Forum posts

I am not concerned about Microsoft. There are a lot of rumors and paranoia on the web about everything.

Sure, Microsoft may do something to raid your computer, but it has bigger fish to fry than coming after individual users.

By the way, I figured out a way to get rid of all those "ugly" Metro tiles that Archie detests. That's my son's desktop below.

Beautiful pictures, Archie.

What's the max aperture on that lens?

There are two ways to login Windows 10--locally and through the Microsoft account.

In order to use some of the new features of Windows 10, like the Cortana digital assistant, Microsoft forces the users to sign on with their Outlook account.

The digital assistant is only useful if you buy into the entire Microsoft universe--Outlook, Microsoft calendar, etc.

Since I belong in the Google universe--Gmail. Google Calendar, Google Map, Google Drive, etc, the digital assistant integration feature isn't all that useful to me.

So I changed the login option to local for both myself and my son. By signing in locally, Microsoft no longer has access to my computer usage.

Or even better, can you just get rid of the launchpad?

It's possible to remove all the tiles, but there's still an empty space allotted for it.

I experimented with various options, and I managed to get rid of all the useless tiles and insert some useful ones there, including links to some of the most commonly accessed folders and a one-click shutdown button.

I did notice that the boot-up time is dramatically faster compared to Windows 7. My SSD boots up in three seconds, counting from the "Loading Windows . . ." message.

Just upgraded.

Here's my new desktop.

I played a bit more of Talos Principles, and while I am impressed with the level design and graphics, the gameplay feels somehow "cold".

I would compare it more to Antichamber than Portal.

It keeps me engaged, but I wouldn't rank it in the same class as Portal.

I am playing The Talos Principle, which is like Portal in the outdoor environment.

I like it.

Pizza Spleef with my son.

I wonder when the team will finish making Black Mesa.

I am still staying up at night playing Minecraft.

It's a very well-made documentary. Not just a good gaming film, but an overall gripping story.

It's less about gaming than about personal struggle and the human condition. It's got universal appeal.

I looked into Dota 2. It looks exceedingly complex and forbidding. I would not touch it with a long pole.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

I am playing "The Stanley Parable".

I've decided that it's a hybrid between "Antichamber" and "Portal".

If you enjoyed either game, you just might have a good time with it . . . unless, of course, you actually want to beat the game.

Here's a trailer that tries to capture the soul of this game.

Trailer begins in "3, 2, 1".

Wow, you've got some system.

I didn't even know that the WEI score goes higher than 7.9

It even boosted my WEI!If anyone is interested in switching, this article explains in detail how to do it.

I waited more than a year to switch my SSD's from IDE to AHCI mode. I've heard stories with BSOD from others who made the switch, so I hesitated for so long.

In reality, the change was so easy. I modified a registry key, and I made two changes in BIOS. That was it. No need to re-install the OS.

I have a Radeon 9800 Pro to give away, but shipping will probably cost quite a bit.

Kentucky Route Zero.

I am playing it together with my son. It's a good literacy exercise for him. The reading level is challenging for him, since he's only going to be a first grader.

http://youtu.be/8Yhn_RHbQW8

A band in Taiwan, where I grew up.

You guys heard of Pipeline?

DSC_1551 by youngsatchmo, on Flickr

DSC_2720 by youngsatchmo, on Flickr

DSC_2909 by youngsatchmo, on Flickr

DSC_3031 by youngsatchmo, on Flickr

I got the Kindle Fire HD for my birthday. Personally, I would probably picked the Nexus over the Kindle.

It all comes down to what you are planning to use the device for. If you are going to do mostly reading and watching movies, the Kindle Fire is wonderful at those. The speakers are very impressive.

I haven't used the Nexus, but based from what I know, it's much more versatile.

Global Offensive?

Sorry I can't help you. I haven't started mapping for this game yet.

I finally completed this mod this morning.

The Lambda Core felt like an appropriate conclusion. I would feel fine even if Xen was never developed, but it would rub many Half-Life purists the wrong way.

