Okay so, long story short, my brother was at a lacrosse tournament, and he found a case full of DS games. He asked an organizer if anyone had lost any, but no one claimed them, and after a while they ended up his. A real shame, but we could not figure any other way to find the original owner :(

Anyway, my brother gave them to my 5 year old son. There were about 12 games in there, and there are only probably 3 he would/could play. He does read some, but not enough for a game that requires reading to progress. He has Cars, Mario Kart, Mario 64, Wall-E, and nintendogs, and he can play those. I am going to end up trading them via Goozex or selling them on eBay for some new ones. Anyone have any recommendations? I could really use your help.

This game has been sitting on my shelf for a while, and i just started it a few days ago. I am really enjoying it, which is odd considering i did not like the first. Fable is a little clunky to me still overall, but for some reason i find this one much less annoying than the first, and the exploring is pretty fun.

Well our government is at it again. Once again lobbyists are pushing for the government to force its way into your wallet and take money in order to keep FAILING business afloat. It started with the airlines. "Hey! This is an essential part of our society! We cannot let it fall!" Nevermind the fact that these companies were not only irresponsible, but their executives and stockholders still got paid.

Next up mortgage companies. They give out loans to people who were bad risks (thanks clinton!) and when the whole thing turns upside down, the government gives our money away to them so they can pay dividends to stockholders and expand their territory. Oh, thats right, unlike other countries that did bailouts as well, we didn't put in a clause saying the money could only be used for lending purposes. Either way, they should not have gotten it. They should have failed. Every so often you need a good forest fire to allow new growth.

Now the auto makers want their cut. Once again, the higher ups took out plenty of money, and these businesses were mismanaged. The economy went bad, and since they did not plan well, they can not cover it. TOO GOD DAMNED BAD. Go bankrupt. Disappear from the market. Do whatever you want EXCEPT for robbing americans to fix your idiotic mistakes.

I think it is pathetic that fear is running this country right now. Everyone is so afraid that if any one entity goes out of business, the whole country is doomed. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Having these businesses fail would be a good thing. It allows new competitors into the market. It serves as an example of how NOT to run businesses. Some jobs will be lost, but so what? That does not give the government the right to just pickpocket every working american so they can save companies that don't deserve to be saved.

Who is going to bail out small companies if they fail? Who is going to bail me out if my bank account hits zero? No one, and no one should bail these people out either. I am so sick with the state of this nation. We are headed right back to where we were when this country was founded. We left because of over-taxation and lack of freedoms. Now our freedoms are shrinking every day, and government gets more and more power. Now we are being taxed to pay for failing companies. Where does it stop?

For the past year I have been very confused on which party I really fell in line with. Over time, I came to the realization that I shared some views with democrats, some with republicans, and some with neither. I was one of the naive that fell for the scam propagated by these two parties. Since our nation gained independence and these two parties emerged, they have used their influence to dissuade any third parties from cropping up. After all, it's easier to beat one opponent than multiple.

In the past few months, I came across some podcasts that I chose only based on their opposition to the two party system and the current status quo. One of them was Free Talk Live. After the first episode, I kind of wrote it off as people who might be a little too far gone. However, sometimes at work I get bored so I ended up listening some more. And I realized that I have never aligned more with one belief system than those of liberty activists.

The libertarian party is one with ambitious beginnings, which has become diluted with each defeat it suffers. However, its original ideals are sound. They believe in minimization of government and freedom to persue whatever interests you chose, so long as they do not impede or harm others. For years I have been frustrated with the desire people have to impose their beliefs on others. This is something that i despise about most politicians. They feel this or that and decide that this is how the law should be. However, unless someone is actually harming another person, they should have no say. Our government should have no interest or say in who marries who, for example. Why is that of any relevance?

Government has gotten far too large. Federal income taxes are an abomination. Remember, taxation was a major reason we decided to break away from our former home nation to begin with. Government needs to shrink dramatically, with state governments taking back power that is being handled on a federal level. It is far far easier to influence and keep track of a smaller local government.

Back to the issue of voting. I have considered voting for both obama or mccain, not voting at all, writing in a vote, or going with a third party. I have decided to vote libertarian, going with bob barr as my choice. Many will call my vote a waste. I do not believe this is so, especially since unless you are in a swing state, YOUR VOTE IS ALREADY MEANINGLESS. New york is voting democrat, and nothing i do will effect that. The one way I can make my vote carry any meaning, is to vote for what I believe in. Barr happens to align most closely with my views, so he will get my vote.

