by Matt | Mar 17, 2003 | Imported Entry
Well, not so much a “lounge” per-say since that would involve a smoking section and a liquor license, but we certainly are sitting around playing video games. We’ve decided to try a little bit of everything and see what catches our fancy. So far Freelancer has been a big hit with Chip, leaving him addicted until 8am the other day. As a group, Guilty Gear X (for the PC) also seems to be holding our attention. Need for Speed also got a little play. Both Age of Mythology (while enjoyable as a single player experience) and IceWin Dale failed to cut it. IWD is quite possibly one of the worst games I’ve seen in a while. If you know anyone who was “addicted” to that… hit them with a stick and tell them “no, bad gamer.” We’ve still got a few left to try but I feel like taking a bit of a gaming break today to work on either some wallpaper or a new website design. Both would have similar inspiration. I think a wallpaper might be the answer since it brings a bit more instant gratification to the table. I’m also going to create a new mix for Chip for his drive home. He said he listened to my old mixes on the way down.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, today is St. Patrick’s Day and here in Savannah, the capital of St.Patrick’s stupidity, it’s raining. When I woke up this morning I did a little happy dance because I know that all of the drinkers will have to be wet and miserable and it’s their own damn fault. I’m not exactly a fan of this holiday. While it’s fine for average joe-frat-boy, the art community as well as the local people seem to dislike green beer as much as I do. There are of course a few cross-over groups. The art school athletic teams I would assume would be partaking in the festivities, the stupid people would be there as well, the freshmen since they don’t know any better, groups like that. Don’t get me wrong, I like drinking, but only in complete control and moderation. If I go out for Mexican I might have a margarita. If I go out for “drinks” I’d have a Jack & Coke and that would be it. I don’t see the need to go out, get drunk, puke and fall asleep naked on a park bench. While this seems to be a regular occurrence (not sure about that park bench) in college, I’ve some how avoided the bug. I thought for a long time that it was maturity based but I could never be sure. It’s the weirdest feeling to be playing a video game, acting like a 12 year old, only to start thinking about what it was like “back in the day” and how you’re getting old. It messes with your mind… and requires another Mt.Dew.
Anyway, that’s about it. Chip and Jason are still asleep so I think I’ll tinker with Photoshop for a while. Later.
by Matt | Mar 16, 2003 | Imported Entry
Upgraded to MT 2.63 last night and decided to try out a new jive plugin or two.
This is all just random text… pay no attention to it…
Add/Remove Programs won’t work after XP SP 1 – Click HERE for Original Thread
DemiUrge
Hi,
I did a fresh install of Windows XP before installing the new service pack, and everything went smoothly until i ran the new shortcut that lets you edit whether you want to use IE or not, etc. (Sorry for the vagueness, I can’t completely remember what it was called.)
The shortcut didn’t work, saying something about a parser error message. Now when I try to open Add/Remove Programs, I get this:
quote:
——————————————————————————–
Parser Message
Value creation failed “” at line 472
——————————————————————————–
I’m not dying to reinstall XP again (i JUST got everything back to normal =), so I was wondering if anyone could give any advice.
Thanks in advance.
(Edited for spelling)
Phantasm66
Hey! Its your lucky day! (Or at least I hope it is, anyway….)
quote:
——————————————————————————–
1.) Go to your /WINDOWS/Resources/Themes directory, or wherever you may have your themes located.
2.) Go into the directory of the theme your currently using.
Example: Using ‘Semplice’ by KoL? Navigate to /WINDOWS/Resources/Themes/Semplice
3.) Go into the folder called ‘Shell” within the previous directory.
4.) Inside you’ll find a folder with a file called ‘shellstyle.dll’ inside. Now remember the name of the theme your using? (Example: Semplice). You need to rename this folder from Shell to the name of the theme your currently using. If you don’t know the exact name, go to Display Properties, and try to Display/Show the theme, the name you see in Display Properties is the name you need to change the ‘Shell’ folder to.
Example: Using Semplice as an example, the Shell folder for that theme is called ‘Shell’, in this situation you’ll need to rename the folder to ‘Semplice’. Easy enough, right?
