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May 31, 2006

XBox Live

So today Mike bought Hitman: Blood Money. The whole premise of the game had him drooling since he'd first heard about it, so it would be outright silly to say that he was 'excited' about getting this today.

That is, until he pops the game in and discovers that there is a mandatory update that needs to be downloaded before he can even play. Fine, fine.. thankfully with his computer being gone (currently on its way to Chazz's), and the replacement not yet here, we had a spare cable for it.

And thus, Mike now has his GamerCard.

Posted by Coyote at 7:46 PM

May 30, 2006

Mike's Poor PC

It's amazing the problems we have had with Mike's computer. Funnier still, the problems that we don't discover until years down the line. Such as the fact that it was supposed to be a 3200+, and was only like a 2700+/2800+. Damn.

Just after his birthday, his harddrive failed on him. We took it to Best Buy to get repaired, and they had it back to us in under 24 hours. However, they didn't properly install everything, which we were under the impression they were supposed to do. Like the video card. Shit that the average consumer (much like the woman who walked in ten minutes after us, with the exact same problems) likely wouldn't understand how to fix. Hell, Mike didn't understand how to fix it and fought with the computer for 2+ hrs before I took over.

Well, my computer has been overheating again when playing WoW. I think part of the problem is that our ceiling fan died, and thus the air from our AC unit simply doesn't get to this side of the room as easily. Mike kept saying, "You should clean out the computer," or "You should reinstall that other video card." (We had bought me a better video card, however the drivers for it when it first came out were poor and actually decreased my FPS in WoW, so I reverted to my older and more stable card.)

This weekend he decided to clean his computer out. His sits on the floor, and I think gets dirtier faster than my own. Plus, when we'd picked it up from Best Buy, the guy told us that we really did need to clean it out. Mike pulled out the card table and took the computer apart, giving it a good cleaning.

When he hooked it back up, it wouldn't power up. -__-

Now with all the problems he's had with it, Mike actually remained rather calm. He says that he's simply numb to them at this point. It's likely very true. Poor thing.

This time he decides he's done with this computer. Having recently got a credit card (his first) from Bank of America, which he had only purchased the XBox 360 on (just the console, the extra controller and whatnot he paid cash for), he decided he could get himself a new computer. Admittedly, we had problems with Cyberpower and his computer, but mine and Dave's work as well as can be expected with computers that are likely pushed futher than they ought to be. (Like me... running WoW, iTunes/WinAmp, AOL/AIM/Trillian, and sometimes Photoshop--on a single core processor). So, Mike went back to Cyberpower and built his new computer with the dream gear he'd been eyeballing in magazines recently.

Here are the stats, as listed on the print-out, post-ordering.

There was a 5% rebate due to the holiday, so including shipping and tax, the total of the computer came to $2000.70.

And Mike's old PC? Well, we technically don't know what's wrong with it. It could either be simply needed a new PSU, or it could need a new motherboard. Mike found a connector from the front panel (the fan controller) to the mobo that looked like it had shorted. Don't know if this was something that simply happened, if it had happened when he was cleaning it, or if someone at Best Buy did something wrong. Who knows.

Previously when Mike spoke about a new computer, he made it sound like he was going to keep his current (now old) one, and run them side by side (likely how I will with my old HP, should I ever replace the PSU), with a KVM. However, he surprised me.

Today we sent the computer off to Chazz. Should he be able to figure out what's wrong with it, he now has himself a fairly up-to-date PC. And if he can't... well, it would have ended up in the trash anyway. I told Liz about this the other day, but I haven't been able to tell Chazz yet, which sucks. She said we shouldn't tell him until we actually sent it out (I told her yesterday, we mailed it today) because Chazz will be grouchy about it--much like how he grumped when I bought him a freaking t-shirt for his birthday. And here he'll be getting an entire (though unworking) computer? Yeah, he's going to grouch. LOL

Speaking of which, I need to email him. We got our new cellphone today and they were unable to rescue our phonebook off the old one, as the old phone itself was busted, not just the battery. Joy!

