Day Thirty: evening of August 31st 2009

Well it didn’t work, I went back to find an error message on the screen stating that it could not complete the burn. It was late, so I could not start another five hour burn, so I saved the project as a archival file which means that all elements are included and saved-clips, menus, special transitions, et al. That totaled up to just about a 9 gigabytes file. I would have to try again tomorrow, but I would try a different DVD media, just to play it safe.

If you buy blank DVDs, you have to make sure they are compatible with your burner. Over the years, the CD/DVD burners have been enhanced, improved and are able to handle just about any blank recordable media that you put into them. The CD or DVD blank media have codes that indicate maximum speed (8x, 16x, 52x), dual layers (DL), storage space (4.7 GB, 8.5 GB), read only (+R, -R), write or rerecord on (+W,-W) and combinations (which I didn’t see offered in the last Microcenter flyer). Guess what I used? A very old 4x +RW DVD. Maybe , I failed to set the speed correctly, I’m not sure. So, I’ll find another type of blank DVD media to try out.

In the morning, I went digging around and found a Spindle of dual layer 8.5 GB DVD and another spindle of single layer 4.7 GB Lightscribe DVD (note: Lightscribe is process that allows you to burn in a label into the DVD, some DVD have a printable surface that allows certain inkjet printers to print a label on it.) I chose the Lightscribe DVD because the DVD that I was producing only needed 4.5 gigabytes of storage (and I wanted to test out the Lightscribe software after the system update).

The DVD was burned successfully, and played on a standard DVD player. I loaded the Lightscribe drivers, labeling software, laid out a label with an image containing the three Kennedy brothers, and sent it to the Lightscribe LaCie CD/DVD recorder. I should have know that it wouldn’t work when I put the DVD in facing the wrong way. The light scribe surface should have been facing down. Just before I started the printing operation, I did a print preview and the disk image was black. I should have stopped, but I thought that it was a glitch, earlier when the program started the opening screen was black, so I thought that it was an image loading conflict. I was wrong. Twenty minutes later the label was done and there wasn’t anything on the surface. I had to do some house work, so I stopped and returned later.

The G5 tower doesn’t have the system update on it, so I hooked up the DVD player/recorder to it, installed the software, and created a new label. When I checked the ‘Preview’ of the design , it was there. I knew this would work. I copied the failed DVD onto a new Lightscribe DVD, popped new DVD into the recorder and printed out the label. It worked. Now, I just have to take it to the Post Office and mail it off to my relative.

No video games today, I’m not happy about that, but all in all, I’m glad that I completed the project and, got things up and running for my wife, in case she needs to produce some promotional DVDs about her program.

Day Twenty-nine: late evening of August 30th 2009

The Bears are up by seven with about 30 seconds left in the half and I’ve just checked on the DVD that is being created by iDVD. I’m happy with the progress because the originally projected completion time was about 11:15 pm and now it estimated at about 10 pm. Bears have scored to make it 16 to 3 over Denver, updated to 17 to 3 with 13 seconds left in the first half.

I haven’t produced any DVDs on the PC, my wife’s graphic design class allows me access to Final Cut Pro on a Mac. She has a G5 tower at home that I can use, and have used, to make a variety of DVDs for her. I’ve also used Quicktime Pro and iMovie. Both possess basic editing features, although iMovie allows you to string your clips together and has some transition and titling capabilities. When I was involved in an after-school-program, the instructors, had the students set up web pages with HTML (a web authoring language), and iMovie to create clips for special projects.

The editing for this project, was relatively straight forward. Find the commercial breaks and remove them. I took me a few tries to remember how the cutting tool works. As you move down the clip, the first cut happens to the right of the cutting tool, and the second cut is to the left of the tool. Change to the select tool, select the commercial block, delete the block, slide the remaining clip forward, and look for the next block. The nice thing about Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express is they are nondestructive editing applications. What that means is your original clip/video is imported into the application, but any operations, cuts, rearranging, transitions are not applied to it, but in essence a virtual copy of it. This edited version is what is exported to produce the ‘final’ clip/movie. That clip can be used in a DVD burning application to produce a DVD capable of being played in a standard DVD player.

So, I’m going to stop here, go upstairs check up on the progress of the DVD, and return to the TV, to either check out the DVD or watch the end of the Bears’ third preseason game (the major players are being shifted out of the game) with the Bears ahead 17 to 10 with four and a half minutes left in the third quarter.

Day Twenty-eight: late evening of August 29th 2009

No console gaming today. Other than ‘chores’, I spent the day working on my Mac Book Pro, checking the software after the update. I found some other software updates and applied them. That required further work and spending time making sure the everything was copasetic.

I managed to play a few games on the Mac. One game was an oldie-Oni. I was amazed that it worked at all, but it did. And, other than a quirk that appeared when the character refused to stop running, it was fun to see if I could still hit the combos. The other game was Call of Duty, and that was shock. It was hard. I haven’t played it since July, when I tried to do some on line play. I couldn’t get the hang of coordinating the keyboard with the mouse. But the software worked.

I, also, spent some time doing some editing of the two documentaries. I had to pull out my 400 gigabyte hard drive to use as a scratch disk to stores temporary work files while the editing is going on. That was where I found Oni, and all the old files of my wife and myself from as far back as 2000. It caused my Tech Tool Pro daemon to announce that there wasn’t enough open space on two of the three partitioned drives. I finished one documentary, tomorrow I’ll try to complete the other documentary, and burn the DVD.

There are times when installing an update is like throwing a small rock into a pod, then watch the ring of waves expand outward, diminishing , and slowly all is calm again.

Day Twenty-seven: late evening of August 28th 2009

I received Apple’s new operating system update, Snow Leopard, today. Naturally, I was obligated to install it immediately. I had read a few reviews and previews before it was delivered in the morning, and felt that I was prepared for the installation process. Of course, I was wrong.

Now my machine is relatively new, so there wasn’t that much in the way of software and files on it. I did a Disk Utility permissions repair in preparation for the install. One review mentioned that the operating system had some issues with older software, most notably Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 (CS3). The reviewer said that patches would be coming down the pipe in a short order. Although the reviewer cautioned some software might not be updated , most notably Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 (CS3). Well I have CS3 on my Mac Book Pro and I don‘t use it much, so I decided uninstall it. Why tempt fate?

Most of the press covering the release had positive things to say. It required less space on the hard drive. There were improvements to speed, especially native application (Apple software). It takes less time loading the operating system, although it took almost 45 minutes for mine to load. So the reviews didn’t say it would be that long. I’m sure it might be different on a different computers. I have a 320 gigabyte hard drive (about a hundred gigabytes or so is used), so that might require some shuffling on the hard drive. I don’t have an issue with the time, I blocked enough time so that wouldn’t be an issue. It’s what happened after the primary installation. The install disk has a readme file(didn‘t read), the install Snow Leopard (done), and install options (?) folder. Well, being the curious type, I open the folder and discover an install Xcode and an install additional system files. Xcode has utilities for developers, and I had to open the other install application to discover the content of it. It had a variety of system resources, but two stood out.

One was the print drivers, which would allow you the select any additional drivers or all the print drivers (over a gigabyte of drivers) This one feature that is a space saver-only the driver for the printer you are currently using are stored on your hard drive. If you need additional drivers, they will be downloaded by the operating system. Very cool, provided you have access to the internet.

Now the other resource is Rosetta. I understood this to be useful because it allowed your Intel processor to work with programs developed for the older Macintosh G5s. Great, I have some of those older programs and decide to install this resource. When the installation is over, a message comes up informing me that some of the resources (I suspect it is Rosetta), might not work well with the upgrade, and I should install an older system update (the 10.5.8 combo) to remedy the problem. Damn, I wouldn’t have loaded this if I’d know that there would be a conflict. I quickly copy the URL for the patch and go to the Apple Support location with the Combo patch. I start the download, and 750 + megabyte file begins to download at a rate so slow that it would take five or six hours. Is this because so many people were hitting the servers that the throughput was diminished? I don’t know, But why didn’t the three or four reviewers mention this? You know a little “forewarned is forearmed” advice.

I guess the above would be some kind of mellow rant. I haven’t done much in the way of testing with older programs. I did play a short session of Doom without any issues, but I wasn’t in an area that place any significant stress on the OS. I’m going to install version 2 of Final Cut Express to work on my relative's Kennedy videos. I’ll see if it causes a problem.

