Finally got the review posted for Ghost Recon, which is why there was no news over the last two days. I've been so damned tired, and my neck hurts from hunching over my keyboard like a vulture. To top it all off I goofed the spamming of the review out to all the news sites, and sent them all a link to the last page of it. Thanks to Franz from Blue's News who actually caught the mistake. Appreciate it bud. (He checks his links. :) Gah, I'm such a llama. Bahhhhh

In other news, Rune might actually post some news tonight. (Woot!)

It may be a bad day to be an @home customer... They may just cut off services tomorrow.... That would indeed suck ass...... *sigh* Stupid @home. Stupid cable slowems.

Speaking of the evil that is broadband providers, they're trying to track down and put a stop to those of us who use routers to get around paying for extra IP addresses. I don't mind them nailing the people who use the wireless jobbies to pass it out to their buddy's house, but I do mind it since I use a router internally in my home. There are very strong reasons to have a router, including:

A) a router makes your network MUCH more secure, as no unwanted traffic (ex. Virus and port scanner attacks) can get in if it's properly configured.
and
B) You're paying the extra money in theory because IPs cost your cable provider money... but a router only uses one IP anyhows...

Anyhows, it's an interesting read.

I've been looking for a way to test my download speeds for a bit, and here's a site that does it. It's interesting, but if you do it a few times you get wild flucations in your max speeds. :) Du'oh.

Woot! Comcast cable is planning on launching a 24/7 channel dedicated to gaming! Only problem is the sheer amount of evil, evil console content we'd likely see.. But still. It's gaming, it's good. Check thier web site here.

One last piece of news, I can't remember if I posted the link to Jesus the Monster Truck yet, but even if I did it's funny enough to post twice. :)

Out!

Well, sorry for 2 days without updates guys. Damned cable modem was down for part of the weekend, and the rest of the weekend it was pretty wierd, so no news. The good part was that I

A) Got lots of work done around the house, and
B) Got to play many, many hours of Ghost Recon. :)

the bad part was that

A) No news updates and
B) Urge to kill everyone at Roger's growing stronger.

Anyhows, here's some news for j00

For those of you playing DAOC with funny last names, watch out! One of the Shining Force guys (Findar Mc0wnzj00) was forced by the server admins to change his last name. Apparently they didn't find it fitting. So now he's Findar Shmindar, which is much more medeival.

I've been playing with VNC from AT&T labs lately. What a GREAT program. Just like PC Anywhere but faster, easier, smaller, and it's FREE! If you need remote admin software, take a boo at what these guys have come up with.

Bleem! Possibly the coolest emulator ever, and certainly the only commercial one I've ever heard of.... Is dead.... *sob*

Got an Xbox? Want to get it online? Bummed out that MS is dragging their ass with their network? NP. With a Linux gateway all is possible.

$425USD. That's what it costs to make an Xbox. $299.99USD is what they usually retail for. Interesting read, check it out here.

Ouch. Square Soft took one on the chin this year, apparently due to the Final Fantasy movie flop. Ahh well. :)

That's it for today. More tommorrow. Working on a review for Ghost Recon as well. :)

Giving Ghost Recon a try last night, and wow. Totally amazing graphics, sound and gameplay. I've got to say this is the most realistic combat game I've ever played..... but my god is it hard. :) Spotting enemies is a real bitch, since trees and bushes sway in the breeze. I did however kill ALOT of folliage, and may change my alias to Weedkiller or something. Man. More on this one later.

An interesting note about DOAC. Dopper and I have been poking around on Ebay looking at auctions. On average, a gold piece in DAOC is worth roughly .75c in US dollars......... The Canadian dollar is worth approx. .60c US.... That means a bunch of electrons in a GAME are worth more than the money in your pocket, if you're a Canuk. Take note Mr. Prime Minster. Our dollar HAS A LOWER EXCHANGE RATE THAN A FICTIONAL CURRANCY! Damn it all.

