In the United States today, we observe Memorial Day.

It was first established to honor those who fought in the American Civil War (or the War Between the States, or if you are a really radical Southerner, the War of Northern Aggression), in which over 600,000 men on both sides were killed in action, and only slightly less than that wounded. After World War I, it was amended to cover all those lost in any major conflict.

Parades will be held, and likely lightly attended. Most people will enjoy their extra day off and the long weekend. Parties will wrap up on Sunday night, and the attendees likely too hung over to appreciate anything other than a few aspirin and some oversleeping.

For families, it will be a time for taking the kids out for a picnic, or relaxing in the front yard with a glass of lemonade, not thinking that maybe... just maybe... they should take the time to remember who died to preserve the peace that makes it possible to do so.

Where I live, several battles of the French and Indian War and American Revolution were fought. If you've read "Last of the Mohicans" by James Fenimore Cooper, you'll recognize the names of Glens Falls and Lake George (or Horican, as the natives called it). Both are roughly 45 minutes drive from my house. Closer still is Saratoga, and Stillwater, site of the Battle of Saratoga, considered one of the major turning points of the War of Independence. Troy, just to the west of me, is the home and birthplace of "Uncle Sam." Trust me when I say I understand the significance of today. :D

All Americans should recognize today's significance. It doesn't have to be a large show of patriotism, or a parade around the neighborhood waving the Stars and Stripes... a simple moment of silence, in recognitiom of those who habe fought and died for the U.S. and its freedoms (of speech, of expression, of religion, etc.) is all that is needed, friends.

Thank you.

Ever have one of those ideas that just grabs you, and won't go away until you try it? I was on my way home from work, stuck in traffic (unusual, given that it was a Thursday, and it was Friday-bad), and flipping through radio stations. As I was doing that, I flipped past a channel playing an old song I used to hear a lot: "Rolling Stoned" by someone who's name escapes me (and I'm just too lazy to look up... it wasn't really that great a song, anyway :P ). My trivia-soaked brain remembered that it was specifically written to get the artist on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine... and the spark of a ludicrously-lunatic idea just flared to life:

Why not just ASK to be on the Soapbox? What's the absolute worst thing that could happen?

I tried to dismiss it... I buried myself in Hellgate for a little bit (more on that later)... but that idea just chewed on me like a terrier puppy chews on the one good pair of dress shoes you own.

If you write this, and submit it, what will happen? Why not just try it? Apple pie sounds really good right now...

And so, just to see what would happen, and to shut my idea off, I wrote last night's piece of insanity. I laughed at myself just before clicking the submit button ("You do realize that not even you believe anyone would have the stones to try this? Just checking...") but I did it anyway. That'll show me!

It worked as I designed it: it didn't land me on the front page ("DOH!!!") but it did prove to me that the staff does read editorials. It also proved to me that all I need to do is come up with an idea, and refine the ***** out of it before submitting it. My faith in the editorial staff is restored. :D

Now, on to other news:

Last week, I picked up a monster of a novel. Atlas Shrugged never really drew my interest before (I know one high school class taught the Ayn Rand novels, but I didn't take that class... they didn't think I was "smart enough" for it back then: hooray for underachieving!!!) but after Author_Jerry wrote about it, I figured it might be interesting to give it a go.

First impressions: it's BIG. One thousand plus pages, with smaller-than-average print for a paperback. It has taken me a week to hit page 193 of 1069... an ordinary book would have been finished by now.

The story is engaging, though, and while the characters aren't as fully fleshed out as I'd expect, the main character is as realistic as she needs to be, and the dialog is believable. I'll give a better account when I've reached the halfway point (in about 10 years or so).

Also, just from the tiny fraction I've read, I can tell Terry Goodkind ("The Sword of Truth" series) has read Rand's work: the themes are almost identical, and the villains in his novels sound suspiciously like Rand's "villains" (not in the cIassic sense of the word, but in the figurative against-the-hero(ine) role). This point of familiarity is actually what's driving me to finish "Atlas Shrugged." (Word of advice: try like mad to finish the first 50-100 pages before attempting to judge whether to continue... trust me).

Back to Hellgate: as much as I've beamed about it for the past couple of weeks, a disturbing trend has manifested itself. Whether it's just my old PC having problems keeping up, or if it's the game itself, I've had several crash-to-desktop errrors happen to me over the last few days. What makes it worse is, no matter where it crashes, I have to start all the way back at the last station I visited... very frustrating when you're about 3+ nodes out from the station, and almost done with a side quest.

