Elfguy's Home Page

L4D is awesome

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:46:35 GMT

Been playing Left 4 Dead a bunch, versus mode is awesome! The gameplay, animations, voice over, all top notch. I can see this game being the game of the year, and have a long replayability. Maybe not to the level of something like TF2, but close. 9.5/10

Google Sketchup 7

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:04:55 GMT

Apparently I missed that Sketchup 7 was released last week. This should be important news for me since I do use the tool, unfortunately the new version contains absolutely nothing of interest to me. Shame, since with just a few more advanced modeling tools they could improve the product so much as a modeler, instead of just adding more sharing features.

New entries notification

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:48:05 GMT

Added a new feature to this site that shows up new entries since your last visit. The globe will now be blue on new entries and the title show the amount. Testing to see if it works now!

Saints Row 2 on Steam !!!

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:09:06 GMT

OMG Could this be? I thought Saints Row 2 was a console only game, but looky here! The ZP review said it exactly right, and that's why I'm so getting that!

New Star Trek trailer

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:41:24 GMT

A new trailer is out for the upcoming Star Trek film (#14 or something?) and well I'm still highly dubious to this movie.

World of Warcraft

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:28:29 GMT

WoW is a strange beast. It's the one genre of games where success is defined directly as the amount of time spent in game. Everything is a grind. You level up to get to the max level, you run dungeons over and over to get equipment, you run battlegrounds or raid bosses over and over to get better stuff, it never ends. I got back into it for a weekend, and playing a Death Knight is fun, but ultimately, I just don't think I have the desire for what amounts to a full time hobby. And that's really the only way I would play it. So I choose TF2, L4D, doing 3D, etc instead. Zombies die tonight.

WotLK release

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:54:31 GMT

It's WoW:WotLK release day. Will go get it shortly, yet I'm somehow less excited for this World of Warcraft expansion than the previous one.

The Matrix runs on Windows

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:18:11 GMT

The Matrix is run on Windows XP, that's why everything went to hell.

Left 4 Dead Demo

Sat, 8 Nov 2008 05:40:24 GMT

Been playing the L4D demo. It's pretty good, with quite unique gameplay. The single player version is not really hard. MP still has some server issues that they need to resolve, but otherwise it's a lot based on how the four people work together, more so than a typical FPS.

Cake for Christmas

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 14:49:42 GMT

Here's the ingredient list for what is sure to be a great cake for Christmas !

Twinkle twinkle

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 03:56:26 GMT

I need to find this in HD.

Obama wins

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 15:36:41 GMT

It's a good thing Obama won, for sure, but I personally don't think it'll make a huge difference. Whoever is in charge still listens to the lobbies and do pretty much what the corporations and big money movers want.

DAZ3D sale

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 21:14:24 GMT

One of the best (if not the best) urban / scifi props maker is having a large sale today only at DAZ3D, 50% off. Those are the days when the wallet gets empty.

Vue 7 released

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 18:12:50 GMT

Vue 7 got released today. They have some amazing presentations for it. However at $395 for the upgrade version it's just too much for what is still such an unstable product.

In between games

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 21:56:59 GMT

Seems like in between game releases I have more time and inspiration for 3D renders. Got through 3 of them in 2 days and I have an idea for another tonight.

L4D intro

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:36:49 GMT

The L4D intro has been released, and it's pretty amazing. Can't wait for that game.

Fallout 3 review

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 20:49:52 GMT

Spent the week playing, and it is an awesome game. First the bad, it does have some bugs, like crashes and animation issues, and the ending really disappointed me. Otherwise, this game has a great story line, a huge and good looking environment, tons of interesting dialogs, a great character customization system and is overall awesome to play. 9/10.

My haunted TV

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:58:19 GMT

Why would a TV break, start displaying everything in black and white for months, then one day without reason show colors again, before going back to black and white after that...

Fallout 3

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:00:34 GMT

Got Fallout 3 yesterday, started playing it. So far it's excellent.

WoW event

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:46:47 GMT

Went back to WoW after a long time not playing, just in time for the zombie event. Playing as a zombie was pretty cool. Also got to kill Illidan for the first time.

Fallout 3 release

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:36:07 GMT

To get or not to get Fallout 3, that is the question of the day.

America's Secret War

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:31:50 GMT

This is better reporting than you can see on most cable networks.

