The Sleepless Nerd

Daily Haiku

2011-08-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Patience is my strength

I wait without complaining

How long is too long?

Daily Haiku

2011-08-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

Tasty perfection

Smooth, thick, the texture of bliss

Chocolate milk, please!

Daily Haiku

2011-08-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

Darkness swallows light

Light pushes back the darkness

Cycle Eternal

Daily Haiku

2011-08-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

For twenty-eight years

I have walked upon this road

Where will it lead now?

Daily Haiku

2011-08-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

Shackled to a desk

The soul, oppressed, needs rescue

Lolcats* for the win!

*pronounced lawl-cats. Seriously.

It means these.

Daily Haiku

2011-08-02T09:56:00.001-07:00

Summer rears its head

The orb of fire sears my flesh

Bring back winter's sleep

Daily Haiku

2011-08-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Sadness reigns today

The words, they are not flowing

I put down the pen

Daily Haiku

2011-08-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

I've started writing a haiku on my whiteboard at work every morning. Thought this would be a good place to keep track of them. Here's the batch thus far:

Fear random haiku

They can consume human souls

Yours is surely next

See the trunk monkey

He lies in wait for car theft

Fear his monkey wrath

A butterfly's wings

Start typhoons accross the world

What then of Man's hands?

At the rainbow's end

Sits a tiny man in green

Steal his lucky charms!

Sleep is for the weak

Yet morning is the devil

I embrace weakness

Most awesome waste of paper ever.

2011-06-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

This is a game that was rigged up using a thermal paper printer to provide a track, a light projector to provide the player car, a PS3 controller for user input, and a laptop to link all three. Pretty crazy, check it out:

receipt racer from d_effekt on Vimeo.

Epic.

2010-12-01T10:04:00.001-08:00

Laying a brick road - inkjet style.

2010-11-22T09:35:00.001-08:00

This is a video of a crazy machine that is used to lay brick roads. Check it out.

How to fix Pavilion DV8t wireless button and volume slider issues

2010-11-21T17:17:00.000-08:00

As an owner of a HP Pavilion DV8 laptop, I have generally been very pleased with the product. After a few months, however, I began experiencing a strange issue: the capacitive buttons for the wireless internet and the bass/treble slider would occasionally actuate themselves, cutting off internet access and sending the volume into a hissy-fit. This seemed to happen most frequently when moving the laptop, leading me to believe it was a hardware issue.

After extensive troubleshooting, google searching, and HP support chats, there didn't seem to be any improvement, and the issue still seemed to be hardware based. Just before resigning myself to sending the machine to HP for repair, I found a suggestion buried in a large thread on a message board, which I decided to try out. After a couple of days, I'm happy to report that it's working beautifully!

As it turns out, theres a wire under the keyboard that needs to be in contact with the ground plate, and by default is not actually fastened to it in any way, but depends on pressure from the components above. If the laptop is shifted in such a way that the wire loses contact with that plate for a moment, the problem triggers. Poor design? Yes. The good news is that it's easily fixed! Here's how:

Firstly, follow the instructions in this document to remove the keyboard. At that point you should be looking at something like this:

The red box indicates the wire mentioned above. A better view is here:

All that is needed is to secure the foil above to the plate just below it. I used masking tape, and everything seems to be working perfectly.

A word of warning though: when removing the speaker plate, do not try to pry the silver side plates of the machine away to facilitate the process, as the clasps that hold it in place are very delicate. I have a broken piece of plastic bouncing off of my cooling fan now and then, and its a bit disconcerting. Worth it though, for a working touch panel.

Good luck on your efforts, and comment below if you find this helpful :-)

The altered passage of time... explained?

2010-11-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

According to Einstein, an object moving at phenomenal speed would experience a slowing in the passage of time. For example, a person aboard a spaceship moving at very high speeds would return home to find that much more time would have passed on the ground than he had experienced aboard the ship.

I propose the compliment is also true: objects moving exceptionally slowly will experience MORE time than those moving at a normal pace. This would, for example, explain why a human mind BORED TO A STATE OF NEAR TOTAL ENTROPY would experience far more time than normal, to the point that 2:16 on a tuesday afternoon feels like it should be 5:00 ON FRIDAY!!!

Equally awesome but more readable watch

2010-11-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

This watch is great as well. I'm not sure how I feel about the overall form factor, but the dial itself is fantastic. The idea is that the hands are joined into a single line, with the thick end marking hours and the thin end minutes. Simple, and perfect. More pics at the source, click the pic.

Awesome unreadable watch

2010-11-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

I love this watch. You can be certain that when you can use it to tell time at a glance and no one else can see diddly, all bystanders will be suitably impressed. Click the pic below for more details.

All that idle time to say this:

2010-11-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

The left earlobes of mankind will be removed to sate the hunger of the giant space weasel. That is all.

So cool.

2010-03-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

This just in:

2010-02-22T12:52:00.001-08:00

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!

Its true you know.

:-)

The future is here! Laser mosquito defense!

2010-02-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

Whats more entertaining on a Friday night than sitting on the porch and watching the bug zapper? How about a system that fries up to 100 mosquitoes per second, MID-FLIGHT, with **LASERS**. Yeah.

Video below, but if you're a filthy mosquito sympathizer you may be disturbed. And you'll deserve it.

Robots are better than you. At the rubik's cube.

2010-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Unless you are the world record holder with a seven second solve, the Lego Mindstorm robot below probably has you beat. I'm not sure if I should be more jealous of the robot's solve time or of the robot's owner.

Robots will be killing you shortly.

