I haven't written much lately because I haven't done much lately. I spend all my time at work slaving away at a project that hasn't been announced yet.
How ever we did just release Shandor for Playstation Home. Shandor is a decoration furniture object for your apartment. It is modeled after the Zoltar machine from the movie Big where Tom Hank's character (as a kid) makes a wish to be big.
There is more to it than that, but I'll say no more and just show you this video somebody posted to YouTube.
Although it is still early, it is really great to see things start to happen.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Mac History
The Computer History Museum has an article (and the source code) for MacPaint and QuickDraw up on their site.
Looking at the pictures, I can't help but feel a little old knowing that the artwork I did on the Apple Macintosh computer back then wasn't in fact the first computer I worked on professionally. The first professional computer art I did was on the Commodore 64, but it couldn't have been too much farther back than the Mac stuff. I've always listed my computer career as starting in 1985 but I had been going to "The Computer Learning Center for Children," which was also the home of the newly created "Unicorn Software," for a little while before they asked me to do some work for them. Trying to match my memories of how long they were in their original offices before moving to the new building, how that matches up with me spending my senior year of high school (Class of '86) in California, etc.
I had thought that once I got back from California, summer of 1986, that I had only done Amiga and Atari ST work for Unicorn before going to Westwood in 1988. But now that I really think about it, not only do I remember doing a few things on the Mac, but I also did several more titles on the Apple II.
Trying to look for a picture from one of the Mac games I drew on MacPaint I found it funny how back then every program for the Mac had to be named MacWhatever (MacPaint, MacRobots, MacEtc and so on) just like when the iPod/iPhone first launched and everybody was naming their Apps iThis and iThat.
I also found this page that appears to be some sort of Unicorn Software holding page. I've never seen that slogan before, that wasn't their logo, and although I have no idea when the company shut down they were publishing games before 1986.
Anyway, I didn't find anything that I hadn't posted before. So if you really want to see a picture, use the blog's search feature and look for "Unicorn software."
Looking at the pictures, I can't help but feel a little old knowing that the artwork I did on the Apple Macintosh computer back then wasn't in fact the first computer I worked on professionally. The first professional computer art I did was on the Commodore 64, but it couldn't have been too much farther back than the Mac stuff. I've always listed my computer career as starting in 1985 but I had been going to "The Computer Learning Center for Children," which was also the home of the newly created "Unicorn Software," for a little while before they asked me to do some work for them. Trying to match my memories of how long they were in their original offices before moving to the new building, how that matches up with me spending my senior year of high school (Class of '86) in California, etc.
I had thought that once I got back from California, summer of 1986, that I had only done Amiga and Atari ST work for Unicorn before going to Westwood in 1988. But now that I really think about it, not only do I remember doing a few things on the Mac, but I also did several more titles on the Apple II.
Trying to look for a picture from one of the Mac games I drew on MacPaint I found it funny how back then every program for the Mac had to be named MacWhatever (MacPaint, MacRobots, MacEtc and so on) just like when the iPod/iPhone first launched and everybody was naming their Apps iThis and iThat.
I also found this page that appears to be some sort of Unicorn Software holding page. I've never seen that slogan before, that wasn't their logo, and although I have no idea when the company shut down they were publishing games before 1986.
Anyway, I didn't find anything that I hadn't posted before. So if you really want to see a picture, use the blog's search feature and look for "Unicorn software."
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Online Soccer Champions AKA Interzone Futebol
It looks like Big Collision Games aka Interzone Entertainment is launching Online Soccer Champions aka Interzone Futebol in "closed beta." So they claim anyway, knowing what I know about the state of the game when it was ripped from the servers at the Perth studio and what it takes to actually make a game, I have serious doubts they have anything worth playing actually running. The video and screen shots they have released are really telling. The video is only kind of labeled Online Soccer Champions, as it clearly has the Interzone Futebol and Interzone games logo all over it with only some shots re-branded as "Online Soccer Champions." It actually appears to be the exact same video from last year just re-cut with some Photoshop work. Same goes for the screenshots they have on their site.
Nick Lowe, my friend and former college at the closed Interzone Games studio in Perth, has the latest news on his blog where you can read the latest, sad update on the nefarious Interzone saga. The links to the various sites where you can also find the video and screenshots I mentioned are also on his site for you to check out after reading the sad state of affairs that is going on.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Highborn Video Trailer & More!
The game has been out for a week now and still doing pretty good. I expect another bump as some more reviews come out. Here is another great review from The Portable Game just came out last night and another one from 148 Apps just came out a few minutes ago.
I also posted another Developer Diary that talks about why we didn't include an Undo Feature in Highborn, and what we are going to try and implement to compensate for that. It also talks about a few other things we are working on for the game.
We also have this wonderful review that was posted about the game in Apple's App Store:
Finally I want to post this sneak peek at some of the tokens we are redoing for the iPad version of Highborn. We are increasing the scale of the game by 150%, notice that isn't the standard doubling. The new scale allows you to see more of the maps and still have bigger squares to touch. The original tokens from the iPhone are above, and the new ones for the iPad are below.
Monday, June 07, 2010
Highborn doing GREAT!
Supposing you haven't been following me on Twitter or Facebook, Highborn is indeed out and doing great! We have gotten some wonderful reviews!5 out of 5And in response to somebody, whose name I won't mention, that said my dialog was overdone and hurting the game:
Highborn by Jet Set Games is a fantasy turn-based tactical strategy and combines some of the best aspects of the genre's top alumni with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek comedy. The creators aren't above a bit of fourth-wall action and bless them, they've even included the infamous Wilhelm scream - if that can't win you over, then you might be a bit dead on the inside.
