To Install? Or Not to Install? That is the Question.

So you got a brand new Xbox 360 and you are enjoying all the new features that have only been made available to the 360 community a couple of short months ago.  For example, the ability to install you games to your hard drive, thus making it run quieter, cooler, and in some situations much faster.  Here I am going to take a game by game look at the basics of installing.  How long does it take to install, how long does it take to boot installed or un-installed, and amount of space required to name a few.  All these numbers many vary depending on console, but I can tell you what mine is and that should give you a good idea if you wish to take up valuable space on your hard drive.  Let’s get started:

 

Grand Theft Auto 4 was most people game of the year last year so I found it fitting to start with this one.  This game is unique in that it doesn’t have a main menu, it auto boots you directly in a previously played game, so GTA4 will be a simple one.

From Dash to game playing uninstalled: 1:06.45

From Dash to game playing installed: 1:05.67

Install time: Just under 12 minutes (11:53)

Install Space: 6.8 gigs

Load times not much of a difference here, ONE WHOLE Second!!!  So if time is what you are after you may wanna skip this title. As with all titles it will run quieter and cooler so keep that in mind when deciding weather or not to install.Got times for me to post?? email me at kelticrage@gmail.com

Microsoft now recycling GamerTags

Now this may not be news to anyone but me, but Microsoft is now reusing old discarded Gamertags.

I was playing Halo 3 about a month ago when I saw something oddly fimaliar in the lobby, a Gamer by the name of Black Rage.   I find this disturbing because from 5 years ago until 6 months ago I was known as Black Rage.

So you ask, what’s the big deal Xbox Live has 14 million users, of course they need to recycle old gamertags??  Well six months ago I called Microsoft because I was being harassed by a few individuals with racist motivations and was informed that due to my name I could not hold them responsible and that I brought it on myself.   And do to my Gamertag causing a uproar in the community I would need to pay the ten dollars to change my Gamertag or risk losing my ability to play online for good under this account.  I was outraged, but in the end I caved, mostley because I wasn’t actually Black.  So I called Microsoft back, gave them my reference number and asked them simply, if I change my Gamertag, will someone else be able to use it, the answer was a POSITIVE NO.  I was told that MS didn’t want people to ruin my good standing in the community of XBL because someone took my old gamertag.  So I changed it to Keltic Rage.

Not sure if I am really that upset over this, more irritated then anything I think that they completly wouldn’t help to shut down a few racist A-holes instead punishing me, while lieing about there processes to shut me up and costing me ten dollars.

Moving to Canada?? Here let me help you.

So, today is a new day and I was finally hoping to have a day off from the election and the constant argument that goes alone with that living here in North Carolina.  Then, at 9:06am I receive this text message “RIP America 4 July 1776 – 4 Nov 2008″, I guess this is just the beginning uh???

For the next several months the new argument is going to be “I’m moving to Canada” well, I’m here to help.  Here is going to be everything you need to move to Canada, if I am missing anything let me know and I’ll correct my post and give you credit at the bottom of article.

Easiest thing to do is simply want to go to school in Canada.  It would seem that you can get a student visa pretty easily. In fact if you are under 22, and have a acceptance letter from any major college in Canada the student visa only cost $75!!!

Second, so you do something unusually for your income??? Find a job in Canada, if you and your future employer can proof reasonably that you are the only one qualified for that position then you can get a work visa for $150.  From what I gather however expect a full background check by the Canadian super police.

Third, Get married to a Canadian!! Now that sounds fun eh?? I actually though this would be the easiest, but from what I gather this proves to be the most difficult.  A quick Google search shows nightmare after nightmare that marriage is just the beginning.  Immigration policies seem to be in such a flux in Canada that no two agencies can agree on what is necessary with paperwork, money, and background checks, so prepared to do all of the above if you plan on getting married.

Lastly, and perhaps the most easiest and hypocritical is get a temporary visa for vacation purposes and just stay there illegally.  Canada isn’t known for there tight immigration reform so getting caught is unlikely.

I claim no responsibility for jail time, excessive fees, S.T.D.’s, lost wages, frostbite, lost dignity, obsession with maple leafs, or funny accents moving to Canada may cause.

As the World wins one discrimination battle, we loose another.

As we sit on the Eve of History as Barack Obama has overwelmingly been announced the U.S.A.’s first black President we have lost in another battle, Proposition 8.

Most news outlets are reporting that most voters in Florida and Arizona have voted that marriage is diffined as a union between a man and a woman  While California is still to close to call the votes would indicate that California will agree with Florida and Arizona.

It would seem that America still has some work to do on discriminating against the Gay lifestyle, America is still bigoted.   Gay marriage is a battle that can not be won due to the overly religious nature of this great country.  Civil Unions can however but this movement needs help, not from Gay people, not from Democrats, and not from Republicans, i needs help from straight people.  It’s not until marriage stops being the term used for all unions between two people, meaning that marriage is a religious term created by Christianity, Catholic, and then the Jewish faith.  It’s not until traditional relationships that do not necessarily follow a specific faith create a new movement, a movement of Civil Unions.  Civil Unions needs to be a option for everyone without fear of discrimination of discrimination from the religious factions that pollute this nation.  When this happens and marriage is a term left to religion, while Civil Unions are left for everyone else Gay people will be allowed to connect legally.

