Penny Arcade

Today’s strip may steer you wrong, as I am only messing with my associate Gabriel and not giving him factual data.  I suffered very little over the course of the movie, and (in fact) rather enjoyed many parts.  I was able to see it on Valentine’s Day, yes, but that isn’t to say I saw it with Brenna.  She might vote pro-geek in an election, but she’s not a member of the party.  It is as though she’s come to terms with some disease I have.

I am patiently awaiting two scrumptious GBA SP systems today, hopefully I won’t miss the delivery fairy.  The “Platinum” is for me, as I have an outfit that I think would go great with it, and the “Onyx” is for Monkey, as payment for his article on the new Zelda.  Is there a better editor anywhere on the planet?  I ask you.  I typically leap head-first into this importing thing because I haven’t had any bad experiences yet, but I think I might have jumped the gun this time.  Instead of separate batteries, the GBA SP does the lithium-ion thing, which under most circumstances I wholly endorse.  The thing is, I’m sure it’s going to come from Japan with some bizarre AC adapter that has a cat coming off of it or something, whatever it is I’m sure I need to deal with some voltage thing or other.  I’m also sure I know where to fix it, but I’ve always found hardware stores so emasculating. 

Gabriel mentioned the other day that EB (I think) had some kind of promotional thing set up to let you trade your GBA and fifty-nine bucks for a glimmering new SP, but most of the people I know have Afterburners installed - I doubt the Exchange Lords at Electronics Boutique will look kindly on Game Boys whose sensitive nether regions have been so augmented.  I gladly gave my old one to a friend who was going to Kalamazoo, which I assure you is a real place, but in the meantime that leaves me without any kind of console whatsoever that isn’t sequestered away in a Uhaul box.  The only things left out, really, are the PC here and my katana, the infamous Arbiter of Kyushuu. 

I read an article regarding some connectivity issues with C&C Generals, stuff I can’t confirm or deny because I usually need to complete a campaign or two to find out who I’m playing as.  Kiko has lamented many of the same problems, so I don’t doubt for a moment that there is something to complain about.  Though I have never fully resolved myself to the zero-day patches that have become so commonplace, there is at least a portion of my brain (some kind of cortex?) that understands why there are business or technical realities that might make it happen.  I’ll tell you what, though.  The shit that’s going on now has no place.  C&C Generals and Battlefield 1942 - both from EA - both have patch patches out or on the way.  This is some Tribes 2 shit you’ve got going on now, and if you want to see just how completely you can erode the good will gamers have toward a franchise, please continue along this path. 

Under the right circumstances, and with the right people, I can be very charismatic.  I would ask that you good-for-nothing, power-lunching child predators take a moment to truly consider what would happen if a hundred thousand of the hard-core just stopped indulging your stupid asses one day.   

I’ll wait.

(CW)TB out.

it gets better and better

For reasons that will become obvious.

(CW)TB

So I went and Saw Daredevil yesterday. I thought it was pretty good but I think that is only because I am a pretty big Daredevil fan. This movie is what Daredevil would be like if it was a television show on the WB. Silly special effects and poorly produced fight sequences. I actually found myself enjoying the sequences with Matt Murdock more than those with Daredevil. I am not a big Ben Affleck fan or anything but the banter between him and Foggy Nelson, his partner was really good stuff. It never felt forced or rehearsed like every other bit of dialogue in the film.

Seeing Kevin Smith in the film was a nice surprise but it only served to remind me of his own take on the character which was about a million times more interesting. Most people will tell you Frank Miller wrote the greatest Daredevil story ever but I honestly think Kevin Smith’s “Guardian Devil” series with Quesada is my favorite. As soon as I saw him it brought back memories of those books and I just felt even more let down by what I was seeing on the screen.

Oh well, it was still Daredevil on the big screen. It was fun to watch him jump around and stuff. The way they did his second sight shit was awesome. Will I get it on DVD? Probably not. Go see it some afternoon though if for no other reason than to see the bad ass X-Men 2 trailer.

So the Synaptics touchpad on my Acer TravelMate C100 tablet PC decided to stop working a few days ago. I tried reinstalling the drivers and got nothing. The properties box for the device says “Hardware not installed” so the little fucker doesn’t even think I have a touchpad anymore. I have heard that both the tablet version of XP as well as the standard version have issues with touchpads. If you have any ideas about how to fix this or if you work at Acer and you want to send me a new C102 for my troubles please send me a mail.

-Gabe out

Travis just dropped us a line and said the power adapter works just fine here - I guess it even says so right on it.

This is why I buy things from him.

(CW)TB

Speaking of Tablet PC’s, I have been meaning to link to this site for a long time. It’s a great source for Tablet PC news. If you have one already or want one check it out.

-Gabe out

I have talked to quite a few people today about the Acer Tablet PC’s, including Acer Technical support. I will say first that I love the Tablet PC format, it has really changed the way I work. That having been said I think I probably picked the wrong model. This kind of shit just happens when you are a new technology whore like I am.

The truth is that the touchpad not working was actually the second problem I had with my brand new Tablet PC. The other problem I had is that sometimes the screen just goes green. I started having to save my work constantly for fear that any minute the screen would decide it was done displaying my shit. A quick scan of some Tablet PC forums shows that this is an extremely common problem with the Acer. I figured I would just ride it out and hope a patch would be released soon or something.

Then there is the latch on the Acer. Some people have had theirs replaced two or three times already. I could tell immediately upon first opening the PC that the latch was a pile of crap. My solution to this problem was to simply never use the latch. The result is my latch is still attached but it’s kind of stupid that I am forced to not use in it in order to keep it that way.

Then the touchpad went out on me and I got really frustrated. It was sort of like the straw that broke the camels back I suppose. I called Acer and they want ME to pay to have it shipped to them so they can take a look at it. We are talking about a machine that is barely three months old. Ass-bandits.

It’s too late for me now, I am stuck with this thing and I will have to make the best of it. If you are in the market for a Tablet PC, I highly recommend steering clear of the Acer models. They are great tools and I think every artist should at least try one out. Don’t be like me though, do your homework before you buy one.

Speaking of doing your homework before buying a PC, it’s time for me to get a new Desktop. My machine is currently a little over three years old and its sad little Athlon 1000 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM just aren’t cutting it anymore. I have been doing a lot of work lately at insane sizes and resolutions for posters and stuff and I can hear the poor thing whimper every time I load up Photoshop. Saving a 36 x 24 inch graphic with multiple layers at 300dpi takes forever. I actually went and made a sandwich during one save on the CTS poster. What I want is a PC that is built for graphics and I honestly don’t really know what that is. I do however know that there are a lot of artists out there that read PA and I am hoping to get some advice. I am also seriously considering going Mac since artists seem to love them. Of course I am even more clueless when it comes to those. So hook me up, what do you think I should get and why?

-Gabe out

I’ve got a cute little press release here from Microsoft that says the two new mechs and two new maps we were promised should be here on Thursday.  Huzzah!

(CW)TB