I actually beat it last night but...i'm still pretty sad about it ;oP
I still have a bunch of side missions to complete and i can also replay some of the memories to try and get 100% synchronization but i still think the story is really small :o/ (and i wont even mention how it ends cause i dont want to be a spoiler :o) i will, however, say it sucked.)
Assassin's Creed is definitely one of my favourite games EVER and that is probably why i feel so sad for beating it. I waited a whole year for this new game and beat it in less then a week. I'm pretty sure both the first and second deliveries had way bigger stories (though one could argue the first one was just repetitive ;oP).
Luckly i still have the side missions and the multiplayer mode, although it is not the same thing...
Like i mentioned in my previous post on AC, the multiplayer is actually pretty cool but, as with other multiplayer games, i suck at it ;o).
Well...i sometimes manage to finish first place but sometimes i also finish last so i guess i just get lucky when i win ;o)
Today we are going on vacation to Hollywood, which means i wont play it for a whole week.
This might not seem much BUT, given the fact the game just came out a week ago, an extra week will be enough for people to get so good that i'll never be able to beat them ever again....(unless i catch tem off guard while pausing the game or lagged! Uahahah ;oP yeah! that's how i role!).
I really hope they release some new levels and a 4th game soon (well...they have to, otherwise what happens in the end of this game would make even LESS sense). :o/
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Just found out how a TSA x-ray scan looks like inside
Yeaps, today i found out what a TSA x-ray scan looks like inside.
I didnt know they had become the "security standard" (at least at SLC Int Airport).
The machine works extremely fast. You just have to stand with your arms in the air and you're ready to go. It is really that fast.
If you are wondering what is my take on it, well...i have mixed feelings.
On one hand, i have nothing to hide, on the other hand, it is an abuse of power that is completly against what the founding fathers had in mind when they wrote the US constitution.
I just wish someone could come up with a "non invasive" way of screening for terrorists.
The truth is these type of measures are also extremely costly and really slow us down.
I only started flying "frequently" after 9/11 so i didnt really notice all the security changes that have been implemented since that sad day...
But hearing how easier it was to fly before these measures (i.e. they even used to let non-passengers in through the security gates while nowadays taking your shoes off at security is the standard) really makes me sad...
Oh well, like i said, i really we can someday come up with a better way to screen people (and catching the real bad guys).
I didnt know they had become the "security standard" (at least at SLC Int Airport).
The machine works extremely fast. You just have to stand with your arms in the air and you're ready to go. It is really that fast.
If you are wondering what is my take on it, well...i have mixed feelings.
On one hand, i have nothing to hide, on the other hand, it is an abuse of power that is completly against what the founding fathers had in mind when they wrote the US constitution.
I just wish someone could come up with a "non invasive" way of screening for terrorists.
The truth is these type of measures are also extremely costly and really slow us down.
I only started flying "frequently" after 9/11 so i didnt really notice all the security changes that have been implemented since that sad day...
But hearing how easier it was to fly before these measures (i.e. they even used to let non-passengers in through the security gates while nowadays taking your shoes off at security is the standard) really makes me sad...
Oh well, like i said, i really we can someday come up with a better way to screen people (and catching the real bad guys).
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Today i learned a great American expression...
"Never ASSUME because it can make an ASS of U and ME."
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Really small review on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Yesterday i got a copy of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood from Gamestop.
I had pre-ordered the game more then a month ago so i was pretty anxious to get it ;o)
I haven't had a lot of time to play it yet BUT i did have the chance to start the story mode and play some multiplayer rounds just to see how it works :o).
As for the story, well..i don't know much about it (and also don't want to be a spoiler) so i'll just talk about what i did see (right in the beginning):
- The game picks up where we left Enzio (back in Rome, after he fought the pope heheh...);
- And he returns to his uncle's villa;
- The villa is then attacked and he loses all his weapons.
This is essentially the beginning of the story mode of the game. And i'm just sharing this because...i really wasn't expecting to lose all weapons YET again ;o)
For those of you who have played the first and second games, you will probably remember that, in the first game, Altair is depromoted right in the beginning and needs to earn his rank in the Assassin's Guild by killing some Templar enemies of the clan. Oh k, a little far-fetched since he could easily get weapons / armors elsewhere BUT it does explain the need to get extra armor / weapons ;o) [hmm, although, supposedly, something paranormal happened when his master downgraded his powers...].
