New News

I have paying for a hosting service for some time now and have been using it for next to nothing. Recently, i discovered that the domain name that i had been using for this hosting service had been pulled out from under me ( sad i know that a man would let his domain get taken, but i move on) so i decided to put a new domain to the hosting service and open it up to a wider audience. One thing im proud of is being from Alabama. I take pride in my region and Love the SEC (yes even auburn when they’re playing against someone out of conference lol) The south to me is beautiful and preserved, while still keeping up with the times (my God we have nasa here, doesnt that say something) so i titled the new domain The Southland (see: http://thesouthland.net) In part of opening this up to the public, that means i want more people writing for the site then just me and Dredimus so im looking for people to write about just about anything that their heart desires. Keep in mind though that this will not be your platform to say whatever it is you want to say about anything, as i have limits to what I will let go under my name, but i like to think that im pretty liberal when it comes to someone speaking their mind and will let something completely political and factless go from time to time just to stir up some comments 😉 If your interested, drop an email to me telling me a lil about yourself and why your interested in the position. Im sure most people will atleast get to contribute stories, some might even get their own publishing abilities. Send in your requests to Shane@thesouthland.net

Murder

so, Im sitting here reading over a specific forum i visit, replying to a comment about France attempting to tax Google when someone in France clicks on one of their ads and i happen to look down and see the Google ad at the bottom of the page.  I know this doesnt fall under the normal catagories of what we do here, but i just had to share. Everyone should know by now that Google tends to do its advertisement based on the information of the page its being displayed on. This page is talking about the key words: FRANCE TAX and GOOGLE. Here’s a screenshot of the ad

Avatar: Life gone too far?

Since the 18^th of December, James Cameron’s Avatar has drawn in a great following. As of this past Friday (Jan 8, 2009) this movie has drawn $393.8 million in the US, putting it on path to surpass Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for highest grossing film in 2009.  The following of this movie and its created civilizations resemble that of the followings of Star Trek and Star Wars. After watching this movie in 3D (because that’s the only way this movie should be watched) I found myself coming out of the theaters contemplating when I would return to the theater to watch this film again (yes it’s that good). Having been exposed to the movie and the different things found inside, such as the Navi of Pandora, I began to see things on the internet that surprised me. The first of these things that really stood out to me was a make-up guide on Youtube depicting how you could make yourself look like a Navi. Ok this was cute, you know, something to use for a dress up party or whatever. The next thing that got to me was a website dedicated to learning the Navi language. This began to make me worry about these people who are so dedicated to this movie (that has been out for less then a month) that they are willing to learn the fictional language used in it, but, Star Trek fans speak Klingon, so I let this one slide off too. The final thing that got me, and I mean this one really brought a WTF?!? from me; A forum dedicated to offering support to those who are having trouble coping with the fact that Pandora is a fictional planet and that they will never be Navi’s themselves. Have we become so soft-minded that we allow ourselves to get depressed because something that never really existed does not exist? Personally I’ve never agreed with the “I did it because of <insert video game/movie here>” excuse, but with this latest obsession with the Navi and Pandora, I’m starting to believe that we have managed to produce a generation of people who’s upbringing did not install that wall which divides fiction from reality like we have generations before. If you have yet to see this movie, I recommend that you do go see it, but keep in mind IT’S NOT A REAL WORLD AND THEY ARE NOT A REAL RACE AND ITS ALL FICTION AND NOT REAL. If you get to feeling down because your don’t live on Pandora, remember, it’s not really all that bad, you live on a planet that allows you to visit Pandora any time you want (as long as its during the scheduled showing and you got your 3D glasses) and when things get a little hairy there, you can always come back.

