PC modding

Lately, I have been talking about some of the PC games I like. My favorite type of PC games are First Person Shooters. You know, those games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Left 4 Dead. These type of games are incredibly demanding on a PC, especially if you run them on their maximum video settings. An advantage PC gamers have over console owners is the ability to upgrade. For example, the Xbox 360 came out in 2005. Since then I have been able to upgrade my computer various times, and this allows for the PC settings of games to be much greater than their console counterparts. For example the maximum resolution of the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty World at War is 600p (which is a little less than 720p). The PC version's maximum resolution is 2560x1600, which is by far a higher resolution than 1920x1080 (1080p). In layman's terms the PC version's graphics have the potential to be MUCH better than the Xbox 360's. This is solely due to how the Xbox 360 is locked down. You can't upgrade the RAM, CPU, or graphics card in an Xbox 360. This is something that you can do on a PC, and that is why the PC version can achieve better performance. One major caveat is that you have to have high end PC hardware to do this. A $600 Dell computer will never be able to run a game at 2560x1600 with all the game's features cranked up to high. This is why there is a PC hardware industry. One aspect of that industry is to sell to PC modders such as myself.


As far back as I could remember, my family had always owned a computer for everyone to use. Everyone shared our family room computer, but in 2002 I finally got one of my own. My parents bought me a Gateway computer from the now defunct Gateway Store. This was my first venture into computer modding. Throughought the following years I upgraded stuff such as RAM (memory), hard drives, and even my graphics card (the device used to create the computer graphics). I eventually had to find another computer as computer games became more CPU and graphics intense. Two games were preparing to release in 2005, Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty 2. These games were prime examples of why I wanted a new computer. For the first time I looked into the possibility of building my computer from scratch. This was radically different then buying a computer from the store, because it allows for almost any hardware configuration. I ended up buying all of my parts from newegg.com, and assembling the computer on a Friday night. This computer served me well, but by 2008 it was becoming obsolete. I ended up selling it to a friend, and I set out to build yet another computer suitable for the games at the time. I am still using this computer today, but I have upgraded minor things such as the RAM and graphics card.

PC modding is a hobby of mine, and it's quite an expensive hobby. However, it is something I like. I enjoy the thrill I get when shopping for computer parts.
Here are the two computers I built. There are a lot of technical terms, but I do have pictures!

"The Tank" built in 2005

AMD X2 4400+ 2.2GHz Dual Core CPU
ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard
4GB DDR 400 RAM
two EVGA Nvidia 7800GT CO graphics cards running in SLi Mode
DVD-ROM drive
160GB Hard Drive
600w Ultra X-finity power suppy



"The Magi" built in 2008

Intel Core 2 Duo e6850 overclocked to 3.5GHz
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
8GB DDR2 800 Corsair RAM
EVGA Nvidia GTX275 graphics card
DVD-ROM, DVD-RW drives
160GB hard drive, 100GB hard drive

Wedding videographer

A girlfriend from my past is getting married. She recently asked me to be the videographer for her wedding. I totally accepted the offer, because it sounded kind of fun. However, I have never done a wedding video before. I would rather mess up on a random wedding, and not on my friend's wedding. I talked it over with her, and I guess she is still cool with it. Her sister is getting married soon, and she asked me to do her video as well. I have the equipment for it, but I haven't done this sort of thing before. What I have done is concerts. A lot of my friends are in metal bands, and I have recorded and edited their lives shows. My favorite project was for a band called Scoria, and their first performance on the 4th floor of the Masonic Temple in Detroit. They played in a bar on that floor called "The Other Room," which closed a few years back.

When she told me about her wedding, I could only think back to our time together. We dated for about four years, and went our separate ways in 2007. I still liked her for some time after that, but that eventually faded away after she moved out of state. I didn't really start hanging out with her again until 2008 when she moved back. We've been friends ever since, but lately I haven't seen her that much due to school during the week and working midnights on weekends. I hope she has a great wedding in October, and hopefully I can make a great video of it.




(a picture from 2005)

Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Pre-orders

I know I have posted a blog about this game before, but I wanted to bring it up again. The game comes out this Tuesday, and I am extremely excited for it. For PC gamers, big releases like this happen about once every few years. The game will also be for Xbox 360/PS3, but I am excited for the PC version.

I pre-ordered the game back in November through Gamestop online. This is the first time I have per-ordered a game online. Gamestop says it will be at my house on March 2nd. I really hope this is true. One of the reasons I never really pre-order games is because they are usually available in stores no matter what. A lot of people were preordering the collectors edition of Call of Duty World at War back in 2008. I guess they feared that the supply of these collector's editions would run out. I was able to walk into gamestop after class, and buy one even without pre-ordering it. This time around I wanted to make absolutely sure I got the limited edition Bad Company 2. However, I am sure there will still be limited editions of this game on store shelves after the release day.

