The Mak

Video Games: GTA:San Andreas

I have not finished Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but I must be getting close to finishing the main missions.  There are many side missions like truck driving, pimping, pizza delivery and tagging.  You can collect horseshoes and oysters.  The attention to detail is fantastic.  There are video games in convenience stores and a place to shoot pool.  There is a lot of homage to other games as well.  The driving school is like Gran Turismo.  The flight school reminds me of Pilot Wings.  There is a lot of RPG aspects as well.  You should work out, eat and you have to build experience in many things like shooting and driving.  It is good in most regards, although working out in a video game did make me question whether I should be playing video games or doing something else, like working out.  I played the Sims a couple of times and after about a half hour I wondered why anyone would play this game when you could simply live life.  San Andreas has given me similar moments but it offsets them with excitement and novelty.  Eugene Jarvis claims that a good video game has a frenzied aspect to it where things get chaotic and you barely make it.  He displayed this in numerous games, notably Robotron, where you constantly had to move and shoot to survive.  San Andreas has heaps of this.  It also has novel missions and, in spots, interesting plot and character. I enjoyed the Mike Toreno character played by James Woods.  A cynical and nasty intelligence operative, his dialog and missions are great.  Once again, the vastness of the terrain leaves so much to explore.  The variety of vehicles for air land and sea are great to use and master.  Rockstar has once again crafted a game that sets standards.  As my time to play video games becomes more scarce, GTA:San Andreas is time well wasted.

Home Made LCD Projector

The always enlightening Tom's Hardware Guide has an article on how to build your own XGA LCD video projector for $300.  LCD projectors are the bomb and the fact that someone has figured out such a clever home brew solution means that giant screens are accessible to most people.  This is hacking.
Tom's has posted an update as well.

Radio Show

I had the pleasure of being a part of Arjun Singh's radio show today. Mickael Maddison and I were guests on the show as we discussed Internet and technology related issues. Arjun does his show from noon until 1pm every Friday on CFBX 92.5  The station also streams live online

Charles Stross

I have read a number of stories by Charles Stross including his novel Singularity Sky.  His short stories are top quality and one of my favorites, A Colder War, is online.  I was never a huge fan of Lovecraft, but Stross is able to combine his mythos with the boogeymen of warring superpowers. It is a great yarn. His short story collection, Toast, is well worth reading. 

William Gibson's Blog

Gibson has restarted his blog, siting the following:

Why?

Because the United States currently has, as Jack Womack so succintly puts it, a president who makes Richard Nixon look like Abraham Lincoln.

And because, as the Spanish philospher Unamuno said, "At times, to be silent is to lie.

Great Video Games - MAME

MAME- the multiple arcade machine emulator is the creation of Nicola Salmoria. While he still coordinates its development, hundreds of people have contributed to it. Currently it plays over 2800 unique games. It has allowed games that might otherwise have been lost to be preserved and enjoyed. And the dream of having a home arcade is a reality for many people. There are versions for a variety of platforms including Windows 32 bit, Macintosh and Unix . In addition to the MAME software, ROM sets are also required. Many are copyrighted and thus difficult to acquire. Some interesting distribution methods like the Free Mame Roms Project and others mentioned at Mame Rom Links are available. Most of the arcade games ever produced are emulated in Mame. So if you have been dreaming of playing Pac-Man, Asteroids or any of the other arcade games that you may have enjoyed, Mame may be the thing for you.

Great Video Games - Grand Theft Auto

I have enjoyed electronic games for pretty much as long as they've existed. I played Pong when it came out as often as I could. My father owned an arcade in the 80s and I spent a lot of time there. I've had an Atari 2600, an Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, SuperNES, Playstation 2 and I am currently babysitting my brother's Xbox while he is overseas. Some of my greatest game playing occurred on the Commodore 64 that my brother and I shared as kids. Of course I've owned various PC's over the years and they remain the gold standard of video gaming. Game graphics have become spectacular and while there are many great games around today, I still look back on some old titles with fondness. Graphics are great, but ideas are just as important. Engaging game concepts tend to get copied to death. And of course certain genres and game types appeal to certain people. Most role playing games seem like accounting under another name to me. I have tried the Sims a couple of times but it always seemed like a more complicated Jones in the Fast Lane. There are many games I have not played that are probably great. There is only so much time in the day. I hope to cover many of the games I have enjoyed but let me start with what I consider to be two of the greatest games of the last 10 years.

Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - I loved the first two GTA’s, but these two titles were revelations. The open-ended environment with hidden secrets lends itself to just roaming around exploring and causing trouble. Missions are fun too. There is a real craftsmanship and attention to detail in these games. The Commodore homage at the beginning of Vice City is one of the best things done in a video intro I have ever seen. The radio stuff is done so well, with music and commentary adding to the sharp satire of the games. For the obsessive compulsive, there are so many facets to complete a person could put hundreds of hours into playing it. Eugene Jarvis, a great video game designer, once mentioned how important it is to create a thrill for players with situations that are out of control and you can barely escape. GTA delivers plenty of these moments. But there is also a puzzle aspect to many missions that is also equally engaging. Sometimes going in guns blazing is smart; other times using a unique vehicle, weapon or approach can make all the difference. The controversy surrounding this game is considerable. The main characters of these games are criminals and the missions tend to involve committing serious crimes. Many of the most popular games today center on creating mayhem and doing socially unacceptable things. Much popular music, television and movie entertainment falls in a similar category. The harsh and cynical satire that imbues this game might make Swift uncomfortable. But it makes for entertaining gaming. Rockstar has created one of those games that establishes a new type of game genre, like early id software first person shooters or the Streetfighter series fighting games. Its influence is already tremendous and cheap imitations abound. I will always take the real deal over the ersatz and I eagerly await Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of ISPs

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that Internet Service Providers are not responsible for the content users access online. Some interesting parts of the ruling are included below.

The creation of a "cache" copy is a serendipitous consequence of improvements in Internet technology, is content neutral, and in light of s. 2.4(1)(b) of the Act ought not to have any legal bearing on the communication between the content provider and the end user. "Caching” is dictated by the need to deliver faster and more economic service, and should not, when undertaken only for such technical reasons, attract copyright liability and therefore comes within the shelter of s. 2.4(1)(b).

An internet service provider's knowledge that someone might be using content-neutral technology to violate copyright is not necessarily sufficient to constitute authorization, which requires a demonstration that the defendant did give approval to, sanction, permit, favour, or encourage the infringing conduct.

The Copyright Act is often presented as "a balance" between the rights of those who create works of the arts and the intellect and those who wish to use such works. However, the balance is only tangentially at issue here because Parliament has expressed the view in s. 2.4(1)(b) that those who provide internet infrastructure are not properly to be considered "users" of such works for purposes of the Act.

So it would seem that ISPs are conduits of information, and the fact that they might be used to violate copyright does not necessarily make an ISP responsible. That cache copies are seen as technological efficiencies seems sensible as well. Finally, the notion that the Copyright Act is a balance between the rights of creators and users is very important. I am pleased the court has reiterated this fact. As this debate will undoubtedly continue in Canada, I hope a balanced view of copyright continues to prevail.

Some great coverage from the CBC can be found here. As always, CanFLI provides excellent information. A copy of the decision can be found here.

Great Comic Book

The Frank Book by Jim Woodring is one of the best comics I've read in a long time. The beautiful art mixes humor and horror in a way reminiscent of old fairy tales. Frank, a kind of cat like being, gets into all kinds of trouble with Manhog and Whim only to be saved by his faithful friend Pupshaw. Woodring does fantastic drawings and uses few words. I found the creatures, buildings and themes reminding me of many things, but it is very original work. I will be looking for more stuff from Jim Woodring after reading this.

Disc Golf

I finally got out for a round yesterday. Played nine holes and threw a +1. Max and I had a good time and met some nice folks up at the course. It was quiet up there for such a fine day. We missed Shane and his spectacular play. Hopefully he heals up and is able to chuck again this year. Disc Golf is a great game and if you haven't tried it you should.