Halo 3 Armor Combinations

Those familiar with the video game Halo 3 will undoubtedly know that players have the ability to customize their armor and emblem used in multiplayer games. Recently I found a cool little tool to design your armor without having to be in the game itself. Here are links to it and my own armor setup.

Halo 3 Model Generator

Halo 3 Emblem Generator

Boston

Finally, Harmonix is putting out some songs for Rock Band DLC that I really like. For the last few weeks it's been no-name bands (probably knew someone at the game studios) or bands that are a little too -something- for my tastes. This week it's a six song pack from the band Boston. What I'd really like to see is some more mainstream stuff hit the DLC for Rock Band and a wider genre selection as well.

Floppy Drive

The floppy drive has become the most obsolete piece of computer hardware out there that for some reason, Microsoft still thinks people need to have. Seriously, why would I ever use a floppy disk again, by choice? The largest floppy disk can only hold 1.44 Megabytes. That's not even large enough to hold a single mp3 file.

But for some reason, Microsoft makes it so that you can't install Windows XP on a RAID setup without having a floppy drive to install the RAID drivers. I would have thought that over the years M$ might have released a new Windows installer that would allow users to put in a CD-ROM and load the drivers that way, but no, I have to now go find an external floppy drive (since I don't want to actually install it in my case) so I can load XP on my new PC.

Some old game clip...

I just thought I'd post an old game clip I had on YouTube....

Logic Puzzle

You have two ropes, each of which takes exactly 1 hour to burn from end to end. Each rope has different material densities at different points, so there's no guarantee how long it will take different sections within the rope to burn—for instance, the first half might burn in 59 minutes and the second half in 1 minute. You need to find a way to measure exactly 45 minutes by burning these two ropes.

Answer to the last Logic Puzzle:

Take one coin from stack 1, 2 coins from stack 2, 3 coins from stack 3, etc. Take a single measurement of the 55 coins. The stack is the amount it's off from 55.0 grams / 0.1 grams. So, if it's off by 0.1 grams (54.9 grams), stack 1 contains the 0.9 gram coins. If it's off by 0.2 grams, it's stack 2, and so on.

Vista SP1 update

Apparently, the update is causing lots of problems for some people.

"I downloaded it via Windows Update, and got a bluescreen on the third part of the update," wrote "Iggy33" in a comment posted Wednesday onMicrosoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Vista team blog.

Iggy33 was just one of dozens of posters complaining about Vista Service Pack 1's effect on their PCs. "What a disaster," wrote "SeppDietrich" of the update. "It exiled all my Nvidia drivers to the Bermuda Triangle."

"Bikkja" said that "after installing SP1 things seem to go really slow, even though my computer shouldn't have any problems."

Other troubles reported by Vista SP1 users ranged from a simple inability to download the software from Microsoft's Windows Update site to sudden spikes in memory usage. "Went from using 650 MB RAM idle to 1 Gig... I'll be switching back," said "Kurrier."

It's not uncommon for major software patches to cause problems when first released. Windows XP Service Pack 1 inflicted numerous glitches on host computers when it shipped in 2002. Microsoft fixed many of the problems with subsequent patches.

Microsoft on Tuesday made Vista SP1 widely available for the first time. The company has admitted it's still not perfect.

Yeah, I'm glad I didn't jump on the Vista bandwagon...

Work for an Evil Genius? No Thanks

There's a great article out today from Wired Magazine about the inner workings of Apple and how and why they're successful. It's an interesting read. What was of note to me was the description of the working conditions for software developers (any employee, really) at Apple when compared to those at other companies like Intel or Google.

Management styles differ greatly from company to company in regards to software development. Sometimes you have employers who will tell the engineers what they want and the engineers can then make recommendations and the employer is totally open to suggestions. From the article, Steve Jobs at Apple is on the completely other end of the spectrum. He's basically the 'my way or the highway' type of boss who requires and demands that products be done according to his specifications and no other. He makes no distinction between what you've done lately and previous work. Sure, you made a great product last year, but that doesn't give you any preferential treatment in regards to the next product you work on.

Contrast that to the working conditions at Google, where employees are given their choice of software, hardware, and even what projects to work on. Google even encourages employees to spend time on the clock to work on their own personal pet projects. For Google, it's worked out pretty well. After all, employees' personal software projects are how popular applications like Gmail and Google News got started. Google even offers employees free paid lunches.