-App Spy
When characters clash the banter that results is consistently hilarious and peppers the 9 campaign missions with easily some of the best dialogue we've seen on the platform.
A Marriage of Winning TBS and High Fantasy Parody!
-Touch Arcade
Highborn has been steady rising in the various iStore charts. It is in the 70's for Top Paid App, 40's for Top Paid Game, and holding steady at #8 Strategy Game. I even expect those numbers to go up as more reviews are published. We are submitting our first patch today and I just got done filming a video podcast that talks about things we are working on for the game. I have a Developer Diary that will go up with that as well as soon as Sarah proof reads it for me.
Oh and I just found out that Highborn is TUAW's Daily App today while everybody is reading about the iPhone 4G! Score!
Joseph, you've just put out a really good iPhone game. Now what are you going to do?
I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND! Anybody know of any good augmented reality iPhone apps for Disneyland?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Another Highborn Preview
Slide to Play has another preview of Highborn, again big praise for my wacky writing and even the hand-drawn maps. Though, can you consider working with the mouse in Photoshop "hand-drawn?"Here is a short gameplay video of they posted. I have one small problem with it, which was also pointed out by one of the commenters on their site. He goes into a handful of combats, each one has 2 spell cards that come up ready to cast, but he doesn't cast them! To explain, our combat scene isn't just for show, you do have a little imput. When you attack an enemy unit on the map, it goes into a 3D scene showing a round of combat pretty much like other turn-based strategy games only in 3D. However, if you are the attacker you have the option to cast one of your combat spells which you gain from Monoliths spread across the map. Also if you are in range of a Castle, Keep or Wizard Tower they will shoot arrows or fireballs at their owners enemy.
We should be submitting just about any time now. I'm already hard at work on a few tutorial levels and Chapter Two!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
First Highborn Preview!
We send out a press preview version the other day and the first preview is up over at Touch Arcade! They have some screenshots and a little video showing off the first level. Best part, they loved my writing!The rich world created by Jet Set Games doesn't stop at the visuals though, as each character we encountered in our brief time with the game were larger-than-life and very self-aware. We appreciated the (often very funny) well-written banter between characters and the many instances where dialogue segues right through the fourth wall. It's been a long time since a game made us laugh, but Highborn promises to do just that.They like me! They really do like me!!! Check out the preview for yourself and watch the video.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Humor, Story and Breaking Through the Fourth Wall
My second Highborn Developer Diary went up on Jet Set Game's Facebook page this morning so go check it out. The character bio for Trillian, the rogue with the heart of gold, went up a few days ago if you missed it. Yes, that is a big Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference. You should know by now that I don't write anything without including Douglas Adams references.
Speaking of references, the title of my previous Dev Diary, "Gentlemen, This is About Combat" is a quote from Top Gun which was sampled into the song "Just Do It Up" by Frank Klepacki for the original Command & Conquer soundtrack. I thought at least somebody would get that.I would love to prattle on some more, but we are moving offices tomorrow and I have way too much to do before I can finish packing up my stuff. So enjoy the Dev Diary and TTYL.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
"Gentlemen, this is about combat."
My first Highborn Developer Diary is up on the Jet Set Games Facebook page, which I am sure you are already a fan of. You are a fan right. Okay, good.The Developer Diary lists the details of how combat plays out in the game and briefly talks about the mysterious Monoliths that are scattered about the maps.
I am not going to copy and paste the Developer Diary here, because I'm sure those evil marketing people (Amy doesn't read this blog right?) are watching the page count and stuff. So, pop over to the Jet Set Games Official Facebook Page and read it there. While you're there become a fan in case you were lying about it before. Shame on you.
I am also awarding the famous Joseph Hewitt "Hero Points" if you catch the title's reference. Hero Points* will only be awarded only if you know the original source and then where it was used that makes it relevant. Some additional conditions apply, see Joseph for details.
* Hero Points have no cash value and cannot be redeemed for anything. Hero Points decay over time at a rate which I make up as I go along. Offer not valid where prohibited by law.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Today is pretty much Teh Fail
I just wasted some time screwing around with the blog's HTML again to see if I could figure out where to put in a separate background image for the post area, so that I can use the background I have on my Twitter page. The post area would need it's own more text friendly background so you could still read it. I have had several people tell me how easy this would be to do, and even go so far as to say they would show me, but as of yet none of these promises has panned out.
I'm supposed to be writing some more background information on various units and things in Highborn, but my tummy is a tab bit upset and it's hard to get into the right frame of mind for that kind of humor.
I am also trying to write my developer diary, same problem.
Since I don't have much else to blather about at the moment, I though I would mention how I am obviously wrong about a few very popular games.
First, the God of War series. Been trying to play all three, and although there are some parts I like, I have some big issues with them. I don't like the special button sequence moves to defeat bosses. There I am fighting away, and suddenly this big, ugly interface thing pops up on screen telling me what to do with one of the controls. It violently pulls me out of the game. It doesn't help that half the time, I find I have to change my grip on the controller in order to mash the button or flip the joystick fast enough for it to register. But like I said in the introduction, I am must be in the wrong because so many other people LOVE these games.
Secondly, I started playing Mass Effect 2. I think it's okay, but I am not so overly wowed by it as lots and lots of other people are. I just don't think the level of story in these games are as great as they are made out to be. Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad, it is just people are raving about how deep the story is and the choices you make, yadda yadda. But I find them irritating. For example, right away at the begging of the game Miranda(?) (if you should know anything about me, you should know I can't remember names seconds after I learn them) shoots the guy she claims was a traitor and was trying to kill her. I have a dialog option that expresses that I'm a bit concerned with her just walking in and shooting the guy without letting him say his piece, try to deny it, or anything. She gives some half-assed explanation and after that I'm supposed to be all peachy about it.
