Space Test

Check out this quiz. Some of the answers are quite fascinating!

I went 8-2. I made the Space Playoffs, baby!

Sorry I haven't updated in a bit. I will soon! For reals, yo.

Football

The record for most Touch Downs in a single game in the NFL is 6. Rashaun Woods had 7 TDs against SMU last season.

But now the record is 8. That's right- last night we saw an amazing display of talent. The Future was back baby! The Future scored 8 TDs to lead his team to victory, although they did lose the first few. Brown Sugar even pitched in with 3 TDs of his own, including the game winning interception run back for a TD. It was definitely a team effort.

But before you pick me up on your fantasy football team, beware. We are playing basketball next week, so you might want to pick me up on your basketball squad instead.

Big News... Maybe

We've heard some very big news at the office today. Apparently the land all around our office is going to be renovated over the next few years. I work in Lake Highlands, and there will be a new DART station right by where I work, as well as new high rise retail stores and offices, townhomes, restaurants, etc. on both Skillman/Kingsley and Skillman/Audelia. Needless to say- very cool!! It'll even have rolling hills and trees and things.

But I am a little concerned. What will happen to our office? We only rent so we can't sell, so rent might go up. Also, with all these apartments being torn down, are all these poor(er) people going to come live in or near our apartment complex? What about 3 years from now when we want to buy a home in Lake Highlands? Will we be priced out of the market?

Just some thoughts to ponder. I'll pass new info along as it comes.

Happy Veteran's Day!!

On the way to work this morning I passed an old military truck from the 1970s with camo green paint and a white star on the side. Driving the truck were 2 older men in fatigues. I didn't know what was up. I then had questions pouring through my head. Like, has Dallas been invaded? Why are older men trying to take over the city? Should I get the explosives out of my trunk, just in case they come at me with a gun? Why can't I see them? Are they wearing camo, or just invisible?

Then I realized it's Veteran's Day!! Have a great one! Tell someone who fought in a war how proud you are of them and thank them for their service! Assure them that I really don't have explosives in my trunk!! Really! I'm pretty sure...

Role Playing Games

For those of us that grew up with RPGs, this article is a must-read.

Dungeons & Desktops

It looks at the history of RPGs and the future as well. I can't say I like all that the future has become, with all these MMORPG (is that right?), the focus just isn't the story anymore like it should be. Not that all of favorites growing up were story driven, but the gameplay and story drove the game along. My favorites were Secret of Mana, the Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest) series, and an obscure game on the old black and white Macintosh called OrbQuest.

If anything, this may inspire me to get the old games out a play through a level or two!

Microsoft's Biggest Mistake

I could start writing about Longhorn here, but I'll leave the PC alone (for now).

Microsoft's biggest mistake is... Halo 2. I thought I would write this in the wake of the game's imminent release.

Here's why. The original Halo, created by Bungie, saved the XBox. Without it, the Box would have withered away. Sales for the XBox were initially low, but once Halo was released things started to change. They didn't change that fast, but Microsoft hung on thanks to the game. I've never met a person that owned an XBox that didn't own Halo. In fact, some people only have 1 game for their system: you guessed it, Halo. As popular as Mario and Link are, no game has ever dominated a system quite like this one. Now the Xbox has sold over 10 million consoles, good enough for second this time around. The Gamecube has sold 9 million (essentially the same) while the PS2 has sold over 25 million. That's a huge gap for the XBox or GameCube to make up.

So now we are to the 2004 Holiday buying season. Halo 2 will be released within the week. Analysts are saying this will be the biggest game release ever. Microsoft and Bungie should make huge amounts of revenue in the next few months.

How can this be bad?

Microsoft has been losing money on each console sold. They need the revenues from games to keep going. In this sense, Halo 2 will be a winner. But Microsoft has more than enough money. They've already lost millions on this video game venture, so what's a few more? What Bill Gates is really after is a monopoly of the video game market- something the first XBox will never have.

Microsoft's next generation console, whether its called Xenon or XBox 2, will be coming out during 2005's Holiday Buying Season. That's just one year away. Nintendo's revolution might come out around that time, maybe a little later. Sony's PS3 will come out in 2006 or perhaps even later. This gives MS a head start. They can build the early lead this time, instead of coming in late. This could be all they need, or it could become the next Dreamcast*, only time will tell.

So how do they keep from becoming the next Dreamcast? It all starts with Halo. A few people will buy the new system merely because it is the first next gen system to come out, but almost all of the XBox fans out there want one thing: Xenon's Halo. Without it, the PS3 Hype will be too strong to compete with. And the Hype for the PS3 is already strong- people saying the PS3 will have cell processors capable of 1,000 times the processing power of the PS2 (!)... whatever man- I'll believe it when I see it.

