Ballin'

Anyone in Santa Clarita that wants to play basketball, go to the Powerhouse Gym on Calgrove. You will need a subscription to get in, but there are always good basketball pick up games and crowds there.

The best times to go for basketball are:
Mon: 1:30-3:30 and 5:00-6:00
Tues: 5:00-7:30
Wed: 1:30-3:30
Thurs: 1:30-3:30 and 5:00-7:00
Fri: 1:30-4:30
Sat: 9:30-12:00

BF2142 Now!

I have repurchased the BF2142 Deluxe Edition, and am playing it again. My name is PredatorAhnold, so go ahead and add me to friends and mention you found my name through the blog.

It was kind of a pain to install it because the client was so out of date... Here's a quick write-up of what you gotta do in case you buy it and are stranded at your desktop...

1. Install the game
2. You will be prompted to "Activate Northern Strike." Click on the button and it should open a browser for you. If it doesn't, visit this page for instructions (it has the link at bottom) http://www.battlefield.com/activate/bf2142/eng.html
3. Now that Northern Strike is activated, you need to update your game. Go to http://battlefield.ea.com/battlefield/bf/BF2142_News_110306.aspx and click on the May 30th, 2008 entry that says BF2142 update 1.50. This will start a download of about 500mb, so be prepared to wait. Alternatively, you can download the patch at other file distribution sites, like FilePlanet. The patch is called BF2142_Update_1.50.exe
4. Once the patch is downloaded, double click it to launch the installer, it will take a bit, but afterwards your game will be updated.
5. Time to play! Launch the game!

I hope this helped. If there are any items unclear, please respond with a question and I will answer it as soon as possible.

Video Games Ruined My Brain?

I have been fortunate enough to have had video gaming systems in my home since I was about 9 years old. Each game that I played I focused on competition and getting better against human opponents. Supposedly, video games deprive the players of social interaction, but with the advent and popularity of online gaming, this is no longer so. In fact, I have specifically pinpointed numerous cases in my life where I have benefitted by playing video games my whole life. I have found that I know different mythologies quite well, I have a much larger vocabulary, I am fine tuned with internet culture, and I am much more creative becuase of the beautiful storylines I have "experienced" throughout my life. I am not whimsical, however, and my head is most certainly not in the clouds, but I think it is funny how much of a turnaround video games have made in popular culture.

Going to school when I was younger, I was made fun of because I would sit at home and play Nintendo, or Super Nintendo, and no one save for a small group of my friends could I relate to. Now every kid and adult has a gaming system in one form or another, and it is as main stream as pop music is. The last thing that I noticed before writing this entry is that my typing skills are pretty advanced if you consider my level of training, and I am extremely fast at manipulating computers and other devices... Part of the "twitch" training I've had throughout my life.

Which is a more developed universe? The Battletech one, the Robotech one, the Starcraft one, or the Warcraft one? This is an interesting question because I think most people will find it hard to make a judgement on which is more developed without including personal opinion on which is of the highest quality. Warcraft's expansion sets, some claim, have completely ruined the game and the storyline to where it has become rediculous to consider World of Warcraft as a serious RPG. I think the Battletech one is the most developed.

Video Game Concept

I had a video game concept that I wanted to start working on, but I realized quickly that it was far too grand in scope to be realistic. Therefore, I thought up a more simple game, though it may sound complex. It is called Artie, short for Artificial Intelligence. It is a small game that allows the player to build their own AI program that will then go on to build other things depending on how the player "nurtures" the program from its infancy. The concept it based on the idea that an AI program will be a learning computer and is very impressionable at the start. The game will allow the player to "program" the AI in any way they wish, with variation and customization being the selling point of the game (selling point does not imply I wish to make money off of the game).

Why, Broncos, Why?!

31-10 vs. the Oakland Raiders. No, it wasn't the Broncos who won. Why is this such a hard fact to accept? Well, for starters, the Oakland Raiders just don't score that much in their games! They hadn't scored a touchdown in 15 consecutive quarters but they managed to score 3 touchdowns in 18 plays on the Broncos? For a defense that was able to contain Atlanta's Michael Turner, who on Sunday had 4 touchdowns, the Broncos couldn't stop anything on the ground. I don't think the Broncos are prepared well for their divisional games, and the coaches don't do a good job of getting it into their players heads that a divisional opponent's record doesn't indicate how they will play against you!

There was no game plan, bad play calling, and no life to the Broncos offense, defense, and special teams. Get better coaches, please. You can't keep blaming the losses on the players.

Signs of Alien Life

Our prerequisites for a planet to sustain habitable life have been changed, and this article proves that we should look beyond our current prospects to find alien life in our galaxy.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026831.600-why-the-universe-may-be-teeming-with-aliens.html

Daring Entrepeneurs

When the heads of the big three auto makers of Detroit flew in to D.C. to ask for a hand-out in their multi-million dollar jets, the word "daring" comes to mind, but not in the right way! I can't believe these people who are so out of touch with reality would ride jets to go tell people how poor they are! I say let them file for bankruptcy; they are clearly not the successful business minds they think they are.

The original article is here:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/11/21/lawmakers-collide-ultimatum-automakers/

Above: Workers leave a General Motors Powertrain plant in Warren, Michigan, last week.

UFL Ring a Bell?

There is a new pro-football league that is about to be formed, and is scheduled to play their first season in August of 2009. The league is called the United Football League, or UFL (no, not the XFL), and is about to make a major announcement regarding what I assume is an public notification of the league in December. This is all taking place for certain, despite the current economic crisis, and United Football League investor and Google Inc. vice president Tim Armstrong claims that an investment in sports is a sound move, and a long term one as well financially.

My personal opinion is that a new football league is great, but there are many, many american football leagues and teams throughout the country as it is already, and none of them are bold enough to take on the NFL in a head to head competition for ratings and fan support. The NFL has about a hundred years of tradition behind it, and I really don't think a new football league can survive when the NFL is airing its games. I personally believe that a staggered season would be best for the UFL, with the first regular season game being scheduled in March, with an eight week regular season containing one bye (there are currently 6-8 teams planned for the league), and the post-season games starting in May.

Ready for some perspective, UFL? There is already one league, the LCFL West, that is pretty big in Southern California alone. There are 26 teams in this league, and the winner of the LCFL West goes on to the NAFL1 Championship, where it plays one team from the biggest football league in the world, the North American Football League.

Sorry to say it, UFL, but "I don't think it's gonna work."

Other startup leagues planned include the All American Football League (AAFL) and the United States Football League (USFL).

Dudes

Hey so the Broncos won, of course... nice work Orange and Blue!

It's already Wednesday and the week is going by fast, which is good.

If anyone is interested in playing the LotR mod in Warcraft 3, go ahead and join me on Azeroth East, in the channel "clan AOME." We are looking for more recruits!