Is there anyone to blame?

Sometimes I feel like the vast majority of American society has been turned into stupid consumers.

Was this really someone's plan?

Did anyone really want this?

We could be doing so much better...

Breaking into stuff. (legally!)

Well here is something interesting.

Well the library shut down today so we could adjust the shelves.

While cataloging old equipment in the basement I found out we had two old broken copy machines. I was told that we were going to sell them for scrap (too broken and old). I noticed that they both still had the money boxes included.

Like this one:

It turned out that the company that we used to go through a few years ago never fixed the machines and didn't do service calls. When we got another company to provide copier service the other company just left the broken copiers with us and gave us ownership papers.

They also never gave us the key to open up the money box.

All these years they just sat there. Since they are going to the scrapyard anyways the custodian tried to open them up and failed. Armed with a prybar and the motto "when in doubt go for the hinges" I manged to open up both of them up. It was so incredibly fun to do this legally.

I found well over $100 of bills and change which will be used for new multi-media cases.

This has been a good day. *pics soon*

A silent black and white movie about vampires made in 2002!!!

I made a crappy black and white vampire movie around the same time. Yet this is the first time I have heard of this film. My decision to use black and white had more to do with effects and mood.

Wow.

It's pretty cool what they did. It makes me sad that I didn't think of making my movie silent except for music. That would have been great!



The dancing is just so weird but it still works somehow.

BTW this is part of the 10 best vampire movies article.

http://www.movieretriever.com/blog/290/the-ten-best-vampire-movies-of-the-modern-era

That's a nice tree.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/madron/466237768/

The final word on I am Legend.

It missed the point...

http://www.cracked.com/article_17141_6-movie-remakes-that-missed-point.html

And this is the last time I am going to complain about that. I have already made my case.

Cracked has already agreed with me once on this.

Damn.

http://buttersafe.com/2009/01/15/last-night/

Fallout 3

Things I have done in Fallout 3:

1. Met a clan of vampires and received a bonus perk that gives me extra health when I drink blood.

2. Made a Goth chick fall in love with me and give me random supplies and health packs.

3. Made a flaming sword out a lawnmower blade, motorcycle handle and a gas tank.

4. Killed a bunch of fire breathing ants.

5. Got implanted with the genetics of a fire breathing ant.

6. Blew up some heavily armed mutants with an explosive housed in a lunch box.

7. Convinced a guy to stop abusing drugs and then stole all his meds.

8. Saved a village from mutants.

9. Stole a ton of stuff from that same village without anyone noticing.

10. Got radiation poisoning (and a mutation), fell off a building, got blown up by a mine, and almost got killed by raiders all in the name of literature!

I love this game.

Wow. Almost complete Resident Evil Overview.

If you did not understand the plot spanning the Resident Evil games here is an excellent overview.

*Sigh*

I suppose this means that I will eventually have to get a new gen console to play RE5...

Random

The average Video game player is 35 years old.

I am 27.

So I don't feel that bad.

But I am getting older and I feel like the industry is leaving me behind. You HAVE to have internet access to play newer games on the PC. I can't really afford the high prices...

I dunno. Maybe if I budget my money a bit more. Stop eating out. (Salad, soup and Stromboli today) Save up a bit. Right now though I cannot afford it.

Well actually I CAN. But I am just so frigging tight fisted sometimes and wasteful other times.

I traded a bunch of old games at Gamestop (scratched double copies) for the limited edition of Fallout 3. What a great game. FUN.

They really captured the mood of the fallout world well.

Minus is great.

Another awesome little webcomic that I never heard about before.

http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus109.html

Good dog.

Read if you have read the Watchmen graphic novel.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3198/gooddog1.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3384/gooddog2.jpg
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9876/gooddog3.jpg
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/4512/gooddog4.jpg
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6013/gooddog5.jpg
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/6066/gooddog6.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2521/gooddog7.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3266/gooddog8.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3277/gooddog9.jpg

Lisa Hannigan - I Don't Know

Lisa Hannigan is pretty awesome.

Here she is singing in a pub.

They buried that vampire with a brick in it's mouth.

Stake through the heart.

Iron Nail through the forehead.

Heads chopped off.

Put in coffin upside-down.

