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Monthly Archives: June 2010

Stupidity of the Week

Actually heard about this on Tech News Today, and had to share this, simply because it’s a great example of exactly what you shouldn’t do when you’re aware of a problem.  For the sixty second backstory, between 2003 and 2005 computer maker Dell sold millions of computers that were manufactured using a bad electrolyte formula in the motherboard’s capacitors which were failing at an alarming rate.  People were complaining, and they were insisting that there was nothing wrong, as well as replacing failing motherboard with new ones that used the same capacitors.  Of course, they were dealing with lawsuits and legal action at this time, since they were claiming that there were no problems.  However…

At one point, 1,000 computers that Dell delivered to the law firm that was defending it in the suit started failing, and the computer maker allegedly “balked” at fixing them.

Ouch!  Come on Dell, if there’s anyone you should be taking care of, it’s the lawyers defending you in your lawsuit about that very problem!

Futurama Returns!

If you even mildly know me well, then you’ll know I’m a great fan of Futurama. Despite having watched the first episode when it first aired back in March of 1999, I had never watched any other episode past that live.  It took me finding the first season on sale back in the fall of 2006 for me to rediscover the show.  Needless to say, within the span of about two weeks I had spent over a hundred dollars buying all four DVD sets simply to get caught up with this great show as quickly as possible (And trust me, I binged on the episodes as soon as I bought them).

It’s always bugged me how shows like Family Guy and The Simpsons have managed to stay on the air for as long as they have, and Futurama barely lasts five seasons (The whole story of the later years on FOX are both interesting and disheartening at the same time).  Family Guy is simply pushing the borders of what they can and can’t show on TV, which seems to be getting closer and closer considering FOX wouldn’t let them air an episode last weekend. Meanwhile, The Simpsons feels like it’s simply going on for the sake of going on, and plots are wearing thin.  Futurama has been described as the “Smart person’s Simpsons”, which I think is very apt.  The humour they go for is both clever, and very culturally relevant.  Fry, while stupid, is relatable and a very deep character in terms of motivation.  You see episodes where he does things as idiotic as become his own grandfather, but they’re counterbalanced by the touching and emotional episodes where you learn about his relationship with his brother.  You don’t know what to expect going into an episode, but it’s always great!

So, now that the history lesson is done and I’ve proclaimed my love for the show once again, that takes us today.  I write this on the eve of the return of quite possibly the funniest and smartest animated show on television right now, and my hope is that the show can keep the momentum it had built up with the straight-to-DVD movies and season sales.  I’ve always pushed as many people into the show as possible, and while I do want it to take off big, I eventually calmed myself down and lowered my expectations in order to prevent myself from disappointment.

Of course, for reasons I’d rather not explain, I’ve seen the first two episodes early (And a good thing at that – working all night tonight!), so here’s my opinion of the start of Season Six.  If you haven’t watched the new episodes yet and intend to do so, I advise you to stop reading now, watch the episodes, and then come back.  Please?

Episode One – Rebirth

This episode involved something that Futurama has done very well in the past – intricate, complex plots that don’t reveal everything until the end of the story.  The whole robotic Leela/Fry was certainly something that wasn’t expected, and it did a good job of continuing the relationship between Leela and Fry.  Honestly, I was kind of worried about how they’d deal with the fact that Fry and Leela showed real affection for each other, yet a great deal of comedy in the original run came from the fact that Fry was hopelessly in love and Leela would never reciprocate.

While comedy in this episode wasn’t overly strong, the cultural references they had were very well-placed and funny.  Wondering why the androids changed voices when they switched to robot form was a great poke at the Terminator movies, and Bender singing Coma Chameleon while he parties was random and simply too funny to not laugh.

If I needed to criticize the episode, I’d argue the fact about making a robot version of a boyfriend/girlfriend was covered previously in I Dated a Robot, and it was thoroughly disapproved by everyone, yet was magically acceptable now (And even Hermes helped Fry make the robot).  Still, for a first episode and a reboot of the series, it was a great way to expand on the finale for fans, and to introduce new people to the series.

Episode Two – In A-Gadda-Da Leela

I should have known, if you want to show people how funny Futurama can be, do an episode centered on Leela and Zapp Brannigan.  This episode shows exactly the style of humour that the show is capable of, and just how well it can pull it off.  Bible references (“And our kids can have kids of their own….ewwwwww…..is that really what happened in the Bible?), Star Wars references, a mild series of plot twists, V-GINY, and a hilariously ironic ending that you never would have expected based on what happens in the episode.  This episode was non-stop laughter, and really showed what this show is capable of.

