Josh and I have been planning a Holiday LAN party for a few weeks. It’s been two years since our last LAN party so we were certainly overdue for one.
If you don’t already know, a LAN party is where you and your friends gather, bring your PC or gaming consoles, link them together and play games together! Our past parties have always been PC based but we decided to change it up and try an Xbox 360 LAN this time.
I prefer PC gaming, as it is much easier for me to control using a mouse and keyboard rather than a controller, but either way, each system has its pros and cons. Setup time with a console is virtually plug-and-play, while there is installation and long update / patch waits with PC games. Also, consoles are much easier to transport, but there are a few negatives with consoles. First, you need multiple consoles and televisions, as well as multiple controllers and games. Josh went above and beyond this time and made sure we had plenty of everything for a successful LAN.
As you can see, we had plenty of games to keep us busy both days.
Adam brought over his PS3 and connected it to his 24″ LCD screen. He is the only person that has a PS3 among the group so unfortunately, he was playing alone.
Here we have Left 4 Dead ready to go on one of the big screens.
Some Left 4 Dead split-screen gaming action.
More Left 4 Dead on another TV in the living room.
We also tried Stuntman: Ignition. I really liked this game but I don’t think Keith and Airica did too much.
Lunch time on day 2 and we decided on a Krystal Steamer Pack!
Mmmm delicious!
Winner! hah
Watched some of The Dark Knight while eating.
As evening approached, some bad weather moved into the area. Luckily there were no power outages to disrupt our gaming.
Some of the other snacks and food we had.
We finished the night off with UFC 92 which was one of the better UFC events this year. Notable victories include Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s first round knockout of Wanderlei Silva and Rashad Evans capturing the light-heavyweight title from Forrest Griffin via 3rd round TKO stoppage.
Overall, a very successful post-Christmas LAN party. I was unsure if I would like doing consoles instead of PCs but I think it worked out much better. Not having to spend hours waiting for PC games to install and update was a huge plus. Now we just have to work on getting everyone a 360 system and copies of good LAN games
Big thanks to Josh for hosting this event and all of the hassle he went through to get it running smoothly; it totally rocked!
Sure, you know its coming, but most people still seem to get caught off guard by the holiday season. I am usually one of those people and find myself doing last-minute shopping, but that won’t be the case this year. Call me cheap if you want, but I can’t justify the gift-giving like I have in the past.
For a guy, Christmas shopping for others can be tough, especially when people won’t tell you what they want. I’m far from a mind reader and well, without some idea of what to get someone, I usually end up taking the gift certificate route after wasting hours of shopping around aimlessly. With that being the case, you might as well just exchange money with that person and thus, you break even like nothing ever happened lol.
But I can’t blame others for not telling me what to get them, because I do the same. It never fails and every year is the same. During the middle of summer, I could write a page-long list of things I would like to have. Come December, I can’t name a single item and this year is really no different. I can think of maybe two things that I would kinda want. I say kinda, because if I wanted them bad enough, I would simply go purchase them myself.
But, what is fun for me around this time of year is seeing gifts that others receive. Maybe that is weird, but I enjoy watching others unwrap their gifts and just generally being nosy and seeing what everyone got
So with that being the case, I present the question here for everyone… what is on your wish list this year?
and to say they just won is an understatement. It was absolute domination from the get-go. The most stunning display of offense, defense and special teams I think I have ever seen.
So, how bad was the 45-0 defeat of Mississippi State?
Here are a few stats to chew on. The Ole Miss defense set a new school record with 11 sacks. The Ole Miss defense was also responsible for hitting State’s quarterback nine out of the first 10 pass attempts. The Ole Miss defense intercepted two of their first five passes. And perhaps most impressive of all, the Ole Miss offense put more points on the board than State had total offense - 45 points vs only 37 all purpose yards. Seriously, who does that?!
With a win in the Egg Bowl, Ole Miss is all but locked into a bid for the Cotton Bowl. Reps from the bowl, along with other bowls, were on hand and Ole Miss staff even dropped cotton balls from above the media booth onto the fans below!
The “land shark”, Jerrell Powe, posing for photos after the game.
John Jerry waving an Ole Miss flag for photographers.
Below is a video I recorded of the final minutes of the game and post-game celebration!
In all, an excellent way to close out the regular season. This team (8-4) has come a long way from the dismal 3-9 effort just a year ago and deserve every bit of what is to come in the post season. Congrats guys and let’s bring home another bowl game trophy!
Turkey Day 2008 is finally here, and that means one thing: FOOD! Ok, so it means a lot more than just food, but that was the centerpiece of our Thanksgiving Pregame the day before Turkey Day.
Josh and I have been planning to cook some deep fried turkeys for a few weeks now. Josh took the day off work and so it began!
Things technically kicked off Tuesday night / Wednesday morning. Jared’s mom was nice enough to cook us a pecan pie. This is the first homemade pecan pie I have had (that I recall) and I must say, it was phenomenal! A big thanks goes out to Jared and his mom for the delicious pie.