There are some very varying working conditions out there for software developers to choose from. Personally, I would think that the only way someone would actually choose to work for Apple under the conditions described in the article is if they were already an Apple Android, completely converted to Jobs' ideology and in love with Apple products. Personally, I'm much more a fan of the Google management style.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Well, today Microsoft released Vista Service Pack 1. Does this mean that I'm ready to upgrade to Vista yet? Probably not. With what happened last time they released Vista SP1, I'm a little leery of jumping the gun and upgrading(?) to Vista. Sure, Vista looks great...all nice and shiny, but what I really care about is how it performs. I couldn't care less about the new Aero interface or how menus fade in or out. I really care about how much memory the OS hogs and how good it is at context switching between programs. I care about system responsiveness, not aesthetics. For now, I'm going to wait a bit and see how this service pack is received.

Anger Management

Recently I've been playing a lot of either Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4. I tend to play it with the same group of friends. One thing I've noticed, is that some people let things bother them--sometimes a little too much. Whether it be the quality of their own internet connection, the quality of whoever got party host's connection, or just random glitches in the game, they seem to let the most insignificant things of a video game really bother them.

Video games are supposed to be entertainment. They are supposed to be a way to relax and have fun. I like playing online games because I like to socialize with other people. I work an 8-5 job at a small company with only 7 employees. That's not a large group to socialize with. That's one of the reasons I really like Xbox Live. It gives me the opportunity to play with friends, family, and new people I meet online, but when people I play with let the small things bother them to the point they feel the need to verbalize every little thing (and not always in a polite way), that makes it so the experience isn't enjoyable to me either. Personally I take that as an insult and a complete lack of respect for me as a person. If these small things really bother these people that much, I really wonder how they react to serious, real life situations that are a lot more important than a video game.

As I pondered the topic, I browsed and found an article on the American Psychological Association's website. Here are some interesting parts of it.

Expressing your angry feelings in an assertive—not aggressive—manner is the healthiest way to express anger. To do this, you have to learn how to make clear what your needs are, and how to get them met, without hurting others. Being assertive doesn't mean being pushy or demanding; it means being respectful of yourself and others.

People who are easily angered generally have what some psychologists call a low tolerance for frustration, meaning simply that they feel that they should not have to be subjected to frustration, inconvenience, or annoyance. They can't take things in stride, and they're particularly infuriated if the situation seems somehow unjust: for example, being corrected for a minor mistake.

Research has found that "letting it rip" with anger actually escalates anger and aggression and does nothing to help you (or the person you're angry with) resolve the situation. It's best to find out what it is that triggers your anger, and then to develop strategies to keep those triggers from tipping you over the edge.
Angry people tend to curse, swear, or speak in highly colorful terms that reflect their inner thoughts. When you're angry, your thinking can get very exaggerated and overly dramatic. Try replacing these thoughts with more rational ones. For instance, instead of telling yourself, "oh, it's awful, it's terrible, everything's ruined," tell yourself, "it's frustrating, and it's understandable that I'm upset about it, but it's not the end of the world and getting angry is not going to fix it anyhow."

Be careful of words like "never" or "always" when talking about yourself or someone else. "This !&*%@ machine never works," or "you're always forgetting things" are not just inaccurate, they also serve to make you feel that your anger is justified and that there's no way to solve the problem. They also alienate and humiliate people who might otherwise be willing to work with you on a solution.

Remind yourself that getting angry is not going to fix anything, that it won't make you feel better (and may actually make you feel worse).

Logic defeats anger, because anger, even when it's justified, can quickly become irrational. So use cold hard logic on yourself. Remind yourself that the world is "not out to get you," you're just experiencing some of the rough spots of daily life. Do this each time you feel anger getting the best of you, and it'll help you get a more balanced perspective.

Remember, you can't eliminate anger—and it wouldn't be a good idea if you could. In spite of all your efforts, things will happen that will cause you anger; and sometimes it will be justifiable anger. Life will be filled with frustration, pain, loss, and the unpredictable actions of others. You can't change that; but you can change the way you let such events affect you. Controlling your angry responses can keep them from making you even more unhappy in the long run.

