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Gryphon

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Posts posted by Gryphon

  1. quote:

    Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

    After reading
    and
    , I'm going to be building a
    box this weekend. I've had it with the constant shape shifting that Tivo is doing.

    Oooohhh, hombrew PVR. Look forward to hearing about the specs!

    I put one together using a case from Shuttle and an ATI All-in-Wonder a few years ago. Very sweet, worked like a charm, except I could never get picture-in-picture working.

    Good luck Derek!

  2. This was truly pathetic. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it, but for god's sake...can we not just once get away from such a cliche type of alien invasion?!?

    Let's get some serious explosions and stuff going on, ala Spielberg's War of the Worlds.

    I didn't like Threshold because I thought its premise was too pedestrian, but this show makes Threshold look like Clarke's 2001!

    Fortunately, LOST did not disappoint. And we still have the Stargates + Battlestar Galactica. Long live Sci-Fi channel!

  3. Thanks for making this civil again folks Much more of a pleasant read now!

    Just putting in my two cents worth: I hit upon very, very hard times during the dot com bust. I worked two jobs (temp assignments) -- plus whatever freelancing I could do -- for a few years there. Despite that, I wasn't making enough to keep us out of the negatives. My wife was in a similar spot.

    We are both educated people. We know how the world works. But all that hard work, all those hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of resumes we sent out, isn't worth a damn.

    The way I see it, it all comes down to this formula:

    1) As a result of your dogged, irrational persistence, probability dictates that your resume/application shows up to the right person, who is in the right mood, at the right time.

    2) You are either vaguely qualified or know someone who can vouch for you.

    3) You get extremely damn lucky as some stupid ass HR software tries really hard to filter you out.

    4) You pass the credit and criminal history checks.

    5) You pass the series of face to face interviews to prove you aren't a freak.

    6) You flip a coin.

    That's it. A sequence of events pretty much like what I just described is how I got my job. In fact, it literally came down to myself and one other person. The reason I got the job? We were both asked to create a certain type of document.

    HERS HAD SPELLING ERRORS.

    That's *IT*. If she had thought to spell check, I would still be looking for a bloody job. Bah.

  4. OK. Just got done reading David Weber's latest and greatest Honorverse book, "At All Costs", and am just BLOWN AWAY.

    I want my games to be just like this book. I'm sick of being teased by greatness! Derek's games have come the closest of all to recreating the experience, but I don't want to wait 5-20 years for ultimate wonderfullness

    Does *anyone* feel the same way?

  5. quote:

    By burning wick, on candle black

    Four-axis stick and talk of smack

    By dorkish heart and powers be

    Derek Smart, I summon thee!

    *crack of thunder*

    HAHAHAH! This made me laugh.

    I'm so glad to see this thread has grown so large, and full of such great posts. I wish I could edit the front page to include all the latest games listed here!

  6. Well, a workaround has been found allowing people to run homebrew software on BIOS version 1.5 PSPs. All rejoice

    Unfortunately, it *IS* a bit convoluted. Won't link to it here, since any link inevitably carries links to emulators and such.

  7. Well, I bought it. Love it. Untold Legends is so pathetically formulaic as to be amusing.

    I am, however, dispapointed that I cannot run homebrew apps. No, not emulators --- someone created PSP Chess and I wanted to give it a go. No dice. Sigh. Back to my Pocket PC...!

  8. Cellblock Squadrons

    This one looks GOOD. Here's a quote from the site:

    Delve into a future world where every criminal has a debt to society, and the darkness of space is where it's to be repayed. Join in missions with up to 99 other criminals and earn your freedom, so that one day, you can finally go home. Choose from five small craft and experience reflex busting gameplay, randomized weapon placements and some time in solitary confinement, as you fight against more than forty enemy battleships, bent on your entire squad's destruction.

    You're not going to save the universe... this time, you're only going to save yourself.

  9. quote:

    Originally posted by Jaguar:

    I have a good old reliable Ipaq 3835, it plays MP3 music, has voice recorder, plays games, read E-books, I even watch music videos on it...LOL

    Hey, that's a classic!!! I remember envying that while owning a Casio E-115. These days I'm toting an Dell Axim X50v. Have been considering prying the hard drive out of the rio to shove in there...god, all that storage space. Whole movies!

  10. First, I don't know anything about the Zen micro, but if there are problems with headphone jacks --- well, that's pretty serious stuff right there. I can understand crappy interfaces, I can understand dropping the thing and having it fall apart, but the headphones are where it's at.

    Well, if you don't want to pay for the extras --- and i don't blame you --- the Rio Carbon is a decent machine. WOW they just dropped the price on it, too (with a rebate) to $199.