...and it reinforces a nasty trend I've noticed since Diablo 2: artificially increasing the difficulty by forcing you to start at the last "teleport" point when restarting your game. I dislike the idea of slogging through all the enemies I just wiped out only to get back to where I ended my last session. It's like driving to work, crashing your work PC, and finding that, to reboot it, you have to make the commute all over again.

Just out of curiosity: how many American readers saw "3-Day Weekend" in the title, and thought, "He forgot it's Memorial Day weekend! It's a time to remember those who've fallen in battle defending the US and her people? How thoughtless!" Guess that answers that... :lol:

I'm under no illusions: just like July 4th and St. Patrick's Day, we've made it a day to hit the party circuit and discover how much alcohol you really can drink. For families, it just means a time to find a beach or picnic spot and sprawl lazily on the ground, hoping it doesn't rain or hail. Would it be asking too much to spare a moment of silence for those who've fallen for our freedom?

(/end gloomy thought)

I was listening to this song the other day, and almost drove off the road laughing. I won't promise the video is devoid of offensive content, so watch at your own risk... but listen to the song. :D

Cheers!

Dear GS Staff/Editor:

I have been patiently waiting for about a year now for a chance at appearing on your front page, on the Soapbox, with any of the editorials I have written, to hold a discussion with my fellow gamers about the games I love, and the issues that concern us all.

I'm still patiently waiting.

I understand that you have been busy. A lot of changes have occurred since late November. A lot of people have left abruptly. It's an overwhelming amount of change to deal with, and compensate for. I sympathize entirely, and have ridden out many changes with you.

However, it's about time we, the community, started hearing from new voices.

I've been keeping score. Since November, only 3 new Soapbox editorialists have been added to your rotation. A large number of talented writers have left GS, many of whom were Soapbox contributors... many many more than the 3 who have replaced them.

Long periods of time have passed when the same 3 editorials sat on the front page (one time, the same three articles were there for a week and a half!) while contributions were submitted for your pleasure... with no appreciable effect.

"So... why should you be given the honor of a Soapbox appearence?" you might ask.

Well... because I'm nice? Funny? Smart? Because I asked nicely? :lol:

Seriously, though: why not? I enjoy controversial conversations. I can hold my own in a logical debate. I have more years of gaming experience than a lot of people on this site (don't believe me? Check my birthday in my profile. That's the real thing. :D).

I'm not suggesting that I'm the best candidate for a Soapbox contributor. I've seen several worthy writers who deserve attention, yet sadly they don't get the recognition the need to continue writing with the passion and intensity they've shown.

I eagerly await your reply.

Sincerely, OrkHammer007.

...(*heavily-distorted mechanical-sounding voice:) "I AM IRON MAN!"

I'm pretty sure you can figure out what this is going to be about... unless you've never heard the Black Sabbath song... :lol:

My son and I just got back from seeing Iron Man... but first, a few things about the experience:

A new theatre opened up near us in Colonie Center, one of the oldest shopping malls in the area. A combination of internet sales and the opening of Crossgates just down the Northway forced them to do a total overhaul in the past year, and one of the additions was a 13-screen multi-screen theatre with stadium-styIe seating. The screens are high-definition projection screens, and the sound system state-of-the-art. Best of all, it only opened yesterday (none of that gooey stuff on the floor that makes you feel like you're walking on flypaper). What better place to go to see a new movie than in a new theatre? (Best of all, you got free popcorn and soda with the tickets... :D )

Now for the movie itself...

:shock: "Awesome" doesn't do it justice. It's the most perfect movie I've seen that doesn't have "Lord of the Rings" in the title.

Soundtrack: perfect. A techno-metal fusion that perfectly highlights the action in the movie. I need to buy it. Soon. (The last soundtrack I bought was for "Last Action Hero." Ordinarily, I avoid them because my musical taste doesn't mesh.)

Visuals: perfect. The suit didn't look like the comic book... it looked much more functional, like a high-tech war machine would look in the real world. The effects poeple even got the original suit right (the first one you see in the movie).

Sound: perfect. It's the first action movie that seemed to get the gunfire right. Thank you, "Saving Private Ryan," for teaching sound effects people the world over that guns sound more like firecrackers, and less like miniature dynamite going off.

Story: perfect... sort of. It could have used a few more minutes exploring the development of the v 3.0 suit, but otherwise, the pacing and action were spot-on.

