So Google talk has been out for a week now. It has been getting a lot of attention, some of it negative. Of course this is due to the overly simple UI, and the fact that there are not enough features. I can see that most people would agree. Every one wants a nice picture, and a profile, and all these random features, that would only increase the size of the install itself. Personally I think its absolutely perfect. The only thing that I ever did with any messenger program, is type, and occasionally talk through the mic. Google has made it so its very very easy to manage your speech boxes, and the call quality, is from what I have heard better then the leading voip services. But I am a little upset.. Even though It is perfect for someone like me, Google should know that most of their users need more and more features. It is BETA but Gmail has been in beta for a year, and when it first came out it was the best service on the web.
Every one loves Pepe Le Pew the biggest pimp in cartoons, so now you too can use thses sure fire pickup lines and pick up plenty of skunks... uhh I mean ladies.
COUNTER-STRIKE
Counter-Strike is known as the worlds most popular on-line game for the PC. It is a very simple game. You are either on the terrorist team or on the counter-terrorist team. Your objective is to eliminate the members of opposing force. Counter-Strike is not just a game. Playing Counter-Strike is a lifestyle. If you do not devote at least eight hours of your day playing Counter-Strike(CS) you have no chance of becoming a pro, or earning the coveted ranking of 1337(elite). The hardest part of the game is to get started. You will need an incredibly fast computer and the patience of a sloth. No one is born a good player, but with some time and concentration you can become great. But don't get your hopes up.
First you are going to need to build your own computer(gaming rig). You are probably asking, why can't I just buy a computer? Well the answer is, Dell or Gateway can not offer the power you need in a computer, and you need a customizable Ârig to get a solid 933 frames per second(fps) in the game. CS is a very demanding game for your computer and you will need the best of the best in PC hardware. The first priority is installing two graphic cards, each running at 512 megabyte clock-speed, at least 10 gigabytes of DDRX-400 ram, and an AMD FX-69 processor. These components are most important and should cost only about $3,000. On top of that you will need at least a 20,000 RPM hard drive that has a capacity of at least 13 terabytes. Once you get a standard motherboard, case, and blue-ray disk drive, you should have a standard gaming rig ready for CS at just under $19,000. Now comes the hardest part, getting started.
The best way to learn the game, is to learn the levels(maps). When you are able to navigate thorough all 93 maps blind folded, you will be ready to start using the weapons. It's important to know your team, and your opponents better than you know yourself. Using the PC microphone you have to carefully plan your attack, or defense. Equally important is the fact that certain guns are better for certain situations. For instance in maps that take place inside an office building, you will need to use guns with better firing capability at close range, and you will not be using a sniper rifle. Once you get to know what gun to use, you have to learn how to shoot. Bursts are always best at long range, and never reload in the middle of an enormous gun fight. It is best to try out many weapons to see what suits you best. The most important part of Counter-Strike is your game conduct.
Now that you have the basics of game play down, you can't jump right into a game. Remember that you, along with everyone you are playing against on line, has the power to type or speak against you in the microphone. In CS you are not let back into the game until there is one clear winner and this could take a long time. Below is an example of the type of conversations that could come up while you are waiting to be let back in the game. The names have not been changed, and at the end of the essay there is a glossary providing information on the obscure vocabulary. (NOTE: the bolded text is not to be graded for grammar. It is they way that gamers communicate.)
There are only two players left, and they are both camping and not looking for each other.
1337_H4x0r- man this is gonna take fore ever....
ULTRAn00b- dude hes at ÂAÂ man go to ÂAÂ go to ÂAÂ man
kewlGUY67- hey n00b they cant read what you are saying while they are still in the game!!
Suddenly ULTRAn00b starts playing ultra cheesy European Techno over the microphone. Everyone can hear it...
R3D3V1L- dude you better turn that crap off or the admin is gonna ban you off the server.
ULTRAn00b- dude it wasn't me I swear...
R3D3V1L- yes it is, we can see who is talking...
Finally the time runs out and a new round starts, when it ends a flame war erupts.
KewlGUY67- OMG OMG OMG 1337_H4x0r is hacking the game, he killed everyone on the other team in just 10 seconds, he needs to be banned now.
GACSman- ahhh the nooob hacker 1337_H4x0r is hacking he thinks he is sooo tuff the admin better ban him now.
R3D3V1L- OMG what just happened I was playing and sudenly Im dead. HOOOO is hacking!!1111!11!1111!111! And ULTRAn00b you better turn off that music now.
ULTRAn00b- im sorry please dont ban me.
Suddenly the hacker named 1337_H4x0r is out of the game and starts chatting.
1337_ H4x0r- wow you guys all suck I guess I rele pwnzerd you all.
The admin bans him and he is off of the server forever.
This is only a small example of the types of things that are being said while in the middle of a game. It is best to stay out of the conversation in general, unless someone is talking badly about you at which point you retaliate with a slew of insults from which they can not recover. You can also try to use the microphone as little as possible and especially do not play music on it. It is also best not to share your feelings concerning anything that is going on outside of the game(politics, other games, current events, etc.). This could inadvertently trigger a flame war.
Those are just the basics. You will need to discover the rest for yourself while playing the game. After a solid 365 days of playing for eight hours each day, you might be ready to join up with some clans. Clans are a group of people that stick together as a team, often competing in tournaments for money and prizes. But don't get your hopes up. As you play, you may feel like your wasting you're time and your money on this game that only geeks play. That's not true. You must spend as much time playing as you can and you must spend at least $1000 on your computer to upgrade it monthly. In five or six years you might make some money back. But don't get your hopes up. By following these simple instructions you can and will be a great player some day. But don't get you hopes up.
