Third Parties '08

I've predicted that the Republican Party will have at least one major third party break from its ranks this year. After all, the current nominee isn't very acceptable to the Libertarian or the Religious wing of the party. It seems I was wrong about that. The Republicans have always been good at getting into line, and they're staying true to form, it seems.

I was right about something else, though. It does seem that the Democrats are going to the convention without a candidate, since I sincerely doubt either of the candidates are going to drop out at this point.

Months and months ago, someone said, "The Democrats are polling so well, they seem to have this election guaranteed. It'll be interesting to see how they screw it up." At the time, I laughed.

----------------
Now playing: Bob Dylan - Just Like A Woman
via FoxyTunes

Fixing The Xbox

I went to Microsoft's website, and I actually found that they're pretty good about accepting requests to repair the XBOX 360. I think the issue is that the breakdown rate is so high, that challenging people's claims would be too inefficient.

PS. Someone gave me an interesting link: it has the sales for all the major consoles. I had no idea that the Wii was doing this well. Why can't I have one, Uhara-Mazda?

iTunes And Album Art

I don't care about album art. Occasionally, it looks good, but it doesn't actually cause music to sound any different. I still have this attitude, but now I spend hours of my life searching for hundreds of album covers on the Internet, and it's all thanks to iTunes and the iPod Touch. Since the Touch provides the option of looking through your music by scrolling though the album covers, I feel compelled to have a cover for every album I have. This can be tricky, since I have songs that aren't from any album, like Portal's Still Alive, and Crazy Utahraptor, by Ryan North. Also, some songs are singles that were never released in an album. I tend to delete this sort of song, even though I might like it as a song.

What really gives me work are the poorly formatted songs. First, I have to find out that the name of the file is that actual name of the song. Then I have to find what album that song is from on the 'pedia. Then I'll have to surf the internet for a .jpg of the correct size, then download it. This might not sound like much work, but it adds up. I've made this my little project for a while now, and I still have over 400 unformatted songs with no album art.

----------------
Now playing: Pink Floyd - Shine on You Crazy Diamond (part two)
via FoxyTunes

LOLcats

Lately, I've become quite a fan of the LOLcats. I'm extremely late to the boat, I know. But this does not make the LOLcats any worse. In fact, I've found that the average recent LOLcat is better than an older one. Anyway, in honour of the site, I've made a LOLcat of my own. (With a little help from a friend). It's not that great, but I don't care.





PS. Note to self:

Golden weapons in Role-playing game: 60 * 20 * original value. Ultimate show of adventuring wealth.
----------------
Now playing: The Beatles - Golden Slumbers
via FoxyTunes

Breathe and Breath

Dear Internet,

The word "breath" is a noun. It's the air that you breathe.

For example:

• "I took a breath. Then, I continued to breathe regularly."
• "If you cannot breathe, than you cannot take a breath."
• "his breathing became irregular, then he drew his last breath, then he died."
  

Get it right next time, ok?

PS.
Spoiler alert on that last example. Don't read it unless you want to know how every single human story will end.

----------------
Now playing: The Rolling Stones - its only rock and roll
via FoxyTunes

RRoD

First of all, this is my three hundred fiftieth post. Woo!

I was going to drop some pearls of wisdom on this momentous event, but something important has happened. Something.... enraging.

The Red Ring of Death.

That's right. As of today, it appears that my XBOX 360 has died. There's no guarantee either way, but I'm not too optimistic. Now I'll have to see what byzantine system the Microsoft people use to deal with fixing the 'box. Sigh.

----------------
Now playing: Bruce Springsteen - Hungry Heart
via FoxyTunes

Phobias

I have two phobias. I'm not going to tell you the one that is easy for any idiot to use against me, but I will tell you about the other.

I have a phobia of underwater stages in games that generally aren't underwater. More specifically, it's the giant fish that inevitably appears. The one that is capable of eating you in one attack. This danger, combined with an awkward control system for being underwater, has led to a persistent and irrational fear of this sort of thing.

----------------
Now playing: Bob Dylan - Dark Eyes
via FoxyTunes

Little Post

I can't sleep, but I have no energy. I suppose this is my overnight job coming back to bite me; I can't sleep on demand.

----------------
Now playing: Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart
via FoxyTunes

Smash Bros Initial Thoughts

After playing some Smash Brothers, here are my first impressions:

• I desperately need to find a Wii. This is driving me crazy.
• The cinematics in this game are fantastic. There are more "wow, that was awesome" moments in this than in any other game's cutscenes.
• Solid Snake is too cool.
• The designers have done a good job of making different characters actually different, instead of just a paint-job on an old character.
• No huge changes in the core gameplay. If you didn't like the old games, you probably won't like this one.
• Picking up items is a lot easier. You can pick them up whilst on the run or in the air by just pressing "A". This reduces the value of my ultra-L337 item-grabbing skills from Melee.

Also, did I mention that Solid Snake is awesome? He totally is.

Some Other Thoughts:

• Those little white balls that have the letter "B" on them? STAY AWAY!
• Yes, Final Smashes are overpowered, but they are also COMPLETELY AWESOME!
• Has anyone tried making a custom level that's just a box with a small aperture? This would make for some strange fights with lots of damage.
• The attention to detail in this game is fantastic. You can tell the the creators cared very much about it.
• When it comes to level design, my only complaint is that the game is a little too awesome. Some of the levels can be a little distracting with all the stuff in the background.
• Snake!
  
  ----------------
  Now playing: Radiohead - Morning Bell/Amnesiac
  via FoxyTunes
  

Smash Bros Brawl

I got Smash Bros Brawl. It is very good. I got to play as Snake, and it is lots of fun. There was this one part where Snake killed some people, and I really enjoyed it. Good times.

----------------
Now playing: Queen - These Are the Days Of Our Lives
via FoxyTunes

Gary Gygax, RIP

Gary Gygax has died. We owe to him a common hobby, and everything that has stemmed from it. I challenge you to find someone whose influence has been as pervasive in the gaming world. Before you answer, consider that even modern games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy haven't made much progress beyond their common ancestor, D&D.

PS. This Tribute is much better than anything I could say.

----------------
Now playing: Danny Elfman - Town Meeting Song
via FoxyTunes