Page 51 – Krunk4Ever!

April 7, 2008April 7, 2008

5 Centimeters Per Second – Review

I just watched Makoto Shinkai’s latest masterpiece: 5 Centimeters Per Second (秒速５センチメートル). You might remember Makoto Shinkai from his previous works such as Voices of a Distant Star (ほしのこえ) or The Place Promised in Our Early Days (雲のむこう、約束の場所).

This animated film was so beautiful, yet so heart wrenching, and I think I’m going to be depressed for some time. The drawing was just spectacular and the music/soundtrack was nothing short of Tenmon‘s best. The storyline was so amazingly beautiful, I’m not sure exactly how I feel with such an open ended ending.

Continue reading the review…

April 1, 2008April 2, 2008

Facebook: Friends Suggester

So for the longest time (and Derek can be my witness), I’ve wanted a Friends Suggester feature in Facebook. What a Friends Suggester is is a tool that’ll automatically suggest people who you might know based on who your friends are. In other words, typically if 5 of your friends know a particular person that isn’t your friend yet, there is a likely chance this particular person is someone you know too.

Anyway, when Facebook Apps were starting, I thought an app like this would quickly show up. At first we thought it wasn’t possible due to privacy reasons, but it turns out that your friends list is typically open to public and all the app would need is just the list of friends of all your friends and then do some mashing work.

When Facebook introduced Suggest A Friend, I thought that was what I was looking for. However, it turns out it was meant so you as a human (and not the computer) to suggest friends to new people on Facebook.

A week or 2 ago, Facebook finally added what’s been long overdue: People You May Know:

People You May Know
Found based on your existing connections

Do you know any of these people?
Add people you know as friends to make these results even better for you.

This is exactly what Friends Suggester is. It shows you a list of people that it thinks you might know and even shows the list of common friends between you two. I’ve already added 5+ friends since I found this tool.

There are still some ways to improve it. Currently they only suggest 25 people randomly to you. If you refresh the page, the list changes with some new and some old. There appears to be no order of any sort and algorithm to determine which people you’re more likely to be friends with. I’d say the more friends you share between each other, the more likely you two are friends. Having the ability to see ALL suggested friends, even if it iterates over many pages, would be nice. Sitting here hitting refresh hoping to find a friend that may pop up after awhile just isn’t that great.

Another thing they should add is the ability to discard people you don’t know. No matter how many times you show me person A, if I don’t know him, I’m not going to add him to my friends list. There is the case where you might end up being friends later, so maybe the ability to ignore a particular person for 3 months or 6 months would be another option.

All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with this new tool so far.

Update:

I knew I forgot something. I had also wanted it to automatically email me when it thinks a new possible friend pops up in the list or alert me somehow. However it turns out they already have this feature. I just got this email:

_____ just joined Facebook. You are getting notified of this because our “People You May Know” tool discovered you and _____ both work at Microsoft. If you do know _____, check out the links below.

To add _____ as a friend, follow this link:
____________________

To view _____’s profile, follow this link:
____________________

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

April 1, 2008April 1, 2008

ATI Catalyst 8.3 Problems with Remote Desktop

So I’ve been having problems connecting to my home PC via Remote Desktop for some time and I didn’t really have a clue on what the problem is. For the longest time, I believed that it had to do with AVG since for some reason AVG would prompt me to reboot every single day and when I don’t, remote desktop appeared not to work anymore. Reinstalling AVG from scratch appeared to have fixed it.

The problems I was hitting included immediately disconnecting from the Terminal Service after logging in with the correct username and password or ending up in a blank screen where I’m not seeing anything. Half time time, I’m able to log into my admin account and log off my default user and retry. Other times, my admin account encounters the same problems.

Anyway today’s problem was the weirdest, where I’d be disconnected immediately when trying to connect. It didn’t even prompt me for credentials. I thought I’ll just go home and reboot the computer, however this apparently didn’t fix the problem. I tried uninstalling AVG to see if that helped, but unfortunately it didn’t appear to be the cause of the problem.

I scratched my head and wondered what else could be causing the problem. I recall since I was going to reboot, I decided to update my graphics drivers. I have an ATI Radeon X1600Pro and upgraded to the latest ATI Catalyst 8.3 for Windows XP. I uninstalled all the ATI crap and rebooted and immediately I was able to connect via Remote Desktop. However my monitor was now running in like 800×600 mode.

I found this thread stating that ATI Catalyst Suite prevented some other people to connect via Remote Desktop:

RDP is working, removing ATI Catalyst Suite did the trick

Hi Scott, just wanted to thank you for your assistance, it ended up being the ATI Catalyst Suite which is installed with the video driver (these servers have ATI Radeon X550’s in them).

Removing the Catalyst Suite and using just the ATI driver alone did the trick. Don’t know why as the Catalyst doesn’t change the video driver, it just gives you a control panel utility. Go figure.