Dead Space review

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:30:06 GMT

Very disappointed in Dead Space. The graphics and story are great, but that's about it. The game is not scary, it's just spooky at times. But the deal breaker is the awful, ridiculous, unplayable aiming and controls. The PC version has the worse control system I've ever seen. After Crysis, this will be the last EA game that I buy.

Fallout 3 trailer

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:50:49 GMT

Looking at other potential game candidates I went back to the Fallout trailer, and I think it really is one of the best game trailers this year.

Afghan law

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:05:13 GMT

What can be said after reading that, really? Some parts of the world are just completely uncivilized, barely evolved past the monkey stage.

Android G1 released

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:13:56 GMT

The new G1 got released today and from early reviews it seems quite cool. While this one is TMo locked, more are coming, and if a nice unlocked inexpensive one were to appear this may be my next phone.

Three Skeleton Key

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:57:36 GMT

Some of the old radio shows are pretty good. Here's one I heard about on TWiT from the 1930s show The Escape called Three Skeleton Key.

Dead Space

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:57:41 GMT

Got Dead Space after all. Let's see if it's worth the hype.

Flight safety instructions

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:44:46 GMT

Today's video day it seems!

Terry Tate's back!

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:38:44 GMT

Awesome.

Chess game

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:34:51 GMT

This game of chess is more entertaining than any seen on TV.

The raise of the netbooks

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:31:47 GMT

At $399 this sure looks like a good deal for a secondary irc/email/messaging system. I have to say I'm tempted in the Mini 9.

Dead Space

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:51:38 GMT

$50 for the pre-order price, rumors that it's quite a short game, and the same restrictive DRM that recent EA games had means I'm not so hot for Dead Space anymore...

Latest FC2 trailer

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:25:48 GMT

This is the first FC2 trailer that impressed me. Now the graphics have always been obviously awesome, but it's the first time the gameplay seems fun and AI solid.

1984

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:29:25 GMT

Like most people I read 1984 a long time ago, but only just now watched the movie. I hadn't realized how bad it is. It's full of needlessly long scenes, assertions that make no sense like everyone having forgotten most things in a period of decades, and very weak acting.

There are so many ways that could be used to show totalitarian control, yet the TV voice keeps listing endless facts, like every ammunition used by the army, or every citizen arrested that day. It was disappointing.

Firefox 3.1b1

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:40:21 GMT

I installed the first beta of Firefox 3.1. I'm not impressed. As usual, they modified some UI items for no reason and removed the possibility of having it the old way. I also do not find much improvement in the JavaScript speed in real world cases. Oh well.

Upcoming release dates of games I want

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:42:13 GMT

Oct 20: Dead Space - Want

Oct 27: Red Alert 3 - Maybe

Oct 30: Aion - Maybe

Nov 11: CoD:WaW - Maybe

Nov 13: WoW:WoTLK - Maybe

Nov 17: Left 4 Dead - Want

TBA: Battlefield Heroes - Want

Seems like I forgot a few...

Best G.W.Bush impression

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:05:37 GMT

I saw that a few months ago and didn't remember who it was. Found it again today, and this guy does the best Bush jokes.

Air purifier

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:49:52 GMT

I bought an air purifier yesterday, let's see if it changes anything...

Fascinating financial podcast

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 22:33:35 GMT

How the housing market caused the recession, and what the bailout is for. This is a fascinating show.

South Korea passes law outlawing online anonymity

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:18:54 GMT

Yet another example of how governments dont get it.

Daily Show: Back in Black

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 23:11:05 GMT

The doll part is awesome.

Network clip 2

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 17:09:09 GMT

What to do about the recession.

Network clip 1

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 17:08:15 GMT

32 years later this still represents how the world is today.

Rage

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 16:44:39 GMT

Another game to keep an eye on.

Planet of the Apes

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 12:21:27 GMT

Monkeys are now being employed in a Japanese restaurant to save on labor costs. If this doesn't scream Planet of the Apes I don't know what would!

Left 4 Dead

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 19:04:31 GMT

I saw this trailer a while back but had forgotten about it. It's coming out in November and should be a nice mix of TF2, CS and HL2, in a multiplayer humans vs zombies setting. I swear there's too many good games coming out in the next 2 months!

