Jaks Ramblings

This blog is retired..

2006-03-19T00:07:00.000-05:00

Topic says it all. Wordpress offers far more functionality as well as categories without having to do some fucked up work-around.

So those who actually read this, update your bookmarks to http://www.jaksplace.net

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence

2006-03-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

I am away from my computer right now because this game fucking owns. I pre-ordered the collectors edition which sold out pretty quick and it was well worth it.

I will post more at work tonight =)

New Blog...maybe

2006-03-17T21:35:00.000-05:00

I am currently testing a new Wordpress Blog due to a few limitations I have discovered with blogger. For right now I will be posting on both, but eventually I think I will be ditching this one. Just a heads up =)

Videos: 3/17

2006-03-17T21:04:00.000-05:00

Will Ferrell is George Bush
Even though I am not a big Will Ferrell fan, he does do a good Bush impersonation.

Wickedly Cool Robot
Even though this is a bit longer than it needs to be, it is still a sweet video.

Kung-Fu Clowns
This is what a commercial should be.

Video Games: NES Case Mods 4tw!

2006-03-17T08:06:00.000-05:00

Do these guys ever stop coming up with shit?

Life Stuff: Mmmm....

2006-03-17T00:13:00.000-05:00

Futomaki Rolls....I am stuffed =)

Videos: 3/16

2006-03-16T10:37:00.000-05:00

Ultimate Utopia XXIII
A hilarious real-life parody on typical turn based RPGs

Tetris DS Commercial
A really cool Tetris DS commercial. It shows how much better Nintendo is now at advertising since the old NES days

Nintendo DS lite FIGHT
The DS Lite launch in Japan was their equivalent of the US 360 launch. Insane lines, massive shortages, and FIGHTS!

Kevin Smith's ISA Appearance
Total fucking hilarity from Kevin Smith as usual

Ryan vs Dorkman
A damn good fan made lightsaber battle with a nice ending

P.S: Also remember that now you can easily download any of these videos using KeepVid. No more need for greasemonkey or viewing the code of gvp files.

PS3 and PSP Info from the Sony Conference

2006-03-15T03:16:00.000-05:00

Sony held its annual conference in Tokyo today and a shitload of PSP and PS3 information was released. Rather than typing it all out again, check out my posts on the gaming site I report for.

PS3 Information
PSP Information

I am so fucking geeked about the PS3. As usual, I will not buy the first generation of it due to the historical hardware and compatibility issues of all first gen consoles, but I will own one.

Morning News Bites

2006-03-15T01:16:00.000-05:00

Telemarketers Work in the Nude
A study finds that one in eight male teleworkers and one in 14 female teleworkers say they do their jobs in the nude.

Good thing I never talk to these fuckers because that mental image would just fuck me up.

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Isaac Hayes Quits 'South Park'
Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion. However, Matt Stone responded by saying:

"This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem - and he's cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians."

I fucking hate Scientology and anyone who I discover to be a member immediately loses any respect they once had. Isaac Hayes is now on my "you are a fucktard" list along with all the others.

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Class action lawsuit filed against music industry
The RIAA is getting a taste of their own medicine by having a class-action lawsuit filed against alleging that:

Record labels sought to shut down online music pioneer Napster at the same time they were introducing their own joint ventures to sell online music. MusicNet and pressplay "were not serious commercial ventures, but rather attempts to occupy the market with frustrating and ineffectual services in order to head off viable Online Music competitors from forming and gaining popularity after Napster's demise," according to the suit.

This is among other things in the lawsuit. As a long-time hater of the RIAA so I am all for this. I hope those fuckers get what they deserve.

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Stardock vs Starforce
A StarForce site forum moderator posts link to download pirated copy of Stardock's Galactic Civilizations II. Basically, the company behind the successful PC game Galactic Civilizations II refuses to put any kind of copy protection on their software saying that it really does nothing but piss off end users. Someone posted this on the StarForce forums saying basically that you do not need Copy Protection to be successful and the moderator responded by POSTING A LINK TO THE TORRENT FOR THE GAME!!

The supposed intention was to show "See, this game is being pirated anyway!" but came off more as "If they used our software, this wouldn't have happened". StarForce has since apologized and pulled the thread, but not before the damage was done.