    Now, if you're totally ignoring all the extras and your pitting the Carbon vs. the iPod mini, I personally would go with the mini. They cost the same, and with the mini you get to be a part of the crowd and so on. You're losing out on the extra 1GB the Carbon gives you, though.

    And, BTW, I totally get sick of my hundreds of MP3's --- that's where the radio comes in!

  11. quote:

    Originally posted by Cmdr. WeeGee:

    How are they overpriced? You can do soooo much more than you could ever imagine with an iPod. They're a portable hard disk for starters. You can put books on them, use them as a planner, and many many other functions. The new iPod Photo has a camera attachment coming out very soon for it as well.

    I think that iPods are overpriced because, if you take a look at comparable MP3 players from other manufactures, you will find that, at a comparable amount of storage, other players offer more bang for your buck. iPods are frequently more expensive while offering fewer features than the competition.

    Does that make sense? Okay, case in point. The iRiver (I bring them up a lot 'cause I'm most familiar with their stuff) The iFP-780

    has the same amount of RAM (128MB) as the iPod shuffle and costs the same. BUT you also get a built in FM radio, line in, voice recording, WMA, MP3, OGG, and you get 40 hours on a single AA battery. This is a fact BTW --- I used to own the iFP-790.The iFP series doesn't double as a hard drive automatically -- you need the iriver software to do that, but it IS nearly two years old. And it can of course still hold whatever you want to put on it.

    Yes, you could buy an attachment --- a radio, a camera, a voice recorder, etc. etc., but that just costs more and adds to the bulk. If you're a frequent commuter, you want to keep extras to a minimum.

  12. LOL Deep, congratulations on your purchase of an H10. Yes, the carrying case the Carbon comes with blocks all the buttons except for the volume/scroll wheel, but it's not that big a deal to me. As for it being delicate --- I've dropped mine a few times -- onto carpeted floors -- with no troubles. In fact, since I got the H10 I've been thinking of cracking it open and putting the hard drive into the CF slot on my Dell Pocket PC!

    What makes the H10 worth it? I forgot to mention the touchpad I suppose, but that's not a big selling point for me. What really does it for me is the tight integration with windows media player 10 (automatic sync of music, sorta thing -- really a convenient feature, because when I add new music to my computer it shows up on the H10 automatically) AND the FM radio. Specifically, you can program the H10 to automatically start recording a certain station at a certain time --- GREAT if you like to listen to Howard Stern like I do!

  13. RE: Recommending an MP3 player. First off, let me admit that if I could afford to pay for the grossly overpriced iPod devices (mini or otherwise) I most assuredly would. I believe iPods are very well designed, have nice user interfaces, and the circular touchpad is very intuitive to use.

    However. That doesn't change the fact that they are grossly overpriced for what they are.

    I have both a Rio Carbon 5GB and an iRiver H10 5GB. They both have 1GB more than the iPod mini. The Rio is much smaller and the battery lasts FOREVER. I use it at least three hours a day and it lasts me about a whole week. Most recently I picked up an iRiver H10 --- this thing is fabulous. Costs I think $30 more than the iPod mini, but you get an extra gig if storage, FM Radio, line-in recording, voice recording, the ability to read text files, AND a color screen you can use to see pictures. The battery doesn't last as long as i like --- I have to charge it every couple of days --- but it is godlike.

    As wonderful as iPods are, I cannot recommend that someone spend so much money and get something that offers inferior value. Check out the H10 --- iRiver H10

  14. Race, thanks so much for the offer, but it is finally, finally over. I got work. Not only did I get work, but I had to turn down TWO jobs!

    I've been hired by a public relations firm. All those years of reviewing video games have paid off. I won't be working in the gaming industry at all, which is a shame, but what the heck. And not even an entry level job --- I start off a few rungs up the ladder, with great pay and excellent benefits. I'm a happy camper. All that struggle finally paid off.

    So, what have I learned...what tips would I recommend to someone who is looking for a job and has been without one for some time?

    1) Sign up with every temp agency in your city. IT DOESN'T COUNT UNLESS YOU GET INTERVIEWED BY THEM, and then make sure you contact them once a week --- be it by phone or email, to let them know you are available for work.

    2) Sell all your crap. Have a garage sale, put it up on eBay. I cannot begin to tell you how many times eBay helped pay rent --- all I had to give up was my entire video game library, various game consoles, various home entertainment devices (including my TV --- have been watching television on a TV tuner, on a computer, for months) and anything else that can be sold for more than $20 a pop.

    Well, that's really it. Good luck and god's speed.

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