Update / 6.1: Amazingly enough, Chazz was not grouchy, much to my surprise and delight. Instead, he was giddy. That was a phone conversation I wish was recorded, because it was hilarious. To start with, Mike took the phone to tell him, but prefaced it with, "My computer isn't working..." and trying to talk through possible ideas. Chazz tossed out one idea finally and Mike was like, "Well, you can try that when it gets there," or some such.

The conversation continued for a good length of time, with the inclusion of "I'm getting a computer" into every other of Chazz's sentences. It was hilarious.

So tonight Chazz has been poking around inside the computer to try and figure out what's wrong. Finally after hours to trying things (including replacing the PSU), he finally comes to the conclusion that the motherboard is fried.

After he comes to this conclusion... his keyboard died.

Sigh.

Posted by Coyote at 11:49 PM

Unusual Builds

Someone had started a thread about unusual character builds in WoW, which was hijacked by unusual builds in Diablo 2. This one I totally dig (even though it would have made my old computer choke and die).

Corpse Explosion Necromancer in full Plate.

Yes, that's right. Nothing but Corpse Explosion. Maybe a little Steel Golem, but here's my formula:

  1. Stab something with a big pike. (Necro-lancer lawl.)
  2. Stab it more until it dies.
  3. Explode it. Nearby enemies taken to half health.
  4. Stab one of those. It dies.
  5. Explode it. Nearby enemies now at 1/4 health, perhaps one lucky dead.
  6. Kill one more and explode it.
  7. Repeat and feed in more mobs.
  8. Viola! Your screen has been painted red.

Posted by Coyote at 11:37 PM

Ahhh, Such Clarity

I just finished re-vamping my categories. I had previously been all googly-eyed over subcats, but what a pain in the ass. More often than not, I was having to check what the category was that I desired, as the drop-list inside of MT doesn't show them nested. Now, had it nested them I would have been in seventh-heaven. Alas, this was not the case.

In addition, this weekend I installed SMF (@ http://www.haloandhorns.com/forum/), because Z and Jayme want to work on a writing group. In the meantime, I also invited Cyndi, Tom and Aron. This ought to be loads of fun!

Posted by Coyote at 11:30 PM

May 29, 2006

Too Fucking Hilarious

So today I was putzing around on the Off-Topic boards for WoW and stumbled upon a link to Gidol, where I found this fabulous piece! I couldn't help but to share.

Posted by Coyote at 3:53 PM

May 28, 2006

X-Men 3 and Silent Hill

I must preface this with the obvious: I am not in-the-know on Marvel's universe and my experience with X-Men has been limited to the old Fox cartoon and the first two movies.

There.

I enjoyed X3. There were a few pieces I felt could have been better, but overall (and a day later I might add), I'm still pleased by the movie and did not feel it was a total waste of money. Further, I was annoyed when I had to use the restroom mid-movie, and nearly ran as to miss as little as possible.

I don't like worrying about spoilers, so I'm not going to go into details. I was upset about those who died, and those who were affected by the basis of the story. I liked the bad guys as they were. I liked the good guys as they were. (Admittedly, Cyclops was not a big loss; sorry.)

I feel bad for anyone who did not sit through the credits. People! When it's a major movie, that already is part of a series, stay through the end of the credits!!! I've read so many people bitching because of this or that, but they didn't sit through the credits. Sucks to be them.

Anyhow.

Silent Hill. Again, I have to say that I did not play the games, and asked Mike for a rough comparison post-movie.

Silent Hill wigged me the fuck out. Specifically the bathroom scene, but then, I'm terrified of bathrooms to begin with, as sad as that might be. The feel of the movie was fabulous, and hellaciously creepy. I'm shocked that Samwise did not rip her eyes out during the movie (she saw it was Jenn and Brian; and apparently it was her idea!).

I love horror flicks. If it makes me look over my shoulder at night, it's pure bliss. (Though, I have to knock it down a few notches due to the bathroom!) Much like when Mike and I first saw The Ring, and sat there periodically looking up at our oval mirror on the wall, if it can connect to reality... FABULOUS. Bonus points for the twisted mythos of the town. This would be just the type of place that Mike and all would love to go check on, and then run out of, pissing themselves.

