Bag Of Crap - Thursday, July 15, 2010
So during the last Woot-off, I was able to get a Bag of Crap! I got it more for the honor associated with successfully ordering a bag of crap. So when my box from Woot arrive, I was excited. Here’s what I got in my Bag of Crap:
Two calenders, a Pirates of the Caribbean pack (and we all know how much I like Pirates of the Caribbean), and two High School Musical alarm clocks. Weak? Infinitely. I was saddened by my BoC until I saw this:
This thing is awesome! You want to know why it’s awesome? It flies and shrieks during flight. That is just absurdly awesome. You know what else is awesome? This picture Rachel drew. Am I on a robotic raptor? Indeed I am. I didn’t even mention the sword, she just added it because she’s awesome. Third nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Ever.
My brother is currently visiting me, and he beat FF XIII quicker than I. Jerk. At least that gave him more time to kill zombies. I’ve bought the Resident Evil 5 DLC, and I refuse to play with an A.I. This is the first time I’ve played Resident Evil 5 on my widescreen TV with two players, and for some asinine reason, our screens don’t fill up the entire TV. All that black space on my TV makes me feel cheated. While playing RE 5, my brother and I realized how much better it would be if we were playing with a keyboard and mouse (or a Wiimote). Shooters with gamepads are not the most elegant way to go.
Speaking of elegance, I got a Starcraft 2 beta key, and my SC2 abilities are anything but elegant. My macro and micro are steadily improving, but I seem to make silly mistakes and pay for it. For example, this guy is coming for my base, but there are rocks blocking his way. I, of course, want to make mutalisks to defend this. I have the minerals and gas for this, but I let myself get supplied blocked (no mutalisks for me until I get more overlords). So by the time he gets into my base, I don’t have nearly enough mutalisks to fend off the attack (I have plenty of overlords now) and it’s all over. A wiser man would have taken some drones and turned them into spine crawlers to fend off this attack until enough mutalisks were spawned to handle this, but I’m not a wiser man. An even wiser man would have more than enough overlords, but I am not an even wiser man. I’m just a man who gets spanked in SC2. At least Picross 3D doesn’t make me feel like a loser.
Before I go, I have a couple of pictures!
We were rusty, but upon seeing this, my brother and I realized we were ready to play the DLC.
My brother was quite proud of this, and I was impressed. Yes, that’s a can of nuts inside a former container of nuts. Xzibit would be proud. And now we’re done.
André//9:54 PM//Someone felt like leaving a commentAHH! NEW! GOLDEN! SUN! - Monday, June 21, 2010
Last week, as many of you know, is E3 week. E3 is where gaming companies show off their latest wares. I have all 3 major consoles, so I was hoping that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo would bring the awesome. Penny Arcade pretty much summed up their press conferences quite accurately. I hate Nintendo’s ability to make me give them money, because that’s what’s going to happen. Also, they’re finally releasing a new Golden Sun game! I have said that I would rage quit life if the third Golden Sun game didn’t come out by the end of this year. Nintendo has made sure that I don’t commit the angriest seppuku ever, at least for another year. Sure, the new Kirby game looks beyond awesome, and Zelda is always an insta-buy, but neither are Golden-frickin-Sun. It’s been 7 years since the last time I got to enjoy Golden Sun! 7 long years. The only thing I’m more excited about is the Nintendo 3DS. I will be in line at midnight. I will have it the day it comes out and life will be better. Food will taste better. Colors will be more vivid. Microsoft left me really underwhelmed. Sony did better, but I barely cared about their conference because it was after Nintendo’s conference. I hope Microsoft doesn’t embarrass themselves again next year.
Speaking of embarrassment, I’ve recently started playing Starcraft again. This time, I’ll actually beat the game instead of rage-quitting during the last Zerg mission (I lost my entire army and now I have to defend this point? Rage!). Then I’ll break Brood War over my knee. Then I’ll think about playing online and laugh once I realize how bad of an idea that is. Some 5 year old Korean kid will drop siege tanks in the back of my base 5 minutes into the game. I need to find someone who sucks as much as I do to play Starcraft with. I need to do a lot of things, like continue playing Picross 3D. It’s like crack you don’t have to do shameful things for.