Like I said, I am very excited about this game. The last Battlefield game (for the PC) came out in 2006. I still play that game, but it is time to move on. The only problem I face now is the factor of time. I have a lot of school work to do, and I am hoping there is a way to find the time required to play Bad Company 2.

New Stretchers

My work is finally getting new stretchers. I work as a patient transporter at Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe, and I have been there for four years. The primary means of patient transport at the hospital involves stretchers. The stretchers we are using are ancient, and leftovers from when Beaumont bought Bon Secours in 2007. They are falling apart, and the wheels on most of them are broken. This results in the stretchers not steering right, and it usually results in more effort on our part to push them. This effort results in strain on the back. I could go on about how bad these stretchers were, but I am excited to talk about the new ones we will be getting.

Last week, our department got the approval for 7 new stretchers. The plan is to purchase even more as time goes on. The stretchers are of the "Big Wheel" model from the Stryker company. Our OR uses these models, and I just love them. The greatest feature on these stretchers is the Big Wheel. It is a giant wheel in the middle of the stretcher, and is used for steering. The Big Wheel also makes the stretcher easier to push. I'm not exactly sure why, but I am guessing it is due to how big the wheel is compared to traditional stretcher wheels. Words can't really express the poor condition of our current stretchers. Patients may not be able to see it, but every transporter knows just how badly we need this. Christmas will soon come again, but this time in the form of a Stryker delivery truck.


(This is the ER version of the Big Wheel stretcher, somewhat similar to what we will be getting. I couldn't find a picture of that exact model)

Nostalgia Moment: Pokemon

Flashback to the late 1990's. What was one fad that was everywhere in America? Pokemon.

Yes, this is an entry about that craze that swept the nation, and even included people like me.

Specifically, this is an entry about how I got involved in the Pokemon craze.

I was 10 years old when the video games of Pokemon Red and Blue came out on the Gameboy in September of '98. My best friend Max, and some of his friends bought the game after hearing about it in the Nintendo Power magazine.This was all before the phenomenon of the Pokemon Cards, which released later that year in December. Now, I actually can't recall if I was aware that the Pokemon games existed at this point. My first memory of anything Pokemon was at the end of December 1998. I went to Max's birthday party, and most of the kids there were playing Pokemon on their Gameboys. I remember a giant poster on the wall of all 150 pokemon, minus their names. One party game we played was to see who could name the most Pokemon without using a book or their game (Yep, no readily available internet back then, without tying up the phone line). Max did pretty well at this game, and so did his friends. I was oblivious to anything Pokemon at this point. Winter break continued on for us fifth graders…

We returned to school after the Holidays, and the Pokemon craze was in full effect. At some point after Christmas, I remember getting Pokemon Blue for my Game Boy Pocket. However, something even more popular had begun. The school was littered with kids playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game, which is possibly the most remembered phenomenon of that time. My first venture into the trading card games came from a classmate TJ. At this point in time, Pokemon cards were sold out everywhere. TJ sold me an unopened "booster pack." I finally got my hands on Pokemon cards, but I needed an actual set to play the game. I need to stress to anyone not aware of what was going on in early 1999. Pokemon cards were IMPOSSIBLE to find. My parents were awesome. They brought me to multiple stores in search of a set of the cards. I probably would never do this for my kids, but they really did love me. We eventually found a "Starter Deck" set of cards at a Toys R' Us. Finally, I was able to play with my friends. Well, most of us know how the story of the cards went. It swept pretty much every kid in the nation. The only thing to come close to this popularity was Furby and Beanie Babies. However, Pokemon was something every kid could like. The card game's popularity eventually faded at the end of 2000. It was fun while it lasted. I could remember recess being dominated by kids playing Pokemon cards. We heard of schools that began to ban the cards, but luckily our school never did.

I really wished that the actual Pokemon video games got more attention back then. Looking back, I think I liked them more. Pokemon Gold and Silver, the sequels to the original games, released to Japan in 1999. I remember getting a Japanese version of Pokemon Silver for Christmas of '99. Yes, it was all in Japanese. Yes, I did not understand one bit of it. However, I was so much into the Pokemon games that I sort of knew what I was doing. One advantage here was the help of walkthroughs on the Internet. I eventually bought the American version of Pokemon Gold when it came out in October 2000. Pokemon then faded into obscurity shortly after that. I ended up buying Pokemon Ruby, which was the sequel to Gold/Silver when it came out in March of 2003. However, the feeling was not the same as the old games. Perhaps, I craved nostalgia. The last Pokemon game I ever played was Pokemon Fire Red, which came out in 2004. I really enjoyed it, because it was a remake of the original 1998 games.