Day Twenty-six: late evening of August 27th 2009

So today, I tried to make good on the errors that I committed yesterday. The big difference today-no rush. I check the schedule to see what times (just in case) the program will be on. Next, I located any files that remained from the previous night recording and removed them (approximately 4.2 gigabytes) to free up space on the hard drive. I decided that rather than playing around with the auto record, I would begin a manual recording about a half-an-hour before the program scheduled to start. So I was able to do my exciting house work, like cleaning the vacuum cleaner’s filters, changing the kitty litter, and walking the dog. I managed to squeeze in playing Mass Effect, stopping before the ‘Boss Battle’ at the end that level. Then I can start the DLC (downloadable content) that I purchased the day before.

At 5:30 pm I began the recording. Two hours later I went back up and, to my great relief, the program was recorded. I went back to clean up after dinner (house work), before I began the conversion to an format to edit. Now the application that is supplied with the Elgato hardware has some simple editing capabilities, which I used to pare down the two hour recording to select the desired documentary. The tricky part happens after the clip is ready, what file format will I save it as? This application has around 15 video file formats. Some are particular to Apple software (e.g. iMovies), some handheld devices (e.g. PlayStation Portable), and video editing software (e.g. Adobe Premiere). I was going to work in Apple’s Final Cut.

The formats that would be tested are Quicktime Movie (.mov) format and the Mpeg4 (.mp4) format.

I started with the Mpeg format in the ‘File’ menu through the ‘Export’ item, then found the Mpeg 4 format in the list of formats. Now, a point of information, Jpegs and Mpegs are ‘loosy’ file format. There is a compression factor involved in the saving of the file (for an explanation Google search ‘lossy jpeg mpeg’). In essence, an algorithm is used to squeeze out redundant information, and compress the size of the file. The eyetv file for the two hour show was about 5 gigabytes, after the compression the file was about 180 megabytes, a big difference. But upon playing it back, I (and you) could see the loss of surface detail, especially on the face. It would be okay if you were going to play it at a reduced size on a computer monitor, but not on a television monitor. So that file format was out. I could have tweaked it a bit in the ‘Options’ offered when I was saving the file, but it would still show some image degradation. Well that left the Quicktime format (.mov). There is compression here, but the 5.4 gigabyte file was pared down to about 2.4 gigabytes. I think some this is done by reducing the number of frames. The smoothness is maintained, so you don’t really notice it. The sharpness of the image, even on the TV monitor, remains. So that is the way I went for the documentary. (Just a note, it took about an hour to convert the eyetv clip into the .mp4 file, and three and half hours for the .mov. That was a total of 4 and a half hours to create the two formatted clips for editing.)

Next step is the actual editing and burning of a DVD using iMovie and iDVD. That is for tomorrow and maybe the weekend. I hope to get the DVD to my relative early next week.

Day Twenty: five-late evening of August 26th 2009

Well I downloaded the new scenario for Mass Effect, and this afternoon I returned to play another one of my favorite role playing games (RPG). However, I was in the middle of one of the scenarios, and I must finish that before I can take on the new DLC. Luckily, I have attained the one prerequisites for entering that scenario. I was going to return to Mass Effect this evening, but I received an urgent request from a relative to record a documentary on MSNBC about the Kennedy brothers. The particular cable channel isn’t available there. The request was based upon my having done some video editing awhile ago, and the individual thought that I might help.

Here is where things begin to break down. It is unfortunately, quite common for all computers. The video-in card that I had in the Mac worked fine until I upgraded my operating System to OS 10.2. The card stopped working. I started by checking the Mac hardware, to see if it still recognized the board. To the best of my memory, I think the system information list showed that the slot was occupied, but the characteristics of the card weren’t displayed (manufacturer, model number, and similar information). I went to the manufacturer’s website, only to discover that the card did not work with the new operating system. It stated that a new driver for the hardware was being worked on, and if I left my email address they would contact me. I did and there has been no notification of any driver. That was over two years ago. Last year, I thought that I might be doing some more video work, so I started looking for a new video input device. I found an external one that worked with the Mac and could handle HD transmissions-the Elgato EyeTV 250 Plus TV tuner (video-in capabilities also). I purchased it, tested it out, and put it up until the project was ready. That didn’t happen, so I never used it after the initial test-over 8 months ago.

So now, the request, and I’m not sure about the where the hardware is. I know the software is on the Macintosh Dual processor G5. I begin my search and found the box with the hardware unit (including the cables and controller) right away. All is good, and I feel that I can handle the situation. I take the quick reference guide, follow the directions hooking up the cables, turn every thing on and low and behold the computer screen displays a small window with a program running- Hoorah! Then another window pops up telling me that there is a newer version of the software is available (I have 3.1 and the newer version is 3.1.2). Isn’t automation wonderful-not. I figure that the update is a minor tweak, so I download it and then automatically updates the software. I restart it and the channel doesn’t pop back on (the hair begins to stand up on the back of my neck). I still have time, but if something else goes wrong I might not be able to record the program. I check the preferences and make sure that I have the video-in signal sent correctly. Slowly I checked through the preferences, and then ran setup program. I got the signal back and I was on track again. I clicked on the program guide and updated the channels and found the station that was running the documentary. I was amazed at how extensive the program guide was.

Now for act three, I do a test recording for 2 minutes. I look for the file, and I can’t find it. At first I’m flummoxed, I using the open command and checking different folders with no success. I close the channel guide and look at the desktop. Aha, its on the desktop with the label ‘eyetv’. I open it and I can’t find the file, just another folder, so I open it. There is a list of files, see the Ghost in the Machine test file from 8 months ago, but no Kennedy file. I don’t recognize anything, so I close the folders and return to the application. When I open the program guide, I notice the title of one the channels (channel 4 to be exact) is similar to a file I saw in the archive folder. I go back and discover that the clip is the one that I recorded. I try recording again and the file appears in the folder with that programs name. Now I under stand, channel 4 is the portal used by the cable modulator to send the signal to the monitor, so whatever is on channel 4 is the title of the clip. OK, moving right along, I now know where the file will go. So I check the program guide for the time that the documentary is planned, and discover that I can trigger a recording much the same as the DVR (Digital Video Recorder). Hey, this isn’t bad, and I set the device to record the program. I set the computer to activate the recording at one minute before the program and stop recording five minutes after the end. Home stretch, the clock is on 7:58, and I’m watching the closing comments of the show before the documentary when the clock hits 7:59 pm, the recording starts, and the screen goes ‘poltergeist‘. Static screams out of the monitor’s speakers. What happened? I try checking inputs, and as I shut down the recording, I see that the channel on the monitor isn’t the channel I want to record. I start clicking on buttons and nothing happens. A dialog box appears on the screen, "You have lost the signal." Another window pops up with a suggested trouble shooting steps. I’m upset. Somehow the channel shifted to an empty channel, and the recording was ruined. Now what will I do? I email my relative and say that I have failed, but I think that the network will rerun it and I will try again. I reset the application, get the channel on again and manually start recording. Somewhere I read that the storage requirements are 1 hour requires 1.8 gigabytes of storage space. There is 26.7 gigabytes of storage space left. That is plenty of time. I can edit out the section I need.

I’m typing this while the channel is being recorded. I think the rerun will occur at 1 am. I’m finished here. One of the things that crossed my mind when I started this task had happened. Using software that you are unfamiliar with can lead to the very situation that I was in-a failed project. I had an interface that was new. I applied a patch without checking its affect on the application. I had a deadline that didn’t allow for much error, and/or some experimentation. The event reminded me of Murphy’s law states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” The initial smooth sailing in the beginning lulled me into a false sense of security. It has happened before, and even though I try to plan ahead, it will happen again.

"Sailor Beware, the North Star is lying. . ." Claire De Lune

Day Twenty-four: late evening of August 25th 2009

I guess I missed tonight’s Sark event on the PS 3. I wonder how the players in the PlayStation 3, or the Xbox 360, sniper event were chosen? I was proud of some of the long distance shots that were made. Some of it was luck, others were, well, completed using ‘Kentucky windage’. It brings to mind Disney’s 50’s TV series, Davy Crockett, and how he took into account the tendencies of his Kentucky long rifle to make an accurate shot. The website, microwaves101.com, attributes it to Sergeant York (the movie? or the person?). I’m sure that there are others who can produce other origins of the term.

