Monday, June 30, 2008

Stephen Unveils the new Hardware!

Monday, June 23, 2008

R.I.P. George Carlin

The world lost a great man last night. A man who truely saw for the world for what it was, a man who had many a face but remained recognizable, a man who played a role in many a great film, a man who has brought up such Comedic classics liek "The list of things you cannot say on TV" and much more.

I feel i lost a hero today, George Carlin, you will be missed.

Rest in peace buddy.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Life changing

Ive made an incredbly important decision in my life.

Im moving back home temporarily for a month, to get my life in order and infuse some habbits which i sorely need before i even think about moving to Vancouver somewhere in December.

Good times indeed. I hope to take the best of what i have right now;



and infuse it into this body:



if you want an indication, that chuck norris shirt is incredibly tight on me now. And no, its not from washing it either.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Oy'vey

Well i planned on getting down and dirty with some Maya based Animation last night right after work.

Course not.

I managed to figure out one issue ive been having since day 1 in maya 2008 thats been really holding me back, and deleted some poses that are either way to early in the animation and arent called for, or are just too goofy for the mood, oh well, under my own discretion i deleted em anyways. Thats about it.

Im not THAT easily distracted its when everyone else wants to do things around me and i get sucked into it, usually by will. Ive resisted numerouos times walking downstairs just to play some brawl, ive resisted going to movies, ive resisted going to the bar for Wings and other fun activities to try and remain productive. But, it jsut never frickin turns out that way regardless. I can almsot pinpoint the moments when my day is shot for productivity.

Maybe when the roommates are primarily in Vancouver this week i can get something done...

I wanna see if i can get some stuff done tonight, i at l;east want to get the conductor segment done, or the wink segment... either way i want to get this intro sequence out the door :(


-k

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

My FireFox 3.0 Extensions Recommendations

With the official release of FireFox3.0, its about time to discuss, extensions.
Back in the beta, not alot of these extensions were compatible, thanks to some serious changes in the inner workings of the browser and how it handled these marvelous plugins.
So now ive made sure to grab the best of my favorite and gie them a proper run in Firefox3.0 to see if they work, and gladly, not only do most of them work now (as of today) but msot have gone through GREAT improvements in functionality and UI tweaks.

there are a few extensions which really stand out to me, and make my life jsut an awesome ball of awesome. So i wish to share with you my ABSOLUTE favorite standouts. Here goes:

1. FlashGet
ok you got me, this isn't technically a "Firefox extension" its a standalone program that works with Firefox. The fact its a download manager, accelerator, AND highly competant Torrent client is not the onyl claims to fame, if you hilight a URL and Copy it using Ctrl+C to your clipboard, itll send the URL directly to FlashGet to queue up and download. Oh ya, highlight entire block listings of address URLs the same way, and press Ctrl+C once, and itll queue everything up, in order.
Makes RapidShare downloading a snap.

2. DownThemAll
Built in Download Manager and Accelerator for FireFox, works pretty flawlessly, and quickly. Ive downlaoded 400MB objects in a minute or two. DTAoneClick is a nice feature that takes the last directory you saved your last file to, and and downloads to that in one shot.

3. FireFTP
Ive always applauded how useful FireFTP is. But v0.99 that came with the release of FF3.0, is jsut GODLY now. Now equipped with UI functionality tweaks, and better connection stability, i can now properly pimp out one of my favorit efeatures: On Site Editing. With < 0.98, you right click on a file on the server side and choose "Open wtih..." and chose your favorite editor which you add manually tot he list via options menu. itll make a copy to your temp int files and open it in your editor, make you change, save, and click "Uplaod" in the floating window.
NOW, with 0.99, all you have to do is Right Click the file and open with your favorite editor, as per said before. But now theyve cut out the middle man of pressing the "Upload" button and now just uploads when you press Ctrl+S to save. genius. Now i no longer have to micromanage 50 floating upload buttons LOL

4. FoxyTunes
its almost like a built in media player in FireFox. But instead it jsut controls your existing media players, which theres ALOT of comaptability for. For that extra hit of discretion, they hide your media player and make it look liek FoxyTunes is the only show in town. The added bonus is when you close FireFox, it wont stop the music, your media player jsut shows up again continuing where you left off, awesome!

5. PicLens
OMG, this is SO cool. its a Picture/Video browser thats compatible with some of my most common sites, DeviantArt and YouTube. It has to be seen to be beleived, but the plugin opens a new fully 3D window browser, and lets you seemlessly slide back and fourth across the RSS of the page, and gies you low resolution thumbnail views of what your about to see. Click on one, anywhere, and itll smoothly zoom in and start playing the video or downlaoding the higher rez image. you can browse to the actual page by clicking the "Globe" link under the pic. Its way to slick for words, seriously, just check it out.

