California Quickie (1/31/07)

Yesterday, a California lawmaker considered a bill that would ban old school lightbulbs by 2012.





THANK GOD!

The Best Superbowl Ever

It certaintly won't be the one happening Sunday. After spending most of the postseason wishing certain teams not to win, I still can't root for these two remaining teams. I hate hearing about that '85 Bears team, and I don't want to hear the media gush about Manning. I'll probably watch a little bit of the game but afterwards I'll just check the score on the internet every once in a while.

This brings us to the best Superbowl that ever happened. This would be XXVI. Ok, I'll admit that I'm in the minority when I say this. It was a blowout that happened after a very close Superbowl and in a string of other blowouts. I'm not even sure Redskins fans would consider it the best. Superbowl XVII was the first Redskins championship since 1942, so I'm sure a lot of people look at it fondly. It's also has the memorable The Fourth and One. Superbowl XXII was also more memorable, because it had The Quarter. Sadly, Superbowl XXVI is known for The Helmet more then anything.

I didn't start following the Redskins until the midway poin of the 1990-1991 season. I can't remember what was the first game I payed attention to, but I do remember listening to one Redskin game where the Skins scored 9 poins on the Patriots before they had their first offensive posession. (The Pats were 1-15 that year.) The next year the Skins went 1-3* in the preseason - they were even shutout by the Vikings at home - and I missed their opening Sunday night game. They blew the Lions away 45-0 and I can remember even then there was excitement about the team. As the wins started piling up I joined in, even chanting "19 and 0! 19 and 0!" to a Giants fan. (Stupid Cowboys and Eagles.) One thing I'll miss about this team is the fact that I felt no fear about them winning the Superbowl. I was innocent back then.

I may have been a little bit nervous before the playoff game against Atlanta, but the Redskins were never threatened in that game. It was fun watching the Skins fans throw those yellow seat cushions onto the field after the Skins put the game away. Then we faced Lions. My dad wanted Dallas, but I think I just wanted the sure win over a tough win over a rivalry. I certainly wasn't nervous when we faced the Lions, and we beat them easily.

Then came the Superbowl. I can't remember if we rooted for Buffalo over the Broncos, but Buffalo seemed vulnerable all season long. I remember early in the season Buffalo had a game where it was incredibly high scoring for both teams. As my dad poined out, they had a great offense but no defense. So I remember smiling when I heard a woman on the radio bragging about her Bills. There was just no way, NO WAY anybody was better then the Skins were that year. The Redskins were overshadowed by the Cowboys during the years afterwards, but this Skins team was awesome. I remember getting angry during a Cardinals game because the Skins gave up a few sacks, one that was questionable. They only gave up 9 sacks that year and could have had a record. That's one sign of how good they were.

Sadly, I can't remember too much about the Superbowl. I don't remember anything about Thurman Thomas and his helmet. What I do remember is being furious that they didn't award a touchdown to Art Monk** when he was pushed out of bounds. Many of my classmates were also arguing about that the day after. I was actually surprised to learn last year that the game was close for a while because I remember that once the Redskins scored, they didn't look back. We were already celebrating victory by half time. The only other thing I really remember is Buffalo scoring two garbage time touchdowns, which I admit made me a little nervous that the Redskins were celebrating too early but luckily the game was over about a minute later. I think we stayed at my Uncle Buddy's house long enough to see Mark Rypien win the MVP award before we finally went home.

37-24 wasn't too far from my prediction, which was 35-31, same as one of the Dallas-Pittsburgh Superbowl. My dad also made a similar prediction, and won a prize from local radio station WMAL, who used to cover the Skins.

Sadly, we were two-three years away from Norv Turner killing the franchise. (Stupid Cowboys.) Also sad is that not many people take Rypien seriously, which really hurts. He certainly wasn't a bad QB and he was our last QB that lasted a few years as our starter. Still, I'll always be lucky to have seen the Redskins win the Superbowl at least once.

I can't wait until the NFL starts releasing Superbowls uncut on DVD.







