The Workermonkey

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

recent home tech upgrade 

# posted by Supreme Monkey Overlord @ 11/30/2010 10:25:00 PM

i recently purchased a new TV and PS3. fucking amazing. for the first few days i had them both set up with the standard cords from the boxes (coax from the cable box and composite from the PS3) and it looked great. then i got a pair of HDMI cables and an updated cable box and SHAZAM! cream in your pants quality picture. its a 46" 1080p 120hz samsung. the picture quality is awesome and the playstation looks amazing. you'll see Star Wars: Force Unleashed II on the screen in the pic and the game looked 100% better when i switched from the component cables out of the box to an HDMI cable. stupid different. you'll also see my old TV turned away in shame, it knows what it did wrong. this past holiday weekend i brought it up to VT and left it at my parents house to live out its life in a home appliance purgatory. packed away in storage, never to be watched again. blueray looks fuck your mother good and the games are scary awesome. the move controls are pretty sweet too, far more accurate than a Wii. lets see if sony will actually make games for it. the online network being free is pretty great too. paying for Xbox live kind of sucks. i'm getting netflix through the PS3 as well, so far thats been very convenient. i can do Hulu as well. if there was a way to get live sporting events through the ps3 too, i could cancel my cable bill. an HD antenna could get some, but not enough for me to cancel cable yet.

after upgrading my cable box to get more HD channels for the new TV, I've been having trouble with my cable provider, Comcast. i get like 75% of the HD channels i should, the other 25% plays for 3 seconds, then freezes and gives me an error message that i'm not authorized to view that channel and to call them. so i have. after three separate attempts on three different nights, they finally decided to send a tech out yesterday. so i had to be home between 5and 7 pm to visit this guy. i was. at 7, i had gotten no call and no one had shown up. picked up the phone, got the rep, the first thing he said to me was "it looks like the call was closed, are you sure no one was out there?". are you fucking with me? no i just missed some strange guy in my apartment playing with my tv. so the guy finally got a hold of someone in "dispatch" and said i'd get a call in 15 minutes so they could still come that night. so sure, i waited like an idiot. well an hour later i had no call. called back, hey guys, no one called or showed up, WTF?!? the next thing they said to me was "well no one is working right now". no shit. or ever. so to pay me off they offered 20$ off my bill and a free month of HBO and Starz. fine. just come fix it on Saturday when i have time to be here. Ok, so the appointment is set for Saturday.

the real kick in the pants now, is that HBO and Starz aren't working either. great, thanks for the free month of channels that don't work.

fuck you comcast. fuck you.

3 comments

Sweet. What is the difference between HDMI cables and regular coax? And yeah, I've heard nothing but horror stories about Comcast.

By  Brancibeer, at Wednesday, December 01, 2010 11:04:00 PM  

Level 39: NoBrainRequired
Level 28: PreggosaurusRex

The key to a successful marriage is to find things you both can enjoy together. In our case, those things turn out to be Headshots and Domination...

By  T, at Thursday, December 02, 2010 11:48:00 AM  

HDMI cables do make a difference. and you're not really missing out, we have cox cable and they suck too.

sweet new setup. i havent played ps3 yet. i think ski may have it. we haven't seen them in a while...

By  josh, at Thursday, December 02, 2010 6:52:00 PM  

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Monday, November 29, 2010

The Impending War! 

# posted by wyldshaman @ 11/29/2010 07:58:00 AM

Well Tim i cant get AAG(Axis and Allies Global) out of my mind. Read a blog about a game of it and it sounds awesome, basically AA50 but bigger. And we all know bigger is better. It is a weekend long game though, roughly 16 hours.

And just to make things more difficult, i want to include some fog of war into the game. And possibly some espionage, mostly spies to reveal fog of war. Here are some related posts on the matter; Fog of War/House Rules, Naval Fog of War, FOG/MI.

From the way it sounds from a historical point of view, most land movements were basically know, except maybe within the country of origin. Any major offensive would be known around the world.