Note that for multi-part themes, aka themes with more than one variation or color, you’ll need to rename each corresponding ‘Shell’ folder to what is displayed in Display Properties when you try to apply the theme.
5.) Now that you’ve changed the ‘Shell’ folder name to correspond with the visual styles name, reapply the theme.
6.) Go to Add/Remove Programs, and voila! “
by Matt | Mar 15, 2003 | Imported Entry
I usually refrain from directly quoting web sites but in this case Tycho of Penny Arcade fame expresses his feelings in a much more eloquent way than I could possibly hope to. The comments are directed toward an article (here) which describes the Deputy Attorney General’s opinions about file sharing and what was discussed at a congressional subcommittee meeting. Now I will quote. Pay attention kids, this is how to write effectively.
I won’t afflict you with the entire litany because I don’t think that’s why people read the things I write, to be exposed to surreal political views which are completely unmoored from reality. I would, however, draw your attention to the following article, which details a congressional hearing on the links between terrorism and, um… peer-to-peer file sharing.
John G. Malcolm, deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice, did say there seems to be some connection between illegal copying and organized crime, in that many of the groups profiting from illegal copies are highly organized and can have international distribution networks. Organized crime often supports terrorism, he suggested.
“These groups will not hesitate to threaten or injure those who tend to interfere with their operations,” Malcolm said.
…
Statements of this kind gnaw at the sensible mind, they chew on it and try to eat it. I won’t even gauge the clumsiness with which these two incongruous concepts are lashed together. If you want to see triple-x, explicit evidence of corporations with their hands up your government’s ass, working the their jaws like some malevolent Howdy Doody with chilling ramifications for personal liberty, well, there you go. Peer-to-peer file sharing and Terror? Terror? Do they not have dictionaries there? There’s another T word you cocks might like, too – give it a try: it’s called “Tenuous.” The only people terrorized by peer-to-peer file sharing are vastly potent multinational businesses, gripped by the realization that they sell carriages in a world of bullet trains.
Now I have to add a few comments of my own. These require reading of the article because I’m going to be quoting (again).
“Organized crime, in my mind, includes well organized groups of people trying to control the cash flow of a given commodity or within a given region”
Ok… so that makes the RIAA and the MPAA “organized crime” as well? I would think so. They been price fixing Cd’s since 1985 and started out price fixing DVDs just a few years ago. The actual production cost of a CD is $1.50. Even with 100% profit going to the record label and 200% going to the artist, that still means that the CD should be under $10. Are they? Nope. You have the balls to suggest that cutting into your 1500% profit is horrific? Go fuck yourselves.
“If more American parents understood the connection between the pirating of intellectual property and organized crime, I think then there’d be a much more effective public relations response in our own country to better appreciate the disastrous ramifications.”
Or, how about, if more American parents found out what you were really doing they’d shut you down. The only reason you see file-sharing as a problem is because the number of people who “get it” are eventually going to outnumber the people who have no clue. Generation X parents are fully aware of price fixing, they lived through the 80’s. So did I. If CD’s still cost $20 when I have a kid and they want to download them instead of buying them I’m going to praise the kid for being sensible with his money.
People ask me all the time if I think stealing is wrong. I say “yes”. Then they try to give me some long involved argument about how file sharing is stealing and that if I think stealing is wrong I’m being hypocritical. Then I asked them how much they paid for their CD or their software. Then I ask how much they think it cost to produce. When I tell most people about the insane level of profit the recording industry is making off each CD usually they get more mad than anything else. Perhaps that’s just because I go to art school and these kids are more liberal minded. Yes, I think stealing is wrong. I wouldn’t walk into a store and steal something and here’s why. Because that is stealing, not from the company that produced that CD, but from the store you’re stealing it from. Retail works by a company or store BUYING a large number of (we’ll keep using our metaphor) CD’s from the record company. They in turn, mark it up a little and resell it to make their profit. If you steal from them you’re denying the store its profit, not the record label. They already made their money. I say that it IS wrong to steal, it’s wrong to steal 1500% profit when you don’t have to. The record stores have little to no control over the price of their CD’s. The get them for $15 and resell them for $18. When the record company makes then for $1 and resells them for $15, thats highway robbery. “But that’s just good business practices” someone might say. So is my downloading the CD instead of buying it. I’m not going to support an industry that does that to consumers. They want to sell me a CD? Then they can lower the price to less than $10. I want a brand new, top of the charts, Grammy Award winning CD for $7.99. That’s what I want. It’s never going to happen. Until that day comes I’m going to download my music. If you still think that makes me hypocritical, so be it.
