Entries Tagged as 'Ramblings'

Down, But Not Out

Stuck in a chair!

I know the site hasn’t been updated in a while. Classic lines for a crappy blog, but I have a good excuse. Unfortunately I was in this freak accident (long story) but I’m getting better. I was in the hospital for a bit and now my leg is in a cast and I’m riding around in a wheelchair for the time being. It sucks, I know, but I could have died so I thank God for sparing my life. Now I am slowly recovering and I have to spend my time on real-life stuff these days. My site will be back in action soon enough, but I need some time to recover. Will post soon, stay tuned.

Retro Gaming: SpectreVR

SpectreVR: Retro PC Gaming

SpectreVR is a title every old-school PC gamer should remember. The original game in the series, simply called Spectre, landed in 1991 and was one of the first computer games to offer an online multiplayer 3d environment. It first shipped on the Macintosh platform but later made it to DOS, Windows and even SNES. I have many fond memories of sneaking into the school computer lab and “hacking” an AppleIIgs with the principal’s password just to play this game. It was a pretty big deal back then since that was the only computer in the lab with a color-display (16 colors FTW!). Man, those were the days.

So seeing as how fond I was of the game, I decided to pick up a copy online. No, I don’t mean a bootleg copy. I buy the real stuff to support the industry. Anyway, I was able to find a copy online new-in-box for around $20. Not a bad deal, I thought it might be cool for collector’s value. And if I can find a brand new copy of a PC game from 15 years ago, well then there’s really no excuse to pirate. A few days later a package arrives. But when I open it I’m a bit surprised, this wasn’t the box art I remember. Not that crazy triangle shaped box I wanted, but a blast from the past never-the-less.

Unboxing images, video and rant below…

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HyperX Girl and the Futuristic Booth-Babes

Hot Futuristic Booth-Babes!!!

It appears that 3D technology wasn’t the only thing on display over at Computex 2008. I just stumbled upon the most smashing gallery of booth-babes, many in futuristic attire. Although some of the designs are a bit over the top, it gives me some hope we won’t still be wearing t-shirts and jeans for the next 50 years. Seriously, what happened to all those wicked designs from the movies? Back when the year 2000 was some science-fiction fantasy. Even though we are kind of in the future, it seems strange that people carry their iPhones in the same pair of Wranglers the cowboys in the old west wore as they rode their horses into the sunset. Well that and kill a bunch of Indians. I’m just saying.

link: Computex 2008 Booth Babes [TechARP]

My New Rig Part II: Bigger and Blacker

My Sick New Gaming Rig

Here are a few more shots of my latest gaming rig. The last shot I had posted really didn’t do it any justice. I’m not sure what I was thinking! Probably I was too busy playing Crysis to even notice I didn’t get the moneyshot! These photos more accurately capture the beast in its full glory. Its not 100% finished yet, there are a few additional tweaks remaining. Still, I think it came out alright.

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Help Me Windows 7, You’re My Only Hope

Bill Gates 4.6m Hologram

Although nowhere near as cool as seeing the Gorrilaz in full holographic glory, Bill Gates has made a quite an appearance at the World Congress on Information Technology 2008… as a 4.6 meter hologram! Not that I really care, but it sure does make a funny picture. I kid, I kid. Me and Bill go way back…

To be fair, I just upgraded to Vista and its really not that bad. At least not as bad as people make it out to be. I still kept my old XP machine (which I’m on right now) just to be safe. But so far mostly everything I’ve tried has worked with Vista. I think all the haters probably have some old-ass Compaq with on-board video and 256MB of RAM and are pissed cause their parallel-port printer isn’t supported.

Everything on Vista is pretty fast for me, especially after I overclocked my chip to 3.6GHz! I click on a folder, it opens like instantly. Pretty much every game runs maxed out in HD resolutions, aside from Crysis (still running in very high but at 800×600). Plus, the Aero interface really does look that much cooler. But I guess Vista is just one of those things people love to hate.

Day 4: My New Gaming Rig is Operational

New Rig is ALIVE!