After doing some last-minute shopping for fresh turkeys and some fire extinguishers, we decided to call it a night at 4:30 am. But we were up bright and early (1:45 pm-ish) on Wednesday to get things started.
A deep fried turkey, much like any other turkey, deserves a good dose of seasoning. Josh picked up three different flavors of injectable turkey marinade for us to try. After it’s all said and done, we will have made five turkeys, so we needed plenty of seasoning.
Here is the deep fryer of choice. Josh selected this one over a propane fryer for safety reasons. This unit operates indoors and is extremely safe compared to traditional fryer setups.
We decided to first cook a turkey breast, which doesn’t have drumsticks, wings, etc. We figured this would be a good test subject. It is shown above after injecting and seasoning rub.
The oil took about an hour to heat, and once it reached 400 degrees, our bird was ready for action.
Strangely enough, the instruction manual directed us to cook the turkey breast, roughly 8 pounds, for much longer than a regular (and larger) bird would cook. We couldn’t figure out the logic behind this, but went ahead and followed the directions like any good chef would.
In the meantime, we tossed this blackberry cobbler in the oven for dessert. With vanilla ice cream in the freezer, this was sure to make a great finish to our meal, which also consisted of some Stove Top stuffing. I never realized how quick and simple that stuff is to make.
After cooking for nearly an hour, the bird was done! Yes, it looks a little crispy, but hopefully the meat would still be good.
My first helping of deep fried turkey for the year!
While the turkey was good, it didn’t live up to its full potential. We made two mistakes on our first try.
We overcooked the turkey. Our next turkey will be cooked per online instructions - 3 minutes per pound plus an additional 5 minutes. Our second mistake was not injecting enough seasoning into the turkey. We only used one plunger full of marinade which clearly wasn’t enough. Good thing we have several more turkeys to fry!
Even though the turkey wasn’t perfect, that didn’t stop Josh, his dad and myself from finishing off the turkey breast!
Mmm, dessert looks good to me!
We ate our dinner and dessert while watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles, a Thanksgiving movie classic. If you haven’t seen this film, do yourself a favor and go pick it up today. It’s beyond hilarious.
And that pretty much wraps up our Thanksgiving Pregame. It’s time for me to hit the bed and get ready for tomorrow - the main course! Check back for another complete update soon!
As you can probably tell by my absence of posts lately, things have been pretty busy on my end. This is the “busy season” for hardware sites, as manufacturers are looking to get as much exposure as possible for the holiday buying season. I have been busy getting all of my staff “stocked up” with review items and have even taken a few on myself.
This is the latest item I am working on, a SilverStone FT01 Case, which features a Uni-body frame construction from the flagship Temjin TJ07.
We saw this TJ07 at SilverStone’s booth at the 2007 CES and have been anxious to check out their uni-body design ever since. Look for my review of the FT01 to hit OCIA.net sometime next week. We are also working on putting together a holiday contest / giveaway of sorts. Look for that to hit sometime right after Thanksgiving!
In other hardware news, I have started doing some freelance writing for another tech site, which has given me the opportunity to check out some really cool hardware and has been a blast so far. I have a big article in the works as well as two other reviews for that site, which I will link to when they are published.
Aside from computer work, there has been quite a bit going on lately that I want to take a minute and touch on.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we all know what that means: lots of great food!
Josh and I are going to make deep fried turkey(s) this year. I first had deep fried turkey a few years ago at Keith’s sister’s house and OMG, it’s the best food I’ve ever had! A deep fried turkey is so juicy and tender - the exact opposite of what a traditionally cooked turkey is. I will be recording the cooking process and posting the video on here and YouTube, so be sure to check that out.
Other than that, Keith’s family has invited me over once again for their Thanksgiving dinner. They have invited me the past several years and I am really appreciative of that. I don’t really have a lot of family so it’s cool to be around them around the holidays.
On a sad note, Thanksgiving time has been a bit less happy, as it always reminds me of my mom. She passed away 7 years ago today, so this time of year always brings back those memories
Hockey
The CHL hockey season kicked off about a month ago. Josh and I purchased half-season tickets for the Mississippi RiverKings and have attended a handful of games so far. As of writing, we are off to a 7 - 6 season… not the best, but it could always be worse!
If you have never attended a hockey game, I would encourage you to give it a try. I never liked hockey but was invited to go to a game with a friend nearly 13 years ago (wow, has it been that long?!) and have been hooked ever since. Being there in person is so much fun and is nothing like watching it on TV, which I agree is pretty boring!
College Football
In other sports news, my college football team, the Ole Miss Rebels, have been having a pretty good season, especially compared to last year. We are 6 - 4 on the season and gained bowl eligibility last Saturday. This is the first time the Rebs have been bowl eligible since the 2003 season. The only question that remains now is, which bowl will we be headed for?
The final two games of the regular season will determine that. We play LSU this Saturday (2:30 pm CST on CBS) and Mississippi State on Black Friday. If we win out, which is very possible, we are almost 100% headed to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. A loss or two losses and we are more than likely headed to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee.
