The Lives of Others
If you see one foreign movie this year, make it this one. It may be a bold statement, but The Lives of Others is quite possibly one of the best foreign films I have ever seen. I was dragged out to it on a Thursday night and didn’t really feel like going, but I’m glad I did. I went to the Carlton Theater here in Toronto. I think there were about 8 other people in the whole theater, so it was nice and quiet, something rare in today’s popcorn, bag crinkling and taco munching crowds.
The movie follows the lives of people living in Eastern Germany before the wall came down. I really don’t want to give anything away, but it’s really about how everyday people’s lives were affected by the communist government and politics of the time; both sides are explored, the life of a staunch supporter of communism, and the people that were literally destroyed by it. This is an emotional drama you won’t want to miss.
Rotten Tomatoes gives an average of 95% last time I checked.
Blog redesign
I spent the day creating a new theme for my WordPress install. It wasn’t quite as easy as I thought it would be, but still pretty straight forward considering. I probably still have a few bugs to iron out though. All total it took about one day from start to finish.
Anyway, I know it’s not a very techy type design, but I figured I wanted something new and different, since I can’t usually do that, and what a better place then here. Hope you like the new design.
Crackdown, possibly one of the funniest games I’ve played in years
I bought Crackdown the other day with a friend because there was a clearance sale. I know it’s a bit late for a review as this game has been out for some time now, but I believe it deserves mention.
The game offers some of the best co-op play I’ve had on the Xbox 360. The only real drawback is that you can only play one other friend. It would have been nice to have 4 other players or even 8, maybe Grand Theft Auto IV will offer something like this. This game however will provide you with many laughs, yes it’s mindless, but it’s fun, real fun as you run down the road, or drive down the highway blowing up everything in sight.
Crackdown got so many things right, but then again, I’m partial to sandbox type games, and I think this is as sandbox as you get. You can play the game in any fashion you like. Fight the bosses, do the races, build your character, or just go out and have fun. Half the times I find myself doing things that really have nothing to do with the overall objectives of the game. This is a huge success in any game in my opinion. When you reach the level of immersion where the player is deciding they just want to go check something out, or try seeing how many cars they can stack up before laying explosive barrels around them, you have a winner. Do a search on Youtube and you will find many funny videos of people doing crazy things in Crackdown.
There is one major flaw in this game. Luckily it has nothing really to do with the game mechanics and more to do with advertising. There is an 800 MS point add-on to crack down. There is also some free add-on’s. I obviously have no problem with free add-ons, and I don’t even mind the pay add-ons. Where the problem lies is that when you add the free add-on, it adds way points for all of the paid content. It also adds weapons and vehicles. All of this is in the game and asks you if you would like to purchase if every time you run to it or click on items. This is totally unacceptable. I bought the game; please don’t annoy me with what basically amounts to in game ads for more game content. When you buy a movie you don’t expect to be prompted to buy episode two half way through the movie. Please let us play the game, advertise the game content in the main menu or better yet, let us find it in the marketplace. Anyone who is interested in marketplace content will most definitely find it.
Other than the heavy handed advertising this game is hands down one of the funniest and funniest games I’ve played on the 360, and the best part is this game is dirt cheap now. If you want something to tie you over until Grand Theft Auto IV comes out, maybe swing buy your local game store and pick it up.
Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition
I bought Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition last week and played quite a bit over the weekend. At first it took some getting use to and I experienced the same problems I had with Zelda, I am so use to using two sticks on the 360, the left one for move and right one for free look. With Resident evil you have to toggle your look / aim and your move. That said, the game is nothing short of phenomenal, and I have no regrets in buying it. I should also mention that I had never played the originals or any of the prequels before.
The game is very immersive and once you get use to the Wii controls you will find they only add to this great game. Even though the game is showing its age, the graphics are still top notch, and its hard to believe this game has been around for awhile. I find myself really getting into the reloading and aiming of the Wii remote, and head shots are more fun then they are with a standard controller. The tension is palpable and sometimes heart pounding. It’s really not all that scary as much as intense, which I guess for some people could be interchangeable. Atmosphere is top notch, voice overs are great (even though cheesy) and the sound and music are just perfect. There’s really not much I can say that is bad about the actual game itself.
