General Stuff

Anyone want a free copy of Half-life 2 and Half-life 2: Episode One with no strings attached?

Just leave a comment or drop me an email. I've only got one copy to give, so first come first serve.

I just got the Orange Box from Valve for Episode 2, Portal and TF2. It also included Half-life 2 and Episode 1, but since I already own them, I can gift them away.

When Blockbuster offered it's Total Access it seemed too good to be true. For the same price as Netflix you could get double the movies by returning them at the store. Now blockbuster has limited my in-store returns to 5 per month, unless I cough up 7 more dollars a month for same plan I currently have. The strange thing is that it's not a universal thing for everyone. It's not even regional. They now base the plans that they will offer you based on your spending history at the store! Turns out that if you've been buying candy or new movies regularly, or just not renting that many movies, they may keep you on the unlimited plan. If you've been renting too many movies and not buying anything at the store, they may not renew your plan at all!

I don't know how I feel about all this, seems almost too personal. Imagine if Wallmart started to charge you more than everyone else for certain items, because you kept buying the stuff on sale.

Then there is the fact that the Total Access has only been out for a year. Giving the customer something then turning around and immediately taking it away is a good way to piss the customer off. Taking it away for some and not other's is a guaranteed way to piss them off.

It's not like it's the first time Blockbuster has pulled some shady marketing. Remember the whole "No late fees" campaign? Sure there was no "late fee", just a "restocking fee" if you return your movie late.

I have to say that the old NetFlix account is looking pretty good again.

You can get all the details on the blockbuster deal here: http://www.knowzy.com/total-access-changes.htm

It's new and improved!

That old and inferior blog had to go.

I finally got Verizon FIOS installed. 15mb download and 2mb upload, and Speakeasy's speed test actually confirms this. The installation went really smooth. The install took about 2 hours and went exactly as described. Some new cable in the wall and some some new phone equipment in the garage, and I've got the fastest Internet connection I've ever had for less loot than the last one cost.

Verizon hooked me up with an Actiontec M142WR wireless router. I haven't used it too much for anything other than my one computer, but it sure looks impressive. It's got 4 ports one the back for wired connections, a fat antenna, a vertical stand, and some nice looking firewall software. It can also handle coax, supposedly Verizon will start allowing you to use your current cable wiring if you don't want to have CAT 5 cable run through your house. At the end of the the year, they should be bringing the TV service to my area. With Comcast/Adelpha raising prices yet again, you can be sure I'll be one of the first to switch.

Back to the point, because I switched ISP's I lost my static IP. So now the blog is hosted by GoDaddy.com It should be a lot faster and more reliable now.

My new job is going to allow me to work only 4 days a week, so I plan on using that 5th day for blogging and starting development on a new exciting project in early March.

It's going to be a great year.