Halloween Update

This Halloween update for TF2 has an extremely small amount of new information about the TF2 backstory, even assuming it's true. But all we knew before this was contained in a single paragraph, so this is actually a windfall in comparison.

So, what have we learned? According to the Last Will and Testament of Zephaniah Mann, he ran a company investing in the unsettled Americas, and divided the company between his two sons, Blutarch and Redmond, (Clearly Blu and Red, just look at the family portrait!) leaving an armament company to his Aide and Tracker, Barnabas Hale, who is presumably Saxton Hale's father.

The announcer is apparently the "Maidservant" of Mann, again refer to the family portrait. She was given a fortune of wealth and deeds. I guess the assumption is that Red and Blu are fighting over control of what was left to them, and support of the announcer, who we now know is named Elizabeth.


PS
A portion of the will is covered by sand, describing another beneficiary of the will. This mystery figure is left the "Entirety of [His]... [The Will is cut off here]... and swear you to utmost secrecy in its keeping." This presents two problems:

1. Who's that mystery guy on the right side of the picture, presumably the figure referred to here?
   
2. There doesn't seem to be anything left to endow to anyone. He's already given away his deeds, stocks, lands, and a munitions company.

Typical secrecy from Valve.

L4D2

Here's my take on L4D2:

It does the stuff that L4D should have done, and the only reason that they're not doing it as an expansion is that you can't do that kind of thing on the 360. I feel like I got screwed for paying 50$ for a game with essentially one game mode: hide in a corner and spam attacks.

From TVTropes:

"The first movie sequels to have the same name as the first with a number added was French Connection II (1975). Adding "Part II", "Part 3" is much older (e.g. Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part Two or Little Women, Part Second; FC2 was the first to add just a number."

Bug Fix

*Fixed being able to eat your sandvich (via taunt) and drop it in the same frame.

Wait a second, you can't have your sandvich and eat it too?

The Invention of Lying

Ricky Gervais' The Invention of Lying begins as a single-premise comedy: wouldn't it be funny if everyone was brutally honest, all the time? (Answer: sorta) But it becomes The Invention of Religion about halfway through. By boldly asserting that Religion doesn't exist without lies, Gervais isn't being particularly subtle about his thesis.

There is one point that I think bears more examination: when the film's characters are exposed to religion for the first time ever, they take it much differently than someone in our world; they take it deadly serious. The reasoning is obvious; if you have a chance to enjoy eternal happiness in the future, all other parts of life become trivial in comparison. So when the film's characters are told they are allowed two sins (Like baseball, three strikes and you're out) some characters wisely decide to drink themselves into a stupor, since it helps keep you out of trouble sin-wise, and it accelerates their deaths, after which, their "life" will be better.

Why don't we see people "gaming" the system in our world? Why don't people spend their formative years figuring out how to get into heaven, then spending every bit of labour for the remainder of their lives trying to secure that place in heaven?

They Don't Believe.

Health Care Bill

Everyone in Congress agrees that insurance companies shouldn't be able to use pre-existing conditions as a means to cheat people out of insurance. It's in every version of the health care bill. Why doesn't Congress just pass the stuff people all agree on? Why do we have to have one big bill that covers everything at once, that no one understands?

Top Hat, the Best TF2 Hat

EDIT: A lot of time has passed since this post, and a lot of new hats have come out. To see my new favorite hat, check this out.

A while ago, I decided that the Top Hat was the best hat in the game. When trading comes out, I'll trade any of my existing hats for one. There's a mod that some servers have that allow you to wear hats that you haven't earned, and on any class.

This allowed me to test my theory: Is the Top Hat not just the best hat for one class, is it the best hat for every class? (The answer: Yes)

PS. I lied about the Heavy, the Top Hat actually clips through his forehead and looks kinda stupid.

An Open Letter To Valve

Dear Valve, please make an idle map.

It may seem unintuitive to make a map that people don't do anything on, but if you've seen idle maps, you'll know that people do things on idle maps. People do lots of things, silly things and serious things. The current idle map of choice, Achievement_Idle, is terrible. There's almost no chance for skill interaction, and people still do interesting things.

There's infinite potential for idling maps, since you don't need to make it fair or balanced. There's no need to create round times, or anything like that either. Make an area for jumping, an area for some soccer, and an area for Heavy Picnics. You've made it so that people are going to idle, you may as well give us a playground.

Silver Lining in Every Cloud

I think most people would say that the weather is pretty miserable today; it's cloudy, it's been drizzling, and the temperature and windchill are beginning to hint at winter.

But this is the perfect time to go to the Zoo. With this temperature, the animals can be active without overheating, and fewer people go outside to bother the animals, so they're more interested in visitors. I had a fantastic time today, there were two grizzly bears really duking it out while simultaneously swimming in their pool, right in front of the glass. I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, but I took a lot, so at least a few should turn out right. I'll have some pictures up soon, I'm sure.