Well even less tonight, I’m very tired, so I think I’ll go to bed as soon as possible.

Oh! Some new downloadable content is available for Mass Effect costing 400 Microsoft points.

Day Twenty-three: very late evening of August 24th 2009

Well if this doesn’t make it on the 24th of August then it will be the very early morning entry of the 25th.

I tried to participate in Mr. Sark’s sniper event in Battlefield 1943 on the Xbox 360, but I don’t think I connected. I played from 8 o’clock (5 p.m. PST) in the evening of the 24th until 12:30 (9:30 p.m. PST) in the morning of the 25th. I had to take a 20 minute break at about ten o’clock to feed the pets (two cats and one dog) and a quick drink (non-alcoholic-got to keep sharp).

Judging by the others playing the game, I was outclassed as a sniper. I had a few good moments, but they were far and few between. I did better with the antiaircraft gun (AA), because that was what I was trained for in the military. Of course that wasn't part of the competition.

One of things that happened that was interesting, was watching total team play. I don’t know if it was coordinated, but the side that I was on for two or three games was down right ‘military’. I couldn’t hear anything. I had my headphones with microphone attached, and early on I heard some noises but nothing that was intelligible. This group took control of checkpoints, with what appeared to be combined arms teams, including ground support supplied by aircraft. The other side tried to take control of the checkpoints, but my side had control of the high ground with snipers and infantry, and near the check point they had armor with submachine gunners with antitank weapons. Occasionally, I was able to get a round or two off in support, but most of the time I watched in awe of what was unfolding before me. Well that’s it for tonight. I’ll try the same thing tomorrow, but this time I’ll be on the PlayStation 3. So I might be late again with my entry.

Day Twenty-two: late evening of August 23th 2009

I worked on the wifi today. Both consoles have the ability to check the signal strength, so that was what I investigated today.

I think that the Airport base station has a range of about 150 feet. Our house is a two flat on a 125 by 40 foot lot. So the range shouldn’t be an issue. There are other factors involved. The materials used in the construction of the building can diminish the signal. The house is frame structure built in 1897. Generally that type construction wouldn’t be an issue, but in the process of updating the building, adding duct work,bringing wiring up to code with flexible sheilding and even certain types of appliances can affect the signal. Even other wireless devices, such as the wireless home phone systems can actually cut into the transmission of your wifi.

This actually happened to our system. Whenever the phone in my daughter’s room was picked up, we would loose the connection to the base station. It took us a while to figure out what was causing the drop out, but eventually we did. Now the problem was how to fix it. Research was needed, and luckily we had the internet and Apple Support on line. Most of the wireless devices transmit on channels and those channels can be selected via software that comes with the wifi base stations. Even the modular home phones allow channel selection (I’m not sure if all wireless phone base stations have it-you have to check). Some of the channels are reserved for the unit’s system-check the manual. If you can’t find the manual, most manuals are on line now.

Back to the set up of the wireless network. The consoles (2) that are directly beneath the transmitter had the strongest signal. The Xbox 360 had 3 out of 4 bars, while the Playstation 3 next to it showed 100% reception. I was impressed. Now the consoles in the front room, about fifty feet from the other two, showed a considerable drop off in strength. The Xbox 360 showed one bar and it was red, The Playstation 3 show 35% signal strength. I was troubled by the really low Xbox reception. But I shouldn’t, because the signal falls of geometrically. I’ll try shifting the location in the near future, attempt to improve the reception, and publish the outcome here.

I did play a little bit of this (Battlefield 1943) and a little bit of that (Fallout 3), but I guess that will be enough for now.

Day Twenty-one: late evening of August 22th 2009

Well, I was able to play both Battlefield 1943 and Fallout 3 for about four hours. I know that I said that I was going to just play Fallout 3, but I adjusted the position and orientation off the Airport base station. I thought that standing it vertically and shifting it over a bit it might improve the signal. I thought it had worked, but about an hour into BF1943, I lost the connection. At least I wasn’t locked out. So I ran the wifi test, re-adjusted the antenna on the Xbox, and the signal was back. So, I went back to playing for another half hour without incident. I’ll check again tomorrow.

Fallout 3 was next. It was hard to break away from Battlefield 1943, but I did. My character was in Megaton, so I decided to explore the fortified town. I went to Craterside Supplies, sold some of the equipment, apparel, and supplies, then I had the store keeper repair some of my belongings, and exchange pleasantries, before I left. One of my objectives was to seek out the bar owner Moriartry for information related to my father. So be it. It is off to the saloon. After I get the information, I run into a character named Mr. Burke who offers me a reward for triggering the atomic bomb in the center of town (hence the origin of town name). I know that I want to play it evil, but I decide to double cross him, and turn him in to the sheriff, Mr. Simms. This act of deviousness results in the death of the sheriff, and my killing Burke almost simultaneously. I’m still going to have to disarm the bomb. I am concerned if I’m to blatant about it, I’ll offend the Cult of Atom worshippers. At this point in time I can’t. I don’t have enough expertise in explosives to do it now, but when I level up, I’ll fix that problem. I run into the orphaned son of the sheriff, who reminds me that his father told him to give me some thing when I disarm the bomb. Further incentive to take care of the device (I remember what one of the things is, but I won’t mention it now).

When I’m done in Megaton, and am getting ready to leave, I have at least one more additional quest. So I leave, hot on the trail of my father, who has headed into the heart of a decaying Washington D.C. By the way, when Fallout 3 was introduced, there was an outcry from the political right about the way our capital looked in the game. The post apocalyptic capital was abhorrent to them. The images of the various monuments in different degrees of destruction, according to them, was disrespectful. Politicians have a way of finding causes large and small, real or imagined. You always have to wonder about their motivation.

Day Twenty: late evening of August 21th 2009

Well, I’m beginning to think that the PS3/Battlefield 1943 issue of freezing, is the result of my wireless network. I had the same freeze occur on the Xbox 360 today. It was really funny, I was sitting, playing BF 1943, when the screen froze as I zeroed in my target. I immediately looked over at the PlayStation 3 to see if the drive light was flickering and continued to stare at it wondering why it wasn’t blinking. Then it dawn on me, obviously slowly, it was the Xbox 360. I pressed all the controller buttons that I had pressed the day before on the PS3 controller, with the same results-nothing. I reset without restarting the game. It was dinner time.

I returned after dinner with the intent of playing Fallout 3 on the other Xbox. I had the game right by the console, but I just had to try Battlefield 1943. It didn’t freeze, the screen went blank, popped back on and a information window said that I lost connection to Xbox Live. I could use my controller, so I dropped back into the 'Dashboard', adjusted the external wireless antenna, and on the second try, I succeeded in re-establishing the wifi connection. I went back to the BF1943. I played through a few more sessions without incident, before quitting to feed the dog and work on this entry.

To change the subject, I had to sit in a waiting room while a relative went in for some lengthy tests at a hospital. I was there for about four and a half hours, and had my netbook on most of the time. When I left, I still had 59% of the battery charge left. After checking some sources for about a half hour before starting this, I’m still running on the charge as I type this (35%).

Tomorrow, I’ll get back to Fallout 3.

Day Nineteen: late evening of August 20th 2009

Well, an issue on the PlayStation 3 running Battlefield 1943, is the topic tonight. I wasn’t going to play Battlefield 1943 tonight, but when I watched X-Play a challenged was issued by Mr. Sark, a regular contributor on the show. He is sponsoring a ‘sniper fest’ on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Well I just played BF 1943 on the Xbox 360, yesterday and the day before as a sniper, so I thought that I would go on the PlayStation 3, and take a little refresher training on it. I played a few games and was warmed up when the game freezes. Drat, I was running up a point total mixing sniping and AA work, too. Well, I decided to shut down the machine, and switch to the other PS3 (my daughter’s) and try it again. Guess what (You don’t really have to guess, you already know what is going to happen next), it happened on the other console, Iwas running up a modest point total and BAM-frozen screen. I noticed that on both consoles the Hard Drive indicator light was quickly flashing long after the screen had frozen. Again, I tried different controller buttons, even the PS3 button used to quit the game was locked out. I went to the console and put my finger tip on the touch sensitive on/off area. That was the end of the session and the source for this post.