André//10:34 AM//I'm surprised 3 people left commentsVegetation - Saturday, June 5, 2010
You know what I love? Doing nothing. You know how I spent my Memorial Day weekend? Mostly inside my apartment. 4 days of not having any responsibilities. Yes, 4 days. I took Tuesday off, just because I felt like it. It felt good having time off that didn’t require me to travel somewhere and/or do anything. I just sat around and did enjoyable stuff. I played so much Super Mario Galaxy 2. Nintendo made sure that beating this game completely would not be a simple task. I tried to record some music, but things were giving me grief. I could use Windows, but I don’t enjoy using Windows. I also spent a large amount of my mini-vacation doing a large amount of game programming with OpenGL. Right now, I have a tank shooting…things. Really.
It’s pretty much the next Team Fortress 2, except completely not. Speaking of Valve games, I’ve had Left 4 Dead 2 for months, but I’ve yet to play it. I don’t know why I haven’t even bothered to go through part of one campaign. I should find some L4D2 buddies with mics. I need to practice my 12 year old kid voice. They’re gonna love that so much.
You know what else is horrible? Dr. Horrible and his sing-along blog. That’s not exactly fair. The only part that I don’t like is the singing, and there is a lot of singing. Yes, I know Felicia Day is in it (which doesn’t impress me). Yes, I know Neil Patrick Harris is in it (and he’s pretty much superior to me in every way). I do not care about these facts. Every time they start singing, I just wanted to rage-quit life. In general, musical numbers and I just don’t get along very well. People say Glee is great, but I can’t get past all that singing. I watched an episode, and that was the last episode I’ll ever watch. Every time I see a musical number in Family Guy, I just fast forward (with rage). But I digress slightly, Dr. Horrible would have been awesome if it wasn’t a sing-along blog. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s Saturday morning. Time to veg.
André//8:36 AM//Someone felt like leaving a commentWiddly wom! Widdly, widdly, widdly wom! - Sunday, May 23, 2010
Have you seen my new acoustic/electric guitar?
Now you have. It was $700, and completely worth it. Look at that matte-black beauty. I don’t even know why they bother making non-matte instruments; matte is superior. Every guitar/bass I buy from now on will be matte. Did I tell you it also sound beautiful, because it does. It’s like happiness being directly pumped into my ears. It seems to rarely go out of tune, but if it does, this thing even has a tuner built in. Isn’t that awesome? It is. I can change tunings with far less effort. My only complaint is the action is a bit higher than I would like for it to be, and I’m scared to adjust such things on an acoustic guitar. I’ll probably have to have it done by a pro.
On a completely unrelated note, today is Super Mario Galaxy 2 day! New games should always come out on a weekend; I don’t know what Square was thinking releasing Final Fantasy XIII on Tuesday. I bought the game at midnight, and I have collected 37 stars so far. It’s absurdly good, and you’d be stupid not to buy this game for your Wii. Yes, stupid. I might end up beating the game by the end of the day (i.e., collect enough stars to face and defeat Bowser). I might beat it in time for the Lost finale! Some people are throwing Lost parties, which I think is absurd. I shall watch it alone and in the comfort of my own home; I don’t trust people not to ruin my Lost happiness. Speaking of happiness, I was pleased to find out that Amanda actually updated her blog. I was also surprised to find out that she basically cut off all her hair. I should cut my hair at some point. My dreads are a little too awesome.
André//2:59 PM//No one ever leaves commentsWould you like to listen to my mad beats? - Monday, May 3, 2010
I went to Lawrence, Kansas for the first time in my life. There is a load of sororities there. One could go as far as to say there are loads of sororities. I’ve never seen so many sororities in my life. I also met a gentleman with sideburns which could only be described using a word that I try to use as little as possible: epic. I can’t remember his name, but I remember those sideburns. I shall give him the mental name C. Montgomery Burns (mental names are names I give to people in my mind until I remember their name). I also had bubble tea, which Vernie insisted I try. It was disappointment in liquid form, but I tried it; no one can say I don’t try new things.