He will also receive my vote because it is a statement that i support parties other than republican or democrat. In fact, I may "waste" many votes in this fashion as protest of the two party system. There must be a better way. This is my way of refusing to comply. I do not believe Obama or McCain will do anything to protect me from the loss of rights we currently face. I do not believe that they will do anything to return our nation to what it was founded on.

My biggest fear is that Obama will win and "fix" our economy the way Clinton did. And by fix I mean set the stage for a collapse like we are seeing now (remember who put forth the legislation that allowed all of these bad loans), while expanding government power and stealing our rights.

I could go on for pages, but let any of you who are voting for the less of two evils, please, reconsider. Unless you are in a swing state your vote will not influence the decision for president. The one move you can make is to vote for a person with who you would actually be PROUD to call president, based on good policy and keeping the best interests of the country at heart.

Good, now you're here. It's almost that time again, Toys R Us annual B2G1 free games sale. The sale starts the 12th and runs until the 18th. Problem is all of the great games come out right after that, but fear not. The way the sale works is that you may exchange your two paid games for up to 45 days. So as long as there is ONE game you dont mind keeping that is out during that week, you can exchange the other two later. Im trying to decide a keeper game or two, because I need to pick up LBP, Gears 2, Fable 2, and Fallout 3 which all launch after the sale.

Just make sure that the game you will be keeping is the 3rd one scanned, as they make every 3rd game the free one and it is much much more difficult to exchange the third one. Also if you try to return them later for cash they will only give you 2/3 of the price you paid, this keeps people from just paying for 2 games and getting a refund for three. Don't abuse it, its a great annual sale that helps me out every year.

Lately this is the question I find myself asking more and more. I bought Wipeout HD the other day, and I feel pretty good about the purchase. Recently however, I have found myself renting games a lot more. I am not the same gamer I once was, nor is gaming the same hobby of my childhood. As a child, I had limited money for gaming, and less great games came out.

Fast foreward to now, I have more money but I find myself less willing to part with the numerous good games that come out. Note that I rarely play a game online for any length of time. I played the halo's single player, gears of war, and many other games with decent single player campaigns, but I have not gone back to any of them once I finish them the first or second time.

Don't get me wrong. I love gaming and I love supporting developers. I am just having a hard time paying $60 for games I will play through once and never touch again. Even a game like mass effect, which I adored and expected to play a few times, I have not gone back to. GTAIV? Didn't even finish that one.

Now the yearly gaming flood is imminent and I am unsure of what to buy. I want Fable II, Fallout 3, Gears 2, LBP, Resistance 2, Mirror's Edge, and possibly some others like Prince of Persia. I don't see myself dropping around $400 on games for myself around the holiday. I know a game like Fable II is probably a buy due to the amount of time I'd play it. But in reality I'd like to buy all of them. I just dont know if I should? Why do I buy games I won't play more than once?

Back to Wipeout HD. If some of these games were downloadable at a cheap price like this I would buy more games. I know these devs put a lot into their games and I enjoy supporting them, but don't you guys think it's time we see more price tiers a la viva pinata and banjo?

I know this is a rambling post which is why i put it on my blog, so feel free to add in any thoughts.

Well it's about that time again. School started up this week. My last semester at this school before I head elsewhere. I have 5 classes, which sucks when you work full time also. Anyway this is just to serve as notice that I won't be posting as often as usual, which many people might take as a bonus! I'll still drop in when I can, I'm still around but just on less active trolling duty.

Tonight was the finale of the HBO series Generation Kill. It was a short series, consisting of only 7 episodes and is based on the book of the same title. GK follows a reporter who accompanied the first recon battalion during the latest invasion of iraq. I stumbled onto it by complete accident, and it turned out to be one of the best things ive ever seen on television.

When I watched the first episode, I nearly dismissed it as boring and almost didn't watch the second. As luck would have it, sunday nights are slow, so I found myself watching again, and then it clicked. GK is not an action packed series, it is not one of intricate plot lines or sensationalism. It is, for lack of a more fitting term, very real.

I am not a military man, nor do I really have any friends/family in the service. I have seen plenty of war movies but until this series, I had no real concept of what goes on in a war. These guys, well mostly kids because honestly most of them are, face situations that most of us could never fathom. The brilliance of Generation Kill is that for me, it really underscored that while even though these guys have training to automate their reactions, they are still humans, out there killing, saving, and trying not to be killed by other humans.