Recently there was an event on Facebook that called for users to change their profile picture to their favorite pokemon. I did so, and at the same time I felt like playing the game again. I dug up my Pokemon FireRed for Gameboy Advance. It was pretty fun, but not as it once was in the 90s. Today, they just offer a glimpse of nostalgia, and remind me of the simpler times…. the times when I worried about which Pokemon to trade for, and not which college midterm to study for.

Dukie

In 2004 my uncle was going through a divorce. He was planning to move out of state, and could no longer take care of a puppy his family had gotten. He was a little Beagle named Goofy. I remember coming home from school, and my uncle was over our house. I thought it was strange, because he rarely visited us. It turned out that he brought over Goofy, and he was giving him to us. We already had a Golden Retriever, and Goofy just kept barking at him. Now for those who don't know, a beagle bark is very loud. My mom worried if it was a bad idea to bring Goofy into our family. It turned out to be the best decision ever. She quickly wanted to rename him, because she thought Goofy was a silly name. We eventually settled on the name Dukie.

Dukie is an awesome dog, and I enjoy spending my time with him. We have had him now since 2004, and he is truly is a part of our family. He is always begging for food, and I usually can't resist his begging. He does have bad hind legs, but this doesn't stop him from running around in the backyard. I usually have to pick him up onto our couches because it hurts for him to jump onto them. I always wanted to bring him to Partridge Creek Mall (an outdoor mall in Clinton Towsnhip), but he hates car rides. He gets really nervous, and sometimes even sick.

Well, I just wanted to share with you one of my favorite pets of all time.




(Dukie is on my bed as I play a computer game)

My first time meeting Jon Schaffer

Brent Smedley, Troy Seele, Freddie Vidales, ME, Matt Barlow, Jon Schaffer
September 21, 2008.
Detroit, Michigan.
Harpo's Concert Theater.

I nervously stood by myself in line outside of Harpo's Concert Theater in Detroit. I was surrounded by strangers all waiting for the same thing. I waited with them for the doors to open. In a sense, we were not strangers. Everyone in line that day shared their love for metal, and more specifically love for my favorite band known as Iced Earth. I waited anxiously to see my favorite band for the first time.

Eventually I made my way into Harpo's. I checked out Iced Earth's merchandise counter, and the counters of the opening bands. I spotted some of my friends walking through the entrance, and it was quite a surprise. I didn't know they would be at the concert. We sat on a bench near the back of the theater making small talk while the local bands played. That is when it happened. Jon Schaffer, the lead guitarist and founder of Iced Earth, walked right before my eyes. I had never seen Iced Earth live, or witnessed Jon Schaffer in person. It was as if God himself walked right in front of me. My friend Kiel said to us, "holy crap, that's Jon Schaffer." We wondered why Jon was near the back of the theater instead of backstage. Well, it was because he was checking out the merchandise counter. Harpo's was Iced Earth's first stop on the Fall 2008 North American tour.

Jon eventually started walking back to whatever door he came out of. I knew he was going to pass us again, so I prepared myself for a fateful encounter. As he walked past the bench again I sprung into action. "Hey Jon," I said. "I can't wait to see you guys up on stage." He smiled and shook my hand. It was the most metal handshake, ever. Some people wait their entire lives to meet the President, or the Pope. My meeting with Jon was the equivalent of those two important figures. It took me 8 years to meet one of the best musicians to walk the face of the earth. Those 8 years all boiled down to a meeting with him in front of a merchandise counter at the back of Harpo's Concert Theater in Detroit. I told Jon that this was my first of hopefully many Iced Earth concerts, and he said he was looking forward to it as well. Although this encounter lasted about 10 seconds, it felt like the eternity. This was a good thing.

I had VIP passes for the concert, so I knew I would eventually meet the band after the show. However, meeting Jon like this was much more awesome. It felt less forced compared to a meet and greet type event. This was the first time I met Jon Schaffer, who I believe is the best songwriter/musician in the world.

Random thought for the day.... Dust.

Over the years my room has collected a lot of dust. I dust constantly, vacuum the dust, and wipe the dust. However, it always comes back within a few days. This is a problem for me, because I have a lot of electronic equipment in my room. Dust inside of electronics is not a good thing. About once a week I will use a can of compressed air on my surround sound receiver, Blu-ray player, and DVR. I have also started to clean out my Mac Pro on a monthly basis. I usually lug my PC to my garage and use an air compressor to clean it out. I don't worry much about the PC, because I have installed several dust filters over the fans.

I have no clue where this dust comes from, because I am constantly cleaning it up. My parents bought me an air purifier device for Christmas. It has relieved the problem, but only by a little bit. It is a tower-like device that stands about three feet tall. It is supposed to run 24/7, but I don't like to run it when no one is home. The dust keeps collecting in my room, and I hate it. I feel like a clean freak, because I am constantly cleaning dust in this room.