The lack of weapons and armors is also in the beginning of the second game and, again, it makes sense because the actual game revolves around training Enzio to become an Assassin!
So we were a little bit curious to know what would happen in this third game and we soon got our answer:
- Enzio was sleeping, his uncle's villa is attacked and...he doesn't have enough time to pick up his armor / weapons.
Couf...couf...now THAT IS far-fetched! :o)
I stopped playing the game when that happened because i had to go to sleep BUT it was pretty lame ;o)
Now, on the multiplayer mode...(what people are probably interested in knowing)!
It seems Abstergo Industries is taking the training to a whole new level, by putting Templars inside simulators where they can fight each other (to prepare against the Assassin's).
There seem to be two different multiplayer modes:
- each man / woman for him/herself;
- team plays!
I played both of them but only liked the non-cooperative mode.
The game puts up to 8 players (if i'm not mistaken) in a small town, and generates random killing contracts for each player.
We see the picture of the player we are trying to assassinate and there is a small radar that shows us the direction where he/she is and how close we are.
The mechanics are pretty basic: sneak up OR run / attack the player by pressing the square button (no fancy sword fights) :o).
I've read a little about it and it seems the guys who developed the multiplayer engine tried it out but it simply wasn't fun / fast enough!
Now...it obviously isn't as easy as just hunting people down! ;o)
Other players will also have contracts on you and can also have contracts on the same victim as you (which means, whoever kills him/her first, gets the points)!
There are also different points for each kill, depending on how you do it:
- did you sneak up on the guy?
- did you chase him?
- did you corner him?
- etc...
If you do notice someone is attacking you, you can either try and stun the attacker by pressing the circle button OR run and hide! :o)
And this is where things get interesting because you can hide in the regular places (i.e. an haystack or sit on a bench), throw smoke bombs OR disguise (turning yourself into a different character for a small amount of time)!
To make things even more complex, there are a ton of similar characters wandering around so you need to be sure if you are attacking a civilian OR an actual player (by watching their moves) ;o)
The more you play (and the better you do), a higher "experience" level you reach. And each experience level has a different trick / feature (i.e. i believe you can disguise yourself when you get to level 2).
The first time i played i finished 1st so i was REALLY excited (cause i REALLY suck at multiplayer games)! ;o)
But, after playing about 5 rounds, things became more complicated (cause i was in level 3 playing against people in level 12)...
In total, there seem to be about 50 different expertise levels!
As for the other multiplayer mode...hmm...i really didn't understand how it works :o\
The cooperative mode works with 2 teams that use the exact same characters (well, one character for each team) so you can expect to see a TON of similar characters walking around the streets) and you have to target specific ones!
Your radar APPARENTLY points to up to 3 players but i could NEVER kill anybody...when i tried doing so, it just told me i had killed a civilian! :o\
From what i've ready, it seems each team splits into teams of two players and you can cooperatively help your partner by pointing him to the player you have to kill...
It was really confusing so...i'll have to give it another try (maybe it is really fun and i just did not understand it) ;o)
All in all, i'm REALLY excited!
Assassin's Creed is one of my all time favorite games (up close to InFamous, GTA IV, Kane & Lynch and Uncharted) so i was really anxious to get it ;o)
Because i pre-ordered the game from Gamestop, i also got the Harlequin character.
Not my favorite but...eh...i got it for free! :oP
I'm pretty sure we'll have a very good time over the coming weekends! :o))
I had pre-ordered the game more then a month ago so i was pretty anxious to get it ;o)
I haven't had a lot of time to play it yet BUT i did have the chance to start the story mode and play some multiplayer rounds just to see how it works :o).
As for the story, well..i don't know much about it (and also don't want to be a spoiler) so i'll just talk about what i did see (right in the beginning):
- The game picks up where we left Enzio (back in Rome, after he fought the pope heheh...);
- And he returns to his uncle's villa;
- The villa is then attacked and he loses all his weapons.
