I am a Mac user. I've used PCs in the past and I just got tired of them getting bogged down over time. And that was with me keeping it in good shape, running diagnostics and such. The last new PC I had got a fatal virus and had to be reformatted after 3 months. Its gotten worse since and ever PC I've seen has done the same, unless you spend a large amount of cash keeping it clean and healthy. I decided I'd had enough and I'd go with Macs. As a casual gamer its fine since I rarely buy games, the last I bought was Penny Arcade Adventures Episodes 1 and 2 which I enjoyed. It was available for Macs and the download was nice and easy. And fast. And it didn't piss me off. Unlike Spore.
Now, I tried Spore and played for 4 hours in amazement the other day. Sure customization could be better and sure the PC it was on kept crashing but it entranced me none the less. Today I decided, "Hey, why not buy Spore? They have a discount on it." I clicked and purchased it. Then I saw after all this, they only allowed the PC version to be downloaded from the main store at the discount. What the hell EA? I have to pay full price on another site to get the Mac? I sent a complaint to the EA Support team asking to let me trade. I sent it a while ago but I really hate their support team.
My sister, the hellspawn and bane of my existence is a Sims addict. I'll admit I love playing the cruel god locking them in pools so they would drown and preforming other malicious acts of evil. Anyway, my sister recently received the Open for Business expansion pack. She complained about not being able to get it to run. Now, she is 14 or so now and she can't install a game. I decided that in the spirit of the holidays I would give it a look. She was worried about saving over her files so I assured her nothing was wrong and to not worry. The game finished installing and she goes to open it. It tells her to open Sims 2 Pets. I tell her to do it and nothing happens. I uninstall the game and then reinstall it. Same thing. I do this again to be sure everything non essential is off. It still doesn't work. I send an email to EA explaining my problem. They say they can't identify it. I reply asking what they need from me to solve the problem. No response. The day after leads to the weekend. Still nothing. Meanwhile my sister wanting to play clicks the normal Sims link. Not what the program says. The game opens up and everything is hunky dory. She starts a pretzel company or some crap I don't care about. EA still does not respond.
My hopes for this situation ending easily and with me thinking better of EA are very low. As are my thoughts of PC computers.
Just saying...
Webcomic reviews in a week.
I'm a Mac and I make blogs.
Update: Got my refund or at least they canceled the order. I picked it up from the Mac version of the store where they have it online after emailing about a registration error. Still, the game is downloading now which is sweet.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Coho Project
I've had this happen to me about seven times so I figure its the right time to post something about this.
Ever been on AIM and suddenly received a message from *word*coho/salmon/trout? If so, you've been caught up in a social experiment of sorts. You and another person get an IM like "Hi" each with a disguised name. They expect you to talk to this person and become friends or contacts. Personally this has not happened yet. Most are freaked out.
While a lot is generally positive, you can quit using this guide:
Ever been on AIM and suddenly received a message from *word*coho/salmon/trout? If so, you've been caught up in a social experiment of sorts. You and another person get an IM like "Hi" each with a disguised name. They expect you to talk to this person and become friends or contacts. Personally this has not happened yet. Most are freaked out.
While a lot is generally positive, you can quit using this guide:
You can stop the messages by typing:
$optout
Then it will respond with:
OPERATOR: Are you sure you want to opt-out? If you do, you will *never* be contacted again on the account “
”. There is *no way* to opt back in and undo this.
If you are sure, type “$optout DADD”. Remember, this is permanent and irreversible!
Type what it asks:
$optout DADD
And you will receive one final (hopefully) message:
OPERATOR: You have opted out. The account “
” will *never* be contacted again. Good bye!
I did this partially to help, partially for quick access and more.
I like to pretend that everyone is John Hodgman though. If you want to contact me though, my IM is Koltreg.
I like to pretend that everyone is John Hodgman though. If you want to contact me though, my IM is Koltreg.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Chopping Block
My current webcomic list count is over 50. 54-52 depending on how I look at some. It's time to weed some comics and frankly that makes me sad.
First Up:
Bear & Kitten
Originally reviewed in the very first blog the comic fell into the death trap of not updating and sure its only been a bit over a month but not even a notice has me pissed. I'll get back someday when I see the comics getting posted again.
Dresden Codak
Dick moves and tv rumors do nothing when the content people originally came for vanishes. Frankly, I used to really like the comic but the prima donna attitude has to go before I come back. Why can't you be more like Kate Beaton?
Drunken Philosophy should be here but it is going to be back I am assured by Coroidan. Expect new comics at February-ish. Except it won't be DP.
Evil Inc
If I wanted to read the strips week after week I'd read newspaper comics.
Fanboys
His art changed and then his humor died. We've all waited for something good to come from what had once been a sublime comic but frankly I've waited long enough.
Lackadaisy Cats
If you are going to go off to Italy and vanish for several months, you could at least tell us.And you could come back with an update.
Looking for Group
Frankly, the new storyline is taking too long. I don't even know or care what is going on and what happened to Richard doing funny things. Sure the gags got stale but at least they tried to be funny.
PVP almost, just almost got on here but I see them coming back at least for a bit with this years Kringus arc. But they are on watch.
The Nineteenth-Century Industrialist
I mourn the loss of a comic as great as this.
Elsie Hooper
Updates like, once a month? What the hell?
Our Future is Red
I think Allan let this one die.
So yeah, thats my weeding of the comics. Until next time!
First Up:
Bear & Kitten
Originally reviewed in the very first blog the comic fell into the death trap of not updating and sure its only been a bit over a month but not even a notice has me pissed. I'll get back someday when I see the comics getting posted again.
Dresden Codak
Dick moves and tv rumors do nothing when the content people originally came for vanishes. Frankly, I used to really like the comic but the prima donna attitude has to go before I come back. Why can't you be more like Kate Beaton?
Drunken Philosophy should be here but it is going to be back I am assured by Coroidan. Expect new comics at February-ish. Except it won't be DP.
Evil Inc
If I wanted to read the strips week after week I'd read newspaper comics.
Fanboys
His art changed and then his humor died. We've all waited for something good to come from what had once been a sublime comic but frankly I've waited long enough.
Lackadaisy Cats
If you are going to go off to Italy and vanish for several months, you could at least tell us.And you could come back with an update.
Looking for Group
Frankly, the new storyline is taking too long. I don't even know or care what is going on and what happened to Richard doing funny things. Sure the gags got stale but at least they tried to be funny.
PVP almost, just almost got on here but I see them coming back at least for a bit with this years Kringus arc. But they are on watch.
The Nineteenth-Century Industrialist
I mourn the loss of a comic as great as this.
Elsie Hooper
Updates like, once a month? What the hell?
Our Future is Red
I think Allan let this one die.
So yeah, thats my weeding of the comics. Until next time!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A Brief Commentary on Stuff
The Internet community is a pit of dross much like that primordial pool that we all may or may not have come from. We stay as the unchanging creatures in a pot of our filth wallowing and waiting till that day in which we might evolve and leave the pool to be a shining example of greatness in the world. Some people come out as birds and leave that cesspool forever, some come out as monkeys who delight us with their antics and some come out as assholes and act that same but with a more elevated attitude. Frankly on the Internet, the assholes outnumber the monkeys and the monkeys can change into assholes.
Every webcomic has about 1 year from its inception period to easily make it big. When I say inception though, I more so mean that they have a year to get their act in line, set a basic structure and continue going on strong. Frankly with this setup, a majority of people die out. They either don't feel compensated enough or they find that they really didn't give a shit about doing comics. This is just the natural evolution and the people usually just go back and sit by the pool commenting, hopefully in a more positive manner seeing the difficulty to creating some form of entertainment. If they continue after not making it in that year, chances are they are devoted but unskilled. When I say this, I do not mean they can't draw or whatever but for some reason, they have difficulty reaching an audience. Maybe it is more of a fetish cartoon, maybe they just can't write well. The path for them divides into trails of continued obscurity, an unlikely discovery or death. Most of the comics continue in obscurity staying off the lists of most readers but having a devoted following. Usually this is because they aren't humor comics or because they aren't mainstream. Frankly, I feel sorry for these comics the most because they could be high quality but because they don't retort lines from games.
If you do manage to make it in that year though are subjected to the marathon. The long distance run in which if you don't pace yourself or slow down for too long, you get attacked by people who had supported you. If you do an arc that you really wanted to do, you are going to catch hell. If you stop regularly updating and still expect to make money, you are going to catch hell. If you change your art style, you are going to catch hell. If you don't change at all over time, you sure as shit are going to catch hell. You have to pace yourself, plan ahead and either heed or ignore your fans (and that point where you decide which to do can be a lifesaver or a death knell).
I wish I had some formula for making it in a year or at least dedicated comic artists. I wish I could find out a way to easily make every webcomic better. I read about 50 right now and I am prepared to drop about 10. I'd not mind reading more but frankly, the cesspool is growing, we have a bunch of asses and the monkeys seem to be dying off.
Every webcomic has about 1 year from its inception period to easily make it big. When I say inception though, I more so mean that they have a year to get their act in line, set a basic structure and continue going on strong. Frankly with this setup, a majority of people die out. They either don't feel compensated enough or they find that they really didn't give a shit about doing comics. This is just the natural evolution and the people usually just go back and sit by the pool commenting, hopefully in a more positive manner seeing the difficulty to creating some form of entertainment. If they continue after not making it in that year, chances are they are devoted but unskilled. When I say this, I do not mean they can't draw or whatever but for some reason, they have difficulty reaching an audience. Maybe it is more of a fetish cartoon, maybe they just can't write well. The path for them divides into trails of continued obscurity, an unlikely discovery or death. Most of the comics continue in obscurity staying off the lists of most readers but having a devoted following. Usually this is because they aren't humor comics or because they aren't mainstream. Frankly, I feel sorry for these comics the most because they could be high quality but because they don't retort lines from games.
If you do manage to make it in that year though are subjected to the marathon. The long distance run in which if you don't pace yourself or slow down for too long, you get attacked by people who had supported you. If you do an arc that you really wanted to do, you are going to catch hell. If you stop regularly updating and still expect to make money, you are going to catch hell. If you change your art style, you are going to catch hell. If you don't change at all over time, you sure as shit are going to catch hell. You have to pace yourself, plan ahead and either heed or ignore your fans (and that point where you decide which to do can be a lifesaver or a death knell).
I wish I had some formula for making it in a year or at least dedicated comic artists. I wish I could find out a way to easily make every webcomic better. I read about 50 right now and I am prepared to drop about 10. I'd not mind reading more but frankly, the cesspool is growing, we have a bunch of asses and the monkeys seem to be dying off.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Under the Ever Watchful Eye of 68668
Seriously, some person is apparently always logged onto the blog, or its me always auto connecting...I auto connected your mom last night. Yeah...
I made the poor choice of another night of not sleeping. At all. I figured that I owe you, my fans, some more comics to occupy your time though.
Pixel by Zappit/Sean Conchieri
Pixel is one of those story comics that follows the general belief that wacky situations and wacky reactions will result in great lolz. This rule has so many exceptions in the webcomic world (aka probably all of Drunk Duck - calling you out- I'm an angry non-rested person!). Pixel does skirt the edge quite a bit though but I've laughed at it so its okay. Essentially it follows a pretty generic wacky character as he tries to go about his life with random shit happening. The comic only has about 30 or so strips if I remember correctly so it is hard to tell where it is going. With the art, it is pretty solid stylistically but being the art student that I keep getting remind that I infact am, I must criticize the fact that the character design could be better. Overall, it has room for improvement to seperate itself from the rest of the pack but it earns a solid B.
Ugly Hill by Paul Southworth
In my generic struggle to keep tabs on the Internet's supply of web comics, I ran across PvP which apparently has an animated series (done by the same company which does the CAD: Animated Trainwreck). I watched the previews and was forced to remind myself that PvP is essentially a comic for the newspaper in which it doesn't push any boundaries in any humor class. Then my buddy Coroidan told me to go read Ugly Hill. Frankly, I was apprehensive at first. The same party with Evil Inc and PvP? How can this be good? (I really am planning on dropping strips). Surprisingly it has since become one of my favorite strips. Let's face it, PvP is running stereotypical characters (though I realized they created the stereotypes) and the average storyline is crap. Ugly Hill on the other hand has some pretty awesome variations on the archetypes and overall it just frankly blows me away. The storylines show planning and forethought and the art is delightful. My only problem is that he frequently reairs old comics but if it allows him to keep updating daily, that's good enough for me. Ugly Hill earns an A.
Nedroid by Anthony Clark
It falls between the simplistic style of KC Green and the imagination of a kid with ADD making the comic epic. I can't really say much more except that the navigation can be a bitch starting out. It earns an A+.
Next time I'll do the Koltreg removal of comics/rereview because I have 50 comics to check. Gosh!
I made the poor choice of another night of not sleeping. At all. I figured that I owe you, my fans, some more comics to occupy your time though.
Pixel by Zappit/Sean Conchieri
Pixel is one of those story comics that follows the general belief that wacky situations and wacky reactions will result in great lolz. This rule has so many exceptions in the webcomic world (aka probably all of Drunk Duck - calling you out- I'm an angry non-rested person!). Pixel does skirt the edge quite a bit though but I've laughed at it so its okay. Essentially it follows a pretty generic wacky character as he tries to go about his life with random shit happening. The comic only has about 30 or so strips if I remember correctly so it is hard to tell where it is going. With the art, it is pretty solid stylistically but being the art student that I keep getting remind that I infact am, I must criticize the fact that the character design could be better. Overall, it has room for improvement to seperate itself from the rest of the pack but it earns a solid B.
Ugly Hill by Paul Southworth
In my generic struggle to keep tabs on the Internet's supply of web comics, I ran across PvP which apparently has an animated series (done by the same company which does the CAD: Animated Trainwreck). I watched the previews and was forced to remind myself that PvP is essentially a comic for the newspaper in which it doesn't push any boundaries in any humor class. Then my buddy Coroidan told me to go read Ugly Hill. Frankly, I was apprehensive at first. The same party with Evil Inc and PvP? How can this be good? (I really am planning on dropping strips). Surprisingly it has since become one of my favorite strips. Let's face it, PvP is running stereotypical characters (though I realized they created the stereotypes) and the average storyline is crap. Ugly Hill on the other hand has some pretty awesome variations on the archetypes and overall it just frankly blows me away. The storylines show planning and forethought and the art is delightful. My only problem is that he frequently reairs old comics but if it allows him to keep updating daily, that's good enough for me. Ugly Hill earns an A.
Nedroid by Anthony Clark
It falls between the simplistic style of KC Green and the imagination of a kid with ADD making the comic epic. I can't really say much more except that the navigation can be a bitch starting out. It earns an A+.
Next time I'll do the Koltreg removal of comics/rereview because I have 50 comics to check. Gosh!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Post Thanksgiving Post Jubilation Post
Thanksgiving should have been longer. I could have used more time to read Batman and such so you guys get another webcomic review.
Amazing Super Powers by Wes and Tony
Two of Koltreg's rules of life. 1: Talented art in no way promises a good comic. 2: Koltreg still can't spell nonsequitur without spellcheck. Both of these apply as Koltreg has once more been thrown onto reviewing another nonsequitur comic. Unlike my apathy towards Truck Bearing Kibble last week though, I must confess that I totally have a hardon for Amazing Super Powers. Simplistic but refreshingly fresh art combined with humor ranging from surreal to slapstick makes the comic on a higher tier for me than the now as-good-as-defunct Perry Bible Fellowship. Bonus comics and hidden text make the comics even better and it was worthwhile rereading the comic for the bonus comics. Give this comic some love as I give it an A+.
The Zombie Hunters by Jenny Romanchuk
My god, this is almost like an alternate universe report of last weeks reviews. Nonsequitur comic and another zombie comic? The Zombie Hunters is the Day of the Dead meets Half-Life of zombie comics compared to the Army of Darkness-esqe zombie comic that is Dead Winter. It moves slowly like a movie and its got a lot of background to it. Its worth a look but the major downside to is its slow updates but you quality in them. It earns a A-.
TGSA by Austin Throop and Kimmo Lemetti
TGSA falls somewhere between Mac Hall with the art expirementation and generic gamer comic. It's worth a try though. I've gotta wrap this up, I mean, I don't have much to say about it for now. It gets a B+ as it needs to define itself more but it is well on its way.
Going to go get some food.
Amazing Super Powers by Wes and Tony
Two of Koltreg's rules of life. 1: Talented art in no way promises a good comic. 2: Koltreg still can't spell nonsequitur without spellcheck. Both of these apply as Koltreg has once more been thrown onto reviewing another nonsequitur comic. Unlike my apathy towards Truck Bearing Kibble last week though, I must confess that I totally have a hardon for Amazing Super Powers. Simplistic but refreshingly fresh art combined with humor ranging from surreal to slapstick makes the comic on a higher tier for me than the now as-good-as-defunct Perry Bible Fellowship. Bonus comics and hidden text make the comics even better and it was worthwhile rereading the comic for the bonus comics. Give this comic some love as I give it an A+.
The Zombie Hunters by Jenny Romanchuk
My god, this is almost like an alternate universe report of last weeks reviews. Nonsequitur comic and another zombie comic? The Zombie Hunters is the Day of the Dead meets Half-Life of zombie comics compared to the Army of Darkness-esqe zombie comic that is Dead Winter. It moves slowly like a movie and its got a lot of background to it. Its worth a look but the major downside to is its slow updates but you quality in them. It earns a A-.
TGSA by Austin Throop and Kimmo Lemetti
TGSA falls somewhere between Mac Hall with the art expirementation and generic gamer comic. It's worth a try though. I've gotta wrap this up, I mean, I don't have much to say about it for now. It gets a B+ as it needs to define itself more but it is well on its way.
Going to go get some food.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