Sorry, I just don't roll over like that. I've been taught that in the Criminal Justice system, the people are represented by three separate yet equally important groups. The police, who investigate crime, the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders and the Goddamn Batman! (I think you can see why I've kinda given up writing humorous back-story for today.)
But anyway, people love the game so I just have to admit I'm wrong.
I got another game. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for the PC. I just can't play it at the moment. I doesn't recognize my Logitech G9 mouse clicks in the game. It recognizes them in the menus, just not when I am actually playing. I go up to the first two enemies in solo play, I'm supposed to take out the guy on the left. I click my mouse and nothing happens. I go into the menu, make sure my mouse keybinds are correct. Reset LMB to Fire/Use. It takes the Left Mouse Button Click there, but when I go back into the game nothing happens when press the button. Granted I could just set the commands to out of the way keyboard keys and remap the mouse buttons to those, but I am writing this instead.
I guess I should actually go home and change. Have a birthday party to go to. Will try life again tomorrow.
BTW, I washed my car again. Expect rain or another intense wind storm.
I'm supposed to be writing some more background information on various units and things in Highborn, but my tummy is a tab bit upset and it's hard to get into the right frame of mind for that kind of humor.
I am also trying to write my developer diary, same problem.
Since I don't have much else to blather about at the moment, I though I would mention how I am obviously wrong about a few very popular games.
First, the God of War series. Been trying to play all three, and although there are some parts I like, I have some big issues with them. I don't like the special button sequence moves to defeat bosses. There I am fighting away, and suddenly this big, ugly interface thing pops up on screen telling me what to do with one of the controls. It violently pulls me out of the game. It doesn't help that half the time, I find I have to change my grip on the controller in order to mash the button or flip the joystick fast enough for it to register. But like I said in the introduction, I am must be in the wrong because so many other people LOVE these games.
Secondly, I started playing Mass Effect 2. I think it's okay, but I am not so overly wowed by it as lots and lots of other people are. I just don't think the level of story in these games are as great as they are made out to be. Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad, it is just people are raving about how deep the story is and the choices you make, yadda yadda. But I find them irritating. For example, right away at the begging of the game Miranda(?) (if you should know anything about me, you should know I can't remember names seconds after I learn them) shoots the guy she claims was a traitor and was trying to kill her. I have a dialog option that expresses that I'm a bit concerned with her just walking in and shooting the guy without letting him say his piece, try to deny it, or anything. She gives some half-assed explanation and after that I'm supposed to be all peachy about it.
Sorry, I just don't roll over like that. I've been taught that in the Criminal Justice system, the people are represented by three separate yet equally important groups. The police, who investigate crime, the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders and the Goddamn Batman! (I think you can see why I've kinda given up writing humorous back-story for today.)But anyway, people love the game so I just have to admit I'm wrong.
I got another game. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for the PC. I just can't play it at the moment. I doesn't recognize my Logitech G9 mouse clicks in the game. It recognizes them in the menus, just not when I am actually playing. I go up to the first two enemies in solo play, I'm supposed to take out the guy on the left. I click my mouse and nothing happens. I go into the menu, make sure my mouse keybinds are correct. Reset LMB to Fire/Use. It takes the Left Mouse Button Click there, but when I go back into the game nothing happens when press the button. Granted I could just set the commands to out of the way keyboard keys and remap the mouse buttons to those, but I am writing this instead.
I guess I should actually go home and change. Have a birthday party to go to. Will try life again tomorrow.
BTW, I washed my car again. Expect rain or another intense wind storm.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Highborn Announced!
Hey everybody, look we announced the latest iPhone game I've been working here at Jet Set Games. I can't say too much at the moment, just wanted to put up some links and such.
As I am sure you guessed from the title of this post and the words under the logo, the game is called Highborn. It is a fun little strategy game with the emphasis on the fun. You can read all about it at the Jet Set Games website. You can real all the latest news and updates on the Facebook page. That is where we are putting up developer diaries, character introductions, screen shots and other fun stuff. There is also the Flickr page.
Like I said though, I can't say too much at the moment. They've already threatened that they are going to make me write my own developer diary pretty soon, and I'm gonna save all the juicy stuff, tell-all, stuff for that.
As I am sure you guessed from the title of this post and the words under the logo, the game is called Highborn. It is a fun little strategy game with the emphasis on the fun. You can read all about it at the Jet Set Games website. You can real all the latest news and updates on the Facebook page. That is where we are putting up developer diaries, character introductions, screen shots and other fun stuff. There is also the Flickr page.
Like I said though, I can't say too much at the moment. They've already threatened that they are going to make me write my own developer diary pretty soon, and I'm gonna save all the juicy stuff, tell-all, stuff for that.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Picasa Site Having Problems
The day they announce my new iPhone game, Highborn, Google's Picasa site has problems and my blog is full of broken picture links. Sigh.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Fixed the Valve Apple Ad
You may have seen the faux Apple ads that Valve released today.
Well, I thought one of them wasn't quite right, so I fixed it for them.
(click image for full size)
Well, I thought one of them wasn't quite right, so I fixed it for them.