For all your llamas out there (bahhhhh!) who use AIM, good news! It may soon be interoperable with other services! Personally I'd like to be able to send AIM users messages from my ICQ client, as well as being able to message buddies who use MSN. It's quite annoying to have all three installed and tripping over each other. I guess they'll all have to figure out what they're going to do about advertising revenue and such, as well as privacy and security concerns. (Yes, yes.. you ICQ guys can start laughing to yourself now.. Anyone else getting TONS of ICQ spam from non-existant users?)

Both Rune and iLL have sent me this killer Pong flash that you guys have to see. :) I laughed, I cried, I linked.

I found a rather interesting page on ZDnet yesterday, top 13 tech turkeys of all time.. And hey look! Windows ME is #1. That would have been my pick too, what a piece of crap OS. I'm glad it's dead. :)

I keep forgetting to post this one, but you might want to check out Dronez. It's an upcoming game with some pretty damned fine graphics. Oh, and it's a benchmark as well :)

Got some more interesting news for you Tribes 2 guys. The Herc Destroyer mod looks like it's approaching completion, and actually looks pretty damned sweet. Remember the 'mechs from Earthsiege? Well, imagine them in Tribes 2! The guy has also been taking some requests for models, so if you've always wanted to see an F18 in Tribes 2 take a boo.

Richard, my current underling/peon at work had his dad bring in some of his equipment for some work. His father uses an iBook. I couldn't help it, I was snickering the entire time he was in the store. I mean, if you haven't seen one of these things, go to a heathen place that carries Macs and take a look. WTF kinda computer looks like that? I almost asked him if it matched his nail polish, but I wasn't that cruel. It was however VERY tempting. I still start laughing everytime I think about the thing. Blue and round, at first I suspected it was an evil clam from outter space, come to turn us all into mindless Mac using zombies. Turns out I was right.

Anyhows, a little more later on.

Just found out from a few software suppliers that Ca$hle Wolfenstien is avaliable, as of yesterday. Now, I may be a silly little llama, but well... Frankly as much as I want to play the game (And I'm REALLY looking forward to playing it single player.) I feel that EIGHTY FRICKING DOLLARS is one hell of a lot of money to pay for a game. And that my friends is WHOLESALE. Not retail. From all the suppliers I've checked with, at work we'll have to sell it for $90 to make any money. (Please note this is in Canadian Pesos.) As much as I want to fondle this game, and perhaps walk around with it in my briefs, I ain't paying $90 for the privilage of doing so. *sigh* Time to call EB and see what those bastards have it on for. They wonder why people pirate software? The same supplier with have Euro box versions avaliable in about 15 days for $45-50. Same game, different box. I think I'll wait a few days.

In other software news, but this time good, Ghost Recon should be in my sweaty little hands a little later today. I am most looking forward to this one, as A) I love Rainbow 6 games and B) The demo was pretty damned sweet. We'll see, as doubtlessly a review will follow soon.

I don't know if the rest of you are familiar with Derek Smart (smarty man game developer) of BattleCruiser (un)fame? Basically the original game, which came out something like 2,000 years ago didn't run out of the box. Period. It was complete crap. So they had about a billion massive patches. When no one had high speed. Well, if you really want to take a chance and possibly subject yourself to further abuses, go buy Battlecruiser Millinium and do a review for me. They describe the game as "...the groundbreaking third title in the critically acclaimed Battlecruiser series." Critically Acclaimed is it? Well, everyone was fairly critical of the first one, in fact I believe there were calls to have the creator executed in self defence to prevent him from making anything else, ever again. Like I said, go buy it and let me know how it is. :)

Heh. I always wondered about the sheer ease with which you should be able to hack into someone's wireless network. Apparently CNN saw some reason for concern as well. Suuuuure it's convient, but it's like those pesky portable and cellular phones... Don't encrypt them, and everyone can listen. Even those wacky Russian and Chinese super spys, damn them.

Hey, here's suprising news. Apparently Corporate Customer's aren't too happy about the Microsoft Family's upcoming strongarming tactics. Don Gates isn't too popular a fellow on Wall Street. :) I'm soooo shocked. :)

I also got me a new tag image. :) Like my llama?

out!