Well folks looks like we are gonna be waiting a few more months for V for Vendetta. It turns out that a spokesperson for for Warner Brothers said that they still wanted to make some final edits, and touch-ups for the final cut of the movie. Though the movie does deal with a form of terrorism in a fascist ruled London, the spokes person said that the delay has nothing to do with the "current political climate". The movie has come under some discussion, as the main character, and protagonist is the one committing the acts of terror. In my opinion, while the bombings in the story do kill people they are all fascists and evil(as they are portrayed in a similar style to Hitler and the Nazi's). This movie will be great, and it will make money, but why the delay.“This is total, total chaos,” said Latoya Jones, 19, who lost one of her flip-flops in the ordeal and later limped around on the sizzling blacktop with one foot bare.One women even wet herself so she could keep her place in line. What is it about these deals that drive people insane. People were gettiing trampled, and hurt, and many at the front of the line didnt get a laptop at all. The security did not do the job correctly and the county should have known that all of these people would come. In my opinion, there should have been a small advertisment in the Henrico County Paper, about 5 days ago. No crowd, no worrys, no problems.

Fatboy Slim, is one of my favorite musicians. And I'd say his music is only surpassed by his videos. This one for Weapon of Choice is smart, funny, and has a clever use of CG. It stars Christopher Walken, and he is doing all these crazy dance moves. The best part is when he goes up the elevator. Enjoy
This is the second time I will be writing this. I definitely cant wait for the Firefox 1.5 update in September, I cant take the goddamn crashing. Anyway.
Okay so lets set it up. Sam Jackson in a kilt, in Liverpool, trying to sell drugs, having problems, but funny as hell. It turns out that Sam Jackson has the formula for the ultimate drug, in his head. It cant be detected and all of the ingredients can be legally purchased. He works for a guy named Lizard (played by Meat Loaf, AKA Bob from Fight Club), and they are about to sell the formula of this "drug". Sam Jackson turns on him and decides to fly to England and try to sell it there. Lizard gets a hit man(woman) to return Sam Jackson to him so he can get the formula and then kill him. In England, Sam Jackson's character meets up with Felix (played by Robert Carlyle) to set up the next deal in England. Then the hit woman shots up everyone at the deal except for the two of them. Later Felix finds out that the hit woman was actually his old girl friend(played by Emily Mortimer). Now they are forced to go and find a new person to sell to. In between that, they have to run from the cops, get past some random skinheads, and get to a football(sorry, soccer) game at the end. The acting is just fine, it doesn't get in the way but its not something that's extra special. That doesn't matter though, all of the jokes work perfectly and it makes for a great comedy. There is plenty of action, and most of it does move the story along and it isn't mindless or boring. The scenes with the skinheads are by far the best, as the "leader" never has a clue as to what's going on, and allays gets punched in the face or humiliated. Definitely worth checking out or at least renting it. You'll love it its the best movie you have never seen. I give it an 8.5 out of 10. For those that have seen it, post what you think in the comments.
Now this is really cool, geobloggers.com is basicly a google maps site. However when you zoom in close to a location you can see pictures from the ground of what you could see there. I posted an image I took of the space shuttle in the Air and Space Museum in Dulles. There are plenty of pics all around DC, and the closer you zoom in the more you see around the country. Ill post a tutorial later, but all you need is a flickr account, greasemonkey, and the willingness to learn. So its rele cool alot like how amazons A9.com map search shows you waht you see on the streets. So startposting your ownstuff, I fore-see a day when there will be a picture on every streetcorner. Again another example of Irriversible Progress.
A new idea. I was creating a website for my mom,(more on that later) when I thought of something rather revolutionary in the world of digital cameras. I use flickr a lot, and I use my digital camera a little too much, so why not combine the two? Why not have a digital camera with built in wifi, and in a few years wimax. Then install some flickr software on there and when your at a hot spot upload your pics right off of your camera. The applications of this would be crazy. No more need for memory cards if you are connected all the time. You could access an unlimited amount of photos right from the web. The cost of using I digital camera would decrees as you wouldn't need a memory card or only need a small one. In a few years all major cities will have wifi hotspots on every street corner, if not wimax. And with flickr you could even share your pics and upload one of your contacts pics directly to your camera. This could be very very simple to implement. There are already cameras with GPS that tag every photo you take with the coordenants. With flicker you take a pic, edit the when, where, with who, and title and immediately share it with the world. Same goes for mobloging, you don't have to bare that crappy cell phone camera resolution any more. So Cannon, Sony, etc., could easily partner with Yahoo and flickr to do this could be out next Christmas if they tried it now. Oh and excuse the crappy photoshop.
Well earlier tonight I finished watching the entire run of Joss Whedons Firefly. The 2 hour pilot and the 13 other episodes. I was totally moved by it and im very very excited for the upcoming movie Serenity. For those that dont know about Firefly it is.. to put simply, a western set 500 years in the future. As it is described by its creators its a perfect blending of the past and the future to settle somewhere in the middle, and it feels very current and real. However if anything, Firefly is NOT to be put simply, it was origannly planned out as a space "drama". Each charecter is surprisingly real, and they all play off of each other so well. The plot is amazing and goes very deep(that is for the first 15 episodes). They could have taken it in so many directions, that'll be something to look for in the movie on September 30th. The writing is superb(who am I to judge I just like it) and in every episode there was at least one or two Badass "Indy" moments. That is when Indian Jones shoots the guy twirling his sowrds. You definatly gotta buy the DVD, or if you allready have it, buy one for someone who doesnt. According to IMDB the movie was produced for around 50 mill, and it should be able get double and hopfully triple that at the boxoffice. I have a feeling that it will(to those who dont know it) come outta nowhere and surprise millions of people. It cant fail the fanbase is just too big, and these hardcore fans will do anything to promote this movie.