Nexus One: The iPhone Killer

With its thin design and large touch screen, The Google Nexus One is definitely a physical iPhone killer. The Nexus One is fast and responsive and…Forget it; I’m tired of all this “iPhone Killer” crap. The Nexus One is a great phone from what’s been released about it. My problem here is everyone is jumping in saying “oh this is the phone to finally dethrone the iPhone” No its not. It wasn’t designed to be. While the phone is a great alternative to the iPhone, I doubt it was ever intended to put its competitor into the dark ages. 2 things made the iPhone what it is today. The first is the innovation with the apps. Even though Google does it better with their market, Apple did it first and most people feel if what I have now is working right, why try something else I’m not so sure of? The second is Fanboy/Brand Loyalty/”The Thing”. Because this phone has an apple on the back of it, people flock to it for one of 3 reasons. 1) They’re a “Fan Boy” that person who you’re sure that if you used the bathroom in their house you would find Apple branded toilet paper. 2) Those who find loyalty to a brand. They have an iMac or a Mac Book and are really happy with the product they have there and expect that Apple will do the same with their phone. 3) The people who need to be socially accepted. Right now the iPhone is the socially accepted phone. Those people who are really concerned about what everyone else thinks about them definitely have an iPhone (and I’m Willing to bet money that they left a better service plan to get it).

To make a true iPhone killer, Google would have to follow in the way of Apple. When apple started off with the iPhone, they had no ties what so ever to the phone industry. If this product failed it wasn’t really a big deal, just lost some money off of our Mac enterprise.  Google would have to take a chunk out of its search pockets (and we all know how deep those pockets are) and develop a phone similar to the Nexus one (from what I’ve seen of this phone, its powerful and capable of just about anything any other phone on the market can do) but implement every feature on the iPhone (at least all the ones it could offer without violating copyrights, then finding ways to offer something similar) On top of that it would have to be unlocked so as it could work on any companies network. Google would also have to offer a CDMA version for those who are on Sprint and Verizon. The problem with this is it would alienate Google’s Android partners. Because of these ties, I say, at least for now, stop looking to Google for an iPhone killer.

PC vs Consoles

Ok, hold on tight for this post. This is going to be a Foxx Thoughts first… a rebuttal multi-author post between Foxx and me. I will start with my opinion on the topic, we will have a slight separation and then Foxx will comment… So… here we go… drink your Kool-Aid and follow me…

My stance on this topic is P C… I am a PC Gamer… I have no shame in this… I’m a FPS and RPG junky… everything from Quake to Eve Online… AA to WoW… I had consoles in my early gaming years… and I enjoyed them, but nothing works like a Gaming PC. I hear arguments all the time about how costly PC Gaming is… but I look at it like this:

Decent Gaming PC: $600

New game for said PC: $30 – $60

New game comes out, requires better graphics card: $80

Console: $200 – $500

New game: $45+

Upgradable: Not usually (and in some cases, punishable if you try)

New game released that requires better console: $300+

The console turns into a never ending cycle of buying a new console every few years just to keep up with the times… However, I can pretty much get any game released on anyone of the console platforms (mainstream games, I’m not talkin about franchise games, and honestly, I could care less about Mario or Sonic…lol) and load it on the PC… My control options in game are far superior to any hand held control for a console as are my options for communication while in game. I can also mod my PC in anyway I see fit without fear of having my gaming connection turned off because a company did not agree with me having Linux or a better hard drive…

