Captain Forty Two

Wow! This Died!

2007-07-11T08:34:00.001-05:00

And by that, I mean this blog. I knew it'd be just as pointless as all the other countless blogs out there, but it was more of a home on the web for me. No money invested, no time really, nothing. Though it gave me a place to say "Oh, sure, for more information you can go to my blog at...," or something like that.

Though, for some reason, I never did that. So why do I keep updating?

Out of boredom, of course.

Anyway, I found the images below and to the left when I was cleaning up my desktop. I took them using screengrab when the digg fiasco happened. If you don't know what it's about, see this.

Also, attempting to have some continuity; another "drewdle." I kind of like this one, if only for the octopus head guy.

Drewdles?

2007-03-26T02:20:00.000-05:00

So, I thought that in order to add some spice to this boring, trivial blog, I'd post some of these "drewdles" that I started doing due to the "Doodle with D&D" flickr pool; created due to dawn from Dawn and Drew wanting people to do doodles. So, I started doodling while listening to their show on my iPod and did it a couple times.

So, after I doodled these they were just laying around, so I figured I might as well throw them up here until I run out.

One last note, feel free to use these doodles to judge my artistic ability, as the extent of drawn art ends at the doodle stage, in my case. Enjoy it or not.

New Widget

2007-03-12T15:57:00.000-05:00

Just added the Google Reader Widget to the sidebar that I'm testing out. It might stay, it might not. I figured over spring break I might try something new. Also, if you don't like the widget, you can see all of them on this shared items page that was automatically created. I thought it was pretty nifty.

Props to Google.

Warning: Keep out of reach of children

2007-03-10T17:19:00.000-06:00

I saw this today hanging from my blinds and I thought "Wow, it's a good thing babies can't read because now you're just giving them ideas."

I don't think a child would think to climb furniture to get the cords. Though, why they would even want them badly enough to exert that much effort in the first place is beyond me.

Crackdown!

2007-02-23T23:46:00.000-06:00

So, I finally got my copy of Crackdown in the mail. If you didn't know, I preordered it from Best Buy. In retrospect, I really should have gone and picked it up. While everyone and their mother have been playing it (and are almost through it) I'm just now opening the package. But, at least I know I've got an ace in the hole for the Beta which I tried so hard to get into.

Once I get to play it a bit, I'll post my findings. But, according to everyone else, it's been pretty epic, albeit a bit short. Something I'm looking forward to the ability to choose your own achievements and the new characters that are available.

[EDIT] Not in the mood for a large update, let me just say that I should be playing Crackdown. Now. I've been so busy I haven't gotten to play as much as I want.

I'm hoping to play a lot this weekend, so if you're looking forward to some co-op action, or if you want to help me take down some kingpins, I'd love to play with you. In a very sensual sense of the word.

What do Viva Pinata and naked men have in common?

2007-02-05T20:55:00.000-06:00

Surprisingly, they all appeared in the course of my life on the same day.

Viva Pinata, I picked up and decided to give it a whirl. I've had it since Christmas, I just never got around to playing it for some reason. It might be a little early for me to really give a good review or even opinion on the game, but so far it's pretty fun. Yes, it's extremely kiddish, but that doesn't mean it's not good game play. Try thinking something like The Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Animal Crossing. Take that, throw in some colorful pinatas, random mini-games, and some first-person elements and you've got something rather unique. It's different, to say the least.

Now, the naked man came into the picture on Monday while I was changing for PE class. I was waiting in line to use the restroom (you've got a choice between two stalls or two wide-open urinals. Not the semi-okay ones, either. The ones that kind of float above everything and leave you hanging out there) and I hear someone shout. I turn to look, and what do I see but some completely naked black guy chasing another semi-clothed black guy down one of the locker aisles. I looked away, but I couldn't believe what I saw. Surely, it's not uncommon for one to see undressed guys in a gym locker room, but never entirely naked. We've got an average of five minutes to change, which is clearly not enough time for a shower also. So, what was this man doing butt naked? And, furthermore, what was he doing chasing someone? I looked again, to confirm that this actually was, in fact, a buck-naked man chasing another. As I looked back, I saw the prey turn a corner and the naked guy turn tail (pun intended) to try to cut him off at the pass. I got a full view of his butt cheeks running away and his doodle flying in the wind. There was shouting, screaming, and giggles as he turned the corner and a stall was open for me to use the restroom.

Needless to say, it was quite a memorable day.

Note: If you'd be interested in seeing the Life Writing thing I mentioned, feel free to check it out on Google docs here. Be warned, though. It's extremely boring, and dry. But, the assignment was a bore, so what can you expect?

