Explosion Behind HSBC Arena
May 30, 2008 News
…about 1000 yards from where I’m sitting. Here’s the first story I see on it. I heard the boom, but that sort of noise (with the construction and industry around here) isn’t out of the ordinary. And no, if I die, you cannot have my stuff.
Tags: explosion, hsbc arena, News
Cheapskates: $1 Bus Fares to NYC, Toronto
May 30, 2008 News
Megabus has started service between Buffalo and Binghamton, Toronto and NYC, in case you were not aware. The trick is, you can get tickets as low as $1 each way depending on when you search and how much demand there is for the trip. I just did a search, and could go round-trip to Toronto for $6 (plus $.50 reservation fee). I’d much rather take the train, but considering how expensive gas is nowadays for car travel, this could be an option for getting to NYC or Toronto if you can stand a no-frills ride.
Office Spaced
A California man used an automated script to sign up for more than 58,000 Google Checkout, Paypal, brokerage and other online accounts that use deposit verification techniques, and got sent $58,000. Think Office Space. It would’ve worked, except:
However, Largent used false names, including cartoon characters, as well as false addresses and social security numbers, which opened him to conviction under laws on mail, bank and wire fraud.
I want the list of cartoon characters used. Seen at Gizmodo.
Tags: gizmodo, stealing money
Penguins Get On the Board
May 29, 2008 NHL
Pittsburgh took the third game of the Stanley Cup Finals last night, blowing away my previous poll by scoring 3 goals. Crosby had two and Adam Hall had the other. The Pens seemed to be the more physical team, with Brooks Orpik dominating a stretch of the game in the third period, hitting anyone that touched the puck. Glad they decided to make a game of it.
Tags: crosby, detroit, hall, orpik, penguins, pittsburgh, red wings, stanley cup
Hey Penguins
May 27, 2008 NHL
Loading ...Another game, another SO for Chris Osgood. The Pens went goon-y at the end, Crosby was whining, and the wagons are being circled. I might get to watch the next couple games, I sure hope they at least are competitive.
Tags: crosby, detroit, Hockey, NHL, osgood, penguins, pittsburgh, red wings, sidney crosby
Old Game Tuesday - Rocket Arena 2, Jailbreak
May 26, 2008 PC Games
Note: Release this early as I’ve missed a few. Thanks for reading!
I remember the time fondly. Having switched away from gaming on computers (via my C64 and the like) I had been hooked on Nintendo console and handheld systems. One fateful day, I went over to my friend James’s house to play on the new computer he had built, which in and of itself was a new concept to me. He also had a massive stereo system connected to it. It was at his house that I first encountered real network gaming. He started Quake 2 and joined a deathmatch server. I was floored. I had never thought of such a thing, here we were, playing a game against real PEOPLE across the INTERNET. I never laughed so hard at getting beat down in a game, and I wanted more. I wanted to get better. I was hooked.
I started pricing computer parts the next day. I ended up with a Pentium 166mmx (gives you an idea of the timeframe here), a Riva 128 video card, and a couple of game recommendations from James. I installed and played Quake 2, never getting very far in the single player as each new patch for multiplayer killed your savegames. I started going to PlanetQuake, and that’s where I found out that there was a whole community of people coding modifications for games. I installed a couple of the most popular, Rocket Arena 2 and Jailbreak. Rocket Arena (2 for Quake 2, it was available for all the Quake games as well as UT and others) takes deathmatch combat and evens the playing field. A player with knowledge of a particular DM map could dominate based on knowing where to get all the items and weapons, not based on skill. RA2 just gives you all the weapons allowed (based on map/server settings) and once you get killed, you are out for that round. IIRC, You could play one-on-one or team matches, though my favorite were the maps that took everybody and split them in to two teams. Mayhem.
Jailbreak is another teamplay mod, again splitting players into red and blue teams. You have a base to defend, the major difference being that upon death, you were put in a jail. Your teammates could then attempt to break you out by busting in to the enemy base. Some maps also had a way to break at least a few of your guys out of the jail cell, if you could get some cooperation. Both mods, in fact, first got me thinking about team-based play as fun. Up to that point, my attempts to play CTF usually ended up with me going back to regular ol’ DM. Now I gave it another try. (UT’s CTF really sold me though)
These mods, along with Starcraft and MechWarrior 2 (the other game witnessed that fateful day) are what got me back in to gaming on the PC platform, and I’ve been there ever since. Even though it seems to be drying up a bit with the advances console gaming has taken.
Tags: id, id software, ogt, pc games, pc gaming, quake 2, quake ii, ra2, rocket arena, rocket arena 2
Ratings Surprise for SCF Game 1
May 26, 2008 NHL
I was actually surprised to read the ratings for game one of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Red Wings’ 4-0 win on Saturday night had a 1.8 national rating—drawing over 2.3 million viewers. The rating was the highest for an NHL game on Versus
It may be a factor of having 2 US teams in the Finals, but it’s still nice to hear numbers like that.
Tags: detroit, Hockey, NHL, penguins, pittsburgh, red wings, stanley cup, versus
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
May 26, 2008 Media
I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night. I thought it was pretty good, say B- or C+ grade-wise. I enjoyed it, and don’t feel as if it was a waste of money, which is good considering how much it costs to go to a movie nowadays. There were some hokey parts, especially where it was seriously tough to suspend disbelief. Anyway, from here on out, expect spoilers. Continue at your own risk…
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: crystal skull, indiana jones, kung fu panda, movie, movie review, movies, the incredible hulk
Arena League 2 Team to Buffalo?
May 25, 2008 Sports
There was a short note at WGR550.com about this…the report is Buffalo will be getting an AF2 team. No other details at this point, but for a city that already lost a real Arena League team to Columbus, and might just lose their NFL team to wherever, this can’t feel good. At least AF2 doesn’t have Bon Jovi and John Elway hanging around all the time.
Tags: af2, arena league, buffalo, columbus, destroyers, football
NHL Taking Another Look at Goalie Equipment
May 25, 2008 NHL
Ryan, it’s a good thing you’re on the competition committee, I guess. Commish Gary Bettman stated that the league will take a “good look“ at the equipment that goaltenders wear/use in the NHL. The league last adjusted the equipment for the 05/06 season, reducing the pad sizes amongst other changes. Miller blames the smaller pads for the thumb injury he had that season. There is also contention about the knee pads (cutting you off at the pass with the PG-13 jokes now, thanks) which protects the knees of goalies that use a butterfly style, which is basically all of ‘em nowadays.
Tags: bettman, competition committee, Hockey, Miller, NHL