To get to the point- Microsoft desperately needs to make a splash with the XBox 2 and this only happens if they have a game as big as Halo. Why are they wasting Halo 2 on a system that is already doomed? Shouldn't this be the first game to come out on the new system? And I can't see Bungie having 2 separate teams working on different systems. This is THE game for both of MS systems, they need the same team working together to create a quality, continuous experience.

So, in conclusion, MS has a winner here with Halo 2, tons of people will go out and get it. Okay, millions. But if MS really wants to push into the video game market and defeat Sony, they will need to use every resource possible for the next gen console, and it looks like that might have to Halo 3, only 1 year away (apparently (!)).

What do you think? Agree, Disagree? Send a comment or two!


*The Sega Dreamcast came out exactly 1 year before the PS2. The PS2 Hype Machine (as well as pirated games) destroyed the Dreamcast from the start. It never lived up to what it could be.

The Real Da Vinci Code

As we've gazed into the future (heheh), now let us gaze into the past.

The Real Da Vinci Code

This article is about Da Vinci creating a robot back in the day and a man's attempt to recreate it. Da Vinci was one of a kind. If only we had someone like him around today.

The Future

One of my many fans wants to know what his future holds. And, as the website's title suggests, I can make it happen. I am becoming an actuary, so I have access to all sorts of mortality tables. I can tell you when you will die- its up to you to fill in the how and why. But why deal with a negative subject like that. Today's look into the future will be the positives in your life.

Now, before I go on, this will be different for each and every one of you, but you can't compare notes with others who read this site. That's like telling what you wished for after blowing out the birthday candles. It just won't come true.

Here goes:

You will be married by age 31, Have 3 attractive kids- one at 33, one at 35, and the last one just before you turn 40. You will start your own business and go live in the mountains, but that won't last as long as you had hoped. You will get an aviation license and go down in a blaze of fury- but you'll survive. You'll make it. Your church will win the city softball league thanks to your clutch hit. Your parents will move in with you once you have had your third kid. You'll then go back to work with a partner- yielding a much more successful business this time around. Then you will retire by age 60, go on many cruises, and enjoy life all around you.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Saints or Aints?

I was watching Sports Center this morning and saw Aaron Brooks' play where he throws the ball behind him to a lineman that goes 20+ yards backwards. I realize Aaron Brooks can have a great highlight DVD someday, and probably an even better blooper DVD, but I don't see this being all his fault. What play were they running? Why was there a lineman 6 or 7 yards behind the QB? Does that make any sense? Are there really defenders coming from behind the QB that he has to block that far away? Are the Saints becoming the Aints again, or is this a fluke? I hope its a fluke.

What do you think?

Leading Up To Friday Night Lights

Seeing as this movie is about my hometown, I thought I would start off with it. We finally got to see it this past Friday. My wife took me on a birthday adventure, which included going to Rosa's Cafe (an Odessan must) and eventually the movie. Since it took us so long to get to the restaurant, we missed the first movie and had to go to the late show. No worries, we were at Grapevine Mills mall, so we had something to do. Seeing as it was my birthday celebration, I got to check out some stores I wouldn't get to otherwise. The first place we went was GameWorks, basically a really nice arcade. For those of you that don't know, I've been wanting to create a arcade machine for a few months now. I know it won't happen for a few years, if not more, but I've enjoyed seeing other projects and machines since I got the idea. So I haven't been in a new arcade in a while, but I can't believe how many new input devices arcade makers are trying. Usually it's a few buttons or a light gun, but this is just crazy! There was a game where you use a guitar, another one where you ride a horse. Then they had a set of 8 cars side by side that are racing against each other, and you actually sit inside the cars while they move! I like where they're taking these games. I think I might have found an idea for an emulation machine, but I'll save that for a future blog or two.

So one more quick thought before I get to the movie- we stopped into the "everything's a dollar" store there at the mall. We were gonna have to go to the grocery store after the movie to get glasses and plastic forks, but since we were in the mall that store would do the trick. So we get in, get the stuff, and decide to look around. What we found would disturb most normal people. There was women's underwear in the back corner! Not exactly the kind of stuff you'll find at Victoria's Secret, not even the stuff at Wal-Mart! This stuff was $1. Maybe used, who knows? We weren't willing to check.

First Post

Every site has to have a first post. Why not mine?

I promise to update this as soon as I can with all sorts of complete randomness, as well as some freakin' strange things!! Okay, it won't be that strange to some of you, but I hope you like it.