Crackdown Demo

2007-02-02T21:56:00.000-06:00

So I (not so) recently downloaded the Crackdown demo and I wanted to just say a little something about it. Normally, I wouldn't think that it would be necessary or even interesting to review or talk about a demo of a game, but this game is the infamous game. This game is the one game that's going to be shipping (at least the first batch) with the Halo 3 beta. After I didn't get a response for my laborious efforts on trying to get into the Halo 3 beta via the easy way of signing up, and finding that the "Rule of 3" would be too hard for me to do, I preordered my copy of Crackdown from bestbuy.com. I tried out the beta, and I've played through it three times, doing something different and fun each time. The biggest part (which I've yet to try) is the multiplayer. If you've ever played a game like Grand Theft Auto or The Hulk or some other sort of free-roam game, you'll remember that feeling of "Man, I wish I could be playing with my friend". Well, now you can. You and a friend can get together, smash up cars, kill gang members, accquire weapons, and all sorts of fun stuff without being bound to being in the same screen.

Also, I'd just like to mention that I got my awesome stickers from Jinx, two of which I gave away. One to my friend, "lil' joe" and one to The Czar. I've got two left, anyone got an idea of what I should do with them? ~~I might throw a picture up here later for a quick visual.~~ EDIT: Picture up

Anyway, if you'd like to get a game going, find me on Xbox Live under the gamertag "CaptainFortyTwo" or check out my footer for more gamertag information.

Look for an update soon, as we've an assignment about Life Writing that I'll undoubtedly post here. Until then.

Andrew, Apple, and other A stuff

2007-01-15T23:11:00.000-06:00

First of all I'd like to dedicate this post the Andrew "Konitzkereknitzy" Konietzky. It was just announced that he'll no longer be on Extralife Radio. Andrew, you gave me a ton of laughs, and even though you've no idea who I am, I felt as close to you and the rest of the crew as my own family. I guess I'm just pathetic like that, though.

With that out of the way, I'd like to wish him and April the best of luck and get on with the newspost.

So, just a couple things I'd like to mention in this post. Firstly, Apple, Inc. (no longer Apple Computer, Inc.) announced the Apple iPhone. Now, of course one wouldn't read a personal blog for news, but they might for a personal opinion; that's just what you're going to find here.

I'd just like to say, I want one. I'd really like an iPhone. Something I'd like more, though? $600. Right now, the price is way too high for just 8 gigs. I realize that's a lot for a phone, but this is going to have much more than just a phone. Yes, it's incredibly innovative. Yes, it's revolutionary. But...will it function well? I just tried holding up my iPod to my face and...well, it's not exactly the most comfortable thing. Plus, my hair scratching the screen? Oils from your fingers getting all over that precious touch screen? I don't know, only time will tell. Or if someone wanted to get me one, then I'd tell.

Last thing I'd like to mention, instead of making new posts for all the interesting news articles, links, or other fun stuff that I find, I've decided to make a single post once a month, maybe at the beginning of the month, maybe at the end, not sure. I'm going to just put an entire post of the links or posts or what not that I've found interesting enough to be mentioned, but not quite interesting enough to do a full post about. So look forward to the first of those soon!

My Christmas: A Review

2006-12-30T17:20:00.000-06:00

I was just going to place some addendum on the post below, but I kept getting new stuff to add so why not make it it's own post, eh? Exactly!

So, I had a great Christmas, but nobody really cares about that. The most interesting part was the news that occurred and subsequently, the gossip. Apparently, there was a man in a house near one of my aunts who decided he didn't want to live anymore. He popped some pills, and cops had to go in to save him. Though, the gossip story was so much more exciting, involving sharp shooters on roofs, and that the man had taken a hostage, the entire block was on lock-down, multiple streets were closed off, the story was incredible for a Christmas evening. It made for great extensive talk over our Christmas Dinner and what not.

That aside, I want to brag that I get five free stickers from Jinx.com for sending in a picture of myself clad in their sweatshirt. Surprisingly, my ugly mug wasn't rejected, so I get five stickers. If you'd like to check out my picture (the only one, currently) on the Jinx page, check it here.

With that short news, I'd just like to wish any reader a very happy New Year, and hope that your 2006 was as great as mine, and wishing you (and Assorted Items) a great, prosperous New Year.

News, news, news!

2006-12-25T04:38:00.000-06:00

First off, I'd like to start this off with the announcement that The Czar and I have recorded a little tidbit for you good (and more than likely nonexistant) loyal readers of AI. So run on over there or cclick the ad below.

Also, if you noticed, I added my Gamertag at the bottom of this page, so feel free to add me!

Merry Christmas, damnit!

[EDIT]: Just a reminder, the ad above created by The Czar. That bitch wanted credit.

Halo 3 Beta

2006-12-07T17:43:00.000-06:00

So, I thought I'd document the pain I went through in order to secure myself a registration for the Halo 3 Beta. After I had learned that there would be a public beta from Xbox 360 Fanboy, I figured I could stay up past midnight on Monday to join in. I'm usually up past midnight anyway, so might as well do something productive, right? Well, it turned out not all that easy in the long run.