This is essentially the beginning of the story mode of the game. And i'm just sharing this because...i really wasn't expecting to lose all weapons YET again ;o)
For those of you who have played the first and second games, you will probably remember that, in the first game, Altair is depromoted right in the beginning and needs to earn his rank in the Assassin's Guild by killing some Templar enemies of the clan. Oh k, a little far-fetched since he could easily get weapons / armors elsewhere BUT it does explain the need to get extra armor / weapons ;o) [hmm, although, supposedly, something paranormal happened when his master downgraded his powers...].
The lack of weapons and armors is also in the beginning of the second game and, again, it makes sense because the actual game revolves around training Enzio to become an Assassin!
So we were a little bit curious to know what would happen in this third game and we soon got our answer:
- Enzio was sleeping, his uncle's villa is attacked and...he doesn't have enough time to pick up his armor / weapons.
Couf...couf...now THAT IS far-fetched! :o)
I stopped playing the game when that happened because i had to go to sleep BUT it was pretty lame ;o)
Now, on the multiplayer mode...(what people are probably interested in knowing)!
It seems Abstergo Industries is taking the training to a whole new level, by putting Templars inside simulators where they can fight each other (to prepare against the Assassin's).
There seem to be two different multiplayer modes:
- each man / woman for him/herself;
- team plays!
I played both of them but only liked the non-cooperative mode.
The game puts up to 8 players (if i'm not mistaken) in a small town, and generates random killing contracts for each player.
We see the picture of the player we are trying to assassinate and there is a small radar that shows us the direction where he/she is and how close we are.
The mechanics are pretty basic: sneak up OR run / attack the player by pressing the square button (no fancy sword fights) :o).
I've read a little about it and it seems the guys who developed the multiplayer engine tried it out but it simply wasn't fun / fast enough!
Now...it obviously isn't as easy as just hunting people down! ;o)
Other players will also have contracts on you and can also have contracts on the same victim as you (which means, whoever kills him/her first, gets the points)!
There are also different points for each kill, depending on how you do it:
- did you sneak up on the guy?
- did you chase him?
- did you corner him?
- etc...
If you do notice someone is attacking you, you can either try and stun the attacker by pressing the circle button OR run and hide! :o)
And this is where things get interesting because you can hide in the regular places (i.e. an haystack or sit on a bench), throw smoke bombs OR disguise (turning yourself into a different character for a small amount of time)!
To make things even more complex, there are a ton of similar characters wandering around so you need to be sure if you are attacking a civilian OR an actual player (by watching their moves) ;o)
The more you play (and the better you do), a higher "experience" level you reach. And each experience level has a different trick / feature (i.e. i believe you can disguise yourself when you get to level 2).
The first time i played i finished 1st so i was REALLY excited (cause i REALLY suck at multiplayer games)! ;o)
But, after playing about 5 rounds, things became more complicated (cause i was in level 3 playing against people in level 12)...
In total, there seem to be about 50 different expertise levels!
As for the other multiplayer mode...hmm...i really didn't understand how it works :o\
The cooperative mode works with 2 teams that use the exact same characters (well, one character for each team) so you can expect to see a TON of similar characters walking around the streets) and you have to target specific ones!
Your radar APPARENTLY points to up to 3 players but i could NEVER kill anybody...when i tried doing so, it just told me i had killed a civilian! :o\
From what i've ready, it seems each team splits into teams of two players and you can cooperatively help your partner by pointing him to the player you have to kill...
It was really confusing so...i'll have to give it another try (maybe it is really fun and i just did not understand it) ;o)
All in all, i'm REALLY excited!
Assassin's Creed is one of my all time favorite games (up close to InFamous, GTA IV, Kane & Lynch and Uncharted) so i was really anxious to get it ;o)
Because i pre-ordered the game from Gamestop, i also got the Harlequin character.
Not my favorite but...eh...i got it for free! :oP
I'm pretty sure we'll have a very good time over the coming weekends! :o))
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
YEAH! Microsoft Kinect Video!
YAY!!!! We finally have a gaming console capable of making video calls with PCs / Macs!
