Mass Effect

Considering the media hooplah that's been going on lately with Mass Effect, I figured now was a good time to review it. My response to the media hooplah is moot. Other people have said it, and sometimes better. Fox News and other conservative publications are simply ridiculous, uninformed, insulting and wrong regarding this. Egad! Fox News distorting the truth for sensationalist purposes? Say it ain't so!

So anyway, Mass Effect. I've mentioned that Heavenly Sword had the best digital actors in any game to date, and after some thought, I'm reconsidering my opinion. I still am crazy impressed by Heavenly Sword, but the digital acting in Mass Effect is on equal footing, it's just that the characters aren't as over-the-top.

Let's start from the very beginning (it IS a very good place to start, isn't it?). When you start the game, you have the option to create your character from relative scratch, or choose one of the two default characters. All the advertising is based off the default male character, and that kind of confuses me. I created my own character, making him look vaguely like a badass version of myself. He had the acne scars, auburn hair, reddish unshaven look, big nose, that sort of thing. I remember going through the game as him. I see the advertising for the game with the default character and think, "Wait. That's not the same game I played. The guy is different. Who's this guy?" Then I get back to thinking that yes, I changed the default, and its someone else. It's akin to watching the TV show M*A*S*H for years, and then going back to the movie and wondering who this Elliot Gould guy is where Alan Alda should be. Or Michael Gambon as Dumbledore instead of Richard Harris. You get the picture.

So anyway, I went through the game with badass-me as the main character. And we start, and I'm already blown away. It's a movie, complete with recognizeable actors, but you're able to interact with the story. There is actual cinematography, actual acting in an interactive sequence. For those who are not as exposed to gaming, this is unusual. Yes, games have been getting more and more artistic as of late, but this raises the bar dramatically. These conversation sequences play to the viewer's emotions, unfolding according to how you respond, but portrayed in a very watchable style (there's even a rack-focus in one of the tense scenes). There were times when I was watching the story unfold in conversation sequence, and I thought, "Meh, I've seen movies like this before." And that's the thing. Games are still a relatively young art form, not nearly as advanced as film. And yet, I was comparing this game to a movie and favorably.

The story is moderately straightforward, but difficult to summarize. For that, I'll pull straight off the website:

The galaxy is trapped in an endless cycle of extinction. Every 50,000 years, an
ancient machine race invades the galaxy. With ruthless efficiency, the machines
wipe out all advanced organic civilization. They leave behind only the scattered
ruins of technology, destroying all evidence of their own existence. Few believe
this ancient legend. You, however, know it to be true. The fight to stop this
extinction event has become the most important mission in the galaxy. As
Commander Shepard of the SS Normandy, you will take your elite recon squad
across a galaxy in turmoil, in a desperate race to stop the return of an enemy
without mercy. To stop this enemy, you must act without remorse, without
hesitation, and outside the limits of the law. Your only imperative is to
preserve the safety of civilized life in the galaxy - at any cost. You must
become the tip of the spear of humanity, for you alone know the full extent of
what is at stake if you should fail.

Yes, it's something similar to what I've seen before: Ancient big nasty thing wants to destroy everything in your world, and you have to stop it (Babylon 5, anyone?). But the way it is told is what makes it magnificent.

The gameplay varies, depending on the style. In conversation sequences, as noted above, it's freakin wonderful. Each choice you make changes your path in the story. You can be a tough-but-good guy, or you can be a heartless bastard. It's all up to you. I understand that this changes how the story unfolds, but I have only played the game once. The action side of it, not as good. It works, and you learn it as you go, but in order to be proficient in combat, you really have to stop the action periodically so you can queue up your next ability. Not such a big fan of that. Ultimately, it didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth, but it did bring me out of the story.

This is a great game, and I recommend it highly. And yes, as the big hulabaloo is all about, there is a sex scene, if you choose to develop your relationships well. However, this game is rated M, and therefore has restrictions for sale placed on it, just like an R rated movie. The fact that the sex scene is about as tame as that which you would see in a PG-13 movie, or on TV after 9:00 doesn't seem to enter critics' minds, but it seems as though reporting impartially and factually doesn't either.

The End of an Era

So I'm borrowing the title of this post from David, who wrote about the same thing. Comcast is gone. Their customer service stinks, their service is unreliable and too expensive. I wash my hands of them. Our internet and phone is now handled by AT&T. Faster, more reliable, cheaper. Their customer service also stinks, but at least there's less reason for me to call them.

Now, normally, the end of cable would require an immediate subscription to DirecTV or somesuch (an option that I heartily recommend, by the way). Now, however, time is an issue, and I like to watch DVD's, and I like to play games (and the TV is GREAT for both). Battlestar Galactica isn't coming back until September or so, same with Heroes. Lost isn't coming back until January. And we can see all those on their respective networks' websites. The only purpose to continuing the cable service is to veg for an hour or two. Sure, we'll miss Pucca and Adult Swim and Alton Brown, but losing cable saves us enough that if we wanted, we could get two seasons of our favorite TV show each month and never miss it.

