No, I'll not be caroling this holiday season. I'm referring to my new remote, Logitech's Harmony 550 Universal Remote. Last winter was the advent of high definition in my house, my wife and I purchased a Sony SXRD rear-projection television and the necessary accoutrements (upconverting DVD player, matching TV stand, etc.) My wife wasn't "in" on the purchase. She gave her consent, but was not really a part of the decision on the specifics. That being said, once setup, she was less than ecstatic. "It's really, really big" was all she could say at the time, now she'd hurt me if it disappeared. With the TV, DirecTV, DVD player, A/V receiver and XBox 360 all connected we found ourselves with a literal mess of remotes.

For nigh on a year we struggled through a minimum of three remotes per operation: TV on, check; Receiver set to DVD, check; DVD player on and set to play, check. You get the picture. I finally had had enough, I'm sure my wife had come to that conclusion a long time ago, but she doesn't keep tabs on technology. I do and have known about the Harmony series of remotes for quite some time. The only barrier that had kept me from purchasing such a wand of convenience had been their incredible price. I couldn't see myself shelling out $200 on a remote, especially when there were other great things to buy--like DVDs to watch and 360 games to play. I finally caved when I saw the 550.

At $95, shipped 2nd Day, I couldn't say no. Though it lacks some of the robust features of its more expensive brothers it had everything that we needed for our living room. It has just four function buttons, instead of six on the pricier models, and has a smaller monochrome screen. The rest of the "normal" buttons are the same. It's also thinner and more chic looking than the other models, Logitech opted for square lines and less bulk compared to the 6XX series' hourglass motif. Paired with the LCD "Activities" screen is a nice blue LED backlight, which does pose very slight contrast issues with the black LCD text, but matches the remote's "theme." A gaudy orange, or white backlight wouldn't do.

A remote is only as good as its functionality and the Harmony 550 has that in spades, care of it's powerful configuration software. With a USB cable and this software I can program my remote anywhere. My remote settings are stored on the internet, secured by a username and password I created upon installing the software. Once logged in I was given the option to use a simple wizard to setup my remote for any/all of my A/V components. With only model names I setup "Activities" (read: macro-ed functions) for each task my setup would be called upon for. "Watch TV?" TV is turned: on, A/V Receiver is: on and set to DTV-Cable, Satellite receiver: on. The same went for "Play XBox 360," "Watch DVD" and "Watch HD DVD."

After no more than 10 minutes installing the software and configuring the remote I was upstairs doing everything. It all worked right "out of the box." I did program some extra buttons (DirecTV's colored buttons for ease of use) after the initial setup, but most every function on all of the remotes was covered from the first programming. My wife and I are both thrilled with the remote and how it's cleaned up our coffee table. My only wish? That I'd have purchased it sooner.

I am not going to do my usual match report currently, I'm much too upset regarding the officials on Saturday. The Liverpool v. Reading game will go down as some of the worst officiating I have witnessed. When it comes down to it, the three blokes in black ruined what could have otherwise been a fine match. Had they rightfully given a free kick, instead of a penalty when Carragher fouled Gunnarsson outside the penalty area, the game would be in the right. Had Sonoko been correctly charged with taking Torres down in the box, at least once out of the few times, I think Liverpool would have had the muster to win that match. When the officials take the wind out of you, there's nothing left to give--it becomes a result not worth fighting for. Because when you do make the effort to get in the box and score and you're illegally brought down doing so time and time again, you begin to wonder "what's the point?"

That's what happened to Liverpool on the weekend, after fighting and fighting they came to the conclusion that there was no point. Hence Benitez taking off Torres, Gerrard and Carragher. He saw what was going on, anyone that watched the game will wonder how the bastards in black couldn't. Congratulations FA referees, you won this one.

Porto came to Liverpool comfortable in their top position in Group A of the Champions League. Liverpool, on the other hand, were at the mercy of their immediate fixture; a fixture they had to win. The match was a mixture of mediocrity, passion and a touch of class. Going into the last twenty minutes Liverpool, nor Porto, seemed to have any desire to play football. And then the lights turned on in Anfield.

