Surprise, I’m playing games instead of doing homework.
Well, most of my homework is done and I can put off sleep, so oh well. My main
normal PC died randomly yesterday, so I installed Bootcamp and Windows (ugh) and
got the Team Fortress 2 beta installed tonight.
At default settings, it suggested 1680×1050 and high character detail, low
textures, high shadows, and not much else. It ran about 20-30FPS in a single
player game. I dropped it to like 1280×768 and changed it to high character
detail, medium textures, no color correction or bloom/motion blur, and low
shadows, which put me at around 40-60FPS and having lots of fun.
Since getting a Blackberry at work, I’ve been obsessed. Internet, chatting with
friends, Google Maps, any piece of information I want, on the go, and in a great
package. The old and busted model 7230 that I had nice, I wanted better. After
my friend bought one and started nagging me, I caved and bought the Blackberry
Curve today and am loving it!
Key features that I love:
Amazing Internet browsing. The largest problem with the mobile web is how
a barrier was created between normal sites and mobile versions of the sites.
With the Curve, it doesn’t even matter. The phone is powerful enough to handle
normal websites, so you don’t need even a mobile version. It still helps
though.
Syncing of all my email accounts, work and personal. Gmail works flawlessly.
I have a Cingular email account now for free? They all go to my phone and once
I view a message on my phone, it’s marked as viewed on the PC always.
AIM + Gtalk + Yaho, basically any instant messaging service I want to use,
anywhere.
Integrated phone that really isn’t that bad. 2MP is a decent size and the
photo quality is good.
Open platform. Not that I ever will, but I CAN write applications for the
Blackberry. If something isn’t done well, do it better yourself.
I can go on for a bit, but thats the main reason I wanted this device. I might
be a bit out of date with mobile phones and smart phones, but this blows away
anything I’ve seen from any good normal phone (Razor) or smart Windows phone.
The Blackberry is a great product that has been polished for years and I love
it.
So for those in the know, Hidden:Source came out with Beta 3 of their Half
Life 2 mod. It is an excellent and very much improved version, which I can’t
stop playing. My server has been updated with it and it’s running 24/7, as the
name suggests. I’ve been having issues with Mani Mod and server crashing, but
that seems to be all due to Mani Mod. The server code is alot more stable, which
I love.
Okay, not really, Apache does a great job for a webserver, very stable, very
easy to use, and it works most of the time. However, I’m becoming incredibly fed
up with it as I try to do more complex things.
URL redirection and bandwidth limiting are not possible under my current
configuration. URL redirection semi-works, although not under my main www
directory, only under sub folders, why, I don’t know! I cannot get my htaccess
file to have any access under the main www directory which annoys me to no end.
Bandwidth limiting is possible, but only through modules that you have to
compile and make yourself. I’m decent at Linux, but not that good yet, so it’s
impossible for me.
I’ve thrown up a new mod called 7th Serpent on the server here. It is an
excellent total conversion for Max Payne 2, that has been a few years in the
making, just recently announced. Check it out, leave a comment on how you like
it. The website is at www.7thserpent.com.
Also, Congrats to aavenr for his work on the mod, I heard he just recently got
a job offer at DICE!