Star Trek List

12/31/2009 - VOY S1E12: Heroes and Demons
12/31/2009 - VOY S1E11: State of Flux
12/31/2009 - VOY S1E10: Prime Factors
12/31/2009 - VOY S1E09: Emanations
12/31/2009 - VOY S1E08: Ex Post Facto
12/19/2009 - VOY S1E07: Eye of the Needle
12/19/2009 - VOY S1E06: The Cloud
12/19/2009 - VOY S1E05: Phage
12/19/2009 - VOY S1E04: Time and Again
12/19/2009 - VOY S1E03: Parallax
12/13/2009 - VOY S1E02: Caretaker
12/13/2009 - VOY S1E01: Caretaker
12/13/2009 - TOS S3E07: Day of the Dove
12/12/2009 - TOS S3E06: Spectre of the Gun
12/12/2009 - TOS S3E05 Is There in Truth No Beauty
12/12/2009 - TOS S3E04: And the Children Shall Lead
12/12/2009 - ENT S1E02: Broken Bow
12/12/2009 - ENT S1E01: Broken Bow
12/09/2009 - TOS S3E03: The Paradise Syndrome
12/09/2009 - TOS S3E02: The Enterprise Incident
12/09/2009 - TOS S3E01: Spock's Brain
12/07/2009 - TOS S2E26: Assignment: Earth
12/07/2009 - TOS S2E25: Bread and Circuses
12/07/2009 - TOS S2E24: The Ultimate Computer
12/07/2009 - TOS S2E23: The Omega Glory
12/06/2009 - TOS S2E22: By Any Other Name
12/05/2009 - TOS S2E21: Patterns of Force
12/05/2009 - TOS S2E20: Return to Tomorrow
12/05/2009 - TOS S2E19: A Private Little War
12/04/2009 - TOS S2E18: The Immunity Syndrome
12/03/2009 - TOS S2E17: A Piece of the Action
12/01/2009 - TOS S2E16: The Gamesters of Triskelion
12/01/2009 - TOS S2E15: The Trouble with Tribbles
11/27/2009 - Star Trek (2009)
11/24/2009 - TOS S2E14: Wolf in the Fold
11/24/2009 - TOS S2E13: Obsession
11/24/2009 - TOS S2E12: The Deadly Years
11/23/2009 - TOS S2E11: Friday's Child
11/23/2009 - TOS S2E10: Journey to Babel
11/22/2009 - TOS S2E09: Metamorphosis
11/21/2009 - TOS S2E08: I, Mudd
11/21/2009 - TOS S2E07: Catspaw
11/21/2009 - TOS S2E06: The Doomsday Machine
11/21/2009 - TOS S2E05: The Apple
11/21/2009 - TOS S2E04: Mirror, Mirror
11/21/2009 - TOS S2E03: The Changling
11/20/2009 - TOS S2E02: Who Mourns for Adonais
11/19/2009 - TOS S2E01: Amok Time
Star Trek The Original Series Season 1 Complete
11/18/2009 - TOS S1E29: Operation: Annihilate
11/18/2009 - TOS S1E28: The City on the Edge of Forever
11/17/2009 - TOS S1E27: The Alternative Factor
11/17/2009 - TOS S1E26: Errand of Mercy
11/17/2009 - TOS S1E25: The Devil in the Dark
11/17/2009 - TOS S1E24: This Side of Paradise
11/16/2009 - TOS S1E23: A Taste Of Armageddon
11/16/2009 - TOS S1E22: Space Seed
11/16/2009 - TOS S1E21: The Return of the Archons
11/16/2009 - TOS S1E20: Court Martial
11/15/2009 - TOS S1E19: Tomorrow Is Yesterday
11/15/2009 - TOS S1E18: Arena
11/15/2009 - TOS S1E17: The Squire of Gothos
11/14/2009 - TOS S1E16: The Galileo Seven
11/14/2009 - TOS S1E15: Shore Leave
11/14/2009 - TOS S1E14: Balance of Terror
11/14/2009 - TOS S1E13: The Conscience of the King
11/14/2009 - TOS S1E12: The Menagerie Part II
11/14/2009 - TOS S1E11: The Menagerie Part I
11/12/2009 - TOS S1E10: The Corbomite Maneuver
11/12/2009 - TOS S1E09: Dagger Of The Mind
11/12/2009 - TOS S1E08: Miri
11/12/2009 - TOS S1E07: What Are Little Girls Made Of 
11/12/2009 - TOS S1E06: Mudd's Women
11/11/2009 - TOS S1E05: The Enemy Within
11/11/2009 - TOS S1E04: The Naked Time
11/11/2009 - TOS S1E03: Where No Man Has Gone Before
11/11/2009 - TOS S1E02: Charlie X
11/11/2009 - TOS S1E01: The Man Trap

Soviet War Bear

Currently playing Half-Life. Apparently it's some sort of crime I never played in the 11 years since it's release until now. Spretty decent.