6. ScribeFire
Im using this as we speak. Originally called "Performancing for FireFox" some thing happened an dnow their called ScribeFire, and thats totally cool with me. ScribeFire sounds better anyways.
So what is it? Its a blogging tool silly. It adds itself to your status bar as a golden page icon, and brings upa built in panel with all options imagineable to blog, including multiple account management and posting and.. like, EVERYTHING you could want, including a totally competant rich text editor.
in short: it kicks ass.

7. TwittyTunes
i only JUST starte dusing this totday, and its hilariously awesome. I click a button in the bottom right of my browser, and it talks with FoxyTunes to see which some im playing and with one more click i can tell the world what im listneing too. Or i can type in my own message no problem. Making it a competant built in Twitter aggitater.

8. TwitterFox
This pokes the Twitter server every couple minutes to see if your friends have posted anything and pops them up like MSN notifications, also allows you to reply to them in one shot too.
Awesome.


So theres a few, ill post later with links to each one. For now, jsut bring up the Add-ons window in FireFox and use the built in extension search for each of these and give them a proper shot. Who knows, you may just like them :D


Got any recommendations for me to try out? i lvoe screwing with Firefox, elt me know your favorite extensions or themes!

Unconventional

So of course id catch a LITTLE slack from my post yesterday regaridng Vista, and to be honest i was prepared for it. Bombarded with "So why should i upgrade" and i always gave the same response "You dont". I wasn't trying to convert or convince anyone to upgrade, i posted MY Top 10 Reasons Why IM Glad I Switched to Vista. "im" or references to my first person are listed upwards of 3 times in a single sentence. Why did i post it? A quick guide to the common question "AWWW! Vista?! Why?!" so now i just copy paste the link to them and be done with it.

ONTO other things:

Demo Reel work, seems whenever i get that touch of motivation i need, something come sup. Take yesterday for instance, i had an uncontrollable desire to leave work and open maya and finish the intro sequence to my demo reel, unfortunately a house party got thrown, and if that wouldn't have made it hard enough to concentrate, i got invited to see the new Hulk movie.
the hulk movie was awesome, but by the time i realized what was going on, it was 2AM, now im normally inclined to work on my stuff either direct early in the morning or really early in the morning, but alas, work @ 9 :\
I plan on doing some stuff tonight but i think tonight is when me and Jami are starting Metal gear 4 again, which is something vie waited longer than my schooling for, so in some twisted sense, this actually takes precedent for me.

WOW. Yeah i got on the WoWagon. Again. for the third time. I havent stopped but ive onyl been playing on and off now and then. Im lvl16 as of this morning, so im quite taking my time lol. this new "QuestHelper" mod my brother downloaded for me is already helping wonders, so, thanks to himi might not ave to waste so much time looking for obscene things for hours on end.

CourtEngine: Production has officially been ceased for more prospective projects, such as:

ShellEngine: This is a new project, using highly modified technology from CourtEngine to transform from a desktop application to a web authoring environment, details are secret, but its a BIG project. ©DigitalAG

not much else past this point,

later days


-k

(ps. The Weekenders is still an AWESOME cartoon)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

My Top 10 Reasons I'm Glad I Switched to Vista

Normally id number these, but i like each of these features all the same.

