Kalamaf Drackonsbane

Borderlands Some More

kalamaf — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:27:17 +0000

The more I play this game the more I like it. I’ve finished off all the quests in Fyrestone and am grinding my way through New Haven but some of these bugs are getting annoying. At least I assume they’re bugs, I have 2 different quests to collect gun parts that I can’t finish because when I go to the map location, there’s nothing there to pick up. Unless the parts are hiding up on the ceiling, or the top of a tower, both of which I’ve been able to find absolutely no way to reach.

On the bright side I’ve been helping those Bruisers to lose belly fat, by blasting it off with a bitching fire damage sniper rifle. It’s so much fun to pop those guys in the gut and watch them run around screaming.

360 Vs. PS3

kalamaf — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:58:33 +0000

I got a PS3 a couple months back but so far I still don’t have many games for it. While the system -is- good, basically the same as the XBox 360 when it comes to graphics and sound, I don’t like the controller as much. One place where the PS3 controller really shines though is the D-pad. The 360 directional pad is horrible. Absolute junk. I hate it with a passion. But aside from that the 360 controller is more solid feeling, has better placement for the left analog stick and the trigger buttons are better designed. My fingers keep slipping off the Playstation 3 triggers.

Having said that though, the system does have a few good exclusives that make it worth owning. I’ve long been a fan of the Ratchet & Clank series and you just can’t get it a non-Sony console. There’s a few interesting looking RPG’s that I haven’t played yet, but plan to some day, those being Folklore, Dark Kingdom and Valkyria Chronicles.

Lego Rock Band

kalamaf — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:45:22 +0000

When I first heard about this game many months ago I figured it must be a joke. Even though it was April Fools day it just seemed too silly to be real. But as time went on and more information became available it was very apparent that the game was in fact real.

I’ve been checking out vids of it on youtube and it looks to be very well done. Typical smooth Rock Band action, lots of good songs to play and it’s compatible with a pretty good chunk of the existing downloadable content. It’s designed to be family friendly, so existing songs with a more mature theme/language aren’t playable in the Lego version. To make it even better, all the songs can be exported for use with Rock Band 1 & 2. Exporting will cost you $10 though, but this is offset by the fact that the game retails for $10 less than most new games. So put away the Kettlebell, grab yer fake plastic instrument of choice and get rocking Lego style, tear down buildings and bust ghosts with the power of rock.

Blizzard Authenticator

kalamaf — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:06:30 +0000

A few weeks ago I had written about my WOW account getting hacked again. So enough was enough, even the wife was pissed that I had to spend so much time trying to retrieve my account. I had to prove that it belongs to me by waiting on the phone with Blizzard to talk to them and even fax them my driver’s license to prove my identity. So she insisted I get the Blizzard Authenticator so that I don’t have to go through this ever again. It’s only around $18 (shipping/foreign exchange included). No, you don’t have to get this authenticator or pay for it like getting your industrial supplies, in fact it was a very simple process.. and I had it via courier within 5 days.

So how does this authenticator protect you from being hacked again? The Blizzard Authenticator is a small device you can attach to your keychain that provides a second layer of security to protect you from keyloggers and other morons who want to get into your account. Once you associate the Blizzard Authenticator with your account you’ll have to login to the game using 2 passwords. Your regular one, and one provided by the authenticator when you push the button on it.

As you can see from the picture, there is a barcode with a serial number on the back. This in technical terms is the encryption seed. When you buy the authenticator, you enter this serial number into your account. When you press the button on the front of the authenticator it takes your serial number and applies a secret Blizzard algorithm (likely fractals) to it that is relational to the current time and date. The result is a six-digit code that displays on the front of the unit. Since hackers don’t know the algorithm (or your serial number for that matter) the chances of them getting into your account are practically zero.

