Only time to say one thing:
Onslaught...is...awesome! And he's HUEG.

Got Prototype working!

It runs beautifully, no lag or anything at all, but...the mouse buttons are all messed up. Left click (regular attack) is only triggering from the right mouse button...and right click (special attack) isn't triggering at all, the left button doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Arrrgh.

Just downloaded Prototype from Steam.
It took upwards of six hours to finish, and didn't work.

I validated the files - no problem. Deleted and redownloaded it, took another 5 or 6 hours.
Same damn error.



Anyone know what could be causing this?

Death Note is a bad series. The main character is flat and cartoonishly evil, and his plans are outright ridiculous - the only reason he survives as long as he does is direct protection at the hand of the author.

That is all.

I have a toy/thingy of this.

Haven't actually opened it yet...

There is a neat little app, "AveNoBreadcrumbs" or something like that, that should disable breadcrumbs in the folder view in Vista.

It doesn't work for me. Yay.

Oh, and the Microsoft help sites have absolutely no mention of "breadcrumbs", by the way.

I am now ON-LINE on the new compy! Haven't named this one yet...though I keep running across little stupid things in Vista that just piss the heck out of me.

Like the "Breadcrumbs" thing they did to Windows Explorer. Instead of a nice, easy-to-read address bar - like, say, "c:\this\that\theotherthing", it displays a god-awful and utterly useless series of arrows with folder names. It's difficult to read and if you try to type something new into the address bar, it pops up a menu instead!

It's possible to go back to the old style by clicking at the right side of the address bar, or hitting Alt+D, but there's no way to change the default setting. The next time I open up an Explorer window, it's right back to the stupid breadcrumbs again.

Cue angry call to Microsoft in 3...2...

Got the new compy set up yesterday - it is a BIG mother, with a fairly sizeable tower and a hyoooge monitor.

Unfortunately, they forgot to include the wireless bridge that I kind of need to use the Internet and all that...oh, well. They are overnighting it, and it should arrive tomorrow! Hopefully I'll be able to get started with the new computer for real tomorrow night.

...I almost said "for reals" there. Oh god.

Signing off for the weekend - I think I'll leave my laptop at home while I'm (hopefully) at AnimeNext. Expect updates when I get back, if I can fight off the lazy!

Also, when I get home there should be a brand new honkin' computer waiting for me! Here's hoping for no hiccups during setup of the new peecee.

So...what's this "Simz" thing everyone's been going on about lately?

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a new computer yesterday from Doghouse Systems; however, I found out today that the computer doesn't have any support for wireless networking!

Does anyone know anything about getting a desktop computer onto a pre-existing wireless network? I would really like to be able to get online from this thing when I receive it.

Today is my sister's college graduation. She's earned it, and she's going to med school after this summer.

I'm taking a vacation day - of which I get 10 a year - from work to come to her graduation.
I woke up an hour earlier than normal (5:30 AM; I get up for work at 6:30) this morning to get ready for the graduation.

I was ready to leave and sitting at my computer at 6:00. Twenty minutes later, she comes into the room and says "...you can't wear jeans to graduation!" (I went out of my way yesterday to ask my parents whether it was all right to wear jeans. They said yes.)

When my reaction is something along the lines of "...huh? Why not?" her response is "I didn't wear jeans to YOUR graduation!"

Even ignoring the fact that she didn't wear jeans because she wore a skirt, she doesn't seem to realize that I didn't give a goddamn what anyone wore to my graduation, myself included! I tried to skip the freaking ceremony, but my parents demonstrated that they would not be very happy with me at all if I did.


I'm trying my best not to a) snap at anyone, or b) snap at EVERYone, but given that I'm tired and tend towards crankiness when I'm tired and hungry, that may be a somewhat difficult task. Maybe I can just avoid talking to anyone for the next six hours or so.

Just a very-very-very preliminary draft of the beginning, here.
The final version will include nudity via strip poker, so BE WARNED!
Not yet though. This is fully SFW.

And now...
POKER FACE

Sasha surveyed the field of battle, plotting her foe's downfall; her arsenal was strong, potent weapons for the conflict at hand. Her eyes met those of the opposing commander; brute cunning glittered in his sunken orbs as she coolly prepared to strike. She waited for him to act, confident of her ability to turn back any assault.

Sasha's opponent gathered all of his skill, and made his move.

"...Gho ffhissh."

"Damn it, Frank!" Sasha Loloches threw down her cards in frustration. "For the last time, we're playing seven card stud!"

Frank scratched at his head - a few flakes of dry skin flaking away from the scalp - and stared at the felt-covered table, chips scattered over its surface.
"...Jhhin?"

The pale-skinned woman snarled, briefly exposing long, sharp eyeteeth, and brushed back her silver-blonde hair as she stood from the table. Silver chains clinked on her heavy boots as the vampire strode to the door, pulling on a leather jacket - something clanked dully as it slid on over her maroon T-shirt - and turned back for a moment in the open doorway.