For those who do not know, the company behind Starforce is the subject of major boycott and have threatend lawsuits against people who openly critize them among other things. For more information on the software itself and why people hate it, check out its Wikipedia entry.

StarForce is another one of those things that I am a long time proponent of and shit like this shows why.

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Clinton, Lieberman propose CDC investigate games
Democratic Senators from New York and Connecticut are asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate "impact of electronic media use."

What?? WHAT?!? You want to waste $90 million of the taxpayer's money to make the CDC investiagate video games??? You don't think the CDC would have more important things to do like, I dunno, investigate disease and cures to help mankind?

What the fuck are these people thinking? Oh I know! Basically, everytime one of these fuckheads make a proposal to ban or limit video games, it gets shot down primarily because they are unconsitutional, but also because there are no studies that prove without a doubt that violent media affects children. So they are hoping that with this study, they will get results in their favor so they can do "SEE WE TOLD YOU!!" and get these bullshit laws passed.

I really hate our government and it is things like this that show how fucking incompentent the people in charge really are. Once again, I point all gamers to http://www.videogamevoters.org/. If we do not take a stand and do something, we have no right to complain when shit like this happens.

Best Flash Game Evar!

2006-03-14T03:26:00.000-05:00

Mega Man vs Ghost N' Goblins

This is a wicked flash game that is amazingly well done. It combines two of my favorite NES series into one game. It is as hard as the classic Mega Man titles to boot!

Two More NES Mods

2006-03-14T03:17:00.000-05:00

NES Mods are all the rage these days (See here and here). Well I came across two more cool ones I had to share.

The first is a wicked mod called the NEStation, which is a NES made to look like a PS2 (Complete with controller).

The second is turning an NES controller into a card reader.

Goddamnit, I want to mod my NES!

Videos!

2006-03-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

Pacman Invads a University: This is just flat out hilarious. I was almost in tears hearing him shouting WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA!!

Live Action Legend of Zelda: This one is really only funny to people who have grown up playing the classic Zelda games. They did such a good job and the fight with the dragon is crazy heh.

Video Game Voters Network

2006-03-13T09:44:00.000-05:00

http://www.videogamevoters.org/

Video Game Voters Network

The Video Game Voters Network exists to empower Americans who play video games to take action against threats to this entertainment medium and to stay informed about the latest issues that could affect our choice in video game entertainment. Video games are a modern form of entertainment entitled to the same creative and free speech protections afforded by the US Constitution to older media such as movies, music, and books. So join the Video Game Voters Network and speak up for games and gamer rights.
Take A Stand, Protect Your Games!

Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), and Evan Bayh (D-IN) recently announced that they will introduce "The Family Entertainment Protection Act," which would regulate the sale of certain video games throughout the country.
In the past year, Michigan, Illinois, and California have all passed laws to ban the sale of certain video games to minors. So far, courts have blocked these laws from taking effect. But anti-video game forces are pressing forward. Gamers must stand up now and take action. Government does not regulate access to or the sale of movies, books or cable TV, and it should not regulate video games.
The computer and video game industry has a widely praised self-regulatory system including Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings, advertising and marketing restrictions, parental education, and console manufacturers are now introducing parental control features that will be available in the next generation consoles. Moreover, every major retailer has a policy to ask for ID before selling games to minors. The effect of legislation seeking to regulate games would stifle constitutionally-protected creativity in a medium that is at the cutting-edge of innovative entertainment.
Please take action now and tell your Senators not to co-sponsor or support "The Family Entertainment Protection Act."

Excellent idea and I applaud Doug Lowenstein and the ESA for this intiative!

Jack Thompson is a cockbite

2006-03-13T00:49:00.000-05:00

Why yes, it has indeed been some time since I posted about one of the people I hate most on the earth. This is not due to his lack of stupid actions, this is simply due to the fact that he does them so often, it isn't really entertaining anymore. However, he has recently done some things that I thought were quite interesting, even for Jack Thompson.

It all started when he E-mailed Wikipedia demanding (not asking) them to lock his Wikipedia entry because it contained:

"a number of false, defamatory, and actionable statements about me. As an aside, you all don't even have my date and year of birth correct, and it goes downhill from there."