- none of XPs Automatic updates requiring automatic Restarts
On way more than a bunch of occasions i left work with my computer locked so i can easily return to the job at hand i had to do, but upon returning, i could only gaze in awe as i see the blue Windows Login screen instead. Yup, XP had downloaded an update automatically, and then restarted my computer. Effectively killing off everything i had been doing the night previously.
Seriously, WHY? I cant understand why they force the restart so furiously, even when your ON the computer and it come sup, it never gives you the option to "Restart manually Later" instead it gives you a countdown to restart and your allowed to "delay" it a little bit longer. Balls.
- Integrated Search and Run built into Start Menu.
if your like me, you barely use the Windows Explorer to find your shit, as a tech nerd, you just KNOW where you've put your FunnyPix/ folder deep down in drive F somewhere, and thus find it easier to press Win+R and type in the path manually.
Now alls i have to do is click the windows logo as my start menu and type my path into "Search" and it'll do the same thing? even launch programs WITH parameters? Also allows me to look up key words for files and the start menu jsut starts listing shit with the same relative name As you type? frigging genius man!
- Voice Recognition. *
Ever have that dream of talking to your computer and itll do your shit for you automatically? well I have, shut up. So when i found out about Vistas buitl in Voice tool, allowing me to shout various commands to my computer via headset mic and allow me to write based on what it hears me say, i could write angry things to troll bait on youTube while pouring myself a cup o 'joe in the morning, or playing my Sega Saturn. Perfect!
* ok so its not exactly perfect, you should still run your voiced text by a Spell checker so you dont look like a retard online, cause online rep means everything you know.
- DirectX10.
OOHH i can hear the screaming OGL fanboys now "opengl is so much better" "directx is a plague upon which i can only wish upon my highschool bully", and still waiting on OGL3. Lets get something straight, i like OGL, and John Carmack is my alltime hero alright? But you have to admit, say you have an operating system which only allows OGL3 and all other OSs before it wont get it. Its that kind of empowering feeling that your 256x256 bumpmaps will look sharper and crisper, and thus have more meaning, then those other poor pitiful peasants with a color overlay of green, for envy. Plus as a 3D animator, ebing able to see real time shaders on my animated objects within my animation environment (XSI/Maya) is just hilariously cool (and useful).
- Pretty Interface
I use XP at work, and Vista at home. Both have high resolution LCD flatscreen monitors, and both have dual screen displays. Work has a decent graphics card 9we work with Flash here, no need for much bigger), and home has an 8800GT.
When i go home and work on Vista im greeted with the slick Aero interface, the transparent window borders which casually blur out anything behind them, and have that cool sheen effect when you move the windows, the glowy buttons, and black glass appeal, and the reworked Control Panel and other meaningful windows useful to geeks like me who care about this sort of thing. Its got a certain appeal, and while the Widgets may be a direct plagiarism to a certain other OS, they work and look nice.
When i get to work and see XP, its sort of demoralizing going from a serene and inspiring interface, to something that reminds me of blueberry bubblegum or children's playground Playskool plastics.
Don't get me wrong, XPs interface looks a hell of alot better than any other windows before it, im just saying, if your computer has the balls to do it properly, Aero whips the snot out of it.
- SP1
Ok I'll admit the first iteration of Vista was a balls experience, and i feel for those who did this and got permanently scarred and went backwards in time. but good things happen to those who wait and stick it out, and adapt to change every now and then. When Vista first came out, there was nothing compatible with it, but as time has progressed, almost everything worth anything is Vista compatible now. And now with Sp1, all those vanilla versions bugs seem to have magically disappeared. I urge anyone whos suffered through vanilla Vista to give SP1 a chance, cause while the minor annoyances still exist (UAC, just turn it off in your User management control panel), all the bugs and crashing issues seem to have.. calmly disappeared.
To put it shortly: Ive been running vista since SP1s release, i know its almost unheard of, but its NEVER crashed on me once, and i run that thing like its my bitch, and my friend who've witnessed me do this, can attest. Vista SP1, is very solid. If its crashing on you, your doing something wrong so stop visiting those porn sites, they only spell problems.
- Future Proof
Games for Windows Live. The fact some games already are Vista exclusive in OS compatibility, means the trend can only continue with all sorts of software. Sorry to those who wish to stick in the past with what they're used to, they're gonna miss on the next generation of PC titles/software. I could of course, be wrong about this, but i like to call it "Being prepared for the future" which is the exact reason i got a Quad core instead of a dual. its only a matter of time before all four cores will be used in gaming, but for right now, the cores do fine for Video rendering :)
Oh as for software compatability with older programs, sorry, i like to upgrade, shiny new things make me feel better about what im using (not that ALL upgrades are a good thing mind you, let us not forget about Adobe CS3 *shivers*)
- Plug and play, just works
yeah XPs got it and i believe so does 2000, but ive never seen it so flawlessly before. Plugging in all sorts of objects into a USB slot used to be a nightmare, as well as micromanaging and remember which USB slot i associated with various bits of hardware. For some reason with me, if i plugged my Webcam into a different USB slot than its used to, it'll require a reinstallation. Maybe i did something wrong or XPs just a bastard about figuring out that you just unplugged it from its normal slot 2 minutes ago.
I plugged in my MadCatz Xbox360 controller in, and in seconds its up and running and fully calibrated.
Mouse, Keyboard, Wireless Receiver, Webcam, every controller ic an hook up to it, etc. Ive never had to search for drivers myself. it just, heh, works!
- Inspiring
Whenever i sit in front of my computer at home running Vista Ultimate SP1, im inspired to do creative things, not just be lazy. More often than not im animating, or working in Flash, or screwing around in Photoshop putting mustaches on various Women and posting it to 4chan. Vista, if you'll allow it, can bring out your creative senses, and that in itself, just feels euphoric.
- Windows 7.
Its a little early to be talking about the next iteration of Windows. But to anyone who's seen the vids of it, know what it is: Vista on steroids and with Wingardium Leviosa cast upon it (don't cry Harry Potter fans, i dont read it). Win7 looks like vista, acts like vista, but its gigabytes smaller, and has better features, and supposedly compatible with everything. Plus being able to natively run a build of any previous version of windows for TRUE backwards compatibility, just rocks! Now you CAN have your cake, and eat it too!