Well, with both Xbox and the Gamecube selling like the proverbial hotcakes, I want some feedback. Which one is better, and why? And what pushed you over the edge of madness into buying a console anyhows? Lemme know in the phorums. I want to study and understand you, you console users in the mist.

In other console news that will surely cut Rune down to his shriveled little soul, Sega lost what I'd call a truckload of money. Ouchies. Too bad about the Dreamcast really, I thought it was kind of a cool little toy. Ahhh well, owned like a monkey as Red would say. One the good side of things, Nintendo seems to be making a truckload of money.

Getting a little sick of Gamespy hogging my system resources when it's running, so I've been looking for another browser for my gaming pleasures. Found a link somewhere (Blues?) to the Ever Seeing Eye... Take a look, it works pretty well.... Doesn't seem as hoggy as Gamespy, but I'm not done poking around with it yet.

Wondering WTF port that app you're trying to get working with your router uses? Found an excellent list that has an absolute wack of applications and the ports they use. Very handy. :)

Finally got a review up and running of Red Faction. Great game, well worth the play. And it also has the world's coolest weapon, the Rail Driver.

Not sure if I ever posted a link to this one, it's Nectarine, the Demoscene radio station. Very cool, especially if you're into the scene and the sweet, sweet tunes that come along with it. If you don't know what the scene is, go there and learn. (Bad llama! Whap!)

I've long been fascinated with linux and it's various uses, even going so far as to build a little machine and use it pretty much exclusively for a few days, untill I got sick of not having my favorite apps at my finger tips. Here's a little project that should be of interest to Linux, Intel and Star Wars fans. I want me one of these to chase squirels and small children with.

Picked up an interested security link from ZDnet a few weeks back... Want to tell who the terrorists are? Read up a little on Brain Finger Printing. Fascinating, as the pointy eared one would say.

Marauder out, yet again.

Well, apparently my comments below have enraged a few console owners. I received two hate and threat filled emails, I suspect both of them came from Dillinger over at 3 Finger Salute. Here's the content of the nastiest one.

so you don't like gamecubes, do ya? or any console in general?
WELL YOU CAN GO TO HELL!!!

sincerely,
anonymous

Sigh. You try and try to enlighten these heathens, and this is the sort of gratitude that's heaped upon your head. Now I know how the Spanish must have felt in Mexico all those centuries ago. Just like those long ago conquisitors, I'm on my way down to Dillinger's place, because only fire can absolve such deep rooted evil. But before the burning can commence I just had to respond:

Dear Anonymous,

Clearly this message came from the only man on earth who would dare to write me with such a comment. I treat Dillinger like family, and how does he repay me? Posting me messages like this. Somewhere, right now, I bet you're in a dark alley talking to a pimp about selling your ass for an Xbox. Well my friend, once you come to grips with your addiction it can be treated.... But you have to be willing to help yourself. Call 1-888-xboxbad. That number again is 1-800-xboxbad. Until you seek help, I have no son.

And now, for the burning. Oh, and I do so love the burning.

In other news, Runez0r informs me that some blessed person has taken the time to convert some of the old classic Tribes 1 maps to Tribes 2. They actually look pretty slick. Go download:
Dangerous Crossing
Roller Coaster
Snowblind
Stonehenge

Also just in from corespondent Rune, some Mac users are actually making fun of the new iPod Mac MP3 player thing. I'm worried for these guys, as surely the wrath of Steve Jobs will descent upon their heads like a holy hammer and smite them for their blasphemy. Hmmmmm... Maybe they could use some fire as well??

I spend alot of my time making fun of the Intel Pentium 4's, and those foolish enough to purchase one. Why you ask? Read about it here. An excellent (though long) article on where it all went wrong for Intel.

With the whole battle heating up in Afghanistan, Canada is preparing to send military support. Major Peace has acquired exclusive footage of the Canadian Navy putting to sea on a training exercise. Gooooooooo navy!

