Yessir, I play Xbox.

Here's just a small image of my Xbox controller (S type) hooked up to a USB cable. It should be enough to prove I use my Xbox controller to play PC games. I haven't used it much yet, but I have got it working with Portal and Half-Life 2: Episode One.

In other news, I have been studying the Ogre3D graphics API, and I think I may be able to make a decent playground game with it. This will be my long-term goal this year, as I try to move my focus away from Flash-powered games. This shift in focus was inspired by my realization that I won't be able to cough up the cash for the latest Flash and that 3D in Flash still sucks. (Shockwave, why did you have to die!?)

Oh, and yes, this blog is dead. I just used the picture as an excuse to post here again. If you want to keep track of my work, visit my website.

Site Undergoing Changes

Go to http://www.fantasyjam.net

The site is now using Drupal. I still need to set a few things up and decorate everything with my own layout (instead of the Drupal default look), but I believe the site is going to be better than it was before.

Arkham Asylum

Go HERE and enter the sweepstakes to have your own likeness in an upcoming Batman game!

Ubuntu Intrepid Alpha 5

I boldly upgraded to an upgrade only a few have upgraded to thus far. Okay, bad Star Trek rip-off, but I upgraded from Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04 LTS) to Ubuntu Intrepid (8.10), and it fixed and improved so much!

PCSX finally works, but pSX still won't open. PCSX is my emulator of choice, anyway. I use PCSXbox on my Xbox, and it works great, so I may very well play PSX games on PCSX, as well. I already played Brave Fencer Musashi to check the performance level of PCSX, and I was wowwed.

The Windows driver for my wireless card is no longer necessary. The card was basically plug-and-play, so yay! This saved me a lot of time, because I have a lot of trouble getting Windows drivers installed. Well, I think the only proprietary driver I need is the one to make my ATI card work. I may try the open source alternative, though, because ATI has bad, very bad, customer support, especially for Linux users.

Current Ubuntu Hardy users may want to upgrade to Intrepid right now.
To do so, just open a terminal window and type "update-manager -d" without quotes. It will check for updates like it normally would, but it won't ignore anything. At the top of the updates list will be the newest version of Ubuntu.

The upgrade to Intrepid isn't perfect at the moment. I had to fix packages (redownload them) after installing, so I'm sure a clean installation (via CD/DVD) would be better for newcomers. Ubuntu Intrepid is scheduled to be released in October, so look forward to it, and don't give up hope for Linux!

Shadow: the Cat

Hey, loyal readers!

I thought I would take a picture of him while I was in Windows. My LifeCam doesn't work in Ubuntu. Shame on Microsoft for giving me a free webcam that requires Windows! Hehee....

I'm making a few new friends via CraigsList, too. I met a cross-dresser, a Microsoft executive (or so he says), and even a Christian version of myself, minus the nice typing skills. I'm keeping them on my GMail contacts as casual chit-chatters or pen-pals.

I'll be posting a few personal images on SheezyArt as well. I have neglected my artistic talents a bit recently, and I really need to let loose a mighty rawr every once and again. I've already done that once about two weeks ago with the Nanaki fan art. If you don't know who Nanaki is, he's the red lion with the flaming tail and the insane amounts of jewelry.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Internet Blues

I lost my USB device and I can't really get anything new onto Syboard until I get a new one. I can't even download the stuff my cousins and I need. I also have to change my passwords before someone steals my identity. I'm doing that now.

I'm working on a new project, a Flash-powered media center. It's going well for the most part. I just need to work out where everything will appear on each skin. I'm also trying to fix up Syboard Adventures before I show it to anyone. I have a lot to show, but really, I'm not satisfied with the game yet.

I'm only using Blogger until Syboard has a blogging system again. I like Blogger, but Syboard's my home. :)