So right now im thinking, all units are purchased before anyone takes their turn and alotted to factories, purchases and allotments would be hidden from opponents view, but double checked by ally(for some basic game protection). At the end of everyone's turns, completion of a full round, factory orders would be completed and placed by everyone. All players would get a chance to see the new map layout and then the next purchase orders would be put in and allotted. Some Pros: More realistic, as u would need to plan for future, but not be able to instantly replace units just lost in battle. Players must try to anticipate others purchases as opposed to just reacting(again instantly) to what another player just purchased. Another BIG one, it would actually speed up the game, as purchasing in a major time eater within each persons turn, this gets it all done at once and together, streamlining it. Cons: The only major con i see is it puts Germany at a slight disadvantage when being attacked as they wont have their defenders placed before the allies turns, but a remedy might simply be that a player can mobilize half of production units if a factory containing province is attacked.

This simple change will add a bit of land fog of war and be fun, what do u think? Now as for Naval Fog of War....

Do the normal setup in the beginning of the game and let everyone look at the map. Then each player can divide/create a number of "Naval Groups" from within the units on the board, generally represented by one ship, with the other ships being hidden off board, ie; Japanese Battleship Group, US Carrier Group, for multiples(once u run out of basic ships) use the colored chips, German Red/White Destroyer Group ext. For single ships, such as ships just out of factory, place them as normal, and then on your turn u can move and then group them, or create a new naval group.

This will reward astute players who note their opponents naval groups, as ship type and number will be known from the beginning, though formations might change. For intelligence gathering, one could do a "fly over," or a "sub sighting, which could be defended(if desired) by corresponding defending fighters/destroyers. Otherwise the Naval Group owner must tell the intel gather' the exact makeup of the fleet with the single exception that they may A. Add one ship to the list, B. Subtract one ship, or C. Change the type of one ship within the fleet. This does not change the actual makeup of the fleet, just the "sighting" report sent back to HQ. Note: Planes are not reported, but if a Carrier is reported, one would assume planes would be there too. This "sighting report" is only done if the Naval Group's commander does not/can not defend against the sighting, otherwise the battle is resolved as normal with all combatants viewable on the battleboard.

Subs would be handled differently, for each sub a player owns they would receive two sub "blips" each would be moved as per normal sub rules on the board, but only one would be real. This would represent sub communication interceptions or rumors as to their movements. Also limiting a players ability to cheat, if they were moved in secret how could anyone track there game movement limits. When a sub engages or is engaged the "blip" is flipped and is revealed to either be a fake or an actual sub/subs and are placed on the map. Fairly easy and fun as with the purchase of a few subs, the oceans would be crawling with sub blips. "Did the Germans just round the horn of Africa... Is that a Jap U-boat in the Mediterranean?.?."

As for actual naval engagements, i would probably only introduce evasion. A defending Naval Group can try to evade an attacking Naval Group. This would be done on a D6 roll of 1 or 2, unless planes are present in the Attacking Naval Group, thus making it harder for a defending NG to evade, so a roll of 1 would be needed. If the evasion is sucsessful both NG's would remain in the seazone hidden to each other, if failed the battle would ensue. (Unless eveyone wants an "engagement rule" as well, just the opposite of evade, NG wants to attack must roll anything but a 5 or 6(anything but a 6 with planes) just to find the other NG on the open waters.) I think this addition would be fun and build up the intensity of some of the big naval battles, as they can be so devastating. And add a bit of realism along with some cat and mousing especially in the Pacific. The only exception to this rule would be a NG can always defend against a landing within its seazone.

Ok, thats what i got so far.

6 comments

No making house rules until we've all played a minimum of 3 games with the standard rules.

File this post away and put it back up in February when we can play.

PS: You're killing me. I would love to play any of the following games we already have possession of, but not the time or geography to play:

Axis and Allies
Necromunda
Mordheim
Carcassone (for real, not electronic)
Full Thrust (its as gay as it sounds)
Dirtside (equally as gay)
Zombie Apocalypse (some how less gay even though its about four dudes)
Our 2012 game
Warcraft Card Game
Warcraft Board game
Lord of the Rings board game
Our TMNT game
Civ 5
Civ 4
Blackops
Dynasty Warriors (aka 'Killing Chinese")
Chaos Overlords
Magic
Bloodbowl


I also have rules/minitures for the following games we will never ever play but I would looooove to:
Gorka-Morka
Man of War
Warmaster
Epic (aka Space Marine)
A coat of steel
A paper crown
Hoplomachia
Ironbow
Red Actions
de bellis antiquitatis

By  T, at Monday, November 29, 2010 6:15:00 PM  

I know ur frustrated with the whole family/life/children thing. But u could at least let me know what u think about my fog of war rules.