Overall, aside from the minor complaints above, this mod offers an incredible experience. It certainly accomplished what the team set out to do--to create an updated yet nostalgic gaming experience for Half-Life fans.

Yes, the SMG from the grunts is unusually accurate, yet the same SMG carried by the player is strangely ineffective in long distance.

Realistically, a SMG is not effective beyond a 30 feet range.

Yes, that final boss fight in Questionable Ethics took me seven or eight tries, and I was playing on Normal difficulty (as I usually do for most games).

It took a combination of the Magnum and shotgun to get rid of them. I didn't realize that there were grunts on the rooftops sniping at me until I died the fourth time by bullets from apparent nowhere.

The second area where the assassins appeared in Forget About Freeman was exceedingly easy because I had the organic hornet gun. I just shot blindly in the general direction of the assassins, and the live bullets did the rest for me.

In Apprehension where the assassins first made their appearance, the player didn't have the hornet gun yet. So I used the shotgun for them.

I am most impressed about the modification in gameplay.

Even though the original Half-Life is definitely revolutionary and arguably one of the best games ever made, there are places in the game that can be improved.

It is apparent that the Black Mesa team considered each level carefully and made a masterpiece even better. Some of the more frustrating and annoying moments in Half-Life were changed or eliminated so the experience is more fun.

I am playing "Forget About Freeman" now. It will take me more than two weeks to finish this mod.

I only get to play for an hour a day, and only on some of the days. Too bad that I can't play it when I am on-call in the hospital.

I have the Vertex 2 and Vertex 3 in my system, and they have been running flawlessly since 2010.

From numerous studies, the lifespan of an SSD is estimated to be 40-300 years.

Here is an example calculation.

I think it's likely that I would upgrade to a new rig in 90 years, assuming that I would still be alive at age 130.

I swear I don't own stocks in OCZ.

I did not even have a traditional magnetic drive in my latest rig until recently.

I got a Vertex 2 at first, and when it started to fill up, I got a Vertex 3 when the price dropped significantly.

The price drop is slower now, and should not have any dramatic reduction in the near future (at least from the current market forecast). If you want a SSD, the time to buy is now.

It's the most important upgrade to a computer if you don't have one yet.

Did you think USB drives are fast?

I was stuck at the beginning of Apprehension for a long time. I guess I forgot the original HL gameplay.

The satellite rocket launch was awesome! It's a million times better than the original HL.

This is a film about Ip Man, the man who popularized the art of Wing Chun.

When the Japanese occupied China and brutalized its citizens, Ip Man stood up to the Japanese in the form of martial art.

In this scene, Ip Man single-handedly wiped out ten black belt karate Japanese: http://youtu.be/E96yviOeRH4

In the final right, he confronted and defeated General Sapo: http://youtu.be/MCoH4FVgi7M

SSD makes a difference.

Can someone explain to me why when I upgraded from a GTX 460 to GTX 680, my graphics score went up (7.8) but my SSD score went down (7.3)? I didn't make any other changes to the system except for upgrading to the ASUS GTX 680 CUII TOP.

I haven't had a single crash yet--not even at the end of Blast Pit.

Perhaps it was my latest hardware upgrade that allows me to play the game smoothly.

The ai_monster and the ai_nodes need to be tweaked.

At its current state, it's common to get into the situation where all the houndeyes or all the grunts would rush to the player's position. This either makes the gameplay too easy or too hard, but definite unbalanced.

When I choreographed the combat for my map, sp_justice, I carefully arranged the soldiers into squads and I intentionally separated some of the ai_nodes so that the soldiers would not mindlessly rush to a single position--either to be eliminated with one grenade, or overwhelm the player at one position.

The squads must be separated. In real life, the soldiers would coordinate their attack rather than simply rushing. If you know all of your buddies were killed upstairs, a sensible soldier would wait downstairs until the player comes to them rather than walking upstairs to a trap.