Bits of TF2

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 04:02:51 GMT

Been playing lots of TF2. Left a lot of bits behind...

Opus card

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 02:30:41 GMT

Today I got the new RFID card that the buses and subways are now going to use here. It's apparently faster to refill. Yay?

New background

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:58:53 GMT

Still not completely satisfied yet, but it's better than the purple one.

Done with Ogame

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:13:31 GMT

The game can be fun, but as soon as you get in the top 1000 (which really isn't much) you get attacked constantly, and I mean every few hours day and night. The game is dominated with people who spend all their time on it. In many ways it's actually more demanding than an MMO. I think I'm too old for that, nor would I want to really. It was fun while it lasted.

Eye floaters

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:39:04 GMT

I've been having them for quite some years, it's not quite this bad but this is a good representation of what it's like for me.

Why is this not running on a CMS

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:33:45 GMT

So I've been asked why this site isn't running on a CMS. Here's one reason: Most CMS systems require an RDBM. There is no real reason to use that for a small or medium site, and I really wish all CMS would offer SQLite support instead. Backing up a Wordpress site is more complex, takes longer and prone to problems than simply copying a folder. Take a look at the step by step WP backup procedure. Other reasons include security and reliability of not having to rely on a MySQL server instance to run for the site to work. Eventually this will probably evolve into a custom made CMS that's 100% file based.

Moved my podcasts to Google Reader

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:29:54 GMT

After finding 10GB of past podcast files on my hard drive I decided to leave iTunes and try out Google Reader. Turns out it works great for podcast feeds. You get the audio files embedded and it starts right away with streaming so you don't need to have them all downloaded first. Won't need to start that pig iTunes at all anymore!

Michael Moore

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:39:05 GMT

Say what you will of his background, the US needs more people like him.

Blu-Ray disk sales

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:07:45 GMT

How well is adoption Blu-Ray doing? Not so well, according to Nielson, with adoption actually going down! Sony getting what it deserves? I think so .

Battlefield Heroes

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:07:20 GMT

Wow, this along with Quake Live brings "free games" to another level.

Newsgroups are being murdered

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:12:34 GMT

Comcast is the latest target of the conspiracy started by the NY DA, all under the guise of "protecting the children", once again using a popular topic to accomplish an action and cover the real reason, which is the MPAA & friends lobbying to kill a whole medium to stop a few pirates. By the end of the year all of the major NA ISPs will have cut newsgroups .

Added permalinks

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:54:50 GMT

I added permalinks to this microblog system. Now I can link directly to a specific post. It also fixes the RSS so it makes more sense, since now the title link goes to the actual entry instead of whatever link is contained in the post.

JE misrepresenting facts

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:24:00 GMT

JE used to be a TV show about going after crooks and getting justice for scammed people. Now it seems all they do is talk about hot topics, and then misrepresent facts and say things that are just plain untrue. Yesterday's report on online porn was such utter crap .

HL2 background music

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:14:26 GMT

Finished HL2 once again. Still the best game ever And here's a nice site for background music.

Emoticons :)

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:03:47 GMT

Added emoticon support for this micro blog system . Trying various ones to see if they work . Here are some: .

Are all current MMOs failures?

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:33:56 GMT

Yesterday Warhammer Online came out and I thought once again whether I would get it, then I remembered how every MMO in the past 4 years have more or less been failures and I decided not to. AoC had a promising launch and then failed to meet expectations, leading to the Producer leaving Funcom. Hellgate London had the actual company go bankrupt 9 months in. Seems like since WoW, no one managed to do a real successful MMO. Shame.

C&C:RA3 remix video

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:40:17 GMT

This is awesome on so many levels.

US to apply laws in other countries

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:28:22 GMT

The US is in secret talks with Canada and the EU to have them sign a treaty that would force them to apply all US IP laws such as the DMCA in their borders. Sigh, even if we manage to block C-61 we may end up worse anyways.

The evolution of Windows Messenger

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:59:25 GMT

So I downloaded the latest Windows Live Beta, which includes the new Windows Live Messenger. They managed to once again reduce the space your contact list has, by adding even more fluff and useless crap. Just for fun I decided to compare the original Windows Messenger with this latest version. I highlighted the contact list in green and the ads, social items, and other useless stuff in red. Needless to say I won't be using this 'improved' version.