* - This is why I almost did a double take when I was at Walmart and they played that DVD that did 2-3 minute synopses of all the Superbowls. For Superbowl 26, they said that the Redskins were pick to win from the beginning. WHA?! You mean, after they blew away the Lions, or during the preseason when most people make picks? I don't remember anybody being excited for the team until after the Lions game, and I'm sure most people didn't take them too seriously until four or five games in. There's always a team that looks a little too good during week one.

** - When are they going to put Art Monk in the Hall of Fame, already?!?! I will not take that place seriously until he's in.

Strong Bad broke my internet.

By the way, something is wrong with MyYahoo! It hasn't worked correctly since yesterday, which is annoying because I always use it as a bookmark to several of my favorite websites. I probably put to many rss feeds on the MyYahoo! page, since it was fine until yesterday. That's when I added a link to Strong Bad's podcast for no reason other then curiousity over when the latest podcast was released.

I wish I had a clue what the problem is, because yahoo usually just tells you to try again later. Well it is later and I still don't have a MyYahoo! page. Here's hoping that after this is published, MyYahoo! will suddenly correct itself.

The Search for an MP3 Player

I've been thinking about getting an mp3 player. The problem is that I don't want one for music, so I can't really justify the high prices of the top quality players. Still, they seem kind of neat, and I can't find the perfect compromise between cheap and a large storage size yet.

The main reason why I want an mp3 player is because I want to download a few rifftrax from Mike Nelson's new website. He's released a few for movies I have so I want to try a couple. The problem right now is that I don't want to play the mp3 and the dvd on the same computer, even though that's my best option. I would like to be able to have the mp3 playing seperately. I also have a problem where the computer in my room is Windows 98 which doesn't work with flash drives. An mp3 player would allow me to watch movies in my room while listening to rifftrax, a better option then using the other computer.

There's also a podcast I like, plus any possible podcast I find in the future.

So I've been looking for a cheap mp3 player. The problem is that I want as much room as possible, even though I probably don't need it. For some reason I'm determined to have at least 512 MB, even though I doubt I could justify it. Despite that, I still want a GB or more so I won't run out of room soon. This makes it hard to find a cheap mp3 player.

So I've been looking at the iPod and the Zune. Now, since the Zune hasn't been a big success, I've been hoping that maybe it'll drop in price and I would have an mp3 player. From what I read, it would give me 30 GB, a radio tuner to listen to Caps games, and would allow me to watch wmv files. Sadly, there's two problems. The first is that I may have jumped the gun about the price issue. I don't think Microsoft is going to drop the price any time soon. If they did, I would have owned one for fifty bucks, maybe even a little more. The second problem is that I talked about this to my friends and Lita told me not to get one and gave me a dozen reasons not to. Her poin being that it's a lousy mp3 player compared to others. So no Zune for me.

As for the iPod, I'm just not sure. Even the cheapest iPod is about 80 dollars. I keep thinking to myself that if I wait a couple years they'll release one for 50 dollars and it'll still have a screen and wheel thingie. Another dilemna I have is that I could just get the cheapest one, but then I could get an iPod nano for a little bit more. And if I could get an iPod nano, why not get an iPod that can play movies? (Of course, it would be nice if it played movie files I could make for free.) I really wish I had a clue what I really needed, because I think my purchase may ultimately be influenced by how neat the technology looks.

There's an Apple store at one of the malls I go to, but it's set up so that the salesmen do all the work. I'm really shy so I prefer to look around and not have to talk to a salesman until I'm ready to buy something. Also, there's something about that store that makes me wonder if that it's too nerdy, even for me.

I'm also getting tired of the Apple vs Microsoft crap. It makes me wish I could find a good third party alternative, but I'm not sure where to look. I've tried amazon, but some of the stuff I've looked at was voted down by amazon reviewers. Whenever I go to stores 90% of the mp3 related stuff is iPod accessories. ("Oh wow, this thing is 30 bucks! Oh wait, it's just a carrying case.") There's a lighter-shaped mp3 player at the school bookstore, but I can't find a price for it nor can I find it anywhere else in the store. (What's the poin of having a store with space if you're going to force a customer to go up front and ask about a product? That really annoys me.)

