Credit where credit is due. I went back to Blockbuster the next day after renting a game that has major bugs in it. Although the behind the counter guy said "We don't normally do this" he did let me exchange the game for Madden 08. which I have been loving. So kudos to Blockbuster for allowing me to trade it for another one without much hassle. I was prepared for quite a fight.

By the way, Madden 08 gives up XBox 360 achievements / points like they're candy. I've been able to get 685 gamer points without too much difficulty, in about 5 hours of game play. This game has really helped my gamerscore.

 

CNN.com is simutaneously running two seperate articles about Bulls and Bears hurting people:

I think they're trying to tell us something about the stock market... hmmm...

 

I have been looking for a Poker game for my XBox 360 for a while, and while browsing the shelves at Blockbuster, this one caught my eye. So I rented it. I want my $7 back.

There's only one thing really important when it comes to a poker video game: that it plays poker well. All of the other considerations, such as interface design, come second.

On the sole criteria of "playing poker well", World Championship Poker: All-In featuring Howard Lederer and his sister Annie Duke on the cover, ranks an "F" - it fails by a long shot. If I were Annie Duke, I would be suing to take my picture off the cover cause it ruins her good name.

How bad can it be? Here are some examples:

* Playing in career mode, I sat down at a 5-card stud game. When my pair of Aces was beaten by 3-Queens the first time, I thought I was fairly beat. When it happened again 3 hands later (trip Queens over my two Aces), I cursed my bad luck. When it happened AGAIN 3 hands after that (huh? trip Queens again?), I started to get suspicious. And when I was dealt two aces AGAIN 3 hands after that, I folded them.

THE STUPID GAME DEALS THE SAME CARDS OVER AND OVER! This happened a few times, where I remember getting a pair of eights, drawing 3 cards, and getting two pair aces and eights. Happened a few hands later. Happened again a few hands after that. Getting random numbers right is FUNDAMENTAL to a poker game. Not this one.

* Playing in a tournament (100 player, multi-table). The opponents "go all in" almost every hand, or as a minimum "raise big". All-in. All-in. Raise $400 (blinds are $25/$50). All-in. It gets tiring. Finally I catch pocket Aces, and I call. Opponent catches a straight and I'm out.

Next tourney. Same thing - computer goes all-in every hand. Finally I catch A-K suited and I call. Opponent catches a straight and I'm out.

Next tourney. Same thing - computer goes all-in every hand. This time I keep folding, waiting for the all-in players to be busted out. Smart guy right? No. As soon as my table is broken up, I lose the very next hand. I didn't even get a chance to fold or call or even see my cards. And I am out of the tourney. Must have been a programming bug.

This game is seriously broken.

 

OK the movie has been out for a couple of weeks now, so if you haven't seen it and don't want to know what happens, stop reading now. I'm not going to detail the plot in depth, but some of the things about this movie that irked me happen later in the movie so they are considered spoilers.

In general, I really like the Bourne franchise. They are not the typical "explosions every two seconds" type of faire. Typically, Bourne is trying to escape from most conflicts, and is most likely to be found scaling a wall to disappear than setting elaborate traps to catch people.

I think the essence of Bourne vs. Bond is that Bond is chasing people while Bourne is being chased.

That being said, I went to see this movie opening night. In general I liked it. My one major gripe with it is that it left a lot of questions unanswered. I was expecting to leave the theater having all the major plot lines closed in a neat little package. Instead it ends kind of mysteriously, with a couple of lose ends hanging. Some say this leaves open the possibility of another movie. I doubt there will be another, so it's just annoying.

Some of the major questions left hanging were:
a) Why did Bourne volunteer for Treadstone? What was the old him running from that made him agree to give up "David Webb" for good and become Jason Bourne?
b) It appears the director of the CIA, who knew about Black Briar and was trying to set up Pamela Landy to take the blame for it all got off Scott-free at the end. So he is at least one significant bad guy who is still at large and can come after Jason Bourne again in the future.
c) What was the secret relationship between Julia Style's character and Bourne? At one point she says to him "So you really don't remember anything from before?" and he says "No". But that is never brought up again. Were they romantically linked in the past?