This is when I go online, Googling the terms: PlayStation 3 (or PS3), Battlefield 1943 (or BF 1943), freezing (freezes), EA (or Electronic Arts, the publisher). If you do something like that, you should be in the ballpark. As you skim through the listing, note the date that it was posted, then chose the most recent to start with. When I clicked on the most recent post, I was taken to the PlayStation 3 forum, where the symptoms discussed matched my mine. Resolution to the problem, none that fixed the problem. The only thing presented was to reset the machine and start over. Occasionally, an individual states that they have never had any kind of problem, in some way implying, “Something must be wrong with your setup.” The same kind of give and take occurred at the EA site. After a while a common refrain appeared, “They better come out with a patch.” The ’they’ is the publisher Electronic Arts. So the problem is not resolved as of this time. I don’t know if I’ll be playing Battlefield 1943 much more on the PS3.

If you’re interested in the Mr. Sark’s BF 1943 Sniperfest, you need to send an email to mrsark@g4tv.com. Include your gamer tag with your email (I usually put that in the ‘Subject:’ heading of the email). The schedule for the event is Monday, August 24 at 5pm (time zone?) for the Xbox 360, and Tuesday, August 25 at 5pm (time zone?). I’m sure that the response from Mr. Sark will include the specifics. I wonder what it will be like with two teams of 12 snipers running around an island trying to be . . . well I don‘t even know what the rules/goals are.

Day Eighteen: late evening of August 19th 2009

Going to the dentist really takes the edge off of playing anything. I got home took care of the dog, pulled up the recliner, fired up the Xbox 360 and TV, loaded Fallout 3, settled into the recliner and pick up where I left off yesterday. The right side of my jaw remained numb for about three hours after I left the dentist, so I was just beginning to feel my jaw as I finished my session after advancing to the 3rd level. I took an Advil and began waiting for my wife to return from the dentist (coincidence, I think not). At least, she was just having an x-ray taken.

While I was playing, and saving like crazy, I was thinking about yesterday, when I wondered if anyone was using the game as a writing resouce. I started mull over how I would begin the ‘novel’. So here it goes:

I thought it would feel damper, and smell mustier. I was confused, no roaches. Ahead of me, I saw a dimmed light streaming through what appeared to be boarded up hole. I wonder what it looks like on the other side, this side looked very common. Maybe the Overseer, wanted it that way. If it looked very ordinary, it wouldn’t attract attention-camouflage.

What would cause someone who thought so rationally twenty years, to degenerate into a paranoid, irrational tyrant. I wasn’t sure how or why it happened, but I was on the run because that is what happened. I knew that I wouldn’t be followed. I would miss Amata, but there wasn’t a choice-not now.

I was still standing at the blocked opening as my thoughts returned to leaving the tunnel and entering The Wasteland. My palms are damp, sweaty. Wait, It can’t be sweat, “Ladies don’t sweat, they perspire.” Well, after the craziness that happened inside The Vault, the gun fight and what I was told would await me on the other side of the door, I couldn’t be a ’lady’ any more. Sweat it is.

I’m glad that my father taught me how to shoot, even if it was a BB gun. I wished security hadn’t shot at me. I don’t know what dad would have thought. He had managed to escape without triggering the alarms, or hurting a soul. He should have taken Jacob with, though, poor dead Jacob. The Overseer over reacted, no he cracked, and orders were issued-poor dead Jacob. I don’t think dad thought that would happen.

Suddenly hatch behind me slowly rolls close, the alarm claxon sound is clamped off, the flashing red warning light shuts off. Darkness and silence, two senses were denied inputs. The other three senses amped up. Hands and face felt the dampness. The nose registered a faint smell of wet dirt. My tongue felt dry and almost fuzzy. Slowly the three were joined by the other two. Ahead of me a silvery glow forced its way through the gaps in the door. I could hear what sounded like the air outside of the door was in motion-the Wind!

As my hand moved closer to the door, I could feel the air forced onto my damp palm. I could feel the wind. My hand moves closer and touches the door. The surface is rough and feels irregularly ridged. The air forcing its way through the cracks is cold and I feel a chill run up my arm, soon my whole body feels it and I begin to shiver. Did my dad come through here? I push forward with my right hand leading the way. I hear a snap and a metallic creak sounds off to my right. A silvery glow appears on the left edge of the door. I am afraid.

So that is how I would start Joanne’s Fallout. I wonder if a creative writing teacher could get a student involved in writing if they had to pen an adventure story, an exposition, based upon a role playing game (RPG).

Day Seventeen: very late evening of August 18th 2009

I decided to start Fallout 3 over again, this time changing gender, and becoming as evil as I can. I was playing as a female on the PlayStation 3, but I was playing it as a ‘goodie two shoes’. I stopped playing it on the PS3, because I wanted to advance with some or all the downloadable content loaded (the DLC was supposed to be out , or at least some of it, by now-ah delays). The primary platform for Fallout 3 was the Xbox 360, followed by the PC and the PS3.

I wonder if there is a blog that journals the adventures of someone’s character? The follow up question might be, “Would the adventure read like Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren?” If it hasn’t been done, it sounds like something worth trying.

I don’t remember exactly how long I played, an hour and a half, maybe. While I was completing the escape from Vault 101 and was just about to enter The Wasteland , when my wife returned and I had to save and get ready for dinner. One of the issues with repeat play is familiarity factor. In other words, you have more than an inkling about what is going to happen. It might not be the exact reoccurrence, but “Forewarned is forearmed.” Well that is the case here. I’m hoping that my memory will be a little off, and history might change because I’m playing on the ‘Dark Side’. We shall see.

After having dinner and walking the dog, I played a couple of hours of Battlefield 1943. I averaged about 80 to 90 experience points. The highest game was 143, and the lowest was 38. My wife called and needed my help, she was shopping with her mother, and I stopped to help her. Luckily the current game was just ending so it was not a problem to quit.

I don’t think that I’ll be able to play either of those games tomorrow, I’m visiting the dentist again. I guess I’ll be bringing the netbook with.

Day Sixteen: late evening of August 17th 2009

I was going to say that I that I wasn’t all that involved with video gaming today. Then I realized that the main task of the day required that I go out this afternoon with waiting as a major element of the task, and while waited I read an eBook on my netbook, and, I forgot about this, played some games on my iPhone.

A number of mobile phone offer the option of downloading and playing video games. If your interested, this is something that you can check out online by checking the type of contract that you have and the model of the phone you have. There are times when you are stuck in a waiting situation, and you want to pass the time. Reading a book, or a magazine, or a newspaper is an option while you wait. I used to carried a book with when I went to the doctor’s or dentist’s office, and considering that I usually arrive 15 to 20 minutes early, I needed it. Now I usually bring my Nintendo DS Lite with The New York Times crossword puzzle game inserted into it (The game grades your performance-20 minutes to solve one puzzle equals a B). That was until I purchased my netbook.

Well, back to the iPhone. I was checking for updates to the apps and I decided to see what was new, and I found a new whimsical game called Flight of the Hamster from the Cartoon Network and smashing content. You catapult a hamster into the air and see how long that you can keep the little varmint in the air, gaining altitude, if you can (I haven’t), and travel as far as you can. I could see someone getting lost in this one, but for me, 5 to 10 minutes maximum. There are other games to play, some might be more whimsical, and others considerable less so.

One of my favorite time killers is Bejeweled 2, I can go for twenty minutes or more on that one. Another game I enjoy is Yahtzee Adventure, this one allows you the flexibility of playing a single game or go on a career journey that requires more commitment (You are playing against the computer‘s A.I.). A number of the games are 99 cents, some are free, and others can cost more (Yahtzee Adventure costs $2.99). Because of the price, it's easy to create an arsenal of time killers, and if you get tired of one, well, your capital expenditure for it wasn’t that great (and you can come back to it, if you desire to remind yourself why you got bored with it).

One warning about the addictive games, watch your batteries, the drain can be significant (including the iPhone with the 3G setup shut off). The serious drain was one of the reasons I shifted to my netbook with the eight hour + battery.

Day Fifteen: evening of August 16th 2009

The dog has finished its meal, the cat is having its snack, and Vin Diesel is protecting ‘mankind’s last hope’.

