BioShock 2

August 31st, 2010

I’m playing through BioShock 2 on the PC. This is one of the first PC games I’ve played in a while – I’ve mostly been playing on the Xbox 360 the last few years.

I’ve been enjoying the game, but I’ve reached a point where it just suddenly stopped being fun. The whole game is a bit too linear/scripted, but the difficulty has been pretty reasonable. Now, all of a sudden, I have a fight that I just can’t win, after maybe 50 tries.

The part of it that really bugs me, though, is that the game is spawning new enemies as the fight goes on. It’s been a long time since I played a game that did that, and I didn’t expect it of a game like BioShock 2. It doesn’t matter how many enemies you kill, there are always more.

And in the context of BioShock 2, where you’re in an underwater city where presumably resources are scarce, it just doesn’t make any sense to have an unending horde of bad guys coming at me one at a time. What, are they all just right around the corner?

I’m tempted to just leave it and play something else, but I have been enjoying the story and would hate to miss the ending..

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-29

August 29th, 2010
  • Working in Flex is so much more fun than working in Java. A big part of it is it feels like me and the framework are on the same side. #
  • I keep Visual Studio around for keyboard macro recording and playback, a feature they nailed about 10 years ago. #
  • The RAID volume is synchronizing now. Please wait for 234.2 minute(s). #

Google Maps Routing

August 24th, 2010

Check this out:

Routing from one arbitrary destination to another isn’t easy. Think about how long it takes your in-car GPS navigation device. “Recalculating”.

And Google is doing it on every mouse move. Wow.

(Sorry about the video quality – YouTube mashed my video. And apparently if you upload a video that isn’t in the aspect ratio it wants, it just scales your video. That’s ugly.)

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-22

August 22nd, 2010
  • i7-930 tjmax is 98 degrees. Ouch. My cooler is keeping it at ~70 under load, which is plenty of headroom but still seems hot. #
  • Good Oracle vs Google analysis: http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2010/08/14/oracle-v-google #
  • I'm surprised nobody's released a tablet to compete with the iPad yet. #
  • @derekcunningham Thanks Derek – doesn't look like they support Java server stuff either (like JBoss). That's what I was looking for. in reply to derekcunningham #
  • Is an annotated Java object still a POJO? It's neither plain nor old. #
  • Companies that want customers to move to online billing need to have simple, reliable websites. Seems obvious, doesn't it? #
  • Bell's site is broken. I think my bill is wrong, and the email summary just includes the amount, no detail. Now what? #
  • I just got a nice "Dyson Wash Day" reminder email from Dyson Canada. Apparently it's time to clean the filter. #
  • Would it be illegal for NBC/Fox/ABC to short Hulu stock after the IPO, and then pull their content? #
  • Lost a 1.5tb hard drive. RAID makes this a :| instead of a :( #
  • EJB messaging seems a lot less intuitive than .NET messaging. So much XML. #
  • Building an MBean is a lot easier than I thought. #
  • I've had the iPhone 4 a couple weeks now, and even still every time I pick it up and look at the screen I'm amazed at the resolution. #
  • Lots of rumours of a Chrome OS tablet release in November. Seems way too late to target Christmas. #
  • Games for Windows Live is terrible. It's hard to believe it's from the same people as Xbox Live, which is awesome. #
  • Every time I use a unibody MacBook Pro I'm reminded how much I hate the buttonless trackpad. I can't buy one until they change that :( #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-15

August 15th, 2010
  • Building a new PC from scratch. First time in a few years. CPU coolers have gotten a little silly haven't they? #
  • Bell 3G. 1 bar signal. 6mbps down, 400kbps up. This level of service deserves more than 1 bar. #
  • @travelmop Not an overclocker, but I want quiet. A bigger cooler with a large fan will be quieter than a small cooler and a small fan. in reply to travelmop #
  • Brantford Rib Fest. Cool. http://www.btfdribfest.exofire.net/index.php #
  • http://pomegranatephone.com #
  • Ted Stevens dead in a plane crash. :( He's the "series of tubes" guy. #
  • New system built. Playing an H.264 movie, the CPU usage is toggling between 0% and 1%. Wow. #
  • @anotherlab i7-930, MSI X58 Pro-E, 6g triple channel DDR3 RAM, GTX 460 video. Insanely fast, but not insanely expensive. in reply to anotherlab #
  • The "remove this before installing" sticker on the heat sink does not transfer heat very well. #
  • The Zerg and the Protoss are no match for carpal tunnel. #
  • Setting up JBoss at home because I can't find cheap hosting. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-08