I am a little sad this experience is over. It is impressive how some shows can take a couple of years to build something that i felt in GK in a relatively tiny seven episodes. The actors played their roles to perfection. It's hard to describe the way they presented emotions, or lack thereof during events. Accidental killings (sometimes of children), falling comrades, dissension within the unit(s), and the growing sense that there is no swift transition for iraq.

I have no doubt that removing Saddam from power was a good thing. However, personally, I feel the cost has been too high. Iraq was a disaster before his removal, and it remains as such. Without getting into a political debate, I will just say I hope there is a future for Iraq where people can have the basic rights they deserve.

All in all I just want to say that Generation Kill was a fantastic series. I noticed how some people have criticized it for being boring; war however is not an NBC drama. If you have any interest in getting some real understanding of what this conflict has been like, and can go into it without expecting a blockbuster action movie, you may truly enjoy this. If you have HBO in demand watch it. If they replay the series I will probably be watching it with you. If you can rent it, do so. It's not often performances like this come along.

Terrible title, I know. Journalism was not my missed calling. The purpose of this entry is to pick my fellow users' brains and find out what podcasts they enjoy. I have had an ipod since the real ugly old white ones, before they became uber popular. I listened to only music for a while, but after a while I decided why not absorb some information while I am passing the time at work and such.

I browsed itunes and some top podcast lists, and after a while I found some that I really liked, while i let some others fade into obscurity. I mostly enjoy gaming, tech, news, political, astronomy, and other geeky topics. Currently I have some great stuff, but I feel I need more and I figured you guys have to know of some interesting stuff.

As of now I listen to the CAGcast, This Week in Tech, Astronomy Cast, and Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Great shows but I need some more. I will describe the ones I enjoy in the hopes you guys might find something you like.

The CAGcast

Host Cheapy D of cheapassgamer.com and his dorky co host are my gaming podcast of choice. They cover the weekly gaming news, sales, deals, and some other random things. Cheapy is living in Japan, and always has some great misadventures to tell us about. No, he isn't some industry insider or an amazing journalist, he is just a gaming enthusiast who happens to run the best money saving gaming website around. He is a gamer's gamer and thats what i enjoy.

TWiT

This Week in Tech is hosted by Leo Laporte, who isan industry insider, of the tech industry. He has a couple regular co-hosts, as well as some who rotate and some special guests. It's kind of different every week which is nice. Recently he had major nelson on for E3. These guys go over the latest gadgets, internet company dealings, video games, and all sorts of other inside stuff that we do not realize is behind a lot of what drives the industry. It really is a great show

Hardcore History

Dan Carlin is, in his own words, the opposite of a history professor. He is a history enthusiast. In school we learned what the books told us, and that was that. This is much different. It reminds me of a book I read called The Real Lincoln, which showed lincoln for the real man he was (a money driven bigot), not the hero your books would have you believe.

Dan's issues are not so controversial, but what they do is give you other sides of what happened, or things lost in the writings of the victors. I find it much more interesting than any school book or lecture I have heard, and recommend it highly. The one caveat is that the show is not produced often enough, so you do have to wait a while between episodes. Right now I am in the middle of a 2 part episode on the eradication and genocide of Carthage, and am anxiously awaiting the next entry.

Astronomy Cast

Dork-o-meter overload. This one is really just for fun. I love understanding how things work. What better subject to understand the workings of than one that operates on cosmic scales? If you arent into space, physics, time, matter, and all of their interweavings, this show wont interest you. If you like hearing about how the universe operates, this one can be really interesting. I personally really enjoy it, but this one isnt for everyone.

So I've touched on what I listen to, and I hope I get some of the shows some new listeners. Now I would love to hear what you guys listen to because the week is long and I would love to have some more interesting things to absorb during the day.

Well not being in school all summer, i quickly (and happily) got out of organized mode and into the good old lazy summer spirit. One problem with that is that I haven't gotten a whole lot done. One thing I wanted to do was get my games collection and wish list organized. That may be true geekdom but whatever, that be me. Anyway i will work on the former, but i need some help with the latter.

I know i have missed some games completely that at one point or another i had interest in. Part of the problem is that i *hate* the way GS organizes the whole thing, but i cant do anything about that. Anyway to the point of this post, I'd like anyone who looks at this to post their top 10 anticipated games for the next year, on any system. Details as to why are nice but not necessary.