im not here to change your mind about vista, honestly, i use what i want to use because the fraction of reasons listed above, appeal to me greatly. But this should answer the string of questions i get constantly on "Vista? WHY?!?!". now i at least have a link i can send those bastards.

Is there anything i dont like about vista? of course: its a memory and resource hog, it kills off any Dualboot you may have hoped to have (it likes to try and be your one and only true love), and Aero Lite looks like ass. Theres many others but nothing can be perfect, right? Even MGS4 has its flaws.

Thank you and good night.

OH speaking of high speculation: check this out


mmm Smexy.


-k

Friday, June 13, 2008

LOL MGS4 LOL

Ok so to understand how weird this sounds, let me divulge a few small facts:

1. Im a HUGE fan of counter-terrorism and stealth
2. the entire MGS series while tactical and espionage and always good, always had poor control mechanics when it came to shooting
3. I still play the crap out of Vegas2 for its near perfect cover mechanics and excelelnt blend of shooting controls and precision
4. Game sliek Splinter Cell i eat up
5. i still like my action games like GRAW and COD4
6. im a sucker for graphics
7. i play paintball to get that tactical feel out in real life without getting myself killed for real.

So, with this in mind:

We got MGS4 and waited till around 5:30 to order some pizza, pop the game in, and get everyone in gear for some Metal gear Action. For some reason we decided on Big Boss Hard Mode initially and without knowing the controls, lol.
So we blast through the cinematics, and some gameplay segments, i got to shoot a few dudes, and i felt instantly dissapointed that i had no silencer, but whatever, i can work with what i got.
The soldiers must have superior fucking sight because they can see me way before i even get the chance to see them. But anyways, thats MGS for ya.

So i was invited upstairs to see a website while Jami and Peter took over, being on hard mdoe and seeing how they were doing previous to my leaving, i dind't honestly expect ALOT of progress, maybe a little, but still. What i saw captivated me. Good airsoft guns, are finally legal in these here parts. And whats better, were finding some good guns for nice prices.
So me and Cole started fantasizing about buying which guns for what price, which attachments to throw on, our strategies and positions, and even what tactical gear we wante dto buy, and tried to get a couple others in on this too.

To be honest: i COMPLETELY forgot about MGS4 going on downstairs. It wasn't until i was told that they made some serious progress and ive missed pivitol plot points, that, i couldn't bring myself to go back down and play it. Id be lost, and i want the full experience in order.

So anyways, im so far a go for this AirSoft malarky, and i need to start a new file on MGS4 to play through lol.

Sorry Kojima...

Thursday, June 12, 2008

*pure extacy*

4 little words: se eif you can peice them together
Gear, Solid, Metal, Four

ill give ya a hint: its Metal Gear Solid 4.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Stillwater represent, yo

My god, Saints Row 2 looks incredibly badass.

I dont even need to say anything jsut chekc out these two trailers:






Sure its a GTA knockoff. But it does it SO well, that i dont care. These activities are badass!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Ramblings: Do i have Red on me?


So i finally broke down and called Xbox Support, i should have a new 360 within 3 weeks time.


*sigh*

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Ramblings: Scary guy was scary

I was driving home from work yesterday when i came to an intersection like any intersection. Except at this intersection was something of likes which isn't entiely new or anything but was kinda freaky all the same.

This guy had to have been maybe 29 or so, fairly adult gentleman. He had green hair. A Mohawk with spikes liek the picture to the right, except each spike was fricking GINORMOUS. I SWEAR to god each spike was about arms LENGTH. They were HUUUGE. Now only that but he wore a spiked collar and chain leash. The leash, he was holding himself as if he was 'walking himself' or something. He wore a pure black wifebeater and black slacks about 14 sizes too big (but unlike the G-unit trend, at least he wore a belt to keep the pants up). i couldn't see the shoes, nor wouold i have rely been able to as i was in my car. K, thats not all, he wore ring piercings on the side of his mouth, in his nose, and on both eyebrows.