Google Maps Mobile & Street View

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:35:32 GMT

Google Maps for Mobile plus Street View = the next generation of turn-by-turn directions. Very cool! While it doesn't seem to be available for my N51 yet, I did download the latest version and found out several other nice features they added to search like reviews.

No more Seinfeld MS ads

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:58:26 GMT

Hilarious. MS has been running ads with Seinfeld that everyone except a couple of MS fans have been saying are terrible, without sense and of no practical use. Now the news is they are dropping it. Tech commentaries are sure to be priceless in the coming days!

The next big security issue?

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:07:48 GMT

I sense the next big online security issue may be coming up. These guys are usually reliable. Just what we need to make us forget about DNS!

Cool LHC video

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:13:57 GMT

Nice video on how the LHC works. Oh and btw people who say the LHC will destroy the Earth are morons.

China asks UN to make the Internet traceable

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:50:09 GMT

The NSA is also in the "UN IP Trace" working group, aiming to change the Internet protocols to make all sources traceable. One more step toward complete loss of freedom.

Civil Protection

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:39:28 GMT

Another awesome online series for those who've played HL2.

The Guild

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:13:42 GMT

This is an epic show.

GameTrailers

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:21:01 GMT

I think GT is now my favorite games site. I haven't been to gamespot, IGN or 1UP in months. Even with Adblock half their pages are blank, all of their videos have ads, and half their stuff is sponsored links.

C&C 3

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:14:26 GMT

Finished C&C3, another of those games that I just didn't have time to get when it came out. It's nice, great graphics, solid gameplay. I found the difficulty of missions was all over the place, and the cinematics could have been better. Still a solid 8.5/10

Google Chrome security issues

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:17:51 GMT

I've tried Chrome a couple of times in the past week but there's just not much there. Plus if you listen to the latest SN podcast, it has tons of privacy and security issues. Firefox ftw.

The US of 1984

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:03:29 GMT

Moving more and more toward corporate overlords running everything down there. Now the US Gov will use tax money to do what the RIAA has been illegally doing for years. I think we're the ones that should be making a border wall, to protect us from American influence!

Twitter feed

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:00:56 GMT

I added this blog to twitterfeed so it gets sent to twitter automatically. Ah, automation! Let's see if it works.

C&C 3 prices

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:56:11 GMT

Command & Conquer 3 prices. Online EA store: $49, EB Games: $59, Futureshop: $29. Amazing.

$1.14B evaporates because of Google News

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:54:32 GMT

This story is hilarious. Or maybe a sign of things to come, when computers rule the world!

Spore DRM issues

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:15:51 GMT

Well I was expecting to go buy Spore but now I'm not so sure after reading of the DRM issues. DRM and online activations need to stop, big time. You aren't buying these games, you are renting them, and usually not for long. EA shuts down servers all the time. It's depressing, really.

New Red Alert 3 trailer

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:28:38 GMT

I'm impressed at the quality and amount of hollywood actors in upcoming games these days!

Spore is out

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:52:25 GMT

Will need to get that this week!

C-61 bill to die with election

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:43:22 GMT

Regardless who wins the national election, the best thing to come out of it is that it would kill bill C-61, which is a win for all Canadians! Here's to hoping it stays dead for as long as possible!

Scientists get death threats over LHC

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:41:47 GMT

There are too many stupid people out there.

Google Chrome

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:08:58 GMT

Google web browser released today. Seems promising.

OGame

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:40:17 GMT

Web based multiplayer free games that can be played anywhere is the future of MMOs. Now all we need is modern day graphics and AJAX to power them up and we'll have something!

New presentation

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:22:59 GMT

Added another Internet Security Presentation to the site, which is up to 16 now. I also made a custom comment system script, and added a RSS link.

Article duping

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:04:58 GMT

How low has online content writing gotten? It's now standard practice to use tools to check for dupes and put percentages of uniqueness required on contracts. With many clients now expecting 500-word articles for $2.50 it's a pretty depressing market.

Testing 1, 2, 3!

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:27:58 GMT

Spent a couple of minutes making a script to do news updates here. Beats editing the XML manually!

Vue 7

Tue, 26 August 2008 23:04:00 EST

Some more info has been surfacing about Vue 7, the next version of the 3D app I use to do renders. The water editor looks nice, but I'm still unsure about upgrading.