Ever since i knew the Playstation Portable supported Skype (although just voice) that i've been thinking: why on earth doesn't Sony create (or allow Skype to create) a Skype client for the PS3 with video support?!
Well it seems my wishes have become true! Microsoft's Kinect allows video calls not just between Xbox 360 consoles but also with PC / Mac messenger clients!
This means i can finally talk with my family directly from my couch on a huge TV, without having to close myself in my office and spending lots of time in an uncomfortable chair...
Dear Microsoft, once again, my hat goes off to you! ;o)
Ever since i knew the Playstation Portable supported Skype (although just voice) that i've been thinking: why on earth doesn't Sony create (or allow Skype to create) a Skype client for the PS3 with video support?!
Well it seems my wishes have become true! Microsoft's Kinect allows video calls not just between Xbox 360 consoles but also with PC / Mac messenger clients!
This means i can finally talk with my family directly from my couch on a huge TV, without having to close myself in my office and spending lots of time in an uncomfortable chair...
Dear Microsoft, once again, my hat goes off to you! ;o)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
AHAHHA, O "eu e mais bolos" em versao verdadeira, na BBC!
Para quem nao sabe do que estou a falar...aqui fica ;o)
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
(extremamente) pequeno review sobre o Microsoft Kinect
Como ja disse por aqui, na quinta feira passada recebemos o Microsoft Kinect! :o)
Infelizmente nao pudemos experimenta-lo logo (porque estavamos a mudar de apartamento) mas no sabado ja tive oportunidade de brincar um pouco com ele!
Deixo-vos entao as primeiras impressoes (sobre o pouco que conseguimos experimentar):
- estou impressionado com a tecnologia!
- o Kinect e muito facil de calibrar, bastando acenar para ele para reconhecer as nossas maos e as poderemos usar como controlo;
- usamos as maos para controlar um pointer no ecran e, para seleccionar-mos as opcoes, e so deixar a mao parada durante uns segundos (cerca de 3 segundos?);
- Se quisermos que o sistema nos reconheca mesmo, basta calibrarmos com mais detalhe: ve-mos uma matriz no ecran, a xbox pede para irmos para varias posicoes na sala e para pormos os bracos em formas diferentes (suponho que e assim que tiram as nossas medidas :o)) e a partir dai ele reconhece-nos automaticamente!
- Adicionar um segundo jogador foi muito facil! A minha mulher estava a jogar e eu aproximei-me da camera. Ela reconheceu-me e adicionou-me LOGO ao jogo! ;o) Obriga-nos e a teres uma area bastante grande para jogarem 2 (na altura ainda nao tinha mobilia no apartamento pelo que foi na boa)!
- Os comandos de voz tambem estao muito porreiros mas ainda ha bastante a fazer (existem poucas opcoes)! Se dissermos "xbox" a tv mostra, em rodape, as opcoes que podemos controlar.
- O Netflix nao parece ter essa opcao mas, por exemplo, a aplicacao da ESPN usa-a! E podemos escolher para que opcao queremos ir dizendo apenas essa opcao (i.e. "game highlights", "go back", "cancel", etc)...
Se eles extenderem estes controlos a todos os menus, a xbox 360 vai ser um media center e peras! (falta e depois mais conteudos e features basicas como aceder a conteudos na rede local [tipo shares samba e nao os xungonsos shares upnp...blargh]) ;o)
Estou impressionado com o que fizeram embora agora seja uma questao de esperar a ver se vai pegar e vao sair muitos jogos que aproveitem a tecnologia!
Em comparacao com uma Wii ou Ps3 Move isto esta a milhas (ja que jogar sem qualquer tipo de controlo e MUITO melhor)! ;o)
Vamos e ver se tambem extendem o Kinect a todas as partes do Dashboard! (ja que so conseguimos, neste momento, controlar por movimento a parte "Kinect" da xbox): acenamos para ela e abre-se um menu novo com as opcoes do Kinect [i.e. lancar jogos, calibrar, etc...].