I finished Ghostbusters this afternoon. I’m glad I played on casual, because I’d still be playing it. An issue appeared in the closing sections of the game, that was bothersome. Pay close attention to what your fellow ’busters’ say, there were two occasions where directions, other than look in a certain way, were give that I missed hearing. Maybe the volume of the TV was to low, or I was concentrating on something other than the main action. (Spoiler Alert-don’t read the next few lines if you want to solve this by yourself) In the first situation, the directions were repeated, “Use the slime tether,” and I figured out (by accident) to slam the stone cherubs into the gate. The second incident occurred shortly after, all I heard was “pull down the gate,” and again, after slime tethering just about everything to the gate I tried Ecto 1 and that was it. Nobody offered any directions and the silence was frustrating. (End of Spoiler Alert) So these two events slowed me down a bit. I’m glad that the designers put the revive action, because I was saved quite a few times. A very nice inclusion, but it wouldn’t be worth a plug nickel if the artificial intelligence for the ‘busters’ wasn’t up to it. It worked very well. So I only had to restart the level two time-a lengthy reset process.

Well Babylon A.D. is ending, and it was okay. I’m glad that I didn’t purchase the DVD, because this definitely was a one time viewing. Pitch Black (2000) is still my favorite Vin Diesel film (I don’t count Saving Private Ryan because it was an ensemble affair).

I’ve got to find some lessons for my wife. She’s working on a curriculum development project for a Graphic Design program and she needs them tomorrow.

Day Fourteen: late evening of August 15th 2009

Well it has been a long day, and even though I had a variety of tasks to do, I managed to play Ghostbusters for about an hour and a half. I wish I had blocked out more time to play some more, but I’m happy that I finished a level and started another.

This game was easy to pick up even after not playing it for about a week. It only required a quick glance at the control description in the manual to check out what each button did, and I was playing again. I’ll try to play a bit longer tomorrow and see if I can actually complete the game. I think I’m at a point that feels like this is the approach to the final battle. As a matter of fact, I was wondering if this game has a replay value. I’m glad I chose to play at the casual setting, because it gives me an incentive to see if I can play with the big boys by choosing a more difficult level the next time I play. If I’m not sure about the way a game might play, I’ll choose the novice setting. Doing this allows you to get use to the controller, for this game, I mastered the buttons and triggers, quickly, but the left and right joystick’s control of movement and aiming gave me some trouble. I wonder why I rarely go to the Options menu in most games and adjust the sensitivity of the controller.

What do I like about the game?

Well the designers based their game upon a movie that I really enjoyed. I own the VCR tape and the DVD of the movie. The sound track uses the same tunes that were in the movie. The voice acting taps into the actual actors for most of, if not all, of the characters in the movie. The 3-D graphics are top notch. The Ghostbusters, themselves, are recognizable, and along with the games ghost and demons, their animation is smooth. I didn’t notice any stuttering when they were battling with numerous evil denizens. The hand controller worked well (I was playing with the Xbox 360's controller, which I find a bit more comfortable than the one that comes with the PlayStation 3), but there were times when I couldn’t bring the beam of the proton accelerator around quickly to target an enemy. As I played, I remembered the movies. This, I feel, demonstrates the care that the publisher took in the design and execution of the game.

What didn’t I like?

There were an number of times when the characters would repeat what they had just said. Occasionally, a character would say something that distracted me, yelling something like, “Watch out on the left!” which proved to be misleading. This is one of those games that has save points, usually after the completion of some major task within the level. That was why I quit after an hour and a half of play. It was getting close to dinner and I didn’t want to be put into the situation where I would have to decide whether I continue playing and have my dinner get cold (not to mention being rude to my family), or end it now, giving up my advancement within the level, eat a warm meal, and keeping my family happy (Of course you know what I picked). And then there is the issue of whether or not you would replay it after the completion of the game.

Would I recommend this game?

Yes, and I haven’t even checked out the multiplayer option. I think it would be a plus if the individual were a fan of the movies, simply because I feel that the game will trigger some fond memories of the originals. The game has yet to disappoint me, but then again, I was sold on the game before it was released.

Well, It's late here. I hope that I can find time tomorrow to play and maybe I'll be able to finish the game.

Day Thirteen: afternoon of August 14th 2009

There hasn’t been a lot of gaming going on as of yet. By the time I was finished with the Xbox alignment, it was about 3am, and I had to get up in three and a half hours. I don’t remember doing this the other times the 360 was replaced. I actually was able to establish a cue of downloads, so while I waited I downloaded another ebook from the Barnes and Noble website. I know that the Kindle from Amazon.com has received a lot of publicity with its release (my daughter has one), but you don’t have to purchase one if you have a laptop, netbook, or certain brands of mobile of phones. Just load up your browser, and do an online search for ‘ebooks’. The tally of hits on the Ask search engine was 1,210,000, a lot of things to check out, but I’m sure that you’ll be satisfied with the first dozen or so. I selected the Barnes and Noble site because I used to buy hard copies of books and magazines from them whenever I was running errands for my wife.

To get the thing running you need to set up an account, download the ebook reader, and start shopping. I decided to work with the dedicated reader for Barnes and Noble. I considered the Adobe reader, because I’m familiar with their line of application and I know that they are relatively reliable, but I was a bit confused about how it handled multiple file types. I might return to it when I get more comfortable with this type of document. The first night I downloaded In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect by Ronald Kessler (list price $26.00 : eBook price $9.99). Once I set up the B&N eReader (a control panel for handling setting up libraries, ordering eBooks, and acquiring purchased tomes). Accessing the Barnes and Noble website was as easy as clicking ‘Shop for eBooks’ in the menu bar, and then browsing new releases or conducting a search for a specific title. I found the title I was looking for, clicked the purchase button, returned to the eReader and clicked on the ‘Get Purchases’ That basically is the routine. There are directions that need to be followed. One action that needs to be taken is whether you want to be able to access/share your library with other people, or keep it restricted to the single computer that you use.

Once you click on a title in the eReader listing of books, that book opens in its own window. Now you can tailor the way the text and background look. The most obvious controls are in the lower menu bar (Full Screen, Two Pages, Preferences, Find . . . et al). But if you want to control the text appearance and background look for the Setting menu choice in the upper menu bar. Here you can change the size of the font, text justification, line spacing, and margins. Below that is theme setting which controls the background and text colors. It gives you the ability to modify the colors of all aspects of the theme. It is important to adjust, or experiment with, these settings for your optimum reading experience.

Well, I going to go back to my eBook about the Secret Service and find out more about the nature of the individuals they were honor bound to protect. We’ve had some pretty unique human beings sitting in that seat of power (regardless of political affiliation).

Day Twelve: evening of August 13th 2009

This was one of those days that made me remember what it was like being a kid again. Last night I received an automated call from UPS informing me that a package requiring my signature would be arriving. I knew what that meant - the XBox was returning. Eleven days, or nine business days, that was pretty quick. I guess that is the advantage of living in a city that is a shipping hub (not discounting the speed of the repair/replacement).

Oh cruel fate, today was the day I had to visit my dentist for some cleaning. The appointment was scheduled for 10am, which happens to be one of the times UPS delivers in my neighborhood. The other time is around 2pm. Luckily, my daughter would be around, so she could sign for the package. But I wouldn’t be there.

Well, when I returned at about 11:30am, the left side of my mouth numb, to an empty table. A brief disappointment flashed through my mind, quickly replaced by that building anticipation - I can’t wait for IT. I could and I would, but that’s not what I would consider acceptable back in the day. I sat in the recliner (mistake) and the Novocain kicked in and I drifted into a state of semi-consciousness that lasted until about one o’clock. It was time to take out the dog. Lead on and out the back door. Be quick my four legged responsibility. Well there was my neighbor, sitting in his back. I don’t usually see him, so I really want to see how things are going. Pleasantries exchanged, and the conversation drifts about. Whoa, out of the corner of my eye, a UPS truck registers, and a sense of urgency kick in. The dog has done the deed, and I politely excuse myself, a delivery is expected, and quickly return to my home. I’m not worried, I should be able to get to the door ahead of the delivery person. Should I take it upstairs and set it up, or should I bring it down and set it up downstairs. Oh, decisions, decisions!. There is no door bell sounding as I enter the living room. Yes! I am fast. I wait-no ringing. What? I look out the door only to see that the UPS vehicle has parked down the block and no delivery will be made at this time - Ratz!

Two o’clock, three o’clock, four o’clock, five o’clock, an early dinner, and just as we begin, the package arrives. Adult behavior kicks in, and I place the package down (within sight of course) and calmly eat dinner with my family. After dinner, I help clean up. Now I can take the package upstairs to set up the console.