“Representative John Carter, (R-Texas), suggested that college students would stop downloading if some were prosecuted and received sentences of 33 months or longer, like the defendants in the DOJ’s Operation Buccaneer. “I think it’d be a good idea to go out and actually bust a couple of these college kids,” Carter said. “If you want to see college kids duck and run, you let them read the papers and somebody’s got a 33-month sentence in the federal penitentiary for downloading copyrighted materials.”
Hi, I’m an asshole. What would posses someone to make a blatantly bias statement like that. We’re college students, we’re supposed to be subversive. We write ‘zines and politically charged school news papers. We go to rallies and demonstrations. We’re the ones chanting “peace not bombs” at the moment. The sick and sad part is that you did this during Viet Nam. If you didn’t then you’re kids did. We’re college students. We feel (whether we’re right or not) that we’re smarter than you. We fell that your system isn’t working and that these laws are just dogmatic bullshit that you think will be good for business. Of course we’re going to subvert the system. Of course we’re going to download music. You dumb fuck. Here’s a quote you can take to the bank: If you want to see asshole congressmen duck and run, let a few thousand college students protest outside his office for a few weeks. Fucko.
*steps off his soap box for the day*
Sorry, if you don’t agree with any of that, it’s fine, but when I see an article written so obviously with opinions from only one side it kind of pisses me off. Then to have two figures from our government basically call all college students terrorists and thieves makes me madder than hell.
Alright. I’m off to listen to my downloaded, terrorist supporting music. Later.
by Matt | Mar 15, 2003 | Imported Entry
Well, classes are over, everything went well and now I’ve got nothing to do for a week and a half. Lauren flew back home to TX last night and got in around 10pm. She gave me a call from Houston to tell me she made it and that she was going to get some food with her folks. Chip also called me from somewhere in VA to tell me he was stopping for the night. I looked up hotels for him and found him a Holiday Inn somewhere near Fredricksburg. He should be back on the road soon and should get here this evening, probably around dinner time. I know that the bottom of VA is 6 hours and that DC is about 8. He’s somewhere in between.
As for Jason and I, today we’re going to try and find a coffee table. We’ve been looking for one for weeks now and just can’t find anything decent (cheap) enough to buy. Jason also saw Nagle at the movies last night and he said he’d be up for doing something. So, who knows. I’m going to hit Walmart up for some random things and probably vacuum before Chip gets here but other than that it’s all about the computer games.
After beating Splinter Cell last night and Command & Conquer: Generals the other day I figured I should find something new to occupy my time. I started playing Age of Mythology but it’s pretty much like every other “Age of Insert Something Here” game. It’s a typical RTS (real time strategy) and I’m not sure I’m in the mood for another one after finishing C&C just the other day. Then I gave Freelancer a try. Holy crap this game is good. Repetitive but good. Most (99%) of the missions are exactly the same and the game turns into a routine simply for money to make your ship better. Then I reinstalled Medal of Honor and added on the Spearhead expansion pack. Why did I ever stop playing this game? Medal of Honor won my personal “game of the year” status two years ago (? – or was it last year?) and this expansion pack is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Nothing, and I mean nothing is more fun than vanquishing wave after wave of Nazis. In between blasting Nazis and flying around space I’m also going to be cleaning out my hard drives. I’ve got two nearly full drives and nothing but crap on them. They haven’t been “cleaned” since last summer. Time to back some CDs up and wipe’em.
That’s about it. Spring break is here. Let the video game fun begin. 🙂
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