Gorgonzolla

Here I hadn't checked the boards in a very long time and I saw this topic and I got excited and thought maybe there was something about to be released. Start reading down through and.....d'oh! Crapola still waiting. Ahh well! Haven't played in a dog's age but still looking forward to UT3. Just finished downloading and watching the trailer....very nice. Be well everyone! -Gorg

Silva - 42 secs at 167 kb/sec. I am on a slower DSL up in Eastern Canada though. - Gorg

What a priceless email! I have this image of a six year stamping his foot with his arms crossed saying, "Cannon Fodder was cheating in there!" Gotta see the cam footage.... -Gorg

That looks so freakin' amazing! I am so going to need that new box to run that.....

Wow! That is some great footage. I can hardly wait.....have to start thinking about that new PC soon. -Gorg

Wish I could give you some advice but I am borrowing my Father's GPS. He doesn't really have a use for it so I have it on "extended loan". For what it is worth it is a Garmin eMap. It is several years old but seems to work just fine. Has a serial cable to interface with the computer (which probably dates it as I suspect everything is USB now). -Gorg

Well there are plenty in the area apparently. Just did a quick query on the Geocaching website based on the zip code of the Holiday Inn there in Hudson and I see there are around 3200 within a 100 mile radius. -Gorg

Not sure if anyone has ever tried Geocaching before but if you happen to own or have access to a GPS device it is a lot of fun. A person at work told me about it and described it as "high tech treasure hunting". It certainly is that. I couldn't of dreamed of something like this when I was a kid. Basically there are thousands and thousands of hidden "caches" around the world which you can search out using the Geocaching website. There you can download the GPS co-ordinates for the cache/treasure. Using your GPS you can get within metres (sorry...yards for the US people) of the cache and then you need to hunt around the area to see where it is hidden. Usually the caches have vistor logs which you can write in on a notepad (or whatever) and record that you were there but there are also usually trinket like items you can exchange. Some caches have "travel bugs" which people have put in hopes of other people visiting the cache and moving it to another geocache. People then post on the website where they have moved it to. Some of the travel bugs travel around the world over time. Very cool. It is something that I had only tried once so far (took my family out a couple weekends ago) but intend on doing more of it as Spring and Summer approaches. The kids loved it and thought it the greatest adventure and cannot wait to do it again. Good exercise walking along a trail to find the one I went to (and I need the exercise) and good quality time with the Family as well. Anyway, just thought I would pass the link along in case someone with a GPS hasn't heard about it or if anyone just wants to check out some of the caches near them geographically. It is interesting to see how many are actually out there near you. Hope the link is useful/interesting. Have a good one everyone! -Gorg

Well, no tanks wouldn't of hurt my feelings overly much. Maybe my worst vehicle. Not to mention the fact I curse silently to myself and run for the hills when I see Penty and Wentz cover over the rise in one. -Gorg

I saw the Sony QRIO robots at the Ontario Science Center in Toronto when I was on vacation last fall with my family. They were extremely cool! I really liked the fact that they can right themselves if they fall down on their back or face. That would keep me amused all day....tip 'em over and watch them get back up. Tip 'em over again and watch them get back up. Mindless fun. The more memorable thing for me though was at the end of the session the Sony rep said he was going to go into the audience and pick some children out to come down and dance with the robots. Unfortunately all my three year old daughter heard was "....come dance with the robots" so much to my surprise/horror she bolted from my knee and ran down on stage and started to dance with them. Ahh well, once over my shock it was a cute dance and I got pictures of it to tease her with when she grows up..... Great link. Thanks Acid-Flux! -Gorgonzolla

Jumped on for a minute or two last night. Ping was looking better.....around 70-100 on Red Planet. Of course only a few people on so I would like to see how it is when the server is loaded again. I will keep my fingers crossed. -Gorg

I will take another swing at it tonight or this weekend to see how things are. Good to know it is only temporary though. -Gorgonzolla (or "Mr. Zolla" as Bushwack has been calling me as of late)