(click image for full size)
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Winter is Coming
It isn't that I haven't been keeping my blog up to date, it's just that I haven't been doing ANYTHING! I go to Pub Quiz at McMullan's Irish Pub on Tuesdays from 8 to 10 and maybe a movie on the weekend. That is it besides work. Seriously, I've been here on average for 12 hours, 7 days a week. Nice to be back doing what I like. :-)
Actually, I'm not doing Pub Quiz tonight, I'm going to The Double Down Saloon for the release party/book signing for Blue Vegas: Stories which was written by the saloon's owner. I don't know how I am going to get my copy signed though, since I bought the Kindle version.
The Double Down Saloon is over in "that" area of town nestled between leather fetish shops and tattoo parlors and none of my so-called friends are brave enough to go with me. If you don't hear from me in a week either send help or forward my mail.
Anyway, the real reason I was making a post was to say that HBO gave the Game of Thrones TV series a greenlight and we can expect to see it next year! Woot!
Lots more fun and reading over at the "Winter is Coming" fan page which recently moved to a new location at http://winter-is-coming.net/
I've been pretty much avoiding George R. R. Martin's blog, because I get frustrated reading about all the convention hoping he is doing instead of writing the next book in the series. I wonder, if the TV series is popular, will that inspire him to finish writing the series knowing that if he doesn't, some HBO script writers will do it for him?
Actually, I'm not doing Pub Quiz tonight, I'm going to The Double Down Saloon for the release party/book signing for Blue Vegas: Stories which was written by the saloon's owner. I don't know how I am going to get my copy signed though, since I bought the Kindle version. The Double Down Saloon is over in "that" area of town nestled between leather fetish shops and tattoo parlors and none of my so-called friends are brave enough to go with me. If you don't hear from me in a week either send help or forward my mail.
Anyway, the real reason I was making a post was to say that HBO gave the Game of Thrones TV series a greenlight and we can expect to see it next year! Woot!Lots more fun and reading over at the "Winter is Coming" fan page which recently moved to a new location at http://winter-is-coming.net/
I've been pretty much avoiding George R. R. Martin's blog, because I get frustrated reading about all the convention hoping he is doing instead of writing the next book in the series. I wonder, if the TV series is popular, will that inspire him to finish writing the series knowing that if he doesn't, some HBO script writers will do it for him?
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
No Fun at Interzone Games
Seems that things are hitting the fan with regards to Interzone Games back in Perth. The following news article went up on Kotaku yesterday. My heart goes out to all the great guys (and girls) in Perth who are stilled owed money and are still having to deal with all this a year after I resigned.
Kotaku Australia Link: "WA Dev Interzone Games Close To Liquidation"
I am getting some of the news as it is happening, but as its after midnight I can't keep up with it. I just wanted to put a quick post with the Autralian Kotaku link.
UPDATE 02/10/2010:
Here are two more links that went up last night:
Tsumea "Interzone Games (Perth studio) close to liquidation"
Giant Bomb: "A warning from a designer at Interzone Games"
UPDATE 02/11/2010:
Small news blurb in the West Australian newspaper today:
The WA Business News put up this article today with a promise of a further in-depth article in next week's edition.
Front Page of the Western Australian Business News
UPDATE 02/120/2010:
Here is the news clip that ran yesterday:
Recap on Gamasutra
Article on Tsumea
And for those of you that asked, I was the Lead Designer/Creative Director at Interzone Perth from Feb 2008 till I resigned due to lack of pay in Feb 2009 when I was forced to return to the United States.
UPDATE 0280/2010:
I haven't been posting the daily blow by blows of the downward spiral of Interzone but there has been a few more stories posted. The Perth guys have documented much more than I have over at The Magic Pantry including video they took when the servers and IP were removed from Australia. You can find all the info here:
http://kranzky.rockethands.com/2010/02/13/interzone-the-downward-spiral/
Kotaku Australia Link: "WA Dev Interzone Games Close To Liquidation"
I am getting some of the news as it is happening, but as its after midnight I can't keep up with it. I just wanted to put a quick post with the Autralian Kotaku link.
UPDATE 02/10/2010:
Here are two more links that went up last night:
Tsumea "Interzone Games (Perth studio) close to liquidation"
Giant Bomb: "A warning from a designer at Interzone Games"
UPDATE 02/11/2010:
Small news blurb in the West Australian newspaper today:
Workers have picketed the Bentley office of a state-backed computer game company which is being investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman and pursued by the Australian Taxation Office.Full Article: West Australian
The WA Business News put up this article today with a promise of a further in-depth article in next week's edition.
Front Page of the Western Australian Business News
UPDATE 02/120/2010:
Here is the news clip that ran yesterday:
Recap on Gamasutra
Article on Tsumea
And for those of you that asked, I was the Lead Designer/Creative Director at Interzone Perth from Feb 2008 till I resigned due to lack of pay in Feb 2009 when I was forced to return to the United States.
UPDATE 0280/2010:
I haven't been posting the daily blow by blows of the downward spiral of Interzone but there has been a few more stories posted. The Perth guys have documented much more than I have over at The Magic Pantry including video they took when the servers and IP were removed from Australia. You can find all the info here:
http://kranzky.rockethands.com/2010/02/13/interzone-the-downward-spiral/
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Back to the Past
There has been talk of a Back to the Future remake circulating around the internets. I personally wanted to be counted among those that thinks this is a horrible idea. But, there has always been one thing about the trilogy that has bugged me.
Well, first I hate that the third movie was them back in the wild west instead of them jumping back through the first and second movie, like they jumped back into the first movie in the second. I was really expecting a clever three layered time travel extravaganza, since they shot the second and third movies back to back. That is what is cool about time travel movies!
