David Hingtgen

F-35's been grounded since May, may fly again soon: http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/337508.html Also, the second F-35, first F-35B, will be rolled out Dec 18. Anyone taking bets on if it'll actually hover? Australia's asking for the F-22 again: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/sto...onsider%20F-22s New USAF tanker will be designated the KC-45A, regardless of who wins.

Has anything really changed that we need to re-comment on the article? We've already had this discussion, and recently. http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?s=&a...st&p=529129

If his blood heals, can it heal itself? Always-fresh blood... (hey, does that mean it never clots?)

At this point, I'm hoping my refurb lasts until the next real update---65nm GPU. From what I can tell, they "cooled down" the wrong processor (CPU). The really hot one that sits under the drive and heats it up to disc-warping temps(GPU), is still 90nm. Plus, disc drives still vary. There are currently 4 main one in use AFAIK: Loud Hitachi. (not launch-loud, but close) Quiet Hitachi. (almost as quiet as a quiet Benq) Loud BenQ. Loudest ever used in a 360. Quiet BenQ. Quietest of all. You can get a 360 built last week, and it'll have the same loud Hitachi as one from 18 months ago. Or a silent one. Or a super-loud, slow-loading BenQ. Even getting the coveted BenQ is no guarantee of getting a good drive. (Different drives do load at different speeds--normally not much of an issue, but since ME streams off the disc constantly, 1/2 second DOES make a difference) Or if you're really unlucky, a year from now you get a 360 with a 65nm CPU, a 65nm GPU that never overheats and lasts forever---but has a super-loud, slow-loading drive.

I had a thought a few weeks ago, mainly inspired by one of the graphic novels: Can Adam die from lack of food/air/water? I mean, that's not really "healing". If a bullet to the brain is fatal, wouldn't killing the brain via lack of oxygen also work? (though a bit slower)

Nah, yawing's not really that useful for scoring points IMHO. Except for attacking Aigaion. Take rockets, get behind it, and yaw. Watch the points pour in.

Any 64 series 32in Sharps? I've seen their 62 series 32in 1080p's in person, and they have banding. It's subtle, but it's there. ::checks Sharp site:: Nope, 32's only come with banding.

I thought the whole season's Maya/Sylar plot was wasted. Did anything actually happen? They could have had all the stuff that happened to them tonight, in the first ep of the season.

Every Biotic and Tech is different for unlocking requirements. Bascially, they tried to do it so that you COULDN'T just spam for an hour and unlock everything. But they couldn't be too strict about it or it'd mess up "valid" uses. Anyways: Healing. You can only heal when hurt. Hard to spam. Biotics---barrier works always, as you target yourself. Throw/lift/singularity---works best on any targetable object, though I think I got quite a few from walls/floors. Or it could have targeted immobile ojects. Try some crates/barrels---they're guaranteed. Tech---usually needs to be an enemy to target them. AFAIK AI hacking only works on geth, so it'll take a while.

Are the 360 versions really different from "normal" versions? Or is it just their color scheme or what?

Checking manuals: Only two of the TV's I'm considering have the option to actually choose inputs by number. All the others are "tap button several times". And many of them skip ones that aren't "currently active", so it'd actually vary every time depending on what's turned on. Could be VERY hard to program a macro.

I yaw all the time, but mainly when: 1. Lining up an EML shot, or a bomb drop. (mainly campaign) 2. When rolled 90 degrees, to maintain altitude. (if you ever watch a knife-edge pass at an airshow, they always use the rudders to pop the plane up at the start of the move, to actually make a shallow parabola) 3. Whenever I'm under fire, to have a more difficult to follow/predict trajectory. (Right rudder while in a descending left turn gets you a heck of a crab angle) I actually set the controls to PS2 style, as I just couldn't "unlearn" 5 previous games of having the same controls. So I have analog rudder, digital throttle. (Hey, from talking to an F-16 pilot that's pretty much how he flies it---thottle is either idle, mil, or max burner--with occasional min burner)

Thanks but no thanks--I (finally)got an 08 BB. I just feel for all the kids who can't check stores often and won't get one. Or whose parents also can't check often. (Or know that Kohl's is about your only chance)

My point was not that these are supposed to be Xmas toys, but that Hasbro is still missing the huge "TF movie toys for Xmas" sales. 10,000 fast-action-battlers clogging the shelves is not what the kids want. It's been 7 months since the June release---they've had plenty of time to just make more of the very first wave, yet it hasn't really shown up on shelves. There's been a few Barricades and Ironhides, but most major characters are still sparse. They seem to be making large amounts of everything BUT the movie characters. I see loads of "just opened" cases of the Sector 7 truck, Swindle, etc. With the occasional final battle Jazz. Many kids are going to be sad on Dec 25. (They'll probably get Swindle and Arcee, not SS and BB like they asked for, because that's the only things their parents could find on the shelves)

Re:minerals All collection things have "extras" AFAIK, but sometimes they're clumped. If you miss one spot, you can miss like 4 of them. As opposed to scouring a bunch of hidden ships and asteroids (I've found multiple in a single system of those) yet still coming up effectively empty. For the longest quest in the game, you'd think there'd be some kind of reward.