“GOTCHA” 3rd graders

With all the talk of the Gotcha Media I found this interesting.

Brandon Garcia, a 3rd grader from a Colerodo sent is a letter to Governor Sara Palin on a local NBC News staion and asked the question;

What does the Vice President do? and her response was;

[T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.

Now, for those of us that have forgotten the costitution let me remind you.

Here’s the village idiot answering a basic constitutional question.

John McCain and the Keating Five

In 1987 McCain was involved in a economic scandal during the last economic down turn.  This scandel cost the American Tax payer THREE BILLION dollars in 1987(which is roughly almost 6 billion today)

he Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The five senators, Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), and Donald W. Riegle (D-MI), were accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of a regulatory investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). The FHLBB subsequently backed off taking action against Lincoln.

Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed in 1989, at a cost of over $3 billion to the federal government. Some 23,000 Lincoln bondholders were defrauded and many elderly investors lost their life savings. The substantial political contributions that Keating had made to each of the senators, totalling $1.3 million, attracted considerable public and media attention. After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and Donald Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings, with Cranston receiving a formal reprimand. Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised “poor judgment”. From Wiki

Obama’s Tax plan.

With all the talk from McCain about Obama raising taxes, here is the reality; odds are 20 to 1 that your taxes will either be dropped, or stay the same.

Here is the Obama tax calculator, how much are you going to save?? We are saving almost two thousand dollars a year.

Obama Tax Calculator

New Commitments

Hey all(of zero)

So, haven’t really been writing or maintaining this well have I?? Well, I think that is going to change and I will start writing in here weekly at least.

So, my weekend was interesting, went over to the neighbors house Saturday night and had tacos and beer(both of which I Adore). Then we play some Wii and Rock Band 2, RB2 was fun, not so sure about the Wii.

But Sunday is the real news, My folks, wife, and myself went to the Barack Obama Rally in Fayetteville NC for there early voting push.  And while I didn’t vote because it was to late by the time I got back in town I ad a great time.  Senate Obama spoke mainly about the economic crisis the world now faces and offered solutions to fix them.  He also gave a great sincere thank you to General Colin Powell for endorsing him earlier that morning.  (Video Below, more after the jump)

The MSNBC Story

The crowd here was AMAZING!!!  It was prodomettly black (80/20) and the energy in the 10,200 seat colliseum was off the chart giving all the Obama chants and the never ending wave there were in that place, not to mention the hour long wait for a hot dog which wasn’t very good.  I must say I felt honered to be a part of such a celebration of freedom.

So anyway, that’s what I got for this week, check back for more later.

The Crowd

Barack thanks Collin Powell.

Closing remarks.

It should be noted I took a video of the whole speech and then promply deleted it by mistake.

Unreal Tournament 3 Xbox 360 Voice Chat Fix

For those of us late to the Game Unreal Tournament has reached our grubby little hands. However if you have played over LIVE then you may have noticed something, the Voice Chat is AWFUL!!!! This is due to the fact that not only do you have to press right on the D-Pad, you have to hold it down while talking, and shooting, and trying not to click down therefor tripping over yourself.

I do have a fix for this awful game play. Follow these simple and quick instructions below each every every time to arrive to a new game and you’ll be fine.

1) Press and hold right on D-Pad

2) While right is still pressed, unplug Headset/Mic

3) Release D-Pad you should notice your mic icon is still on in the right/center of your screen.

4) Plug Headset/Mic in

5) Please tell this to other people.

When We Left Earth

OK, I said I wasn’t reviewing anything, I farted. Besides, I’m lucky if anyone actually reads this.

When We Left Earth…..

I came across this little gem via a friend of mine who believes in little green men and thought I would enjoy this, he was right. I consider myself pretty well verse in the history of our space program over the decades but the amount of detail in this Documentary is astounding, I learned that I knew very little and I am only on episode one at the moment of writing.

One of the many things done differently is that it’s all in beautiful HD. Although it uses alot of old footage which obviously isn’t in HD but everything else is. Speaking of old footage I have never seen so much “new” footage, from the conversations at mission control, the Gemini 9’s successful space walks, failed jet pack rides, to the gruelling test they put the astronauts though.

Another is the length, Running it at six hours and while that alone doesn’t make it great it does allow for them to get of topic a bit and share some of the pukiness that they were experiencing. This kind of….detours makes for a very enjoyable ride.

But finally what makes this shine about all the rest is the personal interviews it shares with us. It has Buzz, Glenn, and nost of the still living astronauts of legends discussing how they were feeling at every giving moment. We find out that Buzz was a real bad ass never giving into fear, even when fear would have made any normal man fart himself silly. We hear from Mission control as they explain the technical things going on at base. Telling us that they never really knew what was going to happen and how they dealt with the surprise problems that happens. I think my favorite line was..”We forgot to add the Earth rotation into the equation” Dunno about you guys, but that sounds pretty important to me.

Anyway, that’s all I got, really am enjoying it I recommend it.