And that is the problem, they really didn't take advantage of the fact they are doing time travel stuff! Case and point: the big problem in the third movie is that they are stuck in 1885 because the DeLorean has run out of gas and the flying circuits have been destroyed. Thats why they have to do the whole thing with putting the car on the train tracks to get it up to 88 miles per hour which nearly gets them killed. Why didn't they just go back to where Doc Brown hid the DeLorean in the mine and stick a note in there that read, "Marty, bring some extra gas. Love Doc Brown." There, problem solved.
Well, first I hate that the third movie was them back in the wild west instead of them jumping back through the first and second movie, like they jumped back into the first movie in the second. I was really expecting a clever three layered time travel extravaganza, since they shot the second and third movies back to back. That is what is cool about time travel movies!
And that is the problem, they really didn't take advantage of the fact they are doing time travel stuff! Case and point: the big problem in the third movie is that they are stuck in 1885 because the DeLorean has run out of gas and the flying circuits have been destroyed. Thats why they have to do the whole thing with putting the car on the train tracks to get it up to 88 miles per hour which nearly gets them killed. Why didn't they just go back to where Doc Brown hid the DeLorean in the mine and stick a note in there that read, "Marty, bring some extra gas. Love Doc Brown." There, problem solved.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Dead Laptop Sketch
I had my laptop boot up three times saying the time/date wasn't set. The third time I ran the little diagnostic program, which instantly said it couldn't find the hard drive. Rest of the diagnostic went fine. I figured the hard drive thing was a fluke, it found the hard drive before I ran the diagnostic right? Rebooted and that was it. It never found the hard drive either.
I heard/saw/read a joke thing once, maybe one of those lists of stupid things IT people have had to deal with. It involved a guy trying to hold what ever piece of equipment the computer couldn't find up to the monitor so the computer could see it.
I took the laptop down to Jane's Computers. He says the hard drive is fine, but the computer won't recognize any hard drive connected to it. It the connection or the motherboard. The conversation went KINDA like this:
I went to Fry's and got a USB enclosure. Took the hard drive out of the laptop and stuck it in that. Then I thought, wait, I know the laptop is set up to try and boot from USB, I could just plug it in and boot and still a working laptop right? Nope. It starts to load windows and reboots. Googling around the Internets I see that lots of people are trying to install and boot Vista from a USB drive and it isn't easy. I was hoping that since it is already installed, which appears to be the difficult part, that I could get it to work but apparently not.
I had planned on maybe getting a new laptop in a few months. I just wanted to wait long enough for all the new stuff coming out of CES was out and slightly lower in price. I want both Windows 7 and Office 2010 on it already, no upgrading. I want small, because I have big screens on my desks that I can plug it into and small is better to carry around when I'm not at my desk. But I do kinda want something with a graphic card so I can play games when I'm out somewhere away from my desktop computer. My current laptop played WoW initially, but sometime between installs it got upset with it. Now it plays (well, before it died) but it wouldn't render the world correctly. Not that I have really even played WoW since leaving Perth, but the new expansion is coming out and I'll at least check that out.
Anyway, I'll leave you with this surprisingly video trailer for, "Office 2010: The Movie!"
...you know... this means I am going to have to install iTunes again doesn't it? $#!+!!!
I heard/saw/read a joke thing once, maybe one of those lists of stupid things IT people have had to deal with. It involved a guy trying to hold what ever piece of equipment the computer couldn't find up to the monitor so the computer could see it.
I took the laptop down to Jane's Computers. He says the hard drive is fine, but the computer won't recognize any hard drive connected to it. It the connection or the motherboard. The conversation went KINDA like this:
"The man from the Monk shop said that it needed a whole new motherboard, but then pointed out that the new improved Monk Plus models were twice as powerful, had an entirely new multi-tasking, Negative Capability feature that allowed them to hold up to sixteen entirely different and contradictory ideas in memory simultaneously without generating any irritating system errors, were twice as fast and at least three times as glib, and you could have a whole new one for less than the cost of replacing the motherboard of the old model."He didn't charge me for taking a look at it, even though I tried to offer him something just for his time. So Thumbs up to: Jane's Computers at 1725 S. Rainbow Blvd. right at Oakly Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89146. Phone (702) 597-0600. Apparently no website though.
I went to Fry's and got a USB enclosure. Took the hard drive out of the laptop and stuck it in that. Then I thought, wait, I know the laptop is set up to try and boot from USB, I could just plug it in and boot and still a working laptop right? Nope. It starts to load windows and reboots. Googling around the Internets I see that lots of people are trying to install and boot Vista from a USB drive and it isn't easy. I was hoping that since it is already installed, which appears to be the difficult part, that I could get it to work but apparently not.
I had planned on maybe getting a new laptop in a few months. I just wanted to wait long enough for all the new stuff coming out of CES was out and slightly lower in price. I want both Windows 7 and Office 2010 on it already, no upgrading. I want small, because I have big screens on my desks that I can plug it into and small is better to carry around when I'm not at my desk. But I do kinda want something with a graphic card so I can play games when I'm out somewhere away from my desktop computer. My current laptop played WoW initially, but sometime between installs it got upset with it. Now it plays (well, before it died) but it wouldn't render the world correctly. Not that I have really even played WoW since leaving Perth, but the new expansion is coming out and I'll at least check that out.
Anyway, I'll leave you with this surprisingly video trailer for, "Office 2010: The Movie!"
...you know... this means I am going to have to install iTunes again doesn't it? $#!+!!!
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Year's End
Yeah, so I've been pretty quiet lately. Let's see if I can do a quick recount of the last month or so.
Been spending a lot of time at work, very busy doing difficult things at the moment. Nothing I can talk about since the game is unannounced, and to be fair it's just normal 'that's why they call it work' stuff and it isn't that interesting.