Also i found someone local to play games with so i will probably play test these rules with AA50, ive played that at least 3 times. Global is very similar, they have added just a few things, tac bombers, Mech Inf, Naval and Air Bases(+1 Mov)and Min/Maj Industrial Complex's.

I also have Settlers of Catan now, with the 5 and 6 person expansion, its awesome, the wife loves it, even my mom likes it, we played it all weekend. Its very balanced and fun once u get the basic strategies.

U gonna get the New Civ board game right? That looks cool, maybe ill come up and try that.

Without a dedicated game night, u cant do half of those games(maybe more) and some of the others suck.

By  wyldshaman, at Tuesday, November 30, 2010 8:17:00 AM  

Im not sure that AA50 needs any 'sprucing up'. Its already one of the best games out there.

I was considering getting the Civ board game but its awefully expensive and I'd rather get either Diablo 3 or the new Assassains Creed. I love board games but I don't have a local to play with, so xbox/pc games have a greater utility for me.

By  T, at Tuesday, November 30, 2010 11:06:00 AM  

you bought settlers of catan! damn it, there goes christmas...

i think our problem is have too many good games to play. we need to focus. we need to narrow it down to one type of game at a time, like one board game,one online, one digital game, etc.. at a time.

i didn't read the fog or war rules. i can't say i've played enough of normal AA50 yet, to say i should be looking into house rules yet.

T, glad you got BlackOps, i haven't finished the single player yet either because of multiplayer. it is simply unacceptable how bad i am at this game during multiplayer, i must practice more. i also just finished Force Unleashed II which was incredible on the HD big screen.

sweet jeebus i haven't played Civ 5 in a month.... what the fuck, how did that happen?

By  Supreme Monkey Overlord, at Tuesday, November 30, 2010 9:19:00 PM  

Because Civ 5 was over hyped and kinda sucked! Its not bad, but not GREAT either. I guess? Havent really played it enough, but i dont really love the Civ franchise anyway.

U two love console games, i dont, we all like board games but we cant get together like we used to, we also cant agree on a computer game or even format to play in online. So it was nice knowing u guys!

By  wyldshaman, at Tuesday, November 30, 2010 10:47:00 PM  

any another thing thats funny is that Magic is still the biggest thing going, i mean in real world hobby shops, its crazy

By  wyldshaman, at Tuesday, November 30, 2010 10:59:00 PM  

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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Its as social as I get 

# posted by NoBrainRequired @ 11/24/2010 06:22:00 PM

Free Ass Kickings Curtesy of NoBrainRequired
They will be handed out tonight between 8pm and Midnight. Your choice of tomahawk in the face or crossbow in the ass.

5 comments

This offer has been extended through Black Friday!

By  T, at Thursday, November 25, 2010 10:14:00 AM  

{A curtsey (also spelled curtsy or courtesy) is a traditional gesture of greeting , in which a girl or woman bends her knees while bowing her head. ...}

By  Tino, at Sunday, November 28, 2010 8:55:00 PM  

Spelling errors aside, I can't get enough of the new Call of Duty that came out. I've been playing nonstop all weekend.

By  T, at Sunday, November 28, 2010 9:57:00 PM  

how many times did you kill Castro? i know i did that scene a lot.

By  Supreme Monkey Overlord, at Tuesday, November 30, 2010 10:26:00 PM  

I have only just now played the first two levels, it took several tries each b/c I'm much more familiar with the multiplayer enviroment.

By  T, at Thursday, December 02, 2010 4:22:00 PM  

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Well at least i know who owns my mortgage 

# posted by wyldshaman @ 11/18/2010 02:25:00 PM

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/220306/CHART.jpg

2 comments

This chart is a joke.

This chart is causing a misconception to people looking help with their loans. I have seen this on other websites, one of my clients actually mentioned this.



Point - the bank holds the note to a persons home if they have a lien. If they do not make the required payment, the bank foreclosures on the property. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that.

What happens to your money when you make the payments. The creator of this chart had no idea what he was doing. This is proven because he has no idea of the order (flow process). I could spend an hour trying to explain this. It would only pertain this one situation.

It clearly needs to be understood - every loan is different. Different Lenders, different values, different LTV's, DTI's, etc....

