toblix

Hopefully. If the computer is still running when I get in tomorrow I'll consider the experiment a success.

No, if you want to have a proper file server you'll be running RAID, ZFS, etc. and unless you get a proper hardware controller (which would be kind of stupid) the CPU will limit the throughput. That said, my file server is running ZFS on an Atom 330, and I'm quite happy with it. I highly recommend going the FreeNAS route.

We can have a podcast where I do most of the talking.

I am.

Sorry, I've had it sent in for adjustments and reribbing. It should be back online soon.

I'm up for it whenever I get a chance. Tomorrow maybe.

Obviously I disconnected all my USB sex toys before I started fault finding. Also, I don't have to pay for my work computer out of my own pocket.

Okay, I just have to write this down, and I have time to do it while the RAID volume rebuilds. The computer I use at work now, I built myself. The only thing that wasn't replaced from the previous computer was the case, which is important. Ever since building it, it has acted pretty weird with determining how much RAM I have. It really has 12GB, but sometimes when I booted it it would show 8GB. It was stable as a rock, though, so I didn't do anything about it. So on Thursday right before lunch, I installed some Office service pack thing and restarted. The computer booted fine, but when I tried starting Chrome, it just crashed right away. Some other applications crashed too, so I immediately suspected the RAM. There are six sticks in the machine, so I assumed that there was one bad stick, so I took out three sticks and booted up. Same problem. Switched to the other three sticks, same problem. Okay, so I put all the sticks back and reinstalled Windows. 12GB, everything's working okay, then it blue screens and shows 6GB! Now I'm thinking it's not the RAM -- it's the motherboard. So I drive to the shop and get a new motherboard. I spend the rest of the day and some of Friday morning replacing the motherboard. It shows 12GB RAM, I reinstall Windows, everything's OK, and then it BSODs. Now the system disk is dead. It was a OCZ Matrix or Vertex SSD. Okay, so that was the reason the programs suddenly crashed -- they had been corrupted on disk as it started to fail. So I drive back to the shop and buy a couple of disk. I install them, install Windows AGAIN, everything's ok and then it BSODs again. On reboot I have 6GB ram... I've decided neither the motherboard is at fault though, so I drive back to the shop and buy a new PSU, back to work, install it, boot, 12GB, everthing's dandy. Then the machine freezes and on restart I have 8GB RAM and Windows won't even load. I've eliminated RAM as the culprit, replaced the motherboard, disks and PSU and still there's something wrong. I decide the only thing remaining that can cause this is the CPU, so I drive to the store and buy a new one, go back, put in the new CPU. Now the system won't even power on. So I spent the whole of today switching out the graphics card, the RAM, the CPU, motherboard, everything, and nothing works. Then, as I'm switching motherboards for the third time, I notice something: there's one more screw standoff on the motherboard backplate than there are holes in the motherboard. So, I remove it, and everything seems fine, so far. What we have learned: When switching motherboards, always double check that the standoffs match the holes.

So Steam is coming to the Mac, and the teaser images are so God damn wonderful. This, together with the Portal stuff they're doing (plus all their awesome games) is why I love Valve so much despite all the lame crap they're pulling.

Not to derail the thread (Futurama, yeeeah!) but that reminds me of a feature every forum should have. If there is more than, say, a year, between two posts in a thread, that should be indicated somehow.

I just watched Phantasm, which, while being not very good, had some awesome stuff like: The marble set The Tall Man's creepy walk The soundtrack The metal sphere

Yes, there's way too many fanboys in games journalism. I don't know if it's just the smaller websites (coolgamingnewz.com, gamebrahs.com, playstation4everzlol.org, etc) that do this, or if the guys cheering were from IGN and Gamespot and the likes. It's funny though, these people are more enthusiastic than the audience at the WWDC.

Yeah, he does that. Silent Hill 2 is both the first and the best SH game I played. There's something uniquely creepy about it the later games (especially the more combat heavy ones) didn't manage to do. Haven't played the last one, though.

As I mentioned, I found the writing and acting to be fantastic, but I'm no film connoisseur or anything. Obviously it's a well-made film, but is there any aspect of it you like in particular?

Okay, so that's Survival of the Dead. What a piece of crap. Does anyone know if Romero's films are intentionally bad? I mean, is he doing some Tarantino thing where he's paying homage to badly made films or something?

@t_pk mentioned Pontypool as being shit, so I saw it and I thought it was awesome. I find the "low-rent" thing with only one location, very limited cast, lots of telling and very little showing, etc. very appealing. I'd rather watch a radio guy talk into a microphone about scary shit than see another lady hiding in a closet.

MILO IS A REAL BOY

Just saw The Crazies. Has it become impossible to create a zombie film that does not consist solely of scenes and scenarios out of other films in the genre? I always like to watch disaster films because I love the very start where everything is fine, except something... is not quite right... But the moment the shit actually hits the fan I could just as well turn it off, because it'll just be the exact same stuff that always happen in these things. It's really annoying, because there are a million cool things you can do with the zombie virus thing, but everyone just does the same thing. Okay, I also watched The Apartment, because it was heartily recommended further up in this thread. While the story was pretty standard, I fell completely in love with the lead actors. Having the movie watching experience of a five-year-old, I can only recollect seeing Lemmon in Grumpy Old Men, which was hilarious, I guess. But Jesus Christ was he awesome in this! I'm going to have to get some of the other stuff he's been in.

What? Am I supposed to submit a hilarious name for someone else to use?

As in all games, the most interesting parts are the one where you're exploring, and not fighting. Unfortunately, as in all games, the developers think their combat system is so fucking awesome you should be shooting at enemies all the time. This can sometimes work if the combat system isn't terrible. Now I'm off looking for a playthrough video so I can see what happens.

Just finished chapter 2 of this (probably 2-3 hours) and I'm not sure if I'll ever finish it. The story is kind of interesting, but only because not much has been explained yet, and already things are very ethereal and generically Evil. The game has already pointed out the fact that explanation defeats horror, though, so there is still hope. The levels are nice, but the combat is no fun. And there's a lot of combat. So far something non-combatty has happened just as I'm getting tired of fighting black men, but that interval has to start reducing if it's going to keep me interested. I like the level design that follows the classic presentation rules of first showing you where you're going, then you're there, and then later you can see where you've been.

So this looks like it could be pretty sweet. I never paid much attention to the Driver series, at first because I didn't have a Playstation, and then because Driv3r apparently sucked. This new game looks like it could be fun, though. Has anyone here played any of the previous games? Are they like GTA, only with more driving?

REPLY!

Also had to post this, not because anything exciting happens (it doesn't) but because I got a sweet flashback to SuperCars, and imagined for a second how awesome a top down arcade racer could be on modern systems. lRrGRbWgGgQ

Do check it out. My opinions are not worth much. Also, if you buy it, hopefully you'll be financing the next Blackwell game. Also, didn't play Nanobots.