With anticipation muted, a bit, I begin to unpack the unit. I’m glad that my years of teaching have taught me how to use my keys to open packages. I don’t have time to waste looking for scissors. Directions rest upon the plastic wrapped console. In my youth I would have bypassed the directions-I knew how to set it up (I had done it three times before). But I decide to read the directions. One sheet shows how to re-link the controller, another a customer service survey, and the ‘thank you for being patient’ letter (mentioning a Xbox Live one month membership card). My previous exposure to these documents doesn‘t get in the way of my syncing the controller with the console. But then I started reading the fourth sheet, a multilingual document. This describes the procedure for officially tying the downloadable content to the current console (not the one sent in for repair) Otherwise there could be access problems by other users of your machine. All I have to do is log in to my account access my account info and re-download everything. WHAT? I am disappointed. I’ve had this for four years, and have downloaded a lot of material, from gamer pictures to whole games. I’ve got to begin the process in order to see what will be needed to be done. I start and discover that there are 176 pieces of downloadable content (DLC). The process is tedious. Some things download quickly, a couple of seconds, others 5 to 10 minutes. The tediousness overcomes me and I slip off and fall asleep (damn recliner/wonderful recliner). I wake and check to see what I have completed - 72 of the 176. I need to go and have some dessert with my family. The wireless link breaks off unexpectedly. I try to reconnect a couple of time without any success, making my desire for dessert stronger than desire to continue.

This is when I remember what it was like being a kid again. The joy of what could be countered by the reality that manifest itself. Sometimes the reality is aligned with the expectations other times it doesn’t. I’ve never tallied the results, but I don’t think I’ve been overwhelmed by the latter, otherwise, why would I have responded to the whole situation the way I did. I’m not totally disappointed by this new procedure, but I wonder why the Xbox people designed something so byzantine? (Even though I am an Apple/Mac user, I will refrain from making any Microsoft cracks at this point.)

Day Eleven: evening of August 12th 2009

I was going to start out by saying I didn’t do much today with video gaming or technology. The comment about video gaming is true (so far), but I realize that the getting away from technology is fairly hard to do, especially in a large metropolitan area.

I had to take my wife’s mother to the dentist this afternoon. Not a big deal, especially with a cellular phone to place a call while I was waiting outside our house. In about five minutes, there was the taxi. A short drive later, mother-in-law in cab, and we were at the dentist’s office. Prior to leaving, I decided to take my netbook with to see if I could connect to the internet from the dentist’s office using my phone as an on the go modem. I had tried this at home, but issues with the wifi in the house. I’m became unsure about shutting down the wireless link in Windows and then link up again after the test.

So, we’re in the waiting room for about 20 minutes, we arrived early, and we conversed about a variety topics. When she was called into the office, I removed the computer from its slip case, and powered it up. As I began to work Toshiba connection utility, I discovered that the office had three, wireless access points. One was a secure/locked channel and two public/unsecured channels, well I decided to skip the Bluetooth experiment and link up via the one of the office’s open channels. Not a problem, I could try the link up at my mother-in-law’s apartment after the visit. An interesting link to the internet appeared as the final wifi source ended the list of connection points-the liquor store on the corner , about 75 feet away.

Well, as I waited, I read an article in the New York Times online edition about the upcoming release of Rock Band: Beatles Edition. The writer relates how certain aspects of the game relate to pivotal points in the Beatles rise to fame and that particular point’s impact on popular music. Then there are additional points made about how this type of interactive game is having impact on the music industry, citing the increase in sales on iTunes of songs included in the other releases of Rock Band and its precursor, Guitar Hero. As I was continuing my read, I could hear the voice of my wife’s mother speaking with the dental hygienist. So I Quit the browser, shut down the computer, and began to slide it into the slip case as The next appointment was being made. My iPhone was pulled out and the appointment app was used record the date of the next check-up.

Another quick cab trip, and we’re at her apartment. We go to her apartment and as we talk about why it takes so long for her television to come on, and I fix her old dust buster (a jammed release). While this is going on I open up my netbook and try to test out the Bluetooth. I think I’m successful, but I had issues with the Windows’ Help instructions being a bit confusing. Sometimes the directions seem to be addressing the Classic Windows Control Panel and other steps refer to the XP Control Panel. I didn’t want to be too rude so I stopped fooling around and focused on the conversation with my mother-in-law.

But the interesting thing were wireless connections that appeared on the computer manufacturer’s connection utility. I think there were three, all secure, that registered in the vicinity of her apartment. And this is senior living facility. I’m proud to be 60+ myself. Well, I guess I’ve come back to the point about not being able to get away from technology. Maybe I’ll take some time to play something on a console later. Oh wait a minute I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning.

Day Ten: morning of August 11th 2009

When I went to bed last night, I felt pretty good. My family was in good spirits. I was able to complete Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta and thought about what would be next-Ghostbusters or replay Fallout 3 as an evil entity. I had played Battlefield 1943 for 45 minutes and in last battle, before I quit, I teamed up with another player in a tank unit and we blasted about until the very end, when we were taken out by a aerial attack. I accumulated my highest point total to date (311points) with only one kill. That driver really knew what he or she was doing. I wish I had gotten that persons tag to see if we could link up again. The only weird thing occurred later, as I booted up my netbook. I was queried by Windows about linking up with another wifi LAN. I was confused but didn’t think about it as I continued. I wanted to check on the progress of the Xbox that was in for repair. That results was positive. It was actually on the road back to me (ETA 13 Aug 09). Another reason for feeling good as I took the dog before retiring for the evening.

So I wake up, rested and complete my morning routine. My wife leaves the house and I sit down to have breakfast and check the Internet’s offerings. The machine starts up and the little icons in the ‘start bar’ begin loading up. All of a sudden the network links appear with a small red x beneath each icon. “Huh? Oh Crap!,” is muttered (really it was more like “Whaa? S&*$!!). “What did I do wrong?“ If you’re a Windows user, you’ve, at some point in time, uttered that statement. If you are new to Windows you probably will uttered that phrase. I haven’t been involved with Windows for awhile, but I remember my students and my fellow teachers uttering those words. It took me a few attempts at resolving the problem before I got things working again.

Before I go into a description of what I did, I just want to say that if you had restore disks get them ready. If you have a utility to create restore disks, create those disks before you do anything. I am so glad I did.

It took me a few minutes to remember some of the trouble shooting steps. The first thing that I wondered about was the request to link up the other network. Did I do that? If I did, then run the antiviral software. Done and none! Was it a registry issue? I ran the registry fix application-18 errors. Fixed and no change (other that the Toshiba HDD protection disappears). Now I have to zero in the specific apps related to the network connection. Putting the cursor over them will give you a status condition. If you left click on the icon, you will open an access window that will allow you to perform operations related to that particular system function. If you right click on the icon a list of operations appear. It is similar to the access window, but with additional operations that you can perform. One of them might be ‘repair’. When that option appears click on it. I did and after an automated process took place, Windows inform me that it was unable to complete this and I should check with the person who set up the network to address this issue (that’s me-I’m so lucky). Back to the icon with the repair option, another right click, and see if an “Open Network Connections” option is available. I clicked on it and it opens the Network Connections window. I tried the Network Troubleshooter and wound my way through its steps. Somewhere in the operations that ensued I was directed to remove corrupted files related to the wireless card and reinstall those drivers. Guess what this requires-those restore disks that I setup right after I bought the machine. So now we come to the part where I decide to take a short cut. I put the restore disk into the DVD player that I’ve attached and run the driver restore application, reinstalling the drivers for my wireless card after choosing the overwrite option, figuring that that will get rid of the corrupted files. Restoration complete restart the computer, and . . . no network connection!

You know, I should know better. Time after time, I’ve taken a shortcut with Windows. Some times it works, but most of the time it doesn’t work. I’ll learn, eventually. Chalk this one up to not using Windows for a while.

Back to the fix. I went back to the control panel, accessing it through the start button. I clicked on the “Add or Remove Programs” link. And proceeded to first remove the corrupted drivers for my wireless network card and then added the needed drivers, which required a reboot of the machine. Viola, as the little icons reappeared, I was asked which network I wanted to join and I was back in business again. Hot Dog!

