molebu

Please check out my new section. I made this for all my friends in the local area to get together and talk about games and even schedule hook up times to play. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

For those of you who have ever heard Asher Roth's "I Love College", I give you.. "I Love College Remixed" (and spoofed):

Tuesday, a group who call themselves Control your Info took control of about 300+ Facebook groups in an attempt to send a message: "Think about the safety in your social media life to the same extent you do in your real life."

Okay, this certainly does catch attention. I can see a few brows raised. People love a good hacker story. But how did they do it? Facebook indicated to news agencies that no private data was compromised because, it's simply a default setting on Facebook. If you own a group and have members and decide to leave, it leaves the option open for any member to take their place. I think that's Facebook Diplomacy?

So basically, these "hackers" just joined a bunch of groups that had no owners and changed names and opening welcome statements with their manifesto. Wow. Fantastic. So they joined 300+ groups that were abandoned by the head guy/gals. Another couple of real geniuses here. So for the few groups that planned to duke it out on who gets to play leader of their "I hate myself because I have Harry Potter spoons".. just got inconvenienced because they have to wait a week (apparently that's when these good witches hackers will give it back).

I have to wonder if this plan was hatched on a Denny's table napkin after losing interest in tic-tac-toe. I'm not even going to copy their welcome letter/manifesto here cause they're just stupid. Really.

If you or someone you know is set to buy a 360 soon for the holiday season skip to bolded portion to identified crippled systems.

While initial estimates seemed to show that over 600,000 Xbox Live accounts had been banned, figures are recently coming out as high as 1 Million. In an apple-like move, they essencially bricked these Xbox' with respect to their online play. Yes, these consoles can still play games and dvds but cannot connect to the internet.

Apparently, it's left a few dew-juiced-slobbering-idiots scratching their heads. One in peticular was lent a sympathetic ear by the BBC. This twit goes in and out of comparing his loss of account to a dog dying while also explaining how he's saved hundreds of dollars on games by getting his Xbox chipped for $75.00. Moron. Hey, MORON, guess what I'm playing right now..yea..guess. Ok, I'm not playing anything this second because I'm writing this piece up but I was and will be playing Modern Warfare 2-IDIOT. You're not an idiot because you modded it. You're an idiot because you don't understand why your banned.

This is interesting. I wonder if there was a correlation with the Modern Warfare 2 PC Version and the cheating issues going on. Find MW2's wikipedia page for more on the PC Version controversy but in short, it's to stop cheaters and "better serve the community at large".

So here's the real punch: these idiots are going to now go and drop these systems on poor suspecting bargain shoppers right around the holiday season. So let's help them out. Below I've listed the Banning FAQ, included at the top is how to know if the one you're buying is not banned. (Yes, I know Craigslist people, you can't exactly plug these things in when you're pulled along side the road or meeting at the mall for the swap.)

BANNINGS FAQ

Q: How do I know if I've been banned?
A: Run a network connection test, if the connection to Xbox Live Fails then check the error codes. If your Z value is 8015 - 190D then it means you're banned.

Q: If I was banned can I take my Gamertag onto a new Xbox 360?
A: Yes you can, only your console was banned not the account(s) on it.


Q: If I have been banned, can I plug my harddrive into another Xbox360?
A: Yes, your Xbox360 has been banned not your account or your storage device.

Q: Is there any way to unban my console?
A: None is known at this time. We'll likely report on it if a method is ever found.

Q: Will there be a firmware update that will un-ban me?
A: No, once you've been banned there is nothing you can do to the firmware to un-ban you, as of right now there is no known method at all to un-ban a console.

Q: I never modified my console but I was banned! What do I do!
A: If you bought it used contact the person or store you bought it from and demand an un-banned console. If you bought it new, contact MS and demand an un-banned console.

C: I have a modified console but I'm not banned!
A: Luck you...

Q: I'm not banned but if I use firmware "X" will I be banned?
A: Yes, most likely. It's unclear the criteria being used to ban people but there is no firmware known to be safe. If you're using hacked firmware and log onto Xbox live you risk being banned; it doesn't matter what firmware you use.

Q: My console has been banned from LIVE. How will I be able to receive dashboard updates?
A: Typically the dash updates are available for download from Xbox.com Whether they will be allowing future dash updates for banned consoles is yet to be determined. Also when dash updates are downloaded from LIVE, the installer is cached on the harddrive, so simply swapping the hdd from an updated console to a non-updated one, should prompt you to update the dash.

