Google G1!

I want one!

I think i'll maybe wait until the next version... but its Linux and Google!

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Three Random Games

Still have a quiz to study for... but i'm blogging!

Looks awesome!
but it will probably be an epic fail...

Could be awesome if they successfully make choice a true issue in an MMO (as they say they will) Oh, and its Starwars! (make sure you watch the vid)


Just will be awesome... no matter what.

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Apple... no more macworld?

from:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/16/apple-announces-final-macworld-steve-jobs-wont-deliver-keynote/

I'll just sum the article. No more official Apple presence at MacWorld. I thought it was interesting... Their press conference here was HUGE. I'm definitely not Apple's biggest fan (or even a fan at all), but it was something I looked forward to. Apple is considered an "uber pioneer" (and yes that is an official term) in the technology field, and what they announce or do greatly effects the other companies (see any phone that has a large touchscreen in the past 2 years). Eh, from what I gathered, they'll probably just have their own press conference. However, it still seems as though this will effect something in the world of technology... If they show their new technology at a different time during the year, then this will probably affect the release dates of other companies competing with apple...no? We will see how this all pans out...

Hope you all saw Terminator yesterday! It was awesome, and made me love Cameron even more...*sigh*. And I just drank Tazo Organic Green tea... with a pomagrante. (That tazo site is possibly the best. flash site. ever.... btw) I'll be busy tomorrow... getting home 8:30ish... but i'll still try to leave time to blog.

Oh! And show some love here. Shaun's been getting some cool\helpful videos out...

Terminator!

^First preview for tonight's episode.

Ahh! The fall finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on tonight... cannot wait! Should be quite awesome, and we really need some more viewers for another season! So all (3) of you... get on that!

Other than that, quite a hectic day at work with all the construction. Oh and I was thinking about doing this. Definitely not for a year..., but maybe for a week? Or a month!? As the guy said, it's interesting to see what you do to take up your time that doesn't involve videogames.

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Blogging is a great procrastination technique!

Heh... well I was reading some of my older posts (though i'm supposed to be doing physics), and I was cracking up. I try to be funny, but don't always realize how good it comes out... ha. I've been listening to AFI, The Gaslight Anthem, and the new The Killer's album. For games, its been Fallout 3. And, oddly, I feel like every NPC I meet in Fallout 3, I later meet in real life... So many times its been, "Damn, why does this person look so familiar?" And then... i realize i met them in a certain post-apolyptic future.

I know I've said this in the past, but I think i'm legit going to try to get about one blog post a day out. Maybe not long, but just something quick, Kevin-humored (or failed humor), and to the point. It will start tomorrow!

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Elias for the win!

Thought the picture was pretty darn awesome ^

If you didn't see yesterday's Devil's game last night, you really missed out. Patrik Elias had two clutch goals to save the game, one with a 1:30 left in the 3rd, and another in overtime. Now that's some good hockey. Elias even has a regularly updated twitter! Oh, and you'll definitely want to check out his facebook page. Make sure you become a facebook fan for all the updates!

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Pownce dies.

Yeah, Just got the news. Pownce is shutting down on December 14th. I'm really said to see it go. It had an entirely different purpose then twitter and was perfect for telling\showing your friends something. Planning a LAN party was also great on pownce. Eh, hopefully they'll be back with something: "we believe we’ll come back with something much better in 2009." Ugh, so many pointless arguments and LAN party jokes... gone.

: (

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Apocalyptic games for the win!

So, out of the 5, I picked up Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3. They are both ridiculously awesome.

Fallout 3 is everything I ever dreamed about in a (post)nuclear apocalypse, and Left 4 Dead is everything I ever dreamed about in a zombie apocalypse... and yes, I do dream about such things. Anyway, I know my blog has been left un-blogged, but I'm hoping that will change. More to come, soon. And, in the meantime, check out this "awesome" blog.

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Top 5 PC Games I'm Uber Excited For!

Ahh... So in between my busy schedule (aka between Portal and TF2 ; )), i decided to give some time to my blog.

A large amount of PC games are coming out this Fall\Winter. These are the Top 5 ones that I'm excited for...

