This guy was serious
“You guys charge by the word, right?”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay, the ad reads: 1998 Framistan 300, 2001 Geezberg 197, 1972 Hoopyloc 180, and 1986 Felgercarb 200. $1000 for all. 540-555-1234.”
“Okay, sir, that’s 17 words.”
“No, it’s only seven words. The rest are numbers, so I get them for free.”
“… what?”
Owie owie owie
Well, apparently someone waltzed into Valve Software‘s computers, and waltzed out with the source code to Half-Life 2. The code and compiled binaries are all over the net, and soon script kiddies will be able to cheat at multi-player before the game is on the shelf.
I’ve always wondered what the point of cheating in online shooters is. Isn’t that the same as stating up front, “I suck so badly that I don’t have a prayer of beating anyone”?
I’ve sometimes used cheat codes in the single-player missions of some shooters, but I know I suck. 🙂
Hiding sharp objects from myself
There is a mission in the Terran levels of single-player Starcraft that I have been trying to beat for over a year, since we bought the game. I haven’t played a single Zerg or Protoss mission because this level has kept me from finishing the Terran campaign.
Tonight I beat it.
… and then the game locked up before I could save.
Tonight’s ST:Enterprise
After seeing the first few episodes of the season, I began to feel quite good about where the third season was going…
Spoiler and ranting protection activated
Yes, Adelphia Salem carries BBC America
BBC1 announced yesterday that they are devolping a new series of “Doctor Who”, possibly to appear in 2005.
The series is to be written by Russell T. Davies, creator of the original British “Queer As Folk” series, an “absolute Doctor Who fanatic”. Despite the worried reactions of a few, a spokesperson for the Beeb did not expect a gay Doctor.
Possible candidates for the title role include Richard E Grant, who is appearing in a BBC internet version of Doctor Who; Paul McGann, who starred in the 1996 Fox version; and Alan Davies, who has been linked to the role in the past.
Clearly the work of aliens, Scully
The Rising Star meeting in Blacksburg went well; afterwards, jdunson and I got into a lengthy discussion of dot/Hack. When we finally cleared ourselves from the parking lot, raininva and rattrap and rockbender and Bob and myself decided to make a quick run by Fun ‘n’ Games (MechWarrior boosters for the West Virginians and a trading card box for myself) and then grab some food.
Well, as three of us waited outside Fun ‘n’ Games, rattrap and rockbender just plain weren’t showing. Finally ‘Bender showed up and led us to an alley a couple of blocks over, in which his pickup sat on three tires and one rimless wheel. Yes, the lug nuts had all dropped off and he’d scraped his way along the street for 5 yards. Accident? We’re not completely sure.
We finally got it fixed after destroying my jack (gotta get a new one of those!) with the assistance of some nice folks at Hokie House. (A little instant karma for you guys.) Then, after getting our game stuff, we ended up at Macado’s instead because of the late hour. A little more karma to the Macado’s waiter who covered Jerry and David’s drinks for them, since they were clearly in a state.
Yesterday was far quieter. A day of concerted clutter removal and sorting in the apartment, and Rain and I were finally able to uncover carpet in the master bedroom and the living room – and now have several days’ worth of clean clothes to boot!
Another Roanoke Valley Saturday
Yesterday was quite productive, I got four other people in my office to Talk Like a Pirate.
dot/Hack definitely has raininva and myself sucked in, I’m up to seven hours of play, and I’m not sure how many Rain has. The “game within a game” aspect appeals greatly to my interests in metareality, and I’m pretty impressed with the emotional range of the characters – not something that most of my PlayStation games do much with.
Our Kellan Colt promotional figures for Shadowrun: Duels came this morning, so now we have a truly complete set of Series One. I’ve noticed that there’s already a FAQ posted on the official site with clarifications and errata. What did we gamers do before the Internet?
Rising Star has a staff meeting this afternoon in Blacksburg, and I’m looking forward to discussing ideas for the Emcee skit with rattrap and yubbie. I know that there will be other, less entertaining issues raised at the meeting, but I have a great deal of faith in RS and the people who make it happen. I see no reason yet to change my opinion.
Look! Bigfoot!
Two of my co-workers were excitedly passing around an e-mail reprinting a quote from Chapter 9, Verse 11 of the Koran predicting that an enraged Eagle would cleanse the lands of Allah. Needless to say, the e-mail’s a hoax (as a quick online check confirmed), but they were pretty disappointed to discover so. I then had to inform them that no, neither Mister Rogers nor Captain Kangaroo were Navy Seals or Marine sharpshooters.
Hmmm… I think I need to make something good up for them and send it to them through an anonymous remailer. Any suggestions?
My anniversary was quite good… nice and quiet; raininva and I lead busy, interesting enough lives that a low-key evening counts as a welcome vacation these days. Invisifest was a lot of fun, too, though I discovered that it’s unwise to try to learn Amplitude while DDRMax is pounding away behind you. The XBox game with the full ‘Mech control panel was cool-looking, but I’d rather play it sometime when I can sit and actually learn what’s going on.
I’m almost finished (finally) Red Faction on the PS2; when I do, I can start the first episode of dot/Hack. Rain bought me all three for our anniversary!
I’m still not sure what my costumes will be this year for Halloween and Rising Star Emcee, though Jerry’s suggestion of a rather desperate Tokyo Civil Defense worker as my costume for the latter was pretty good. Less than six weeks to get them together…
Cinco ano
As raininva likes to point out, five years ago last night, I was extremely wound up, and hoping I was making the right decision for our future together.
I worked through the tension that night by playing Quake for quite some time. 🙂
These last five years have, without a doubt, been the happiest years of my life. I want to thank not just Rain, but all of the friends who have supported us.
Here’s to many many more!