Borderlands

kalamaf — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:44:57 +0000

I hadn’t heard much about this game until about a week before it’s release, and even then I didn’t bother reading much up on it. But then I heard that Walmart had put it out at $39.96 here in Canada so I caved and picked it up. Since it was only an introductory price and now it’s back up to $69.99 everywhere, I can play it, finish it and sell it used for $40. Playing for free is great! The game is pretty good too actually, somewhat unique in that it’s a role playing shooter. Shoot stuff with a shit load of different weapons, gain exp, put skill points into a Diablo like skill tree and collect hordes of loot. It’s got a good sense of humor too and I gotta admit, I love setting people on fire with the various incendiary weapons. They run around screaming but still manage to shoot at you anyway. The vehicles are kinda fun too, making roadkill out of anything in your path without the need for auto insurance is just plain good fun. I picked it up for PS3 and am really wishing I had waited for the XBox 360 version instead. 360 was sold out when I went there, and there’s some annoying sound issues plaguing the PS3 version. Well, the 360 may be affected too, I didn’t bother to check on it. My dolby digital keeps cutting out for half a second here and there, sometimes it’s really bad, other times hardly noticeable. It’s a known bug though so hopefully they’ll have it fixed up soon.

Brutal Legend

kalamaf — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:48:01 +0000

This is definitely one of the better games I’ve played recently. It takes the standard hack & slash formula and throws in a lot of good humor and an awesome sound track. Jack Black does an excellent job voicing Eddie Riggs and most of the metal references are spot on and nostalgic. It may be different for people out there who didn’t grow up listening to metal, but even for them the game is worth checking out.

The World’s Greatest Roadie can do pretty much anything in this game, whether he’s building a car built from auto accessories ripped from the guts of slain monsters, or running in the middle of a headbanging mosh pit, it’s all good. I laughed the first time I saw the headbangers, their necks are ridiculous. I haven’t really given the multiplayer a shot yet except for the practice mode, but so far I’m not a fan of it. I’d rather have had a co-op mode than this Warcraft wannabe, but I’ll give it a fair chance after I get around to finish up the story mode.

Like a Headless Chicken

kalamaf — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:59:45 +0000

So even though work hasn’t been overly busy lately, there’s been a lot to do to keep me busy. Trying to rearrange some shelving and hopefully build some new stuff that will make better use of the space we have. Stuff is just piling up and to me it’s like a huge pile of clutter, although customers have said the store looks good and uncluttered the way it is. You’d think all this running around doing stuff would contribute to some weight loss, but no luck, gotta cut back on the tasty tasty junk food as well I guess.

I’ve been throwing some items upon kijiji lately too, older stuff that’s just been sitting around for ages. Some of it has sold, so that’s good. It makes the effort seem worth it, so I’m more inclined to dig up other stuff to list on there.

WoW account Hacked Again?!?

kalamaf — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:50:32 +0000

A friend of mine called me on the weekend to see if I had reactivated my WoW subscription, apparently one of my toons was online since the day before. I was like, no, definitely not me! I had canceled the account a few months ago when I got bored of playing again, so there’s not even an active subscription on it. I really don’t understand how this happened again! After the last time I got hacked I never typed in my new password directly, I would either use the windows virtual keyboard to type it in using the mouse, or I’d copy/paste from a text file that was saved on my desktop. How did my account get reactivated anyway though? Did the hacker find a loophole or actually pay the $15 to subscribe? Probably with a stolen credit card no less.

So, I tried to go change my password but the security question answers have also been changed, so I can’t regain access that way. I sent in an email to support and should hear back soon, but today when I tried to log into my email account I was told the password is wrong. I’m hoping that I’m just being paranoid and maybe it was a temporary glitch in gmail, but since I don’t have access to my old secondary email I have to wait until tomorrow to see if my security questions are still valid on there, to reset my password. Do these hackers really go to so much trouble to hang onto stolen accounts these days? If I could only get my hands on the bastard responsible he’d be needing to make a serious disability appeal cause that bitch would be in hospital with broken limbs. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling this way. I’m really done with this game now, fuck, I’d rather just delete my toons completely so no one can steal them again. At least in EQ2 I’ve never heard of or experienced account hacks like this.

Crocs for Every Season

kalamaf — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:58:59 +0000

I’ve been wearing Crocs in the summers for the last few years. They’re comfortable even though they’re a little ugly, but the main problem I have with them is that once the soles wear out they become very slippery when walking on wet pavement, particularly on painted sections like crosswalks. Aside from that they’re great little shoes, very light and I can stand in them all day and my feet don’t hurt a bit. They’re kind of expensive too, especially now that even the dollar stores carry decent knock-offs, so I did some searching for coupons for ordering Crocs online

I was browsing the main website earlier and was surprised to see that they have a lot of new styles available that I hadn’t noticed in the local stores. Winterized Crocs complete with fake fur linings (and minus all the holes) would be perfect for outdoor use when the weather turns cold in a couple months. So put those Crocs coupons to good use and treat your feet to something sweet.