All in all, I really am looking forward to the new seasons after these two episodes.  The writing is still as clever as it has always been, and the voice acting is still incredible well done.  Here’s to Comedy Central bringing the show back, and here’s to more successful seasons of the show!

Long live Futurama!

Digital Breakups

“Jane Doe is now listed as single.”

According to a recent report done by a Facebook application (I don’t normally consider applications there useful, but this is a rare exception), 25% of people have seen that line or a status update on Facebook as the first way to know that their relationship is over.  That’s one in four people finding out about their “change of relationship status” at what could be the same time as their friends and family, possibly even after!

As shocking as that stat is alone, what bugged me even more was a comment in this article stating that, and I quote, “If a social networking profile is as important as a real life image, then it only makes sense that carrying out actions of relational management carry same weight.. I say it’s fine.”  Putting aside the whole argument as to whether or not it actually is as important, it shows just exactly how impersonal technology has made us.  If you are dating someone, at least have the courtesy to tell them in person.  There’s nothing worse than finding out in an impersonal way, and potentially having a lot of unanswered questions.

I know there are circumstances where that isn’t possible, but always try to be the better person whenever possible.  Technology, while there to make our life easier, should not be used as a way to escape human contact, especially for something as serious as ending a relationship.

[Article Link]

Blur

For the past couple of weeks, most of my gaming time has been going to Blur, an interesting addition to the racing genre.  It’s a nice change for me, considering that it’s been such a long time since I’ve played any kind of racing game (The last one I would have played consistently was Need for Speed III, if you can imagine), and I’ve found that this was a perfect balance of arcade and simulation for me.

To start off with, comparisons with Mario Kart are hard nor to do, but saying that it’s “Mario Kart meets Project Gotham Racing” doesn’t give a full picture of the gameplay and learning curve difference between Blur and Mario Kart.  I know I’ve been guilty of saying that before, but after playing it myself as well as playing with someone whose favourite racing game is Mario Kart, I’ve realized that it requires a different approach.  Fundamentally, it is a combination of powerups and real-life vehicles, and the marriage between the two is very smooth and executed well.  You have an item that targets the leader of the pack, weapons that require aim to hit the person in front of you or behind, droppable items to screw over opponents later, as well as a few other new items that are new to this game and actually have good use in both an offensive and a defensive sense. Where this game differentiates itself from Mario Kart is in two ways: depth and balance.

Unlike Mario Kart, this game is always giving you new things to strive for in the form of unlockables, and it is seemingly endless in the time that you can spend playing the game while still keeping the challenge alive.  In order to unlock new vehicles, you need to increase you fan count.  Fans are gained every time you pull off a scoring move in a race, if you complete specific challenges, as well as based on where you place in the race.  Each rank you unlock gets you something new, whether it’s a new vehicle, a new modification for your vehicle, or new challenges/events.  While you’d think that this system does actually favour higher ranked individuals, it is still fully possible to beat a rank fifty even if you’re a rank below ten.

Of course, part of that is due to balance, or what some people could call a lack of balance.  Every single powerup in the game can be countered, whether it’s from the obvious shield to even barging incoming shunts.  Even more, you actually hold on to three items at a time, allowing you to plan in advance what kind of strategy you want to take for the course, and all items are planned out around the course in a specific pattern, allowing you to plan your route based on which items you want.  From a defensive standpoint, it’s an excellent addition.  From an offensive point, it’s incredibly frustrating once you fall behind.  If someone has enough of a lead, it becomes incredibly difficult to catch up with them.  It’s not impossible; it just usually requires you to take an incredibly aggressive approach that could potentially leave you defenceless.

This game does take some time to get used to, but once you’ve got the hang of it it’s great fun, and the ability to optionally reset your rank in order to get legend vehicles is a great way to bring the challenge back to the game and force you to retry using different vehicles and different modifications.  If you enjoy racing games that don’t have the word “kart” in their title, then you’ll certainly enjoy this game.

Change of Scenery

So, if you’ve happened to visit this site wondering why it’s changed yet again, I’ve switched hosting providers.  The old one, Squarespace, while nice, was pricy and very underpowered.  So, I’ve switched to a relatively cheaper hosting company where I’m paying 1/3 of what I was before, as well as having full MySQL, PHP, and all that other kind of fun stuff you’d get from real web hosting companies.

Most of the content I want moved over is, but this is still very much a work in progress.  WordPress 3.0 came out the day after I just got this install running, so I need to take care of that.  As well, I’m still trying to find a theme I like, and then I’ll need to edit it to get everything back to the way I wanted it.  Hooray!…..kind of.