K, so in Canadian culture, most of this is normal run-of-the-mill rebel stuff. The things that really caught my asttention were the huge spikes and the 29yo less-then-perfect physique. What was it that creeped me out? He glared at me, and me specifically. He watched my car make the stop at the red light, and he stared directly at me in my driver seat. He then GROWLED at me in a manner i could hear with my eyes, and his fricking EYES TWITCHED.
He kept staring at me the entire time he walked in front of my car as he crossed the intersection. When he got to the other side he turned and left.

I was worried he was going to pounce on my car or something, to say the least it sorta left me shaken. Why me?
Im in a white 1992 Dodge Daytona, all that can be seen of me is my black t-shirt, my backwards black UnderArmor baseball cap, and my shades. Theres nothing to catch the eye of in regards to me that day.

Anyways, just thought id share caus ei got nothing else better to say.

-k

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Ramblings: This just in...

Lvl 10.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Ramblings: ... stays in Vegas.



Its been a long time since ive talked about Vegas2. Im just not sure what else to say. ive done NOTHING but kick ass no matter where i go.
- Terrorist hunt? I think beating Kill house in Realistic/high Density with just a USP40 and lone wolfing it under a time limit should be indication enough.
- versus? I don't actually play online as i play this game at a LAN center with people, so we LAN it up to avoid LAG issues and excuses. I... think i lost my debut match, and a match here and there, but ive almost always been the MVP (top of my team)
- Ive lone wolf'd against upwards of 4 of my closest fragging buddies against me. Ive won every match, 90% of those matched with just a pistol, the other 10% i used my M8. Much swearing ensued.
- This and COD4 is where i wear the moniker and execute the playing strategy "The Silent Hunter...", also, ive carried over the COD4 clan tag [Yiff] from Kane86, to the tag [YIF] in vegas2 (unfortunately, Vegas2 only supports 3 characters). Sighness also sports this tag.
- Me and my crack team of regular pc-bangers have begun garnering somewhat of a reputation. For myself, ive gathered a reputation with silenced pistols and short hyper-accurate assault rifle bursts.
- ive overheard discussions that some players i play against have totally changed their playing strategy based on my kicking their ass

Now, im not saying im totally awesome or even tournament material, im just going by my personal experience mostly based on the comments ive received from those either watching me or playing against with, or even with me.


All i can say is: Finally, a good realistic online shooter with great cover mechanics.
Thank you Ubisoft.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Ramblings: Come my pet... lets hunt some chicken things...

Dear Lord. I think my friend should work as a car salesman. He could convince me to buy a brand new corvette just because it has better air conditioning than a Plymouth Caravelle. Throughout all my hatrid and avoiding of this title for the THIRD TIME, ive been CONVINCED, nay, SOLD, into buying it, AGAIN. I am of course, referring to World of Warcraft.

This time im trying it from a different angle. What? oh hohohoh, no, im not Alliance. Im still Horde for Life Yo. But this alternate angle is: Ill be playing with friends. And my little brother. Rather than just strangers trying to tranform me from my Straight sexual status to something else entirely (more on that at a later date). Im also going to be trying something new in regards to what im going to do. Can you guess?
Well if your savvy with your eyes youll see this picture ive embedded into my post. it is of a Tauren Hunter. ive chosen to be this class as its somethign entirely different from how ive normally played these memorpeges. I usually end up being an offensive spell caster, usually of the Instantaneous and Status altering kind but ive been known to dabble in DOTs as well.
But ive only also ever played as Undead in WoW before, so this Tauren race is also a brand new experience. For my entire existance in wow before this one, ive been subjected to the ultra stylized undead world of my characters Phosphorus the Warlock and Xiraph the Mage on Khaz'Modan. So i felt with this server switch to join my friends and family, i felt an entire change is in order as well. From setting to gameplay style, this will all be a new experience to me from the get go. This wont be the same Wow ive experienced 2 times prior. And that in of itself, is actually kind of exciting.

Im still a little leary, and i only bought WoW for the CD key, i haven't gotten burning Cruisade and im not to on the up and up regarding that Litch King expansion on the horizon either. I have my free month, i have the game. Im giving it ONE more go, if i do NOT enjoy what im doing THIS time, then im doomed from MMORPGs forever, and thats that.

So, say hi to Tarexzen the Tauren Hunter of Ner'zhul


(image comes from here: http://music-fusion.blogspot.com/2007/07/my-warcraft-art.html )