I’m glad that the problem was resolved, but what happened in the first place. This is an issue that has always bugged me about Windows (less with Macs), it seems so fragile. Once this has happens a few times, you feel very vulnerable and justifiably so. Any new operation (adding a new peripheral, running a utility) that is done to the system leaves you wondering if this will trigger a some kind of corruption to driver. After a while, you begin to feel comfortable with the system again (letting your guard down), and Wham!, it happens again. I don’t know if this is right. I don’t feel that it is right. I wonder how the creators of the operating system and any external or internal additions feel. I don’t think they want to cause problems. Apple handled it, to a greater extent, by a having a very structured closed architecture, that requires developers to plug things in just so. Windows, in its desire to allow the greatest amount of access to developers, created a very open structure that permitted a great degree of flexibly in approaching software solutions. But this means that conflicts can occur when two developers lay claim to the same resource in the operating system and the conflict resolving ability that is built into the system can’t handle those claims.

I’m glad I’m familiar with both systems. It has helped at work and at home. I just wish I could deal with Windows issues as easily as I’ve dealt with most of my Mac issues (note: most not all).

Day Nine: morning of August 10th 2009

As I was searching for a new headset for my iPhone, Regis and Kelly was on, and I noticed that both the guest host Aston Kutcher and Kelly Rippa were using Mac Book Pros, and I wondered if the producers for the show purchased the units for practical reasons, or because they look good, or some other reason. I know that it isn’t a host request, because both Regis and Kelly have described their interaction with computers as minimal. I’ve noticed that the Mac brand of laptops frequently appear on television, sometimes disguised with a patch covering the logo. In one commercial, Macs are used for a program that helps speed up your computer, probably for cleaning/adjusting the file registry. It happens in both machines, but the Mac has a application in its utility folder to address this situation, whereas the PC needs a user purchased utility. When I went to the website for that application, I discovered it was for PC only. The disadvantage of using stock footage(?). If PCs dominate the workspace why deviate from depicting it in ‘real world’ situations by the media?

[As an aside, I just the purchased a version of this kind of program for my Toshiba netbook, based on a recommendation from CNET. It worked but, a few of my Toshiba system files were negatively affected (links between icons and application were broken).]

This leads me into the debate between the Mac and the PC. I’ve been a Mac user since 1985. When my wife began work on her masters degree, I suggested she shift over to using a computer to handle her typing. I recommended the Mac. It had nothing to do with the Apple Super Bowl “1984” commercial, but personal observations of a teacher at school battling ‘WordStar’ on her school supplied PC every day. I was horrible. Just about every time I walked into her office, she was on the phone asking about a formatting issue, a file issue, or importing other files created on other word processing application (proprietary file types were the rage). I had seen the graphical user interface in action (GUI) on a Macintosh and felt that she didn’t need that kind of frustration with a PC layered upon her regular workload.

I’ve also been a PC user since the early 80s because of course work (programming) and class work (as a teacher). When asked by colleagues at school, what computer would I recommend that they get, I would respond by asking; what kind of work would they be doing; who would they be sharing there with; and what kind of personal support that they would have. If all the all the answers were PC then that is the type of machine that they should purchase.

I’ve already mentioned that I’m working on a PC netbook, and that introduced some new questions that I would ask. If your getting a laptop, how much money could you spend, how easily will you be able to recharge the battery, and how large of a screen would you need. I have a Mac 15 inch MacBook Pro laptop, but I purchased this netbook, because I wanted a little more flexibility to move about without hauling around a larger laptop and a power supply with the attendant power cables. I would have liked to get the MacBook Air, but 1500 dollars to start went outside the limits of my budget, even although it has a larger screen and the battery holds its charge for about the amount of time I was looking for (five hours +). After checking out a number of PC review sites, I decided that I liked the netbook category, and the machine that nailed the budget (under $400) and power supply issues (eight hours +) down was the Toshiba NB 205-N312/BL. It’s sitting on my lap right now, the fan venting the heat doesn’t feel hot, I can easily see the 10pt font on the screen, and the unit has been on for about two and a half hours and the charge indicator shows 77% left. I could easily recommend this machine to a friend who was interested in a netbook, but then I would advise them to watch out for required purchases and some stupid things that I did that added costs to my purchase.

Don’t forget the antiviral software. A slip case might be needed if your going to be carrying the laptop outside the house. I discovered the need for the registry software, but I’m not sure why this occurred so soon after I started using the computer. It is sort of scary if things are happening without my knowledge while I’m working with my laptop. Consider an extended warranty, if you are nervous about machine failure. I’ve had good experiences with the Apple Care coverage and I mean major cost savings compared to the cost of the policy ( policy @ $250 and zero dollars for a $700 + repair).

Now for the “Why didn’t I check this out first?” error. Most of the netbooks, including the MacBook Air don’t have a built in DVD player/recorded. I have both a DVD burner and an older CD burner at home so I didn’t think that would be a problem, until I got the machine home and discovered that the burners didn’t have a USB connection option. (Note: the MacBook Air allows you to download software through any Mac with a DVD component, I’m not sure that is possible with this PC.) Now I needed an external DVD unit to upload movies and software on DVDs that I have. I found one that I liked for about seventy dollars. Overall, I spent just under seven hundred dollars on this computer.

Day Eight: evening of August 9th 2009

I was going to write that I didn’t spend that much time gaming today, but after thinking about it, I played over four hours which is a lot for a casual gamer. I was downloading some software on the second PlayStation 3, so I loaded up Battlefield 1943 on my remaining Xbox 360, and spent about 45 minutes in some interesting sniping duels. There not real, but every once in a while you get shadowed by a player bent on revenge, or attempting to match a long distance shot. Later in the afternoon, I decided that I would play Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta for a thirty minutes, about three and a half hours, and multiple deaths (4), I had to stop for dinner. Mildly frustrated, but not stressed because I could save, I closed up shop at the start of the ‘final battle’ of the final chapter. Anyway, we were ordering from a very good Mexican restaurant with tasty enchiladas.

I often wonder about the labels applied to the type of gamer you are-casual or hardcore. I’m assuming that the fact that I don’t spend hours upon end playing a video game or that the game play controls my life, that I’m not a ‘hardcore’ gamer. But is there an official definition of the terms, by the gaming community? Apparently not, Wikipedia, states that “There is currently no unanimously agreed upon definition for the term (hardcore),” and then goes on to document some of the current opinions exploring the relationship between hardcore and casual. I think that the intent to delve into the complexity of the game might have something to do with being a hardcore gamer. But does that mean that you can be both a hard core gamer and a casual gamer based upon the game that you play, or the nature of the game that you play (game is design for casual play). I’ll have to skim about the web in the future to see if I can piece together a satisfactory solution.

Day Seven: afternoon of August 8th 2009

Was playing Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta yesterday for about three hours. I was having a lot of fun moving through the space ship accumulating new weapons, destroying ‘evil’ aliens, and exploring with abandon. There was some interact with the other abductees, but I don’t want any characters to be killed off because of my neglect. I broke for supper and when I returned I was trying to figure out what I want to do. Watch television, join an online battle through Battlefield 1943, or finish up Fallout 3. Then it dawned on me that this would be the end of the adventure. I know that I can replay as another character, make different choices, be BAD. But it won’t be the first time, I’ll have an inkling of what will happen when I go into a certain area, or interact with a character. I’m glad the there was downloadable content to extend the adventure, but just as in Oblivion (another RPG from the same company, Bethesda Softworks, but with a different theme), it is finally going to end and I’ll miss it. It’s just a game, John. Yes but it was a wonderful distraction.

It parallels books by my favorite author, Terry Pratchett. I started reading his work later in his publishing career, so there was a backlog of his books. Once I read Equal Rites, I was hooked, and even though it was his third book (I think), there were five or six of his Disc World books in print. I went back and started reading them in sequence. When I started catching up I started pacing myself , so that I wouldn’t have to wait to long for the next novel. Talk about being addicted. What a great ride, but it to will end, sadly sooner than later. Mr. Pratchett has been diagnosed with early onset Alzhiemer’s. If you’re interested you can check out a number of websites by typing in his name, but the one that I visit is terrypratchettbooks.com.

Well I guess I’ll pace myself until Mass Effect 2 comes out and hope that another great RPG will make another appearance after that one. Luckily, there probably will be one, but there will never be another Terry Pratchett.