Now... I cannot wait for Pirates 2.

Posted by Coyote at 11:33 PM

May 25, 2006

90s Kids

Snagged off of the WoW forums, and it was just too good to pass up. I was only halfway a 90s kid (which happens being born in the late 70s), so some of these even went over my head as I know I wasn't so-much a kid when they were hitting.

You're a 90's kid if:

You've ever ended a sentence with the word "SIKE!"

You can sing the rap to "The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air"

You remember when Kurt Cobain, Tupac, River Phoenix, and Selena died.

You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey from "Blossom" and that "How Rude!" comes from Stephanie from "Full House"

You remember when it was actually worth getting up early
on a Saturday to watch cartoons.

You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.

You remember reading "Goosebumps"

You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, wax off"

You have pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.

You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school.

you danced to "wannabe" by the Spice Girls, Females: had a new motto, Males: got a whole lot gay-er. (so tell me what you want, what you really really want.)

You remember the craze then the banning of slap bracelets and slam books.

You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every sentence...Not...

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? was both a game and a TV game show.

Captain Planet.

You knew that Kimberly, the pink ranger, and Tommy, the green Ranger were meant to be together.

To the last sentence you said.....hey...Tommy was the green* ranger!!!!

*later to be white

When playing power rangers with friends you fought over who got to be who...........and still all ended up being tommy.

You remember when super nintendo's became popular.

You remember watching Home Alone 1 and 2........and tried to pull the pranks on "intruders"

"I've fallen and I can't get up"

You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates

Two words... Trapper Keeper.

You ever got injured on a Slip 'n' Slide

You wore socks over leggings scrunched down

"Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black, with silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back" SHE ASKED HER MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER FOR FIFTY CENTS CENTS CENTS TO SEE THE ELEPHANTS PHANTS PHANTS JUMP OVER THE FENCE THE FENCE THE FENCE
he jumped so high high high he touched the sky sky sky and he didnt come back back back til the forth of july ly ly he jumped so low ow ow he stubbed his toe toe toe and thats the end end end of the elephants show show show

You remember boom boxes vs. cd players

You remember New Kids on The Block when they were cool & had a cartoon

You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell"

You played and or collected "Pogs"

You had at least one Tamagotchi, GigaPet or Nano and brought it everywhere

You watched the original Care Bears, My Little Pony, and Ninja Turtles cartoons!!

NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOYS WERE THE BEST MYSTERY BOOKS

Yikes pencils and erasers were the stuff!

All your school supplies were "Lisa Frank" brand.(pencils.notebooks.bindersetc.)

You remember when the new Beanie Babies were always sold out.

You used to wear those stick on earings, not only on your ears, but at the corners of your eyes.

You remember a time before the WB.

You've gotten creeped out by nickalodeon's "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

You know the Macarena by heart.

"Talk to the hand" ... enough said

You thought "Brain" would finally take over the world

You always said, "Then why don't you marry it!"

You remember when everyone went slinky crazy.

You remember when razor scooters were cool.

when we were younger:

Before the MySpace frenzy.

Before the Internet & text messaging.

Before Sidekicks & iPods.

Before MIKE JONES

Before PlayStation2 or X-BOX.

WHEN LIGHT UP SNEAKERS WERE KOOL

When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs.

When gas was $1.08 a gallon & Caller ID was a new thing.

When we recorded stuff on VCRs & paid $3.50 for a movie.

When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off our walkmans.

When 2Pac and Biggie where alive.

When the Chicago Bulls were the best team ever.


bill-nye the science guy.

MR RODGERS!!!!

gullah gullah island


When Toys R Us overuled the mall.


act like you didn't watch afro-king BOB ROSS paint trees on T.V.

double dare!!

DID I DO THAAAAAAAAAT???

smud and yak back. skip it and bop it.

Don't forget about pogs!!!!!!

