Yahoo!Lottery?

Days ago, my cousin told me he won $200,000 from the Yahoo!Lottery program. I told him it had to be a scam, but he refused to believe that fact, and I gave him the best advice I could: Ask Yahoo! itself.

Here's a fairly old (but accurate) Yahoo!Mail help topic: CLICK!
In that topic, the question was about Yahoo!Lottery. There is no Yahoo! lottery, meaning they don't give anyone money, but there is a lottery site run by Yahoo!, and it's located here: http://lottery.yahoo.com

Again, Yahoo! does not give you money, and they wouldn't ask for money to do so, either. Sorry, cousin, but you've been scammed. I hope you didn't send that $200!

Video Game Bash #7: Microsoft Exclusives

My last weekly Video Game Bash was in May. Sorry to anyone who kept wondering when the next one would be posted. I was tired of bashing games, so I took a very long, very unnecessary break. I'm back with Video Game Bash #7:

I hate how Microsoft throws words like "Only on XBOX" out without any meaning behind them. It was a marketting ploy, a good one at that. Sure, Halo was exclusive to the Xbox, but it didn't stay that way, not even for a very long time, and it wasn't brought to PC via an emulator, either!

Wait, I have to revert what I said, "and it wasn't brought to PC via an emulator," to "and it was coming to the PC via hackers until Microsoft decided to port the game to Windows Vista."

I mention this because of a now abandoned project, CXBX, which was planned to convert Xbox XBE files to Windows EXE files. It was something Microsoft didn't like, because they want money above anything else, and Halo was probably already planned to be ported eventually... so Microsoft completely disregarded the exclusiveness of Halo on the Xbox and brought us a slightly improved Halo for PC, which also had an optional modding studio called Halo: Custom Edition.

Thanks, Bungie. I bought Halo for my Xbox, when it was brand new, and I never saw any new content for it; these PC players got frequent updates and a huge modding community with an official level editor! Why can't I have the new features, too?!

This didn't end with Halo. No, this continued through Halo 2. Once Halo PC was released, Xbox got a bit of a consolation prize, Halo 2. It sure was great... for a few hours. Unfortunitely, Halo 2 didn't have a level editor, but it did look better and have greatly improved weapon assortment. Also, the vehicles were breakable, stealable, and boostable, wait, isn't that the same as stealing?

Anyway, I bought Halo 2 on its release date, just so I could be one of the cool guys for a short while. I even got the Limited Edition version of the game, which really didn't offer anything special other than the neat case. After that, I realized I didn't like the campaign. I was really only playing a multiplayer fragfest. I already had that from Unreal!

Moving along, I kept hoping for Live updates to fall in my lap, since Halo 2 was able to be played online, but I didn't pay for Xbox Live. No way! I had XLink Kai. This is where Halo 2 shined. For hours, every single day, I would chat with 6-15 other players in the matches, and some mysterious ghost character would show up. He would appear, disappear, he never walked, he even threw grenades backwards and always stuck someone. It was freaky, but I was a geek, so I knew something fishy was going on. I got into the modding community and learned all I could about softmodding my console, just to modify Halo 2. I was really inspired, I know.

Long story short, I modded Halo 2 (even made a few Halo 3 style weapons), but it was very difficult and nowhere near what you got to accomplish with Halo: Custom Edition. After a while of being bored of Halo 2, even after modding it, an expansion pack (the Multiplayer Map Pack) was released both on Live as a download and in retail stores as a DVD with some rather dull video content as a bonus. It was pretty neat, but it didn't entertain me at all, because it was pretty much just for multiplayer matches and didn't even offer any interesting gameplay changes; no new weapons or anything!

Once Halo 3 was announced, all Halo 2 players shit their pants at the thought of how awesome it probably wouldn't be. However, it was the driving force in Xbox 360 sales, and I can't argue that Halo 3 is bad, because it is actually quite awesome. The point of my saying this is simply: I don't have a Xbox 360, so I was actually happy to hear that Halo 2 was coming to PC. Unfortunitely, it was being made specifically for Windows Vista, which is the biggest pile of shit I ever saw... and I see a lot of shit.

Moving on, Halo 2 was no longer an exclusive to the Xbox, and the PC version got a built-in level editor. (Bungie was kind enough to supply two new maps to the Xbox version, Derelict and Hang 'Em High. Yes, Halo 1 conversions. Sad, isn't it?) Halo 3 got a built-in item-placement engine called Forge, which everyone considers as a level editor. I can't help but wonder whether or not Halo 3 will be released for PC in the next couple years, and, if it is released for PC, I'm sure it will have a level editor, as well.