I've also playing a few games on the XBox 360 and PS3. Finished Demon's Souls the other night. Even managed to get through the first level, defeating a PvPer and the first boss, and then back to the Nexus with all the souls I got for defeating the final boss. I didn't really defeat the PvPer so much as not follow him into the monster spawn he thought I was stupid enough to follow him into. Shot him with some flaming arrows instead. He ran away and fell down a hole which made me giggle especially since I'm sure I had already destroyed his expensive armor with my Scraping Spear.
Starting the God of War series, not really liking the whole 'mini-game' aspect of it. Especially when I can't quite figure out what they are telling me I should be doing. "Oh, when you show the button being tapped, what you really mean is 'change the way your holding the controller so you can mash the button in some insane attempt to push it through the other side and therefor need to replace it with a new one." Took a quick peek at the God of War III demo and I like how they put the button you are supposed to press on screen where it is on the controller. I never could remember what position the four buttons are in. But it still breaks me out of the game to be watching for the button symbols to show up on screen and the game doesn't give you much of a time window to press the button before it's too late. Also don't like how they teach me I can climb up the side of the boat using this netting, but not back down the identical netting next to it and things like that.
I LOVED Shadow Complex! If you liked old school Metroid and haven't gotten this $15 game from XBox Live Arcade, you are missing out. Only two things drove me nuts, when they put two items in the same 'square' of the map. One is in the same square as a Save Room so you don't see the dot. The other removes the dot when you get the first item even though there is still something else hidden there. First one didn't get me, but I spent forever trying to get the last part of the key due to the second issue. I'll just say that when you find the mask that lets you breath underwater, keep looking around there for a part of the key. That isn't a spoiler, consider it a bug fix.
We finally got around to finishing off all the divorce stuff, so I am legally single again. I even tried dating again for almost 3 weeks, but it didn't work out so well. Somehow asking her if she had already gone to lunch ended with us breaking up. ...via text messaging even! How sad and depressing. Kind of ruined my whole Christmas break. It actually happened on New Year's Day, so 2010 isn't starting off very well.
Just got around to updating the blog to replace the Interzone and Auran links with the Jet Set Games logo. I wish I could figure out how to put a background into the posts, so that I could replace the background with the one I use for my twitter page. See how the game boxes are crowded over on the left, I can't let them go any further to the right or you wouldn't be able to read the post text in a smaller screen resolution. I tried poking around in the HTML but without an example, using the same template, to steal from I'm over my head. Also I'm still using the old templates from before Blogger upgraded them a few years ago. I'm afraid of losing all the tinkering I've already done if I upgrade.
Also did a real quick resume update, always hate defining what I do into bullet points. I wanted to convert the resume MS:Word file to a PDF, but the first converter program I found didn't keep the margins, extending it to a 3rd page and did some other odd things. I'll work on that later since I'm hopefully not sending it out again anytime soon. Though next time I do, I will definitely convert it to PDF first so it can't be altered easily. Recruitment agencies like to put their own giant logo across the top of all the pages. I understand why they want to do that, they need to remind the employer who is representing you, and I suppose it works with most resumes. The last time it was a disaster for my nicely laid out, 2-page resume. Since it also indented what I wrote, it turned into a 6-page resume, 2 pages wide by 3 pages long. It was confusing and an almost unreadable mess. They also did the same for my 2-page published title list. It was an embarrassment for them to even have sent it out like that and who knows, may have even contributed to me not getting the job. It's okay since I'm much happier where I am.
Finally, I found out that I can get a rebate on my taxes for the sales tax I paid on my car; which is great considering the tax burden I'll have this year.
Okay, that's it for now. Be safe.
Been spending a lot of time at work, very busy doing difficult things at the moment. Nothing I can talk about since the game is unannounced, and to be fair it's just normal 'that's why they call it work' stuff and it isn't that interesting.
I've also playing a few games on the XBox 360 and PS3. Finished Demon's Souls the other night. Even managed to get through the first level, defeating a PvPer and the first boss, and then back to the Nexus with all the souls I got for defeating the final boss. I didn't really defeat the PvPer so much as not follow him into the monster spawn he thought I was stupid enough to follow him into. Shot him with some flaming arrows instead. He ran away and fell down a hole which made me giggle especially since I'm sure I had already destroyed his expensive armor with my Scraping Spear.
Starting the God of War series, not really liking the whole 'mini-game' aspect of it. Especially when I can't quite figure out what they are telling me I should be doing. "Oh, when you show the button being tapped, what you really mean is 'change the way your holding the controller so you can mash the button in some insane attempt to push it through the other side and therefor need to replace it with a new one." Took a quick peek at the God of War III demo and I like how they put the button you are supposed to press on screen where it is on the controller. I never could remember what position the four buttons are in. But it still breaks me out of the game to be watching for the button symbols to show up on screen and the game doesn't give you much of a time window to press the button before it's too late. Also don't like how they teach me I can climb up the side of the boat using this netting, but not back down the identical netting next to it and things like that.
I LOVED Shadow Complex! If you liked old school Metroid and haven't gotten this $15 game from XBox Live Arcade, you are missing out. Only two things drove me nuts, when they put two items in the same 'square' of the map. One is in the same square as a Save Room so you don't see the dot. The other removes the dot when you get the first item even though there is still something else hidden there. First one didn't get me, but I spent forever trying to get the last part of the key due to the second issue. I'll just say that when you find the mask that lets you breath underwater, keep looking around there for a part of the key. That isn't a spoiler, consider it a bug fix.We finally got around to finishing off all the divorce stuff, so I am legally single again. I even tried dating again for almost 3 weeks, but it didn't work out so well. Somehow asking her if she had already gone to lunch ended with us breaking up. ...via text messaging even! How sad and depressing. Kind of ruined my whole Christmas break. It actually happened on New Year's Day, so 2010 isn't starting off very well.