Reebok pumps, man those were sweet O.oO

Before we realized all this would eventually disappear

who would have thought you'd miss the 90's so much!!!!!

Your a 90's kid when you read this and smiled and laughed at least 5 of these.

Posted by Coyote at 4:20 PM

May 17, 2006

Pink Eye, RGIS and Vacation Time

As I mentioned a few days ago, we went on vacation back to LA not too long ago. However, to get the full gist of the story, I do have to backtrack.

2 and 3 April 2006
I woke up that Sunday morning and simply groaned. My left eye was like glued shut. It had been bugging me the night before, but I didn't think of it until I woke with it feeling like crap. Needless to say, Sunday was not a fun day, and first thing Monday morning I got an appt. with the doctor. He confirmed pink-eye, gave me a prescription and sent me home for the day. Mike dropped me off at the pharmacy here on the corner, and I simply walked home (oooh, 100').

All week long, my eye just felt worse and worse. On Saturday I thought that my right eye might have started to get it, so I added the drops to that eye as well. Oddly enough, afterward my eye did react. Hmm...

Mike was the smarter one. "I think you're allergic to those eyedrops," he said.

9 & 10 April 2006

RGIS! Huzzah! (I kid, believe me.)

RGIS is RGIS. What more really needs to be said? I was feeling like absolute crap, because my eyes were killing me. They were running, and red, and the eyedrops burned when I put them in; but I took that as simply my eyes being that badly affected by the pink-eye. I'm not sure how I made it through the night, but it was bad. The RGIS staff was moving slower than ever, we think largely due to the fact that they simply did not speak English. "Sku check" weas a rarely heard thing, and the place was bone silent.

To make matters worse, we were not able to RPL at all because RGIS did not finish until about 4am. Erin finally sent us home, and apparently they didn't get the disks until 5ish.

So I went to the doctor again on Monday morning. He said that he wanted me to go to an actual eye doctor, and got an appt. scheduled for me later in the day. Went to that one, and he came to the conclusion that I was allergic. He gives me different eyedrops, which are immediately soothing rather than burning. Huzzah!

That night, we did another overnight to RPL. I think we got about 50% pulled that night, and literally filled the backroom up with carts. I think we pulled out like 10 shopping carts from behind Home Depot. Heheh!

13 - 20 April

I am rather impressed with myself; I was fine on both flights. On the flight there (after being delayed for almost a hour on the ground due to be like 42 in line to take off), we watched Nanny McPhee which was cute.

California was lovely, even with the first two days being rainy. Honestly, there wasn't much that we did. We did go to Disneyland with Mike's whole family and my mom, which was fun. Nothing special happened, it was just a pleasant visit. Marty and my dad got along famously, and everyone came over to my folks house for dinner one night. It was enjoyable.

And yeah, I ran out of things to write. LOL

Posted by Coyote at 10:21 PM

Mistakes Made by the Night Elves

Robbed off of the General boards:

Anyone ever notice how the Night Elves, when faced with important, world-changing decisions, INEVITABLY make the wrong ones? If it weren't for Night Elves and their screwups, I'd be inclined to think Azeroth in general would be a much nicer place.

Mistake 1: Destroying the Scepter of the Shifting Sands

Bronze Dragonflight: "Now that we've finally sealed away the nemesis of all Azeroth, here's a scepter should you need to break the seal and fight them again."
Fandral: "WAAAHH!"
*breaks scepter*
Bronze Dragonflight: "You dumb f*cker."

Mistake 2: Destroying the Well of Eternity

Queen Azshara: "Blahaharrrgh, I'm addicted to magic!"
Night Elves: "Well I guess that's cool."
Queen Azshara: "Blahahaharrrgh, I'm summoning demons!"
Night Elves: "Ok, that's not so cool."
*Bigass War!*
Malfurion: "I've got an idea! Let's blow up the world!"
Tyrande: "Come on, that's your solution to everything."
Malfurion: "No it's not! By the way, hold this."
Tyrande: "Hey, this looks like a-"
KABLOOIE
Tyrande: "...dammit, Malfurion."