2010-02-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

Well, some idiot has given the machines the ability to make art. They can take a picture of you, and then sketch your portrait. The human race is officially obsolete. Check out the vid below for evidence of your impending demise.

Metroid... Is that you?

2010-02-02T22:27:00.001-08:00

Metroid, my beloved Metroid, is this whats become of you? I... I dont know what to say...

Video Games | Metroid: Other M | E3 09: Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The future of desktop interaction?

2010-01-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

This is a video about a possible direction that desktop interaction could go with the recent rise of multitouch technology. Take a look, I think it's got the right idea.

10/GUI from C. Miller on Vimeo.

WANT.

2010-01-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

USB driven and powered secondary laptop monitor. What else is there to say? Check it out.

Quality engineering at work

2009-12-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

This is an example of some very well thought out engineering. You know those LED traffic lights that are popping up everywhere? Nice and bright with a really low power draw? Well guess what? That low power draw means that the bulbs no longer produce heat. THAT means that the traffic lights don't melt the snow that drifts into them, an issue that was never a problem with the horrendously inefficient and hot running incandescent lamps. This means that the colder states are now seeing crashes, and apparently even one fatality, as a result of the snow blocked lights. Fun!

Dante's Inferno demo hitting the PSN

2009-12-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

Dante's Inferno, a next gen video game based on the classic poem and one of the three games I most look forward to, is due out mid February. Thankfully for those of you who neeeeeed the instant gratification, the demo is due to hit the playstation network this Thursday the 17th, and should hit Xbox live on Christmas Eve. Check out the video below for an idea of what we can expect.

Also, just FYI, the other two games I'm looking forward to:

Darksiders
Final Fantasy XIII

AT&T to limit iPhone data plans?

2009-12-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

It seems that AT&T is regretting the unlimited data plans that are provided to all iPhone customers. Due to a small percentage (three percent) of extremely high bandwidth usage customers, the available 3g bandwidth for the entire network is being reduced by 40%. They say this is due to high bandwidth video streaming applications such as CNN's mobile app. As a result of this imbalance, AT&T wants to impose a limit on smartphone monthly bandwidth, such as the one that exists for their connection cards. Will it fly? At this point, who knows. Will there be fallout if it does? Let me say this: When AT&T loses their exclusive hold on the iPhone, I for one don't plan on sticking around.

Nook reviews are coming in

2009-12-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Well, Engadget has its review up for the much anticipated e-reader, the Barnes & Noble nook. They cover the device very thoroughly, and include a video of the interface in action. If you have any interest in the nook in particular or e-readers in general, I recommend taking a look.

If you'd prefer the short version:

Pros: It's pretty. The available library is huge, and buying books is an excellent experience. Dual screens are a solid benefit.

Cons: It's slow. Interface is clunky, and occasionally buggy.

Basically, its a solid offering considering that e-reader tech is still in its infancy, but it isn't quite the kindle-killer some of us were hoping for.

Ewwww...

2009-12-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the recent lack of updates folks. On one hand there has been a lack of particularly interesting nerd news lately, and on the other I've been delving into the Wheel of Time again, and so have procrastinated in writing the *THREE* game reviews that I need to get up here. In the mean time, an interesting if unsettling tidbit:

It seems that there are some doctors out there who can cure certain types of blindness with... get this... TEETH. I'm not kidding. They extract one of the patients teeth, drill a hole in it, and then place an artificial lens in the hole. The whole mess is then implanted in the eye, with somewhat disconcerting results. The tooth is necessary to avoid the rejection that would take place with an artificial base.

You cant make this stuff up people. Video below, but be warned: it's a tad graphic.

Impressive case mod turns Xbox into PC... and Mac?

2009-11-24T15:57:00.000-08:00

This is an impressive video of an industrious modder with an old xbox case, $1500 worth of parts, and a lot of know how making himself a machine capable of booting both Windows 7 and Mac OSX. A fascinating watch.

Rapid Model Acquisition coming to a webcam near you!

2009-11-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

Normally the process of translating a physical object into a three dimensional computerized format has one of two approaches: slow, painstaking manual recreation by a human modeler and texture artist, or rapid acquisition using an incredibly expensive array of lasers and cameras. Well, thanks to Cambridge Engineering student Qi Pan, there is now a simpler answer: your average webcam. Check out the video below, or some further examples here.

This technology, with some refinement, could be revolutionary across any number of fields. Imagine the archaeologist able to map and piece together pottery or bone fragments on the fly in the field with nothing but his laptop. Imagine museum curators creating online repositories of their entire collection to be toured on the web. Imagine game developers using figures and sculptures to instantly create models for their games rather than wringing them from the ether manually.

This could be very, very big.

PSN Adding Subscription Service

2009-11-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

It would appear that Sony is taking their Playstation Network in the same direction as Xbox Live in the years to come, adding a paid subscription service to the currently free system. On the plus side it seems that the current level of service will remain free, so playing games online will still be available without charge, unlike the Xbox service. Instead Sony will be adding 'premium content and services,' though there is no word yet on what exactly that means or how much it will cost.

Google Chrome OS shows its face

2009-11-19T15:44:00.000-08:00

So the first public look at Google's Chrome OS happened this morning. Is it everything that anyone could hope or dream? As a grudgingly admitted Google fanboy, I'm a little surprised that my answer is:

"Meh."

Frankly, I'm not overly impressed. Google's approach is a good one and addresses some real problems, and of course there are some very nice bells and whistles, but it just isn't anything I'd ever use in a day to day situation.

