mikeszekely

I'm getting more excited about Transformers Generations/Classics 3.0. In addition to Thrust and Drift, we're also getting Darkmount. "Who the heck is Darkmount?" you're probably asking. Simple answer... he's Straxus! I guess Hasbro couldn't secure the name or something. I've also heard that Thrust isn't the last Seeker we're going to get, either. My fingers are crossed for Thundercracker and Dirge! If we could just get Blitzwing, Scourge, Shockwave, Wheeljack, and Jazz I'd be pretty content with my Classics collection.

You're not happy that we're getting Thrust? Two more Seekers and even those of us who couldn't afford the botcon set will have them all. Drift looks find, but he was such a dull character in the handful of issues he turned up in. HA Jazz, at first glace, looks tons better than the old Deluxe version, and he rightly is. But if you look closely, he's still got goofy arms. Not as bad as the Deluxe version, but enough that he'd be a pass for me even if I was collecting movie toys.

Thrust! EDIT: In addition to Thrust, I think I might be picking up some of the War for Cybertron figs. Prime looks like he might be having issues, but that Bumblebee looks sweet. Or maybe it's just refreshing to see a Bumblebee that's not the Bayformers one.

Oh, I'm well aware that the GTX 260M isn't just a better card, it's a much better card. I'm not sure how different the mobile version is, but the desktop card is better than the 9800 GTX+ I'm running in my desktop. And that's just the thing. While I expect to use the laptop for gaming and websurfing when I travel (which is usually limited to a handful to trips in the spring and summer) or when the wife is getting needy and insisting that I sit with her on the couch, my desktop will still be my main computer. So I don't actually need the GTX 260M. I'm not saying it's not a good thing to have, but is it really worth it to me to pay an extra $100 and 180GB of hard drive? Also, and maybe I'm just being dumb, but the Asus is ugly. I know Asus can make a pretty laptop... I used to sell a dark brown 14"-er that was pretty slick. This one, though (a G60 if I'm not mistaken) has a dull black matte area around the trackpad that clashes with the glossier black of the rest of the keyboard. And none of it seems to match the dark blue of the outer shell. The Samsung, on the other hand, looks really nice. It's a glossy case (so yeah, fingerprints), and it's that red-tinged black that you've probably seen on their Touch of Color TVs and monitors. To me, it's a lot more pleasing aesthetically. I mean, yeah, I do have to demand a certain level of performance for the usage I plan for my laptop, but I've also got to look at the damn thing. I'd rather not have a laptop that's an eyesore, even if it's a gaming powerhouse. So, I guess I'm not asking which one is definitively better as much as I'm asking if you guys think the Sammy's good enough. EDIT: One other thing that I think might be relevant... I'm pretty much limited to Best Buy. They're the only store I have a credit card for, and I like to take advantage of their zero interest financing deals.

PSU calculator. OK guys, put yourselves in my shoes for a minute. What do you like better? Choice A: Samsung 17.3", 1600x900 resolution, 2.26GHz Core i5 4GB DDR3, 500GB 5400rpm SATA II HDD, GeForce GT 330M, $799.99. Choice B: Asus 16", 1366x768 resolution, 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo, 4BG DDR2, 320 GB 7200rpm SATA II HDD, GeForce GTX 260M, $899.99. Both have webcams, wireless N, gigabit wired, dual-layer burners, HDMI-out, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and both claim to be LED backlit. The Sammy has bluetooth. Primary use would be gaming. For most stuff, the Sammy seems like a better deal... more hard drive, bluetooth, much faster processor, higher resolution, DDR3 RAM, a nicer chassis (it's black with red, like their touch of color), and cheaper to boot. But like I said, if I'm primarily gaming, is it worth downgrading everything and dropping an extra $100 for the clearly superior video card? One other advantage: the Samsung is online only, and currently out of stock. The Asus is out of stock at my local Best Buy, but it's a model they carry. It's also available at a store not too far from me, or online.

Grabbed it. Kinda wish they'd have included conventional controls and not just motion controls. I remember liking it when it was a Flash game, but it was frustrating bordering on unplayable on the PS3.

Well, technically yes, you can use sudo to act as any other user. But most commonly (and I think by default) it's used to act as root. Most Windows users are already familiar with the idea that you can run Windows as a standard user or as an Administrator. Unix does too, but what you may not realize is that even Administrators have limits. In Windows, the highest authority is Local System, which you can access by right-clicking and selecting "Run as Administrator" in Windows 7 or Vista, or from the command line. In Unix, the highest authority is called root. What it's technically possible to login directly as root, it's discouraged. From the Terminal (the Unix version of command line), sudo (super user do) is used to execute a command as the root user from a non-root account.