Mistake 3: Recreating the Well of Eternity, Then Leaving It There and Falling Asleep

Illidan: "Hey guys, now that we just got done blowing THAT up, I just made a new one!"
Night Elves: "You stupid f*cker."
Malfurion: "Illidan, you're under arrest for playing the devil rock music."
Illidan: "How wude!"
*SLAMMER'D!*
Malfurion: "Anyway, let's just plant a tree over top of this sucker and call it a day."
Tyrande: "Uh, what do you want us women to do, Mal honey?"
Malfurion: "You all stay awake and keep the stove warm in case we're hungry when we wake up. Oh, and don't go running off having fun with your friends or anything, I want you in the kitchen where you belong."
Tyrande: "But-"
Malfurion: "zzzzzzzzzzzz"
Tyrande: "Dammit."

Mistake 4: Staying Asleep

Orcs: "FOR THE HORDE! And also the Burning Legion!"
Night Elves: "zzzzzzzzz"
Undead: "For the lich king! Also, again, the Burning Legion!"
Night Elves: "zzzzzzSNRKzzzzz"

Mistake 5: Picking a Fight with the Orcs

Night Elves: "WTF?! Orcs cutting down our trees? Gettem!"
Cenarius: "I'LL take the case!"
*PWNT*
Night Elves: "WTF!!"
Grom Hellscream: [Orcish] kek

Mistake 6: Releasing Illidan

Tyrande: "We need help, gotta wake the druids up. Oh hey, Illidan! I'm sure 10,000 years of confinement has only rehabilitated him."
Illidan: "GROWLowlorarrrr"
Tyrande: "...although I could be wrong."
Illidan: "OOGHRARGHghhh!" *runs off*

Mistake 7: Blowing up the World, AGAIN

Medivh: "Quit fighting you nubs! Archimonde is coming!"
Night Elves: "Oh crap you're right. Too late now!"
Archimonde: "Bwahahahaha!"
Malfurion: "Hey, I've got an idea!"
Everyone: *groans*
KABLOOIE

Mistake 8: Stopping Illidan from killing the Lich King

Malfurion: "OMG! Illidan's doing something crazy to Northrend! Gotta stop him!"
Maiev: "I'm kookoo for catching Illidan!" *trips Tyrande*
Tyrande: "Aiiee!" *falls into river*
Malfurion and Illidan: "I'LL take the case!"
*rescue*
Illidan: "So you see, I was trying to DESTROY THE MOST POWERFUL EVIL BEING IN AZEROTH."
Malfurion: "Oh, uh..... my bad."

Mistake 9: Building a new World Tree

Fandral: "Man, I miss immortality. Let's make a new world tree!"
Malfurion: "I don't think that's a good-"
Fandral: "STFU nub."
*WORLD TREE'D!*
Fandral: "See? This place is great."
Malfurion: "I dunno, it smells kinda bad... and I think I just stepped in some ooze."
Fandral: "Yeah? Well if you don't like it, why don't you go get lost in the Emerald Dream for a few years?!"
Malfurion: "You know what?! I think I will!" *gets lost in the Emerald Dream*
Night Elves: *facepalm*
Rest of Alliance: "Remind me why we put up with these guys?"
Bronze Dragonflight: "Because you're all a bunch of dumb f*ckers."

Credit to Rokujo of Lightning's Blade.

Posted by Coyote at 5:45 PM

May 13, 2006

Hellgate: London

I've actually be rather anxious about this game, perhaps if only due to the fact that Blizzard has yet to announce Diablo 3 (c'mon guys, we know you're working on it, just spill the beans already!). Anywho, reading through E3 coverage on GameSpot and this bit struck me as hilarious.

We created a cabalist character by adjusting the height, build, face, hair, and features, then played through one of the game's early levels, which began inside a station in London's world-famous Tube underground train network (now abandoned and fallen into ruin, since the game takes place in the wake of a near-future demonic invasion). Several characters stood around the station, some willing to speak with us, others claiming they didn't know us well enough to talk. One character who was glad to speak with us was "L'il Joey," a disabled child with a glimmer of hope in his eye and a World of Warcraft-esque yellow exclamation point hovering over his head (this marking indicates that a character has a quest available to give).

