Last October, I wrote about the upcoming game, Crysis, which looked really cool with its fully destructible environments.  Crysis has apparently been picked up by Electronic Arts, but there’s still no release date set.  I hate vaporware.
     But, that’s okay… Crysis is probably a little too game-like for me anyway…

     A few years ago, I got hooked on Operation: Flashpoint.  What it lacked visually, it more than made up for with its gameplay and impressive artificial intelligence.  Check out the trailer…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujS4wJ0RUcY

     It was more of a “combat simulator” than a game, which caused a lot of people a lot of frustration.  One bad move, and a whole battallion of soldiers would come shooting.  And you didn’t die instantly — you’d get a crippled leg, or a weak arm that couldn’t hold a rifle sight steady.  Unsteady and slow to react, eventually you’d take a headshot and die.

     Bohemeia Interactive really did a great job on it.  But … what else would you expect, considering they’re the ones who brought Virtual Battlefield Systems 1 and VBS1 to the U.S. Military?
     They have a ton of press about the release of VBS2, as well…

     Last month, BI released Armed Assault in Europe, but didn’t have a U.S. distributor yet.  Fortunately, Atari picked it up, but the name is a little different.  ArmA: Combat Operations is due for release on May 1st (and available for pre-order at Amazon!)
     ArmA is based much of the the technology found in VBS2.  The demo, which features Capture the Flag, Cooperative and Capture the Island multiplayer scenarios, is pretty fun if you get in with some good players.  Cooperative is the best way to experience it, in my opinion, as it relies on teamwork and tactics to clear a town of enemy soldiers.
     Even though this thing is unofficially “Operation: Flashpoint 2” (they weren’t allowed to use the name, thanks to their last distributor), there’s been a ton of work on the graphics engine.  It’s pretty stunning, actually.  Check out the video Dslyecxi made to get an idea…

     Ya know, I have a lotta friends.  If we’re gonna co-ordinate a ride-a-long, I expect a lotta things.  Some people are gonna be there.  Last night, I co-ordinated a ride home, which, of course, didn’t happen.

     Can you say “FLAKES,” boys and girls?  (Yes, MULTIPLE.)

     I knew you could.

     Most of my friends are pretty responsible.  But I have others who are, for lack of a better word, flakes.  Sure, they can write a blog about how apologetic they are about whatever they’ve done most recently, but damned if they’ll ever just come out and tell me…. It counts just a little more.
     I hate it, when I’m out with friends, and I have to put up with the constantly vibrating text alerts asking for advice about ridiculous things.  “What should I do?  What should I say?  Where should I go?”

     Now, notice it’s only 11PM.

     *shrug*

     I would so love to be an irresponsible prick now and again, and not have to take any responsibility for my own actions.  Instead, I usually end up doing all the hand-holding.
     Now, the addendum to that is … I made the decision to trust the flakes,  anyway.  And, I sincerely hope the idiots got home okay.  *shakes head*

     Me, I made sure I did and got another ride.

     One of the biggest things that sickens me about many “Christian” groups is their propensity to back up their wicked, hateful ideas with obscure Biblical references.

     By now, most everyone in the country has heard something about the so-called “Reverend,” Fred Phelps, of the Westboro Baptist Church — either heard about him personally, or the work he’s done as an Anti-American (“God Hates the USA!”), as an instigator of violence against homosexuals (“God Hates Fags!”), or as an instigator of hatred against Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Roman Catholics, George Bush, Jews, Women, Rye Bread, Israel.  Carpet, and your next door neighbor’s cat.  And Catholics.  And Jews.  And Fruit Roll-ups.
     What self-respecting Christian could possibly follow an asshat like this?  Apparently, up to about 200.  The number frequently changes, mind you, and could be as low as 15.

     The WBC is labeled a Hate Group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and is rightfully on the Anti-Defamation League watch list.  The group is so hateful, in fact, that even Michael Moore and the Ku Klux Klan have attempted to counter them.

     He and his “faithful followers” have protested the funerals of U.S. Soldiers, and are now turning their vileness towards victims of Virginia Tech shooting:

WBC will preach at the funerals of the Virginia Tech students killed on campus during a shooting rampage April 16, 2007. You describe this as monumental horror, but you know nothing of horror — yet. Your bloody tyrant Bush says he is ‘horrified’ by it all. You know nothing of horror — yet. Your true horror is coming. ‘They shall also gird themselves with sackloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads’ (Eze. 7:18).