PedoBear Cameo

Been off the grid. Baby due tomorrow. Taking off the next month from work, will be posting more then. Till then watch this awesome video with pedobear cameo.

Watch We Didnt Start the Flame War and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

Never thought I'd be on a boat

Bender's trouble baby

Well as many of you know I had a biopsy on a small mass in my throat back in November. It came back so I've had another biopsy. The last time it tested as moderate dysplasia which is what doc is expecting it will come back as this time. It's worrisome because a non smoker of my age probably shouldn't have cells like this. But it's not advanced to a stage where it's considered cancerous and we can undertake treatment options. So we watch it.

The surgery was as terrible experience as ever for me. The Mercy hospital seems to be top notch I've got no complaints there. My veins don't pop out very much so they always have trouble getting the IV in, that's always terrible. Apparently last time they had trouble with me breathing through the nasal mask while they were incubating me. This is normally done while under general anesthetic. Because of the trouble last time I got to be awake for the incubation tube this time. Being away for having a tube stuck into your lung is not a good feeling.

In other news it's less than a month before baby is born. Nursery is prepped and I've got my stroller ready to truck baby around. Super mega chicco stroller. We went and talked to the bike guy about a burly, think we are probably going to get a mid range one.

I'm finally settling down and getting some of my Ham Radio stuff working. I picked up an FT-767GX cheap with all the modules a while back as well as an Icom IC-28. I'm looking right now to mainly do some digital modes on 10 and 6 meter bands, probably PSK31. Eventually I might upgrade to general so I can do 30 meter digital modes. I've got 10 and 6 meter dipole antennas coming from Universal Radio. I like them because they support cats, not dumbly dogs. Plus they have good service and prices. I would have built an antenna myself but I don't have the time or space to be building antennas with a baby on the way. These will do for now to at least get me on the air for now, cheap.

Additionally I've got a Tigertronics Signalink USB on the way from DX Engineering. This will be connecting to a 1st gen Intel Mac mini I bought a while back for the shack. The Signalink is a bit more than a Rigblaster but it integrates with my software tools better near as I can tell, since it has a built in soundcard rather than pass through. Additionally the integrated soundcard means less cables for me to connect to the FT-767GX. I find myself liking tye 767, and Yaesu radios in general.

Thats all for now, I'll post again when I get my antennas up.

Ghostbustin Weeoop

So we all know the "checkered" history of the recent Ghostbusters game. Ign has posted a preview and this game just keeps looking sweeter and sweeter.

IGN Ghostbusters Preview

Sweet things.

a. PKE Meter for scanning ghosts
b. Slimer
c. awesome cut scenes
d. Janine
e. Equipment upgrades

I hope my baby likes Ghostbusters because it's going to get a healthy dose of it when this game is released.

Tales of a Witchering Nature

I played a good amount of The Witcher demo this weekend. I have to say this is one of the best RPG's I've played in a long long time. The graphics were pretty swanky and ran smoothly on the MBP Geforce 8600GT. They fit well with the medieval magical setting. I'm typically more of a console RPG player normally especially when it comes to action RPG's but the semi-action nature of the control scheme worked well. It involves selecting your target and keying up a series of timed clicks to hammer out lucrative combos. While I love your standard J-RPG just because they are so ridiculous, be it Tales of Vesperia to Eternal Sonata, I love them all. Sometimes you just want a meatier, richer, more adult story-line. Something like Mass Effect. The Witcher pulls no punches in hitting you with mature content everywhere, all your values will be challenged and you'll be all the more cultured for it. Geralt isn't some goodie hero, he slums n sluts around with the best of them. Overall I say give the demo a try, you may find one of the best RPG's to come along in years. Amazon has the Enhanced version for 35 bucks, 5 bucks less than retail and digital download services. I really don't understand how publishers can still cling to the idea that they can charge the same amount for a DL or a richly packaged physical copy (witcher comes with a music cd, storybook, map, etc...). Why pay 5 bucks more for a DL? I'd have probably forgone the physical version if the DL was say 30 bucks not the 40 MSRP of retail.

Hawkiz?

I just played through the demo of Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. It's decent enough I suppose, more arcady than simulation so it fits well on the 360. The voice activated controls work well but they are pretty awkward to use in play rather than hitting a button. The "assist off" mode is fun but puts the camera at a damn odd angle. It works well enough for the game but it was pretty disconcerting of a viewpoint. It's hard to describe but the camera pulls back and focuses on the target while you control the plane. At 60 bucks I won't be playing this but I can see myself picking it up at 20-25 bucks, maybe on the used market.