Right from the start of the game the anxiety of Liverpool's situation set in, though the Merseysiders had the lion's share of possesion they couldn't make anything of it. The normally bright Torres, while taking on Alves and Porto's back four mulitiple times, was frustrated to not have any real chances--passing, or dribbling, right into Porto boots. After twenty minutes he was finally able to put a shot on goal and score the Red's first of the evening. Gerrard lofted a perfect in-swinger right onto Torres' forehead who, left unmarked after Alves slipped, easily nodded the ball down beyond the reach of the keeper.

Woken from slumber, Porto began passing the ball crisply and created their own chance nigh on thirty five minutes. Kazmierczak brushed off Mascherano, beat Finnan to the byline and whipped in a gorgeous ball that found Lopez. Lopez, falling away from the cross, nodded the ball across the goal with Reina unable to change direction in time. After Lopez's finish, both teams tried to best the other before halftime and Porto nearly did a few minutes later when Lopez shook off Arbeloa for a one-on-one with Reina, yet he missed his shot just wide of the net.

The second half saw Liverpool and Porto play some of the least coordinated looking football of their campaigns. Benayoun and Babel were both ineffective, neither added any width to the game. Both wingers consistently gravitated toward the center of play every chance they had the ball. Gerrard did markedly well defensively, yet for most of the second half was guilty of passing into the opposition's path. For thirty five minutes, both Liverpool and Porto gave the ball away cheaply. Liverpool the worst offender, with the most posession, played like the first time they'd been on a pitch together. The tempo and level of play did not change until Benitez brought on Harry Kewell.

Kewell, just recently back to fitness after 18 months out, sat off Torres as the second striker. He added a needed spark and looked good running forward and with quick passing got the Kop roaring again. Benitez also brought on Crouch, who gave Liverpool another dimension. The substitutions payed off with an excellent run from left wing by Kewell who narrowly passed to Torres, who was able to turn and shake off his defender to place a fine side-footed shot into the right side of the net. Later, Kuyt came on for Babel pushing Harry out to his favored left wing.

With the game now in Liverpool's hands, they grew in confidence and were not going to let Porto come level. Arbeloa and Finnan did exceptionally well preventing Quaresma and Co. from creating anyting from the wings, while Hyppia and Carragher maintained a tough center of defense. With renewed spirit, Liverpool applied more and more pressure until Stepanov handled the ball in the area from a set piece, leaving Gerrard to neatly slot home after sending the keeper the wrong way. Crouch was also not to be denied after what seemed like Liverpool's 15th corner, running in unmarked and heading the ball easily into the net.

After time was called and the scoreline set at 4 to 1, one could be forgiven for thinking that Liverpool dominated the game. Porto did not fold until the second Liverpool goal. They seemed very likely to equalize and with a little more class and composure from the likes of Quaresma, they may have done just that. But on the night, Liverpool were the ones to shine--breathing life into their challenge towards another Champions League final. Their mettle will be tested in Marseille, but they'll be happy to go to that game knowing their future is in their hands.

An hour and a half of dominating possession doesn't mean anything if you can't put the ball in the net. That's the story of Liverpool's season this year and can arguably be said for the past few years (when they're not winning the Champions League.) For such a talented and deep squad they either have the key to unlocking a team's defense or they simply do not. Luckily their defense is a vault not easily pried open, but when it's a competition of defenses you're bound to see what we have versus Blackburn, Portsmouth and Birmingham: nil-nil draws. I feared that was going to happen to the Reds last Saturday--Fulham would dig in and pack men behind the ball, with Liverpool creating, but unable to finish.

Thankfully we were able to call upon the new hero of Anfield, Fernando Torres. In very little time he took the game by storm, twisting and turning defenders and in a matter of minutes he'd scored once (nearly twice) all by himself. I love and hate that about him at Liverpool. He's a fantastic player, one you really can get behind. He's one who can be prolific in the EPL and he's young. Talk about fantastic legacy makings. But, it makes it look like we have all of our eggs in his 26 million pound basket. His master-crafted goal aside, the team played reasonably well most of the game.

Benayoun wasn't the same firecracker he was on Wednesday, he wasn't totally ineffective, but no one really was as sharp as you'd imagine off such a spectacular win. Gerrard was rampant, moving all about the field, but I thought if Fulham were to get anything it'd be because Mascherano was left alone due to Gerrard's powerful runs forward. The least effective tactical move was the constant revolving of Riise and Aurelio. I cannot speak why Benitez wanted to change their position so often, perhaps he saw an effect on Dempsey. I thought that because the Cottagers were playing long-ball that Riise was pulled back to provide more aerial cover, but then he got pushed forward again. Either way, Fulham was ground down like they have been all season and that's when Benitez struck with Babel and Torres.