So that's why I don't have an mp3 player. My sister's boyfriend sent me a link to a website with refurbished iPods, and my sister even recommended to me get an iPod (she's had one for 2-3 years.) I may eventually, but I felt like typing this anyway. Maybe I can finally see what those millions of accessories do.

This Week in Entertainment (January 29th)

My Pick of the Week is the DVD release of Gymkata. I first heard about this movie as a running gag on Mystery Science Theater 3000, and I later saw it after Lita recommended it to me. Definitely a fun, cheesy movie from a cheesy era of movies. Everybody poins this out, but the best part of the movie is when the hero is surrounded by crazy murderers and he JUST HAPPENS to find a pommel horse. This allows him to break out his unique martial art style.

That's it as far as movies go. As for video games, there's no releases that interest me (but stay tuned for next week!) but the Wii Virtual Console is releasing two interesting games. The first is Super Mario Kart 64, which I never got. I played it in stores but it never interested me, and I'm a big fan of the original. Maybe I'll put it on my list of Virtual Console games I'd like to get, but maybe not for 1000 Wii poins. The other game (800 poins) is Comix Zone. I actually think there's many compilations that include this game at a much better deal. Still, despite the poor reviews this game got at the time, it seems to have its fans, plus it was kind of fun. Also a maybe.

Sunday, Lazy Sunday (January 28th)

I forgot to mention this last night, but the site where I used to find C64 roms was c64.com, which was recently grabbed by c64hq.com, and is similar but not the same site. Also, if you couldn't find a file there, there was an FTP called Arnold that had even more C64 stuff.

The emulator I was using was WinVice. The latest version of Vice has an optional file that allows you to make your own AVI files. Sadly, I don't exclusively use this computer and some new program somebody else installed prevented me from making a movie last night. It would have helped me with my Demo Fun entry. I actually prefer CCS64 to Vice, but I use Vice exclusively on this computer.

I finished Bill Simmons book yesterday. After writing about how I used to write easy to read sports books, it's funny that I was in the middle of reading another one. I'm not putting down Simmons, of course. His articles are always worth a read even if I don't really give a darn about Boston sports. But his book is a collection of articles he wrote for espn and his old website, so it didn't take me long to read it.

I missed today's episode of The Simpsons. I had forgot about it while I was lazily playing a few games. This is the second straight episode I missed this season, and I've seen every episode up to that poin.

I love the laziness that happens on a Sunday. If only Monday wasn't so far away.




Last book I read: "Now I Can Die In Peace" by Bill Simmons

Next Book: "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Man of Bronze" by James Alan Gardner (This, by the way, is the example of a novel that made my friend Lita roll her eyes.)

Demo Fun #1

I decided to start at one of the first demos I saw. This would be the demo that I usually found in roms of the game Mini-Putt. There were certain games that my dad and Uncle Buddy loved, and this was one that we played many times. We had three golf games for the C64 and this was the most popular. So imagine my surprise when I first downloaded this rom and saw this opening.



Instead of a windmill and the golfer sinking his putts, an eagle with a floppy disk in its beak slowly loaded. Underneath it some text started scrolling. The hackers called themselves Eagle Soft Incorporated. Supposedly this game was cracked on September 97th, 1987. Oh, it's the 9th. The font makes the t look like a seven.

First ESI mentions some nerd named Soho, who provided the game. Then there is some greetings to a whole list of other hacker groups. I guess hackers had to find ways to pad their demos and this was one easy way to do so. Here's a few nerdy names: Nepa, The Alliance, Triad, TTI, Fairlight (but only Tony), and FBR.

After this heart warming bit, things quickly turn nasty. ESI mentions some guy named Adam the Axe, and mocks him for his "Hot Cracker." I don't know what it is, but ESI was apparently one step ahead. In fact, they boast that they'll always be one step ahead. (Ooooooh!) They twist the knife further by saying that they'll always be 1 step ahead of USSPE (apparently Adam's cabal of geeks) and calls them losers. That's gotta hurt.