Fallout

IGN has a pretty damn good read on the history of Fallout.

http://retro.ign.com/articles/948/948937p1.html

Typical Redumblican Hypocritical Rhetoric

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/02/sebelius.abortion.fight/index.html

Calling Sebelius an "enemy of the unborn," Catholic League President Bill Donohue said the Kansas governor's nomination is particularly disturbing because the health and human services secretary is one of the few members of the administration who can directly affect abortion policy.

One could just as easily call most Republican's "enemy's of the born" since they appear to stop caring at birth. Then it's milk um dry and send them off to endless wars. Yea abortion is terrible, but it's not the Morality Police MCPUBs job to tell me or anyone else what their morality is. Republicans are all about individual freedoms, as long as it's their narrow view of individual freedoms. Sorry guys, you want to prevent abortions, maybe you should think about supporting some social programs to that effect. Quit being a bunch of hypocrites and maybe I can start taking you guys seriously.

They say they are fiscal conservatives.
They really consistently plunge us into worse financial situations than the "liberals"

They say they are value oriented, morally guided people. This is why they are so apposed to legalized abortion.
They really support sending thousands of Americans to needlessly die in endless wars, they fight against scientific advances that could save lives.

The list goes on. Guys if you want me to take you seriously you need to get back to your actual roots. Real fiscal conservatism, and keeping your nose out of my business.

The Inssurection Collection

Ambrosia Software, creators of the Mac cult hit Escape Velocity, in preparation for their new game Multiwinia have released a $19 collection of 3 of their top games. For a limited time of course.

Included in the pack are the following games.

Darwinia
Uplink
Defcon

I currently own Defcon, I've played the demos of Uplink and Darwinia and enjoyed them both but just never got around to thinking I'd play them enough to drop 25 bucks on each. At 19 bucks for both I can't afford not to have these great games.

Check out the deal @ http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/ic/

Oceans of Stars

I played Star Ocean on the PS1 way way back in the day. I still have the disks actually. I never played any iterations on the PS2 but now it's back on the XBOX 360 and this new version is looking pretty swanky. I'm a sucker for the Sci-Fi RPG (Fallout, Geneforge, you name it) as they are far too few of them to play. I'm going to finish Tales and Fallout 3 before sinking into anything new which means I probably won't pick this up till it hits the bargin bin.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Resident Evil Uber Bundle

I saw this thing on Xbox Live last night. A custom limited edition red black something colored. RE5 XBOX 360 elite bundle. Looks pretty neat if you're in the market for a new 360 and RE5. 400 bucks isn't unreasonable for the whole set. And it comes with the game, unlike the Halo 3 console which didn't come with Halo 3.

Desktops and Dungeons

This looks like an interesting read, Dungeons and Desktops.

I like RPGs and I like History, and I like RPGs on computers relating to history (I love you Nethergate). A book on the history of CRPG's seems like something I would be very interested in. Maybe I'll pick it up when I get through the glut of Star Trek books I bought. I'll need something to read during those late nights with the baby.

Whiskers and Mittens and Brewskis and Kittens

I've been off the grid for a while. After picking up World of Warcraft again my life has spiraled into a gaming abyss from whence I've yet to emerge. Not really. But I have been busy. Baby on the way and all. I've been going to the doctor every 6 weeks to get a camera stuffed up my nose every six weeks since my biopsy in November. Apparently this thing is not looking any better so they want to biopsy it again. This wasn't particularly pleasant surgery so I'm not looking forward to another round of it. On Friday the 13th no less.

Of note my current WoW tOOns. On the quite freindly Sisters of Elune server.

Rakden
Rohanas
Koorm

I'm still slogging through Tales of Vesperia, which has been hindered by copious amounts of Warcraft playing with newly addicted co-workers. After that I might finally get around to sinking into Fallout 3.

Addtionally I traded in my 360 Pro for an Elite, It was getting loud and was a launch unit so was probably going to die anyway, GameStop can deal with it. Plus I have been wanting the 120 gig drive to install games anyway.

I picked up Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection the other day as well. For 30 bucks this a damn steal. I mean they are selling these sonic games for 8 bucks a pop alone on WiiWare and XBLA. Plus all 4 Phantasy Star games in high rez pixelated glory. Again worth 30 bucks. The other 30+ games are icing on a great gaming cake. Plus there are unlockable master system games, interviews, and more. This is how to make a classic games collection. I'm considering picking up the Namco pack as well sometime.

Speaking of Fallout 3, IGN has a awesome restrospective on the history of Fallout. A good read on a good set of games. If you are looking for a lot of gaming value, Ron Perlman, and a history on how to make a great sci-fi RPG Good Old Games has Fallout 1+2 for like 10 bucks. No EA DRM Bullhonkey.

