mikeszekely

Is it a Sony controller? I never had any problems with my Dual Shock 2, and my Dual Shock 3 is pretty solid too, but my SIXAXIS feels cheap. Maybe certain batches from certain factories are just shoddy. I'd use the excuse to get the Logitech wireless controller. They've been popping up kind of cheap lately, I've noticed. I bought one around the time I bought SMT: Nocturne, and it's the first (and pretty much only) third-party controller I've preferred to the first-party version. Solid feel, good vibration, and excellent battery life.

I'm fine with that. While we are discussing movie toys, bits of info about certain toys/characters is getting a little spoilerish.

Good luck!

I hear that. I'm not naive enough to pretend that piracy isn't a problem, but the MPAA and the RIAA need to accept the fact that they're creatively bankrupt and constantly shoveling out crap and "me too" copycats are part of the problem too, and stop treating their paying customers as thieves.

It's like iTunes. Your downloads are tied to your account, and you can authorize x number of PS3's with your account. Which is where the confusion comes from... even if Roy didn't de-authorize the PS3 he sent in he's only on his second system, right? There shouldn't be a problem authorizing it. I'm sure it's the last thing you want to do right now, Roy, but I'd get back on the phone with Sony's customer support. Something's clearly not right here.

Glad to hear it! Getting back to the Windows 7 beta discussion, I finally gave in and installed in on my Asus Eee PC 900HA, since it was the only computer I had left running XP, and frankly I'm ready to be done with XP. When I first got it, I'd used Acronis Disk Director to get rid of the recovery partition, since the computer came with a disc, and for some reason Asus had split the hard drive into two equal partitions, so I killed the extra one, then merged everything back to one big partition. To save myself the trouble of starting over from scratch, though, I created a new partition, leaving just 20GB for Windows XP, then I installed Windows 7 on the new larger partition. I'm more impressed with Windows 7 on the netbook than I am on my spare desktop. I haven't had any of the same problems... the sound works fine, and the wi-fi worked out of the box, without installing any new updates or drivers. It even defaulted to the 1024x600 resolution that I've heard is unique to the Eee line. The multi-touch trackpad even works, although Windows thinks it's just a regular mouse, so I can't disable tapping (which I hate... way to sensitive). The only overt indication (aside from the "Windows 7 For Testing Purposes Only Build 7000" printed at the bottom right on the desktop) that Windows 7 wasn't the OS that was pre-installed is that the Fn key doesn't work, so Fn-combos to change the volume and brightness don't work either. A less overt sign would be that, when you look in the Device Manager, I've got the yellow exclamation points on two devices. One, Windows has no idea what is is, but I'd guess it's the webcam built into the bezel above the screen. No loss there, since I've never used it. The other device Windows reports as the ethernet controller, but since the wi-fi works, running a wired line is hardly necessary. Honestly, for all I know a trip to Asus' website might have drivers that'll fix all my issues anyway. Performance-wise, the Windows Experience Index rates the Eee as a 2.1 out of 7.9, which hardly seems impressive. The breakdown is as follows: Processor: 2.1 Memory: 4.4 Graphics (Aero): 2.3 Gaming Graphics: 3.0 Primary Hard Disk: 2.9 I know the Atom was designed as a low-power chip for netbooks and mobile devices, but I'm surprised that it's actually the weak link. The hard disk is less surprising, since Asus probably uses a 4200RPM HDD. As for the graphics, that's good enough to run Aero, and the RAM will come up when I get around to replacing the stock 1GB module with an 2GB. Numbers only tell half the story. It terms of actual usage, yeah, it does feel a little slow... but I do 95% of my computer activities on a desktop I built for gaming. I don't have any hard numbers, but when I think about the netbook's performance with Windows 7 versus it's performance with XP, I'd say it's pretty similar, and for all I know it could be faster if I turned Aero off. Windows 7 definitely boots faster, so there's that. The bottom line is that Windows 7 is a beta, so what hardware is and isn't supported is still sketchy. Eugimon, maybe it will work for your HTPC, who knows? The only way to find out is to try it. For now, I'm going to say that I'm pretty pleased with Windows 7 so far. It's sort of like the best of Vista with most of the bad stuff trimmed out so that it runs much more efficiently. 'Course, I though that Vista was better at the Beta 1 poin than it was at RC1, so anything could happen between now and launch. Still, Windows 7 feels a lot more finished than Vista did in beta, so I could honestly see Microsoft fixing a few issues, ratcheting up more driver support, and going straight to RC 1, and I definitely don't think that we'll have to wait until December '09 or January '10 for retail copies. I'll bet dollars to donuts you'll see Windows 7 pre-installed on computers in stores by August, in time for the back-to-school sales. EDIT: I got the webcam working... I had it disabled in the BIOS. The Fn key magically started working again, but I didn't do anything for that. And, as I suspected, Asus' website had drivers for the touchpad and the ethernet, but I didn't bother installing the ethernet drivers. Windows still shows some "unknown device" in the BIOS. Maybe it's ACPI related?