Just got around to updating the blog to replace the Interzone and Auran links with the Jet Set Games logo. I wish I could figure out how to put a background into the posts, so that I could replace the background with the one I use for my twitter page. See how the game boxes are crowded over on the left, I can't let them go any further to the right or you wouldn't be able to read the post text in a smaller screen resolution. I tried poking around in the HTML but without an example, using the same template, to steal from I'm over my head. Also I'm still using the old templates from before Blogger upgraded them a few years ago. I'm afraid of losing all the tinkering I've already done if I upgrade.
Also did a real quick resume update, always hate defining what I do into bullet points. I wanted to convert the resume MS:Word file to a PDF, but the first converter program I found didn't keep the margins, extending it to a 3rd page and did some other odd things. I'll work on that later since I'm hopefully not sending it out again anytime soon. Though next time I do, I will definitely convert it to PDF first so it can't be altered easily. Recruitment agencies like to put their own giant logo across the top of all the pages. I understand why they want to do that, they need to remind the employer who is representing you, and I suppose it works with most resumes. The last time it was a disaster for my nicely laid out, 2-page resume. Since it also indented what I wrote, it turned into a 6-page resume, 2 pages wide by 3 pages long. It was confusing and an almost unreadable mess. They also did the same for my 2-page published title list. It was an embarrassment for them to even have sent it out like that and who knows, may have even contributed to me not getting the job. It's okay since I'm much happier where I am.
Finally, I found out that I can get a rebate on my taxes for the sales tax I paid on my car; which is great considering the tax burden I'll have this year.
Okay, that's it for now. Be safe.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Netflix's Customer Service Box
Dear Netflix, please let me out of your little customer service box.
I hooked up the PS3 streaming disc as was watching a movie. One of my PS3 controllers was low on battery after an extremely long session of "Demon's Souls" which is almost impossible to pronounce correctly. Go on try it and remember, apostrophe 's' and plural.
Anyway, I plugged the cable into the PS3. The controller wasn't actually connected to the cable which may or may not matter. The result; however, was the PS3 shut off. Is this a problem related to the PS3 or Netflix. I dunno but I thought I would report it to Netflix. ...only I can't.
Netflix's website insists on pre-defining your customer service experience. There is no way for you to actually enter an issue they haven't expected you to have.
Let's start with even trying to report an issue with streaming through the PS3. The only options you are allowed to have are:
What if I went to the section to report a problem with the movie? That doesn't work either; because, the only options that come up are to report problems with movies that I already watched. The movie that I was in the middle of watching isn't listed.
What if I decided to go off the sidewalk, and just report the problem with the movie I failed to watch by selecting one I did watch, did not have a problem with, but is on the list that I am allowed to choose from? I could just explain that this wasn't the movie I was having a problem with and detail my problem, right? Nope, because there is no way to explain the problem again, only pre-defined choices:
Good to hear, glad their on top of things.
Though to be fair, I am enjoying my Netflix subscription and really haven't had any other problems. Now that I'm working again, I have even increased my disc limit to two DVDs at a time. I really can't believe all the good, new TV shows that came out and you people let get canceled while I was in Australia. Shame on you.
I hooked up the PS3 streaming disc as was watching a movie. One of my PS3 controllers was low on battery after an extremely long session of "Demon's Souls" which is almost impossible to pronounce correctly. Go on try it and remember, apostrophe 's' and plural.Anyway, I plugged the cable into the PS3. The controller wasn't actually connected to the cable which may or may not matter. The result; however, was the PS3 shut off. Is this a problem related to the PS3 or Netflix. I dunno but I thought I would report it to Netflix. ...only I can't.
Netflix's website insists on pre-defining your customer service experience. There is no way for you to actually enter an issue they haven't expected you to have.
Let's start with even trying to report an issue with streaming through the PS3. The only options you are allowed to have are:
• The disc arrived brokenAbsolutely nothing about any problem you having with the service itself, not even an option for "other."
• The disc is scratched or unplayable
• I received the wrong disc
• I have lost the disc, and need a replacement
• I haven't received the disc
What if I went to the section to report a problem with the movie? That doesn't work either; because, the only options that come up are to report problems with movies that I already watched. The movie that I was in the middle of watching isn't listed. What if I decided to go off the sidewalk, and just report the problem with the movie I failed to watch by selecting one I did watch, did not have a problem with, but is on the list that I am allowed to choose from? I could just explain that this wasn't the movie I was having a problem with and detail my problem, right? Nope, because there is no way to explain the problem again, only pre-defined choices:
Please tell us if you experienced any of the following problems. (Check all that apply)There is a continue option at the bottom, and from the way it words the question, leads me to believe I don't have to select any of those options and can go onto the next page where I can actually tell them about my problem. Nope. You press continue, even without selecting a single problem from their list, and you get, "Thanks for your input. We will investigate and resolve the problems as soon as possible."
• Audio did not match the picture/was out of sync
• Parts of the audio were missing or cut-off
• No subtitles on a foreign language film
• Picture was blurry
• Picture was unwatchable or missing
• Wrong movie/TV episode started playing
• Unexpected pauses/frequent stops and starts
Good to hear, glad their on top of things.
