I'm not always a good friend. I try to be, but then life takes over and I find I lose touch with people, both online and offline. Sometimes I find myself in conversations with friends who are talking about things I didn't know about. I had no idea El Sand Dog had his appendix removed. I've lost track of QJB's operations. I seem to forget the names of kids and spouses of people on my friends list, which is a result of not talking to them for a while. I'm sure that there's plenty more that I can't list here simply because I don't know about it.
Even here locally, I've lost track of friends that I've known since grade school. I'm starting to feel guilty about it. Now, I'm not a Facebook guy, I'm a face-to-face guy. I prefer to talk to someone or email someone directly than read a post on a website as to how they're doing. I'm also a private person by nature and my life is not the business of the general public. Not to mention I'd have to wrestle Rhonda for the PC. I'm sure she'd just as soon call the police and have me arrested for domestic abuse rather than give up "her" computer.
Time is my enemy. Always has been. There's never enough of it for me to do the things that I would like to do. And for some reason, I've had really low energy lately too, which doesn't help. I think I need a multi-vitamin with a Red Bull chaser. And for the first time ever, I'm considering a Facebook account just to consolidate my friends (or the vast majority thereof) and make a concerted effort to know what's going on in their lives on a regular basis. I'm a little anti-facebook because the whole "stalkbook" thing. It earned that nickname for a reason, so I'm still a little uncertain.
In the meantime, I'm going to try and make a better effort to keep in touch with my friends. It's time that the "friend" on your "friends list" makes an appearance again.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The "Community Console"
"She's the community bicycle, baby. Everybody's had a ride." - Austin Powers
A couple of blogs ago, Pengwenn and I were discussing spare consoles and she had mentioned that she might send one to Ghengis as a temporary measure to get him back online until he had the opportunity to get one for himself. I was thinking about kicking in financially for that so that she wouldn't have to bear the whole cost of it. I knew that I had a spare console or two lying around as do some of our other friends. With the high mortality rate of the Xbox 360 and the increasingly long waits to get repaired units back, keeping a spare one these days just makes sense. But it made me start thinking about another idea: The community console.
The concept is simple: Whoever needs it would get it and then they would send it on to the next person when they need it. Beamer and I have been trading games for about 1 1/2 years now, and that has gone well. In our case, it has saved us each some money and it had given us the chance to play games that we might not have otherwise tried if we had to pay big bucks for them. We would be simply extending this idea to the console itself.
Like any new idea, there are plenty issues that would have to be worked out. Who wants to be involved? Who pays for the initial one? If we all chip in, how does the money get collected? Who looks after it? What happens if it breaks down? Do the shipping costs make it prohibitive? The answer to all of these questions is the same: I don't know. We'd have to work it out. But it was just an idea and I thought I'd throw it out there. It works for games. Einstein once said that "If at first an idea does not seem totally absurd, it will never work". How absurd is this? You be the judge.
A couple of blogs ago, Pengwenn and I were discussing spare consoles and she had mentioned that she might send one to Ghengis as a temporary measure to get him back online until he had the opportunity to get one for himself. I was thinking about kicking in financially for that so that she wouldn't have to bear the whole cost of it. I knew that I had a spare console or two lying around as do some of our other friends. With the high mortality rate of the Xbox 360 and the increasingly long waits to get repaired units back, keeping a spare one these days just makes sense. But it made me start thinking about another idea: The community console.
The concept is simple: Whoever needs it would get it and then they would send it on to the next person when they need it. Beamer and I have been trading games for about 1 1/2 years now, and that has gone well. In our case, it has saved us each some money and it had given us the chance to play games that we might not have otherwise tried if we had to pay big bucks for them. We would be simply extending this idea to the console itself.
Like any new idea, there are plenty issues that would have to be worked out. Who wants to be involved? Who pays for the initial one? If we all chip in, how does the money get collected? Who looks after it? What happens if it breaks down? Do the shipping costs make it prohibitive? The answer to all of these questions is the same: I don't know. We'd have to work it out. But it was just an idea and I thought I'd throw it out there. It works for games. Einstein once said that "If at first an idea does not seem totally absurd, it will never work". How absurd is this? You be the judge.
Monday, August 9, 2010
The "New" Xbox 360: A Review
I had promised a review of the new Xbox 360 when I had it up and running for a couple of weeks, so here it is:
Microsoft claims it is "whisper quiet". That claim is true. You can barely hear it run. The only issue I have is when I play Alan Wake. For some reason, that disc makes a ton of noise when it spins. It's the only one like that.
Data transfer sucks. This is my biggest pet peeve with it. I had previously changed my data over from a 20GB hard drive to a 120GB hard drive and it was easy. The new hard drive came with a data transfer cable that I had kept. I tried to use it but it didn't work because the new hard drive is internal. My 512MB memory card didin't work because they got rid of the ports for it on the new one. I had to buy a flash drive to use to transfer save data. Some of the DLC I just downloaded again. It's a pain in the gluteus maximus, to be sure. If there is an easier way to do it, I don't know about it. If nothing else it forces you to go through your hard drive and clean house of unplayed game data, demos, and videos. I also hear the hard drive is proprietary so you can't just go out and buy a bigger drive and install it yourself. They do cover all their bases, don't they?
The engineers at Microsoft finally figured out that heat rises. The exhaust fan pushes heat out the top (when laid horizontally). Supposedly it runs cooler, but it feels like it runs really hot.
It gets dirty very easy. You can see every spec of dust on it. And the power/disc eject touch buttons are incredibly sensitive. I've accidently ejected discs because I brushed up against it.
The wireless N connection feels just as fast as or faster than my previously wired connection. I had a couple of minor hiccups with connections being dropped (L4D2 on Sunday night) but I know that was on my end and I have to adjust some computer settings. There is a direct correlation between dropping wirelss connections on both my PS3 and my 360 to when my computer decides to go into low energy mode.