To show their invincibility, ESI renames a group called Lead Eagle to Rusty Eagle. YEAH! Those fake eagles! Don't screw with the real eagles! Then ESI revels in the downfall of USSPE, who is only good at providing new wares. ESI even clarifies to some member named Terry that their demos are no good. Seriously, it was the lowest moment of USSPE history!

ESI then mentions "the Europeans", so I guess there's more then just Euro-C64 hackers. Then we're led to believe that ESI has plenty to say, but won't say it now. You say so.

Despite that, the demo seems to be out of stuff to say. Whoever wrote the scrolltext is now talking about how much he wants to get the new Rush album, as quickly as the very day the demo was made. His last album (a Pink Floyd album) was not bad. Finally, he says "later all!", but not before declaring Rush, ESI, and Soho to all be #1. I mean, it's just obvious, isn't it?


Stats:
Date - 9/9/87
Scrolling text - standard.
Font - hard to read Ts.
Europeans - Nope.
Bragging about Accomplishments - yep.
Putting other hackers down - yep.
Listing a ton of other nerds - Yep.
Harsh language - None.
Song - 3/10. Not a memorable song.

A salute to some nerds.

I've played a lot of video games in my life, and I'll admit that my sister and I got into rom games in the early '00s. We ignored any legal trouble we may have eventually faced and got to play NES and SNES games we never played before. My sister downloaded quite a few RPGs for the SNES. I didn't get a chance to play those but I did play through the original Earthbound on the NES in the middle of the worst semester I had a college. (I was already doing terrible and some classes were not salageable at that poin.)

I've played games from severable systems. Besides NES and SNES, I've played a couple Genesis, a few Game Boys, several Atari 2600s, a ColecoVision game before I tossed the crummy emulator off my computer for good (the Coleco emulators had terrible GUIs), and recently I even played a couple N64 games. The one system that will forever be linked to roms in my mind, however, is the Commodore 64.

In 1998 or '99 during a vacation, I was in our trailer alone playing on our C64. A storm broke out, but I have a tendency to dismiss them when I think they're not serious. This was a mistake. The storm got much worst, and destroyed the C64. It wasn't till several years later till I found out that the power supply was destroyed, which in turn burnt out a few chips on the C64. This left us without a C64 for several years and I always hated myself for ruining our system.

So in 2000, when I first found a website with tons of C64 games, I was excited. I skipped a lecture that day just playing games I haven't played for a while. The old c64.com will be a site that I'll remember for a long time.

Now at the time I was in college trying to get a degree in computer science, but I knew very little about the rom files. I soon learned that these cracked programs were often bundled with little programs made by the hackers. I used to be pissed off about how the hackers were adding their own content to the games, but after a while I realized how silly these demos were.

After seeing a few demos, you eventually see patterns. Many were made in the late 80s when the C64 was a top selling computer. Tons of these guys seem to be from Europe. Scrolling text is always used, and boasting is popular. These nerds were really competitive, as they're constantly listing their own accomplishments while putting down other hacking groups. Sometimes there's harsh language. With all this there's usually a background song that's sorta catchy but ultimately forgettable.

One of the things I wanted to do when I finally started a blog was poke fun at these. I'm sure if I took a look at a few of these, (and there is a TON of them, even if you just count the stand-alone demos), I could find something amusing to say. Heck, I could just transcribe a few and we could all laugh at how silly these things are. The snarky method vs the transcribe method isn't an easy decision. I guess I'll figure it out once I find a great demo to start on.

Tork Book Club

When I was a kid I used to have quite a few books. Of course, they were mostly Little Golden Books. Those books had about 10-20 pages and were filled with mostly pictures. I also had quite a few books that came with records. I even had the record player shown in this cartoon. http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail128.html

I can't remember too much, but I do think some of my favorite books featured Disney characters. Books like that were more picture driven, so you didn't have to read as much stuff as you would for the Poky Little Puppy. I do remember not being a fan of that puppy because it didn't seem as fun or colorful as a Disney character would. I tended to stay away from more serious books and constantly read and reread comedic, "fun" books.