Here's a hell of a good idea. .SEX domains. Now if only we could get all the pr0n sites to use these domain extensions we'd be set, and teenagers everywhere would have an easier time finding their porn, rather than having to hunt around.

I was going to purchase the domain Revoke.com, but unfortunately it's a DOS only site. Ahh well. :)

Speaking of teenagers, they need to learn to respect technology. :)

Marauder out!

Well, the Xbox and the Gamecube are both out, and I couldn't be any less excited. I mean, come on. They're consoles. They admittedly both look very sweet, but our PCs will smoke them both the next time a new video card from nVidia comes out. There's a problem with consoles and it's that they're a fixed platform. Well, it's both a curse and a blessing. Games 99.9% of the time work out of the box (No patching remember, they have to get it right the first time.. Altho with the Xbox's hard drive this could change easily.) and the developers only have to get the software working with one platform, rather than the something like 175,000 combinations you get with the PC. On the other hand, no video card upgrades. :) (Suckers) We'll have to see if these guys are worth buying, I'm not generally a console fan anyhows. Console Wire seems to think that the Play Station 2 is the big winner in the console wars so far, but I've heard alot of people bitching about the lack of good titles. And dear god, the things been out over a year already. Wow, seems like just yesterday the idiot console users were lined up in the sub artic cold for miles to spend a few weeks salary on a little box.

I don't know if you guys heard, but apparently Team 5150, the current #1champ of Tribes 2 is quiting to playing and switch over to playing Urban Terror (CS for Quake 3 bascially.) I wondered when this was going to happen. The team leader, Adreneline sites lack of interest in the game as the reason for quiting while they're still ahead of the pack. Vanguard finally capped on them in their last match, which is the only cap they've ever given up in a ladder match.

I've seen the same thing happen in a huge number of Tribes 2 teams, especially after the last patch. That's when I stopped playing. *sigh* Touche Sierra, you crushed my love of Tribes. Ahh well, onto bigger and better games.

Dman just sent me over a cool link. A little short on system resources when you boot up your 98/me machine? These guys will tell you exactly what needs to load on boot, and they have an extremely detailed list of other things you might have running in the background, and just what they are and what they do. Or, if you're lazy here's a program that helps you out. :) And here's a page for you Win2k guys. Thanks dman.

Marauder out.

Just spent an entire day behind the controls of Alien vs. Predator 2, and the review is complete. The game is also excellent, both in single and multiplayer. Go get it, and I'll see you online.

Not a whole hell of a lot to tell, I've been busy *ahem* reviewing AVP2 all day, so I haven't collected much news. Rune sent me over this link to new drivers for all you Soundblaster Live! users who have installed XP, and are currently stuck with the ghey MS drivers.....Rune also informs me that Rambus is dead, and I couldn't be any happier to see them die the long, slow horrible death the bastards deserve.

That's it for tonight. My job here is done. Another news update tomorrow, I swear it!

Marauder out.

You know, there's just something special about dropping 50 feet straight down behind an unsuspecting marine, decloaking and ripping his spine out with your combat claws. Or how about clawing your way out an unsuspecting human's chest, only to wreak untold havoc upon his crew mates? Yes... I've been playing Aliens Vs. Predator 2, one of the games on my most anticipated games list. Was it worth the wait? Hell YES! They've taken all the best of AVP and removed the few things that pissed me (and everyone else off), cranked up the graphics and improved upon and already excellent game. Besides the sheer cool factor of the aliens and the preds, it's FUN! I'll be posting a review shortly, but just go buy the game. It's worth it!

Generator 256, our corepondent from England sent me a rather disturbing link a few days ago. It's regarding a LAN party in Denmark that apparently got busted because some people on their network were, (SUPRISE!) transfering around warez. Well, shock of shocks. These things happen, but I can't understand how you can hold the persons who arranged the party responsible. I mean, what are you going to do next? Arrest bus drivers who transport criminals around the city? Arrest the post master when someone ships a bomb? If this little report is true, I find it A) stupid and B) most worrying. I know it's over in Europe, but still. Thanks for the link man, I appreciate it.

