Terminator Salvation Arcade

FUN

969436. That's the score I got from Terminator Salvation Arcade, here in Whitestown, IN. I was reluctant to play it, since RawThrills is the one who made it. They made cool looking games, but gameplay leaves to be desired.

Well, I appreciate that most time, there's only one threat to worry about. Still, it took me about $10 dollars to finish the game. And having finished it, I'm not too eager to repeat the experience.

Power up makes a big difference. But House of the Dead 4 has better gameplay regarding crowd scenes. But my pet peeve is that the dollar receptacle has trouble recognizing my dollar! Since there's no mechanic to reset the game over countdown, I frequently lost out due to timer, instead of lack of money. Very frustrating, indeed, yet such a little thing to implement.

Apparently, people were impressed with my shooting. I did get the high score. :)

A chess game

FUN

It's been a long time since I played chess. I played against someone who hasn't played in 20 years! I guess it's rather lopsided. I still haven't moved my king or rooks! Amazing what knight and queen combo can do, especially against limited mobility opponent. Do you see how much space I have? And how tangled his pieces are?

Microsoft Update

TECH

I recently updated my XP operating system. The update reads "Service Pack 3" that is out right now. It's nice to have current update available immediately. That's business at the speed of thought for you.

However, it comes with a new EULA. That's sounds like Microsoft is trying to slip a new agreement with automatic update. I wonder what the difference with the old one. There should be a "diff" output between the two, you know?

Also, the update takes a long time. I think that if the update is significant, then there should be a warning beforehand. Otherwise, people trying to catch up email in the morning before leaving for work will get stuck for two hours. That's not user friendly. Isn't there somebody at Microsoft who is experienced in these type of things. I mean, that happened with AOL a long time ago! Learn from experience.

And I hate it that the update process took a significant portion of real estate, yet only give one line status update. How about displaying a list of things to do, along with time required, and then put a check mark as each step is completed. That would be user friendly. Especially so if the user can say, "Pause the process until I get back from work." That would be terrific.

Unfortunately for me. The next time I use my computer, I get a message "Hard disk full". Apparently, I only get 25 GB partition on the primary. I moved all the data into secondary, and managed to free up 4 GB. Still, that means that I may need to get Partition Commander program and rebalance the partition.

And yes, AOL did have a case where a mandatory upgrade caused a situation where the program ceased functioning due to limited hardware. Which is to say, AOL forcibly kicked out their user. That was when the gold started leaving AOL, BTW.

It occurs to me that 100 percent back up is not enough. You have to have 100 percent seamless migration, preferably the one button kind. I hope Microsoft is working on it.

High Score

FUN

Got new high scores. Carnival King: I get more than 40,000 on all three locations. Memory Game: I kept getting First Place, and it kept giving me free game. The scores climbed up to over 700,000. The secret is to not use any hints. Each is worth 20,000 points!

Depression

RANT

Reading this weekend USA Today, I sense a general feeling of depression. First, there was Joseph Stack who took aggresion to the government. Then there is Obama, who after being reminded by McCain of his campaign promise said that "The election's over". Also, there is Andrew Koenig, who apparently committed suicide after a long bout of depression. Then there is Otis McDonald of Chicago who fears of his life, and yet forbidden to carry a handgun in his home.

And let's not mention how stock market goes flat due to lack luster recovery. Jobs aren't up. Neither is spending.

Hurry up, President Obama, and give us the change you promised on the campaign trail! Health Care is important, but jobs is much more so.

I know that we are in trouble when hotels resort to advertising hauntings, ghosts, and other paranormal activities as tourist draw.

That's all in front page of USA Today newspaper Feb 26-28 weekend edition, and the fact that the page is dominated by Billy Demong's triumphant pose doesn't stop all this depressing going ons.

So much depressions, in fact, that Tilikum, the Orca Killer Whale of SeaWorld, decided to drag a trainer underwater to teach her a lesson, and Trainer Dawn Brancheau drowned.

I don't know about you, but I definitely seeing the after effects on people around me. One driver decided to retire due to insensitive treatments from his manager.

Sigh.

Accidents

TRAVEL

I saw so many cars in and around Des Moines, IA, on the side of the road. Apparently, the last snow storm was too much for them. That's unbelievable. Considering that this is mid-February, shouldn't they be used to winter driving by now? What's with all the accidents?

Extreme Hangman?

FUN

I was looking for a nice, new DSiWare. Saw "Extreme Hangman" by Gamelion. Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Mild Cartoon Violence. 2000 words vocabulary. Hmmm. Does this sound like "Combat Golf" to you? I wonder who the demographics for this game is.