Action sequences: perfect. I especially liked the first run of the v 3.0 suit in Afghanistan, and the pursuit afterwards... it mixed action and comedy in ways that are rarely seen in comic-book hero movies.

Acting: perfect. Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark as a person who understands how the small things work (like cars, electronics, weapons... and people) but doesn't see the "big picture." When reality is forced upon him, Downey adeptly shows how the character of Stark struggles to adapt (in some ways, rather clumsily) to the world as he now sees it, growing in the process. If he doesn't at least receive an Oscar nod for his performance, I'll be the first (and loudest) to scream foul.

[spoiler] I also liked the choice of Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane: the role wasn't played with the usual "greasy businessman villain" stereotype typical of Hollywood movies. If I hadn't read the "Armor Wars" series, I'd have never known he was a bad guy until he showed his true colors towards the end. [/spoiler]

Support characters (Pepper Potts, Col. Rhodes) also made an impression as well, not merely as backdrops to Stark, but actually helping to deftly highlight the flaws in Stark's character.

My highest honors, though, go to Jon Favreau for his direction. I only know him as a comedy actor and director... but being able to take actors of the caliber he worked with, in an unfamiliar genre, and deliver the quality film he did is impressive.

Final score: ****. If you haven't seen it, don't wait. GO NOW.

Also, looking at the summer's slate of films ("Indiana Jones," "The Incredible Hulk," "The Happening," just for starters!) I'm looking at a season to rival 1986 (what I consider the last great summer for movies). Games? HAH! I can wait until fall... and yes, that might be gamer's heresy, but oh well... :lol:

...no shocking revelations or controversial views here. Well, maybe a revelation...

Life:

In about 17 days, I'll be out of a job. The semi-permanent internship (it was supposed to be 3 months) finally runs up at the end of May.

Mixed emotions: on the one hand, I'm kind of down about leaving... the people are great, the atmosphere is loose, and the work didn't feel like real work most days (especially those days when I was in the mood to add unauthorized code to their application... the look on a developer's face when they pressed the "mystery button"... :D ). On the other hand, I'm worn down to nearly nothing after 2 1/2 years without a real vacation, with year-round school and tutoring and internships... I need some time off. Also, it'll definitely push me to find that job I can settle into while I pursue my bachelors's (software engineering appeals to me).

Music:

I've almost finished converting my favorite cassettes to CDs. I found almost my entire collection of Overkill (I'm on the fence over getting a copy of "Horrorscope," mainly because I wasn't too terribly impressed with it, but partly because it doesn't have Bobby Gustafson on guitar), a couple of Testament CDs (I was very happy to find "Practice What You Preach:" it remains one of my top 10 favorite speed metal albums, even though it's much slower than their early stuff), and a copy of "Cowboys from Hell" ("Cemetary Gates" is just a phenomenal ballad). There's no way I can replace some of them (Vio-Lence, Laaz Rockit, Toxik, for example, are out of print, and I can't find a copy of the Death Angel box set with "Ultraviolence" and "Frolic in the Park"), but I can surely boil it down some.

Games:

...or, more specifically, game: I've been obsessed with "Hellgate: London." It has sucked me in, and I can't escape. I've concentrated on my Guardian more than my Engineer (the traditionalist in me insists that demons should be slain with swords, not guns... :lol: ), but the overall feel of the game, the chance to mow down almost limitless legions of undead and demons... not to mention the odd NPCs you meet (there aren't many, but some of them are real characters).

Movies:

I'm finally getting the chance to see Iron Man this weekend. Stay tuned...

TV:

"The Deadliest Catch" started its 4th season several weeks ago. Point blank, it's one of the best shows on TV: it has action, suspense, drama and tragedy. For those of you who don't know about it, it's a documentary series about Alaskan crab fisherman in one of the most hostile work environments on Earth: the deck of fishing boat in the Bering Sea, in winter. People get hurt (and killed: last season, a boat went down almost as soon as the season began; there was only one survivor out of five crewmen). Fortunes are lost and made. If you get the chance: Discovery Channel on Tuesdays at 9PM EDT (which is GMT -5 hrs. for the non-US readers among you).

Books:

Finally, I got a copy of the Ciaphas Cain omnibus and blew through it in less than a week. It's a Warhammer 40K series about and Imperial commisar who's... not normal. He spends most of his time saving his own skin, and making sure those troops he's with are watching his back. Somehow, though, he still finds time to be an accidental hero... which means his superiors seem to put him in positions where he's likely to be killed. Smart, funny, and action-packed... definitely a good read.