Anyways, all in all I enjoyed the film. But if it really is supposed to be the end of the series, you'd think these plot holes would be filled in for the viewer, instead of just alluding to something and never delivering the goods.

CNN.com is reporting, "Transformer explodes near Grand Central Station in New York".

After reading this, Scott Duffy thinks to himself, "Wow, one of The Transformers exploded? What the hell was that thing doing in New York anyways? I thought Megatron was defeated in the end?" and was serious until he realized Transformers weren't real.

Am I the only one who now links transformers with Transformers?

 

For many years, I've thought about taking what I am currently doing (consulting for one client at a time), and going to the next level with it - multiple clients and even some employees. One opportunity which I don't think is being fully exploited is marketing to companies who don't have the resources for a full-time I.T. person on staff, but who ocassionally need to get someone in to fix their printer, install some new software, develop a small custom application, etc.

So when I heard about Nerds on Site, it sounded like a nice approach to me. Their marketing tagline to get consultants on board has been "You're in business for yourself, but not by yourself". I've been in business for myself for 10 years, and thought exploring this other way of doing things would be interesting. It had potential.

Well, it turned out to be unfulfilled potential.

Trying to get to talk to them has been a bit of a let down. After filling out an online application - "What is your strengths? Why do you want to join with us? etc." - they invited me to sign up for a First Step session.

And that's where they fell down, big time.

As soon as I got the invitation, I went to the URL to sign up for the next step in the "process". I was expecting to meet people in person, and learn more about what they expect, and what they can provide. The only in person session was in Windsor (4 hour drive from me), so I was basically forced to sign up for an online session.

That's not too bad, except a lot of the sessions were "middle of the day" sessions. I can't come home from work in the middle of the day to talk to them, so I could only do weeknight sessions. That wouldn't even be a problem, except all the evening sessions were fully booked.

I went back again a few days later, and it was still fully booked. No in person sessions available again. Back again a 3rd time a week later, and found 1 single session available so I signed up. Nope, that session was for Filipino's only (don't ask). Went back again (4th or 5th time by this point) and found a 6pm online session for a few weeks hence, and booked it.

I did everything I normally do. I set an appointment up in Outlook, had it remind me. I came home from work well before the time, downloaded and installed all the software they require for the meeting (yes, I had to install stuff for an online meeting). Logged in at a quarter to 6 to get things set up and then...

"I'm sorry Scott. The time is now 5:47pm. We asked you to be here at 5:45pm. You'll have to book another time in the future."

What? What the hell? The online meeting was at 6pm, I show up at 5:47pm, and I'm told "sorry"?

You know what? If this is how Nerds on Site operates their business, then it's better that I'm not part of that. I am an experienced businessman, and have a lot of client contacts. I don't need to be treated like some high-school kid trying to compete for his first job. If Nerds on Site wants to partner with me, they can contact me and we can talk one-on-one like real businesses do. But in 6 weeks or so of trying to get this "First Step" meeting set up, I'm back at the beggining? That's that.

 

I couldn't find this info anywhere online, and had to call Bell tech support. This is how you program the Next Level Communications SRC-200A remote control to control the power and volume of your TV.

1. Press and hold the MUTE button until the light flashes and stays on
2. Press the POWER button
3. Press the UP ARROW button, repeatedly, until the TV turns itself off
4. Press the SELECT button when you find the correct code.

And thats the secret.

Now let's say you think you know the right remote code. Chances are it's not going to work, but its worth trying right?

1. Press and hold the MUTE button until the light flashes and stays on
2. Enter the 3-digit code
3. The light will flash 3-times quickly if the code is recognized
4. The light will not flash if the code is unrecognized