Wrestlevania

Good idea. Please post your BattleTags over here, fellow Thumbs.

I finally got around to publishing a new mix last night. It's just a small one this time, as I've spent months - on and off - faffing around trying to make an hour-long-plus session that I just decided to push out the first half as its own thing instead. Also, I defy anyone not to snigger at the title of the first track...

We played Free Beer 3000 until Stupid'o'Clock!

Last week, I finally got the chance to hang out with another Thumb I've known and gamed with for a long time--the splendid ysbreker! Already one of this year's highlights.

They're rounded card inserts, like giant trading cards, tucked behind the manual in the boxed copy. (Both of mine have gone already, sorry.)

I managed to get in... somehow. Played about 1.5hrs with the Witchdoctor. He's not much fun to begin with, but I've already unlocked my first pet and also my first rune, which is making him more interesting already. Visually, this is reminding me an awful lot of of Torchlight...

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What time's the unlock? 12am CET I assume.

I haven't tried it on BattleNet, but I would imagine so just like the older games I have on there (all physical purchases that I later tapped into Blizzard's site). Edit: Yep, I've just added it to my BattleNet account. There were two main reasons for me getting a physical copy, however: Cheaper* than Blizzard's fixed pricing My download speed at home is awful (about 125kb/s) Whilst the cheaper price was nice, I'm pissed off with Blizzard cockblocking a physical media install for exactly the same reasons Gwardinen stated. * I paid £27 for my copy, which is roughly €34 or $44 US.

Insert DVD DVD 'autorun' immediately connects to the web Autorun downloads a large(?) patch for Setup Setup eventually runs, typical Blizzard menu appears Pop-up also immediately appears, saying the game isn't unlocked yet Quit setup and eject the DVD

I hoped I might be able to do something at least, like install the flipping thing but not really play. To not even be allowed to use the disc ahead of time is what seems petty; let me install it, sure, but I wouldn't complain about being locked out until Tuesday after the fact.

My copy of Diablo III arrived in the post yesterday, a whole 4 days early! Setup downloads a patch for itself before you even get to the welcome screen, which blocks you from installing the game early. This seems petty and entirely pointless.

For the yoofs innit.

Just going by your QUIXOTE, would this be the late development game overhaul that was talked of fairly recently? It sounds really interesting and much more fluid ...if I've understood the implications correctly.

I'm not ashamed to say the chorus for this makes the hairs on my arms stand up--fantastic depth of sound to it, particularly with his keen vocals.

It sounds like we might, at last, be getting a new Aphex Twin album this year! Here's RDJ doing his tweaky acid-techno-hardcore-jungle thing in Paris last year, including some clever realtime video performance stuff: tbKRCTOGnRw

Exactly what kept me playing Diablo II (and the expansion) as well. I'm replaying the second one in my lunchbreaks in anticipation at the moment, and it's lost none of its clicky, mind-massaging goodness. If I'm honest, I find playing Diablo quite zen-like, almost peaceful; it's really absorbing for me. I never played either of first two Diablos online, though. BattlenNet sounded like a pretty nasty place to be. But I'm thinking I might try it with the third one--particularly if I can play with other Thumbs!

This sounds like it might have some potential: More info over on TouchArcade.

Magnificent, isn't it?

If you're on Windows, WinMerge is pretty excellent. On Mac, you've got free stuff like SourceGear's DiffMerge or Xcode's FileMerge (if you fancy the 1.6GB download... ), and really beautiful stuff like Kaleidoscope if you want to put your hand in your pocket. And if you're on Linux, you're probably reading this via Terminal anyway.

Doing that would be far more relevant from my perspective as well. Can you not speak to your tutor about the merits and benefits of this approach—of researching and using a dedicated service on a big network like Tumblr or Flickr? Failing that, I’d like to help* you with the coding stuff. …unless I’ve missed someone offering already; it’s difficult to read and navigate a desktop res site on my phone. :sadtrombone:

What’s the reasoning behind this bit of work in particular? This will help you present your work online, definitely, but it’s possibly not going to get you an interview as a web developer. I interview (and later mentor) potential web developers as a key part of my day job at a decent-sized web agency, and this brief won’t help hopeful students get a foot in the door easily. It’s not setting them on the right sort of path at all, because none of the key points in the brief are relevant today. They could harm your interview chances, depending on what sort of company you apply to. Having said all that, it is good that you’re being encouraged to create your own web pages. But the quality of teaching for this set of skills, at this level, is worrying (mainly because I basically had the same brief when I was at uni in 1998). PS: I am not some elitist arsehole employer. You can learn all this stuff on the job, and I really enjoy sharing these skills with people who interview well and have a keen interest. PPS: I really hope I don’t sound a cunt either.

RAMBO: LAST BLOOD By: Peter Javidpour Available: Free (browser-based) Synopsis: Help John Rambo earn his place in the afterlife by solving movie-themed puzzles in order to reconcile with vanquished foes (via big sweaty man-hugs).

Yeah, that's really disappointing. Confusing, too, as I don't understand why GSC weren't able to secure the IP rights in order to complete the sequel. Anyway, I'm interested to see what they do with their MMO idea. The tension in STALKER could have worked well adventuring with friends I reckon, so maybe their MMO will be able to recapture that.

I disagree. The only thing I saw as far as NPCs interacting was some very bad dancing of a couple of fully-clothed prostitutes in front of some equally fully-clothed soldiers inside a tent. Whilst rape is alluded to as a general threat to women (nothing new there), there's none taking place in the game that I could see. And whilst there are prostitutes in each major town you visit (again, nothing that doesn't ring true today), the ones you can speak to usually treat you with contempt and seem fairly miserable with their lot. None of them were "happy" in my opinion, but they do engage in banter as part of their sales patter--they have to eat, and they're just doing what they know sells to drunk soldiers. There's a sense of overwhelming poverty and necessity to them though. To be clear: there's no gratuitousness in the game to my mind. The game doesn't let you proposition anyone you want, it has to be consensual. There is a lot of naked flesh in some scenes, I agree, but these aren't mandatory scenes in the majority, and they only occur through mutual concession and direct player agency. The only negative point I could level at the game is all the options for sex I encountered were strictly heterosexual--the only aspect where I think it actually fails to reflect real life accurately, from a sexual point-of-view. Anyway... ~climbs down off soapbox~