Are you as sick of those little cheating bastards in Half Life based games as I am? Check out Counter-Hack, the ultimate site leading the fight against the scum of the universe. *cough*faran*cough*

I was checking out CNNs coverage of the "war on terrorism" (read "the attempt to blow big pieces of rock into smaller pieces, and those smaller pieces into gravel and then sand") and they have a list of prohibited items on flights. Oddly enough, I don't seem to see "rifles" "pistols" or "explosives" anywhere on the list. But you can't bring those golf clubs with yah. Ahhh well. As long as i can pack my AK, you know it'll make me feel alright.

I have no idea where the hell I got this, but you Black and White hardcore guys should get a little chuckle out of it... Wonder why they let the bad cop drive? :)

Heh. I get a huge kick out of the fact that the idiot little kid hackers are now refered to as "script kiddies" by all the security guys. You know, it must just drive their little minds insane, the fact that they've been labeled like a child's toy. Llamas.

Now, here's an example of people being stupid in Australia. Apparently Half Life rewards you for killing security guards and taking thier guns. Apparently it will cause you to go out in real life, and kill security guards. Why must people be such complete morons? I just watched "The Siege" with Segal. Well, better go hijack me a big phat ol' battleship chock full of Nuclear Warhead Goodness (tm). Fools, all of them.

Ever wonded exactly what it was that wiped out the caveman? TKing of course! Gamespy has the breaking story.

For a final piece of news, let me say that I love The Spark. They are funny. So funny in fact that.. Ummm.... Well, lets just leave it at that. I especially love when they respond to their hatemail. Now THESE guys are Sarcasm personified, WITH a capital every single letter in sarcasm.

Marauder out.

I almost forgot to mention the nice things about the new design. Here's a list
a) It's blue. I like blue. Blue is good.
b) It's MUCH more bandwidth/modem humper friendly than the old one, expecially any section with screenshots.
c) News script friendly, so it'll be easy to update for us, once we get the *(&(*ing news script working.
d) Better overall design is more netscape compliant (Not that I really care, since Netscape sucks ass, but hey, it's a side benifit.)
e) I love the popup windows for screenies/POTD. Should make it a little easier to navigate the site.
f) I just like the way it looks. So there.
g) Thanks to Red Leader for the help with the tables, appreciate it bud
h) It's been about 14 months since I completely revamped the site, so it was time for a change.

In other news, FRAGtopia passed 100,000 hits a few days ago. (99,999 of those are probably Skeezix, looking for something to do, since he's on dialup these days he can't really "game" as we call it.) For us this is a most momentous occasion, considering this site is just something we do in our spare time, for fun. The second aniversary of the site launch is coming up in just a few days as well... Altho we've really only been working on the site alot since August of last year... That was when we decided what to do with it. :) The last year or so has been alot of work, and we've written one hell of a lot of text.. But I've enjoyed it. :) So without further ado, here's today's real news.

Well, someone's finally done it. Dancing George Bush. I've been on this site for hours, struck by it's technical excellents and sheer entertainment factor. Well, actually it's good for about a 1 minute chuckle, but go take a boo. :)

Finally got around to downloading the Ghost Recon demo and.. Wow. My copy should be arriving in a few days, I can hardly wait. This game is looking very sweet, and the graphics are just phenominal. A few buddies of mine have been playing the beta for a few weeks now, and they're totally gah gah over it.

From England (Thanks Generator m8!) comes a link to No More AOLCDS! These guys have a noble and worthy goal, go check em out, and send them those coasters you've got around.

Marauder out, for now.

Hey hey all! d0zer is your UT daddy! Our local homeboy, who placed 1st at FRAGtopia 2000, and 2nd in FRAGtopia 2001 placed 2nd at the WCG qualifier last week and will be flying to Korea to compete there! (Oh, and he's a nice guy too... Which is also cool. :) Congrats Jesse!