Google's basic idea is something along the lines of "What if the entire PC experience were based on the web?" What this translates to in reality is "How much functionality can you squeeze into a web browser?" Literally the entirety of the Google OS as it stands right now is a souped up version of their Chrome browser. All applications are pure web apps (Gmail, Google Docs, etc) and each of them gets a tab. Background processes like chat happen in popup windows like Google talk does in current Gmail. File interaction is either all stored online, or pulled off of USB media on the fly via another popup window.

This setup does offer advantages. For example, since all of your data is on the web, the machine you use is irrelevant. Log into a Chrome OS machine anywhere and you'll have all your stuff. Because the browser is the only resident program, it also means the system boots up EXTREMELY quickly. Also, because of the enclosed setup, security is much stronger. Basically the system knows what programs are SUPPOSED to be allowed, and nothing else will run.

This, of course, is the rub. If it doesn't run in your current browser, it wont run on a Chrome machine AT ALL. That means no Photoshop, no full scale games, no stored media watching... nothing. If you cant do it online, you cant do it.

Is this perfect for someone who only wants to check email and play bejeweled with their $400 netbook? Possibly. However, while the Chrome OS is open source and therefore free, it targets only specific hardware. This means you cant just drop it on your existing machine. You have to buy a new one with the software in place. Since you're going to fork out the dough anyway, is there a point in choosing this system over one that offers a more robust experience, even in the netbook realm? Debatable.

Google justifies all this by saying that they don't expect their OS to serve as a primary machine, but as a companion to a machine with a more traditional OS. They want to fill the niche for simple online use in a more mobile device. Wait, isn't that what increasingly ubiquitous smartphones are for? I can easily do with my iPhone most of what the Chrome OS will do, with the exception of file access via USB. Why would I need another entire computer just to occupy the same niche?

Frankly, I love the slick look and feel of the system and some of the features are wonderful. If they added this functionality to the existing Chrome browser they'd have even more than the current 40 million users pounding their servers I'm quite sure. Does it really have a place in the world as a standalone system though? I dunno. We'll see.

Windows 7 install times

2009-11-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

Just an FYI: It takes about 5 times longer to upgrade from Vista to 7 than it does to install a fresh instance. Also, heaven help you if you lose power midway through the process.

Braid comes to the PSN

2009-11-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

Last years highly praised platformer Braid, originally available only on the Xbox 360, has finally reached the Playstation Network. Its the same game, nothing new, for the same price. Even so, by all accounts if you haven't yet had a chance to try this one out, you really should! Check out the vid for a preview.

Holy Micro Flash Drive Batman!

2009-11-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Check this out folks: This is a flash drive that holds 16 GB. Thats roughly *23 CD's* worth of data. On this little bitty slip of plastic. Better yet, its only $40 on amazon for this whopper, and there are cheaper models with less capacity. Christmas ideas anyone?

Lite-Brite or formal wear? You decide.

2009-11-13T12:04:00.001-08:00

8 screens with one video card? WANT.

2009-11-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

Matrox just announced the world's first video card capable of driving eight separate displays simultaneously. With two of them in one tower, that gets you *SIXTEEN* screens.

WANT.

Featured CyberCube Design

2009-11-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

A little while back I mentioned some very cool magnets that are available for a solid price at The Cyber Cube. Well, I went ahead and snagged some for myself, and they're a blast :-) The folks over at the Cyber Cube's main site even featured one of my designs today, take a look. Its a rocket! Yes, really. REALLY. No, look, I KNOW, ok? But seriously, it is. Seriously.

Altering the Main Thread from a Worker Thread

2009-11-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

For any of you code monkeys out there who need a way to update something in the main thread (GUI, etc) from a worker thread in a WPF application and cant seem to figure out how, there is a succinct and extremely helpful writeup available from a fellow blogger here.

First Impressions: inFamous

2009-11-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

After playing through the first third of inFamous (in one sitting mind you, which says something in itself) these are my initial thoughts.

Honestly, I'm having a blast. Playing inFamous hearkens back to my days with City of Heroes in that playing as Cole makes you feel really powerful. Not like, say, World of Warcraft where your character is certainly strong and well able to make his way among the many threats in the world; Cole truly gives the impression of playing a god among mortals without crossing the line of being too easy. When pulled off correctly this trick makes any game loads of fun.

This is partly managed through extreme freedom of movement, initially through Cole's 'extreme urban running' skills at climbing and jumping off anything and everything in a quick and intuitive manner and eventually augmented through superpowers. The rest of the effect comes from the powers themselves which come in an inpressively wide variety and are easy and fun to use.

As a standard GTA style 'find a mission on the map, then do it' game, inFamous is susceptible to one of that genre's biggest problems: stale filler. Most of these types of games use optional side quests to fill time between the main ones and to allow for some grinding, but usually offer only a slim variety of these missions that get old very quickly. Thankfully, inFamous overcomes this problem with a remarkable range of side missions, though of course some repetition is still present. My favorite 'love to hate' mission type is the 'building under surveilance' mission, in which Cole must clamber over all surfaces of a building disabling equipment that has been placed there. It sounds like it should be easy, but in reality its quite time consuming and more than a bit annoying. Most of the rest of the missions are a joy though, so its hard to complain.

Graphically speaking the game is on par with many current titles, though unfortunately that also means the standard 'everything is gray or brown' palette. The animation is unfortunately very... for lack of a better word, 'fake.' I realize that not every game can have the benefits of motion capture, but there are times when its certainly obvious that it would have helped. It takes a little while to adjust to the animation's eccentricities, but its certainly not a huge problem. Sound effects and music are solid. Unfortunately I have had a single hard lock, but so far I'm willing to call that a fluke.