As I was being shown downtown Lawrence (while sipping my disappointing bubble tea), some dude sitting down on a bench (I think it was a bench) with a keyboard saw me and insisted that I should listen to his “mad beats”. I, being a black man, obviously enjoy listening to the maddest of beats. So my only option was to stop, listen to his mad, possibly angry beats, and critique the aforementioned beats. Actually, I just looked at him and kept walking. I didn’t even say a word to him as he hit the play/go/whatever button on his keyboard. I wasn’t offended that he saw a black man and thought he’d enjoy some hip-hop. He had a high probability of his assumption being correct. But you know what happens when you assume: it makes you look stupid and wrong. And for the record, his beats were lackluster. I should have just listened to it and said “You’ve embarrassed us both.”
Speaking of music that can be embarrassing, I recently purchased a mic and audio interface for guitar/bass recording purposes. I’ve yet to get the audio interface to work perfectly and consistently on Linux. I’m getting xruns (skips) far too often. I think I need to do something more drastic than I want to, like installing separate Linux OS for the sole purpose of recording guitar/bass tracks. Speaking of guitars, I have settled on buying myself an acoustic guitar. This will solve the problem of not having an instrument to play when traveling. I’ve even found the guitar I want. I had no intention of getting an acoustic/electric guitar, but I’m clearly getting one anyway. By the end of the week, my instrument stand will have one less open slot.
André//6:10 PM//I'm surprised 2 people left commentsMetal Pedal - Tuesday, April 13, 2010
When I noticed that my Rock Band 2 drum pedal decided it was time to start breaking, I decided it was time to invest in something sturdier. So I bought an Omega Pedal and hoped it would arrive before the crap pedal died (it did). One might ask if it’s wise to spend so $75 on a pedal for a fake drum set. I would likely reply to such a query with “I have more money than I know what to do with right now.” Also, the pedal is so awesome. It’s basically a real drum pedal modded to work with a drum controller. It makes playing certain songs significantly easier. No longer am I defeated by songs that require two quick taps of the pedal (I’m looking at you, I.V.); I heel-toe those songs like a boss.
When I’m not playing Rock Band 2, I’m making my way through the excessively long list of games I didn’t play because I was trying to finish my research/thesis. As I make my way though the aforementioned list list, I’ve realized something: the time is right to make a game. I’ve always wanted to make games, but I either lacked the motivation or the free time to work on one. The last time I had both the motivation and free time was high school. I made a little game called “Tank Tank the Tank Game”. I had big ideas, but I was only motivated enough to make part of it. However, I’m now older (ancient), wiser, and more awesome than I was in high school (I really, really sucked in high school). I still draw as well as I did then (poorly), but now I know people who can draw, e.g., my youngest sibling. I could make it happen, just as soon as I’m done handing over my dignity and pride to the second part of Persona 3 and certain people update their blog. Do they expect me to work at work? Rubbish.
André//8:57 AM//No one ever leaves commentsFalling in love - Monday, March 29, 2010
I never thought I’d be in love, but I was wrong (I don’t get to say that often). I remember exactly what I was doing when I realized I was in love. I was in front of my TV and about 4-5 hours in to Final Fantasy XIII. Some serious business just went down and the entire game changed. That’s when I realized I loved this game. I continued playing well into the night, and it was bliss. However, she quickly started abusing me, but I still stuck with her. After 47 hours, I finally left her, but mostly because I finished the game.
People will try and tell you that Final Fantasy XIII is too linear. While you do spend the first half of the game going from place to place, there’s a pretty good reason (i.e., they explain it in the story) why you’re going from place to place. Eventually you get to do side quests, and there’s a large number of things to kill and things to do (there’s even “end game” stuff!). People will try and say the combat is simply reduced to “press x and win”. As you progress through the game, you’ll wish that was true. They’ve up the difficulty significantly, and not by having random things you have no business trying to kill like in Final Fantasy XII. You can, and will, be killed by normal enemies. Bosses will kill you in seemingly unfair (but completely fair) ways, and there’s a limit to how much grinding can help. People will tell you the story is stupid, but I disagree. However, my biggest problem with the story are the characters. I find it hard to take Lightning McFlippySoldier seriously due to the fact that she decides to run into combat wearing the shortest skirt she could find. However, my biggest problem with the characters is that all of them aren’t Sazh. I’d be happy rolling with 3 Sazhs in my party.