Damn @home. Came home Thurdays night, and after a few router and modem restarts it started working. Good thing for them, as I wasn't too happy and most likely would have sat most angrily on hold for a few hours before going to bed in a most disgruntled manner. Oh, and it looks like the actualy @home is DOA..... There's a little press release on it here, and Dman just got an email from Rogers. Sucks if you use your @home email addy for work I guess! I do believe the two items are related.

"Rogers Cable is making changes to its high-speed Internet service over the next few weeks. This transition is part of Rogers' commitment to take greater responsibility for the operation and management of our high-speed network. These changes will result in a better service, including for example, Web-based Email giving you Email access from anywhere in the world.

Details on additional improvements to our high-speed service will be available over the coming months. To make these improvements, the following services will be affected during the transition: Email, Newsgroups, WebSpace, Member Services as well as the Excite for Rogers @Home start page. THE INITIAL SERVICE UPGRADES WILL BEGIN ON NOVEMBER 22, 2001, AND WILL RESULT IN CHANGES TO YOUR EMAIL AND WEB SPACE ADDRESSES. You can begin to notify friends, family and other contacts that your Email address and your WebSpace* address will change as detailed below:

YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES INFORMATION
Your current Email address is: xxxxxxx @home.com
Your new Email address will be: xxxxxxx @rogers.com

YOUR WEBSPACE ADDRESS INFORMATION
Your current WebSpace address is: members.home.net/xxxxxxx
Your new WebSpace address will be: members.rogers.com/xxxxxxx

Please ignore any captial letters that may appear in the addresses above and treat them as all lowercase letters.

* Rogers provides a service called WebSpace, which allows customers to create their own web sites. If you use the WebSpace service, you will need to back-up your personal Webpage files. If you do not currently use the WebSpace service, please disregard the WebSpace information.

TO ENSURE A SMOOTH TRANSITION, YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE A FEW SIMPLE CHANGES TO YOUR EMAIL AND BROWSER SETTINGS.

Details about the changes can be found at: http://www.rogershelp.com This conversion Website will provide easy-to-follow directions to assist you with the transition. It will also contain a very simple automated conversion tool that will help you switch over to your new Internet services at the click of a button. A hard copy of the conversion instructions will also be mailed to you.

CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO WIN - SOONER IS BETTER!

We would like to encourage you to make the "rogers.com" Email change as soon as possible, so we are providing some incentives. Starting November 22, we will be making daily draws for prizes from a list of all those customers who have completed the transition. You can increase your chances of winning by acting early because once you've made the transition, your name will be entered into each subsequent daily draw.

Prizes: November 22: Value of prizes = $50,000
November 23: Value of prizes = $40,000
November 24: Value of prizes = $30,000
November 25: Value of prizes = $20,000
November 26: Value of prizes = $15,000
November 27: Value of prizes = $10,000
November 28: Value of prizes = $5,000

Watch your Email for more details about the prizes! Act early to increase your chances of winning! Please remember that the transition begins on November 22, which is the first day you can make the required changes. Also, please remember to check http://www.rogershelp.com for updates. We recognize that changing your Email address is an inconvenience, however, it is a necessary step towards providing a better high speed Internet service for you. Thank you for your co-operation and assistance during this transition stage.

Sincerely, Alek Krstajic
Senior Vice President Rogers Cable

P.S. Please save this Email and/or print it for future reference."

Well, at least Alek was nice enough to let everyone know personally. Always get that personal touch with Rogers/AT&T! (God I'm glad I don't use these guys for anything other than connectivity.)

I'm currently working on a new design for the site for launch on our second anniversary in a few weeks. We've really only been working hardcore on the site for the last 12 months or so, but it has actually been damned near 2 years since I posted the first piece of news about the big LAN party on here. The new design is prettier, easier to navigate, more bandwidth friendly and much easier for our guys to post news on, so you should see much more regular news posts. (Assuming I get everything sorted out and working. ;) Everyone who's seen the new site likes it, other than Kingpin. He informs me he doesn't like it. I informed him he could go to hell. It's all good. :)

Marauder out for now.