All in all, inFamous is definitely shaping up to be a great experience. You'll get the full review when it's done!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen coming to... jumpdrive?

2009-11-03T12:16:00.001-08:00

It would seem that the execs at Kingston and Paramount have put their heads together and are releasing a number of movies in digital format directly to flash memory in the form of jump drives and flash cards. First up is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Most interesting, says I.

Endless Racing Game

2009-11-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

It may not actually be much fun to mess with in reality, but it makes for a pretty interesting YouTube video. Check out the endless racing game, available on the app store:

New 'Hit Song Science' predicts song popularity

2009-10-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

The folks at uPlaya.com have developed a new and interesting technology that allows them to predict, with an incredible 80 percent accuracy, whether a song will become popular. This is contrast to the record labels, who release singles at a 10 percent success rate.

This incredible technology analyzes aspects of a song such as beat, chord progression, and lyrics. The data gathered in this way are then compared to a matrix of existing songs that has what the company calls 'hit clusters' as well more remote data points. If you're close to a cluster and have some innovation that isn't common to the songs around it, you score well.

The site offers artists two free evaluations of their work as well as varying subscription packages, and allows music lovers to look into new music that is being scored. They feel that this system will offer a new and exciting way for people to connect with music that they will enjoy in an age where radio is rapidly falling to the wayside. It will be interesting to see if they're right.

Motorola Droid reviews coming in

2009-10-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Engadget has their big review of the new Droid smartphone up, you can reach it here.

It sounds like it has the iPhone beat in areas like messaging, customizing, and sound quality, but otherwise is still playing catch-up. The big draw for me personally is the new Google Navigation software that put a nice dent in Garmin and TomTom's stock yesterday, but that software may yet hit the iPhone as well. We shall see.

Buckyballs: Very cool.

2009-10-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

Need ideas for a Christmas gift for your favorite tactile-centric nerd? This'll do nicely:

Buckyballs! The official site is here.

UPDATE! Looks like you can get better pricing at NeoCube.

UPDATE AGAIN!! Looks like prices are just a wee bit better here. Plus, this brand (CyberCube) seems to be universally well reviewed.

Those crazy Honda engineers

2009-10-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Picture if you will the nightmare world where Segways are combined with unicycles in a twisted perversion of science.

'Preposterous' you say! 'Utter lunacy!'

My friends, the nightmare is reality. I give you the Honda UX-3:

This is a twenty pound monstrosity that remains upright through the use of an inclinometer. When folded up it's compact enough to fit into a car door.

Control is achieved through subtle leaning, as with its predecessor the Segway. For those truly brave, Honda's demonstration video shows the beast in action here.

Know that evil is among you, ye faceless masses, and know TERROR.

You have my pity.

2009-10-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

Until someone offers me evidence to the contrary, it is my assertion that Alepnrose Egg Nog is the single best thing that can be seized and consumed. Those of you that don't live in the Portland area and therefore don't have access will have to make do with my pity.

New game on the way: Infamous

2009-10-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

GameFly just shipped out Infamous, and it's now on the way to my door. I'm looking forward to taking this one for a spin. See why for yourself:

Google Wave: The email killer

2009-10-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

I am confident that within the next 5 years this is going to replace email in general usage. This technology effectively uses current browser capabilities to merge email, IM'ing, wiki, and a number of other communication technologies. It's called Google Wave, take a look.

Yes, the video is over an hour long, but the first 20 minutes are more than enough for you to see what I mean. It's worth a look, believe me.

DJ Hero. Yes, you heard me.

2009-10-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

Folks, I really don't know what to say to this one, so I'll just say it. DJ Hero hits stores this week.

You should all be ashamed of yourselves for allowing the world to come to this.

Netflix Coming to the PS3

2009-10-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Even though Xbox 360 reps claimed exclusive access to netflix streaming on a console back in august, it seems that the PS3 is getting some of the action too. Plus, on the PS3 it's **FREE**.

The Gathering Storm is released!

2009-10-27T09:00:00.001-07:00

The twelfth book of the Wheel of Time hits shelves today, written by Brandon Sanderson after series author Robert Jordan's untimely death. This book is the first of three by Sanderson that will take the place of Jordan's original close to the series, Memory of Light. Those of you who know the series need no more info than that. For anyone else, the best I can say is that this series is the next step up from Tolkein. Just be aware that there are now twelve books, all at least 600 pages. Its a hell of a trip to get started on, but well worth it if you can take the time.

Review: Brutal Legend (PS3) 8/10

2009-10-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Brutal Legend is the most recent game from creator Tim Schafer, veteran designer of games such as Grim Fandango and Psychonauts. Set in an alternate past, modern day roadie Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) finds himself fighting an ancient evil in the land of heavy metal. The game is a mix of third person hack-n-slash, vehicular combat, and real time strategy with a dash of RPG. Brutal Legend is a fairly short game, running roughly ten hours, and the first half of those are slow and largely uninteresting. Thankfully, the final half of the game makes up the difference.

The game begins with a cut-scene backstage at a concert, where the player is introduced to Eddie. As a roadie, Eddie is most comfortable behind the scenes and out of the spotlight. However, stupidity on the part of one of the "artists" leads to an accident in which Eddie is forced to save said artist's life, and is himself pinned beneath falling debris. Things get interesting at this point, and Eddie wakes up in the land of heavy metal.