I am hoping for a bid to the Cotton Bowl, as that is a much better bowl, but a trip to the Liberty Bowl would mean I could possibly attend, which would be sweet in itself. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out, especially the LSU game this weekend. I’m betting Ole Miss pulls out the victory - you heard it here first!
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has been putting on some pretty good events lately. Since moving to my new place, we have ordered each UFC pay-per-view and have been having parties here on fight night. The most recent was UFC 91, which pitted champ Randy Couture against the 3 - 1 newcomer Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar, formerly in the WWE, is an absolute monster and I fully expected him to be the new UFC Heavyweight champion after the night was over. He came in weighing 40 pounds more than Couture, is 18 years younger and is super quick and agile for his size.
And sure enough, Lesnar ended things in the 2nd round after catching Couture with a shot that dropped him to the mat. Lesnar capitalized and reigned down a series of hammer fists that forced the ref to call the fight. Congrats to Lesnar on this victory and I will be looking forward to seeing him defend the title against the winner of Nogueira / Mir.
Speaking of that fight, which will take place at UFC 92 on December 27, there are also two other headlining fights on that card. The first pits Light Heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin against undefeated Rashad Evans in what should be a great fight. The other main event caliber fight that night is Quinton “Rampage” Jackson against Wanderlei Silva. Jackson has fought Silva twice and both times, he has pretty much been destroyed. Rampage is one of my favorite fighters so I am certainly hoping he pulls out the victory. As they say, third time is a charm, right?
Big 3 Bailout
Oh geez, don’t get me started! Are you friggin’ serious? It totally baffles me how companies that make SOO much money, as these three do… they have one “bad” year and they are on the verge of bankruptcy! Where the hell did all of that money you made over the past several years go? Seriously. Do they simply not keep money in the company?
I certainly hope Congress doesn’t bail out these idiots. What kind of message will that send to other companies if they do?
Just because people don’t want to buy your products in flocks, for whatever reason, you are instantly entitled to have your company saved by the government? What’s next, Nikon asking for help because they aren’t selling enough cameras, Microsoft asking for money because they aren’t selling enough copies of Windows? Seriously, where does it stop?
So let’s say the Big 3 go bankrupt and all those people lose their jobs. Guess what? THERE ARE OTHER JOBS IN THIS COUNTRY YOU CAN DO! So many people tend to think that losing their job would be the end of the world. No it won’t. Go get a different job.
Sure, it would be a change of pace and you may not even like it, but it isn’t disaster. You can still survive.
Economy In General
Stocks continue to drop, unemployment is up, etc. The world is coming to an end!
Gah, whatever. Have you been to Wal Mart recently? I went last Saturday and it was a mad house. Wonder where all of these people are getting their money! And when Black Friday rolls around, I have money that says you will still see people lined up in front of all the major retail stores hours before they open!!
Sales may be down this year compared to past years, but is that a bad thing? Maybe that just means people aren’t consuming like a fat kid sitting up to his neck in skittles. It’s amazing how much junk people buy and they think that junk is going to make them happy.
All jokes aside, 90% of the economy is between your ears. If things are right in your house and you know how to control your finances and not spend like a drunken Congressman, everything will be fine and you have nothing to worry about.
There are so many people that aren’t affected in the least by the current state of the economy. Those people call in every day to the Dave Ramsey show and tell their stories. How are they able to survive this horrible economy without losing any sleep about it?
They are debt free. They have no credit cards or other stupid payments holding them back.
So yeah, that’s about all I have for today. I will try to post updates a bit more frequently over the next few weeks. Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comment section below!
A few weeks ago, G4’s Attack of the Show (AOTS) took a look at the OCZ NIA, or Neural Impulse Actuator for short. The NIA is a gaming accessory, a headband of sorts, that recognizes facial movements and translates those to in-game actions.
I actually had the opportunity to try a pre-production version of the NIA during the 2008 CES in Las Vegas this past January.
I spent maybe 15 minutes working with Dr. Michael Schuette, VP of Technology Development at OCZ. I went through a very brief calibration process then jumped into a UT2004 Deathmatch. The NIA had a pretty big learning curve, but after about 5-10 minutes I was able to control my character somewhat and managed a few frags. I was able to raise my eyebrows slightly to fire a gun which worked surprisingly well, but walking and jumping were a bit more difficult to master. Had I done a proper calibration and configuration, I am sure it would have worked much better.
The moral of the story is that the device did in fact work, and with more time to play with it, it could work quite well.
As I was saying, AOTS took a look at the NIA in their Gadget Pr0n segment recently and well, let’s just say they didn’t give it a fair review at all. A 4-minute TV segment is not enough time for a first-time user to really give a fair opinion.
That being said, I just caught word that Dr. Michael will be on the show today to challenge Kevin Pereira to a gaming contest. Kevin will use a standard mouse and keyboard while Dr. Michael will demonstrate the NIA. I’ve seen Dr. Michael use the NIA both in person and on video, and I’m pretty confident he is going to totally destroy Kevin!
