Strikers Charged Football" on the Wii. I was run over, dazzled and crushed by this kid with the kind of lightning fast reflexes and tremendous skills that only someone that has yet to finish puberty and has too much free time on their hands can ever possess.

I'm not a bad gamer in any way. I've played endless hours of various games, both online and offline, on my own and against others, with great success. But being over thirty with a job and every day life going on, I don't have six hours every day to devote to every new game that hits the market. I'd like to, but I don't and I never will. This is why from here on as soon as a new game comes out and I decide to play it against others online I'll surely find myself being destroyed by teenagers again and again.

I'm pretty much at peace with this fact though. I just wish that there was some secluded area online where us old timers could graze and play amongst ourselves without having to deal with the angst of combatting hyperactive teeny gamers. Maybe there is such a place, and I just don't know about it. If so, someone please enlighten me.

Too me, it's no longer as much about winning as it used to. It's more about experiencing the games and enjoying them for what they are - exquisite works of digital art. If I get my ass handed to me by another gamer, I don't mind as long as it was a fair fight and I enjoyed myself.

Speaking of which, I just bought "Warhawk" for the PS3 and I look forward to getting my ass kicked time and time again.

Look everybody, I'm Vista certified!

One of our cats thought it was a good idea to eat through the cable connecting my keyboard to my PC the other day. So consequently I had to buy a new keyboard.

Lucky for me I found the exact same Logitech keyboard at an online retailer and although it was 100 SEK (that's about $15 I think) more than I paid for my original one I went ahead and ordered it because I really loved the feel of that keyboard.

When the keyboard arrived the other day I noticed that it said "Vista certified" on the front of box. "Vista certified"? Isn't every keyboard "Vista certified"? And in what way could this keyboard that on the picture I saw online appeared identical to my old one differ from said demised keyboard (which I bought before Windows Vista was even out) thus making it "Vista capable"?

Here's a picture of both of them (old one at the bottom):

Spot the difference? No? Take a closer look. They changed the look of the "Windows-button" giving it a slightly close resemblance to the Vista-logo. That's basically it! Awesome huh? That certainly warrants an attention-grabbing note on the front of the box doesn't it? And yes, that was sarcasm. This is so silly.

Here's a close-up of both keyboards (old one at the top):

Now that's just some friggin' brilliant stuff that is! LOL

Awesome Kevin. Welcome to the 21st century.

I was watching the latest episode of "Diggnation" and Kevin Rose was talking about the latest iPhone rumours. Apparently there's gonna be a 3G iPhone pretty soon and it will have two cameras, one of them facing the person holding the phone, so that you can do video-chat.

While Alex Albrecht goes "I'm not so hot for the video-chat because I don't even do that on my computer" while Kevin, stoked out of his mind, goes like "but how cool would it be to have a friend call you up and do video-chat on your phone?". Haha, priceless.

Dude, people here in Europe have been doing that for half a decade now. My dad, who's almost 60, does it. It's not bleeding edge anymore and it hasn't been for years. Welcome to the 21st century. I hope you'll like it here ;-)

It just makes me laugh, how a big nation like the US can be so far behind in some areas. 3G is not something new, it's just that the US hasn't implemented it with any real success yet. The fact that Apple adds 3G to the next generation of the iPhone doesn't make it new and exciting. It just means they're catching up to what Nokia and SonyEricsson have been doing successfully for years.

Personally I'm pretty stoked about a 3G iPhone though, and I'm hoping it turns out real good.

I think the current iPhone is pretty much a waste of hardware since it lacks many of the features my Nokia N80IE has (3G, MMS, video-chat and Bluetooth that isn't crippled for example) and many of these things I actually rely upon every day. But if they had those features on the iPhone I'd get one for sure.

Also, being the owner of an iPod Touch I know that the touch screen user interface is more than a gimmick. It's actually pretty usable and neat once you get the hang of it, and the big screen is awesome for watching video podcasts, movies and TV-shows. It's a really awesome gadget and well worth the $299 it set me back.

So if I could have all of the coolness of the iPod Touch plus the useful features of my 3G-phone naturally I'd go for that. But that basically means ALL of the useful features of my Nokia N80IE, not just a couple. Otherwise I'll wait until Apple gets it right. If they ever do that is ;-)

GlaDOS - pwned!

Gary Gygax 1938-2008

Thank you for the endless hours of fun you brought me and millions of others. You will forever be remembered as one of the greatest creative people that ever lived. I for one can testify to the fact that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons forever changed my life and helped shape me into who and what I am today. You will be missed.

Rest in peace.