For a while after this the story is extremely simple and cliche, not at all the fantastically creative fare that Tim Schafer is known for. Eddie aligns himself with the first human he happens across, meets up with her cohorts, learns of an oppressive evil, and helps out as only he can. It is only at the games halfway point, after this initial oppressor is dealt with, that things get interesting. Thankfully, it does so with gusto. Character development picks up, there are some nice twists, and the ending is very satisfying.

The characters themselves are sometimes complex and interesting, sometimes shallow and cliche. Eddie himself is exactly what you would expect from Jack Black in a game, which is generally a good thing, though maybe a bit predictable. Eddie's cohorts are generally pretty one dimensional with one exception, who isnt explored as much as you might like. The initial baddie, General Lyonwhite, looks and acts like David Bowie in the Labyrinth and is easily dismissed. The REAL threat however, Emperor Dovinculus, is one of the most interesting and sincerely evil feeling villains in recent history. His visual design is perfect, his writing is excellent, and of course Tim Curry's voice work is the icing on the cake, hearkening back to his little known role in 'Legend' (natch.) The bonus is the presence of a number of heavy metal personalities doing guest voice work as various minor characters. Most interesting is probably Ozzy's performance as the Guardian of Metal. His acting is surprisingly coherent, and genuinely funny.

Graphically Brutal Legend falls into line pretty directly with Tim Schafer's other work. It is visually interesting, colorful, vibrant, but somewhat lacking in complexity resulting in a cartoony look. Animation is also a little jerky, contributing to the cartoon feel. Thankfully it all works, and feels very fitting for the subject matter. Plot characters are all fairly standard examples of various rock stereotypes, but of course thats the POINT of the game so all is well. Ally and enemy design have the same ramp-up issue as the story, being bland and uninteresting at first but becoming more and more intriguing and downright cool as the game reaches its final stages. Environments hit the ramp as well, starting in simple open plains and moving through jungles and haunted woods as the game progresses. As with the character design, where the visuals shine is in the continuous nods to heavy metal culture. From ruins and monuments that resemble specific album covers on to jungle creatures called Metal Beasts that strongly resemble a certain long-tongued face-painted lead singer. The only negative is a tendency for the picture to jitter jarringly during cutscenes.

The audio for Brutal Legend is solid, with good sound effects and voice work that is always good and sometimes excellent. The big gold star goes to the soundtrack, which consists (of course) of a solid selection of Heavy Metal.

Gameplay itself is divided between travel and combat on foot, travel and combat in vehicles, and 'stage missions' which are a sort of real time strategy minigame. As the game starts each of these modes feel overly simplistic and unfinished, but improve dramatically as upgrades are acquired.

Foot combat is basic hack and slash with some simple combos. The uniqueness here comes from Eddie's guitar Clementine, which can be used for magic-like ranged attacks, as well as team attacks with allied units. For example, Eddie can surround himself with a group of headbangers that act as an offensive shield, or have a razor girl hop on his shoulders to become a powerful ranged attacker. Even so, combat on foot would probably be a little simplistic if it weren't for guitar solos. These solos are Eddie's 'super-powers' that are activated with a mini-rhythm game. They do everything from boosting friendly units, melting enemy faces, to (and yes I'm serious) calling down an awe inspiring fiery zeppelin to do heavy damage to all enemies in the area. All these dynamics add up to combat that can get repetitive, but is easily and intuitively controlled and doesn't cease to be fun.

The vehicle portions of the game are pretty standard fare. The Deus, Eddie's hotrod, is initially just a means of conveyance but becomes a formidable death-dealer as upgrades are acquired. The controls are a little loose, but not problematically so. The navigation system while driving toward a set destination is interesting and effective. Aside from the standard glowing beacon that can be seen on the horizon, the Deus' blinkers light to show you the direction you should turn to stay on the best route to the target. The game determines this route for you, staying on major roads and avoiding obstacles. It's an intuitive and helpful system. The one negative to mention here is the presence of always annoying escort missions, but in this case they aren't ridiculously difficult and can be enjoyable.

The stage battles are perhaps the most interesting part of the standard gameplay. In these set piece battles, Eddie takes command of a battlefield. He can capture resource points (vents in the ground that emit the souls of fans, which are tapped with merch booths), build units, and issue orders. The basic idea is to capture all the resource points and throw your units at the opposing stronghold, joining in the battle and using special guitar solos to help when necessary. Eddie is given wings during these battles which allows rapid movement around the terrain. It's an interesting system, one which will feel very familiar to anyone that ever played Giants: Citizen Kabuto or other such games. Unfortunately, the strategic depth is all but non-existent and so these battles are more or less a grind to work through to get the story moving again. This is problematic as most of the central points in the story revolve around these confrontations, and they also provide the only mode of multiplayer action.

These gameplay modes are driven by the familiar GTA-like 'find a mission, travel there, do it, repeat' model. This system, as always, works well. There are obligatory side missions available that provide extra currency for upgrades in the form of 'fire tributes,' this world's term for lighters. Unfortunately the side missions come in a fairly limited variety and get old quickly. There are races, combat missions in a couple of forms, a couple of one-off tasks, and one set of missions where Eddie pairs up with an ogre like bouncer modeled after and voiced by Jack Black's band mate Kyle to blast enemies with a large mortar. These side missions really aren't necessary however, and can be skipped if the player doesn't feel the need to acquire every upgrade. The mission system effectively links the various gameplay modes, and drives the story along well while allowing for exploration. There are some minor issues though. The map will always center on the starting point of a mission when opened rather than Eddie's current position, which is annoying. The story cutscenes will also occasionally refer to information that Eddie can only learn in optional exploration, which can be jarring if the player has not actually made the necessary discoveries.