Quick question about remote macros: Say I have a "play 360" macro programmed. And assume 360 is on component #1, which is the third overall input (after HDMI 1 and 2). How does the remote select component #1? Most TV's remain on their last input when shut off. It can't just always be programmed for "hit input select 3 times", as that'll be different each time depending on what the TV was doing when shut off. Or do you also have to program a "stop playing 360" macro that'll have the TV return to the "first" input selection, so that all other macros have a common reference point for changing input?

http://www.mygamercard.net/leaderboard.php...p;x=13&y=12 Still #2. (world rank has fallen to #43) Though I just used up the last of my free Gold subscription cards, so I probably won't be going online for a while. But I notice the yearly cards are on sale (just a little). But I do need to really start saving up as much as I can to get my HDTV. Surprised I didn't drop to #10 or something---really surprised no one's passed 800 yet. Especially as I've been playing ME all week. Since every pack has one free plane (and every future one will as well, as you need it to see the other ones that people paid for), I hope we'll eventually get 1 free scheme for each type of plane.

Oooooooh, silvery-chrome Prime with sword. Must-buy. Metallic red and blue paint would be a bonus, but I'll get him regardless. Barricade--I still want a bigger one. All the paint in the world won't make it as neat a toy as that character deserves. BB--wonder how it'll be different. I finally found an 08. But the movie car's paint job was a very fine-grain pearl, the finish used on BestBuy Ratchet is way too grainy and wouldn't look right. I really want to see what paint apps they do---my BB looks kinda plain in robot mode, being pure black plastic. Ironhide---they basically added all the silver paint apps I did to mine. And brightened up his robot mode paint apps. SS---colors are right, but he seems to be missing the actual camo pattern. It's like they colored each piece in the majority color. I.E. the wings are all one color, the stabs are all one (different) color, etc. PS----no matter what, they're still missing the Xmas toy season. Too late. Movie hype (and children's wish lists) won't last forever. If they'd come out with these last week...

Mineral quest: I ended up with 50% more than I needed for some things, but only 1/2 of what I needed for others. It was very lopsided. I went to EVERY system (except 1 I think), and still didn't have nearly enough rare nor heavy metals. And I spent hours driving around planets looking for more. The only way I'll try again is if someone makes a map showing all the highest concentrations. I mean--you don't get anything for beating it. It's no different than a 5-min Citadel quest, reward/plot-wise. It just takes 500 mins. Asari writings--that was slightly annoying, in that when I only needed one more--I found a place with THREE of them within like 5 feet of each other. I could have finished long before if I'd went there earlier. I only ever completed about half of the collection quests. There really was no incentive by the end, and I'd basically run out of places to go, other than back to some planets and drive around some more--which I was not going to do. All the other quests have some plot to them at least, however small.

Here's a really rough overhead drawing of my bedroom. TV faces the bed, I generally "sit sideways" on the bed to watch it. So when you're watching TV, the dresser is behind the TV. One stereo speaker is up there, very close to the wall. The other stereo speaker is on the floor, ahead of a bookshelf. They are spaced sightly left and right of the TV itself, just at different heights and several feet behind the TV. (only solution). Trust me when I say I have no room to adjust, nor any inclination to re-arrange. (I predict it'll take me many days to pack up all my model planes and books, just to get the 2 main bookshelves empty when I do move) Game systems, DVD etc sit ahead of the nightstand. eugimon--yes, reluctance of turning everything on is a primary issue. I also dislike large/heavy remotes. Maybe if I find the perfect one that doesn't cost a hundred bucks and isn't ginormous. I personally kinda like having a bunch of little remotes running everything separately--I'm just used to it. (Watching a DVD, I often have my TV, DVD, and stereo remotes all laid out ahead of me---TV to adjust brightness/contrast as every DVD and often chapter are different, DVD for pause etc, and stereo to adjust the equalizer).

Then I would have to always use the receiver, wouldn't I? (if everything was hooked into it) Also, I saw few receivers in the lower end of the price range that had multiple inputs (at least, enough for what I want to hook up). It's going to be all or nothing. Expected stuff to own within 12 months: 360 PS3 HD-DVD (stand-alone) Upscaling DVD (stand-alone) Wii And if I actually hook up cable or something, that'll be another thing.

All these car vs jet tests lately. I'll put anything up against the YF-23. The car would win for about the first 10 secs... PS---"The Reventón’s design – entirely designed by the Centro Stile Lamborghini and perfected down to the finest detail in close collaboration with Lamborghini’s R and D management - drew its inspiration from the world’s fastest aircraft in modern aviation" What plane are they talking about? I can provide a LONG list of planes faster than the F-22.

Oh, I forgot possibly the most important thing: When in the Mako---hold down L trigger. Then click R-stick (while still holding down L-trigger). Trust me. Use it whenever possible. Fire from afar. Very far.

1. Set your party's AI (in the main game options) to "auto". It defaults to "defense only" which sucks. Yeah, level up charm or intimidate. Also, don't buy ANY weapons or armor for the first half of the game. You'll get more than enough "in the field". Use your money to buy health/grenade upgrades (rare but easy to find) and licenses, so that when you DO have money to blow near the end, you can get the good stuff. In the beginning, what you find is better than what you can buy (and you're poor). At the end, you can buy way better than you find (and you're rich). But the *really* good stuff is only available if you have the right licenses, so buy them whenever you see them. Also---pistol is supposed to be very good when levelled up, but I haven't done it yet. Assault rifle is all-around good. Finally---the "mineral collection" quest is almost never-ending, and there's no special reward. Feel free to skip/ignore. Though in a round-about way, it leads to many other quests. PS---the overall difficulty is fairly heavily affected by your armor. If you want your first time to be relatively easy, be a soldier to get the heavy armor. Vanguard/Infiltrator are next, with medium armor.

I actually blame the TV more than the cable. I've had multiple TV's that just plain wouldn't accept S-video correctly from multiple things/cables. There are "compatability issues", just as bad as some TV's have with digital inputs. At the moment, I own nothing that will give me a proper S-video picture. (which is why I research connection compatability so heavily for my next TV---HDMI and component, every system at every resolution)