One with the Machine.

My Xbox blogs more then me....

Q&A: Secure that PC and Xbox Live Tips.

ok, I have been getting a bunch of PC questions about what I do/run to make my PC's run well, "Secure" (notice the " since nothing is secure.. ;-) ) and recover in the face of a disaster.

So in the spirit of the Q&A, if you have any specific questions, post them to the comments.

I will also post directions on how to make your router work better with the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, these are the same directions I use when my friends have issues and call me.

Stay Tuned....

Blazing Speed: Verizon FiOS

Now that Verizon has there new FiOS service available in my area, I had it installed. Let me tell you this is a totally different consumer Verizon, from the customer service to the Tech's it was a pleasurable experience. Shocking yes, I know.

Since I have underground wires, all new things are a bitch to get to the house... Verizon needed to run a conduit pipe to the house under the grass, under the brick flower bed and make it look nice in the garden.... Yes, I was concerned.... Before any work gets done a field engineer, arrived at my house, the kicker a day I was off and about an hour after I returned his call so far... So good. He arrives and draw a diagram of my house lot, grass, fence, flower box.. Etc... Does his little measurement procedure and then sits with me to explain how all will be run. What will be affected and how much grass with be ripped up. All and all not bad, for 30MB I will accept some dead grass (which Verizon did fix, within 2 days of the pipe run)

Now the day of the install arrives, and the Tech is on time 8:30am, I did not anticipate it going the 6 hours they alot, especially since I had the whole inside the house all ready pre wired with the Cat5e for phone and data waiting for them. Which of course they loved, easier job. So the install go smooth, installs the fiber to the house, cuts through the brick and the foundation no problem, gets the box in place, battery backup, power (which I also ran new BX and a plug for them the day before) . They do the phone switch to the new Fiber network, and cut the old copper connections away from the house. Still not problem, all the phones work, now its time to check the internet access... This is where is gets a bit off...

I did not want to use the free router they provide, a D-Link 624, I have a linksys in place, hacked with the latest Talisman firmware from Sveasoft, we do a speed test, and Fuck we are well bellow the 30mb...Grr, so the tech calls the support office to have the Line checked and make sure I am setup for the higher speed, the girl was helpful and says the account is good... So we move to the all famous Desktop Support, we tried a bunch of "optimization" setting for the network card, no dice... So I break out a nice new Wrt54GS version 4, to try a non hacked version of the hardware... BAM!!!! 30MB So I am like FUCK!!!! But I tell the tech its not his issues and sign the work order that I am happy and hey is off to head home before the snow get him.

To end this long story; its the sveasoft firmware, the PPPoE module needs work to achieve the speeds download though the upload is fine. When this is available, hopefully soon I will be back in business 100%, for now I have a 2 router config going to maximize the speed where it needs to be, and still alot me the features I hacked it for in the first place...

Either way I am happy..... ;-)

Gadget Whore: Zen Vision:M

The quest for my next Portable Digital Audio player (I refuse to say Mp3, to generic. lol) take me to the Creative Zen Vision:M. I have had her on backorder since before CES ( I wanted the black model), and to me it was worth the wait.


I was suffering with my 2gig nano, for months (it was free) between the constant conversion wma >> acc having to copies of my music (I have just shy of 160 GB 's, yes that's gigabytes) so I can sync easy, was fustrating, and a waste of disk space. So then this little lady caught my eye, I knew it was for me, but like all good things I had to wait. CES came and went with a very positive feel for the device, so I way happy.

Is is perfect, of course not nothing is, but its perfect for me due to its wide range of format support.

Video: DivX™ 4 & 55, XviD5, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG4-SP, WMV9 and Motion-JPEG
Audio: mp3, MP3, WMA (inc MS PD DRM), WAV w/ Album Art.
Photo: JPEG, BMP6, GIF6, TIFF6
FM and FM recording: Though now that Howard is on Sirius, not an issue.
Voice Recorder
USB Sorage, size is user selectable 1GB-16GB
to name a few...

I am good to go.... well atleast for now... lol

It's not as sleek as the ipod video, as a compareison about the size pf the Gen 2 Ipod but the 2.5 in screen is the same as the Ipod Video, but is more vibrant with better color depth.

PSP Reloaded.... oh and I am back....

ok, so its been a while since my last blog...

So what has happened...

hmm I have been playing my Xbox 360 since release day, The holidays have come and gone and the new year is here, so where to go from all that fun.. Well let me tell you, not much... HAHHA

Yes we all know I am not big into blogging, but to be honest I am going to give it another try but I am not going to post about my every day like most, cause you and I know no one really cares.. lol

Alright so how I am going to start my new year blogging with my PSP, yes I have bashed the hell out of it in the past, but since I been playing Socom and Virtua Tennis I am enjoying the system. Plus its great for video podcasts and now that I have a 1gig memory stick it will be even more useful. But I still hate the way the black finish shows every finger print that even touched it, so I ordered a clear replacement face plate. Here are some pics of the operation...







As you can see the new look for my psp is ass kicking... It was not a long procedure, but if you are not comfortable with taking apart stuff get someone to do it for you, hell mail it to me... But don't risk your $200 unit. What too me a while was the replacement clear digial pad was not machined right so the psp would always scroll down, bummer so I got creative... I used the black pad from the stock case and then I took 2 of the black action buttons and switched them out wth 2 of the new clear and as you can see, it came out awesome... clear and black rules...

Will thats it for now, I will be writing more about gadgets, Video Games, and some other crazy shit... Hit me with a suggestion and I will comment on it.. lol

out.....