So... I'm still contemplating an RPG guide, but it's not a priority project at the moment. There are so many types of RPGs (action, turn-based, party, single-character, Western, Eastern) that it coud be impossible to come up with a "one-size-fits-all" guide like the last one. I'm also sort of thinking about a series of articles defending video games with reasons other than "'cause Jack Thompson's a moron."

I definitely have another story in the pipeline... something much more restrained than the last one.

So... enjoy yourselves in the meantime. :D

We all know it's inevitable: as soon as Rockstar releases a new game, Jack Thompson appears. Even though he can no longer practice law, he still has the ability to do absolutely insane things in his quest to crush video games... even going so far as to write one exective's mother to embarass the company into withdrawing GTA IV. Don't believe me? Read this.

I know what the reaction will be. "OMG THIS GUY IS A *insert rude comment here*!!! WE SHOULD *insert act of senseless violence here* TO HIM!!!"

Do you think it will help? It may make you feel better, but all it will do is fuel more hostility, and portray us, the dedicated gamers, as a bunch of hotheads. If anything, it could give the opposition more ammunition in their quest to reduce games to cartoons for little kids: if I were working for them, I'd be trawling the game sites and gathering evidence of gamer hostility... and I wouldn't need to look too hard, would I?

Entertainment controversy is nothing new. In the late 1940's, it was comic books: EC comics (link from wikipedia), the biggest target for "Tales from the Crypt" and other horror comics, was almost put out of business by activists and the Comics Code Authority. In the 1960's, the MPAA was formed in response to criticism of mature content in movies. In fact only books and music aren't rated in the US... but music almost was.

In the late 1980's, Tipper Gore and the PMRC tried to impose a form of censorship on hard rock music in response to what she felt was rock's bad influence on children. The biggest difference between Gore and Thompson was her relationship with then-US Senator Al Gore, which gave her a measure of clout Mr. Thompson can never hope to achieve.

It didn't work. This is the best they were able to achieve:

How did this happen? How did rock music manage to escape with nothing more than a silly-looking sticker?

Intelligent responses.

Take Dee Snider: watch this video, and listen to him describe how he prepared for his turn in front of the Senate sub-commitee that the PMRC wrangled. In particular, listen to the excerpt of Snider's testimony. Does this sound like a man who's corrupting the youth of America?

More to the point, does this sound like anything written in response to a Jack Thompson news item on GameSpot? Or any other anti-GTA IV news?

Passion is a wonderful thing. Great works of art, literature, and musical compositions have praised passion, and in turn have been praised for their genius. When that passion isn't restrained, however, with some intelligence, it can become dangerous and unpredictable.

I picked it up yesterday... the version with the DVD... with demos of almost every Warhammer game in existence. :D

The highlights:

News on WH40K: Dawn of War 2. True, all of it is old news by now, but really, it just doesn't get old. Destructable environments, Havok physics, updated graphics, a departure from the traditional base-building model... it's a whole new kind of RTS, and I cannot wait to see it in action.

New screenshots of SC2: Um, no... I haven't gone over to the "Blizz-side" *cue asthmatic breathing*. Rather, being able to put the Zerg preview side-by-side with DoW2's screenshots just reinforces my belief that Blizzard had better watch out... Relic's gunning for their crown.

The PC Gaming Alliance: You can find more information about it here... basically, it's a coalition of PC game developers who are aiming to standardize certain things about the industry, like minimum PC specifications. "This is a good thing?" you might ask. Consider that the top 50 sellers of last year had 50 different minimum requirements... it makes it very difficult for devs to know how to program for their target audience under those conditions, much less for the consumer to know what to upgrade.

OK, enough about the magazine...

On a whim, I picked up Hellgate: London after the price has dropped to $30 US. After installing it, and patching it (surprisingly small patch, considering all the bad press its bugginess got), I proceeded to charge into the post-Apocalyptic London landscape, and WOW!!! Even with its supposed minimum requirements being slightly more than my PC should be able to handle, I'm running it at medium with no choppiness. It looks good, it plays good (shooting zombies? chopping them up? frying them with magic? oh the possibilities!!!) and I'm wondering why the bad press?

