30
Oct
2006
Talk about your odd occurrences. Last week I received a couple of random friend requests on Xbox Live, which I immediately blamed on the blog (that's what I get for posting my Gamer card front and center). As a rule, I don't accept friend requests unless I know where they came from. If I do that, I end up running out of room at some point and then deleting all the people whose names I don't immediately recognize, since I prefer to play online with people I know (I'm in the Recreation zone for a reason, folks).
Anyhow, one of those two sent me a follow-up message after I'd so politely ignored him for the better part of a week. That guy happens to be Knuckles Dawson who, unbeknownst to me, is some kind of Internet Celebrity™. It turns out that Mr. Dawson (who I shall now refer to as "KD", as typing "Knuckles Dawson" repeatedly makes me feel funny) has scored at least one achievement every day since the machine launched on November 22nd of last year. He calls this project the KD Endeavour, and even has a nice online calendar detailing exactly when and in what game he obtained his achievements.
I found all this out after adding KD to my friends list (like I said, your chances are better if I know who you are), as he is very chatty and somewhat Canadian. Then he had to go away and have a video chat with some important dude at Microsoft. Ah, the life of a celebrity...
11
Oct
2006
I have recently become reacquainted with the wonderful world of Lego. While 90% of Lego's catalog does not really interest me, it turns out that they do offer some toys for big kids, and we seem to have spent quite a large portion of our allowance on these things lately.
The interest started when we acquired a Mindstorms NXT set for my girlfriend. For those not familiar, the Mindstorms line allows you to build Lego robots, complete with functioning sensors (such as touch, light, and sound) and a programmable "Intelligent Brick" (your robot's brain) to control them. The silly thing can even communicate via Bluetooth.
I haven't spent much time with the Mindstorms, myself. Rather, while perusing the Lego online store for Mindstorms accessories, I came across the Star Wars Ultimate Collector's series and immediately fell in love. Unbeknownst to me, this series has been around for several years, with several sets already having been retired. Current sets of interest include an AT-ST, Y-Wing, TIE Advanced, the ever-popular Star Destroyer, and the Death Star II. There are a couple more sets included in this category in the Lego shop, but they are of nowhere near the same caliber as the ones named here.
So what makes these so cool? Unlike most Lego sets, these are built more like models than playthings. They do not include any mini-figures, and are not built to that scale. They feature (based on what I've seen of the catalogue) a minimum of 1,000 pieces, with the Star Destroyer and Death Star II breaking the 3,000-piece mark. They have a ridiculous amount of detail for something that is constructed using Lego bricks, including some interior details that you will probably never see once completed. And, best of all, they are appreciably huge. Of course, they do end up being a bit pricey, but I think they're worthwhile.
So it was that I began my new Lego collection on my birthday this year with the receipt of the AT-ST (the only one readily available at retail) from my girlfriend. I'm not going to tell you that it is all kinds of awesome (and it is), as I have pictures to do that for me. Click for big.
The AT-ST includes 1,068 pieces and took a good eight hours to complete. He stands 16.5" tall and kicks approximately thirty-eight variations of ass. And, of course, there is no way that he's going be the last.
25
Sep
2006
I've just had a rather grueling month at the office, but things are finally starting to let up a bit. Generally, the rougher my day at work, the more likely I am to plop my lazy butt down in front of the 360 and waste the rest of the evening doing nothing productive. I will certainly be less likely to engage in any sort of code-related activities outside of my job.
That said, I'm going to try to start posting here again. I've got Legos to discuss.
19
Jun
2006
Nothing can ruin your night quite like your finely-tuned layout exploding in Internet Explorer. I'm not sure exactly what happened, here...I swear it was working just fine earlier today, but a quick once-over revealed quite the opposite. A couple of tweaks later and everything is fixed, but IE has drained my will to live for the night, as well as blown any remaining free time I had. Oh well.
18
Jun
2006
Yesterday I received a notice from
Best Buy regarding an update to their
Reward Zone program. For those not familiar, Reward Zone is a points program that allows you to earn gift certificates as you spend copious amounts of money at Best Buy to satisfy your gadget habit. Currently, a membership runs $9.99 a year and $5 certificates are doled out for every 15,000 points ($1 = 100 points).
Starting September 18, 2006, Best Buy will be doing away with the two extraneous zeroes on the point total so that one dollar nets you one point. They will also be doing away with the registration fee -- you only need to make one purchase a year in order to continue your membership.
So what's the catch? Certificates are now awarded at every 250 points. For those short on math skills, that means you're spending $250 before you receive your first $5 certificate. I normally wouldn't see a reason to complain, as the program
is free, now. My gripe is that the program is so much less rewarding (pun intended) than it used to be. I'd much rather hand Best Buy my $10 anually and get nearly twice as many certificates.
8
Jun
2006
After nearly five years of owning NinjaFish.net and doing approximately nothing
productive with the domain, I've broken down and decided to spew forth
one of these hip and trendy "blog" thingers. I guess I needed somewhere
to ramble aimlessly, and what better target for inanity than the
internet.
My primary goal for the blog at the moment is to get
some visual customization done. Unfortunately, I know less than nothing
about Community Server (though I somehow got the contraption installed),
so that will require a bit of research, and will probably result in
little progress for quite some time. That will probably be to my
benefit, seeing as CS 2.1 is scheduled for release next month, and
would likely render any skins I create obsolete.
I am editing this ancient post to test something.
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