Why did this happen, you ask? It’s simple. Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today, and all they got for their effort was terror. Then, the LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children. Was God asleep while this took place? Was He on vacation? Of course not. He willed this to happen to punish you for assailing His servants.

     But in reading the above, what strikes me most is that Phelps claims that God inspired a man to kill our children as punishment for our country’s involved in Iraq.  When I consider the fact that Phelps has repeatedly been anti-Muslim, I find his credibility in this case pretty weak.  But, apparently, anywhere from 14-200 people (discounting Phelps, himself) are able to ignore that little inconsistency…

     And to debunk it a little further…
     Back in the Garden of Eden, Cain became jealous of his brother, Abel, because he felt that God favored Abel.  While they were out in the fields, Cain killed Abel.  Why didn’t God protect Abel?  Was God asleep while this took place?  Was He on vacation?  Of course not.
     God allows us Free Will.  That was the gift of the Forbidden Fruit.

     There is Separation of Church and State in this country.  Religious Freedom is guaranteed by the First Amendment — “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”
     What that Amendment means is that they’re not going to come and shut down Mr. Phelps “Church” because his Religion and Free Speech is protected.  Put simply, they stay out of his domain, so long as he and his followers don’t take action on the garbage they’re preaching…

     “The hell with your flag.  The hell with your fag army, your fag courts, your fag-run government,” says Phelps.  “This is the hypocritical, fag-infested, fag-run United States of America and we’re supposed to respect that fag rag flag?”
     Yes, he is supposed to Respect it.  This Country, and that Flag that it represents, are what gave him the right to spread his filth in the name of Religion.

     I would also have them remember that Government will stay out of their Church’s domain only so much as their Church stays out of the Government’s domain.  With every legal line they cross while spouting their politics and hatred, they become less and less a Church, and more and more a Hate Group who spout Bible Verses.

Tips: Slublog, LissaKay

     This morning, at 6AM, my telephone rang.
“Hello?”
I was greeted by a recorded message telling me about the wonders of Globalization, and how Offshoring can help my business.  I hung up.  The phone rang again, and when I answered, the recording continued.

I called back the number of my caller ID — 703-738-6669.  It took two tries to get to a human being, who explained that she was with Arctern Incorporated, and was based in — no big surprise — India.

I asked her why their company was calling people in the United States at 6AM.
She began reading a broken-English essay about offshoring.
I told her that at 6AM, no one was open to that kind of drivel.  I also informed her that since I’m on US/Eastern, it was later here than anywhere else in the US, and that her and company have NO BUSINESS calling ANYONE in the United States at that time.
“Sir, perhaps you should speak to our marketing department.”
“I will not speak to your marketing company Thrive Themes.  You are officially informed that you are not to call this number ever again, and right now, you’ll be extremely lucky if I don’t file a nuisance complaint and have your Fairfax, Virginia telephone number disconnected.”
At that point, I hung up.

Arctern’s website lists all sorts of buzzwords.  “Outsourcing.”  “Offshoring.”  “Technology.”  “Research.”

To learn more about the latest trend on websites with online services, look at these guys – WebDesign499.

I only consider that their “Outsouced,” “Offshore” corporation was unable to leverage “Technology” and “Research” Time Zones before they started mass-dialing the United States at 6AM.

Arctern Incorporated get the Asshat-of-the-Day award.

Drama, drama, drama. Some of us tire of hearing it over and over. However, there are many, many folks out there who do nothing but sit and wait for drama, any drama, to happen.

They feed on what they are fed until a new feeding frenzy starts up.
Honestly, since Monday, how much have you heard about Anna Nicole and her circus of drama?

Not much, huh? Because the new frenzy has started. They’ll run the Virginia Tech angle into the ground until the next huge blog of drama drops into the laps of the media.

It’s not a new deal… to exploit the sorrow, sadness, tragedy of others.

• Diana & Dodi
• JFK Jr. & party
• The D. C. Sniper
• Jennifer “Runaway Bride” Wilbanks

Who cares?? Not me, but apparently lot of folks get sucked into huge drama to escape from their own.