New Definition for NextGen

Now that Microsoft has update www.xbox.com and its Xbox Live service to be more Xbox360 centric, and more of the links between community and the 360 are shown. The Definition of Next gen Consoles is changing, at least in my opinion.

traditional when the "NextGen" consoles are announced, you get the standard GPU specs, CPU, etc... For example;Sony talks about how there new custom deigned "engine" will change the word, *cough* "emotion engine" *cough* and Microsoft took off the shelf x86 parts to make an impressive system, saying its the software that matters for the user experience. While Nintendo rolls along with a balance of hardware and content.

Fast forward to today, yes the exact second you are reading this line, Sony is still creating custom hardware and touting there graphics (yes, still only movies on display, but lets give them that for a second) will make you total live the game. The comparisons of the 360 -vs- PS3 will be debated for the next 4-5 years till they are on the way out. Microsoft in an attempt to be the first to market this gen with the 360, need to make some compromises with the hardware, that is a no brainier. Could they have went the complete custom chip path with IBM, sure but again they only see hardware as part of the picture.

Enter www.xbox.com and Xbox Live, when Live was release 3 years ago it changed the platform of the Xbox from a simple game console to a competition engine, community enabler, and a communication device. Yes PC's did this first, but for a console its ground breaking, but having a central service and single Gamertag is the icing on the cake.

By combining the Xbox360, Xbox Live, and xbox.com MS is giving the gamer a total package of interactivity, both in and out of the living room. The 360 for digital entertainment, from games to movies to music. Live for the human to human experience, and xbox.com for the commit extension, though there are 3rd party independent sites (some I helped build) ,but Microsoft is keeping pace to be the main portal and link all its technologies together. Look at the top right corner of this blog, I have my "Gamer Card" linked, as the 360 arrives this will help show my gaming progress, and bring gamers together.

This is now what the next gen is; Its a system of products and services that allow everyone not only the hardcore to enjoy the experience, and give something to all. Its also the first real assault on the livingroom, that why the 360 connects to mp3 players, Windows media Center, will have content on demand, etc...

Its not about graphics and numbers (though I love good hardware), but about the experience and what you take from it. Granted I am leaving out a lot of features, and expected features or all systems, but its a great time to be a hardcore gamer as well as the person tasting it for the first time.

Burnout: Revenge

since I always had alot of fun with burnout 3 I figured why not lets get Revenge. At E3 it got my interest and the OXM demo, was the same.

I have to give EA credit its fun, there are more live modes and more exposions.... ;-) and thats what we buy it for.

I have only played it a few hours, and it did not piss me off... though the boost selector for the start of crash mode is annoying but useable. When you start a crash mode, your car is at a dead stop after the countdown, a half moon appears and you have to hit the button as it goes to the top marker and then the bottom marker to decide your start boosts.

I am sure more "isseus" will come, but for now I am happy. Though my bud, Capt Crash 31 did have a few connect issues to my invite, once he it was solid thorugh the game loads and saves.

If you like the burnout series, its more of it and looks great too.

DS Files: Advanced Wars Duel Strike

After being totally unhappy with the $250 + I gave to SONY for the PSP, I figured while on vacation in Florida this past July Fuck it, I am getting the Blue Nintendo DS.

As I have sung the praises of the machine before, I will not re-hash here. On the advice of Keg O War , who is a huge Advanced war Fan, I picked it up. All I have to say is FUCK YEA..... the Game is amazing, and fun... yes fun the essence of what video games are suppose to be.

The graphics are not stellar, but are good and server the purpose. the sound works and is what you expected in a pocket game. But the game play is outstanding, the use of the touch screen to control troop deployment is great, but having the ability to use the D-pad and buttons is a nice touch for when you cant use the stylus.

AW:DS takes me back to when I use to play Civilization I on my old 386-33 PC, Deploy troops, watch resources and counter the enemy's best flank.

I have yet to try the WI-FI multi player, Calling you out Keg!!!!!, but from what I hear its a blast.

If you own a DS an like Mil-Sim in a Anime World... you need to stop reading and go to the closest store and get it.

out...

Scenario Paintball Match

Its been a long day(sat) battling in the work of Scenario Paintball in the NASPBL league. Keg O War, my Self and the rest of our team were playing for the Pennsylvania team (yes I am from New York, but I was recruited) against New Jersey.

The day had us doing the role of defender of most areas and on offense when we need to either get a flag marker or get back lost area. At times is was like playing seige on Ghost Recon and other like defend but with out all the disconnects lol.

The weather was great not to hot, I got to use my new Tach vest From Flurry Industries, it really save my back from the old utility belt style I used before. My Tipmann A5 with flatline barrel system, was dead at the beginning of the match, I got myself in a nice sniper position and with Keg covering me I was taking down the blue team, well till I took on in the face... Damn flatline. lol.

Playing for 2+ hours straight is such a rush, you get hit either find a medic to stay in the game or go back to the referee who will take you number down for the kill recorded then re-insert you at the correct spot.

I was chosen for, or took on my own accord to go with a 2 or 3 man team to flank a position of take back high point areas; walk crouching or crawling in the turf is a test at some point since stealth is a must. But the reaction of the Blue team as you got behind them and are lighting them up from behind is priceless... I live for the thrill of the snipe and the covert movement just makes it 1000x better.

If you never played paintball you need to, if you play but never played Scenario, you need to. yes you get shot at and have to crawl in mud or at least the grass, but its a rush you cant imagine.