I’ve submitted a KB article request to AMD as it seems to effect at least 5 different Radeon cards that I have.
Thanks again,
Mark

Posted: 11/15/2007 @ 08:17 AM (PST)

So I went and downloaded the newest Display Driver only and installed that. However, I immediately hit the same Remote Desktop problem again. Grrrrr… I decided to try previous drivers one by one moving backwards and stop after the 1st one that worked. The sucky part of this is after each driver installation, I had to reboot to be able to test if my Remote Desktop connection is fixed. Good news is that after installing ATI Catalyst 8.2 Display Driver, my Remote Desktop connection was in full working order again, so I didn’t have to keep on going. I didn’t bother installing the Catalyst Control Center this time around since I don’t believe there’s any need for me.

In conclusion, it appears a change in ATI Catalyst 8.3 broke compatibility with Remote Desktop (at least on Windows XP).

For others who have encountered this problem, I hope this helps!

April 1, 2008July 6, 2008

Still Alive (Portal) – Free Song Download for Rock Band (Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3)

Thanks to StanMan for forwarding me this link: Still Alive for Rock Band Free Tommorrow

ROCK BAND Media Alert

ROCK BAND™ TO FEATURE FREE DOWNLOAD OF “STILL ALIVE” FROM VALVE’S PORTAL™

This is a triumph … Harmonix Music Systems and MTV Games have teamed up with Valve to bring the song “Still Alive”, released as part of The Orange Box collection of games on PC, 360 and Playstation 3, into the Rock Band library. And, as icing on the cake, the track will be available as a FREE download on April 1 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and April 17 for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

Written by Jonathan Coulton and originally performed over the end credits of Portal, the experimental single-player game in The Orange Box, “Still Alive” found its way into the heads and hearts of gamers and quickly became a cult classic.

“While the cake may be a lie, the free download of “Still Alive” is confirmed truth,” said Greg LoPiccolo, VP of product development at Harmonix. “‘Still Alive’ is an awesome song that brings together great gaming and great music. We’ve teamed up with Valve to deliver a free download of “Still Alive” as a “thank you” to our fans for their incredible support.”

“Rock Band has lit the industry on fire by opening a new market for cooperative musical gaming,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “We’re delighted Harmonix has selected the track for inclusion in the growing library of tracks available for this phenomenal title.”

With the addition of “Still Alive” to the Rock Band library, there are now more than 70 tracks available for download in addition to the 58 tracks in the original game. To date, gamers have purchased more than 6 million downloadable songs for Rock Band since its launch on November 20, 2007.

Downloadable content for the Xbox 360 will be available via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace using Microsoft Points and is downloaded directly to the Xbox 360 hard drive. Downloadable content for the PLAYSTATION 3 system’s version of Rock Band will be available on the PLAYSTATION®Store through the free PLAYSTATION®Network and is downloaded directly to PLAYSTATION 3 system’s built in hard drive.

Rock Band is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

I found this on Rock Band’s forums: DLC April 1st! Huge success!

Hey everybody!

This week we have a special present for you in celebration of April Fool’s Day. For $0 (0 Microsoft Points) you can download-

“Still Alive” by GlaD0s and Jonathan Coulton (master)

Due to work Sony is doing on their store they won’t be adding new material for a couple weeks so this won’t release on PlayStation Store this week. When they go back up with new material in a few weeks, though, it will be there lovingly waiting for you. For free. I’ll post something up here when it is available on that platform.

It will be available on Xbox360 on April 1st.

Also special thanks to Valve and to Jonathan Coulton for helping to make this happen. You rule.

If you don’t know what Still Alive is, you’ve been missing out. It’s the ending song for Portal (part of The Orange Box).

Unfortunately when I went to go download it right now, I was unable to connect to Xbox Live. That’s when I found this article: Reminder: Xbox Live Maintenance on Tuesday April 1:

On Tuesday April 1st from 0200-0500 PT Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won’t be able to post.) The remainder of Xbox.com will be available.

Find out what time the maintenance will begin in your time zone

This is for maintenance, there are no new features on your that will appear on your Xbox 360 console or Xbox.com when the service comes back online. This is server maintenance only.

Those bastards! *shakes fist* Guess I’ll just have to wait till tomorrow. The freebie appears to be available for the whole week, unless you own a PS3, which then you’ll have to wait till Sony fixes their marketplace.

Update:

Here’s Xbox.com’s official story on it: Rock Band April Song Track Releases

Harmonix and MTV Games have announced the release schedule of individual song tracks and song packs for the game Rock Band™ for the month of April 2008. Fans will be able to purchase songs for 160 Microsoft Points per track (unless otherwise stated) and entire packs of songs are available at a discount.

Tracks marked with an asterisk (*) are cover songs as made famous by the listed artist. Tracks without an asterisk are original master recordings.