TV’s Back

kalamaf — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:31:49 +0000

There’s so few good shows on during the summer months that we hardly watch TV at all until right about now when all the new seasons start up. I was pretty disappointed when I found out that 2 of my favorites from last year have been canceled though. Reaper and Terminator were both really good, but of course they keep all that reality bullshit going for years and years cause it’s cheap garbage that draws an audience.

At least some good ones have managed to stick around; Heroes, Supernatural, Smallville and best of all Dexter. We’re only an episode or two into each so far and it’s looking a little whacked in some cases, but it could be interesting anyway so light up a Padron and veg out in front of the TV for a while.

Basement Renovations soon!

kalamaf — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:44:36 +0000

Going on 5 years now since we moved into this house, and the basement is still just a huge concrete room like the day we moved in. It’s almost time to get started on that and we have some basic plans sketched out. It will mostly be turned into a large rec-room, a laundry room, a work room and maybe a small office. A bathroom would be nice to have downstairs too, but would be expensive to put in. Not because of the Kohler faucets, but because the pipes leading out of the house aren’t at floor level in the basement, they’re near the ceiling, so we’d need to have a holding tank and pump and stuff, and that adds drastically to the cost. We’ll see though, if the main part of the renovations cost less than expected maybe there will be enough left over to do it anyway.

Lord of the Rings Online

kalamaf — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:38:41 +0000

So even though I’m still ‘active’ in EQ2, my sub runs out in about 3 weeks, I haven’t really felt like playing it. Kind of a waste of monthly fees this time around and I think part of it is that as an Inquisitor, combat is just so damn slow and boring.

I know a couple people who just started up new accounts in LOTRO and since they had a copy of Mines of Moria on sale for $9.98 nearby I figured I’d give it a whirl. Even if I only play for the free month it will have only cost me $10 so no big deal. So far it’s pretty fun and the levels go by fast. I’ve only played a few hours and am up to level 10 already. I’ve played around a tiny bit with crafting, it seems to be a little more involved than WoW but less effort than EQ2. Quests so far are the standard “kill some of these” and “bring this to that guy over yonder”.

Player housing is something I’ll get around to checking out later, I expect it’s not something easily affordable for a dwarf with a grand total of 40 silver in his pocket, but eventually it’d be nice to have a little place to call home. A cave with walk in tubs and a forge to hammer out swords on. Oh wait, I chose tailor, guess I need a sewing table and loom instead.

Listen To ESPN On iPhone

kalamaf — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:14:35 +0000

Wanna listen to sports like ESPN while you are traveling home from work in an hour’s long ride on the train..?? I would need appetite suppressant to keep me from munching on junks. But now you can keep yourself occupied because ESPN has launched a new application for the iPhone, ESPN Radio, which is now available on the App Store. As the name implies, the application will give you access to audio streams of ESPN content including popular shows, station streams, play-by-play broadcasts, podcasts and SportsCenter updates which are uploaded every 20 minutes.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

kalamaf — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:29:38 +0000

The new Batman is probably the best beat ‘em up I’ve played in years. The combat works well, is easy to pick up and challenging enough to be… challenging. I played through the entire game on Normal and while I enjoyed it, I doubt I’ll spend the time replaying it on Hard. I’m not a big enough fan of brawlers to subject myself to it, and I’ve got too many other games sitting on the shelf collecting dust to waste extra time achievement whoring.

I never even finished all the combat & stealth challenges, they’re fun as well, but since I’ve beaten the main game I just wasn’t interested enough to finish off the little extras. Punching bad guys in the face is brutally satisfying though, the in-game camera system during fights is generally spot on, automatically hitting slow mo and zooming in on finishing moves adds some good extra crunch to the punches. Not sure where they got all the cattle supplies though, the prisoners seem to have easy access to an awful lot of electric cattle prods to zap me with and break my combo streaks.