Domaining

Wed, 20 August 2008 6:53:00 EST

Domaining as an investment strategy. This might be interesting...

Meh

Mon, 11 August 2008 21:31:00 EST

Crysis was disappointing. Great graphics, little else. The throne remains untouched. 6/10

China protests

Sun, 10 August 2008 23:11:00 EST

As the Olympics begin in China, I think it's important to keep in mind what China really is about, what really goes on in that country.

The results are in

Sat, 9 August 2008 12:28:00 EST

Crysis benchmark: 51.83 fps (1440x900, no AA, High setting)

Upgrades

Fri, 8 August 2008 7:55:00 EST

So some new parts came in and (after hell) were installed, for greatly improved gaming performance (68 fps to 142 fps in HL2: Lost Coast hardware test). We're talking here 2.66GHz/1333/6M/755 Intel CPU, 4GB RAM, and most importantly, GFX 260 card. And oh wow, video cards don't look like they used to!

pQuiz

Thu, 7 August 2008 7:58:00 EST

After a few days of playing with Adobe AIR, pQuiz is born. All the basic functionality is in, allowing you to make and deploy quizes on systems. I have to say it's pretty easy to make apps with AIR.

i-Patriot Act

Wed, 6 August 2008 12:54:00 EST

When 9/11 happened, the US Gov passed the Patriot Act in 20 days. Of course they did not make it up in 20 days, they had it in a drawer waiting for such an event and then passed it. So Lawrence Lessig (EFF board member, Stanford Law Professor) asked Richard Clarke (US State Dept.) if they had an i-Patriot Act, to take control of the Internet if/when a major online terrorist event occurs. Of course they do. Scary stuff. Watch starting at 4:30.

Adobe AIR

Mon, 4 August 2008 22:46:00 EST

I started playing with Adobe AIR. It's a pretty neat way to make apps, but it does have some peculiar issues. I should have some code done soon.

Five days of Half Life

Sun, 3 August 2008 16:58:00 EST

Went through HL2, HL2: Episode 1 and HL2: Episode 2 in five days. Best game ever. 10/10. Next on the list of older games I still need to go through: Crysis!

Bandwidth caps

Thu, 31 July 2008 12:41:00 EST

I wrote an entry on mobilitynow.org the other day about the various ways Internet providers are trying to restrict people to make more money, including imposing bandwidth caps, and big surprise, today news appeared that Bell Canada is going to restrict its wholesalers (the last companies still providing unlimited Internet connections in the country) to ridiculous 2GB to 50GB caps. I was thinking of ditching Videotron to go to one of those, but I guess that plan's in the toilet now.

Half Life 2

Mon, 29 July 2008 18:02:00 EST

So I realized that I never finished HL2 back in the day. Clearly the thing to do is play through it again!

New site

Thu, 24 July 2008 06:57:00 EST

A controversial one this time, a site about gods and faith, mainly a way to pass a message, and at the same time learn how to do a comments system in PHP, which turned out to be pretty easy after all.

Moving again

Sun, 20 July 2008 21:12:00 EST

Moving time again, for the web sites that is. I moved to Dreamhost in the hope of having more features than GoDaddy offered. So far so good, the move was easier than I thought, and everything seems to be working. Knock on wood!

Show Me!

Fri, 18 July 2008 19:00:00 EST

I've decided to make a small AJAX site to practice some new AJAX skills. I'm using HTML, JS, PHP and SQLite. Btw I love SQLite! It's a small web app that allows you to pick a template and create an online pamphlet.

Internet Security Presentations

Fri, 11 July 2008 12:39:00 EST

I've been working on some security presentations using Google Docs over the past weeks. There's several ones up now you may want to check out. I have to say Google Docs is pretty nice, but it's still limited in several ways. They need to add more templates, and they need to fix some of the annoying issues in the interface.

New 3D stories up

Thu, 5 June 2008 19:07:00 EST

So I like making short 3D stories for my gallery, but I decided to go for a longer form with a weekly story. It's called The Trio and I'm going to try to update it every Monday. Check it out!

Site is up

Fri, 30 May 2008 20:30:00 EST

Well I moved all of my personal sites to a new host, where I can actually start using server side scripts. So far so good!