Now, admittedly, I can understand his anger and his response. Wikipedia is the most popular Wiki on the internet and could have possibly had some false information. However, he takes it a bit too far when he continues that he demands he has access to:

"the real names, addresses, and phone numbers, and any other verifying information, regarding anyone who has posted anything about me at Wikipedia, as they will be defendants. You have thirty days to comply with this demand. The Seigenthaler experience shows that you must provide me this information."

He is potentionally asking to have hundreds if not thousands of people brought to court as defendants with this. However, it does not end there!

He has now sent Game Politics (One of my favorite sites out there) an E-Mail saying:

From: Jack Thompson [mailto:xxxxxxxxx@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 1:25 PM
To: dennis@gamepolitics.com; Aaron McKenna; Curt Feldman; Tor Thorsen; Brendan Sinclair; mattsaunderson

Subject: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. You're next, Mr. McCauley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attorney)

Jack Thompson, Attorney
Land line: 305-xxx-xxxx, Cell: 305-xxx-xxxx
xxxx South Dixie Hwy, Suite 111
Coral Gables, FL USA 33146 xxxxxxxxx@comcast.net

Dennis McCauley responds quite aptly by saying:

I can say that I resent the hell out of its implications and that neither this site nor its editor will be bullied or silenced.

It can also be noted that several game websites including Gamespot and TwitchGuru were CCed on that E-Mail so it will be interesting to see how this turns out. My disdain for this idiot is well known and therefore I will not say anything other than what is above.

As an interesting coincidence, I happen to be wearing my favorite T-Shirt today:

Captain N Coming to DVD?

2006-03-12T20:40:00.000-05:00

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/nes/captain-n-coming-to-dvd-159832.php

I am the producer of the DVD line of DiC titles at Shout! Factory, beginning with the recent COPS: The Animated Series. For the past couple of days, I’ve been going around the net researching Captain N: The Game Master, because I will, in fact, be producing it for OFFICIAL release (so, PLEASE stop any and all bootlegging you may be working on) later in the year.

I’d like to clear up a few things that I’ve noticed posted here and a couple of other sites. For starters, Shout! isn’t owned by Sony. Sony is our distributor, so for a small percentage, Sony stocks retailers with our product. Shout! Factory is owned by Richard Foos (the founder of Rhino), his brother Garson, and Bob Emmer.

Secondly, regarding Captain N’s masters…

I’m dealing with DiC even as I write this and the masters are in excellent condition. There’s virtually NO difference between a production master and a broadcast master when you’re dealing with animation. The major difference is that a broadcast master has several minutes of black where the commercials should be. Therefore, the masters I’m working with look as good as any that were “destroyed” when Disney took over.

I’m actually in the process of putting together a list of possible special features. While the lists I receive from people are in no way guaranteed extras— because as people have mentioned, Captain N isn’t a show on which most companies can spend a LARGE amount of money and expect a return—, I would very much like to hear what the fans are looking for.

If you’re interested in throwing out suggestions, please do so here. Do not email me, as I’m working on far too many projects to look and answer a ton of emails from fans. But I assure you, as you can witness in other forums around the web, that I will check back and respond here OFTEN.

Thanks in advance and tell all your friends that the Captain’s finally coming to DVD!

If this is true...FUCKING PWN!!! I still have a few of these on VHS and even though they are hokey looking back on them, I still fully enjoy them. I also own the Legend of Zelda Animated Series and upon watching it again, still loved every minute. I WILL get the Captain N DVD as well as the Super Mario Bros Super Show that comes out this month.

Damn I love those things

2006-03-12T05:30:00.000-05:00

I fucking used to eat those things like crazy...

...shit, now I am hungry.

Every Mortal Kombat Fatality...

2006-03-12T05:24:00.000-05:00

...in one 23 minute video.

Totally wicked =)

Gotta Love the Christians

2006-03-11T06:44:00.000-05:00

http://objectiveministries.org/

(March 10, 2006) Sometime yesterday, our prayerbook was compromised by hackers aligned with a terrorist organization known as "YTMND". All entries -- approximately 4,000 in total from over four years -- were lost, as well as our settings. We apologize to all our guests who left us kind messages and prayer requests. Your entries are now in Heaven with Jesus.