So begone, wicked Comcast! Never again will I bow to the filth you spew!

Our Last, Best Hope for Net Neutrality

The telecommunications bill has passed, allowing the telco companies more freedom in getting us our TV, but also allowing Net Discrimination. Senator Ron Wyden has put a hold on the bill, effectively filibustering it until it has a clear policy preserving the neutrality of the Internet.

Here's what you can do right now (I expect it to take a maximum of five minutes).

Put your zip code in here. It will automatically look up who your Senators are.

Call the Washington number of your Senators.

Say this (or something like it): "I would like Sentor ____ to support Senator Ron Wyden’s hold on the telecommunications bill, and support his proposed amendments to the Net Neutrality issue. "

This could potentially screw you, personally, up if you have any particular preference for any website at all, or would like to discover new favorites in the future. I have never been concerned with politics at all until this issue came up, and we have the capability to do something that will keep us not-screwed (at least on this issue) for the rest of our natural lives.

FYI: When I called, it took about 3 minutes, most of which was on hold with Barack Obama's office. The workers were friendly and pleasant to talk to.

Thank You God!

Click on the picture so you can read the caption. The lesson in this is that if you're thinking about technology in 50 years, and it's not unbelievable, you're thinking too conservatively.

Update: Please see the comments. This is actually a Fark.com piece. Oops.

Oh, good. Another shot in the foot for Net Neutrality

So the House defeated an amendment for Net Neutrality last night. The corporations are winning, which I guess is nothing new in America. The squeaky wheels with the money end up getting the most grease. The next battle is in the Senate where, fortunately, there is more support for the little guy.

The full story is here.

Net Neutrality

This is not a hoax. I've only recently noticed this on the net, and most recently these posts eloquently described what was going on. The best way to express the whole net neutraliy issue is to quote other people, as I don't have the energy to put these details into as eloquent words as others already have.

Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an iPod? Everything we do online will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law next week that gives giant corporations more control over what we do and see on the Internet.

Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality--the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. BarnesandNoble.com doesn't have to outbid Amazon for the right to work properly on your computer.

If Net Neutrality is gutted, many sites--including Google, eBay, and iTunes--must either pay protection money to companies like AT&T or risk having their websites process slowly. That why these high-tech pioneers, plus diverse groups ranging from MoveOn to Gun Owners of America, are opposing Congress' effort to gut Internet freedom.

You can do your part today--can you sign this petition telling your member of Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here:
http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet

I signed this petition, along with 250,000 others so far. This petiton will be delivered to Congress before the House of Representatives votes next week. When you sign, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress.

Snopes.com, which monitors various causes that circulate on the Internet, explained:
Simply put, network neutrality means that no web site's traffic has precedence over any other's...Whether a user searches for recipes using Google, reads an article on snopes.com, or looks at a friend's MySpace profile, all of that data is treated equally and delivered from the originating web site to the user's web browser with the same priority. In recent months, however, some of the telephone and cable companies that control the telecommunications networks over which Internet data flows have floated the idea of creating the electronic equivalent of a paid carpool lane.

If companies like AT&T have their way, Web sites ranging from Google to eBay to iTunes either pay protection money to get into the "fast lane" or risk opening slowly on your computer. We can't let the Internet--this incredible medium which has been such a revolutionary force for democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech--become captive to large corporations.

Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Together, we do care about preserving the free and open Internet.

Please sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Internet freedom. Click here:
http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet

Also, read the linked posts. I think the biggest issue I have with this is that an ISP can effectively force me into using a service that pays them, because anything else will take 5 minutes to open on my system. This is just flat-out wrong.

From Adam Green's post:

If you are outraged, don't just sit there. ... [T]ake these steps:
1. SIGN a Net Neutrality petition to Congress:
2. CALL Congress now:
3. BLOG about this issue, or put our "Save the Internet" logo on your Web site:
4. MYSPACE: Add "Save the Internet" as a friend:
5. WRITE A LETTER to Congress:
6. VISIT our coalition Web site for more information, SavetheInternet.com:

More Strange and Wonderful Net Stuff

Y'know one of the Big Questions of my Star Wars obsessed existence is this: Just what the hell are the people singing when Darth Maul starts the fight in the hangar in Episode I? Well, I just found out the answer:

(By the way, if you're viewing this at work, turn the sound down or wait till you get home)

OK, this is not actually something I think about often, but it was funny, so I thought I'd share.

Stick Figure Hilarity

Does anybody else find these stick figure danger signs incredibly hilarious? I always think of this one guy who's having a really bad day. This one right here is on a gate I walk by every day, and then there's the classic (below) you find on nearly every water heater in every basement in America. I know other people have found the humor in these as well, as when I ran around the web I found not only a website devoted to them, but a flickr pool devoted to them as well. Classic humor, if a bit sadistic.