Other than that it's still an Xbox 360. All the old controllers and games still work. It's not a game changer by any stretch of the imagination. It just provides the people with what they've been asking for - a more reliable console (time will tell on that one) with a few more features to it. My conclusion: If you've been thinking about upgrading you might find a better way to spend your money - unless your current console is knocking on heaven's door.
Microsoft claims it is "whisper quiet". That claim is true. You can barely hear it run. The only issue I have is when I play Alan Wake. For some reason, that disc makes a ton of noise when it spins. It's the only one like that.
Data transfer sucks. This is my biggest pet peeve with it. I had previously changed my data over from a 20GB hard drive to a 120GB hard drive and it was easy. The new hard drive came with a data transfer cable that I had kept. I tried to use it but it didn't work because the new hard drive is internal. My 512MB memory card didin't work because they got rid of the ports for it on the new one. I had to buy a flash drive to use to transfer save data. Some of the DLC I just downloaded again. It's a pain in the gluteus maximus, to be sure. If there is an easier way to do it, I don't know about it. If nothing else it forces you to go through your hard drive and clean house of unplayed game data, demos, and videos. I also hear the hard drive is proprietary so you can't just go out and buy a bigger drive and install it yourself. They do cover all their bases, don't they?
The engineers at Microsoft finally figured out that heat rises. The exhaust fan pushes heat out the top (when laid horizontally). Supposedly it runs cooler, but it feels like it runs really hot.
It gets dirty very easy. You can see every spec of dust on it. And the power/disc eject touch buttons are incredibly sensitive. I've accidently ejected discs because I brushed up against it.
The wireless N connection feels just as fast as or faster than my previously wired connection. I had a couple of minor hiccups with connections being dropped (L4D2 on Sunday night) but I know that was on my end and I have to adjust some computer settings. There is a direct correlation between dropping wirelss connections on both my PS3 and my 360 to when my computer decides to go into low energy mode.
Other than that it's still an Xbox 360. All the old controllers and games still work. It's not a game changer by any stretch of the imagination. It just provides the people with what they've been asking for - a more reliable console (time will tell on that one) with a few more features to it. My conclusion: If you've been thinking about upgrading you might find a better way to spend your money - unless your current console is knocking on heaven's door.
Hot Tub Time Machine
OK, this is a non-gaming post. There may be more of these to follow.
As some of you probably know by now, we moved a little over a month ago. Our new house has a hot tub. I've wanted a hot tub for a while now. It feels SOOOOOOOOOO good on my poor aching back. But aside from that, it took me back to the time of leg warmers, cassette tapes and Michael Jackson being black. Yup, my teen-age years: the 80's.
When we were younger, my dad asked us if we would rather have a pool or a cabin. The unanimous answer was a pool. And with it, we had summer fun. Impromptu pool parties when a bunch of us would just stop whatever we were doing and overtake our back yard. I can still see one of my friends jumping off the diving board, turning around and mooning us (much to my mother's dismay) before his bare a$$ hit the water. I can remember making out with a couple of different girls in the pool (not at the same time, mind you). It was definitely good for the love life. Ah, youth. It truly is wasted on the young.
But it also takes me back to the troubles my Dad had. The maintenance on such an item was constant. Trying to keep it clean, making sure the chemical levels were good, making sure it was properly winterized,... When we moved out of that house I'm pretty sure he was relieved that he didn't have to maintain it anymore. This takes me to where I am now. The kid in me came out when I first got it, but the adult in me still has to maintain it. It had been 20 years since we had a pool and I had forgotten about the additional time, money, and effort to keep it running. The hot tub is a little less effort because it is better shielded from the elements than a pool is, but it's still there.
So far, it has been worth it. My back feels pretty good and It's very relaxing. It gives Rhonda and I the chance to spend some quiet time alone with each other and that's not always easy to do. And while it takes me back to my youth in some ways, I don't go directly back in time like they did in the movie. Thank goodness for that, because I don't think I could pull off the mullet today.
As some of you probably know by now, we moved a little over a month ago. Our new house has a hot tub. I've wanted a hot tub for a while now. It feels SOOOOOOOOOO good on my poor aching back. But aside from that, it took me back to the time of leg warmers, cassette tapes and Michael Jackson being black. Yup, my teen-age years: the 80's.
When we were younger, my dad asked us if we would rather have a pool or a cabin. The unanimous answer was a pool. And with it, we had summer fun. Impromptu pool parties when a bunch of us would just stop whatever we were doing and overtake our back yard. I can still see one of my friends jumping off the diving board, turning around and mooning us (much to my mother's dismay) before his bare a$$ hit the water. I can remember making out with a couple of different girls in the pool (not at the same time, mind you). It was definitely good for the love life. Ah, youth. It truly is wasted on the young.
But it also takes me back to the troubles my Dad had. The maintenance on such an item was constant. Trying to keep it clean, making sure the chemical levels were good, making sure it was properly winterized,... When we moved out of that house I'm pretty sure he was relieved that he didn't have to maintain it anymore. This takes me to where I am now. The kid in me came out when I first got it, but the adult in me still has to maintain it. It had been 20 years since we had a pool and I had forgotten about the additional time, money, and effort to keep it running. The hot tub is a little less effort because it is better shielded from the elements than a pool is, but it's still there.
So far, it has been worth it. My back feels pretty good and It's very relaxing. It gives Rhonda and I the chance to spend some quiet time alone with each other and that's not always easy to do. And while it takes me back to my youth in some ways, I don't go directly back in time like they did in the movie. Thank goodness for that, because I don't think I could pull off the mullet today.
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