The most important first-person shooter ever created was Half-Life. The most important mod ever created was Counter-Strike. The most anticipated game of last year AND this year, IMHO, is a three way split between Half-Life2, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, and Doom 3. I now have 1/3 of the trifecta pre-loaded on my gaming comp and am waiting for it to be released.
Steam rocks!
1MB/second
My Hikari rocks. This is the fastest browser download I have ever experienced.
Question: Why does IE express download speed in bytes/second? According to numion:
In data communications only the Metric definition of a kilobyte (1000 bytes per kilobyte) is correct. The binary definition of a kilobyte (1024 bytes per kilobyte) is used in areas such as data storage (harddisk, memory), but not for expressing bandwidth and throughput.
So is this usage in IE correct or not? Somehow, I think it is not. Anyhow, this speed of 1.00 MBps is also equivalent to:
8000000 bps (bits per second)
1000000 Bps (bytes per second)
8000 kbps (kilobits per second)
1000 KBps (kilobytes per second)
8 mbps (megabits per second)
It is near the maximum speed of a 10Base-T LAN (10 mbps). The speed tests that I sometimes use show that my max download (and upload) speed on an average day is actually more than three times this, but I have never connected to an HTTP server that could keep up with this during actual net use, even in Japan. It’s like buying a Ferrari – 99% unused potential, and you just know the girls be all over my ride (Can you take me for a ride on your fiber, baby?). Smokin!
Dead to Rights Game Review
Even though I haven’t posted forever, I feel the burning need to warn fellow FPS enthusiasts about the PC game, Dead to Rights. I am very glad I “test drove” the “free” version (thank you, BitTorrent!) of this dreck before buying it. This is an X-Box title ported to PC, and it apparent in its blockiness, difficulty of use, and bloated code. The cracked version is 4 CDs in size! (The fourth CD contains only the crack.) Dude!
Also, a general observation regarding this whole genre of games:
Mandatory “auto-aim” sucks! I understand it as an option for the console game crowd, but people who play FPS on the PC platform are more sophisticated than that (or at least most of us like to think so). I mean really, why the hell have a scoped rifle in the game if you can’t even use the scope and aim it by yourself?
/end nerdrant
Keyring Tool
New multipurpose tool on top of new coffeemaker (retro Bondi Blue skeleton design – so 90’s).
Better than it looks…
There’s nothing like coming home to a pot of day-old curry. The house reeks with pungent goodness and the first mouyhful warms the soul.
Rodentia
I don’t like using third party mouse drivers/software so I usually buy Microsoft mouses although the red one in the middle is a Logitech that has served me well with my Fujitsu laptop. It wasn’t the greatest for playing CS when I started out but either was the 8MB Rage Mobility video card on the laptop…
Chew On This!
Lotte’s “dental” chewing gum – supposedly helps keep teeth white. I nominate it for Official Chewing Gum of Aryanfest 2004.
Another Awaji Bridge Sunset
Wait, maybe this isn’t the bridge. How am I supposed to remember? I was driving, man.
Overstocked
I have no idea why the stalls crammed into overflowing buildings of Namdaemun were so enthralling. It may have been the sheer volume of stuff literally stacked to the ceilings… Or the fact that most of the stores fell into one of the following categories:
– Medicinal/Pharmaceutical
– Leather belts, wallets, and stainless steel kitchenware
– Fake zippos, stunguns, and sunglasses
There were hundreds of stalls on multiple floors of this building… Simply wonderful just to wander around.
One reason why digital cameras suck
I wanted to take photos this weekend but I somehow managed to lose BOTH chargers for the rechargeable Li-Ion batteries. I invested in a second unit since I thought it would be nice to always have one in the car for trips. How I lost both of them is a complete mystery and makes me want to buy a whole new camera.
Gadgets can be clever and evil, and conspire to either sate you only temporarily or completely consume you; toys beget toys.