Q: If I gain an achievement on my banned console, will it still be recorded to my gamertag?
A: When an achievement is gained on a banned console offline, then transferred to a non-banned console the achievement data will be uploaded to the LIVE servers. Part of the info that may or may not currently be included, is the console ID # that the achievement was gained on. They could, and have every right to, disallow achievements from banned consoles. While that may not be the case ATM, it could change without notice.

Q: I purchased a lot of LIVE Arcade games on my console, but it was stolen/broken/sold. I have since acquired a replacement, but was subsequently banned from live. My arcade games do not work. Help.
A: Arcade titles are tied to your gamertag as well as the console they were originally purchased on. If you have changed consoles, the LIVE servers verify your eligibility to play the game, by your gamertag. Your banned console prevents the connection to LIVE and prevents verifying games purchased. Your only option to play your purchased games is from an unbanned console online, or the original console offline. There is currently no work around.

Yes, this is your drive if you have never opened up your computer. Like a car, your girlfriend and your mustache, it needs the occassional care. This is probably about a year or two worth of dust. But yours could be more or less depending on your vents. If you've got a computer sitting on carpet, with one single vent in the back.. this is you buddy. No long story here. Just.. seriously.. LOOK AT THIS. Okay, just basics: If your drive (and computer) is covered in dust, this causes overheating. Overheating can lead to drive failure. Then you can pay someone like me to go in at $xx.xx/hr to retrieve your data. Just thought i'd bring a visual aid.

Wow. Yeaaa.. kinda crazy. Not half as crazy as it's gonna make those soccer moms. So, yes, I went out and got a copy of the game of the year. A hop-skippidy and an intro later and I see this bad boy above. Now you know you're in for some fun when you see these. I will say though, mine was kind of spoiled and therefore it took all of the air out of it for me but I'm actually kind of glad. Don't ask me why.

The content ensues pretty soon. If you don't live and breathe by your system and are a come and go gamer like me, even then you'll come across it in one sitting.

So I've played the game all of.. an hour? two? Who knows. The time flew by (good sign). I know my girlfriend was completely passed out by the time I got up. Anyways, first impressions: 5 stars, excellent game.

I wonder how many people are buying this on hype (like I did) and who are the Ibuyeveryfirstpersonshootergame people. Or maybe they're the IbuyeverygameperiodbecausethatswhatIdo people. Anyways, much like the iPhone, I just couldn't stay away.

I can't help but wonder if this scene mission wasn't deliberately put in to build hype. You think? I mean who cares I guess if they did. Though, it brings to light certain subjects. How much is too much? Is there a too much? When I told my girlfriend about the touchy scene mission in the game she didn't hesitate with, "It's just a game" and I think a lot of people feel that way.

I mean, just before popping in the game we were sitting down to dinner and a re-run of Bones. This show is constantly showing mangled corpses. Whether it was shown on television or actually in a museum, what makes it right? Just because you declaire something educational, it doesn't take away the creep factor. Not that I think it should matter. I think knowledge belongs to the world. I mean, I do agree with your parents having a monitoring ability as you grow and develope but you can't hide things and we've seen what censorship does to a nation. Look at North Korea and China. Jeez! I hear in North Korea certain places ban television and what TVs are out there are government programming. Woa. And Chine, well, if someone important is coming to town, all the known protestors get shackled or arrested during a visit so that it looks like everything is all peaceful on the street. TV? Radio? Oh, if we don't like it -click- and now you're not watching it. Search engine results? Ah, let's tweak those a bit.

Censorship = Ignorance.

You can choose to look at this warning and say, "Hey, I'm offended easily. Perhaps, I shouldn't." - Then again, if that's true perhaps you shouldn't be buying first person shooters. Especially with online game play. I remember the first time I was killed in small 4 on 4 match and someone "sat" on my face. Ha. All in good fun though.

Bleh, I'm tired of thinking about this. This is my final say: If a game/company/etc. does a good enough job of keeping it out of the hands of young minors to the extend that it's difficult for it to come into their normal lives, they've done their job. Everyone grows up. Everyone sees the nasty side of the world. Get over it. They did their jobs here. This notice was perfect and should be the only stop-gap measure after the game is in hand.

