Black Ops II Probation

This past weekend my husband and I came down with two separate illness, that kept us home from work Monday and Tuesday. By about 10AM we both felt well enough to drag our snotty selves out of the bed and into the living room for a little Live action.

Fortunately for us, playing Live on a weekday morning means a lot of the really good players or cheaters most likely won’t be on (especially since school is supposed to be in session). However, after a few hours of playing, and getting stuck in a bunch of matches where we were the only two left on our team, we opted out in-game with a few clans that we didn’t feel like playing with.

After a few times of getting kicked or disconnected, we were presented with a probation notice, warning us that we would be cut from Live matches if we did not complete the game. It was a very short message with little explanation as to what it meant… did we need to play through campaign mode? We hadn’t done that at all yet, and were very confused by the prompt.

Thankfully we didn’t receive any kind of probation, but I’ve figured out what they’re referring to. Every time a player quits a Live match they’re penalized. At first it’s just a warning, and then it seems to lock you out for a minute, and goes up from there. This is in place to prevent people from jumping out mid-match because of cheating, boosting or “taking their ball and going home”. Back in December though, Treyarch had to tweak it a bit, so that players weren’t penalized for being kicked or disconnected from the server.

Although this may not be the best path to take, at least this company is striving to make matches as fair as possible. I’m biased, I’ve mentioned before I love Treyarch, so let’s show them some love by following them on Twitter!

 

Call of Duty Black Ops II

For years I have been a big fan of the Call of Duty franchise, played solely on the XBOX 360. Although I have taken a few attempts at the WII U version and I wasn’t all that impressed. However, I have finally moved on to Call of Duty Black Ops II as of Tuesday.

Let me just point out, over the past few years, Call of Duty has kind of been a major disappointment. MW3 had decent Live action, but nothing in comparison to MW2. My favorites have always been produced by Treyarch, even though admittedly, I did not like the downward spiral the original Black Ops Live fell into after the release of MW3, I own all of their installments.

Now, for those who remain strictly loyal to the Infinity Ward line, you go ahead and enjoy that quick-scoping cheated Live experience while I move along to something that’s actually fun (I know Treyarch has the same issues). My husband and I were on the brink of destruction and made a last minute drive to Walmart to purchase Black Ops II. We had held out as long as we could, and the stress level in my house had risen to a max. I mean really, how much enjoyment do you get out of quick-scoping? Anyone can watch the kill cams, we know that’s what you’re doing. Continue producing those “Blame it on the Lag” graphics too, because you are all just so awesome.

Black Ops II wasn’t something we jumped right into because I wasn’t completely excited about the whole futuristic idea. I loved Treyarch COD simply because they recreated historic battles, perhaps from different perspectives, which is something I feel hasn’t been done right since. Where is my civil war Call of Duty? Because the History Channel’s attempt wasn’t a big success.

Overall, the Live experience is a great jump from MW3, after a little adjustment period. I don’t know exactly what it is, but playing a few matches of domination can really bring the worst out of you, and then all of a sudden you’ve got it. Bam! The quick-scopers are sticking with the previous COD installment, for the most part, plus it’s a fun environment to work of some stress from the day.

 

A One Terabyte Flash Drive is Awesome

You may have noticed a few articles late this afternoon regarding Kingston’s unveiling of the world’s first 1 Terabyte flash drive. After witnessing, and participating, in a few debates over social media, I was compelled to write a post as to why this is an awesome product introduction, and why in a few years, you will most likely own one. Let’s begin by looking over the basics of a flash drive in comparison to your computer’s hard drive.

Unless you own a solid state drive, which is highly doubtful due to high prices and little consumer knowledge, your PC or laptop is sporting a hard drive with moving parts. You might have noticed some laptops will have disc protection services that react when you drop it, or hit a bump driving down the road. Why is this necessary? If you cracked open your scary looking hard drive case you’d notice something similar to this:

Look inside a hard drive

See that shiny, circular object? Reminiscent of a CD or DVD, isn’t it? That moves. In the case you were to drop, or kick your tower, you could potentially cause permanent damage to files and physical harm to the disc itself. Here we will compare the inside of a flash drive:

Explore the “scary” flash drive

See anything that depends on the motion of another part? That’s because it doesn’t exist. Much like solid state drives (using less advanced technology), the flash drive features memory opportunities on the go, with higher reliability than many consumers may realize. Not only can you save the same files, games, movies and music to a flash drive as you can a hard drive, but it’s easily portable and actually features more safety to your info at a cheaper price.

Kingston has introduced the world’s first 1 terabyte hard drive, without a published price tag (can you blame them?). Although the capacity seems a little far fetched for everyday users, you might take a look back at the history of memory before you open your mouth.

The world’s first 1 terabyte flash drive

Most of today’s generation is rather familiar with a Gigabyte, and recently familiar with a Terabyte. Some of you may remember the Megabyte (as it’s still slightly popular today), and a select few, or those in the technology field, have heard of a Kilobyte. Then there’s Bytes, Nibbles, Bits… blah blah. What you should keep in mind is that twenty seven years ago, everyone laughed at the idea of Gigabytes. “No one can afford it”, “Normal people won’t ever use that much space”.

Remember clearing storage off your computer so you could install a new game? Yeah, who’s laughing now? It’s funny to hear everyone criticize Kingston’s advancement, especially when I know you will be using it in a few years, once the price is reduced from the alleged $2,000+ price tag. Keep in mind, the military uses this technology for years before it’s given to the general public. By now, this is old news to them. Continue laughing, someone has to remind you of this event once you purchase it like one of the “cool kids”.

 

Disney Buys Lucasfilm for Billions

Hurricane Sandy has made a big impact on new stands lately. The 900 mile wide tropical storm ravaged through the eastern portion of the United States on its predicted path upwards, into Canada. However, other big stories are surfacing that, while they may not be as important as Sandy, will make a big impact on fans everywhere.

