Thursday, April 21, 2005
New Site
Hey look, another post this month!
But seriously, I've actually put a little effort towards this page. Not THIS page, but a NEW page! Yes, I will be creating a new site that will allow me to post whatever I want, not just blogs. I've had a Yahoo! account for a long time, and never used it's Geocities feature (free web space). Unfortunately, I can't make a new Yahoo! account under TheProgrammingGuy, but this'll do.
There's really nothing there right now, I basically copied over this blogs basics, minus the posts. But as I get time, I will add content. I've got lots of ideas, including, but not limited to, programming, gaming, LEGOS, and much more. So check for updates soon.
But I digress. Oh wait, I never told you the site! It's http://www.geocities.com/estelrj03/index.html (Yeah, I know, I was real creative a few years ago). Check it out and catch you later.
But seriously, I've actually put a little effort towards this page. Not THIS page, but a NEW page! Yes, I will be creating a new site that will allow me to post whatever I want, not just blogs. I've had a Yahoo! account for a long time, and never used it's Geocities feature (free web space). Unfortunately, I can't make a new Yahoo! account under TheProgrammingGuy, but this'll do.
There's really nothing there right now, I basically copied over this blogs basics, minus the posts. But as I get time, I will add content. I've got lots of ideas, including, but not limited to, programming, gaming, LEGOS, and much more. So check for updates soon.
But I digress. Oh wait, I never told you the site! It's http://www.geocities.com/estelrj03/index.html (Yeah, I know, I was real creative a few years ago). Check it out and catch you later.
Monday, April 18, 2005
The Second Update of the Month!
Once again, I've delayed school work to play games. Big surprise there. I have the PSP! It requires my full attention!
So yeah, I finished Metal Gear Acid, and thought It was pretty good. I've got the guide, and am going to go through it again to *try* and get an S-rank on as many levels as possible. One thing I'm annoyed about though is that four of the passwords only work in the Japanese version of the game. Bastards.
Twisted Metal: Head On and World Tour Soccer are both ongoing, so I'll just kind of leave it at that.
Lumines. Ah, Lumines. I really love this game. I think I've unlock most of the skins and characters. I finished puzzle mode a week or two back, and just last night beat the final CPU (I didn't play it that often). I also set my high score several days ago, which is currently 522,288. Not the highest I've seen other people get, but I'm not done yet.
I've also been playing LEGO Star Wars. This game is just fun. I've beaten the first two episodes, and collected everything I can up to this point, except for like two extras. I'm waiting on Episode III until I see the movie, because I want to see it that way first before the LEGO version.
Other spare time has seen me converting videos for my PSP. I have 512 stick, so I can hold a full length movie, properly converted. If anyone is wondering how to do it, email me and I'll give you some detailed instructions on the exact process I take. But basically, I use DVD Decrypter to get the files off of the DVD into an .iso file. I'm doing this so I don't need the DVD to watch it on my computer later. I then use Dameon (sp?) Tools to mount the image to a drive. Next, I use DVD Shrink to select the movie/episode I want, select start and end frames, remove unneccessary audio and subtitles, and compress the file as much as it will let me. You can really save space with hardly any hit to quality IMO. So then I compress it with those settings, and It makes a .VOB file (like from a DVD). Finally I use PSP Video 9 to convert the file to an .mp4, using 15 frames per second, 700 some kbps, and 96 kbps stereo sound. Using this technique, I was able to get Office Space and two episodes from The Animatrix onto my 512 stick, with 2MB left. WOW! I've also already converted The Matrix and Resident Evil, and those two will pretty much take up the whole stick each. I guess I should have waited to get a gig stick, but it was kind of an impulse buy.
Well, that about wraps up another edition of me talking about what I do with my life (basically nothing). Again, if you have anything to ask, feel free to email me. There's a link on the left sidebar. Oh, by the way (in case you're keeping score), this is the first time I have two posts in one month! Amazing! I actually remembered to post (more like actually took time to post, he, he)! So until next time, keep gaming.
So yeah, I finished Metal Gear Acid, and thought It was pretty good. I've got the guide, and am going to go through it again to *try* and get an S-rank on as many levels as possible. One thing I'm annoyed about though is that four of the passwords only work in the Japanese version of the game. Bastards.
Twisted Metal: Head On and World Tour Soccer are both ongoing, so I'll just kind of leave it at that.
Lumines. Ah, Lumines. I really love this game. I think I've unlock most of the skins and characters. I finished puzzle mode a week or two back, and just last night beat the final CPU (I didn't play it that often). I also set my high score several days ago, which is currently 522,288. Not the highest I've seen other people get, but I'm not done yet.
I've also been playing LEGO Star Wars. This game is just fun. I've beaten the first two episodes, and collected everything I can up to this point, except for like two extras. I'm waiting on Episode III until I see the movie, because I want to see it that way first before the LEGO version.