If anyone has questions about this chart, or about their situation emkail me at ghosking@alarconlegal.com

By  Anonymous, at Tuesday, November 23, 2010 3:33:00 PM  

i think the point is that regardless of the accuracy of the flow chart the process is a little complicated and certainly not easy to follow. it is as simple as "you have to pay your mortgage" though. sending the keys in the mail doesn't get you out of it.

every loan is crazy different. if it's an ARM you never know what you're going to get. 30vs50 year, points, PMI, interest rates, it can be all over the place.

it feels odd to have outside visitors here. Hello.

By  Supreme Monkey Overlord, at Tuesday, November 30, 2010 9:28:00 PM  

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Monday, November 15, 2010

Baby Einstein 

# posted by NoBrainRequired @ 11/15/2010 06:54:00 PM

Parenting 101
One more toke and this shit will be golden....

3 comments

I guess you still need to teach them a bit. The shit doesn't really work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/education/24baby.html

http://babyparenting.about.com/b/2009/10/24/disney-offering-refunds-on-baby-einstein-dvds.htm

By  ron, at Monday, November 15, 2010 10:29:00 PM  

It may not be teaching her anything, but she absolutly finds it hilarious. They touch their nose, she touches her nose and so on. They say cat, she says cat. Its quite entertaining to her. I don't think she is learning anything she doesnt already know.

By  T, at Tuesday, November 16, 2010 9:49:00 AM  

Baby Einstein is good for two things hypnotizing babies and stoned people.

At least that's what the books say...

Any questions?

By  wyldshaman, at Thursday, November 18, 2010 2:32:00 PM  

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

BTW 

# posted by NoBrainRequired @ 11/10/2010 06:53:00 PM

Go Fuck Yourself.

Couldn't say it, kid was underfoot.

5 comments

BUAAAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!

remember, there is always the forth option.

By  Supreme Monkey Overlord, at Wednesday, November 10, 2010 7:07:00 PM  

if thats the numbewr of peop[le ool kill to achieve my7 gol. so be it .

asdholes
a

By  T, at Wednesday, November 10, 2010 10:15:00 PM  

fuck you and th horsrew you road it n on. cocksuclker

By  t, at Wednesday, November 10, 2010 10:16:00 PM  

Sorry, that was the Whiskey talking. Rough night.

By  T, at Thursday, November 11, 2010 10:59:00 AM  

post of the year, hands down!

By  Supreme Monkey Overlord, at Friday, November 12, 2010 10:32:00 PM  

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Monday, November 01, 2010

Football may Not be good for my Health.... 

# posted by wyldshaman @ 11/01/2010 10:33:00 PM

I could barely walk today, math forget it, so thirsty.

God damn, i even had to check the score, did we really just win 20-10?

My wife said i dont remember anything from last night and i dont have the balls to ask her what she means.

I either have a drinking problem or a football problem.... i think its football!

4 comments

Drinking problem. Now that you're a parent, its time to slow down.

By  T, at Wednesday, November 03, 2010 7:03:00 PM  

Your clearly and Asshole! I need a drink.

By  wyld, at Wednesday, November 03, 2010 9:52:00 PM  

I'm willing to concede that I'm an asshole, but I'm not clear about anything.

Seriously, I know exactly what you are going through. I'm just projecting. We both drink too much and need to pare it back for sake of money and sanity. Plus, neither of our wives are drinking right now, so it just annoys them.

Secret drinking is one solution, but you'll get caught eventually and they just blow it way out of proportion and never let it go, so don't try it.

Grass is an effective substitute, but since neither of our wives are smoking, you're substituting one trouble for another.

During Lent, I gave up drinking for 40 days and it wasn't that hard. We should attempt something similar, you know, minus the reliousosity (though the psychological impact of the religous attachment to the ritual may have been what made it seem easy). And 40 days is crazy. Like, two weeks is much more reasonable.

I need a drink.

By  T, at Thursday, November 04, 2010 7:35:00 PM  

drinking isn't the problem. the green is a great substitute but both are hard to drop for 40 days. secret drinking will only lead to other problems. i could carry a flask everywhere i go but it would be counter productive. i'd be really drunk in public all the time. it would be ugly, and hilarious, for on lookers.

my drink just ran out.

By  Supreme Monkey Overlord, at Friday, November 12, 2010 10:50:00 PM  

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