Garlic (and other assorted herbs) in the mouth.

I *thought* I heard of them all.

However I guess people actually put bricks in the mouths of suspected vampires.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126985.200-vampire-discovered-in-mass-grave.html

You learn something new everyday.

Seagulls are such jerks.

God can you imagine?

http://www.kontraband.co.uk/pics/16340/Chavs-Of-The-Sky/

I bet that ice cream costs at LEAST $5 a cone.

Places for Time killing.

http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents?issuenum=20&storynum=4

Dark horse comics on myspace has some good stuff. Achewood and The Goon comics come to mind.

There are currently 21 issues that each have 4 short comics in the archive. Not a bad bit of reading.

System Shock 2. On par with Bioshock? Or above it?

So I beat Bioshock. I was very impressed with the story. I was also intrigued about the origins of the game so I decided to play System Shock 2.

I was in for a real treat.


So I found myself a CD copy of System Shock 2. To my shock (pun) it did not run on my computer even after using a patch. Some sort of video card error. For some reason my older PC running XP did run the game using a patch so I was able to play it.

This game is AWESOME. The gameplay is just great. The story is great. The subplots you discover when you listen to various audio logs are intriguing. The enemies of the game both biological and robotic are full of character. The many voices of the Many are wonderful. The AI of the enemies is OK.

I also installed the Rebirth mod which improves some of the graphics of the in-game characters.


Hands down I feel the gameplay beats out Bioshock. There is no comparison. You don't even get an inventory screen in Bioshock. System Shock 2 is more in depth in every way.

I believe Yahtzee said that Bioshock WAS System Shock dumbed down for console users. He was dead on. That's exactly was it is. Normally I am not much a of a PC chest thumper (except to note that a mouse and keyboard combo is ALWAYS a better control system for a FPS). But in this game the keyboard shortcuts and generally more complex control scheme pretty much demand a keyboard and mouse setup.

The gameplay elements that are duplicated in Bioshock are pale comparisons. The system of needing to recharge your various enhancements is absent. This makes Bioshock a much easier game to play and in my view a little less interesting.

It's a much scarier atmosphere in System Shock 2. You are constantly running low on ammo and energy. Your awesome powers might seem great now but if you are not careful in a scant few minutes they might run out of juice and leave you vulnerable. Your bad-ass shotgun that is mowing down enemies left and right might just degrade and lock up on you at a crucial moment. You need to constantly take care of your stuff. A decision to use something in your inventory or gain a new skill can cost you dearly in the next level. This enviroment of uncertainly and paranoia really draws you into the game.

In Bioshock I was running around looking for fights. The supposeldy bad-ass "Big Daddys" can be taken care of in a number of low cost ways. They aren't even hostile until you attack them! Fighting normal enemies is generally cake. You actuallly look forward to it. I never remember running around Rapture thinking "oh shit oh shit I only have 3 pistol rounds left. I am so toast if I run into a...oh crap." I remember doing that alot in System shock.

There is NEVER a guarantee of useful ammo left behind in either game but you notice it A LOT more in SS2. If you happen to kill a Many who has a few shotgun shells left on him you feel like it's Christmas.

The security and puzzle system is also dumbed down in Bioshock. It's MUCH easier hack cameras in Rapture. And they STAY hacked. In System Shock 2 you only get a few mintues of time to disable the cameras or sneak by. Then the cameras come back on. And instead of a few annoying but easily killed or hacked security bots that come at you in Rapture there is a FLOOD of enemies that come pouring into the whole level looking to destroy your careless ass.

In the SS2 world you have to pick and choose which weapons and powers you are going to keep. You CAN'T be a jake of all trades if you want to live. For example I never developed my mental powers in SS2 because I am too busy powering up my technical and combat skills. Now my mental power is helping to protect my health with the assistance of a implant. In Bioshock you possess the magic gun rack and can carry a huge amount of weapons as well as powers.

Story-wise I think that both games have strong points. Bioshock might actually win out because of the emotional depth of the big reveal. System Shock 2 is more a of slow burn.

Overall if you happen to have an older computer kicking around or if you are a wiz at getting older games to work on a newer computer do yourself a big favor and try System Shock 2.