I really feel that last quote needs to be read and understood by a lot of people I play games with online. I don't expect the things that make them angry to be fixed, but I do feel that they can fix the way they react to them. It will be beneficial to both them and me in the long run. They'll be more happy and I'll actually enjoy playing games with them again. Overall I think it really comes down to respect. Whether or not you respect me as a person dictates how you act around me. If you do respect me, you will try to refrain from overreacting in an angry and often times vulgar way. I can't guarantee those I'm talking about will ever read this, but if they do, I really hope they will understand what I'm saying.

Logic Puzzle

You have 10 stacks of 10 coins each. One stack is composed of coins that weigh 0.9 grams each. The other 9 stacks are composed of coins that weigh 1.0 grams each. If I gave you a scale that was accurate to 0.1 grams, how could you determine with a single measurement of any number of coins from any number of stacks, which stack contained the 0.9 gram coins?

Answer to the last Logic Puzzle:

C = chickens
E = Eggs
D = days
1.5 C * 1.5 D = 1.5 E
2.25 ( C * D ) = 1.5 E
C * D = 1.5 * E / 2.25

In other words, one chicken produces 2/3 of an egg per day, so in 3 days, a single chicken would produce 2 eggs.

Rock Band Review

I purchased and reviewed Guitar Hero III a while back. I figure now it's time for my review of Rock Band. The whole reason I purchased GH3 was to get the guitar controller so I could play Rock Band. From friends I had heard the Rock Band guitar was pretty defective.

Basically, Rock Band is similar to the Guitar Hero games in that the notes scroll down the screen and you have to hit the right controller button at the right time. Where the two games are drastically different is in the fact that Rock Band isn't limited to just a guitar controller. They've added a drum and microphone controller interface as well. This lets you play with up to four people in a band (Guitar, Bass (guitar controller as well), drums & vocals). Since I only have a guitar controller, that's all I've played so far.

The notes in Rock Band seem a bit more sensitive to hit than those in GH3, but that just takes a bit to get used to. Once you're used to it, it isn't much of a problem. The difficulty levels in Rock Band also seem a bit easier when compared to the same difficulty levels in Guitar Hero 3. In other words, Easy on Rock Band is easier than Easy on GH3. Since the game isn't limited to just focusing on the guitar aspect of the songs, the music selection seems to be a bit more varied. The dedication of the game maker to put up additional songs on the Xbox Live Marketplace on a weekly basis is also a big plus to Rock Band.

For those who are gifted with superior hand coordination, the game gives you a good challenge, even up to the Expert level of difficulty. If you just like to enjoy the songs, the Easy difficulty isn't all that hard to figure out. I think I lie somewhere in the middle. I enjoy playing on Medium, but also enjoy listening to the music.

Music selection is the biggest obstacle in playing with friends online. In order to play a song together, everyone needs to have that song on their Xbox. This is really frustrating because the songs aren't cheap, running on the average of $1/song. A better solution would have been to allow people to play songs with friends if anyone in the group had the song. This would allow people to explore music they might otherwise not have tried. In the end, gamers may decide to go out and purchase the songs if they liked playing it with a friend. The pricing structure pretty much guarantees players aren't going to buy a song until they're sure they like it, and the limitations on what you can play (only if you own it) is a sure fire way to make sure gamers never get a chance to hear the song in order to decide whether or not they want it.

Even with it's faults, Rock Band is a pretty fun game. One thing that was pointed out by my wife, which I kind of agree with, is that the game could use a better mix of music genres. Adding a few country songs into the game would allow those who favor that genre to enjoy the game as well (as guitars, drums, & vocals aren't only used by rock musicians exclusively). Overall I'd have to give Rock Band a score of 8/10.

Logic Puzzle

One and a half chickens lay one and a half eggs in one and a half days. How many eggs does one chicken lay in three days?

Time to Upgrade

It's finally reached that point. I've decided it's time to upgrade our PC. With some new software coming out (Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008) our PC has finally reached a point where it can't handle the new stuff. My wife is going up to visit her parents for a week this Saturday so I figured the week with her gone would be the best time to put together the new rig and get it all up and running.

We've had our PC for almost four years now and it's starting to feel the strain. My wife would probably disagree with me on that and argue we could keep using it for the next decade or so. That's the biggest problem with being a geek. You want to always have the latest and greatest, but you have to balance it with your budget. Sure, I wanted an Xbox 360 when it came out, but I ended up waiting almost a year until getting one. I wanted to upgrade this machine a little over a year ago, but I held off and waited until the 3-4 year mark I told her I'd wait when I built our current PC.