The moral of this drastically long story is: Don't trust Microsoft.
Oh and the only advice you should take from this post is that the Halo series isn't "Only on XBOX" and Halo is even the most likely Xbox game to be successfully played through an emulator.

Hope you enjoy all the goodies hidden in this post. See ya!

Broken Antenna

All this time, well, for the past week (or longer), I have been pulling hairs because of the constant disconnections from the home network. I thought it was a virus, even though I wiped my PC clean just weeks ago. My antenna is apparently cracked open on one side, which makes my connection less constant. I'm just getting a little jumpy sense my virus attack. It pushed me to install a secondary operating system, Ubuntu.

It's funny. In WinXP, I have constant errors and program crashes. In Ubuntu, almost everything works as I want it to. That includes my Windows drivers! Yep, my WinXP drivers work better in Ubuntu than their native habitat. As I type this, I wonder how (and when) my antenna broke and how long these Windows updates are going to take to download.

Just out of shear boredom (as I wait for downloads to complete), I guess I can add a new Video Game Bash. I'll start one now.

MCR (MyCokeRewards) Codes

I'm giving away 15 MCR codes! You can simply comment on this blog, asking for the codes, or you could join Syboard and send me a private message there.

I'm accustomed to people asking why I'm giving these codes away (instead of using them myself), and I must explain: It's an advertising gimmick. It makes people visit my blog more than normal. Also, I already got a bottle opener from MCR last year. I would rather just give the codes to someone else than spend them on the crappy prizes. Hopefully, my codes will help someone get a good prize.

The video game bash will be back shortly.
(I got tired of bashing games for a while.)

AMV and New Story

A few days ago, I mentioned I was making an anime music video for YouTube. I created the DBZ Megamix AMV, so check it out! CLICK HERE!

Also, today, I created a new blog for a story I've had stuck in my head for ages. Check it out as well! CLICK HERE!

Connecting to Xbox

Long story short, I had to reinstall drivers for all my devices and forgot to install the driver for my Ethernet port. I was so ashamed of myself when I finally realized the driver was missing, but here's the real kicker: My Ethernet cable is broken!

After digging through my box of wires, I found my backup cable, so I'm using that to retrieve my videos right now. I'm trying to collect my DBZ videos to make a kick-ass AMV or anime music video. It should be available on YouTube once I finish it. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* I'm only missing one episode (as far as I know), so I'm off to find a download. Cheers!

utorrentapp

The title of this blog post is not referencing utorrent or the bittorrent community, but there's a new virus going around, and the name it usually seems to go by is "utorrentapp.exe," but why am I announcing this?

Just a few days ago, I contracted the very same virus, and I'm honestly not sure what causes the infection, but there are many possible culprits, including a slight visit to porntube, even if it was involuntary.

Anyway, at first, I thought I could just clean the system with my anti-virus options. I eventually tried AVG8 again, and it found the virus but wouldn't do anything about it. I hate AVG. Moving on, though, I tried reinstalling Windows without repartitioning, just because WinXP was pretty screwed up thanks to the infection. As expected, the virus was still on there, so it was jumping around wildly. I didn't want to lose everything, because I didn't have much backed up at all, but everything had that nasty virus in it, so I just decided to start fresh.

I completely wiped my system, repartitioned the C drive for Windows XP Pro, and repartitioned the D drive for Ubuntu 8.04, and this is pretty much where I am now. WinXP is back to normal but has almost nothing on it, while Ubuntu has a lot of useful apps but no way of getting online (yet), so I'm salvaging what I can from the internet to rebuild my Windows collective, and, at the same time, I'm trying to figure out how to install my Windows drivers on Ubuntu.

The anti-virus app I'm currently relying on to keep me safe is Avast, and I strongly suggest you use it as well. I'm also looking for some nice games to play on Ubuntu, but I'll post my findings in my other blog, Search for Video Games.

Wireless blues? Router blues.

I finally determined a quick fix solution to my speed problem. Turning off my router and letting it sit for a bit before turning it back on actually makes it work better! I've gone up to 75kbps now! Wahoo!

If you have problems with your broadband internet speed being at a rate similar to dial-up, do what I did, unplug your router and wait a while. It works. In another day or so, I'll let it rest for maybe ten or twenty minutes and hopefully get my top speed again, which is about 500-700kbps.

In other news, I have a couple games I'm working on. One's an arcade game, the other is a role-playing game. I may update my list of commercials in just a moment, so check that out as well. It's right below this topic.

Hilarious Videos 2008 - Battle of the Batmans

I decided last year that I wanted to compile a list of the funniest and most addictive commercials I know of, but I haven't put forth the effort to make that list until now. Fortunitely, a new Batman spoof encouraged me to make a list on my blog, and I think it deserves the top spot on the "Top Ten Commercials of 2008."