I will let the others wade in on how it played for them but for me it was horrendous. My ping's were up around 300 so I was getting booted even if I did try to play. I was hoping it would be around the same as I had before but no such luck. When the server was in Chicago it was significantly better than this for me. But I am just one person so Dallas may be better for others. Kind of sucks for me though to have just joined GC (mainly because I play UT) and then to have this happen. *sigh*.....Of course this may mean I will have to try to learn to play CS now. Ping's to those GC servers remain good for me so I may need to check it out some more. -Gorgonzolla

Cool! Looks like about the same obscene number of hops for me (around 15) compared to when it was in Chicago so I will have to give it a try tonight to see how it plays. Thanks Flitter! -Gorgonzolla

Dallas versus Chicago? Hmmmm...probably I will get the same level of p/l either way. Too many hops from up north here down to either location. Then again slowing down the other midwest based people may increase my chances at getting a few more frags.... Flitterkill, if you could please post some IP's to check out if you get the chance that would be great. It would be nice to do some sort of comparison. Thanks!

I got space in my server room in Lisle, Illinois. Oh wait...it belongs to my employer. Naw...they would never know the difference.

My luck....first night on after being on the road for a couple of weeks. Ahh well, let's see how things are tonight.

Well, the only good thing for me about it possibly being that late is that will be around the third anniversary of my current PC and maybe I can convince my wife of the necessity of getting a new one. Work has an employee purchase plan so I may avail myself of that again. No matter when it is released though I am looking forward to it!

My older brother was just in India for vacation in October for two weeks. He loved it but he is one of those people who lives for a new/different experience like that. Our Parent's were worried sick the whole time he was there (they are not so adventurous). Personally I think it would be a great place to visit and hope to get there someday. I know the company I work for is building a plant in northern Inidia right now so hopefully I can get that chance on their tab. Hope you enjoy your month long experience!

Looks cool. Should give it a go....now if I can just find some time to get myself online to play now that I have returned from the wilds of Wisconsin!

Wow! That looks sweet....although it makes me think whether I will be needing to upgrade my PC by the time it finally hits the street. Wait to hear what the specs are going to be I guess.

Ahh yes the Hilltop....that was a great meal. I never seem to be around on Friday's in Wisconsin to partake of a "Friday fishfry". See signs for them but usually I am on a plane back home on Friday or in Chi-town about to take a flight back on Saturday. Thanks for the Jansport info. I may indeed try and stop in when I head through in January.

World's largest producer of french fries baby! The plants in Appleton, Fort Atkinson and Rice Lake do appetizer thoughs (onion rings, cream cheese stuff jalepenos, cheese sticks, ets., etc) not French Fries. Gotta head to Plover and Appleton again at the start of the year. There is a restaurant just off of where highway 10 comes into Steven's Point. Cannot remember the name of it but it has a huge wooden cask for a door. Had a great steak with blue cheese sprinkled on it earlier this year when I was there. Need to go back and partake once again.

Steven's Point is where I usually stay when I am in that next of the woods. Haven't wandered around the community that much so haven't determined if there are any wondrous sites to behold. The company I work for can be found here. I am a corporate employee based in a very rural area od Canada where we have our Head Office. Our US division you can find here.

Yeah, I wasn't seriously going to get another copy to put on my laptop but it would be nice to try playing from somewhere a bit closer to see the difference. I am often down in Chicago and up in Appleton, WI. Appleton would not classify as the wilds exactly I would think....although our facilities in Plover, Rice Lake and Fort Atkinson certainly fall more in that category. Right now I basically have 16 hops between me up here in the Great White North and the GC server. To me it is often more about the crowd that is there and the fact that you are playing aginst some familiar faces....and the fact that they just happen to be wearing Santa hats right now is added amusement. Now if I can only think of a way to get the money off to join GC without the wife noticing! Darn you to heck online banking!