Find another computer with a CD burner you can use/borrow for a little while, and bring a blank CD. Go here, download Kubuntu 8.04, probably the 32-bit edition, from the location nearest you, and burn it to a disc. Take your fragged computer, go into the BIOS, and make sure the default boot device is the CD or DVD drive, and put the CD you just burned into that drive, then restart the computer. Kubuntu can run from the CD, so it won't make any changes as long as you pick the "Try Ubuntu" option from the list when the CD boots (it's the default option). Get a USB memory stick (FAT formatted), and plug it into the computer once the Kubuntu desktop is loaded. Click on the little home icon next to the Kmenu to open the file explorer. Direct the file manager to the computer's hard drive, and inside one of the folders there, if the System Restore didn't destroy the data, you should be able to find it. Open a second file manager window, navigate to your USB memory stick (if Kubuntu already ask you if you wanted to open it). Highlight your data on the hard drive, and drag it to the USB stick, then select "Copy Here." When it's all done, right-click the icon for the USB memory stick, and tell Kubuntu you want to safely remove it or unmount it. Remove the stick, and then do whatever you need to do with your computer.

Usually he beats the crap out of people. That's when he's at his best.

I don't know what movie you saw, but I'd summarize Crank as a movie about Jason Stathem spending his last few hours of life driving around and talking on his cell phone.

The first Crank was terrible (and I'm saying that as a fan of the Transporter movies). It looks like someone told the makers that, and they were like, "It wasn't that bad. We'll show you by making a really bad movie!" And the result is Crank 2... a movie that, if the trailer is any indication, just moved humans back down a few steps on the evolutionary ladder.

That's probably reasonable. I mean, I just went with Vista because I was building a new machine from scratch, and I knew I was going to game on it, and I figured if I was buying a DirectX 10 video card I might as well use DirectX 10. If I can get a volume license key from my university contact for a business or enterprise edition, I'm probably going to upgrade my netbook to Windows 7 right away, but I'll probably hold off until I'm sure it stable and I'm more comfortable with it on my desktop. Should be good, in theory. Windows Media Center is included in the beta, and it seems a lot like the one in Vista, except now you can play Solitaire and what no from Media Center. Also, Microsoft is supposed to include support for more formats, like DivX, out of the box now. That said, I haven't really done much testing of media, because I've got no sound. If I can't get sound out of my regular stereo speakers, I'd be concerned about the beta's compatibility with HDMI sound or toslink. Heck, if I'm getting a BSoD when I try to use my Radeon card, I might as well be concerned about video problems connecting it to a TV, too.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they don't. Microsoft made a lot of promises with Vista that either came out broken or were abandoned along the way, trying to make Vista revolutionary over XP. While I think that Vista has come into it's own, and I personally wouldn't want to go back to XP at this point, Vista launch criticism was well-deserved, and some of the complaints are still legit. Windows 7, on the other hand, feels more evolutionary than revolutionary. In a lot of ways, it looks and feels a lot like Vista. The biggest visual difference is the new task bar, which I really like but some people might need to get used to. The core kernel is supposed to be very similar to Vista's, but trimmed down. One of Microsoft's goals, in an effort to finally put XP in the ground, is to make sure Windows 7 can run on netbooks. Engadget even ran a feature where they installed the beta on one of those new VAIO P units.