Gamestop

Gamestop needs to do a better job checking their refurbished systems. A few years back I bought a refurbished Xbox 360. I quickly set it up at home to the dismay of the notorious Red Rings of Death. The red ring problem is where the Xbox 360 locks up and stops working, mostly due to heat. Luckily, I was able to take it back and exchange it for another system.

Yesterday I bought a refurbished Nintendo DS Lite to replace my aging Original DS. I assumed it would be fine, and I didn’t check it before I drove home. I discovered that the right-hand speaker on the system is broken, and it just plays back static clicking. Today I am going back to the same Gamestop to exchange the DS Lite. Luckily they have a pretty good exchange policy for these things. However, it makes me wonder what is going on at quality control. I am assuming that the systems they buy back are sent out to corporate. Then corporate “refurbishes” them. Maybe I am just unlucky, and I got two duds over the years.

My Mac Pro

Last summer I made the switch from a SD camera to an HD camera. Previously I had been using a Panasonic PV-GS300 which I bought in 2005. I replaced it with a Canon HF-10 AVCHD camera, which was then partnered with a later purchase of a HV-40 HDV camera. During this time I was doing all of my editing on an iMac with multiple external hard drives plugged into it. The iMac was good, but I needed something with a little more power if I wanted to handle HD video. I began to look into making the next step up to a Mac Pro desktop.

In September, I became a proud owner of a Mac Pro. I bought the 2.66GHz Quad core model using a student discount through Apple's online store. I also configured it with 6GB of RAM, and paid for the ATi 4870 video card. I also was able to buy the extended warranty, because I have made use of these warranties in the past with my Macbook. I eventually sold the iMac on ebay, and I used the money to buy some more upgrades. I bought two 1TB hard drives, a Blu-ray burner, an elgato EyeTV USB TV-tuner, another 21" Acer 1080p monitor, and a nice Blu-ray player for my HDTV.

Today, the Mac Pro is a beast. It can handle just about anything I throw at it, and it barely breaks a sweat. One thing I love about the machine is how upgradeable it is. I could have never put three extra hard drives in my iMac, because it was not made to be user upgradeable. I am hoping that this Mac Pro lasts for five years. I think I'll even venture into upgrading the CPU in four years when the warranty expires.

(This picture is from before I bought my new 1080p TV. I have also organized all my wires as you can sort of see in the second picture)

Avatar...yeah.

"It seems Avatar will be a DVD rental for me."
~Me (from January 14)

I proved myself wrong on Friday, and I have succumbed to the Avatar hype. I finally went to go see it in IMAX 3D. Visually, it was amazing. However, the plot was far from amazing. Too much time was spent on...

( warning, here be spoilers: )

...Jake trying to fit in with the Navi people, or Smurfs as my dad called them. If I was in his shoes I would have done otherwise. I would have accepted the Colonel's deal to get my legs working again. I like my legs, and I am sure Jake liked his legs when they worked. He should have accepted the deal instead of pretending to walk again through linking his mind to an Avatar.

I was much more fond of the visuals. The 3D effects were amazing, and it really made the CG look lifelike. I feel that all the human scenes were so lifelike. I think the 3D suffered when it was just scenes with the Navi people. The coolest shot was the opening scene where all of the humans were waking up on the spaceship. That shot really took full advantage of the 3D effects.

That is my two cents on Avatar. Is it the greatest movie ever? No. Is it a good movie? You bet.

THE BIG GAME!!

Super Bowl Sunday is now upon us. Once again the Detroit Lions will not be playing. I like sports, but I usually am not interested in other teams. My two favorite NFL teams are the Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders. Yes.... two of the worst teams in the NFL. Perhaps one day the Lions or the Raiders will make it to the Super Bowl.

I am usually swept up into the hype of the game, and by hype I mean commercials. The last Super Bowl I really watched for the actual game was two years ago. This was only because I had recently purchased an HDTV. How will I entertain myself if I only watch for the commercials? This year's answer is homework. I am going to be reading my Camera for Broadcast book, putting together my news package assignment for Advanced TV Writing, and all of this while digitizing four camera's full of footage from Saturday's Miss LTU event.

I will admit that it would be nice to see the Saints win, because New Orleans deserves a comeback.

Bittersweet

It is the beginning of the end. Tonight, ABC's Lost begins its final chapter. I am a long time fan of Lost, and I have become obsessed with it over the years (although I didn't start watching it until season 2). I own every season on both dvd and Blu-ray. In less than 4 hours, the final season will start. Emotionally, I am a mess of happiness and sadness. Lost is ending! This is a bittersweet feeling. It feels like senior year in high school, where one could only embrace the final days. There is so much to do, but at the same time you know it is your final year. You want to remember all the good times, and forget about the bad times (Nikki and Paulo).

The clock is ticking, and there are only 16 more episodes of Lost. This is it Lost fans! The answers are (hopefully) coming!