Day Six: evening of August 7th 2009

Well I finished watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I have mixed feelings about the movie. On the one hand I enjoyed the computer generated animation. The modeling, the play of light and shadow, the textures and the fluidity of motion were impressive. But I couldn’t get a handle on who the target audience was. I understand the underlying history and the fleshing out of the link between second episode to the third episode. The presentation of the faction generated intrigues of The Clone War and the culminating rescue of the ‘aw so cute’ baby Hutt by Anakin Skywalker and his Palawan (whose future does not seem to reach the third episode) vacillated between adult situations and oversimplified emotional events. As the film winds down, it’s no so much that I want more, but I know more is coming. I didn’t know it when the movie was released, but I found out that this movie was the set up a the cartoon series, which is now moving into its second season.

I didn’t watch the movie straight through, so I guess I’ll try it again. And I’ll check the TV listings to see when its cable program appears on the Cartoon Network (its in reruns and has episodes on at 9:30pm every day) and watch some of the episodes. I consider myself a fan, but nowhere near a fanatic, and I think of this as an average film.

The laptop worked well, and the hang ups with the video playback were indeed related to me shifting the computer around and activating the hard drive protection system, which locked the drive heads in a safe position.

Day Six: afternoon of August 7th 2009

The other day I mentioned that I used HDMI cables when I was re-arranging my console. I stated that they were easy to use and allowed me to get the best graphics out of the my consoles. I wanted to go into a little more of an explanation of that particular cable.

I remember when I hooked up my daughter’s PlayStation 2 (and before that the PS1) to the television. There were three outputs from the console: video, left channel audio, and right channel audio. The cable bundle wasn’t that thick, and there wasn’t a problem running that through the access holes in the cabinet, even with the VCR’s cables there. Later on we subscribed to a cable service and the that added the video/audio coaxial cable that ported into the TV. Still no real serious problems with three power cords, two cable bundles, and finally, the cable service cable. But, like rust, technology never sleeps, we purchase a larger television, with a 27 inch monitor, and it had additional video/audio input plugs plus the external antenna/cable coaxial hook up. The additional plugs allowed us to upgrade our cable service to take advantage of more offerings, but this required a cable box and the extra video and audio cable bundle. We could have continued using the coaxial cable, but I had read that the use of the three cable bundle produced a better image. Four more cables to deal, luckily the only new cord that had to fit through the access hole was the power line, but the small power plug just barely fit. But I thought this was it, and settled back to enjoy technological nirvana. It never sleeps, remember. DVDs appear with all the benefits over the VHS tapes, but I still had a collection of tapes. I noticed as scanned the ads that some of the stores offer a set up service and I wondered why anyone would need that service. This opinion would be change shortly. I’m sure you can see where this is going. Ultimately we got a DVD player. It was on sale, an open box unit, that was originally 350 dollars on sale for $195. It had the standard video output, plus something called component output. A higher quality video output that broke the video signal into three color components. So the back of the DVD had two audio channel RCA output jacks, a single video output, the three component jacks, an S-video plug, and an additional sound out plug. At the time our TV didn’t have that video option. So I didn’t bother with it, but I did check out the S-video standard, which of course was a better output that the standard video hook up. The television did have that, so one six foot S-video cable was purchased. That didn’t really change the number of cables and fitting it through the access hole was a bit of a problem. The S-video plug head is larger than the RCA plug. As I twisted myself up to squeeze behind the larger TV, I realized why somebody would pay to have this kind of work. But the best was yet to come. The next cable box we got had a record function and a component output. My brain became fascinated with component mode output, but not what its physical components were (5 thick cables).

Holy smoke, I can’t believe I did all that, even though it happened over a period of, maybe, ten years. I haven’t even gotten to the benefits of the HDMI hookup. If I were reading this I would have stopped awhile ago. My compliments to you if you’ve gotten here.

The bottom line is the old standard hookup required 3 cables (1 video and 2 audio), the component cable hookup required 5 cables (3 video and 2 audio), and HDMI hookup uses 1 cable. An industry standard has been established for HDMI. There are two classes (so far), that are based upon the cables ability to handle signal speed, of course the higher number handles the highest speed (Class 2). If you have any questions related to HDMI there is a website with a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section-http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/faq.aspx.

Oh, HDMI is the acronym for High-Definition Multimedia Interface.

Hopefully, I’ll try to be a bit less wordy in the future.

Day Five: evening of August 6th 2009

The real world event that cut short the afternoon blog was a piece of technology called a recliner. It is very comfortable. I mean very, instantly fall asleep, comfortable. So, after booting up, I proceeded to rock back in the recliner with my netbook on my lap and began to type. You can see how far I got. I decided to stop for a second and figure out what direction I wanted to take the blog. I think I closed my eyes. Bam, the next thing I know my cell phone is ringing. I fumbled with my earphones, recognized the ring as my wife’s, activated the iPhone, and found that my wife was almost home and dinner would be next. Time to stop my writing and get ready to unload the supplies that my wife was bringing home.

The focus of this afternoon activities was the on Toshiba NB 205. My order of a 8 gigabyte Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) card arrived. This was to act as a backup storage device in place of a portable external hard drive. It would store text documents, like this blog entry, that don’t demand excessive amounts of storage area. I installed the chip into a slot on the front of the netbook and formatted it. As I was formatting the card, I remembered that the last system update for the Wii change the way it handled the Secure Digital card. If I remember correctly, the Wii will accept this size of card now. I’m going to have to check this out, and maybe I’ll swap out the 4 gigabyte in the Wii with this one for increased game related storage. This aspect of the update seems to be plus. There were other improvements, but I wasn’t paying that much attention at the time, although I did keep the text document that explained what the update entailed.

The other thing I did was upload the digital copy of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I really appreciate the inclusion of digital copies. It allows me to store a copy of the movie on my hard drive. Most , if not all, of the netbooks I checked out didn’t have a built in DVD component (a space and weight saving design choice). The hard drive has approximately 160 gigabytes of storage, so I can throw on a dozen or so digital copies (@ 12 gigabytes of space) and have something to watch if a long trip or office visit manifests itself. I started watching the video, awaiting the arrival of my wife, and I thought the image, and sound quality was good. I noticed that the video stuttered a few times, but that might be because of the hard drive security lock down which parks the disk reading head before it can damage the disk or the read/write head. As soon as I finish this blog, I’m going to return to the movie, shortly, to see if ‘the force’ is with the primary characters. But I won't be in the recliner when I watch it.

Day Five: late afternoon of August 6th 2009

So I was able to spend a couple of hours playing Fallout 3 - Mothership Zeta, and had fun exploring the alien spacecraft. If you have developed a high level of the sneak characteristic and one of the aliens’ disintegrator weapons, three up close and personal VAT shots to the head will do the deed.

I checked the VGA output of the Toshiba NB 205 on the flat screen - impressive image on the 42 inch screen. The only issue was the stretched appearance of the desktop on the screen. I tried adjusting aspect ratio on the computer, but was a bit confused by the video chipset control panel. I guess I’ll have to check the setting for the flat screen, but not right now. The real world has interjected itself into my plans. Well I’ll try to spend some time this evening elaborating upon my other activities.

Day Four: evening of August 5th 2009

Well I shifted some of the consoles around. Now I have a PlayStation 3 and an Xbox 360 (Arcade) hooked up to the 42 inch flat screen. I put the Wii back in the upstairs bedroom where my wife prefers it. It took about an hour and a half to disconnect, move, hook up, and test everything ( It would have been faster but I checked out a demo of the IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey on the Xbox). Using the HDMI cable really speeds up hooking up the consoles, not to mention the ability to tap into the maximum graphics output of the consoles (PS3 and Xbox 360).

I was angry at myself for forgetting about X-Play’s G-Phoria ‘09. This is the video game show’s annual award show. The unique thing about this award show is that the viewers vote for their favorite games in 18 categories, including Game of the Year. Luckily, I have the DVR set to record any new X-Play shows, which includes G-Phoria ‘09. I’m going to watch it later. The two hosts, Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, are knowledgeable, witty, insightful, and keep their shows, both the regular offering and any specials, moving smoothly.

If you get a chance, and have a cable hookup, watch the show on G4tv. If you don’t have cable, but you do have internet access, find the show at www.hulu.com or review segments as podcasts through iTunes. The G-Phoria special will give you a nice overview of what’s hot and the categories will clue you into types of video games available.