Chuck Norris: Master of His Domain

For some reason, Chuck Norris has been big on the internet radar recently. He's not quite the "All your base are belong to us" of this year, but he's popping up with increasing frequency. I think I've found out why: This site has a lot of Chuck Norris facts that are freakin' hysterical. Read a few. You'll be hooked.

Child's Play

I just found a new charity: Child's Play. It's created by gamers for gamers (in a way). It's all about giving kids who have long-term stays in the hospital something to do, be it video games, listening to music, or watching movies. I don't remember much of being in the hospital when I was way young, but what I do remember was pretty traumatic. This, combined with how I reacted when that little girl I never knew had cancer, combined with the fact that it's a charity started by die-hard gamers, all makes me kind of a shoe-in for it. It bugs me that there are no Chicago hospitals currently involved, and even the hospital I went to (Boston Children's Hospital) back in the early 70's isn't there (hell, I don't even know if it exists anymore), but I still feel it's important to give, just so some kid in D.C. (the closest hospital I could find to Boston) might be a little bit happier.

The strange and wonderful things you find on the net

In need of a laugh? Put on some headphones if you're at work, because you'll want to hear this (or just wait till you're at home).

Click here

Special thanks go to this guy, to whom I may have to start linking.

Why I dig other people's blogs

I regularly read a select few blogs of people that I don't know personally. Some are celebrities, some are incredibly educational, all are well written (well, all of them that I read without knowing who they are). Wil Wheaton's blog is almost a forum, a centralized meeting place, for those of skewed minds. The Four Ninja Food Groups is just weird. But then there's people like the writer of The All-Grain Evangelist who are just SO damn knowledgeable and SO damn passionate about what they do, it's downright amazing. This is the post that inspired my post. The more I look at my current space, the more I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to get into homebrewing in this apartment (that's kind of a maybe), but damn, I need to have this guy's blog up for reference.

Crap, now I gotta think again

Well, ever-faithful wikipedia (which has often been considered the reason the internet exists), has dashed my pseudo-hopes. Christopher Walken is not running for president. It was a good hoax/joke, but it's all over now. Owell, at least we have our perpetually successful two-party system to fall back on :P

Too much blog spam

I hate to do it, but because blogspot does not allow for blocking IP addresses that post, I am limiting comments to those who are registered with blogspot. I wish I could do anonymous ones, but I seem to have been pegged for mass comment spam. Yay.

Cue Chorus of Angels

Guess where I'm posting this from. No, go ahead, guess. No, really.

I now have functional internet at home. Yep, I'm home, and I have an internet connection, for the first time in several weeks. Observe my internetting goodness.

Blog-Spam

I've seen blogs that are spam-esque before, but I never knew there was such a thing as a blog-response spam. In any case, I got it on my last post. Crap on a cracker, that's annoying. I'll give it one more chance. If I get one more spam response, then I'm disabling anonymous responses.

I'm Stealing Internet

Yep. You heard me. I'm stealing Internet. Because Comcast is too incompetent to maintain a connection in this building (we've had technicians out here freakin' three times, and we're still having problems!), I'm stealing a bad connection from some anonymous neighbor's functional unsecured wireless internet (quite probably DSL). I move in July. It won't be soon enough.

Now off to see how poorly World of Warcraft works with this connection.

MIT blog survey

Yes, I'm even more of a geek. Check out the link below (click on the picture telling you I made some science), if you have a blog of your own. Do it. Do it now.

My home internet frustrations

Y'know, I really hate my internet connection at home. Let me 'splain. First off, I right now rent from my roommate, so he owns the place, and all the decisions about the home are his, and all the bills are in his name. Therefore, everything hinges on whether or not he pays them. With most people, this would not be much of an issue, but twice in the year I've lived here the internet has gone dead on a weekend he's been away simply because he didn't pay the bill on time. God only knows how many times it's happened when he has been around, and I just haven't been the one to catch it. Then there's the fact that it's Comcast. They're moderately sporadic in their own right, so there's another point of failure. Then there's the cable modem we have: crap. I'm sure our latest problems have been a direct result of the fact that the modem is a steaming hunk of poo encased in blue plastic. Then there's our wireless internet. I have a wireless mouse, which tends to interact negatively with the wireless internet, and ends up with a crappy signal, but I also have a USB receiver, which has a hard time recognizing that it's even there moderately often. So, approximately half the time, I have no connection to the internet when I turn on my computer, and I have to run through each of these points of failure to try to trace what the problem might be this time. I almost have Comcast on speed dial lately. And yes, I do intend to use Comcast as my internet provider when I move (unless RCN is available), but I will pay them on time, and I will avoid the wireless internet for the time being, thereby eliminating many of my frustrations.