Both changes bore immediate impact, Babel's first run took him to goal and Torres' scored mere minutes after coming off the bench. If only Babel's inconsistency was worked out, he'd be on my list for starting the rest of the campaign.

All and all, it wasn't a pretty game, but it feels good as a fan to see the club get a result when they should--especially when they've under-achieved so often when their opposition isn't first class.

Gamespot has recently levied its review of Bill Roper and Flagship Studios Hellgate: London. They summed up quite nicely what is an absolute enigma of a game: it's pretty, the gameplay is decent, it is very buggy and for some reason you can't put it down--even after a crash. Everyone and their mother has discussed the what-for's and whither-to's of game studios pumping out titles that aren't up to scratch when they hit the street. There are a multitude of facets to every argument, but most dither down to pressure from above. I'm not going to add to that discussion, my thoughts are focused toward one thing: video gaming karma.

Karma, the principle of being rewarded or punished for what we do, has had its way with me in Hellgate and just about every game I've ever played. Typically karma pokes its (un)welcome head in multiplayer games, where the events transcend code to juxtapose ones and zeros, and people themselves. I can cite several examples of fortuitous karma, as well as a multitude of the darker and much more soul-rending side of this tricky beast. We like to remember the good in most of our lives, but with karma it seems the sting of it lasts longer than when it is a boon; like the time I decided to not help a guildmate in WoW to, instead, farm. I had a terrible time of it, the area ended up being over-farmed and I didn't make a dime.

So it should not have been any surprise when, after trying to make use of a certain (potential) flaw, that karma dropped its mighty hammer upon me in Hellgate. The game is buggy, in a way that can be very frustrating. To get anywhere you must crawl through destroyed subway tunnels and city streets ripped asunder, hacking/slashing/melting the faces off demons all along the way. Quests can be one or more "zones" of randomly-generated carnage to get to, so you must cleave your way through the spawn of hell for quite some time before you can get to your pay-off. The problem is if you crash (and you WILL crash,) that none of your progress saves and you log in at the last station (safe house/town) that you were in--thereby rendering all of your hard work useless.

The potentially moral-bending flaw that I was trying to harness for itemy goodness just happens to be three zones of densely populated madness away. It's wall-to-wall zombies, demons and many other rancorous fiends (read: c*ck-blockers) between me and untold fortunes. I dispatch the lot of them, clear the interfering zones, get to the point where I can begin to push the envelope of gaming morality and then it happens... "Memory Exhausted" and I am left staring at my desktop wallpaper.

And this is why Bill Roper and his ilk at Flagship might just have something... I logged back in to try it again. I guess I didn't learn from karma's stinging lash, maybe next time.

So, like a good 360 owner I ran out and purchased Halo 3 when it was released. I didn't wait in any lines, I didn't pre-order and I definitely did not purchase it at midnight. After work on Friday, I slid into my local Best Buy and nabbed a copy without fanfare. I played for a bit, messed around and showed my wife the intro movie. The next day, I put in the required marathon. I put in six or seven hours and finished the game on Normal, then started a bit of multi-player. This is where the problem for me begins.

The game is good, I liked the single-player campaign (though I didn't play the first two Halos--PS/PS2 owner,) but after finishing the game I find the rest of its offerings less than compelling. Skulls, harder difficulties and multiplayer are offered and they initially seemed quite tempting: wallowing in Brute slaughter, unlocking wicked equipment to show off my prowess as I shot apart other Spartans and Elites in eight consecutive Shotty Sniper rounds (I haven't MPed since they "tweaked" the rotation.) The only problem? None of that has made me go running to the 360 to do any of that.

I'm fair at MP, not as good as I'd be if the game allowed me a keyboard and mouse, but my additions to team matches or placement on equally-ranked scoreboards is always decent. I've gotten through a good chunk of the game on Heroic, (holy hell, did I hate those grunts on ghosts when I was trying to bring down the AA wraith) so I won't say that I'm not proficient. There's just no draw to keep going. After playing Battlefield2 and 2142, the "reward" scheme in Halo 3 is shallow and pale. Either I try to unlock armor sets that offer nothing but caché for MP or rank up for e-peen enlargement. Either way, you're playing for the sake of playing.

