only if it is on the XBOX 360 :)

I picked up Guitar Hero World Tour over the weekend and finally played it tonight (see this post for more detail).  So far so good; the game play is consistent with previous versions of GH and similar to Rock Band.  The singing is fun, they give you points for 'vamping' and I LOVE the new wirless guitar; the strumming is very solid and 'feels' good.

I've only played a few songs on guitar (level = hard) and sang 2 songs (level = hard).  'Beat It' had some suprisingly fun riffs to play and 'About a Girl' was fun to play guitar and sing on.  I also crooned out 'Band on the Run'.  Hopefully my XBOX will stay on the up-and-up :)

cheers

jk

The last couple days my 360 has been freezing up on me (checked screen and total lockup).  I'm writing this just in case someone else runs into similar issues...

It is amazing how many articles about freezing are available online via your preferred search engine.  I've had this system almost 2 years now with very few problems to-date.

some theories -

1. Overheating system - i purchased a cooling system (the 3 fan variety), while that didn't help me directly i'm sure it is part of the issue and i plan on keeping it.  My system and power supply were moved into a more enclosed tv stand a few months ago; that + it being cold in MN and the furnace running might also have an effect.

2. About the same time I moved TV stands, i changed from the standard R W Y cable to the R G B cable.  I read someplace online that increasing from 720 to 1080 (or whatever the common dpis are) makes the system work harder and can contribute to overheating as well...so tonight i moved back to the standard component R W Y cable.  we'll see how that goes.

3. The Microsoft support link below said to perform 'maintenance' by following some arcane settings...i did that and it _may_ have helped?

4.  I had a couple of stalled downloads of demo games.  i deleted all of those from the hard drive as well..

i'm considering moving the whole thing to the basement which should help it stay cool...i just don't want to move my TV down there too :)

some articles i found:
- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907586
- http://pardontheinteraction.wordpress.com/2007/03/21/xbox-360-freezing-problem-how-do-we-fix-this/

I'll write more once i give this some time and find out more... :)

cheers

jk

I wanted to post a couple of handy links (one from an AndyG Tweet and another related article on the same site)

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/12/12-principles-for-keeping-your-code-clean/ (courtesy of AndyG's Twitter)
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/09/11/75-really-useful-javascript-techniques/

enjoy!

jk

This one came across on Twitter yesterday and I had to pass it along...my personal favorite here is the one for 'The Polyphonic Spree'

http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/11/6-rejected-versions-of-guitar-hero.html

Rock on!

jk

We've been promised flying cars for a long time...the reality is getting near :)

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/11/darpas-flying-c.html

jk

I've always appreciated Ian Poulter's game & unique sense of style (go do a google image search on it, i'll wait), but it sounds like he needs a major attitude change.  He won't play in Singapore beacuase he doesn't have the exact, right driver? Seriously, not unlike most pro golfers and better players, he could go out and compete with pretty much any driver off the rack and play well enough to win.  Driving is important, but as research shows, short game and putting accounts for a majority of your scores...

UNREAL...

Yet another example of people being the weakest link in the security chain...courtesy of http://mashable.com/2008/11/12/twitterrank/

Something called “Twitterank” has been #1 on Twitter’s trending topics for much of the afternoon, and a flurry of tweets have been coming across along the lines of “my twitterank is 30.35!” with a link to an individual page for each user on a crudely designed website. While the site doesn’t give any real details as to what the number means, users have been handing over their credentials in mass to get the latest peek at what their Twitter popularity might be. Bad idea.

Think about how many places people use login + password as authentication credentials - people use different credentials for each site, right?  lol, no way.  people stick with what works, so if i can get your Twitter creds, how many other sites can i access?

Guess I won't get a twitterrank...rats :)

jk

wow, one crazy golf story - Amateur golfer Curt Hocker made 5 holes in one (aces) last week with two of them coming last saturday.  Either this is an amazing story or the golf gods will smite him down :)

Full story can be found here: http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/8765740/Aces-wild:-Golfer-reportedly-cards-five-in-one-week?MSNHPHCP&GT1=39002

in an unrelated story, it snowed in Minneapolis overnight - my hole-in-one chances just went down...:)

Fore!

jk

I created a named Tiny URL for the Martin Fowler Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture (easier than googling for it):  http://tinyurl.com/fowlereaa

enjoy!

jk

A classic tale from fox sports...oh my...

Cops: Zamboni driver was drunk

One Zamboni driver's ice capades may land her in the penalty box.  A 34-year-old woman was charged with impaired driving after operating the Zamboni in the Kingsville Arena in Kingsville, Ont., according to the Windsor Star.  An off-duty Ontario Provincial Police sergeant arrested the woman after spectators complained about the woman's erratic driving. Several of them told the officer they thought the Zamboni driver was drunk.  The Windsor Star said the woman struck the boards around the rink several times, missed large sections of ice and at one point stopped and slumped over the steering wheel.  The woman was able to get the Zamboni off the ice, where she was arrested for impared operation of a motor vechice, the Windsor Star said. Police also found vodka in her pocket.

With a name like "The Windsor Star", suprised she wasn't drinking whiskey :)

jk