I did eventually read somewhat bigger books. Around the time we got a casette player, I could read 30-40 page books that were still heavy in pictures but followed a plot of a cartoon feature. Disney's "Mickey and the Beanstalk" comes to mind, as do a couple Winnie the Pooh books. I also had a couple books based on cartoon shows I saw as a kid, like the Get-a-Long Gang and a book based on Pac-Man.

Sadly, my reading of these books never carried in school beyond the third grade. By the time I reached the fourth grade, I was good at grammar and spelling but bad at literature. We only had to do short readings a night, and answer those kind of questions that are basically asking if you read or not, but, I never excelled at this. I would occasionally get Ds for the rest of my time at elementary school. I would often got bored of descriptions of backgrounds and skipped forward to conversations between characters. Eventually by the eighth grade I had figured out the system and was able to get all Bs in my literature classes, but I was just coasting at that poin.

That cost me when I went to high school. Except for one C in history, I got all Bs and As in the eighth grade, and I was punished for it by getting several honors classes in high school. I had a tough time in many classes that freshman year, but I really tanked in English 9. Like I said, I coasted through the eighth grade, so I had the hardest time reading whole chapters of a novel. I was so use to playing as much video games as I wanted so it took me a while to adjust. I received my first F at the end of the first quarter for English.

(The dumbest part was that on the first day, my teacher told us to get a notebook and keep track of everything, including vocabulary words. Somehow, I must have ignored this because I never thought about having a notebook until we had a quiz using all previous vocabulary words. It finally occured to me that I was suppose to be doing a better job as a student, and not just reading a chapter during my study period or lunch.)

At home, I wasn't doing any better. I rarely read novels. I had a few kid novels, but never read too many. One of my earliest (not for kids) novels was based on the first Batman movie. It took me forever to read it, and I remember reading the opening part about Batman's first appearance several times. The author would constantly repeat, "Welcome to Gotham City," and it wouldn't occur to me that he was trying to make some poin. By the end of the novel, I had already forgotten a lot of the stuff that happened.

"Batman stopped some random bad guys, then he killed the Joker somehow. A woman named Vicki Vale appeared at some poin. The end."

The books I ended up reading the most weren't really novels at all. I read the heck out of a book that gave synopses of the first twenty-four Superbowls. I also enjoyed a couple books that talked about various blunders that happened in the NFL and the NBA. A few more "books" were editions of "How To Beat Nintendo Games." They were cool, but not about characters or plots. I mostly stuck to video game magazines, which I was always bugging my parents to get for me.

So basically I ended up hating literature class. I was a much better student in math, and my SAT scores benefitted from my higher math scores. The only novels I liked during high school was The Inferno, which I loved, and Invisble Man, the only book in the ninth grade which led me to high quiz grades.

In college I got around this my only having two english classes, both of which were required. Looking back I wish I had taken a couple more, but at the time I was glad I could avoid such classes.

Anyway, it was a good internet friend of mine that finally got me to read some novels that weren't required by a teacher nor just a book full of video game cheats. I had just read the extremely boring "Fellowship of The Rings," a novel that took me eight months to read. I asked my friend to recommend some books and she emailed me a few. I read many of the books from the two series she recommended to me, and I was even able to catch up to her while she was 20 or so books into one of the series. I started reading more and more novels, including books that made her role her eyes.

So with that, I'll hopefully provide a few thoughts on some of the books I've read. Even if I don't, I'm glad that my reading skills have improved and that I'm still thinking about new series I could start.



Book I'm currently reading - "Now I Can Die In Peace" by Bill Simmons

Last Book Read - "A Hat Full of Sky" by Terry Pratchett

Welcome!

This is the first post for a blog which may be dead in a few days. I'm honestly the type of person who gets really interested in something for a few days, then gets bored and moves on.

Anyway, here's the type of stuff that interests me that I may talk about: Video Games, Programming, The Washington Redskins, The Washington Capitals, The Washington Nationals, The Maryland Terrapins, The University of Maryland, The Simpsons, MST3k, and Bad Movies.

To be honest, I'll probably mostly focus on video games, but I may talk about the other topics.