1. Left 4 Dead
2. Fallout 3
3. Quake: Live
4. Far Cry 2
5. Crysis: Warhead

That's all for now... Explainations to be coming soon. Just figured I get em out there.

Unexpected Results of Piracy

Ack! So I missed the Mythbusters episode... TV sucks without Tivo... : (

Anyway, on to the post!
I decided to pick up AFI's "I Heard a Voice" As I checked out, I realized that I do not formally own any AFI music. It turns out, I was listening to a copy of my friend's disk. I would have never bought this CD, if I had not listened to their music before. This brings up the conversation of a different side of piracy. I'll admit, piracy is probably hurting the artists' sales quite a bit. However, its not all bad for them. If their music is more readily available, people can discover it, and sales are going to result from that. It also has to do with a mutual respect and trust between artists and their listeners. If an artist releases good music that will play on every device, most honest people will have no problem paying for it. However, once they start encumbering it with DRM, some fans may begin to lose respect and download the music illegally.

And, by the way, AFI's "I Heard a Voice" is an awesome CD. It comes with 18 songs, so you'll definitely be getting your money's worth. ; )

Mythbusters: Moon Landing Hoax

Hey all. I normally don't watch too much TV, but Mythbusters has quite an interesting episode on tonight. They are trying to bust the "Moon Landing was a Hoax" myth. I'll be watching it. I never doubted that we actually landed on the moon, but it will be interesting to see what they say. It's on at 9 PM (Eastern) on the Discovery Channel. More info here.

A Good Summer Reading Book?

Yes, it is true. "The Book Thief" I loved it.

From the start, I did not know what to expect. It takes place in Nazi Germany during World War II. I figured that it would just be another "Anne Frank" or "Number the Stars," but I was entirely wrong. From the first page, I felt a huge "Lemony Snicket vibe," (see A Series of Unfortunate Events) and my thoughts were right. The novel is narrated by "Death" or the "Grim Ripper" if you will. He's constantly giving away clues to the ending and feeling you in with bold centered text. Flashbacks and flashfowards give you a better understanding of the characters. The writing style is what hooked me.

It's about Liesel and her story with her foster parents. I do not want to give away much more than that. I think it is best read without knowing much of the storyline but pieceing together the parts of it by yourself. If you want a larger synopsys, I would check here.

If you read it and love it (or maybe think I'm crazy) feel free to post your comments.

HL2 CTF (the good ole' days are back!)

So I have been playing some Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag lately. Not really any other reason then because my friends can tolerate me kicking their asses constantly ; ) , but it reminded me of the old CTF days. We started up a dedicated server running on my computer. More and more people joined and eventually we had a real game going. This is quite a big deal because, recently, there has not been one server with people. Of course, my DSL couldn't handle it after a while, but then we moved to other server and all was good. I talked to one of the people behind the mod, and he said that the new version (1.75) should be due out soon. In the new release, you see yourself holding the flag and corpses gib (think Team Fortress 2\ Unreal Torneyment).

If you haven't played the mod, and have HL2\DM, its definitely a must. Even if you don't have HL2\DM, I would just buy it for this mod. The addicting gameplay is similar to the style of an Unreal Tournament CTF but uses unique tactics with the gravity gun. CTF has a small community. So, chances are, you'll be playing with the same people quite a bit. If you join a server, chances are, you'll see me. My name will be S.Alive 7sunami.

Website
Game Link
A MUST read guide to everything HL2CTF.

Personas!

I found a uber sweet and simple Firefox extension in Maximum PC. It's called Personas. Its just a really easy way to theme Firefox. It simply adds a background to it that looks a bit like this:



Click on that to get a better view. You can choose one of the backgrounds that comes with it or create your own. It's quite a nifty and simple extension... Check it out.

Sun is lame!

^
Screenshot for PC Burnout Paradise on 3 Screens!

I went to the beach yesterday to show off my awesome boogie boarding skills. But, I was sunburned really bad even though I put sunscreen on... lame! When I got home, I slept on and off until now. I still feel really nauseous and tired. Its a weird feeling, but I got it during last summer after playing ultimate.