So they've both been out a few days now and I've had plenty of time with both Squarespace and Rockband. Let's start with the Squarespace app.

So this app. has been anxiously awaited for a long time now. It was promoted and promoted and actually did come out for all of a day until it was revoked. Apparently, there was a mix-up and the wrong version was inspected. Inspected? What's the word? What are they doing over there at Apple? Screening? Reviewing? None of these words sound right. I mean, really, how long could it take to get a couple of code monkeys on this thing, check for malicious software, check with the legal department and bam. I've even heard things about Squarespace (and others') apps being reviewed for their logos. Now, I'm not sure if you've seen Squarespace's logo lately but.. it hardly seems threatening. But I digress; the app is here. Finally!

I opened this app up only to discover my account was closed. Bleh. Long story. So, after downloading the app I had to sit and just.. look at it. Got the situation resolved quickly and fired it up again.

This thing is cool. Very cool. Very fast too. Infact, in trying to take a snap shot of the screen with the iPhone (hold home button + sleep button) it took me several attempts to take the shot you see there because it loads so quickly. I can see all my site statistics, I can post on-the-go, I can go into preview mode, edit posts and load pictures. However, and here's my grouch: what do you do when it's loaded? I think SS did a poor job on the photo integration. I've tried several times to include a photo I've taken into a post, only to get frustrated and finish it up at home. Perhaps, I'm missing something. Though, if I am.. still.. these apps should be aimed at a wider margen of skill. And if loading the photo and saving the post as a draft until you get to a PC is the way it's suppose to be, tisk tisk.

Also, I'm noticing when I go to "Manage Posts" and I want to view one of my posts as it displays on the web, I get a 404 kind of error saying it's not found? I know it's out there, so what's up? I'll research into this more. Could be user error, though I'm not sure how. We will see.

Other than the photo problem and this 404 error I find it to be very cool, very quick and really just something that makes me proud to be with SS. It is quite basic, but man is it neat. Oh, did I mention it's free?? Of course, you have to be using their services already to make any use of it but still, a little extra for their customers is just great! How can you beat free? Even if it had no photo capability it's still a free add-on.

Moving on; the Rock Band app. This thing is pretty cool. Before I dive into specifics let me address the Tap Tap Revenge guy standing up; the last time I played Tap Tap was when it first came out. I played it all of 10 minutes before getting bored with it and deleting it off my phone. It was (then) a faint reminder of Rock Band. It made me want to go home and pick up my Playstation.

However, I was speaking with a buddy of mine on the new Rock Band app I was looking forward to downloading when he brought up TTR. I told him about my experience and he basically told me much had changed. Indeed, it has.

Okay, so Rockband, visually, is very close to what you played at home. It's great. Couple cool songs and for those of you who invited people over night after night and lost countless hours of sleep and bottles of Mountain Dew, this is a great reminder of your love of the game. It makes you want to pick it right back up. I will say though, I and others find it's skill system is way off. Even on "Nightmare" songs it's far too easy. So, fail. That's not much to work towards.

However, and I've yet to try this but it has one very cool feature that I'm not sure if TTR has and that's the bluetooth/wifi versus. Very cool. Also, it has guitar, bass, drums and mic. Again, too easy but it's nice to have variety.

I will say, that if you loved Rock Band get it. Get it if you think you can spare $10.00. Yea, $10.00 guys. Bleh. That's expensive for an app, I know. It's more for hardcore fans.

But from what I've seen of the new TTR, if you're just looking to have fun note these main cons of RB:

-cost

-difficulty

-more cost (with each additional song you purchase)

So, go out and get TTR.

So for those of you who own websites you understand the dread of domain transfers.. ugh. And it looks like what I'm looking to do can't be done with JUSTHOST, so they're going to have to go bye bye. But I'm happy, because guess what? My site is on Squarespace, not molebu.com. I could change it a hundred times and my site should not be down a single day. Though, setting up the domain forwarding, you may see the site down for a tiny bit when it comes to that but that should be easy. Ugh.. and I thought I searched so hard through reviews. What really sold me on JUSTHOST was being able to have as many e-mail addresses as I liked. Apparently, they have issues with shutting down people's site that have very few visitors. Bleh. Anyways, if anyone is going through something similiar let me know. And in the meantime, any e-mails to me should go to spawninggrounds@gmail.com. =)

Last night at Midnight Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released. We'll try to get a review up later;

Attention COLD Army: