LadyCrimson

I don't use the internet too much anymore, but without it, how would I check game walkthrus and such? And hubby must have it for work. It's amazing how fast the internet became a "must have" (either in reality or psychologically) in so short a time. 10-12 years or something?

I'm annoyed with our neighbor's 4 outdoor cats, since they've all decided our yard is litterbox when I'm not looking. In the city/suburbs, indoor-only cats, yes, that's the ticket. At least dogs can't jump fences. And if you can't afford to spay/neuter your cat(s), don't get one.

Whether it works depends on what you look for in 'humorous." I loved Dungeon Keeper as well. But a lot of what I find funny in a game isn't about plot, canned jokes, or whatever. It's more a visual/action amusement thing, for me. For example, in DK I'd dig out winding paths and force the warlocks to walk it in order to get to a library...while making a hatchery very far away...to the point they'd almost starve to death constantly walking back and forth. If you like DK, it was hilarious, trust me. Of course, I did appreciate the parody of the Avatar and such, too, but that isn't what made me laugh. In Overlord I found the minions so amusing as they rode sheep and cried "Yes Master" over and over that I often laughed more than I played. I also liked, in Sacred1, things like the silly media references on tombstones, or WoW's constant in-joke references, things like that. In terms of a game that tries to be a "serious comedy" ... I'm not sure that would work so well, since everyone has a different sense of humor. Hard to reach across to a wide audience? I agree that Evil Genius didn't have it. It tried hard, but part of the problem w/that game, imo, is that it's hard to be amused if the actual gameplay isn't fun for very long. I honestly can't think of many (good) games, whatever the genre, where humor was a vital aspect of the game, tho ...

Woke up, fed cat, fed some squirrels, showered. Was going to catch up on things here but hubby just came in and I guess we're going to the techie store to buy goodies.

I hope things get better for you quickly and that you'll return one day. Luck!

I didn't see the pilot but I caught the 2nd one last night, and thought it was ok. I thought the bow-guy was fine (maybe it helped he was cute? haha) for what the role called for. I mean, it wasn't a complicated role he had there, or anything. Echo's handler is the character that interested me right off. In a series where the main character (Echo) constantly changes or is a 'blank slate', one needs a constant chr. to gain sympathy/focus. I think the handler would be that, for me. He can kick arse in an efficient, impersonal way when he has to but obviously has potential moral dilemmas and emotional bonding with Echo. But it wasn't the type of show that makes you love it first sight. If it sticks around, I have the feeling it'd be the kind of series where everything would grow on you and by the end of a season you'd like it. Of course, the trick is to keep people watching for that whole season...

After another long break from gaming, someone directed me to Mount and Blade. It's a completely free-form/non-linear ... hmm ... RPG-strategy? game. You can download the whole thing to try it out (lvl 8ish max) then if you like it buy the key to unlock the whole game. Or buy the DVD at the store, either way. There's absolutely no plot/story/main questline, so if you must have that, you won't like it. There's no magic, no healing potions, no non-human enemies. The graphics work but are not special/pretty. You can ride and combat on horseback. Combat isn't just l-click button mashing, but it is very battle oriented. It's supposedly moddable but haven't tried that yet. The world/travel map reminds me of a strategy game map (think of The Summoner map traveling concept, only better/more involved). I like it. It's like a big rpg-sandbox environment where you can ride around, trade, fight, join Kingdom factions, build rep/fortune/fiefdom unencumbered by 'save the world' stuff. RPG mechanics with strategy/group combat tactics. Not perfect, but fun.

Thanks for all the great input/info, and the screenies! Sounds like I'd still want an XP system for now, but that the KDE Ubuntu/Wine combo would work for many things/a 2nd rig (I don't like partitions...), and in the process I'd get used to using it in case Microbrain becomes completely untenable to me. I know in the end one has to just try something oneself, but I like to try to get as much opinion as possible before I take the time/effort for that. Hubby wants "his" more modern pc - the one I've been using for games - so I'm going to have to build a new (cheapish) rig or two anyway ... prime time to try some stuff like this out.

With the release of the Win7 beta and the seeming confirmation that it's mostly "Vista as it should have been", I long for another option besides Microsoft. Not because I "hate" Vista (never used it, can't say) but because...well, operating systems seem to become more and more about an operating environment, when what I want is an operating system. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but...well, yea, not important. Anyway, Linux has always been a not-option for me (hubby uses/has a lot of different Linux servers and one lone Windows machine) because of the games/software issue. Someone recently told me about Wine, a program loader capable of running Windows applications. It's been worked on for a long long time and is still not "finished" - it's probably one of those things that is never "finished" - but it can run a lot of the supposedly newer pc games w/out a hitch, and will work with Steam, Photoshop, and so on. Any Linux geeks here who use it? Is it as useful/good as some say? Could it currently be a replacement for the Microsoft-dominant software environment? It sounds interesting, but I wonder about older or less popular games, as well as non-game software such as, say, the photo software that comes with your SLR camera, which is going to be a MS/pc thing, if you know what I mean. Also, I worry whether a non-tech-geek could utilize it very well...ie, if software doesn't work with WINE initially, I picture Linux geeks sitting around and doing stuff/tweaks to make it work, and that's just not me. WINE's website, if anyone's curious. http://www.winehq.org/

That was going to be the thing I suggested next for Giftd...a dvdrom hardware/driver/compatibility issue. Sometimes it's a good idea to swap out the hardware to see if that's it, before going to too much other diagnostic trouble.

I ran out of peanuts so today I learned that squirrels are hilarious fun whilst they eat the oily, all-natural peanut butter spooned onto a little dish. I learned I'm allergic to london plane maple tree (skin itch and sneezing), which our street is completely lined with. And I discovered (an hour ago) that my car battery died so I guess that's what hubby and I are doing tonight. Over the weekend we took a quickie "we wish" look at a very run down but foundation/structurally sound/still crudely livable home in a more valuable housing area that was going for half of its potential value (if fixed up). It's basically being sold for land value only. Would be a crazy good investment or longer-term flip, the kind only contractors would normally risk, but we already bought this house and I don't think 2 mortgages would work. Why do these kind of deals never show up when you're looking/not yet committed? Heh. Maybe my parents would like to go in as partners. Har.

Our 50" is starting to feel too small. And now to pretend to stay on topic, two old pics of the 'certificate' for winning MM7 and MM8 back when I was trying to win the first with all lvl 1's (using only skill points from shrines in the game etc) and the latter for time-speed (game days). The speed one isn't a very great score but was ok for a first try. I don't think I'd even remember how to do it now.

The only problem I had w/games on the TV was sometimes things like inventory and text were harder to read. But graphically playing the game looked fine and fun to be so big (well, compared to a 19" monitor anyway...)

I turned on Casear3 the other day and played through Lugdunum, which is a mid-campaign map that drives a lot of people crazy. I find it challenging fun. Still playing DungeonSiege2 now and then, slowly going through the harder difficulties to see what kind of uber loot drops there, harhar.

A rig like Bokishi's might make me like action/shooters, if only so I could take awesome screenshots. Hey Bok, I can't remember - do you mostly play on a monitor or the bigscreen TV? I need to set up the TV with a pc again. That was fun.

So are you using XP? Going to MS's site and searching "AutoRun" the first thing they recommend is making sure it's turned on: Another possibility regarding XP user rights: There's also a possible issue w/a program called Easy CD Creator. There's also a download called autofix.exe that can check for errors in autorun and maybe fix it, but I won't vouch for it, even if it is made by MS. You'll need the MS verification to download it from MS' official site etc.

The disk will still spin and the HD light may briefly come on as it checks what type of disc it is or whatever it's doing, but as long as Windows doesn't actually try to take an action/prompt you/open a window etc, it's never bothered me as "interference". But I don't usually try to insert discs while I'm in the middle of a lot of other things.

That rarely happens to me, during general CD use, either, so I'm not sure. I think in that menu I was talking about there's a "take no action" option...maybe if you set everything to that, it then wouldn't even open Explorer or otherwise try to prompt you for an action. Course, then I'd guess you have to also make sure the programs you use aren't set to auto-play the extensions they're programmed to associate with, if any.

I don't think it's your imagination... This week I've been suffering from "dry/cold winter air" syndrome, where the sinuses become affected via those shooting pains whenever you breathe, bloody noses, crazily itchy skin, dry eyes and throat etc. Sometimes the sinus pains are so sudden and severe I'm bent over in eye-scrunching agony, especially if you add on quick temp. changes on top of it (outside to heated inside). I don't usually get this very much, so it's kind of weird. Maybe the latest chill-front is extra dry. Or it's the gas wall furnace heater in our new house w/it's intense radiant heating vs. central fan/vented heat we used to have. Whatever the reason, it's been bad. Anyway, I tried hanging wet towels from the ceiling over where the gas furnace heater is, but that didn't alleviate anything. Boiling a pot of water only steams up the kitchen windows like mad, which isn't good. After reading about the pros and cons of retail humidifiers and not liking the sound of any of them, I ended up taking an old electric rice cooker, filling it with water, leaving the lid off, and turning it on for an hour or so now and then. Produces a very wispy light steam, doesn't "sog" up the room/walls and I can put it in any room. Works great. ... my life is currently so exciting.

What OS are you using? I still use XP so I dunno if Vista is different, but if I open Explorer and r-click on the DVD drive letter and select Properties, there's an Autoplay menu where you can choose what action you want to happen depending on the type of content. It seems mostly program related - ie, you can tell it to auto-open movie DVD's with Nero or auto-open music files with WinAmp. By default, it has a "Prompt Me For Action" selected. I don't think this specifically affects games or install programs that try to self-auto-start, tho ... but I've never tried messing with it much, since I've never had a problem with those not starting.

Not a movie but I watched the season ender of Nip/Tuck again to refresh my memory. New season's 1st episode tonight...yay. The show has gone from over-the-top soap drama to way way way beyond that, but for some reason I still love to watch it.

I clicked on that link last night and got lost in the Anyone Can Die trope. All the links and such leading to examples and articles about their examples that lead to articles about the shows that lead to articles about...

I love squirrels. But I can appreciate when they decide to be ornery or troublesome etc., that they'd be a big pain in the arse, like any animal that dares to infringe upon human comfort and convenience. They pretend to be all cute and stuff to get our food, but then watch us from our roofs and make rude arm gestures at us.

Dark Knight - except for Ledger's riveting performance, I thought it was rather "meh." Not bad or anything, just "meh." Of the two, I liked Batman Begins a lot more.

A dozen cows = a flink. I wear size 5 1/2 womens shoes. Your toenails grow much slower than your fingernails.