All in all Brutal Legend is an interesting foray into the heavy metal culture. Jack Black is fantastic, and Dovinculus is a truly great villain. The often self-mocking and off-beat sense of humor is great fun. However the game is sadly short, and it takes a good 5 of the 10 hours of play for things to really start to be interesting. In the end though the game is fun and satisfying, and well worth a rental if not an actual purchase.

Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 10/10
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

Brutal Legend Impressions

2009-10-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm just over halfway through the single player campign of Brutal Legend, and so far my impressions are very mixed.

In comparison to Tim Schafer's previous game Psychonauts, a few things are similar such as graphic design and semi-irreverant sense of humor, but the storyline is much more cliche and uncreative. In fact, for the first half of the game the story can be completely dismissed. Thankfully after the first 'big boss' is disposed of, things take a big turn for the better.

The gameplay suffers from the same slow ramp up. There are three major components to gameplay: foot combat, vehicular combat, and field missions which are a semi real time strategy minigame that hearkens back to Giants: Citizen Kabuto. In the early to mid game all of these components feel overly simplistic and generally uninteresting. As the game progresses however, upgrades become available and enemies become more interesting, greatly improving matters.

So, at this point, my disappointed optimism is cautiously returning. I'll post a full review as soon as I've finished the game!

Helpful blogging tools and info

2009-10-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with some of the third party tools available to bloggers, and I thought I'd share some of the ones that I find most useful.

Sitemeter
Sitemeter is a nice utility that be added to your blog by simple HTML insertion that lets you track a number of useful statistics like page views, unique user visits, references (pages with links that led people to you), and geographical locations of your visitors.

Feedburner
Feedburner is a highly versatile set of tools that allows you to publish your blog in feed formats that can be easily consumed by many feed readers, as well as adding some extras to your content such as 'Digg this' type links.

How to get Me to Read Your Blog
Not actually a tool, but a very good article on getting your blog noticed. I strongly recommend it.

I hope these prove as useful to you as they were to me!

GameFly iPhone app live!

2009-10-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated GameFly app for the iPhone is live on the app store. The app allows you to keep up to date with gaming news, search for all the relevant info on existing games, and for GameFly members allows GameQ manipulation. All the info is here:

GameFly GameCenter

or watch the video below!

Trine now available on PSN!

2009-10-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Trine, a very snazzy 2.5D platformer which has been available on the PC for a while now, is now up on the Playstation Network. This is an interesting sidescroller in which you can play as either a knight, a wizard, or a theif, hotswapping as you play. Each of the three have their own unique abilities, enabling them to overcome the obstacles you face in their own ways. You can find out more here:

Trine Homepage

or watch the video below!

I'll let you know my impressions once I can get home to grab it for myself!

WCF Service Tutorial

2009-10-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

Any code monkeys among you that may need a brief rundown of WCF services may have noticed that its difficult to find a good one. This one did pretty well for me:

A Quick and Dirty WCF Service and Client

Push Gmail on the iPhone

2009-10-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

For those of you that are IPhone and Gmail users, its now possible to set up push mail on your phone. What this means is that your mail will show up on your phone as soon as it hits your inbox, instead of the usual 'whenever your phone gets around to checking it.' Heres how, courtesy of the gmail blog:

First, be sure that you have iPhone firmware 3.0 or later. For those of you with the 3G s, this came on your phone. For the rest of you, you can check your firmware version by going to Settings->General->About and looking at the 'Version.' If you need to update you can do so by connecting your phone to iTunes. It will guide you from there.

It would probably be a good idea to backup your iPhone for general purposes before continuing.

Ok, once you're all ready, here's what you do:

1. Open the Settings application on your device's home screen.
2. Open Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
3. Tap Add Account....
4. Select Microsoft Exchange.

Enter Account Info

5. In the Email field, enter your full Google Account email address. If you use an @googlemail.com address, you may see an "Unable to verify certificate" warning when you proceed to the next step.
6. Leave the Domain field blank.
7. Enter your full Google Account email address as the Username.
8. Enter your Google Account password as the Password.
9. Tap Next at the top of your screen.
9a. Choose Accept if the Unable to Verify Certificate dialog appears.
10. A new Server field will appear. Enter m.google.com.
11. Press Next at the top of your screen again.

12. Select the Google services you want to sync.

13. Unless you want to delete all the existing Contacts and Calendars on your phone, select the Keep on my iPhone option when prompted. This will also allow you to keep syncing with your computer via iTunes.

If you want to sync only the My Contacts group, you must choose to Delete Existing Contacts during the Google Sync install when prompted. If you choose to keep existing contacts, it will sync the contents of the "All Contacts" group instead.

That sets up your gmail account. If you already had a gmail account set up on your phone, you'll probably want to disable it now. To enable the push all you have to do is go to Settings->Mail, Contacts, Calendars->Fetch New Data and turn it on.

Then just restart your phone and you're good to go! Enjoy :-)

Go Go Bargain Bin!

2009-10-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

With the recent release of Guitar Hero 5 it's predecessor Guitar Hero World Tour has hit bargain bin prices. So, I snagged a copy for cheap with free shipping thanks again to the magic of GameFly. I'll let you know my impressions when it gets here!

Scribblenauts update

2009-10-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

During my first play session with Scribblenauts, I have:

Given a lumberjack a lightsaber to do his job
Used a flamethrower to clean up a park
Held down a wall switch with a precisely angled dining room set
Learned that wings are far more reliable that jetpacks
Learned that Pirate > Ninja (which is wrong on many levels)
Confirmed that Ceiling Cat is eeeeeeverywheeeeeere

New games coming! Scribblenauts and Brutal Legend

2009-10-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the magic of GameFly I now have Scribblenauts for the DS and Brutal Legend for the ps3 en route to my house.