Not necessarily. Bad RAM can lead to errors, reboots, and the Blue Screen of Death. Some motherboards don't even work with some RAM. As for speed, your computer is only as fast as the slowest part. Find out what your motherboard manufacturer recommends. If you use RAM that's too slow, you'll slow the whole system down. If you use RAM that's too fast, the computer will only be able to use it at it's bus speed anyway. Are you using a Core i7? You'll get the best performance with three sticks or good RAM at the speed recommended for that board. The more RAM the merrier, but there's a point of diminishing returns... that is, the jump from 2GB to 4GB will lead to more dramatic performance gains than the jump from 4GB to 8GB. And there's always that nagging fact that if you use a 32-bit OS you're limited to 4GB anyway (and that includes the video card's RAM). Long story short, if it's a Core i7, three 2GB sticks seems reasonable with a 64-bit OS, timed to the motherboard. Personally, while I've never had a problem with the quality of Corsair RAM, Kingston's just as good and usually cheaper.

Fairly low end. I keep a second desktop around as a spare, usually for playing with different Linux distros. It's an IBM ThinkCentre. 2.8GHz Pentium D (Smithfield), 2GB of RAM, and an Intel GMA 950 chipset. That's low end enough that Windows 7 takes longer to boot there than Windows Vista does on my primary desktop (3.0GHz Core 2 Duo E8400 (Wolfdale), 3GB of RAM, GeForce 9800GTX+). The Windows Experience Index goes to 7.9 in Windows 7 (up from a 5.9 max in Windows Vista). The ThinkCentre breaks down as: Processor: 4.5 Memory: 5.1 Graphics (Aero): 3.3 Gaming Graphics: 3.2 Primary Hard Disk: 5.2 If I could get it to work with the Radeon, that'd bring the graphics scores up a little. But the Intel chipset's good enough to run Aero. I may try Windows 7 on my primary desktop in a virtual machine. The scores wouldn't quite be as accurate if I were to actually run it as the primary OS, but the Antec P182 case I built it in is too heavy to play the "swap the hard drives game." Maybe, just maybe, when I get around to upgrading the main hard drive in it... I'm also sorely tempted to install Windows 7 on my netbook. Asus did, after all, include a handy restore disc, and it's not like I've installed a ton of programs on it...

True that. My wife (fiancee at the time) bought an HP for her dorm. We got rid of it after maybe a year, because it was acting flaky due to a bad power supply. Sold it cheap to a friend, and warned him the PSU was bad... he didn't listen, and when it went a few weeks later, it took the mobo with it. The VAIO I bought to replace it lasted five years... after I replaced its PSU, too. On a non-PSU but very much computer super geek related note, is anyone else trying out the Windows 7 beta? It's still a little rough around the edges. I've got no sound, even though Windows update had a newer driver, and my Belkin wireless G adapter isn't working either. Also, in a slightly weird set up, Windows 7 runs fine when I use the Intel integrated video chipset, but if I try to use the Radeon X1550 card I put in it, I get an endless Blue Screen of Death/reboot cycle. Mind you, Windows detects and correctly identifies the card, and even provided me with an updated driver over Windows update. But I still get the BSoD. It's a shame I'm having those issues, though, because I like what I'm seeing so far. After using Vista for awhile, I'd already decided that XP looks too old, and Windows 7 really makes XP look bad. Unlike Vista, though, Windows 7 seems quick and responsive. And I really dig the new task bar.

