- 3:24 PM - IT'S ALIVE

I finally put Bugzilla back up on ignition-project.com. It's one small step towards getting the project going again. ^_^

So anyway. I've got some bugs on there for Essence Engine. You might want to check them out.. :)

Of course most of them are stupid ideas that I came up with but meh.

Posted by Paradigm - 9:10 PM - eXo's car (sorta)

I made this in a few hours on Forza Motorsport 2. It's eXo's car (paint, rims, etc.) with the emblem we all know. Enjoy!

- 11:12 PM - Doritos X-13D

So has anyone else tried these yet? I knew the taste but couldn't identify it. A friend nailed it though: cheeseburger.

Personally, I like them.

- 1:56 PM - Cheap Gas

Amazing. People are actually passing something useful around on MySpace.

See gasoline prices in your area.

- 11:46 PM - So how about that Digg HDDVD fiasco?

It's quite amusing. I hope it goes on for a few days so that I can continue to have an interesting source of amusement.

- 10:39 AM - DHTML Lemmings

http://www.elizium.nu/scripts/lemmings/

Along the same lines as Excel Pacman, we have DHTML Lemmings. It's the original game Lemmings but implemented in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Except for the sound (as noted in Known Issues), it works great. I'm sure the sound would be fun too if I bothered making it work.

- 2:28 AM - Subwoofer sale

Oddly enough, Crutchfield is running a two-fer sale on select subwoofers right now. I think it's funny because I just blew my old subwoofer yesterday, so I was able to pick up two 10"s for $120 instead of $180. They also gave me free shipping. Not sure why, but I'm not complaining.

So if anyone out there needs some subwoofers, head this way and take a look. If you order something and you don't mind, please hook me up with a referral by entering the code pb951-qjsqb-ew2u1 during checkout. Thanks :)

- 2:33 PM - Virginia Tech shooting

Early this morning a shooter started gunning down students. Current death toll is 31, including the shooter, making this the deadliest school shooting in US history. I hope nobody here has lost anyone out at VT, and my heart goes out to anyone who has.

More info: FOX News or just about any other news site.

Press conference to be held at 4 PM EDT.

- 11:44 PM - Alanis Morissette's cover of "My Humps"

Apparently it was released for April Fools, but I didn't find out about it until today. There's something hilarious about Alanis singing a slow, sappy song about her lady lumps.

- 11:09 PM - RIAA is killing the music industry

Here I go reprinting news from Slashdot again.

They linked an opinion piece in the New York Times that was written by a pair of former independent record store owners.

There was actually a local independent music shop that I enjoyed for a while. The prices were competitive (probably their downfall) and they had an arcade as well. It was a sad day when they shut down.

- 1:01 AM - Seems even SA likes S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

In their latest Video Game Article, the one sentence review states:

Funny thing, is that the reviews are one of the few serious things on the site.

- 3:19 PM - Vile Gangsters!

Jack Thompson, a man who seem to believe himself to be the sole defender of the minds young America (and who is actually just an overrated, headline grabbing, geezer with a stick the size of a redwood lodged securely betwix his buttcheeks), filed another lawsuit. I'm not going to get into specifics here, because they are readily available elsewhere; but the gist of the lawsuit has Thompson accusing Take Two Interactive and a collection of other video game related companies of engaging in the practice of racketeering by both threatening Thompson and seeking legal action designed to keep him from.. well.. seeking legal action against them. Included in the list of companies which Thompson accused of racketeering was Penny Arcade. Naturally, Jerry and Mike responded in their own way.

- 3:11 PM - Initial S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mini review.

Here are the things I've learned in my first bit of playing:

1) Don't forget to save after a mission.

I haven't noticed any autosave yet, except that it saved after the intro video. I forgot to save, so I have to do the first mission over. Not such a bad thing though.

2) Don't equip radioactive items. They'll eventually kill you.

As a prize for finishing the first mission, a character gave me an artifact that boosted my Armor or something like that. Of course I equipped it, and promptly died of radiation poisoning while I was getting my second mission.

3) Wandering the landscape can be pretty creepy.

I was playing on a nice set of studio headphones, so I could hear everything. I heard barks and growls a bit to my left, so I went that way and saw a pack of dogs gnawing on something. I heard someone yelling and groaning and it turned out to be coming from the camp that had gotten ambushed (thereby creating the first mission). As I was walking through the camp you start off in, I heard a guitar. There was another stalker sitting next to a campfire strumming a nice tune. Even off in the distance I could hear an announcement over a loudspeaker, warning people not to enter a dangerous area. Very atmospheric.

4) The AI isn't as dumb as most video game AIs.

The first mission involves you and a team of a few other guys taking out some bandits who have captured a courier with some important information. The AI takes cover like any modern AI should. I actually had one sneak up on me from behind while I was worrying about his friend. What I could've done without, was when I was hiding behind a corner and shooting at one guy, and one of my teammates snuck up behind me with a shotgun. Did I mention I had loud headphones on?

5) The graphics, even at low quality, are excellent.

Simply put, I want to buy a new computer so I can play this game at higher quality levels. There's a lot of foliage on the ground that blows in the breeze. There are the typical pixel shader effects like heat waves and other visual distortions. I haven't played long enough to see the day/night cycles, but it definitely looked great in the late afternoon time I was playing in. You even cast your own shadow, as you should.

All in all, I like it so far. Time will tell if it's worth the years of waiting.

- 12:54 PM - Command & Conquer 3 preorder bonus

I just had to share this, as I thought it was pretty cool. I went buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl today at Gamestop, and they did their usual "do you want to preorder" speech. Since he happened to mention C&C3 I went ahead. After we're all done he picks up a box that contains a preorder bonus: Extra multiplayer maps and wallpapers for C&C3, and to my surprise a complete copy of the original Command & Conquer.

Initial mini review of S:SoC coming later. First I need to install it and eat my BK Angus combo.

- 2:58 AM - CS:S game

Put your name down in the comments if you're planning on joining us (everyone is welcome). Then we will arrange a time.

Oh and Office 2007 is really nice, a major improvement in my opinion.