Bleh, anyway... I downloaded a demo of Burnout Paradise on my brother's PS3 in an attempt to fulfill my strange obsession with crashing things. It is a very pretty game, and the crashes are even prettier. All the cars react with real physics. If there is a head on collision, it will shrink up. If its a flip, the top of the car will contract. If you have a 360 or PS3, you can download the demo right now (or buy the game) . PC owners are going to have to wait until its released for it. However, the PC version supports 2 or more monitors! You can download a video of that in action here. Apparently, its going to be "rebuilt specifically for the PC" with "expanded multiplayer, enhanced online features, and community driven content." This is just freaking awesome! I love when developers actually spend time on their PC release instead of just throwing out a sloppy port. I don't really care if we get the game when it comes out for the consoles. Just release it later and make sure its good.

Picked up some more Bawls... Its quite readily available down here.

That's all for now...

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Firefox 3, Zune, and Bonus Random Ramblings!

^ random picture to make this post a bit more interesting.

Hey all! Its been a while, I know. But I have been blogging, just not actually posting it... Right now I have 3 posts that are started, just not finished. Heh... Yeah. You start to appreciate the work of a blogger after you have a blog. Alright, well 'nuff complaining...

Firefox 3! Hopefully you have this program open right now while you are viewing this text...(After all, 82.76% of visitors to this blog use Firefox.) I didn't really want to blog about it right after it was released because there wasn't much that I could personally say about it. After using it for a couple weeks, I can honestly say its quite a bit faster, especially starting up. It also seems more stable. There isn't too many new "features" per se, but some of my favorites are the new bookmarking system and the way that Firefox "camouflages" itself depending on what operating system you're using. Also, if you were wondering, my firefox hack works with this version. Overall, I'd say, it was a very sucessful release. Firefox 2 lacked a bit, but it seems that Firefox 3 has fixed most (if not all) of my problems with it. Although there wasn't a large abundance of new features, I'll take stablity over new features anyday.

I got a Zune 80 GB! Yes, I do love it, but I'm not going to talk about it here, because I have another post in the works for that. One feature I will talk about is "The Social." I did not buy the Zune for it, but I was surprised how cool it is. I'm referring to the online part of the social. There is also the whole sharing music with other Zunes thing, but there isn't enough people that have a Zune to make it actually useful. Anyway, the Zune software and the device itself records what you listen to and then will post those records on your online Zune profile. It shows what albums you listened to, your most played songs, and even awards for how many times you listened to a certain group or album. People can drag your so-called Zune card, and listen to your five top songs on their Zune. I think its quite a cool concept to find new music and find out what your friends are listening to. The only problem is that all of your friends don't have a Zune... Mah Zune Profile

Hmm... The post is longer than I thought. Just a couple more random ramblings... Recently had my 2nd Bawls Cherry. A bit more Cherry-ish than I remember, but still freaking amazing. I have been listening to the Flobots CD: "Fight With Tools" after hearing "Handlebars." I can't say its something I'd normally listen to, but its quite good. It has a bunch of different genres mixed in along with a powerful message. If you haven't seen the Handlebars music video yet, it is definitely worth checking out. The underlying message seems to have a different meaning to everyone I have talked to and made me really want to watch V for Vendetta (so then I did.). Let me know what you think in the comments...

And... that's it. Be sure to check out all the links I snuck in my post...

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Make ur own lolcat!

I know I haven't blogged in a while... but I found a "high potential level of lolcat-ness" in a picture of my cat:


Choose a caption, post it in the comments, and i'll submit my favorite to icanhascheezburger.com.

I'll start you off with my caption: "Ceiling cat! Iz dat reley u?"

Worst Definition Evar!

Oration O*ra"tion, v. i.
To deliver an oration. --Donne.
[1913 Webster]

Yeh...

Firefox Bookmar Icon Hack

I kinda of found this by accident, but it turned out to be really helpful. I have my Firefox bookmarks on the uber-handy toolbar right above the browsing section. All the bookmarks that I use often are up there, and the ones I don't use often are in neat little folders. Visiting many sites daily, I was running out of room for the common sites. I decided to see what happened if you right clicked the icon, hit properties, and deleted the name textbox. As it turns out, it just leaves the icon. It looks something like this:

I now have a lot more space on my toolbar.