I can't say that I'm sorry to see EGM go. Yeah, it was a great magazine... a long time ago. I devolved to a magazine with worthless features, reviews that were a month behind even other magazines, and a review system that started with 6 and went down, no matter how good the game was, unless it was trendy to like the game, then they got scores that were way higher than my personal experiences. I canceled my subscription over a year ago. In this modern age, where news and reviews hit the internet long before the magazines go to print, a magazine's gotta stand or fall based on its other features. The only feature worth ready was Seanbaby's, and even he seemed to be getting a little tired of it all. That said, the 1up network was a staple of the gaming community on the internet, and a lot of EGM's current and former talent flourished online even as the magazine went down the tubes. I'm sorry to hear that they're losing their jobs over this, and I hope they can all find new jobs inside the industry. The fact that they're getting the can shows just how little regard Hearst has for their potential customers.

Wait the new Punisher movie ended its run in the theaters already? I didn't even know it had hit the theaters...

And we all love bridge bunnies, right?

Yeah, but my nostalgia for the Genesis/SNES era is tempered by the realization that, for every one great game you got, you got five shmups or Final Fight-style beat 'em ups.

Yeah, actually, both my wife and I are starting to like it. Some episodes have been better than others, and I think the changes that they're making by getting rid of some of the characters is for the best (hopefully they'll also announce that they're ditching their underground bunker base for a tractor-trailer). But honestly, if you ignore the fact that the concept is kinda cheesy (so was the original), and then just accept that it's NOT the original, there's a sub plot running through the whole season that's getting good, and the two techs are starting to become better characters than the main ones.

I went to Wal-Mart today, and it looks like they finally restocked. One or two G1 Screamers, a solitary Hound, three Cyclonuses (Cycloni?), and more Cheetor's than you can shake a stick at. Hound is pretty good. On mine, the head is a little loose, and the weapon doesn't clip onto his shoulder very tightly. It's still one of the better Classics/Universe designs, though. The transformation is good, the bot mode has good posability, and there's no real kibble in either mode. And unlike Prowl/Bluestreak/Smokescreen or Sideswipe/Sunstreaker/Red Alert (I know the Henkei line is getting him, are we getting him here too?) the transformation isn't overly complicated. If you can only buy one Classics/Universe toy, it's definitely Cyclonus. Yeah, his jet mode is a chunkier, although I kinda like it. It sorta reminds me of his IDW self, with the extra engines. What really makes him a winner, though, is how well he was designed. His nosecone folds up inside his back, and the top and bottom of his main engines swing down from his thigh and snap together to form his lower legs. His wings and his other engines rotate up to form his shoulders and arms, and the result is a bot mode with no kibble (save the wings, which is part of his look), and Mirage-like posability. Even Nightstick impressed me. While the transformation is similar, he's got joints at the shoulders and elbows, plus his legs can move independent of each other. In fact, the only area you could really complain about is that the Henkei version seems to be a lot more toon-accurate color-wise, but frankly, the Hasbro paint-job makes him look a little tougher, in my book. Even the QC is good. All his joints and pegs are tight. There's some silver paint on the nosecone... on some of them look like the silver paint was a bit smeared, but the one I took home is more or less perfect. EDIT: I never owned a G1 Cyclonus, so I didn't realize it until I was poking around on the TF Wiki, but while the Henkei version is more toon-accurate, the Hasbro version is colored to match the toy. In that sense, Universe Cyclonus is still a bit darker than the G1 toy, but is still fairly accurate. As for RotF Leader Prime, I'm glad I passed on the first movie Leader Prime. The new one looks a lot closer to the slimmed character we saw in the movie. I want to say I'll pick him up, as I'm a sucker for Prime, but I wasn't real fond of most of the first movie's toys, and I don't really plan on buying many if any RotF toys. It's too bad another season of TF Animated and TotF will probably mean a big empty gap (at best) or an end (at worst) to the Universe line.

Man... I've had Hound and Starscream for something like a week now, but I still can't find Cyclonus.

I've heard some stuff about Spokane (from the PA guys, actually), but I might have you beat. I'm from Pennsylvania... and not the good part. I'm from the part referred to during the election by (I think) both sides as "Penntucky.

Scaplers? In my neck of the woods? I'm lucky to meet other people who even know how to get on "them thar interwebs."

Well, I hate whoever decided that the stores in my area needed stacks of Cheetors while I haven't seen a single Cyclonus.