Week of April 1, 2008

Individual tracks released (this is a FREE download starting April 1):

“Still Alive” by GLaDOS and Jonathan Coulton (from the game Portal)

Rock Band downloadable content is playable and integrated into setlists in all game modes including Solo Tour, Band World Tour, head-to-head competition either locally or online, and from any Quickplay mode. Start flexing your fingers and mark your calendar for these exciting song tracks, available through Xbox LIVE® Marketplace.

March 31, 2008

Toilet Paper Usage

WARNING: You may be disgusted by the following post or may be screaming TMI!!! by the end of this post.

So I was reading this blog post the other day: How to Use Toilet Paper and I’ve never realized there were so many different methods to wipe your butt.

Running Out of Toilet Paper

I personally put a new roll of toilet paper on the top of each toilet in case of emergencies. That way I won’t be tempted to use it and when I do run out of toilet paper from the toilet paper roll dispenser, I just swap in the extra roll. Worse case scenario is if I forget to replace the replacement afterwards, I have extra rolls inside the cabinets underneath the sink. It does require further reach though.

Fold vs Crumble

I’ve personally never heard of the “crumble” method until I read this article. I was always taught to use the fold method as a child (I guess it was part of the potty training I received). I was told to only use 4 pieces of toilet paper to conserve toilet paper and not waste it. However, sometimes they’re too thin and I need 5 or 6 sheets to prevent accidentally poking through. I asked my sister and apparently she was taught the crumble method (guess my dad and mom use different methods for wiping), but she’s swapped over to the fold method to conserve toilet paper also. I personally don’t mind actually touching poop. I mean why is it so bad to touch it when you’re satisfied with just wiping your butt without actually washing it. Worse case, just wash your hands thoroughly with soap afterwards.

I agree, if you have a poop-phobia, the crumble method may suit you better.

Front vs Back

Another thing is I’ve always wiped my butt reaching in from the front. It’s just another thing I’ve been taught. I was reading some comments and how people are afraid of actually having poop touch their genitals, but it’s been 25 years and I don’t recall one incidence of that happening. And even if it does, please see the previous paragraph. My problem with reaching from the back is that I actually have to scoot forward and make a hole behind me that’s big enough for me to stick my hands in. Then again, I guess I was just taught to sit back and relax when taking a dump. I still recall the times I would sit in there for hours reading Goosebumps and by the time I realize there’s a big red circle around my bottom (from sitting on the toilet seat too long), the poop around my butt has already hardened and has become painful to wipe.

March 31, 2008

Pidgin v2.4.1 fixes Unicode Support for AIM

Just got a notice that Pidgin v2.4.1 was released. According to the changelog:

Treat AIM Unicode messages as UTF-16 rather than UCS-2; this should have no functional effect, other than continued support on systems which have dropped UCS-2 conversions.

As I noted, it was a major blocker for me to fully adopt Pidgin, but I guess they got the message from all the feedback they have been receiving. I just gave the new version a whirl, and it has indeed fixed AIM Unicode support.

March 31, 2008March 31, 2008

Weekly Top Posts (3/23/2008 to 3/29/2008)

Here’s this week’s top post:

Previously…

Once again, not much updates this week. My sister and grandma just left, but my mom’s staying an extra week. Hopefully, I’ll find some time to post some entries this week.

March 26, 2008

Weekly Top Posts (3/16/2008 to 3/22/2008)

Here’s this week’s top post:

Previously…

Sorry for the lack of recent updates. Had some friends visit me middle of last week and my mom and sister are up here this and next week.

March 20, 2008July 6, 2008

Dropkick Murphys Song Pack Free on Xbox LIVE Marketplace (Guitar Hero III)

Got this via RSS feed earlier this week:

Celtic punk will never be the same.

Guitar Hero III®: Legends of Rock will be kicking off the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with a special free track pack from the popular Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys.

Straight from the band’s sixth album, The Meanest of Times, the Dropkick Murphys pack will include master recordings of “Famous for Nothing,” “(F)lannigan’s Ball” and “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya.” The track pack will be available for free to download on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock downloadable content is instantly playable and available in the Downloaded Songs set list in ALL game modes (Career, Co-Op Career, Quickplay, Multiplayer, Practice and all Online modes). Check out the Marketplace regularly for the latest tracks.

It mentioned that it was free to starting from St. Patrick’s Day, but doesn’t mention any expiration date, so I’m going to assume this isn’t just some limited time promotion. Enjoy!

March 16, 2008

Weekly Top Posts (3/9/2008 to 3/15/2008)

Here’s this week’s top post:

Previously…

2 past winners have reappeared.

I’m pretty sure the Animal Crossing Tragedy was due to the fact that someone posted on Digg: The best comic of all time!.

However, it appears the Six Flags Discount (~50% Off) is probably due to the fact summer is coming up? Most of the referrals were from Google.