I'm currently researching parts for a new PC for the house, because a.) only one PC in the house is seriously causing problems, because everyone wants their time on it, and b.) there's no way I can justify trying to install DoWII on my poor, suffering machine (CoH won't run at anything but the lowest settings). I'm sticking with my usual AMD CPU/nVidia GPU setup, but I may decide to up my sound card to something a little more muscular (on-board sound is definitely out!).

And no, I have no plans on buying a console for GTAIV... I have no objections to the game, it's just not my styIe of play. I'm more of a fantasy RPG/ strategy gaming guy. Stealing cars and shooting criminals? No.

I still haven't looked into how to put up a video chapter of the strategy series, but I have an entire weekend ahead of me with nothing to do, so I'll keep you all posted.

Until the next time... hasta luego.

Once upon a time, vampires were evil. If you (somehow) managed to come across one, you could douse it in holy water, or throw a cross in front of its face, or just lock yourself in a garlic-strewn room until daylight and stake it through the heart (if you knew where its coffin was).

Then came Interview with a Vampire.

It was like a revelation to so many: a sympathetic vampire. One who was so confused by his life, and so sensitive...

All I could think of while reading it was, "So when can I go hunt this blood-sucker down and stake him? He's easy prey... and he'll probably thank me!"

I must be the only one... because, all of a sudden, there was a slew of books just like it... all filled with "sensitive" vampires who just wanted to live their lives without human interference, and still drink blood. Books like Of Saints and Shadows even painted them as unjustly persecuted ("Sure, I live on human blood... but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, does it?").

I won't even get into the novel where a certain central religious figure is revealed to be a vampire... I'm not about to start any flame wars over religion again.

In one fell swoop, an entire branch of dark fantasy was essentially neutered by Anne Rice.

It also sparked something of a renaissance of Goth vampire wannabees, who dresssed in black, wore plastic fangs, and shunned sunlight.

Um... that's kind of like cows suddenly starting a "Cult of Steak" and falling all over themselves to be the next to the slaughterhouse. These people do realize that, to become a leech, they have to be drained by one, right?

It doesn't stop there, though... as much as I wish it had.

There have been TV shows, like "Forever Knight" and "Moonlight" (the current target of my dislike for vampire sissification... seriously, a vampire who helps people solve crimes? With a human girlfriend?) that just make it even worse. The fact that anyone watches them just... confuses me (especially "Moonlight:" I was hoping it got cancelled, but a new episode was on tonight. Yay).

Let's not start on how badly mangled the myth has become... OK, let's: Rice's vampires now have no real weakness. Basically, Lestat can walk wherever he wants, whenever he wants, and no worry about inconvenient things like death. Why not just name him "the God Lestat" and start a vampire religion?!? (If there isn't one already... I'm not sure I'd want to know if there was.)

If it had stopped there, I might have managed... but right now, the only non-sympathetic villain left is the zombie... and it's not like anyone can do anything about that (seriously: would you want to hug a shambling, moldering, brain-eating corpse!?!). The horror section of the bookstore is skeletal these days (if it weren't for Stephen King, it would more than likely be empty... and he doesn't really do horror anymore!).

*sigh* They just don't make monsters like they used to... thanks, Anne, you **********.

For close to a decade, I worked in a convenience store in the middle on the 11PM-7AM ("graveyard") shift. During that time, I witnessed some pretty outrageous things... things not covered in "Clerks" (a movie I found thoroughly enjoyable and hilarious, by the way).

In the interests of fairness, I shall not name names: I doubt several of the people I talk about would be amused (and, in some cases, wouldn't be in any shape to defend themselves). Also, nothing is on the level of the infamous incident in the restroom in the movie... close, but not there.

First was the lady who came in at 1AM and thought she'd lost her wallet in the store. She seemed all right: polite, quiet, and worried about her IDs. Then she stopped for a second while we were searching... and seemingly noticed the awful Muzak in the background (the person who invented Muzak should burn in the lowest depths imaginable, by the way...). It was like a breaker had been tripped in her head: suddenly, "there are voices in the store," and "the surveillance cameras... they're following me." I'm starting to feel a little nervous at this point (I'm alone in the middle of nowhere, remember) when, all of a sudden, she runs out of the store screaming that "they" were coming for her. Later that night, I saw an ambulance, and heard that a woman had been found naked and screaming by the reservoir, trying to swim out to get away from "them."