Though to be fair, I am enjoying my Netflix subscription and really haven't had any other problems. Now that I'm working again, I have even increased my disc limit to two DVDs at a time. I really can't believe all the good, new TV shows that came out and you people let get canceled while I was in Australia. Shame on you.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
I Break Things
Things don’t work for me, mostly electronic / computer type things. Unless somebody is watching. I may have mentioned that before, but this is a story of what my evening has been like.
I got one of the new Xbox 360 Wireless ‘N’ Network adapters. It is brand new, ordered from Amazon and shipped the day it was released. I put the Driver disc in my new Xbox 360 as instructed and it doesn’t install any drivers. It just tells me it is a “Mixed Media Disc” with only the option to eject it. I popped it into the computer and I can see the files on it just fine. But I am told that just popping it into the 360 should start running the driver install process.
I went to the Xbox website. They don’t even list the new wireless adapter on the site. I filled out an email service request form. When I pressed submit, it told me that nothing matched my search. I am sure I wasn’t filling out a search. Luckily, when I pressed the back button my data was still in all the fields. When I pressed submit again it went through. I gave me an email service request number, but oddly enough didn’t send me one of those generic “We have received your service request and somebody will answer you soon” generic emails. It has been 24 hours and no response, they not work weekends?
I decided to see if I could Google some information. I found an article on the new adapter on Tom’s Hardware. Mostly the comments section was divided between the people who were going off about how Microsoft and the Xbox suck and those people who just thought the adapter was way to expensive. I posted a comment… I know, I know. But that isn’t the point, and please don’t bring up the Xbox/PS3 debate or even how expensive the wireless adapter was. I needed one for reasons that are none of your business, and that isn’t the point of this.
The point is that Tom’s hardware lets you make the comment and then just asked for you user name and an email address. It then sends the follow email:
I suspect the first should be reworded to “Sign up for free!” and then have another title that says, “New Member.” he second one is missing the article and should be, “Already a member.”
Anyway, I fill out the first one. It tells me, “The email address is already in use.” If I click on the “Already member” option it asks for a username and password, which I don’t have. I try entering what I would have as a user name as password if I did have one, but that didn’t work. The window has its own “Not a Member” link but when I try to fill it out, it keeps telling me that my email in the two fields (you know, the standard thing where they make you type it twice just in case) don’t match. I copy and pasted them in making sure there were no extra spaces screwing it up and even reloaded the page and tried it again from scratch.
Finally, I go to the recover account information and enter my email which it tells me does not exist in their database.
I can’t find the “contact form on the site” which the email mentions but does not link to.
So, is it just me or is it Tom’s Hardware that is fubar? I am willing to believe it is just me; because as I've said, this stuff happens to me all the time!
So in the end I’m going back to playing Demon's Souls on my PS3.
I got one of the new Xbox 360 Wireless ‘N’ Network adapters. It is brand new, ordered from Amazon and shipped the day it was released. I put the Driver disc in my new Xbox 360 as instructed and it doesn’t install any drivers. It just tells me it is a “Mixed Media Disc” with only the option to eject it. I popped it into the computer and I can see the files on it just fine. But I am told that just popping it into the 360 should start running the driver install process.
I went to the Xbox website. They don’t even list the new wireless adapter on the site. I filled out an email service request form. When I pressed submit, it told me that nothing matched my search. I am sure I wasn’t filling out a search. Luckily, when I pressed the back button my data was still in all the fields. When I pressed submit again it went through. I gave me an email service request number, but oddly enough didn’t send me one of those generic “We have received your service request and somebody will answer you soon” generic emails. It has been 24 hours and no response, they not work weekends?
I decided to see if I could Google some information. I found an article on the new adapter on Tom’s Hardware. Mostly the comments section was divided between the people who were going off about how Microsoft and the Xbox suck and those people who just thought the adapter was way to expensive. I posted a comment… I know, I know. But that isn’t the point, and please don’t bring up the Xbox/PS3 debate or even how expensive the wireless adapter was. I needed one for reasons that are none of your business, and that isn’t the point of this.
The point is that Tom’s hardware lets you make the comment and then just asked for you user name and an email address. It then sends the follow email:
Thank you for your participation in Tom's Hardware!You can see the link isn’t tied to my email address as a confirmation or anything. I just takes me to their registration page which gives me two options: “Sign up for free by clicking 1” and “Already member.” You’ll note that both of those don’t actually make sense.
You have less than 48 hours to register with your Username and Email Address.
Username : "XXXXXXXX"
Email : "XXXXXXXXXX"
To register, please click on the link below:
http://www.tomshardware.com/membres/#registerForm
If you don't validate your account within 48 hours, your Username and Email Address will be automatically deleted.
Tom's Hardware Team
------------------
This email is generated automatically; replies are not read. To contact us, please use the contact form on the site.
I suspect the first should be reworded to “Sign up for free!” and then have another title that says, “New Member.” he second one is missing the article and should be, “Already a member.”Anyway, I fill out the first one. It tells me, “The email address is already in use.” If I click on the “Already member” option it asks for a username and password, which I don’t have. I try entering what I would have as a user name as password if I did have one, but that didn’t work. The window has its own “Not a Member” link but when I try to fill it out, it keeps telling me that my email in the two fields (you know, the standard thing where they make you type it twice just in case) don’t match. I copy and pasted them in making sure there were no extra spaces screwing it up and even reloaded the page and tried it again from scratch.
Finally, I go to the recover account information and enter my email which it tells me does not exist in their database.
I can’t find the “contact form on the site” which the email mentions but does not link to.
So, is it just me or is it Tom’s Hardware that is fubar? I am willing to believe it is just me; because as I've said, this stuff happens to me all the time!
So in the end I’m going back to playing Demon's Souls on my PS3.
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