The gameplay was improved in many aspects, but I haven't gotten to Questionable Ethics yet. It sounds like a lot of classic HL was eliminated. I suspect it was due to lack of resources and time toward the second half of the development.

The first few chapters are brilliantly designed. In fact, the redesign are vastly improved compared to the original and official HL layout. It generally cuts down the frustration, and made it a bit more challenging where the original was too easy.

I'll pass more judgment when I get further into the game.

As I continue to play, it continues to amaze me.

I do have a few nitpicks though. The cockroaches seem like they're on cocaine or something. They either huddle crazily with each other, or they zoom about like mindless zombies. Oh, wait! Perhaps that's an intended effect. Imagine that, Xen roaches.

The annoying HL2 ladders give me grief at various places--I have to jump off the ladder instead of just walk away. And the female scientist models have strangely deformed arms when the arms are crossed.

It's here!

I've played it.

It's every bit as amazing as I imagined.

I haven't been this excited since my son was born.

My screenshot:Need I say more?

I thought this day will never come.

I guess there is a tradition of project postponement with Valve. I know this is not Valve, but it's related to Valve.

Remember how long we had to wait for Half-Life 2? I am sure Episode 3 will be released before 2027.

Better late than never though. At least it is not "Duke Nukem Forever".

I thought the answer is clearly "B".

How can the river be dangerous when his mother was walking "along" it? She wasn't walking "on" the frozen river, like the people in The Batman Rises.

Solution to the gun problem? More guns!

If every citizen is required to carry a grenade at all time, this would never have happened.

The shooter would have been blown to smithereens in no time.

This guy used a P90 assault rifle. It has a magazine that holds 50 rounds.

Why would any civilian need an AR that can fire 50 rounds? Are we hunting deer in the entire mountain range before reloading?

In the aftermath of the worst public shooting in US history, the biggest question on everyone's mind is "why".

From all known accounts of James Holmes, he is an intelligent young man with a bright future. He graduated from the top of his class, and he grew up in a stable family with loving parents.

So what happened to him? What evil forces transformed him from a budding scientist to a monster who carried out unspeakable atrocity?

I think I have the answer for you.

Based on my gut instinct, I'd say that mental illness took over his promising life.

His age, the circumstances around the rampage, and the lack of other reasons all point to schizophrenia as the culprit.

This devastating condition typically strikes people at their prime. James is 24 years old. It does not spare individuals with great intellectual promise. James is in the doctorate program at the University of Colorado after graduating in the top of his class from UC Riverside. Schizophrenia can strike within a short period of time, robbing people of their senses and personality. This aspect of the disease is perhaps the most cruel of them all, and it can leave family members baffled and in denial. What happened to the sweet boy we used to know?

I am afraid that the mental health system in this country has failed James. It has failed the victims of this rampage. It has failed the family members, both of the victims as well as Jamese's.

Perhaps this is a wake up call for those who remain in denial and those who still hold mental illness at arm's length due to the societal stigma associated with psychiatric illnesses. Inaction can lead to tragedy like this. Inaction is not an option.

My deepest sympathies to those who suffered loss in this tragedy.

I am sponsoring a speed competition for my Portal 2 map, Interception PeTI. The tester who completes this puzzle in the shortest time wins. The winner will receive a US$10 electronic gift card from Amazon. These are the rules of the competition:

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1. The playthrough video must include the puzzle in its entirety--from the arrival elevator to the departure elevator.
2. The video must be recorded from a single, continuous test session (no splicing).
3. The video must have the original sound from the Portal 2 game--no voice-over or overlay music.
4. Post your fastest YouTube playthrough video link as a comment at the Workshop page.
5. The playthrough must be recorded from the most recent version of the puzzle, released on July 4, 2012.
6. The competition ends at midnight (PST) on July 15, 2012.
7. Of course, no cheat codes can be used in solving the puzzle.

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Anyone not abiding these rules is automatically disqualified from the competition.

Good luck, testers! May the fastest one win.