August 8th, 2010
  • Woke up with a killer sore back today. #
  • Looking to buy a monitor. U2410 looks good, but Dell seems to play Sears-style pricing games. Gotta buy it on the right day. #
  • Is the Apple 27" Cinema Display really the only LED-backlit IPS display 24 or higher inches? It's the only one I've found so far. #
  • Google pulling the plug on Wave – didn't see that coming. #
  • If only the 27" Cinema Display weren't glossy, it would be the monitor I'm looking for. What's with Apple and the glossy displays? #
  • @sydbolton Good piece Syd, but it doesn't capture the awe of "being there". in reply to sydbolton #
  • @matt_m Thank you Sir in reply to matt_m #
  • The 60" Sharp LCD TV on sale at futureshop.ca today uses 390 watts. Add in the ~3 cents per hour power cost for the life of the TV. #
  • That's almost $300 over ten years. #
  • @pixmaniauk Nice specs, but I'm looking for a monitor for my desk, not a TV – 46 inch might be a bit big. :) in reply to pixmaniauk #
  • Test First baby. #
  • It's a good thing iOS4 lets you kill background tasks. I've had to kill a few. #
  • Either iPhone 4 reception sucks or Bell service in Brantford sucks. Could it be both? #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-01

August 1st, 2010
  • @DonMacAskill try a different browser in reply to DonMacAskill #
  • Tim Hortons on Garden Ave in Brantford has a Cold Stone Creamery counter. That's a bizarre mashup. #
  • Looking up restaurants featured on Kitchen Nightmares shows a lot of them go on to fail anyway, despite the happy ending. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-25

July 25th, 2010
  • Windows is "Applying update operation of 786 of 33610". I guess I have time to grab a coffee. #
  • @gruber I love how you can see the shadow of the prop slowly sweeping over them while they're in the chopper. in reply to gruber #
  • I love editing a "how to" document and taking steps out when we've made the process easier. #
  • D-Link DNS-321 vs fun_plug. Can't get it working. Anyone else got this to work? #
  • @travelmop Figured it out – fun_plug wasn't +x in reply to travelmop #
  • @gruber "AT&T has resisted from piling extraneous software onto Apple's iPhone". I suspect they have that backwards. in reply to gruber #
  • @travelmop I just wanted a way to copy files on the device without needing a computer to drive it. Haven't tried MediaTomb yet. in reply to travelmop #
  • @travelmop I loved my WHS box. Great storage model. But it was a homebrew and never that stable. Something like an EX470 would be awesome. in reply to travelmop #
  • 2010 is the Summer of Thunderstorms #
  • @DonMacAskill I'm seeing different results. Are you signed into Google? Try again after signing out. in reply to DonMacAskill #
  • Typoed Megadeth as Metadeth. Come to think of it, that'd be a great name for something like a hardcore geek band. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-18

July 18th, 2010
  • eFuse protection is OK with me as long as Motorola keeps the OS current. Once the phone is unsupported, eFuse should be removed. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-11

July 11th, 2010
  • Apple says mail from Jobs was fake. BGR says no, it was real. If only there was a way to verify who sent an email. #rfc3156 #
  • Just realised how out of touch I've become with federal politics now that I no longer live in Ottawa. #
  • eHarmony's ads basically say they know who your soul mate is, but they won't tell you unless you pay them. Sounds like a hostage situation. #
  • I was expecting the 4th of July show on NBC to show more of the Norwegian Epic. The show was based on the ship but didn't show any of it. #
  • The US govt is trying to pass tougher IP laws in the guise of stopping counterfeit pharma. Beware "imminent infringement". Look it up. #
  • If you know what Java and .NET are, watch this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrfpnbGXL70 Start the week with a smile. #
  • Temp: 32°C. Feels like: 43°C. And it's not even noon yet. Ouch. #
  • OPG page that shows current power generation. http://www.opg.com/power/ 5714 Nuclear, 5214 Thermal, 455 Hydro. Why so little hydro? #
  • Who's bright idea was it to stick the store packaging to the cookie sheets with glue? #
  • Someone should do a blog of stupid eHow.com articles. Like this one on how to cook potatoes without peeling them. http://tinyurl.com/2fyzsee #
  • Current temperature: 33°C. Feels like: NaN°C #
  • Playing with Spry the last few days. Interesting contrast to jQuery – Spry seems more toolable, and comes with some great UI components. #
  • "It's a brand new day, and the sun is high. All the birds are singin' that you're gonna die." – Dr. Horrible #
  • Canadian Tire screws up my parts order again. Another wasted trip. Sigh. #