Scribblenauts intrigues me mostly because of its basic premise. The idea is that your character solves the puzzles he is presented with by 'scribbling' anything he can think of into existence and using it to interact with the environment. The game allows you to input whatever you can think of and with a dictionary of over 10,000 items it's quite likely that one will pop up! This includes everything from basic tools and objects to named weapons like Excalibur, mythical creatures like Cthulhu (who must then be tamed with a summoned mind control device or the like to be useful) on up to things like black holes! The incredible open ended nature of the gameplay makes it worth a shot in my book.

On the other hand is Brutal Legend, the new project of Tim Schafer, creator of Psychonauts for the original xbox. I'm sure at some point this blog will touch on Psychonauts in detail but for the moment let me just say: If you have the means to play this game and have not done so, DO IT. It is absolutely fantastic from beginning to end. The story, environment, characters, and abilities are all incredibly creative, and downright hilarious. In my opinion the game is the paramount reason to own an xbox, far and above the Halo games. It is my sincere hope that Brutal Legend will be a spiritual successor. The game is about the adventures of a roadie (modeled after and voiced by Jack Black) in a world completely themed around heavy metal. If the game strikes the same irreverent chord as its precursor, it should be a blast.

I'll have reviews up here for both games as soon as I beat them!

An observation

2009-10-20T00:01:00.001-07:00

To the Invader Zim fan it is impossible to play Metal Gear Solid 3 and listen to the voice actors talking about the biggest threat to the free world, the super-tank called 'The Shagohod,' without constantly hearing it as 'The Shadow Hog.'

Just sayin'.

Review: Dead Space (ps3) 9/10

2009-10-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, I'm a bit behind the ball talking about this game, but I started it when it first came out and for any number of reasons finished it only recently. Believe me, many of the games that I'm likely to talk about will be considerably FURTHER behind the curve. So, about the game:

Dead Space is one of a bevy of recent survival horror games that depend on stereotypically thrusting the player into some threatening environment to generate suspense, and rapid unexpected action to startle the player. What differentiates Dead Space from the rest of the pack is that it does this right.

Dead Space is a survival horror/thriller/third person shooter published by EA, with the intention of becoming a big new intellectual property for them. The game world is sci-fi / future where space travel and planetary mining are the norm, but humans are (to their knowledge) alone in the universe. As the game begins the player character (perpetually silent engineer Isaac Clarke) and two cohorts are approaching the mining vessel Ishimura, which has lost radio contact during a mission. As is frequently the case in any survival/horror medium, within two minutes everything goes horribly, horribly wrong. The player's vessel crash lands in the Ishimura's docking bay (rendering the ship inoperable) and the small team discovers the huge vessel seemingly abandoned, heavily damaged, and infected with a mysterious biological contaminant. The team members are quickly separated and Isaac finds himself in the thick of it fighting horrific nightmare creatures that emerge from every orifice of the Ishimura with whatever equipment he can find at hand, beginning with a simple plasma cutter.

As the game progresses Isaac is guided by his team members over the radio in slowly restoring essential systems to the Ishimura initially in an attempt to complete their mission, and eventually simply to facilitate an escape. During the course of these repair missions Isaac slowly finds evidence in various forms that pieces together the identity of the biological contamination, the origins of the nightmare creatures infesting the ship, and the chain of events that led to the Ishimura's infection. There are several well executed plot twists, culminating in an epic scale climactic final scene.

Overall the story is very well executed. The game does an excellent job of presenting the real story as a mystery that is pieced together as the player performs more mundane mission objectives rather than shoving it down the player's throat, which adds a sense of realism. In a genre that isn't traditionally driven by plot depth, Dead Space's immersive storyline is a huge plus.

Part of the reason that the story works so well is the game's atmosphere. This is easily one of the game's strongest selling points. The main character is almost completely disconnected from the player, never speaking, rarely reacting to stimuli that would shock a crazed sociopath's undead corpse into a white haired gibbering mass, but it still WORKS because the atmosphere itself draws the player in COMPLETELY. The huge derelict ship with its dark, flickering, flesh encrusted corridors, the occasional terminally insane crew member gibbering into the emptiness, the randomly strewn debris cast about by unknown horrors, the subtle but ominous background music, and many other atmospheric devices will all have the player leaning on the edge of their seat with their heart in their throat. And of course in this state the inevitable monster springing from a ceiling grate will take a year or two off of the players lifespan and possibly enrich the vocabulary of any nearby children. As a personal example of just how effective the atmosphere is in this game I generally yawn my way through today's horror films and I wouldn't let myself play Dead Space too close to bedtime.

Another reason that the environment in Dead Space is so quick to draw you in is the game's innovative user interface. There is no on screen display of any kind. All of the information that you need at a moments notice is displayed on the character himself. His health, oxygen, and stasis meter (more on this later) are all displayed on the back of Isaac's armor, and his ammunition count is displayed on the currently equipped weapon. In situations when a menu would normally be warranted the game makes use of an image holographically projected by Isaac's suit in real time in front of the character. This means that while digging through the inventory or perusing the map it is entirely possible and often quite likely that a spiny appendage will be embedding itself in the player's skull. This unique approach to interface creates an incredible continued sense of intensity so vital for success in this genre.

