June 30, 2004
Part of the Team
Life Event: I did my first 'cvs commit' ever today at work.
So...it was just a text file...but still -- an important text file.
I'll have oodles of perl code to commit soon though so I don't feel too lame.
June 29, 2004
Eyes in the Dark
A transformer blew up on the east side of the building I work in.
Result: Power outage. No work today!
June 28, 2004
Thinking Different
Steve Jobs always has a few choice quotes at each of his Apple keynotes. The ones that really stuck out to me:
"We used to dream about this stuff, now we get to build it."
(Talking about the new 30" display.)
"And how are we gonna do this user interface? Are we gonna do this with three separate windows, which is how everyone else would do it? .....uh no."
(Talking about the video chat interface for the new iChat.)
June 26, 2004
Vroom Vroom
You know CMU alumni are in town when instead of a beat-up toyota there are Lotus Elises on the street.
June 25, 2004
Purge!
Ok, I'm really not interested in finishing a lot of games to the right.
So leaving the list are:
Full Spectrum Warrior ... after playing one round, you've seen all you'll ever see.
Advance Wars 2 ... Great game, I'm just not a huge Tactical RPG fan; I got pretty far though.
Prince of Persia ... Again, great game, but no interest in the story.
I'm also taking the games I play solely for multiplayer off the list, as I play them sporadically for months (or years!). And since I only play Crimson Skies and UT2K4 multi...they are banished.
Finally, I'm starting a "Conquered Games" list...because if I finish a game, you know it *had* to be good.
Insert Title Here
I want a prehensile tail.
You know, the one's like seahorses have. That way, I could kind of grapple onto things and still keep my hands free. Such things as answering the phone, holding on in the subway, catching a dropped pair of keys before they hit the floor, would all be easier.
It would also be cool to hang from things like one of those monkeys.
That is all.
June 24, 2004
Four Swords -- Conquered
In a somewhat more timely fashion, I just completed the newest Zelda -- Four Swords Adventures.
All in all, it was a great game. It felt a bit more "puzzly" than most Zelda games, but that's OK. The huge hordes of enemies the game would dump on you sometimes made up for any lack of enemies throughout the rest of the game.
For those of you who will never play the game, have beaten it, or don't care to beat it, here are some screenshots from around the end of the game. The sprite for the final boss kicked-ass, as you can see below.
***Spoilers within!***
End Boss
Die ***** Die!!
Bitch Slapped
The End
June 23, 2004
Bathroom Tunez
Yesterday saw the introduction of music into my bathroom. That is, I put speakers in my bathroom. They're hooked up to a PC in my dining room that acts as a music server. You access WinAMP via a web-browser, and can setup playlists and control WinAMP as you normally would.
Unfortunately, the plug-in for WinAMP that adds the ability to access it via a web-browser seems so-so. So I'm looking for something better to use. If anyone knows of anything..
Back in the day when I ran BeOS there was Be in My Stereo which was great. The web page for it is down, and I doubt BeOS supports my PCMCIA to PCI card, so that's not really an option. :/
June 18, 2004
Destination: Home
Heading home for the weekend for Father's Day. So far, plans include:
-Sailing
-Fish Fry
-Haircut
Could I ask for anything more!? ;)
June 17, 2004
Warm Sake
Someone online was clearing out their gaming collection, so I picked up a few things. First was Super Mario Sunshine. I have the japanese version, but I'd really like to play through the U.S. version. I'm not sure why, it's not as if Mario games have much of a story...just for the hell of it I guess.
Secondly, I picked up the most excellent Ikaruga. Along with the game, the person also had a very limited promotional item sent out for the game available only to reviewers -- a sake set. I'm a huge fan of collectable video game stuff, so when he was ready to sell me the game and the sake set for $35, I was all over that. It's pretty damn cool.
Pop Vs. Soda
Well, here it is.
I find this extremely interesting. Mainly because I've had a fight with about everyone I've met over what to call "pop." And, according to the data, this makes sense. It appears that Ohio is right on the border of the pop/soda border. Iiiiiinteresting.
By the way, it is "pop." According to the results. Damn straight.
June 15, 2004
Zelda I -- fini.
In a mere 18 years after it's release, I have finally beaten the NES classic The Legend of Zelda.
I'm a huge Zelda fan. HUGE. However, I've only beaten Zelda I, Ocarina of Time, and Wind Waker. That's pretty sad. Now, it's not that I'm incapable. When these games were current, I got very very far in them. For whatever reason, as with all games up until recently, I felt this lack of motivation to actually complete them. However, I'm now on this kick that I need to beat all the games I play -- and beat the ones I never did.
The first game to get "replayed" to be beaten was Super Mario Bros. 3. I successfully did that last year via the GBA incarnation. I have now done the same with Zelda. After I finish the games over to the right, I plan on conquering more classics. Zelda: A Link to the Past seems like my next target.
Anyway, here's the celebration photos. Note that the final battle with Ganon was intense, as shown by the 1/2-heart left of life. No spoiler warning because this game is no longer a minor. (get it...it's 18 years old...ha...ha..)
Washington Pics
I didn't take many pictures down in Washington, mainly because I had been there two summers ago for a full summer. I did take a few shots of the new World War II memorial though. Check it out. It's pretty nice.
The monument is basically a big oval. Built around the fountain, on the thin "ends" are sections dedicated to the Atlantic and Pacific battles. The whole thing is very open and visitor friendly. It's definitely one of the best monuments.
New Cooling
In an effort to get my PC to sound less like a jet engine and more like a vacuum cleaner, I purchased replacements for my video card and cpu cooling fans. Both are rated really low as far as dB goes.
Unfortunately, it turns out the hard drives are the things making all the noise. In any case, my computer now glows blue thanks to the trendy blue led's in the CPU fan. wee!
June 13, 2004
I'm Back
Just a quick note that I'm back from D.C. Had a lot of good food and fun.
More tomorrow.
(Gmail invites went out -- lucky recipients, you know who you are.)
June 09, 2004
Up, Up, and Away!
Tomorrow I go to D.C. 4 hour drive. Shouldn't be too bad.
When I return I've got Four Swords to deal with.
And now to bed, as I have to be up at 9:00 to build keyboards with Brigham.
June 07, 2004
June 06, 2004
Busy busy busy..
Been working on getting some of those games to the right crossed of my list -- or at least be able to say I've finished them. It just keeps growing and growing. The new Zelda for gamecube comes out tomorrow...so ya. Hopefully beat the original one I picked up for GBA sometime today. I'll let ya know.
June 03, 2004
Classic NES Series Get
Picked this up today after work. Isn't she beautiful?
Closed.
Opening..
Open!
I also picked up The Legend Of Zelda (the original) for the GBA.
The happy couple.
For more information on the NES Classic Series for GBA, clix here.
June 01, 2004
Game on!
Hamtaro's playing a little Pac-man on this fine Tuesday.
To make your own paper arcade, check this out.