Disney reportedly purchased Lucasfilms (including rights to Star Wars and Indiana Jones) for four billion dollars. Yes, George Lucas sold the Star Wars legacy up the river to the creators of High School Musical, and Beauty and the Briefcase. Robert Iger has plans to restore the previous six movie set with an additional trilogy featuring Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

While Twitter was flooded with jokes of “proposed movie titles“, Darth Vader was quick to tweet that his daughter would finally get to be a Disney Princess, and that perhaps work can continue on another Death Star. But, we are talking about Disney here. While they have stated Star Wars will remain a live action film, Mr. Lucas will only give input geared towards characters… meaning he won’t actually get his hands dirty with production. Although the 68 year old brilliant movie maker is focusing on his upcoming retirement, I’m sure there are other Star Wars fanatics that would rather see it retire with Mr. Lucas than be dug up by the likes of Disney.

 

So You’re Excited About the Smaller iPad

Congratulations, you are yet another sucker to buy into Apple’s ploy. Instead of developing gadgets that could actually change society, or make an impact for how businesses are run, Apple decides to introduce mini iPads. Way to go, the rest of us are sitting back applauding your efforts.

Too often people who morph into “techies” or “geeks” don’t actually understand what it’s all about. Just because you’re loyal to Apple, doesn’t mean you know duff about the piece of technology you’re using. See, it isn’t always about the latest, greatest piece from a company such as Apple. It’s about finding something that may last you more than a year because it’s versatile, and because you’re brainy enough to hack it when you’d like an upgrade.

What’s so great about a smaller iPad? Don’t you guys already have iPhones? It’s hard to understand why someone would go to great lengths to spend extra money in order to purchase less (gadgets continue to get smaller), even though they already have a perfectly good iPad at home, used as an unusual paperweight.

Amazon just introduced a new Kindle Fire for $199. And they would, right after I summon up the courage to try the first generation Fire. The new one is faster, has more speakers, and blah blah blah, but I just bought one… so why would I spend MORE money to upgrade?

You may be wondering what the moral of my rant is here… I would just like to point out that society, and Apple cult followers everywhere, are selfish. Why are you so centered on yourself that you would prefer to waste money on something a tiny bit better, than saving it to pay off your Apple credit card?

Leave me your thoughts!

 

Using Photoshop’s Image Processor

Most people who have ever had to re-size images are familiar with Photoshop’s action abilities. Actions give you the tools to repeat the same steps over and over with multiple images by simply recording each change, and using the Batch automation to (almost) instantaneously apply the edit to every open image.

But let’s say you want to take it a step further. If you are looking to size an image, as well as change the file type to a different extension, using an action is only half the battle. You can go through the process of making a new file extension changing action with the Save As command, right? The problem with this route is that Photoshop will save your images to the folder you originally chose while recording your action; “Pictures” for example. And that’s fine if that’s what you’re looking to do. But, when you open a picture you need to save in the “Work” folder you’re going to run into an issue.

Thankfully though, there is a solution! Rather than going straight to the batch menu, or just hitting play from the actions menu, click “File” to discover the “Scripts” drop down. Within the “Image Processor” you are given the capability to use open images, select a location to save processed images, and change your file type, all WHILE running an action! The only drawback being that you must close all the images afterwards (with a simple Close All selection from File).

So, rather than pulling out all of your hair backtracking, here’s my advice. Create an image sizing action, such as 400×400 pixels, and use it along with the Image Processor script. Viola! This route will take you where you need to go with one exception, Photoshop will create a JPEG folder within your destination folder.

This works well with Adobe Photoshop CS6, but hasn’t been tested in with earlier versions. Please let me know if this method works for you in a comment below!

 

Skyrim Hearthfire DLC

Skyrim was originally released in November of 2011. Approaching it’s one year anniversary Skyrim’s hardcore fans have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of glitches, two DLCs and hours of adventure. And even though there were many trials involved with playing through to the end, many gamers saw through it all for the little engine that could.

Last week, on September 4, 2012, Bethesda released the newest DLC, Hearthfire. Within this expansion you can purchase a piece of property, plan and build a home, as well as adopt children and protect your kingdom. While there have been many games out there with the same kind of features, Skyrim has taken it beyond the norm with more intense capabilities and requirements.

If you wish you can bring your steward along with you, to tend after animals and purchase certain supplies. However, most plots of land feature a treasure box full of nearly everything you need to get started with a beginner home and add on the biggest wing of your home. But when you run out (and you most likely will), you can mine rock and clay from your property and purchase logs from a nearby saw mill.

Once you have finished your first addition you can add on six different additions, one to the east, west and south. Each side of your home offers three unique choices, so choose wisely! After you have decided your home is complete (whether you turn your beginning stead into an entrance or not) you can browse through help desks located at each area of your household.

These workbenches give you the option to build furniture to decorate your home with. Beware, though! Each bit of decor requires at least a stick of supplies to put it together. You can never have enough nails, and you may want to stock up on glass, because this is where it gets interesting. Choose to install every option available to fill each corner, or place a select few, it’s all up to the player.

I spent much of last Sunday building my first steading with lakefront property before moving onto a snowy location for my adopted child. Let me just note, you have to add the additional bedroom wing to your home before you can expect to adopt. Even though the second story of your main home features two twin sized beds and one king, the mean adoption overseer lady will not think it’s acceptable.

Overall Hearthfire was worth the $5 we spent on it… a much better deal than Dawnguard was. So, if you’re into Sim type games for the architectural side of things, you are going to love this expansion. There are a few glitches, to be expected, but not anything I found to be devestating.

Enjoy!