The original received much acclaim and so does the Wii edition which comes with all the extra content that the last PS2 version had. My biggest complaint has nothing to do with the game itself. It is the same complaint I have with every Wii game and that is the lack of HD. This was my main reason for avoiding consoles for so long and exclusively being a PC gamer for so many years. This game like Zelda is so good that for the most part you can overlook the jaggies, but I always find myself longing for HD when I use my Wii. Anyway, now I can’t wait for Resident Evil 5 on the 360.
The Simpsons Movie
So my wife and I went to see The Simpsons Movie. It was a solid film and quite witty. Was it worth paying to see it in the theater? I would say yes, although I doubt the theater really adds anything to the experience that you wouldn’t get from the DVD, but as of writting this you can’t get it on DVD yet. If you’re a big fan of the show, then you will most likely enjoy seeing it on the big screen, it’s a real riot at times and probably funnier than the average Simpsons show. Oh…, and if you do decide to go, don’t forget to sit through the credits or you will miss out on some laughs at the end.
Phytosphere book review
I recently finished reading Scott Mackay’s Phtyosphere. Without giving too much away the synopsis goes something like this.
Mackay has created a twist on the typical alien invasion. The world is fairly advanced and humanity has colonized the Moon, and Mars and has peppered the solar system with satellites. Aliens have also made contact and have been negotiating with the government for several about immigration rights to earth. The aliens claim to be non-violent, but after years of negotiations fail to accomplish what they want, they encrust the earth in a large dark green shroud, aka the Phytosphere which covers the earth in an eternal night.
In a race against time, two scientists, one on Earth and one on the Moon search for a way to destroy the Phytosphere and return sunlight to earth.
This book is an exhilarating read and was addictive right from the start. You just can’t put this book down. I am a huge fan of dystopian/post apocalyptic fiction and science fiction. This book’s got both in large supply as you follow the lives of the scientists and their families as they struggle to survive the anarchy that follows the darkness. Scott Mackay delivers one suspenseful impact after the next, and this is what keeps the pages turning as you sit on the edge of your seat throughout the book.
It is also pretty dark, so it may not appeal to everyone. Although for the most part not intensely graphic in its depictions, it illustrates the depravity and degradation of man under extremely harsh circumstances and it does this extremely well. We also get a healthy dose of Science Fiction and that’s a good thing.
I highly recommend this book. Check it out at Amazon
Visit Scott Mackay’s official site.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 and no Image Ready? No animated GIF’s either?
We recently installed Adobe CS3 at work. Everything was looking great until one of us needed Image Ready. Where is it? Turns out it is no longer part of Photoshop. The good news is that most of it is incorporated into Photoshop. Problem solved, we then proceeded to open an animated GIF, only to be told that it would only open the first frame. Wow, we can make animated GIF’s in Photoshop, but we can no longer open them. I immediately started digging for some answers only to find at first, many frustrated users. At the time I looked, Adobe’s official solution was to buy Fireworks, really no solution at all, considering that Photoshop via Image Ready has had this functionality for years. After some more digging on the Adobe forums I found what I was looking for.
Go to File / Import / Video Frames to Layers…
You will get a dialog that shows MOV, AVI, MPG, and MPEG files. So what use is this to you? Well, it is posted on the Adobe forums that this is an oversight by them. If you type in *.* in the File name: field this will show you all files. You can now open animated GIF’s and they will display in the animation window and layers pallet.
Hopefully Adobe will fix this in a future patch. All they need to add is the .GIF filter to there import dialog. I had actually tried this before searching, but of course did not see GIF as an option.
(update) See my newest entry on how to create animated GIF’s in Photoshop CS3 “Adobe Photoshop CS3 and no Image Ready? Animated GIF’s Part II”
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Overlord game review
So I bought Overlord the other day for my 360. I’ve been playing it for about three days now, and so far I really like it. Playing the Demo first, I decided to buy it the day it came out.