About a year or so later, the entire town seemed to drop the same hallucinogenic on the same night. At the time, we had cigarette displays with fiber-optic waterfalls and such on the counter. At one point, I had 10 people "in line" staring at the waterfall as if the Meaning of Life was somewhere in the ad... and that was only a fraction of the people who came in that night. Lots of fun.

There was the night I heard what sounded like a moose bellowing in a car wash stall outside. When I peeked in, it turned out to be a guy trying to start his motor scooter; he'd flooded the engine so badly, it smelled like a refinery in the stall. He'd kick the pedal, it would almost catch (the bellow... in a confined space, it sounds a lot different), and then it would try to fall on him. He was walking (to use the term loosely... more like staggering) as he did so, and gradually, he walked off up the street. I let it go (there was no way he was getting that scooter started), and an hour later, one of the newspaper delivery ladies came in begging to use the phone: she'd seen a "body" up the street. SURPRISE!!! it was the drunk... he was completely passed out in a ditch, with the scooter on top of him. When the police showed up, he told them off (profanely) and tried to go back to sleep... despite the fact that it had started to rain.

I pretended not to notice the couple who went into the bathroom one night, and didn't come out for 20 minutes. Or the fact that they were both straightening their clothes when they did. Or the fact that she left certain articles of clothing behind. Desperate times...

It's inevitable that a small store with minimum security will get robbed. I never faced an armed robber (I had a baseball bat under the counter at all times, just in case) but I did witness one of the worst getaways in shoplifting histroy:

Four kids walked into the store and made a beeline for the beer cooler. Each one grabbed two 12-packs, and walked right out, very quickly. They walked right past a customer coming in, and he asked me, "Did they pay for that?" I'm shaking my head and reaching for the phone, so he walks out after them. I dial the police, and am waiting for an answer, when I hear a banging outside. I look out... and the customer is on the roof of a car, hanging on to windshield wiper, pounding on the driver side window. Safety glass is pretty strong... but this guy decimated that window. Needless to say, they surrendered to police when they showed up, I got my beer back... but the irate customer just left

It wasn't all fun: one customer walked in asking to use the phone to call a tow truck. I handed him the phone... and he calls his family to show up in my parking lot to "settle things" with a bar owner down the street. Turns out the bar owner kicked him out for buying alcohol with a forged ID, and hitting a girl in the bar. He hangs up, I call the police to report a possible riot... and as I'm on the line, two massive groups of people congregate in the lot and start screaming at each other. By the time the cops show up, I've got a huge fight on my hands. After a half-hour, everyone finally sobers up enough to disperse... and the police arrest 10 people.

I definitely have more, but I'll let you digest these for the moment... it may also go a long way to explaining me. :D

I'm not sure why I'm writing anything at the moment... but why not? I have an itch just to write, and I'm waiting for a story idea to surface... so I'll just kind of meander around my brain a little bit and see what bubbles to the surface.

A persistent troll has infected every Warhammer 40K shared board on GS/GF, and has managed to chase off all the people who gave it character and stability. All attempts to flag him for his trolling have met with indifference (and, in a few ugly cases, outright bans), so they wandered off and formed a new forum... which isn't anywhere near GF/GS. It's the end of a nice era, and I for one feel rather nasty about it. I've had issues with trolls in the past, and the fact that this one seems immune to moderation just frustrates me.

That's the only negative I have right now.

On a more positive note, I finished the story I was writing for our nice little competition. It's called "Rabbits by the Fire," and it's... ah... well, maybe you should read it yourselves. Just click here... be warned, it has some content not suitable for the easliy offended, and some bloodshed.

It took a week to finish the basic story. Then, I did something I have never done with I've written: I went back, and read it over a couple of times, tweaking this, smoothing that, and adding general texture to the setting. I feel it worked well... I look at it now, and quite frankly it's the absolute best thing I've ever written. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :D

I found my copy of "Freelancer," and together with a copy of "DarkStar One" I picked up at Target I've been cruising the space lanes attacking pirates and dogfighting. For some reason, I can't do that effectively in a standard flight sim (that pesky ground thing keeps hitting me) but in space...

I have an idea for another chapter of the "Art of (Real-Time) War:" a video showing a quick skirmish, with some narration explaining what I'm doing. Problem is... I have no idea how to video-capture a replay. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions (for reference, I have a GeForce 6200 and an Audigy sound-card, if that helps).

Well... that's all I've got for now. I'm going to fire up "DarkStar One" and rip some pirates apart (it's definitely worth the $10 I paid for it). See you again in a few days. :D