Frank Parker's mortal coil still sat staring at the table, his mouth open slightly. He slowly turned his head to Sasha, a spark of animation coming into his eyes. "Bhheer?"

"Yeah, might as well grab some more." Sasha wrapped a coil of thick chain around her right forearm as she spoke, then grabbed a set of keys from the wall. "You keep this door closed 'til I get back, you hear? Don't let Mac in early, either. Let him cool his bony butt on the step if I'm not back yet when he shows up.

She waited a moment. Frank stared, something gray trickling down from his right ear. Giving up, Sasha shook her head and pulled the door shut behind her; the deadbolt and chain on the other side clicked into place of their own accord. You couldn't live forever without learning a trick or two, after all.

To Be Continued

...comments and thrown vegetables welcome!

Courtesy of Kotaku -

Mirror's Edge cosplay!

Damn, I love when talented people do this kind of thing.

The initial quote is from rhjunior.

Condoms, after-the-fact "treatments" that don't work, and responsibility-dodging "education" are 100% failures for which we have paid billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives.

My response:
Do you have the numbers to back that up?
An increase in condom use and education correlates with a massive drop in STD transmission, including HIV, in Thailand over a four-year period.

Here's an excerpt from a CDC document (that's the US Centers for Disease Control, a government agency):

Latex condoms, when used consistently and correctly, are highly effective in preventing transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In addition, correct and consistent use of latex condoms can reduce the risk of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including discharge and genital ulcer diseases.
While the effect of condoms in preventing human papillomavirus (HPV) infection
is unknown, condom use has been associated with a lower rate of cervical
cancer, an HPV-associated disease.

Just for the heck of it, here's a link to an APA site pointing out how comprehensive sex education (that is, teaching abstinence AND condom use) is more effective than abstinence-only sex ed.


Condoms are not a magic cure-all, but neither are they a "100% failure".

I'm crying a little bit now. In a very good way.
No, I've never seen this before; I ran across it on TV Tropes.

The details from the last post still hold; I just wanted to keep a tally on exactly who I'm grabbing tickets for.

We're seeing this Friday at 10:00 PM at the Loews Fantasy in Rockville Centre. Hope to see you there!

So far, I'm grabbing tickets for:
Myself
Matt
Xerxes
Inusaito

Anyone else interested?


(Original post is here.)

Split infinitives not included.

The one, the only, the new STAR TREK movie comes out this coming Friday, and I for one have been looking forward to it for literally days! I'd like to grab as many folks as I can to go mob a theater and see how it stacks up!

It looks like the best time for me is Friday night - that's Friday, May 8th, at 10 PM at the AMC Loews Fantasy 5 in Rockville Centre! I would like to meet up at least half an hour early, and if folks are up for dinner after there is at least one great diner and one exceptional Chinese restaurant close by.

Here's the address:
AMC Loews Fantasy 5
18 N. Park Ave., Rockville Centre, NY 11570

Given how big this movie may end up being, I would very much like to buy tickets in advance - so let me know if you'll be coming, and I'll grab a ticket for you! You can pay me back then, I just want to make sure that no-one gets shut out of the theater.

If you need to get in touch with me about this, you can reach me at 516 521 7973, or just leave a comment here.


This theater is literally a block from the Rockville Centre LIRR station - that's on the Babylon line - so if you can reach a train, you can make it here! If anyone needs a ride, let me know and I'll do my best to help out.

Hope to see you there!

Hey all! Sorry for the short notice, but I am going to be going to see Monsters vs. Aliens in THREEE-DEEE tomorrow - that is, MAY FIRST! I've got a listing of promising movie showings, and will be going with Matt (aka the tonberry), Marc (WOOHOO!) and everyone else I can grab - and if I know us, we'll likely be grabbing dinner after, too!

Movie showings I'm looking at are, in increasing distance from me:

Sunrise Multiplex - 750 W. Sunrise Hwy., Valley Stream, NY 11582
9:05 PM, 11:35 PM

Clearview Franklin Square - 989 Hempstead Turnpike, Franklin Square, NY 11010
9:00 PM

AMC Loews Raceway 10 - 1025 Corporate Dr., Westbury, NY 11590
9:00 PM

I WILL have a car, and be able to give a ride to one or two people! If anyone else is coming along and can offer a ride if needed, please comment here and I'll add you to the post!
Everyone knows movies are better if you see 'em in a pack. See you tomorrow!

Regarding the impending filibuster of Obama's first judicial appointee, Judge Hamilton:

Senator Inhoff is "...seeking, in effect, to change the constitutional majority vote requirement. If successful, [his] effort will amount to a de facto amendemnt to the Constitution. This outrageous grab for power by [a member of] the Senate minority is WRONG, and contrary to our oath to support and defend the Constitution."

Quoted text is a paraphrase of Senator Inhoff himself, waaaay back in the long-gone year of...2003. Talking about the Democrats when they threatened to filibuster a judicial nomination. Just like he announced he's going to do now. Hypocrite, thy name is politician.

Thanks go to Rachel Maddow of MSNBC - go watch her show, or listen to the podcast! - for the heads-up on this.