It just means you're less nerdy than me (or xkcd's creator). EDIT: Or eugimon, apparently. Personally, I kinda like being a nerd. Sure, it got me crap in high school, but the internet has made being a nerd almost cool.

And I get it. But hey, you're not really a nerd unless you think this is funny:

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I was thinking about getting a laptop with decent gaming graphics capability. It doesn't have to hang with my desktop; I'll stand for medium settings on the laptop. It does have to be under $1000. So what do you guys thing of this one? I'm thinking about ordering one when they get them back in stock. The price is ideal, and I love my Samsung monitor so I'm hoping that the display on the laptop will will be similarly good. The i5, 4GB of RAM, and 500GB HDD are perfectly fine. The hang up would be the graphics... what do you guys think about the GeForce GT 330M? Seems like the Mobility Radeon HD 4670 outperforms it by a fair bit, but on the other hand it looks like it can do F.E.A.R. 2 on high settings with an average frame rate around 31fps.

And that's probably when I'll start playing...

Free ME2 DLC tomorrow!

Links to mods? Anyway, I'm amused at the thought of Shepard coming back from a mission in one set of armor, changing into another, and acting casual.

Some news on Transformers Prime, the next animated Transformers series.

Ah, see, I was a soldier. Occasionally, I'd order Mordin to use his fire attack, and by the time I'd leveled it up the whole way he was taking most enemies from full health to zero. And I never had a problem with him running out and getting shot to death; it was Tali who'd do that.

He sang for me, was a constant on my team during the final mission, and he lived for me. Jack I understand, but Mordin? He's like the best character in the game against everything except a few enemies that put up shields. Especially when you max his cold and fire attacks and they become area-of-effect attacks.

Mmm, buffalo. It's like super beef...

I'm not saying that it doesn't have any affect, but I'm not saying that it's a guarantee, either. I had absolutely ever upgrade possible for the Normandy, every party member was loyal to me, I recruited Samara and Thane plus did both their loyalty missions and Legion's , and I lost at least the cook, the female engineer, the yeoman and the generic dude sitting with the generic girl in the crewman's quarters. As for keeping all the party alive in the final missions, it seems like who you pick for the various assignments is the biggest factor. The combination that worked for me is

Well, these are apparently the same people who think IGN's low score for White Knight Chronicles is because the IGN staff are a bunch of Xbox 360 fanboys. Nevermind all the glaring technical flaws the reviewer mentioned, it's bias. So... yeah, I agree with you. Uncharted 2 was a fun game and deserves the praise it was given, but Mass Effect 2 was just phenomenal. Even the streamlined RPG elements that irked me at the beginning I grew to appreciate (and appreciate more when I started replaying the first one). Yeah. Unless you count Zaeed. On the flip side, Mordin is probably my new favorite. Not only was he both interesting and hilarious, his tech powers were awesome against probably 75% of the enemies in the game.

It's not that I don't want a proper Sonic on a console. To me, the series split on the Dreamcast. I really liked Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, but things started seriously going downhill with Sonic Heroes. So in my mind, the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush games were the spiritual sequels to the Genesis games, and the console games have been a (poor) continuation of Sonic Adventure.

Maybe. I didn't have Legion before Tali's loyalty mission. I'm not sure if it's always the case, but it seems like you have to do one of the second set of recruiting missions before the Illusive Man . Tali was one of my favorites in the first game, so I went for that mission first. Then it seems like the second set will ask you to do their loyalty mission if you complete any single mission after recruiting them. One side-mission later, I was doing Tali's loyalty mission.

I guess. If the "main" series was the Genesis games, than this would be the first since Sonic and Knuckles. The handheld titles, aside from the menagerie of other playable characters, had the same gameplay though.

I think so, but I don't remember for sure. Her and Legion have special abilities that work really well against Geth. I know that for most of the game, I took Mordin with me. His tech powers were way better than any tech powers in the first game, and mostly better than the biotic powers in the game (throw was pretty useful, but I digress). The only times he really came up short were against shielded or armored enemies, like Geth. My third man would vary. Sometimes Garrus, sometimes Miranda, sometimes Tali.

How is this a return to the roots, and Sonic Advance/Sonic Rush not?