Yes, its very simple and I'm surprised I didn't find it sooner. However, it was useful enough to blog about it...

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The Reason My Blog Has Been UnBlogged

So i have a personal wiki to handle random stuff... This is a screenshot of the homework section. Blog, I have not forgotten, just been really busy... lol.

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Uber Busy!

Yeah... 6 days later.

Yes. I am still alive folks. This was a triumph. I am making a note here.
Not enough time for a "hardcore real post" but I'll leave you with some random tidbits:

• My new slacker station. It likes to have random lyrics like "my head popped."
• When I see 2-7 of *insert random Magna here* taken out at the library, I think to myself: "Someone, out there, really needs a girlfriend. Even more than me, and I have a *freaking* blog!"
• This one baddass looking guy at the library said "Woah! That is fscked up!" I gave him an awkward look, and he said "No look at this." He then showed a paperback book where the pages were slightly offlined.
• Old people who read Cosmopolitan at the library scare the fsck out of me.
• Fsck stands for file system check. It's a program for Linux. I swear! Well, what did you think it meant?

I kid you not! This is all true!

Upcoming stuff: review of a hacking book, ubuntu 8.04 review, SP3 shenanigans, and other random stuffage.

BTW... "I swear" and "new slacker station" are clickable! Don't be afraid my friends!

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Hardy Preview

Eh... I'm trying to post at least every other day.
Don't have much time, so here's a screenshot preview for a coming review on Ubuntu 8.04: teh hardy one. (Be sure to click to make it big!)


Notice Firefox 3... i'll be talking about that.

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G33K B33R Review

There isn't that much to say about G33K B33K. After all, it is just root beer. But maybe that's what is the big deal about it. It's probably the only energy drink that tastes nothing like your typical energy drink.


Taste
My bro once told me about the many different kinds of root beer. I never knew there was a difference having only started drinking root beer about a couple years ago. Anyway, he said there is your bitey rootbeer and your creamy rootbeer. For a comparison, Barq's has more of a bite to it, while A&W is creamy and smooth. I'll leave my root beer ramblings to people like this guy. G33K B33K is somewhere in the middle. It closer to A&W, but still has somewhat of a bite. There is a also somewhat of a licorice\birch beer\Amish root beer\Bawls flavor to it. Similarly to Bawls, its taste is difficult to describe. You just have to try it yourself, ; ). I should also mention that G33K B33R goes down the easiest because of its slightly smoother flavor.

Presentation
I know, I know... "Presentation" It's like I'm trying to be some baddass beverage reviewer who likes to slurp loudly to get a good taste. Well, simply put, G33K B33R looks as good as it tastes: damn good. It's a 10 oz brown glass with the infamous gripping bumps. If you have a problem with the packaging, you must be really screwed up. Because of my odd obsession with things in glass bottles, it gets a high rating in my book. The brown bottle makes it a tad less refreshing, but they don't have much options being it root beer.

Energy
As far as I know, G33K B33R has the same amount of caffeine (Guarana) as the equivalent Bawls bottle: 64 mg. Caffeine reacts with everyone differently (and some not at all) so "results may vary." For me, it kept me going strong until about 3 AM. I could have probably stayed up a bit longer, but had no need to. I felt the "energy boost" after about 3-4 sips I would say. This is all pretty general though.

Bottom Line
I definitely like Bawls: G33K B33R. However, if root beer is not your thang, neither will this be. It's a potent energy drink that doesn't taste like your typical Monster or Red Bull. I highly recommend it to root beer lovers, caffeine whores, or anyone who just feels the needs to "bounce with bawls."

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The G33K B33R is here!

Ah, yes. The case of Bawls is in. Alight... the moment we have all been waiting for:

Ooooh! A thinkgeek.com catalog. On the back is a $10 off coupon if you spend $50, $5 if you spend $25. Just thought you might want to know that...


The box underneath all those packing peanuts. The normally blue bawls logo is brown on the box.


Side view. Nice blue "G33K B33R." Type is still all brown.


Yes, there they are. All 24 of them.


A single bottle. Brown instead of the signature blue, but it still has the infamous gripping bumps.


Bawls in hand: cap off.