O Adventure tira photos enquanto jogamos (tal como outros jogos) mas tem a opcao de fazer upload delas (o que e muito porreiro ja que poucos sao os jogos noutras consolas que o permitem fazer!) :o)
Uma outra coisa que reparei (nao muito importante mas interessante) e que nao detectou os movimentos dos meus dedos! ;o) Ou seja, quando nos mexemos ha um boneco em background (reflectido) que faz tudo o que fazemos e eu reparei que ele nao mexe os dedos (mas mexe o resto do corpo quase todo como nos) :o)
Todas as partes "moveis" do nossocorpo parecem estar representadas (minimamente) com excepcao das ancas! ;o) Fiz movimentos de ancas e o boneco nao se dobrava tanto quanto eu! hehehe.
No global esta aprovadissimo! Agora venham mais conteudos e updates para melhorar ainda mais isto ;o)
update:
Hoje ao almoco estive a mostrar o Kinect a um amigo e reparei que a xbox nao me reconheceu por estar vestido com um casaco de couro preto! Foi preciso tira-lo para comecar a usar o sistema...
Fica o aviso de que isto nao funciona muito bem com certos tipos de roupa (e, pela mesma logica, e provavel que tambem nao funcione com certos tipos de cor de pele [contrariamente ao que dizem aqui! ;o)]).
Infelizmente nao pudemos experimenta-lo logo (porque estavamos a mudar de apartamento) mas no sabado ja tive oportunidade de brincar um pouco com ele!
Deixo-vos entao as primeiras impressoes (sobre o pouco que conseguimos experimentar):
- estou impressionado com a tecnologia!
- o Kinect e muito facil de calibrar, bastando acenar para ele para reconhecer as nossas maos e as poderemos usar como controlo;
- usamos as maos para controlar um pointer no ecran e, para seleccionar-mos as opcoes, e so deixar a mao parada durante uns segundos (cerca de 3 segundos?);
- Se quisermos que o sistema nos reconheca mesmo, basta calibrarmos com mais detalhe: ve-mos uma matriz no ecran, a xbox pede para irmos para varias posicoes na sala e para pormos os bracos em formas diferentes (suponho que e assim que tiram as nossas medidas :o)) e a partir dai ele reconhece-nos automaticamente!
- Adicionar um segundo jogador foi muito facil! A minha mulher estava a jogar e eu aproximei-me da camera. Ela reconheceu-me e adicionou-me LOGO ao jogo! ;o) Obriga-nos e a teres uma area bastante grande para jogarem 2 (na altura ainda nao tinha mobilia no apartamento pelo que foi na boa)!
- Os comandos de voz tambem estao muito porreiros mas ainda ha bastante a fazer (existem poucas opcoes)! Se dissermos "xbox" a tv mostra, em rodape, as opcoes que podemos controlar.
- O Netflix nao parece ter essa opcao mas, por exemplo, a aplicacao da ESPN usa-a! E podemos escolher para que opcao queremos ir dizendo apenas essa opcao (i.e. "game highlights", "go back", "cancel", etc)...
Se eles extenderem estes controlos a todos os menus, a xbox 360 vai ser um media center e peras! (falta e depois mais conteudos e features basicas como aceder a conteudos na rede local [tipo shares samba e nao os xungonsos shares upnp...blargh]) ;o)
Estou impressionado com o que fizeram embora agora seja uma questao de esperar a ver se vai pegar e vao sair muitos jogos que aproveitem a tecnologia!
Em comparacao com uma Wii ou Ps3 Move isto esta a milhas (ja que jogar sem qualquer tipo de controlo e MUITO melhor)! ;o)
Vamos e ver se tambem extendem o Kinect a todas as partes do Dashboard! (ja que so conseguimos, neste momento, controlar por movimento a parte "Kinect" da xbox): acenamos para ela e abre-se um menu novo com as opcoes do Kinect [i.e. lancar jogos, calibrar, etc...].
O Adventure tira photos enquanto jogamos (tal como outros jogos) mas tem a opcao de fazer upload delas (o que e muito porreiro ja que poucos sao os jogos noutras consolas que o permitem fazer!) :o)
Uma outra coisa que reparei (nao muito importante mas interessante) e que nao detectou os movimentos dos meus dedos! ;o) Ou seja, quando nos mexemos ha um boneco em background (reflectido) que faz tudo o que fazemos e eu reparei que ele nao mexe os dedos (mas mexe o resto do corpo quase todo como nos) :o)
Todas as partes "moveis" do nossocorpo parecem estar representadas (minimamente) com excepcao das ancas! ;o) Fiz movimentos de ancas e o boneco nao se dobrava tanto quanto eu! hehehe.