I actually finished building my rig last week, but I got caught up with RL stuff so I hadn’t posted it up yet. So far its running great. I’ve been playing Crysis on very high! Oh yeah! I’ll be honest, I had to drop the resolution to 800×600 to get playable framerates on very high settings, but it still looks great. Thinking about getting another video card, maybe running SLI so I could get to higher resolutions. Aside from that, all the other games and demos run great. Playing Unreal Tournament 3 getting above 100fps at 720P on a 32″ LCD. Its pretty sweet. Not only that but boy does it look sexy with all that metal and blue LEDs. Check the video after the break.

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Day 3: My New Gaming Rig

Day 3: New Gaming Rig

I’m almost done putting this rig together, though the process turned out a little more rocky than expected. After much ado, I have finally mounted the motherboard onto the chassis tray. The Coolermaster Aquagate water-cooler was left running for 3 straight days, not a leak in sight. Since the cpu water-block needs to be mounted from the back of the board it was necessary to do the thing in one shot. It took some elbow grease but I managed without damaging anything (I hope). I even used an anti-static wrist-strap just for that extra peace of mind. Pretty much all the parts are in there now, the main stuff at least. A 3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (E8400), the GeForce 8800GTS 512MB, EVGA nForce 780i mainboard, and 4GB of some Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 RAM. Continue reading for some shots of the progress…

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Day 2: My New Gaming Rig

My New Rig, Day 2

After some initial confusion, things are going a lot smoother building my new rig. This is the first computer I’ve built from the ground up in probably like 5 years. I’ve just been upgrading my trusty Pentium all this time, but its starting to show its age. So I really want to take my time and do this right. I’ve been reading all the manuals from cover to cover and planning out how everything is going to connect. Now that I know what I’m working with I just need to snap it all together. Read on for some more photos…

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Day 1: My New Gaming Rig

My New Gaming Rig

I’ve finally got all the parts I need to start building my brand new gaming rig. This thing is going to be a beast when its complete. Its got a 3GHz Core 2 Duo processor, from the new 45nm Wolfdale line, the WD RaptorX 10,000RPM HDD, an 8800GTS 512MB factory-overclocked GPU, 4GB of RAM, 1,000W PSU, water cooling, the works. All housed in a Coolermaster Stacker 830 Special Edition case. I’ve tried not to get too excited, because I know how shit likes to go wrong, so I prepared for the worst. And of course, Murphy’s Law kicks in on cue…

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Grand Theft Autobots: Rollout!

GTA4 Bitches!

I’m not one to be easily swept up on the hype-train, but I have to say that the new Grand Theft Auto is really something else. After waiting on line for almost 2 hours last night, I was beginning to question whether the game would be worth it. But within the first 15 seconds of the intro I knew I was in for a wild ride. Although not quite a perfect game, its surely up there on the list (although still not as good as Shadowrun on the SNES which was like the best game EVER!). On a pure graphical standpoint, the game really shines. All the cars are beautifully rendered and the backdrops are simply breath-taking. Best of all, its modeled after my hometown, New York City. Although not a 100% accurate model, the developers managed to get pretty close to the real thing.

What really strikes a chord with me is the social and political commentary interspersed throughout the world via the radio and television. Hell, they even have an internet *in the game*! Simply amazing. But there was some real thought put into some of this commentary. I don’t want to ruin any surprises, but I don’t think Rockstar really supports the war. Which is surprising since most politicians are so quick to blame video-games for the plight of modern youth, yet have no problems sending real kids into a real war. Its somewhat refreshing to find some intelligent irony in a game most of America would consider degenerate. Although the GTA series has always had some of these anti-establishment themes, the latest title really takes it to another level. Just try watching the in-game tv for bit: comedy gold!

Bottom line, if you own an Xbox360 or a PS3 you simply must buy this game. Its a shame its not out for the PC, because I’d like to be able to play it on my soon-to-be brand-new gaming rig, but here’s to hoping there will be a port. By the way, I’ve already obtained the “Warm Coffee” achievement. With extra cream and sugar, I might add. Just the way I like it!