Blue bawls next to the G33K B33R for a comparison.

A review will come... I want to have a chilled one first.

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A Hardy Ubuntu

Ubuntu 8.04 was released on April 24th. I downloaded and installed it on my laptop. Seems to be more stable: flash, drivers, and 3D works right away. The only holdup I ran into was slow connection to ubuntu servers in order to download updates and programs from the repositories. This is because of many people downloading\updating the new version... Anyway, if you are also having this problem then I recommend you click:

• System>Administration>Software Sources
• Download from... then other.
• And Click on "Select Best Server"
• Wait, and then use the selected server.

It helped me out a bit...

Screenshots\review to come...

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G33k B33r!

Thanks ocmodshop.com for the picture.

There is some days in a nerd's life that changes their life forever. A new version of Linux may excite some or maybe even a release of their favorite PC game. But some days outshadow all of them. This very day happened on April 1st 2008(ironic eh?). On this day, my friends, a new flavor of Bawls came out: G33k B33r! It's basically rootbeer with caffeine (guarana). It apparently has a Bawls-like aftertaste... Although it came out on April 1st, I found out about it yesterday. I headed to the great thinkgeek.com and purchased a case. Yes, obsessed maybe, but this is what I live for!

I'll have more (of my) pictures and a review once I get my hands on these brown Bawls. O.o?

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Free PC Game o' the Week: Trackmania Nations: Forever

^ Video of a Pretty Sweet Track

The word "forever" always brings back many mixed memories. It starts with some slightly awkward names for Japanese videogames, and then fades into a certain baseball movie that happens to involve a very large dog and a kid with a very annoying voice. Yes, I know: What the hell were they on when they named it "TMN: Forever"
/Ends lame rant about name.

Anyway, despite the name of this game, there is no reason that you should not download it. Seriously. If you like racing games, even just a bit, its well worth the download. Now, the Trackmania Series isn't new. It's just that, recently, they started putting out free full versions of their games. I remember buying the original TM for $10 at KB Toys. Fun, just barely ran on my computer (I didn't have\know what a videocard was back then).

Ahh... now to the game. First, take everything that makes a realistic racing game well... realistic, and throw it out the window, save for the graphics. Next, throw in some jumps, tricks, loops, and slightly loopy physics where cars that can accelerate in the air and you have yourself Trackmania: Forever. I like to call it a "fantasy racer." It's like an arcade-esc racer. Probably the best way to describe it is a racing game with some puzzle elements and where, most of the time, the harder goal is just finishing the track, let alone achieving a fast time. If you fall off, you can respawn to the last check point by hitting enter, or to the beginning of the track by hitting delete. It's quite basic, but that is what makes it addicting and fun.

Not much more I can say about the game other than "Download it now!"

and...BTW, the "o' the week" is just making it sound cool.
I'll try for a game a week but don't know if that will definitely happen.

My Internet is Faster!

Woohoo! So, we combined some packages and such with Verizon and DirecTV. They said we could get faster Internet at a lower price. We were supposed to get 3 Mbps, but apparently the signal is not strong enough. Anyway, my Internet is now 1.5 Mbps. Which is about 2.5 times of what I had. I wasn't getting what I supposed to get (768 Kbps) to begin with, but now I'm getting a "true" 1.5 Mbps. It seems faster.

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Devils + Rangers = Uber-Intense Game

^ eh... a Devil's symbol can't hurt

Damn. 4-3.
That Devil's game was some intense hockey. If you have been looking at any of my tweets @ Twitter today, then you'll know that i'm an avid Devil's fan.

I think what the most interesting event was Avery's blocking of Brodeur. Now, screen's are acceptable, but this was just ridiculous. I really did not believe when I saw it. For those who did not see it, he literally stood it front of Brodeur blocking his face with his stick. Brodeur just moved his head the first couple of times, but then finally pushed him away with his glove. The captain of the Rangers came over to him and told him to stop. He didn't stop then, but finally stopped when the referee warned him. Apparently, he later told the referee that there was nothing in the rule book that he broke. Now if this is true, and I think it is, a rule is definitely going to have to be made for next year. I really don't understand. Avery is a good player and doesn't need to resort to these kind of tactics to win a game. The announcers summed it up quite well when they said how they knew he was an irritator but didn't know he was an innovator.