Regardless, the game was great. I would have defeated it much sooner if my mom and brother didn’t decide to visit me. I took time out of my busy Final Fantasy XIII schedule to clean my apartment and do other things I wouldn’t have done if I wasn’t expecting visitors. It wasn’t so bad. I came home after work to an apartment smelling like delicious food and brownies. Who hates brownies? No one worth liking.
André//9:14 AM//No one ever leaves commentsWhat happens when you try to do nice things - Friday, March 19, 2010
Let me tell you a story about a laptop. In September, I bought my mom a laptop from HP. Why? Because I’m a good son who does good things occasionally. Since I was going to Alabama for my aunt’s wedding (I hate weddings), I figure I’d have the laptop delivered to my apartment and deliver it to my mom personally. Of course, I panic slightly because the laptop seemed like it wouldn’t make it on time, but lo and behold, FedEx makes it happen. I find that the laptop arrived on the day of my flight, so I decide to stop at my apartment and grab the laptop before heading to the airport. So I go home, see that laptop was left at the apartment office, which is apparently what delivery guys do when I’m not home. Let me tell you about packages left in the apartment office. If you have a delivery guy leave a package in the apartment office, it gets put in a closet. No one watches the closet, anybody can waltz in and jack stuff from it. Not only that, they explain this to you when you sign the “you can’t sue us for lost packages” clause in the lease. So I roll (yes, roll) up to the office expecting a laptop. I open the closet, and notice a severe lack of laptop from HP.
No one knows where it is. FedEx says the delivery guy distinctly remembers leaving it in the closet (although there’s no way of verifying it actually made it to the closet). After repeated calls and several days, FedEx eventually told me that they’re waiting on documentation from HP to go forward with the claim. FedEx suggests I yell at HP, which is exactly what I did. HP apologizes and tells me that they’ll look into it, they’re likely going to send me a replacement laptop, and they’ll call me back. Of course, they never call back. In the meantime, I get a call from the Olathe Police Department (OPD). I panicked a bit (in my head, of course), then remembered that I use TrueCrypt, so all was well. Apparently, they found the laptop! It’s stolen property! Unfortunately, they found just the laptop (no charger, CDs, etc.) and the shipping info. It has been used! It’s no longer new! I, of course, haven’t told HP or FedEx about this. If I did, they’d just say “Oh, the package is found! Great!” and kindly tell me to die in a fire.
After the OPD called, I was promptly reminded that my mom doesn’t have a laptop, and HP & FedEx haven’t called me. So I called HP and they told me that they considered it a valid delivery. So I inform them that I had an expectation that the package would be delivered to me and signed by me, not some third party. Furthermore, he delivery guy left the laptop at the leasing office without my permission, and that’s why it went missing. They told me they considered it a valid delivery and I should talk to the leasing office. I informed them of the “you can’t sue us for lost packages” and reminded them about expectations and permission. Then the lady repeated what she said and this went on until I talked to her manager. She told me she’ll forward this to the people that handle this and I should call back on the next business day.
When I called back, she said what her subordinate said; however, she added that it was FedEx who old HP that the delivery was valid, and I should get into contact with them. So I call FedEx and they say that they’re still waiting on documentation from HP. I informed them of what HP told them and they said they considered it their fault and I would need to take it up with HP. This went back and forth until I HP said they won’t do anything unless they hear otherwise from FedEx and FedEx tells me they considered it a valid delivery and are still waiting to hear from HP. My mom suggested I decided to try and dispute the claim on my debit card, which is something I apparently can do. Bank of America temporarily credited my debit account, and I wondered why I didn’t do this sooner. By the way, we’re in late December now.
The day after this, I get a call from the OPD and they inform me that they still had my laptop, and if things don’t go well with HP/FedEx, I can still pick it up. “Aren’t cops great!?”, exclaims the young black male. Eventually, I get a letter from Bank of America saying my temporary credit is now a permanent one. Awesome, although it took them 75 days to sort it out. So I got my money back, and now I’m going to buy my mom another laptop (definitely not an HP). If any good has come from this, it’s that my apartment complex now locks that closet door and has people sign for things. As for the stolen laptop, the OPD still has it. If they call me about it, I’ll tell them that they should let HP know, because it’s not my problem. Am I going to tell HP about their laptop? What do you think?