Haven't done much with my radios. Hopefully when it gets warmer, and I have less pregnant wives and throat cancerous cells to worry about I can hook up a couple antennas and get to work on some analog and digital modes on the radios. Baby and I will "ham" it up.

FriendFace

Do you have friend face, it's like a grimy face full of friends.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rNgCnY1lPg

Command & Conquer first decade 1.03 patch

Patch 1.03

Red Alert 2 online play fixed. Nuff Said.

Wintereenmas 2009

This is my tentative Wintereenmas Schedule. Of course in the spirt of gaming it is always open to change if anyone wishes to partake in Wintereenmas Festivities.

January 25th - Command and Conquer 3
January 26th - Tales of Vesperia
January 27th - Burnout Revenge
January 28th - Sins of a Solar Empire
January 29th - Team Fortress 2
January 30th - Starcraft
January 31st - World of Warcraft


http://www.churchofgaming.com/

WINTEREENMAS '09

The Winter-een-mas season is almost apon us. I've got a suite of games lined up for this momentous holiday.  I need to go to the hardware store tonight to get materials for the traditional Winter-Een-Mas staff.

The Maddness, oh the Maddness

Games Played for macdude22 from 19 Dec 2008 through 20 Jan 2009

Pandemic - 4
Arkham Horror - 2
California - 2
Chez Geek - 2
Chez Geek 2: Slack Attack - 2
Chez Geek 3: Block Party - 2
Munchkin Cthulhu - 1
Munchkin Cthulhu 2 - Call of Cowthulhu - 1
Pit - 1

I haven't played too much in the way of TableTop games in the past month but it appears we are rocking hard with Pandemic. The game is amazingly balanced in that it isn't too hard to win, but it's not a pushover either. There is significant strategy involved.

We have also been playing more Arkham horror, which we apparently suck bad at yet I enjoy the game. Maybe I just like the mythology, or perhaps I feel some day we will strike down the ancient one and close all the gates. I'm very interested in the Cthulhu LCG but the Core starter set isn't widely avalable yet.

Sinning

Walmart had Sins of a Solar Empire for 20 bucks on Friday. I rarely buy Windows games, Command and Conquer Red Alert 3, C&C First Decade, and Galactic Civilization II, are among the only ones I've ever bought. I've milled about Sins of a Solar Empire for a long time now, at 20 bucks was worth my purchase. Impulse buy levels at that.

Game is fantastic my first game after the tutorials took me into 5AM Saturday morning without a second thought. It's been a long while since a game has entranced me like that. Highly reccomended, especially if you can pick up a copy at 20 bucks. My username is macdude22 or rakden or something, I don't remember at the moment. If you want to hit some multiplayer.

Apple Tax

The company meanwhile continues to criticize Apple for its alleged "Apple tax," a higher retail cost for computers which otherwise have the same specifications as a Windows system. In an e-mail sent to journalists this week, Microsoft argues that a low-end Mac mini is approximately 16 percent ($100) more costly than an equivalent PC, while a low-end iMac is 25 percent ($300) more expensive.

I'm getting a little tired of people citing this non existent "Apple" tax. That's like saying hey fool, you paid $16K for a corolla when you could have paid $12K for an Aveo. You got suckered by the Toyota tax. You know what's cheaper than a machine running windows. An EEE Box running Linux so why doesn't Microsoft tell us about the Microsoft Tax.

There's a lot of things that cost more in cold hard cash than other things. It's called competition, and it's actually a good thing. I'll stand by that for the average user, and likely a number of professionals, the Total Cost of Ownership is significantly lower.

Microsoft is just whiny that Apple can command such a price for premium products. Make a good product with moderately decent support, and guess what. People might want to buy it!!!! A novel concept. Microsoft should spend more time fixing Windows 7 and less time being whiny kids. But MOM...... Apple's MOM gave him more market share this quarter than you gave me. Microsoft, go to your room with out profit this quarter.

INteresting health device

http://www.fitbit.com/

These guys look to take the idea of a pedometer to a hot new modern level. I'm interested in following how this thing plays out.

Cash Scam

So MBS Direct, UW Extention's online bookstore which whom I purchased my books for the semester sent me an email. Sell back with us, get more money. I'm like aight, I don't need them anymore (Not continuing with the terribly managed program at UW-P, plus I can't take D2L much more, I'll post more on this exchange at a later date) so I click on the link, I'm not expecting much money but for the convenience I'll sell back to you guys. Click the link, log into my account, bam it says we are currently not buying any of your books. Thanks, not only are you not buying them but you tards sent me an email telling me to sell them back. Ugh.

I've listed them on Half.com cheap, hopefully I can unload them for at least beer money. I think all of them are going into new editions in a few months which is why they probably are not buying them. Textbooks are such a CASHEsCaMe