For the last few days, the YTMND terrorist organization has been probing our site via their goons and stealing our intellectual property to misuse for their anti-Christian hatecrimes. Christians did not create the Internet to be used for mindless websites containing nothing but a stolen image and offensive repeating sound file. Those sorts of misuses are a violation of international copyright treaties, newly enacted provisions of the Patriot Act, and at least two of the Commandments.

Please join us in praying for these misguided souls that they may see the error of their ways and repent their sins before they resort to violence.

Ok first of all, there is this little thing called Fair Use so no law is being broken. Also, throwing the word "terrorist" around like this kind of shows how ignorant you idiots really are. As far as the commandments...BWHAHAHHAHAHAH...ok to continue.

(March 11, 2006) It has been brought to our attention that the YTMND website is well known in non-Christian circles as a manufacturer and distributor of "Internet memes".

Memes were first proposed by infamous Evolutionist and militant Atheist Richard Dawkins in his anti-Creation polemic The Selfish Gene as a way to infect society with Evolutionism through commercial jingles and the like. Recently, memes have been used on the Internet to lure youths into mindlessly repeating key phrases such as "Oh Really?" and "All Your Bases Belong To Us" -- phrases designed to break down individual thought and condition the subject to accept faithlessness and Humanistic rule.

This disturbing connection between the attack on our prayerbook and the forces of Evolutionism leads us to suspect that one of Dawkins' followers could be manipulating YTMND -- which is mostly comprised of disaffected youths -- to put their "meme" theories into practice and target our site for intimidation. It may be that YTMND members have been turned into mindless Dawkinsian "robot vehicles", blindly following the meme-programming of the emerging Atheofascist movement.

The attack, disturbing as it was, may be a blessing from God -- an opportunity to do His service by helping youths imprisoned by YTMND meme-control to escape back into the fold of Christendom. Satan picked the wrong site to mess with.

OMG!! All your base.. was designed to remove my ability to have individual thought and to condition me! Oh wait, isn't that what religon does?

"Satan" is messing with the wrong site eh? Well, I highly doubt that the ultimate evil of your tiny little universe would even bother noticing your little shitty site much less launch an all out "attack", much less through YTMND.

For those who do not know, YTMND is best described by its Wikipedia entry:

YTMND, an initialism for "You're The Man Now, Dog!", is a website community that centers on the creation of YTMNDs, which are pages featuring a juxtaposition of a single image, optionally animated and/or tiled, along with large zooming text and a looping sound file. YTMND is also the general term used to describe any such site.

An example of one is my personal favorite. Some are funny, some are shit and some are downright hilarious. Either way, these religious zealots are fucking morons.

Don’t use your credit card to pay taxes

2006-03-11T06:35:00.000-05:00

Good and interesting post off of LifeHacker as always.

The biggest problem is that when you pay your taxes by credit card, the charge comes with a 2.49% surcharge to third-party companies that process the transaction. Most people find this charge a surprise because processing surcharges are usually not allowed by credit card companies. This surcharge effectively wipes out any bonuses that the credit card companies offer and often means you’ll lose money even with the added promotion incentives and if you pay off your credit card on time and in full.

Originally came from http://soundmoneytips.com/article/7518 but I got it from Lifehacker.

Saturday Video Link Dump

2006-03-11T03:11:00.000-05:00

Steroids: Gaming's Ugly Cheat Code: A pretty funny video about the dangers of using Steriods to gain that "edge" in gaming.

Suicide of Drakedog: This is just a painful video to watch. This guy is a max level with uber gear and he just deletes all his shit then deletes his character. If this does not make you wince in pain, then you have never been truly addicted to an MMORPG.

Chris Bliss the uber juggler: Jesus christ this guy can juggle. I am a good juggler and can do many things so I can really appreciate the skill this guy has.

The Cat Jet: Got a stinky cat litter box? This is how to fix it.

Chuck Norris reads his own "Chuck Norris Facts": If you have never read any of the Chuck Norris facts, just google them. It is a well known fact that Chuck is a really nice guy (of which I can confirm) and this just shows it.

Guy with two guitars: Talk about skillz with guitars.

Total Geek Earrings

2006-03-10T05:23:00.000-05:00

I want these. I do not care how gay they make me look. I want them!