Foxx’s turn. I’ll use Sony’s Playstation system for this. On average, your looking at about 4-6 years before the new console is out and affordable. so that’s 4-6 years of guarantee that your game is gonna work. where as about 6 months on a computer you find yourself needing more RAM, then a better video card and before you know it, your looking at the fact that your processor speed doesn’t match up to the new game you wanna play and your computer is only 2 years old. You’re looking at about $150 there and it’s only been 2 years (that’s half the current price of the Playstation 3 for those of you unaware). So by the time you have spent 4 years worth of upgrades, you’re at the cost of buying a Playstation 3. Now for games, I give that pc games tend to be cheaper. Playstation 3 games sit at about $60 for the good titles, but for $60 I’m guaranteed that I’m going to go home and pop this disc into my ps3 and I’m gonna play.. lets say GTA4. Now this guy may go and buy GTA4 for the PC for about $40 just to take it home and realize that even though his specs match the requirements, there’s an issue where the game doesn’t work so well with the hardware he has. Next example I’m going to use is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This game has a PC version, but its missing everything that makes as PC version worth buying (meaning a direct port from the console version). So now your sitting at Wal-Mart and you see COD:MW2 for $50 on the PC shelf and the same game on the Xbox 360 Shelf (this statement being made assuming you have a pc that will run this cutting edge game and a 360) for $60 I’ll take the 360 each time because I know for sure that the game is going to work like its supposed to each and every time. Finally upgrading the system. Not necessarily needed. Games are still being made for the Playstation 2 and that was what… 9 years ago. This offers the exact same game play with just a hindered graphics card. If graphics are not your thing, your really saving this way, ps2 costs $100 new and games for it run about $40 new. Match that up to a $600 PC needing constant upgrades and its no contest.

Ok, first off…. Using GTA4 is a bad example… I don’t know what RockStar was thinking, but they screwed up with the PC mod for that game… just not a big enough market to require Shader3. And in all reality COD: MW2 isn’t greatly system intensive. Base Suggestions for this game are 2.4gb Dual Core Processor, 1gb ram and Geforce 7800 or better (and the bastard requires shader3 which is standard on most Geforce Cards). We also need to keep in mind that we are talking about gamers; we cannot compare the average person’s computer to that of some one that has the PC for the soul purpose of GAMING (solitaire is not gaming). Yes, games are still being made for the PS2, but honestly what true, current to times modern gamer is going to pick up those games over the modern games such as COD: MW2 and the like…  (From everything I have heard cod: mw2 sucks no matter what system you play it on). Let’s say I’m at the local Electronics Shop… I see a game that I really like… the console its on, I don’t happen to have… but I have my PS3 and a PC… Would it be logical for me to buy that new console instead of buying the game for the PC? No, it wouldn’t, what’s the point in having 4 consoles and a PC when most everything you can play on those consoles can be played on the PC?

Anyway, so back on topic, I’m gonna finalize out my opinion with this list of attributes that seal the deal for me.

Cost Effective

Unlimited Modification

Unsurpassable Control System

Extreme Multitask System

In some cases, portability

In most cases the actual game can be mod’ed for single person play and even multi person play. And by modding I mean editing levels, maps, vehicles, player skins… etc…

The ONLY downfall I think is the fact that once you install a PC game in most cases, that game belongs to you indefinitely, and you cannot remove the license… damn pirating laws.

I’ll start off with your modding of the game and roll back to COD:MW2. In this game, there’s no modding, you can’t edit maps, you can change player skins, hell, you cant even host a server. Game makers are moving away from PC versions of games and resorting to simply porting a console version instead of making a version for the PC. Your cost affective argument flies out the window when you talk about making a real gaming machine. You’re not going to find one that’s a true gamer machine for $600. The MW2 base suggestions, that’s a $600 computer, but that’s just to run the game, not for optimal performance. Not much I can say on controls except, hook a USB mouse and keyboard up to your PS3/360. Notebooks aside, a PS3 or 360 are more portable then a PC. As for games itself, every big game that hasn’t been a FPS or system exclusive, has been released for the PS2. all the games with years (Madden, NCAA Sports Games, Fifa, NBA, so on, so on) come out on the PS2, Band Hero, DJ Hero, TMNT: Smash Up, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 just to name a few. If you really want to multitask on the PS3, install Linux on it; it’s natively supported (Yeah I was reaching with this one). The big winner… USED GAMES. You can pick up games at used prices and trade games in for credit towards other game purchases. Not an easy option for PC games.

GG Dred. I Enjoyed this. In the end I myself think that Consoles offer more reliability while PC’s offer more versatility.