I really wanted something new, and felt this might be it. While it’s no Gears of War, sometimes you need a change. This is also the kind of game that the 360 lacks in general, but that is slowly changing with a lot of future. The graphics are just beautiful and at times very Zelda: Twilight Princess like. It’s so nice to see these rich fantasy type worlds in HD, the one thing lacking on my Wii.
In the game you play an evil overlord in a funny tongue-in-cheek setting. If this game was more serious, you would be a character like Sauron from Lord of the Rings. You also have a horde of crazy demon like minions which growns in size as you progress through the game. There are four kinds in total, Browns, Reds, Greens, and Blues. You start off with only Browns and must find the other three minion hives to gain use of all your minion types. Each minion type has different abilities, and at times you will have to use a mixture to progress through an area. Its really a blend of RPG and stratagy.
The game progresses nicely, and although there’s a lot to do, its very fun and simple. You gradually progress throughout the game and learn new abilities and tactics, so you never end up feeling overwhelmed.
The major downfall fall with this game is the controls. While they are easy to use, they could still be better. Sometimes you feel confined as free look is not as free as it should be. The left stick moves your character and the right stick moves your minions. This is really cool, and once you get use to it you find yourself using the right stick a lot and the Overlord will just stand watching over, as your minions trash, pillage and smite villages, farms, and animals.
What’s not so cool is having to click the left bumper and use the left stick to look around. There are many times where you will find yourself wanting to just look around at the sometimes stunning fantasty world which surrounds you. It’s when you do this that you will feel confined, often not being able to fully look up or down. A zoom feature would have been nice too, so you could look at your minions up close. There is a toggle that lets you look at yourself from directly above in a top down fashion. This is very cool when outside, or planning a battle. Battle itself can also feel clumsy at times, but for the most part your minions are very smart and will work the way you want them too.
That said, Overlord’s strengths far outway its short commings. This game will not be for everyone, but if you enjoyed the demo, chances are you will enjoy the full game. There is much more to do, everything from building your dark tower, to finding a mistress. This game is all around good fun, and I think I will be putting many more hours into it.
Vista and Office woes
So I have been using Microsoft’s Vista for a few months now. After using a Mac for over two years at work, I figured the switch would be a nice change and of course the change was not completely my choice anyway. I am not a fan boy of any OS and my favourite OS doesn’t exist yet. Anyway, the transition has not been fun, Vista is not ready for prime time, although it is finally pretty looking. Not only is Vista not ready, but neither is MS Office, and this is where my rant begins.
How much does Office cost? I guess that depends on which of the nine hundred versions you have, let’s just say it’s a lot. I think I have the ultimate enterprise business bloat edition. I guess one would expect at least all of the previous functions to work almost flawlessly would they not? Well, you would be wrong if you did. The new office does look new though, in fact so new that anyone using if for the first time probably won’t know how to open or save a document. Don’t look for file or any kind of obvious standard menu, look for the big bubble with the office icon on it. I’m sure the new interface will catch on eventually though, and I guess Microsoft has to change something.
Anyway, yesterday was the day that I had to install Open Office so that I could cut and paste text. Yes that’s right, I had a tight deadline, and I needed to cut and paste text from a work document for a mock-up I was building. Every-time I did this the entire application would crash. Eventually a message popped up telling me that Office was crashing a lot and that I should run a diagnosis wizard that would take approximately 15 minutes. Okay, so maybe this would fix it.
I ran the wizard, and it found nothing, although it wasn‘t able to check one file since it did not have permission and told me I should change the security settings on that file. If I had done this I’m sure the next thing it would have warned me of are the dangers of changing my security settings. This is when I realized that in the past 30 minutes of farting around I could have downloaded Open Office. I did that, installed Writer, loaded the document and began copying and pasting my text with no problems. This is a day in the life of Vista and Office, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Havoc Heli
I bought a Havoc Heli last week. Basically this is a very small toy helicopter that you can fly around via IR remote control in your home. It’s a whole lot of fun and now it has has really wet my appetite for a more advanced hobby grade helicopter. If you do decide to try this out it just might be your gateway helicopter into something more advanced. Find out more about the Havoc Heli on the Air Hogs site. Check out these forum posts and video clips to see it in action.