The question asked by Halo, to me, is what generates value for me? A consummate RPG player, wielder of LMGs and leader of armies of Space Marines, I can't honestly say. Each game obviously has value, but only some lodge their dark tempations deep within my soul. Of those, here's a small list:

X-Wing - I played this game for hours on my father's 386, orange-colored, monochrome portable--using only keyboard controls.

Ultima Online - this is the first game that took me by the ears and made me its **** It was the first MMO and it was very deep. I could play anyway I wanted to within its frame: Grandmaster Warrior with Adept casting abilities, with pitch black plate armor to boot. I spent more time slaying orcs for the love of doing it than I did anything else in that game. Also, who can fault me for loving the Vesper midi theme?

Final Fantasy VII - I played a few hours of the game at a friend's house and went out to buy the game immediately. I didn't even have a Playstation yet. The next day I broke the bank on a Playstation and summarily got myself entranced. All the FF games do this to me, I skipped 8 though.

Starsiege: Tribes - I played Tribes before skiing was discovered and stuck with the series through Vengeance. All three offered something, but only the original kept me enthralled. I don't know how many times I've chased flags on Raindance, or base camped in Snowblind, but I can tell you that there hasn't been an FPS to date that rivals the time and energy I put into Tribes. Hell, Tribes was the first game I ever ugraded my PC for: SLI Voodoo2s, baby!

Diablo - This game should be on everyone's list who owned a PC and gamed at the time. I wasted so much time at MCSE training playing the demo on the lab PCs that I'm amazed I got anything out of some of those NT4.0 classes.

Skipping to recent time... there's WoW and that's about it. For nearly three years that **** owned me like no other. I played other games fleetingly, the big boys: Gears of War, Battlefield, etc., but none of them got me out of the grip of World of Warcraft. It got old, like I said in my last blog post, that's about it. The game tapped into something primordial in me, at the moment I have no idea how I could devote so many hours to plunge the same damn dungeons just for "purplez."

Looking at the list, they all have engrossing aspects and perhaps the reason they stuck when they did was only because part of me craved their type at the time. There's nothing similar between Tribes and WoW and I rate both of them equally on my list of obsessions. Great games come and go, but what gets us hooked on which and even after typing all of this out I haven't more than an inkling of what gets me addicted to a game.

Every game eventually tires out its player and I believe that World of Warcraft has finally done that to me. After tirelessly trying to break into the 25-man raiding aspect, surviving off small nibbles of the epic battles that they contain, I find myself woefully without a compass for the game that's held me in its grips for nigh on 3 years. I've not yet cancelled the account, nor have I really thought about ending it all, but I have suddenly stopped playing altogether--without even a thought about it. There's only the idea that I might putz around with my newly 70 hunter, with my "epic'd out tank" wallowing on the loading screen. My warrior has been my WoW persona since January '05 and it almost seems sad that he won't get used much anymore. Almost.

I've rediscovered my 360, in lieu of this sudden change in gaming recreation, plying my reflexes (accustomed to shield slam and heroic strike) to Guitar Hero 2. My wife has found the game ultimately satisfying and, as a teacher with the summer off, has begun to pull ahead in a game for the first time ever. It's been nice to share gaming with her and equally as satisfying to see her progression. First she was able to identify the races and jobs in Final Fantasy XI, then talk about "raid nights" in WoW to move onto dominating Lego Star Wars II, to finally frustrate herself on Tomb Raider: Legend so much as to find sollace with GH2. It's funny to think that someone of this generation hasn't played video games at all and suddenly spends hours in the afternoons trying to "5 star" "Tattooed Love Boys." She didn't even know who the Pretenders are!

I'm itching to get my gaming fix satisfied and I have a whole lot of choices: old PS2 RPGs (FFXII, DQVIII) that I never finished, Dawn of War on the PC (plus expansion) that I should complete or play online, both BF2 and 2142 that I have enjoyed, Rainbow 6 on the 360, etc. Naturally I have all these choices and haven't had time lately to sink my teeth into them, with road trips and two evenings of epic customer service nightmares to get my Direct TV fixed. Hopefully I can get my game on tonight.

We'll see.