Technically speaking Dead Space fares very well against modern competition. Graphics are very solid and appropriate to the material. Enemy design is suitably horrifying. Environment design is occasionally monotonous but usually appropriately so for a sprawling government vessel, and always dripping with ambiance. Sound quality is excellent, voice acting is spot on, and the music is particularly effective, adding substantially to the air of intensity and spiking beautifully at the appropriate moments.

It is in the actual gameplay that Dead Space hits some of its very few snags. Control of the main character feels a little clunky and hard to maneuver. His positioning on the left hand side of the screen makes for a clearer view of the action, but it also means that turning right and left feel very different and can be disorienting in the thick of battle. Combat itself is wonderfully intense, making excellent use of the targeted damage system that is another of the games major selling points. As the opposing creatures are effectively undead, simply unloading into them has little effect. Instead the player is heavily encouraged to surgically remove the limbs and heads of the monsters using a variety of weapons designed to suit the task, rendering the beasties harmless. This is an extremely visceral mode of combat and the necessity for precision under stress adds even MORE to the intensity of the game. All that being said, however, this same system makes combat extremely frustrating in close quarters when it is nigh on impossible to make surgical shots.

The weapons themselves offer a creative spread of options, each with an interesting secondary fire mode, but I find it perhaps too viable an option to simply use all available upgrades on the basic plasma cutter found in the first ten minutes of the game and never require the use of any other weapon. Aside from that minor issue the weapon acquisition and upgrade system is intuitive and fun. In addition to the actual weapons, Isaac is equipped with two technological 'superpowers,' stasis and telekenisis. Stasis is a refillable resource that Isaac can use to slow the targeted object for obstacle avoidance or combat advantage. Telekinesis is, predictably, the ability to lift and move loose objects for puzzle solving or use as launched projectiles. While not necessarily MAJOR elements of gameplay, these abilities do add some variety and strategic depth that are a welcome edition.

Enemies in dead space don't offer particularly impressive AI, but as they range from the traditional slow-moving dogged zombies to the more recent hyper-fast rush-to-the-kill zombies in basic archetype, they aren't really SUPPOSED to be tactical geniuses and the lack of intelligence detracts in no way from the feel of menace they provide. Boss fights, though few and far between, are varied, interesting, and EXTREMELY satisfying when complete.

Overall I would say that Dead Space, while not for the squeamish, is a wonderfully executed horror / thriller whose many strong points completely overwhelm its few minor flaws.

GRAPHICS: 10/10
SOUND: 10/10
STORY: 9/10
GAMEPLAY: 8/10
OVERALL: 9/10

Theory for your consideration

2009-10-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Postulate: Pepperoni hot pockets are among mankind's greatest culinary achievements.

Evidence: PEPPERONI HOT POCKETS.

Result: Proven. Additionally, I'm hungry.

Just FYI

2009-10-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

The reason for the name:

Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD)

While most good nerds at least ACT like they're nocturnal, I really am. On the one hand I think its a pretty unique twist to my nerd-cred. On the other more RELEVANT hand, however, I have to fight to get up for work every morning at seven AM, as my seven is equivalent to the normal person's TWO. So, as I write this, I'm struggling to remain conscious. Now you know :-)

Intro

2009-10-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

Ah, the traditional blog intro post, in which intentions are stated, personal info is given, and no one ever, ever, EVER cares. Forgive me if I give it a miss and let later posts do the talking :-)

The Sleepless Nerd

Daily Haiku

Daily Haiku

Daily Haiku

Daily Haiku

Daily Haiku

Daily Haiku

Daily Haiku

Daily Haiku

Most awesome waste of paper ever.

Epic.

Laying a brick road - inkjet style.

How to fix Pavilion DV8t wireless button and volume slider issues

The altered passage of time... explained?

Equally awesome but more readable watch

Awesome unreadable watch

All that idle time to say this:

So cool.

This just in:

The future is here! Laser mosquito defense!

Robots are better than you. At the rubik's cube.

Robots will be killing you shortly.

Metroid... Is that you?

The future of desktop interaction?

WANT.

Quality engineering at work

Dante's Inferno demo hitting the PSN

AT&T to limit iPhone data plans?

Nook reviews are coming in

Ewwww...

Impressive case mod turns Xbox into PC... and Mac?

Rapid Model Acquisition coming to a webcam near you!

PSN Adding Subscription Service

Google Chrome OS shows its face

Windows 7 install times

Braid comes to the PSN

Holy Micro Flash Drive Batman!

Lite-Brite or formal wear? You decide.

8 screens with one video card? **WANT.**

Featured CyberCube Design

Altering the Main Thread from a Worker Thread

First Impressions: inFamous

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen coming to... jumpdrive?

Endless Racing Game

New 'Hit Song Science' predicts song popularity

Motorola Droid reviews coming in

Buckyballs: Very cool.

Those crazy Honda engineers

You have my pity.

New game on the way: Infamous

Google Wave: The email killer

DJ Hero. Yes, you heard me.

Netflix Coming to the PS3

The Gathering Storm is released!

Review: Brutal Legend (PS3) *8/10*

Brutal Legend Impressions

Helpful blogging tools and info

GameFly iPhone app live!

Trine now available on PSN!

WCF Service Tutorial

Push Gmail on the iPhone

Enter Account Info

Go Go Bargain Bin!

Scribblenauts update

New games coming! Scribblenauts and Brutal Legend

An observation

Review: Dead Space (ps3) *9/10*

Theory for your consideration

Just FYI

Intro

8 screens with one video card? WANT.

Review: Brutal Legend (PS3) 8/10

Review: Dead Space (ps3) 9/10