It seemed that L'il Joey had lost his prosthetic leg aboveground, and he gave us a quest to retrieve it. We headed topside to fight through the ruined streets of the Big Smoke in search of the dastardly demon that had swiped the child's leg, fighting through crowds of small demons with a tractor beam-like energy weapon in one hand and a pulse-firing pistol weapon in the other. We finally came upon the hulking, misshapen miscreant--named The Taint (no snickering, please), a tangled mass of arms and heads--which we slaughtered and divested of the embezzled extremity, and then we returned to the station. We then passed it back to a very grateful L'il Joey, who insisted on becoming our squire and went so far as to change his name to the original name of King Arthur, Wart. (So in essence, we had just returned Wart's leg...Diablo players should get the reference.)

Kick. Ass.

Posted by Coyote at 12:19 AM

May 5, 2006

G4 Go BOOM!

Too fucking awesome to pass up. Joe sent me this today, and I love it. Hell, I'd do that with any PC.

Help Me Get a G5

Posted by Coyote at 7:41 PM

May 4, 2006

Been Too Long

I'm so terrible at writing these days, it's almost depressing. Today at work I thought to fix up my WoW blog, which I just got finished (for the moment) working on, and decided I would try and play catch up.

One thing that I cannot believe I didn't write about was our visit last year (prior to Thanksgiving). Kristie and her boyfriend were moving up to Mass., and brought along Cyndi and Chazz for the trip. Though our time with them was brief (a couple of hours initially; they ended up spending the night, but more on that in a moment), it was fabulous. We have a great deal of it on video, which I'm sure would be well worth it. After we stopped taping everything, we said how we should get it online; but Mike's lazy and has never done it.

The only onfortunates of the visit were that Chazz accidently destroyed a pair of brand new pants that Mike had just gotten (all chains and straps from Hot Topic; very hot... and he's never been able to replace them), and that after they left, the car broke down. Evidently, Kristie and Robbie were fine with camping out in their vehicles for the night, which was all fine and dandy for them... they had running engines and heaters. However, a broken down car that won't start has no way of staying warm in the winter. When Cyndi and Chazz realized that Robbie and Kristie were going to sleep in their cars with no regard for them, they called us up. Needless to say, we picked them up and brought them home where they could get a warm night's sleep.

Hmm. Let's see, Liz bought Chazz WoW for Christmas, so we play with them when they're on (Liz recently got her own computer and a new WoW account just for herself).

Things in RoE have been peaceful, which is nice. For quite awhile, I was beginning to feel rather overwhelmed. My lack of writing has spread from here, to posting. I nearly have to drag posts out of myself now, which is rather sad. I'm hoping that if I encourage myself to write here, I'll write more fiction. There's hope.

Semper Fi is growing so big. He is over a year old now, and massive. Sadly, he's still almost wholly untrained. This is largely to blame due to Grandpa, as he won't listen to what anyone says. Anything we train the dog, would be instantly untrained the moment we left the house. Until it gets too hot, we have been taking him for daily walks, which are quite enjoyable. Semper is fascinated by every tree that he comes across, but then, he is a dog.

Mike discovered that we made a mistake when we got Semper. Instead of keeping him and Kahlua separate, we should have let Kahlua kick his ass. He would have learned that she was the dominant animal of the house and all would be fine; so sayeth a few people on a message board Mike visits (this is what they did with their cats and new Bulldogs, and apparently it worked wonders). There is always the chance that we could get this to happen now, but I think Kahlua has gotten accustomed to staying in her own areas (namely the basement and upstairs).

Anywho, I'm going to go play Brain Age; I've been having a blast with this game. The last four days I've gotten 23, 23, 20 and 25. I so rock.

Oh yes, I'll have to write about California. That will be for tomorrow. ^_^

Posted by Coyote at 8:25 PM