Pixel Theories | a gamer getting older...

By now you already know...

...that I am a big geek.  I've been watching Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DSN, and Voyager) since I was seven.  I first played VG's on the Coleco at age 3, I am a comic book nerd, I've been tinkering with computers for the last ten years, my favorite shows and movies tend to those in the Sci-Fi genre, and the books that I read typically have to do with all of the above.

It is by no surprise then that I read novels such as Cat's Cradle, a 60's Sci-Fi fiction with satirical references to religion, social hierarchy, and politics.  This book is legend among Sci-Fi readers, however I have just read it for the first time.  Vonnegut brings you in the world of a religious figure known as Bokonon, who has developed an intriguing religion on a Caribbean isle.  Our protagonist, a journalist and a man of destiny, is drawn to this island through various run-ins and events while investigating the legacy of a dead scientist.  Along the writer's way he befriends a midget, discovers a mythological super weapon, and meets the woman of his dreams.

Cat's Cradle is an informative and intriguing window to the world that we live in.  And even though the fiction is over 40 years old, it's parallels can be seen in all aspects of our modern lives.  If you haven't read it then perhaps it's because someone in your "karass" hasn't informed you; until now.

LOST S4 Finale predictions.

Ok, I don't really follow the blogs, or the forums, etc.  But I have a few theories about what's going down on the LOST S4 finale.  So without further ado here they are:

- We finally find out what Jack did in Phuket.
- We get to see the Temple and Jacob.
- Walt makes another appearance.
- Juliette dies.
- A unexpected ending.

Granted the last is what we all expect of LOST these days.  But if I am only right about one of these predictions I'll be happy.  Short season or not, the cast and writers of LOST are at the top of their game.

Sony/BD win; consumers/HD-DVD lose.

Well it's been over for about six weeks now.  The HD format war has finally come to an end.  BD's will be in every store on Earth and unfortunately it's you and I who are going to suffer for it.  Why?  The repercussions of a non competitive market will mean price hikes, less sales, and fewer hardware selections.  First all BD's are really expensive, and though manufacturers say that they'll eventually be able to curb costs, it's likely that early adopters will go broke quick.  Even if you're only and end user and not a programmer/power user, you'll have to pay premiums to rent BD's through services like Netflix.  And with a death grip on the HD format, $14.99 BD's will go the way of the dinosaur.

All of this just proves that with clever marketing, a "blu" dvd case and enough idiots, you can get consumers to betray their very own interests.  With few firmware updates since exposure to the market, disastrous backwards compatibility functionality and only one blu ray player on the market with Wi-Fi capability (the Playstation 3).  It's no wonder that Blu-Ray is believed to be the better format. 

Forget about the benefits of HD-DVD: consistent backwards compatibility, cheaper discs, web enabled features, and dual format discs.  It's a good thing we got rid of this POS tech!  Thankfully the company behind failed Betamax and UMD formats, fictitious movie critics and crappy DRM is saving you from making another mistake by providing Blu-Ray; the proprietary format for moronic consumers and Sony employees!

Breathing life into the 360

Well I am trying to turn around some Xbox 360's with the RROD or RLOD, whatever you'd like to call them.  Anyway right now I am 1 for 2.  I bought the first unit for $60 from a kid off of Craigslist.  The exterior was in decent condition, some spilled cola on the side and little nicks and scratches along the case.  This one I was able to fix, with many of the vids on the net.  The following pics were taken with my cell phone.
 
Unfortunately you can't see it, but the bottom of the case on both sides has been scuffed pretty badly, and there is a noticeable stain on the top of the unit.  I will eventually mod this unit, though I am unsure of what color/design etc.
 
As you can see the second step was making a big mess all over my wife's new kitchen table.  Being that this was my first attempt at fixing a unit I wanted to make sure I had plenty of light as well as the laptop handy in case I missed anything.  The end result was a success, though I never took a picture of that. 

I moved on to the second unit, which I bought off of eBay.  This unit was in worse condition, unlike the first model, this unit had been opened several times, and smelled of what could only be described as a foot like odor.  That being said I had my reservations about being able to bring this model back to life.
 
It's when I see something like this I sometimes I wonder about the gaming republic.  How do these people treat the items that give them so much enjoyment like crap?  It makes absolutely no sense to me at all.

 
As you can see, the more I delved, the less hope I had for this console.
 
When flipping the motherboard over I found the eraser method on the bottom of some of the RAM chips.  At this point all hope has been lost.  This time the end result, was an unsuccessful, after removing the X-clamps you see in the above I found the motherboard had been seared beyond repair.  I am keeping the parts, and hopefully I can find a broken model to cannibalize for parts, or vice versa with this unit.

Never made it to Emerald City Comicon

I never made it to the Emerald City Comicon.  You really have to wonder about the timing of this expo though, it's during Mother's Day weekend.  Horrible timing in my opinion.  Anyway, I've been looking at Flickr pages and reading up on the con, It doesn't look like I missed a whole lot.  But still would've liked to attend; I was on the fence about buying the limited edition Hulk piece.  So perhaps someone can change the date of 09's ECC.  Cause this year's scheduling was crap.