André//4:03 PM//Someone felt like leaving a commentEat it, Persona 3. - Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Yesterday, I finally beat Persona 3, and it only took me 70+ hours to beat. If you count the amount of times I died painful, brutal deaths, it took me 80+ hours. 10 hours of death? Yes. I think Persona 3 is the only game in recent memory that has made me drop/throw my controller in anger/disgust, and I’ve played Mega Man 9. The sad part is that I have the FES version; it comes with a second part that you get to play after the first. Atlus says the second part is 30+ hours long, and they’re probably right. I would be all over that if it wasn’t for one tiny fact: Final Frickin’ Fantasy XIII.
I’ve bought a PS3 for FF XIII (that, and God of War 3) since the XBox 360 version is subpar. I considered taking the day off of work, but I settled with just leaving work early. I got FF XIII at midnight, and the moment I get home, I shall be glued to my TV until I have to sleep. That’s the one thing I miss about being and undergrad (if I ignore the semester I took Advanced Calculus 1): the absurd amount of free time I had. I definitely didn’t work for 40 hours a week. I could always postpone doing my homework for a day. However, I can’t just not come to work without using my sweet, sweet vacation time. But alas, work allows me to just buy a PS3 because I feel like it, so work I must. I’ve heard some unpleasant things about FF XIII, but Final Fantasy games get the benefit of the doubt from me, since I’ve found all the ones since FF VI to be enjoyable.
Speaking of vacation time (and getting a bit off-topic), I kinda want to take a week off of work to do absolutely nothing. I don’t want to go anywhere, do anything, visit anyone, or have anyone visit me. I just want to sit at home, and not be productive. But I kinda feel like that would be a waste of vacation time, especially considering I only get 3 weeks of it per year. On the other hand, I usually spend my vacation days going to visit family, and traveling to Missouri/Alabama is a time consuming task. It would be nice to just take time off and not have to drive anywhere. And it’s not like I really have any desire to travel to some far off land. Well, I kind a want to go to Japan, but I never want to go to Montréal again. It’s like going to France, except everyone is Canadian. And you know what they say about Canadians: they have awesome health care.
André//9:23 AM//No one ever leaves commentsI’ve got pictures on my mind - Sunday, February 21, 2010
I recently bought a camera off of Woot that I don’t seem to have much use for. Since I want to feel like my money was well spent, I decided to take some pictures.
This is my white board, where I (computer) science and write reminders for myself. Apparently, I need to call my mom. The random boxes with numbers in it are for the Tron AI tournament that I’m in, and I’m doing pretty well. I entered just because it looked interesting with the goal of just doing better than half the people who enter, but now I’m in it to win it.
This is the replacement pedal EA sent me after my first drum pedal snapped in two. This pedal is probably about 3 weeks old. Notice that crack in both the base and the pedal? I don’t know what I’m doing, but I don’t think the Rock Band pedals can’t withstand it. I should see if I can find an absurdly sturdy replacement pedal (after I call EA and see if I can get another free replacement pedal). This is just ridiculous.
This is my pride and joy: my needlessly large TV. Actually, there is a need for its size. Yes, that is a Wiimote sensor bar taped to the top of it. Yes, I am watching The Cleveland Show. It has grown on me, like something that grows on things? A fungus? Perhaps.
This is my DDR mat taped to one of those plastic chair mats you can buy at Office Max and similar stores. Why is it taped to one of those mats? Because the mat prevents it from moving while in use. I can’t tape it to the floor because I taping it doesn’t work very well when the carpet isn’t cheap. I can’t use Velcro because that also doesn’t work when the carpet isn’t cheap. Using a chair mat is much cheaper than spending $300 on a Cobalt Flux, and it has yet to fail me, unlike certain pedals.
This is a picture that my brother drew me for Christmas. He claims that this is a picture of me. Apparently, I am a woman whose sole duty is to inform people that they’re a focks. Yes, a focks, and definitely not a fox. My brother was implying that I lack the ability to say and/or spell fox correctly. The same is true for you’re.
Behold my computing desk! Yes, I know it’s very messy. Look at my monitors! Aren’t they beautiful? Yeah buddy. Okay, those are all the pictures I have.
André//9:34 PM//Someone felt like leaving a commentThis blog is powered by Wordpress and hosted by E-Rice.