I (foolishly, I admit) decided to stay up until midnight, Monday night so I could be one of the first people to sign up. But, around 10:00, I realized that Bungie.net was on Pacific Standard Time. I started wondering about time zones, and how they could possibly have a universal midnight launch. I figured, if it wasn't our Central time 12:00, I could stay up until 2:00. I mean, it's only a couple more hours of sleep to get to play Halo 3 before everyone. I can spare it.

2:00 rolled around; nothing. I waited, and I waited. Maybe they're just now getting to it, and haven't gotten the site up yet. Yeah, that's got to be it. But, while wondering this, I figured, "Well, bungie is a business. They're probably not even open right now. If it's not going to be up at their midnight, it'll probably be up when people start rolling into work." I finally got to bed around 2:45 my time, with the reassurance that I could get up at 6:00 to sign into the beta, and still be near first.

Well, that didn't happen either. I got three hours of sleep that night for nothing. I held to my last hope of a commercial-time launch. As school was progressing, though, I thought "Halo 3 is a mature game, what if I can't register because I'm too young? I can't let all these invested hours go to waste...". So, in order to hold onto a last chance at getting the beta, I rushed home after school, quickly created another account (this one 18 years old) only to realize that I only had one day left of a Gold membership. What if bungie saw this and thought I'd be too cheap to pay for any more time? So, I rushed out in the snow to go get another month of Xbox Live goodness from a local Video Games Etc. I rushed home, activated the card, and planned to spend the last two hours before the first commercial chilling. Not so.

I got on the computer to find that the beta was already up; servers nearly down. I tried for four and half hours that to get in on two computers alternating browsers between IE7 and FireFox. Finally, 10:30 our time, I got the submission form, filled it out, and sent it in. My response? This page cannot be displayed. I wanted to cry. I quickly pressed the back button, refreshed, and got back to the form. It was just seconds before I pressed the submission form again (thanks to Google Autofill) and again; Page Cannot be Displayed. This occured thrice, with the fourth time giving me the confirmation message. Finally, I could rest.

It only took about 12 or so hours, but at least my registration was accepted.

I just hope that means I'm in the beta for sure.

Test for mp3 embedding

2006-11-26T01:07:00.000-06:00

As being part of our Group Blog, I'm, of course, going to be using this blog as a testing grounds for stuff to be used on that blog. So, apologies to any concerned reader, but I'll be sure to make an effort to make all posts used for testing at least somewhat meaningful.

In this case, I'm testing a nifty little hack I got for embedding an mp3 player into a blogpost. But, instead of using any random mp3 file, I decided to pick a song I rather liked. The song is by Brother Love titled Summertime. You can find Brother Love on the Podsafe Music Network and purchase his gorgeous music tracks for relatively cheap.

So, here goes nothing, testing the mp3 embedding thing. Hope it works;

[EDIT]: Okay, so I tried using the code, but it didn't work. So, here's a big "Fuck You!" to del.icio.us, and an even bigger "Hell Yeah!" to Google for allowing their player to be embedded.

What was I thinking? Yahoo bought del.icio.us. Obviously it's crap compared to a Google product. Ha!

Plugs and Prose abound!

2006-11-23T11:54:00.000-06:00

Alright, 11/22 came and went, as did the release of our Group Blog. That's finished, final, and fixed, so go drop it a line and check it out. We'll be adding more content as we go along, and it'll sure enough get more interesting. So, enough of that shameless self-plugging.

I promised that all posts from here on in were to be legit, with depth and information. So, in a weak attempt to add depth to this shallow post, I'm adding a plug to a piece of Historical Fiction I wrote for school. It's titled Death, Gamblings, and Drunken Ramblings. Enjoy.

Third post?

2006-11-06T17:48:00.000-06:00

So, as everyone knows, first second and third posts are all illegitamate. But, after this last post, I'll make a few minor edits here and there, and edit the lovely Group Blog and then legit posting will begin. Look forward to it!

Just a note, this was a test of posting via email from http://mail.google.com

Second post.

2006-10-23T16:34:00.000-05:00

Testing using http://docs.google.com to post on blogger.

Second posts are always as illegitimate as first posts. Don't you know?

First post!

2006-10-20T23:11:00.000-05:00

First posts are always more of a test than a legitimate post.

Lorem ipsum etcetera etcetera. You know the drill.

[EDIT]: So I decided to use this first post as a post filled with nothing but my own contact information that I can use to link to from the sidebar. Here goes!

Email
CaptainFortyTwo@gmail.com

Messengers
AIM: CaptainFortyTwo
MSN: CaptainFortyTwo@yahoo.com
Yahoo!: CaptainFortyTwo
Skype: PwnedByTehMarcus
Google Talk: CaptainFortyTwo@gmail.com

Gamertag
CaptainFortyTwo

Friend Codes (send me an email with yours so I can add you)
Animal Crossing (yes, I admit I play it): 3350 7648 8508
Mario Kart: 244882 044975
Metroid Prime: 0859 7036 5902
Tetris DS: 880554 776800
Starfox Command: 992 523 730 340

Miscellaneous Websites
Digg.com: CaptainFortyTwo