(Meanwhile) Over in Minnesota…

Here is the status.

1541K

My Battlefield 2142 site is still up for those interested in learning about the game. Right now, the EA master server is having connection problems. This is not unusual.

You can now like Rene Char on Facebook.

Can’t find any of his works at the local library, but apparently there is a Facebook page for Rene Char. I like some of his quotes. Could be interesting reading.

“Bow down only in order to love.” -Rene Char

“If we live in a lightening flash, it is the heart of the eternal.” -Rene Char

“A few beings are neither in society nor in a state of dreaming. They belong to an isolated fate, to an unknown hope. Their open acts seem anterior to time’s first inculpation and to the skies’ unconcern. It occurs to no one to employ them. The future melts before their gaze. They are the noblest and the most disquieting”- Rene Char

Camus on Char: “Char will always protest against those who sharpen guillotines. He will have no truck with prison bread, and bread will always taste better to him in a hobo’s mouth than in a prosecuting attorney’s.”

Pilgrim

I watched Scott Pilgrim versus the World. I can see why audiences are not rushing out to see it. Even with the ending, the film has a lot of dark undertones that make it somewhat hard to watch. When everyone is against your love, it is a very bad time. The battle scenes were a bit too drawn out, but perhaps they wanted to exhaust the audience the way Scott was exhausted. It’s also hard to see love as just a game, though I thought the integration of video games into the story was well done.

As of now, I much prefer the love story contained in the Last Airbender.

The Ramona Flowers card I got at Comic-con.

Not currently homeless.

Just a short update.

Real connection problems.

I called my ISP a few days ago because I noticed ping spikes. They sent a service technician out, but he said he could not handle the issue of ping spikes the other tech would have to take care of it. That tech never showed up. I called the ISP back and they said they needed on the phone confirmation of a problem. I offered to email them my ping -t results, but that wasn’t good enough. I tried to replicate the test, but couldn’t during the phone call. Anyway, tonight I screenied a connection problem. (Not the first). Unfortunately, according to my ISP this connection problem never happened because I wasn’t on the phone with them at the time it occurred. Lame.

Connection problem confirmed.

Elements Updates

Elements has updated its card set again. The new artwork is awesome. They also have some interesting new cards to test out. Right now, I’m drawn to playing with Mindgate a lot.

I actually submitted a card idea for review, but I don’t think it will go anywhere because the Elements team is currently looking for sets and mine is stand-alone. There are many card suggestions everyday, so it is unlikely any one card will ever make it to the deck. My card was a time card.

If you want to see my card idea, it is here.

Last, I entered the Elements tournament where I finished fourth. This is the second time I have finished 4th, but there are a lot more people in the tournaments these days. The tournament included 2 chat rooms and round 1 preliminaries. The organizers are new, so there is a bit of confusion in running the tournament. I still think organizers should not compete in tournaments.

Battlefield Heroes: Ben Cousin’s Tweet.

It has been a long time since I played Battlefield. Being homeless last year certainly curtailed a great deal of video game playing. I returned to play some Battlefield Heroes. A lot has changed. One of the biggest changes is the on-going debate over changes in the pricing system. Players are currently complaining that Battlefunds may give players an edge over other players by selling weapons. If so, it marks a major retreat on the BF:H initiative. BF:H was supposed to provide no real advantage to players playing with Battlefunds over those playing with VP. Weapons were not supposed to be sold. Apparently, many players were angered by the changes. I for one, use VP exclusively, and would be disheartened if that puts me at a competitive disadvantage.

The second goal of Heroes is to incorporate community ideas into the thread. Some suggested VOIP in game. (I would support VOIP with the ability to mute players.) Ben Cousin’s, of DICE, said he would allow a vote on VOIP when BF:H reached several million players. Using a new twitter account, I tweeted Ben Cousins to ascertain whether he will allow for a vote. His response seems to indicate no.

This would mark a major retreat from the community-driven model as well.

His suggestion that I play another BF game, while well-intended is also rather meaningless as I own BF2, BF2142, BFV, BF1942-RTR-SW). I have reinstalled 2142 on the new computer and it looks awesome, but again I am waiting for tech support.

Here is the current achievement I’m working on:

FYI, I am…

playing Team Fortress 2. Or I was until the laginess got to me. A friend of mine gave me a 9800GTX PCI-E video card. I promptly swapped some components around to get it working in a computer and I was ready to game. Or so I thought. It turns out, the ISP I’m using was not giving me the “provisional” speeds (e.g. the correct bandwidth). This appears to have resulted in laginess and ping spikes. Tech support will be out in 24-48 hours to try to correct the problem. Until then, I guess I won’t be playing TF2. Here’s a screenie for your amusement.

Update: So tech support came out and they say I am getting correct provisional speeds and they are not sure what they can do about the ping spikes. The ping spikes get as high as 750ms.

Latest Status of Legal Case

The situation with the lawsuit is very murky right now. Obviously, I am safely residing out of state making my participation very difficult to say the least.

The court waived the mediation requirement but suggested I may face sanctions.

Catholic Charities has brought forth a summary judgment motion. For my part, I have responded. I personally feel my earlier briefs read well, but I had to respond so I did.

My interest has always been to express my love for Eliza Dushku and save Dollhouse.

The files are here.

Update: The court has moved the legal hearing to Sept. 7.