Here's the layout of the new PC setup and what it's replacing...

• Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q6600 Processor (AMD Athlon 64 3700+)
• Gigabyte DQ6 X38 Chipset Motherboard (ASUS A8N32-SLI Premium)
• 4 GB DDR2 1066 RAM (2 GB DDR 400 RAM)
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT Video Card (NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX)
• 3x 640 GB WD Hard Drives in RAID 5 (74 GB WD Raptor + 2x 160 GB Seagate SATA)
• Hauppauge HVR-1800 HDTV capture card (Hauppauge PVR-500 Analog capture card)
• Samsung 22" Widescreen LCD (Dell 17" LCD)

Overall this machine looks to be able to handle anything I'll throw at it in the next few years. Windows Vista shouldn't be a problem when and if I eventually decide to upgrade to it.

Grifball Madness

Finally, someone made a Halo 3 gametype that is actually popular and fun to play! I've been getting tired of open arena style FFA gametypes (ex. Demolition Derby), themed gametypes (ex. Normandy beach), and other random crap. Sure, some have made gametypes that are fun before, but usually what I find fun and what others find fun aren't exactly the same. I guess what I really like about Grifball is that it doesn't involve shooting (which for a FPS game, is pretty unique).

This is a very simple gametype with subtle strategy. Simple minded gamers will likely find this gametype very tiresome and won't want to play it. To me, the most effective strategy seems to mirror strategy you find on the football field (that's American football for you Brits, LOL). Anyone who has experience running a football and effectively using blockers to gain yards will be right at home as the bomb carrier in this gametype.

Recently the creators of the gametype (those guys over at Rooster Teeth Productions) created a league to match teams up against each other in some semblance of a competition. While I didn't notice until after the winter league was done, tomorrow I'm going to try and sign up our team for the spring league. Our team is pretty much made of people from RCG who already enjoy gaming together so teamwork shouldn't be a problem.

Hacking American Idol

My wife is a big fan of American Idol. She watches it every week, whether live or off of our DVR. Each week now she gets to vote for the contestants after the show. Last week she sat there redialing the voting number on her cell phone over and over. I think she got in maybe 10 votes before giving up.

This week, as the show was getting over, she mentioned that now she needed to go vote. Being the geek that I am, I asked her if she wanted me to make it 10x easier and help her get in tons more votes. She had no clue that was possible.

I proceeded to then install a redialing program on our laptop computer. Since it has a modem, I just hooked up the laptop to a phone line and set the redialer to call the voting line over and over. It calls in and when it hears a ring, waits 5 seconds (enough time for the vote to be picked up and counted) and then hangs up and redials again. We let that run last night for the two hours voting was open. We got in 504 votes. Not bad for one person. And since it's a toll free number we didn't have to worry about long distance charges.

If anyone else is interested in using the same software, here's a link to where I got it.

Frontlines Fuel of War Review

I picked this game up yesterday as I was wanting another game to play. Granted, this is a pretty limited review as I've only played a few of the missions. The story is set in a world fighting over the last oil resources left on the planet. Apparently the world has depleted resources in the Middle East, Alaska, & South America. The only place left with any oil is in the Caspian Sea.

The game is basically one large, constant battlefield, unlike other games with very distinct and different levels. As you play, your commanding officer over your radio issues orders for you to capture certain territories. As you capture them the frontline between your army and the enemy moves forward.

Multiplayer matches can be up to 32 total players, so the game can get pretty big. When I heard that I thought "Oh no, not 31 screaming little pre-teens abusing their microphone", but as it turns out, the developer actually thought of something like that. They made it so that you can join a squad during the battle. The squad is up to 4 people and then the only voice you can hear over the microphone is from those on your squad.

Online games are setup pretty much the same as Gears of War, for those of you that have played that game. Basically, if you want to join a game, you can search for existing games within parameters you specify. If you want to host a game, you setup your game and then either invite friends to join or wait for those searching for a game to find yours. While this type of setup does allow you to play the gametypes you want, I would have much preferred a playlist/matchmaking style over this.

Overall though, the game is one that keeps the action going. It allows you to pick up different weapons around the map depending on territories captured. The control scheme could have used a little work. Instead of letting you choose specific setups for movement and actions separately they give you a few pre-configured schemes to choose from. For those left handed gamers out there, there are a few southpaw configurations to choose from. I give the game a score of 7/10.