Howard and Nester!!

2006-03-10T05:20:00.000-05:00

Some has managed to gather and post every Howard and Nester comic online! I grew up with these. I remember getting a new issue of Nintendo Power and flipping immediately to the Howard and Nester comic of the month.

Something else to keep me from doing work at work - yay!

Personal Update

2006-03-09T11:59:00.000-05:00

Just thought I would post about how things are going as this blog has recently turned into where I post all the cool shit I find (which, judging by feedback is more popular anyway).

I finally finished Shin Megami Tensi: Digital Devil Saga today. Between part one and part two, I put in over a hundred hours on this fucking game (Remember it is one game).

The ending...sucked ass. It really pisses me off when you got a great story going and then fuck it up at the end. Oh well, they all cant have endings as great as Final Fantasy X or Metal Gear Solid 3.

On the PC side, I am currently addicted to Doom 3. After working my way past the initial boredom, I found out what many people have known since it came out, it really is a good fucking game.

This was actually the third time I attempted to get into the game. The first two times I got fairly bored after about 2 hours. However, after completing Quake 4 and re-watching Doom twice (after which I still stand by my review), I had a hard-on to play the game.

While the enemy AI is not as good as Quake 4 or F.E.A.R, when you play it as intended (at night, with no lights and 5.1 surround sound), it really is freaky as hell. There have been quite a few times that I have jumped and yelled out "Mother fucker!!!" when something scared the shit out of me. Only a handful of games have successfully done this (F.E.A.R, Silent Hill series, and System Shock 2 are all that come to mind).

I know that I will complete the game this time as I really am into it. I simply hope the ending is not a total waste as Quake 4's was. Overall, I like it better than Quake 4 but not as much as F.E.A.R. As of right now it is sitting at about a 3 to 3.5 out of 4.

I am about to start playing Demon Stone again. This is another game I played for a few hours then got bored of. However, I have recently been on a Drizzt Do'Urden kick and have re-read the first 9 books in the Dark Elf Series so I find myself in a Forgotten Realms mood. Considering the story was written by R.A Salvatore himself, I know it is a great story. I just need to get into the actual gameplay.

I am also finally catching up on my movie watching. I have had High Noon, Swingers, and Once Upon a Time in the West sitting on my desk for about 3 weeks. My Blockbuster queue is getting backed up and I need to clear it out heh. I watched Swingers today along with a few episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion so I am working my way through the backlog.

On the reading front, I am on the first book in the Halo Trilogy. I recently beat Halo (PC) and while It does not near live up to the hype that the XBox fanbois associate with it, it was a good game. So far the books are excellent and I am really enjoying them. After I read these three, I will be moving on to the World of Warcraft: War of the Ancients series. After reading the entire Warcraft lore, I really got into the story and I want to extend that with the books, which are apparently awesome.

Other than that, there isn't a damn thing going on. The new apartment is great and I am completely settled in. Work is so-so at the moment due to a major fuckup on Time-Warner's end. We told them not to do what they did and they did it anyway. However, they are suffering as much as we are because of it so at least I can get enjoyment out of that.

On that note...

Thursday Link Dump

2006-03-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

Top 10 Geek Watches: Some really wicked watches on this list. I particularly digg this one.

Quake 3 on a 24 monitor display: Hold on, I have to go change my shorts...Ok I am back. This group got Quake 3 running on a single 24 monitor display using 12 Linux servers.

A REAL Video Game Collection: Me wants it, me wants my precious! This is a set of photos of a major kick ass video game collection. I mean, this is some wicked and expensive collecting.

Computer Chopper: This is by far, the coolest case mod I have ever seen.

Lego NES: Man, the uber NES mods just keep on coming. I wish I had half the skill all of these people do.

Classic Dirty Sega Ads: When you look at these now you have to wonder, "What the fuck were they thinking?!?" Either way, this is some crazy shit.

Famitsu Scores FFXII Maximum Points

2006-03-08T06:16:00.000-05:00

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2435&Itemid=2

For those who are unaware, the Famitsu review crew are among the harshest reviewers in the world. EGM's "4 Man Review" style came directly from them (Sushi-X is a rip-off of Taco-X).

I sooo cannot wait for this game =)