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Update: 4.15.08
I heard today that, because of this incident, they are going to add a rule that is "effective immediately."
Linky
It's not actually a "new rule" but an official stated that they will be going to calling it as minor for unsportsmenlike conduct. Ahh...I am glad that these shenanigans will not continue.

Them Sneaky Advanced Video Settings

Ahh... you've seen them around: ole "Filtering Mode" or maybe even "Vertical Sync." They are in the "Advanced" section of your favorite PC games, which makes you think that you're not cool enough or baddass enough to change them...am I right? Well, I'm finally going to de-mystify all of the settings and show if they are really worth the FPS drop.

All of the FPS tests were done with Counter Strike: Source inside Windows XP Home Edition. My computer has 2 GB of RAM, a 6600 Core 2 Duo, and a 7900 GT all on a Intel D975XBX motherboard running. The resolution is 1280x1024 with 2x MSAA Anti-aliasing on.

Anti-aliasing
Well, this one isn't very complicated, but has a lot to do with how well your games will look.
The difference between having it off and on is jagged edges. If it is on, your games will have a much smoother look to them. In case you were wondering, this is done by blending the colors of the object and background, instead of an abrupt change in color. This must be done because it is impossible to recreate a diagonal line using square pixels.

With-out: 175 FPS










With(4x MSAA): 114 FPS


(make sure you click on the images to see them in their full screen goodness)

As you can see, although the FPS drop, Anti-aliasing makes your game look a hell-u-va lot better. Depending on whether you're an FPS whore or a graphics whore, you might want to change that setting. You can also go with the happy medium of 2x MSAA, which is what I have my game set to.

Vertical Sync
Vertical Sync has to do with your monitor not being able to display the frames that it gets from your videocard fast enough. Say the game is running at 100 FPS and your monitor has a refresh rate of 60 Hz. Even though your videocard is producing 100 frames, your monitor can only output 60 of them a second. The extra frames build up, and this causes screen tearing. Screen tearing looks like two frames that were mashed together. It causes the picture to not line up evenly; part of your screen will have one frame, while the other will have the other frame.
It will look something like this:

Whether you want to have this setting off or on depends on both your video card, monitor, and your personal preference. If vertical sync is off, your FPS will go as high as it feels, but screen tearing can happen. If it is on, your FPS will be limited to the exact refresh rate of your monitor, perhaps cutting your FPS in half. In my case, the FPS of my game would be limited to 70, because the refresh rate of my monitor is 70 Hz.

Filtering Mode
Filtering mode is how high the resolution of textures stay as you move farther away from them. If filtering mode is set to its highest, then a texture that is far away will continue to look crisp and detailed. On the off setting, the texture will look less detailed and possibly, as i like to say, "pixelicious". As you can gather, setting Filtering Mode to a higher setting will definitely take a chunk of your FPS away. The question is: just how much?

Bilinear: 140 FPS

Anisotropic 16x: 118 FPS


After looking at the two pictures side by side, you can see the huge difference. The screenshot with 16x is much clearer from everything to the pothole in the road (which nearly disappears in the other shot) to the graffiti on the door. I would, again, recommend setting this to somewhere in between (such as 4x) to achieve a high FPS and decent graphic quality.
More\Pictures to come...

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Heh... a blog.

So... A blog? Yes, boys and girls, a blog. I have had a passionate hate for blogs for a very long time. However, after signing up for the web 2.0 apps such as pownce and twitter, blogs finally began to make some sense. I'm thinking that if this here blog thing gets popular then I might just have to buy an actual domain...heh. This blog is kind of a mashup of what I care about. There is going to be everything from computer how-to's, to technology rants, and even the occasional "love of caffeine" post.

Where should I begin? I figured a good starting point would be to tell a wee bit about myself.
My name is Kevin, and I happen to love computers, technology, linux, the Interweb, Google, tea, Samsung, ultimate, PC Games, tennis, and caffeine(ohh caffeine!). I happen to hate ipods...(yeah that's about it.)

Well, that's all for now kids...

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