Other spare time has seen me converting videos for my PSP. I have 512 stick, so I can hold a full length movie, properly converted. If anyone is wondering how to do it, email me and I'll give you some detailed instructions on the exact process I take. But basically, I use DVD Decrypter to get the files off of the DVD into an .iso file. I'm doing this so I don't need the DVD to watch it on my computer later. I then use Dameon (sp?) Tools to mount the image to a drive. Next, I use DVD Shrink to select the movie/episode I want, select start and end frames, remove unneccessary audio and subtitles, and compress the file as much as it will let me. You can really save space with hardly any hit to quality IMO. So then I compress it with those settings, and It makes a .VOB file (like from a DVD). Finally I use PSP Video 9 to convert the file to an .mp4, using 15 frames per second, 700 some kbps, and 96 kbps stereo sound. Using this technique, I was able to get Office Space and two episodes from The Animatrix onto my 512 stick, with 2MB left. WOW! I've also already converted The Matrix and Resident Evil, and those two will pretty much take up the whole stick each. I guess I should have waited to get a gig stick, but it was kind of an impulse buy.
Well, that about wraps up another edition of me talking about what I do with my life (basically nothing). Again, if you have anything to ask, feel free to email me. There's a link on the left sidebar. Oh, by the way (in case you're keeping score), this is the first time I have two posts in one month! Amazing! I actually remembered to post (more like actually took time to post, he, he)! So until next time, keep gaming.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Fun Times
Whoah, it's been a while. I really need to update this site more often. It's just... I have so many games to play, and so little time to play them. But anyways, let's begin the update, shall we?
First off, I got the PSP. ... Meh. ... ... OMFG! This thing is friggin' awesome! I hardly do anything else in my free time. But with Twisted Metal: Head On, Lumines, Metal Gear Acid, and World Tour Soccer who wouldn't, right?
Lumines is a crazy game to just pick up and play for several minutes, but it also provides for some major challenges. Getting all of the puzzles solved is very difficult, and, of course, there's always the enticement of beating your high score.
Twisted Metal: Head On is a great twisted metal game. The game play is fun, but still provides a challenge. I unfortunately can't get on line, but I never really planned on doing much online gaming anyway. This one is also pretty easy to pick up an play, each level usually only takes several minutes (usually).
Metal Gear Acid is a different story. Definitely not a pick up and play for five minutes type of game. But it can be very addicting. It combines the stealth strategy of Metal Gear with addicting card collection (brings back memories of Pokemon). Overall, the game was a bit short, the story really doesn't belong with the other games, but it was a great change of pace for the series. I think Konami did a great job with this one.
Then there's World Tour Soccer. I've always wanted a soccer game, and this was a good opportunity. I've never played any of the other brands, so World Tour is good enough for me. It can still put up one hell of a challenge.
Well, I think that's about enough talk about the PSP in this post. If I talk too much more about, I'll go into withdrawals. So without further ado...
I also got my motherboard a while ago. Man, is that thing sweet. It came with so much extra stuff! Now all I need is... the rest... of my computer. But fear not! They will come soon enough (granted I have the money). I have everything I could need on my wish list at NewEgg (great site), so all I need to do is actually order it. Boy, is it going to be one tricked out computer. I'll post everyting I'm getting sometime when I'm at home.
So, another extremely long post is done. Man, I really need to post more, cause I know I forgot something. But anyways, I'll leave you alone, so I can go and play some PSP.
First off, I got the PSP. ... Meh. ... ... OMFG! This thing is friggin' awesome! I hardly do anything else in my free time. But with Twisted Metal: Head On, Lumines, Metal Gear Acid, and World Tour Soccer who wouldn't, right?
Lumines is a crazy game to just pick up and play for several minutes, but it also provides for some major challenges. Getting all of the puzzles solved is very difficult, and, of course, there's always the enticement of beating your high score.
Twisted Metal: Head On is a great twisted metal game. The game play is fun, but still provides a challenge. I unfortunately can't get on line, but I never really planned on doing much online gaming anyway. This one is also pretty easy to pick up an play, each level usually only takes several minutes (usually).
Metal Gear Acid is a different story. Definitely not a pick up and play for five minutes type of game. But it can be very addicting. It combines the stealth strategy of Metal Gear with addicting card collection (brings back memories of Pokemon). Overall, the game was a bit short, the story really doesn't belong with the other games, but it was a great change of pace for the series. I think Konami did a great job with this one.
Then there's World Tour Soccer. I've always wanted a soccer game, and this was a good opportunity. I've never played any of the other brands, so World Tour is good enough for me. It can still put up one hell of a challenge.
Well, I think that's about enough talk about the PSP in this post. If I talk too much more about, I'll go into withdrawals. So without further ado...
I also got my motherboard a while ago. Man, is that thing sweet. It came with so much extra stuff! Now all I need is... the rest... of my computer. But fear not! They will come soon enough (granted I have the money). I have everything I could need on my wish list at NewEgg (great site), so all I need to do is actually order it. Boy, is it going to be one tricked out computer. I'll post everyting I'm getting sometime when I'm at home.
So, another extremely long post is done. Man, I really need to post more, cause I know I forgot something. But anyways, I'll leave you alone, so I can go and play some PSP.