Obviously, I'll have to update this list as the year continues, so keep checking this topic for updates.

Top Ten Most Addictive Commercials of 2008

1. Battle of the Batmans
This is a parody (or mockery) of the Batman franchise, and I love it. It is probably the funniest clip I've ever seen. Ever; not just out of all the Batman parodies. Just watch it.

2. Kamehame Haaa!
Dragonball Z: Burst Limit seems like a pretty crappy game to me, but the commercials are funny as hell.

3. *punch* Wake up! Bad guys!
I went to see Hancock, and it wasn't really what I expected, but the commercial was pretty awesome. I suggest you still watch the movie, but the good action is in the beginning of the movie. Want more? I found a site that sort of brings realism to the movie: http://www.hancockwashere.com

4. Hitler Got BANNED!
This is a joke that's been around the net for a while, but I only saw it this year, and I still found it hilarious, so I'm counting it. You should do a search for more "Hitler Got Banned From" videos. There are tons of them.

5. COMING SOON!

Reverting

The title of this post is for three reasons: I have to master Tony Hawk again, I'm going home, and I'm switching from GIMP back to Photoshop. I'm just sick of GIMP. Photoshop was simply easier to use.

Also, yesterday, I installed Perfect World, a free-to-play MMORPG. I'm getting my character set up as I type this. The biggest problem I've had so far is with the installation, but that's mostly because of how big the game is, two gigs. I'll play Perfect World casually for a few days and post what I think of it soon.

On a more personal note, I got into a kind of a fight with my cousin, Charlie a few days ago. He instigated the fight, but I don't think he was in a good mood. Seriously, I think he has PMS or something. One minute, he's all happy-go-lucky; next minute, he's
throwing television remotes and cursing. In all honesty, though, I didn't act very mature, either, because I got too angry with him to keep myself under control. Now, Charlie seems to be holding a small grudge but won't admit to it. I apologized for what I did (threw a pizza and knocked over some junk outside) and plan to go home in a few days to finally see my Dad and get some much needed sleep.

MCR Winner

If you read my previous post, you may have wondered whether or not you won the codes, and the winner has finally been decided... the winner is DJ313. Not only has he received 25 MCR codes (all worth 3 points each); he will receive several more codes as I get them, because I'm just nice like that.

Modding Oblivion

When typing the title of this post, I kept wanting to type Morrowind, but really, Oblivion is what I play now, and I never want to go back to Morrowind. Well... I *am* adding old Morrowind lands to Oblivion as mods, but you can't blame me, modding Oblivion is more fun than actually playing it.

Don't misunderstand my statement. I love playing Oblivion, and I still do, with minor cheats and advantages (like my sword, seen in the screenshots). I'm trying to stay away from cheat mods, but there are some neat things to be done, including add Cloud's sword from Advent Children and even my own sword design from Blender.

My sword, again, shown in the screenshots, was my first textured model ever, outside of Poser. In the process of modding Oblivion, I'm learning a lot about Blender, so I'm actually gaining skills for use in the real world. In many ways, Oblivion is just a 3D canvas or playground for me, but, while praising Oblivion is a well deserved practice, I want to quickly say a few things about my sword. It was modeled in Blender v2.46 as a single object (to work properly in Oblivion), and I called it Suiseiseki, based off my talking sword in Syboard Adventures. It has a gray blade, much like Cloud's Buster Sword, and the hilt is a weird, black substance, but it resembles something made of wood. The reason it glows red is it has an enchantment. I honestly think it looks pretty neat for a first mod.

Two chairs broken in just two days!

Just a day or two ago, my beloved red folding lawn chair broke on one corner and nearly stabbed me in the arm. Just minutes ago, my replacement, a green folding lawn chair, which felt much sturdier, broke on the entire front half! Due to the sudden give-way, I wondered why I didn't fall to the ground, and I discovered it was breaking as soon as possible, so I must have got up just in time not to hurt myself.

Anyway, that's $20 down the drain. My Dad bought that chair thinking it would last longer than the red one, yet it ended up lasting only a few hours (opposed to a year), and it broke even more than my weak red chair. Now, I need to find something else to sit on, and I don't want any more lawn chairs.

Blogger screwed up.

I tried out the Blogroll feature a few days ago. I kept getting some weird error pages, sometimes, a 404 error, but I kept trying to use the feature, and I finally go to... for a day.

Now, on my other blog, Search for Video Games, when you look at the top of its menu, it only displays site titles; not their latest post. Also, it has a link to my old webcomic for some reason, even though I already went in and edited it off the list. I was going to try adding a blogroll to this blog, but I keep getting error pages, so I'm sick of messing with it.

Finally got to play TES4.

I thought I'd show some screenshots of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on its highest setting. The game looks gorgeous in my opinion. It looks like crap on the Xbox 360, and it loads very slowly as well, but the PC version, which I started playing yesterday, is always so pretty.

Yesterday, I installed a video card, and that allowed me to play all sorts of neat stuff, including TES4: Oblivion and the Orange Box Games. I started with Oblivion to test the card out, and it worked flawlessly, but I was really more interested in Portal, so I quickly moved on to that. Portal has some odd loading issues, and it actually likes to crash at random times (only done it once so far), but I love the game to death. It's just so addictive.

Before I got my card, I was already playing a very watered-down Half-Life 2: Episode 1, so I will probably get started on that game again in a few days, that's if I can put Portal down for a while. I may also try the Halo trial (again), but I don't think I care much for Halo any more. I played it too much in the Xbox glory days.

All these screenshots are of Oblivion... obviously.

More Free MCR Codes!

I ran out of codes real quick the last time, and people kept asking for more, so here's a chance to win all the codes I have. For the record, that's, at least, 25 codes!

To win the codes, I'm asking you to join Syboard and send me a private message, asking to receive My Coke Rewards codes, and I'll pick one person out of everyone who sends me a private message to win all the codes I've collected. At the moment, I have 25 codes, but I may collect more before this contest is over, so join Syboard today!

Contest Ends: June 24, 2008 12:40PM EST. (That's 5:40PM GMT.)
All entries after that exact time will not be qualified to win. You must have a postcount of 2 (at least) by the time I choose a winner. The winner will be chosen at random by me, FJGamer, and will receive the codes in a private message on Syboard.


This contest is an effort to increase the level of activity at Syboard.net and will hopefully attract some fairly intelligent users. Syboard.net is a video gaming site. We hope you enjoy our message board.

Break until June

I won't be blogging again until June 1st. I just need a break from it. I don't get enough traffic to make my blogs worth maintaining, so I hope my vacation will scare some of you into commenting more often.

Also, click here and watch my new music video!

Weekly Game Bash #6: Lost Games

I'm on time this week! Anyway, I started adding subtitles this week. I just think it helps you to find what you're looking for, even if it's somewhat vague.

In my previous bash, I mentioned a new Zelda fan game, and, this week, I want to cover games lost to the void. To start us off, Nintendo created the Zelda series, which spawned many fan creations, but whenever something good came along, Nintendo bit us in the neck and sucked out all our ideas.

For example, Graal Online used to be a Zelda MMORPG, but Nintendo sued, and Zelda Online became the less popular Graal Online. Soon after that, Graal became a pay-to-play game, because the developers got depressed or something, but the biggest annoyance is the fact that Graal private servers don't last long and are never given much thought. Also, if you want to create an official playerworld, you have to pay Cyberjoueurs. You're essentially paying to work. Make sense?

Another example is how Four Swords came after this 2-player Zelda game. Unfortunately, the creator of the 2-player game vanished, and his site went kablooie.

Yes, it seems a majority of the lost games are Zelda tributes, but another game I miss is the old Runescape. Sure, we have a much more powerful engine now, but I can't find a working RSClassic server anywhere, and JaGeX no longer supports it. This means the game is lost and may never be found. However, if you know of a nice RSClassic server to play, send me the link, because I would love to play it again.

On an unrelated note, I may have more MCR codes soon. I save them up just to give them away. Am I nice or what?

Modeling a Runescape Character

I was looking for a good Blender tutorial on modeling game characters from start to finish, but I didn't find anything helpful, so I'm modelling a RuneScape character in Blender as a learning experience. I already figured out the mirror and subsurf modifiers, and I'm working on the textures now. After fixing the textures for hair and the clothing, I will add a long ponytail and finish the dragoon armor.

AVG 8: Upgrade or Major Annoyance?

I installed AVG7.5 a while ago, always ignoring the advertisements for AVG8. Yesterday, I got curious and installed AVG8. I told it not to install the toolbars for IE and Firefox, however, the toolbar nuisance still came up. I tried to uninstall just the toolbar in Firefox, but I had no luck.

After a quick search for info, I found some discussion from March about how bad AVG has become. I just wish I found this before I upgraded. I searched for a few more minutes, and the only solution seems to be uninstalling AVG entirely and using some other anti-virus software. I'm not going back to AVG7.5, though.

Quick update on my projects: SyA is in stasis until I can spend a lot of time on it and truly concentrate on it, Fantasy Female 9 (Ultimate Character Generator) is also in stasis, and, while my website is vastly improved, I'm still busy working on it. I haven't had time to do much artwork, but I'm setting aside a few hours tomorrow to do some 3D model work in Blender.