No global esta aprovadissimo! Agora venham mais conteudos e updates para melhorar ainda mais isto ;o)
update:
Hoje ao almoco estive a mostrar o Kinect a um amigo e reparei que a xbox nao me reconheceu por estar vestido com um casaco de couro preto! Foi preciso tira-lo para comecar a usar o sistema...
Fica o aviso de que isto nao funciona muito bem com certos tipos de roupa (e, pela mesma logica, e provavel que tambem nao funcione com certos tipos de cor de pele [contrariamente ao que dizem aqui! ;o)]).
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Yay, my Microsoft Xbox360 and Kinect were delivered yesterday! :o)
When i got home from work yesterday, i noticed the mail man had left a package with my new Xbox 360 and Kinect by my door! :o)
I was expecting them to actually require a signature and not just leave it by the door but, on the other hand, people are pretty honest around here! ;o)
One thing i did notice was the sticker on the side of the box that read: "Do not sell or exhibit before November 4th" he he he...
Well...if having a big sealed box by my door wasn't enough to get someone's attention, that sticker sure made it look irresistible :oD
Unfortunately we won't be able to try it out until we finish moving to our new apartment :o)
We already took it there BUT our TV and sound system are still at our current apartment so..i'll just have to wait until this Sunday! :o)
One thing i did notice was the sticker on the side of the box that read: "Do not sell or exhibit before November 4th" he he he...
Well...if having a big sealed box by my door wasn't enough to get someone's attention, that sticker sure made it look irresistible :oD
Unfortunately we won't be able to try it out until we finish moving to our new apartment :o)
We already took it there BUT our TV and sound system are still at our current apartment so..i'll just have to wait until this Sunday! :o)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Multicast DNS! AH...ah!
Oh k, i just noticed something a little bizarre.
Today a co-worker told me he was having problems pinging some external addresses (like google.com).
I had already seen something similar on a local network, but not for external addresses...
The last time someone asked me about something like this, the problem turned out to be caused by the fact ping was trying to reverse dns the ip address on every packet it sent (or almost every packet).
This obviously doesn't make a lot of sense but...the sniffer does not lie :o)
So, last time, we solved the issue by adding reverse dns entries for each host.
This obviously isn't the best approach, specially if the problem is coming from the outside network, but it solved the problem for us (we were only worried about local addresses).
Today someone did complain about external network addresses (like google.com) so i picked up tcpdump again and noticed something weird: ping would resolve the hostname, try to resolve the ip address and THEN it would contact a multi cast address on port 5353...
I had never seen something like this so i researched a little on the subject...
It turns out that is used for "multicast dns" (that was a first for me :oP) and, apparently, systems like Ubuntu and SuSe use it.
I believe the idea is to multicast the dns request and hope there is a multicast service on the network that resolves the address for us.
Unfortunately, our network does not have one (and i suspect most won't have one either ;o)) so it was causing more harm than good.
I researched a little more and found out Ubuntu does this when the Avahi-daemon and Avahi-dnsconfd services are running! So..if you bump into this problem, just be sure to turn them off! ;o)
Today a co-worker told me he was having problems pinging some external addresses (like google.com).
I had already seen something similar on a local network, but not for external addresses...
The last time someone asked me about something like this, the problem turned out to be caused by the fact ping was trying to reverse dns the ip address on every packet it sent (or almost every packet).
This obviously doesn't make a lot of sense but...the sniffer does not lie :o)
So, last time, we solved the issue by adding reverse dns entries for each host.
This obviously isn't the best approach, specially if the problem is coming from the outside network, but it solved the problem for us (we were only worried about local addresses).
Today someone did complain about external network addresses (like google.com) so i picked up tcpdump again and noticed something weird: ping would resolve the hostname, try to resolve the ip address and THEN it would contact a multi cast address on port 5353...
I had never seen something like this so i researched a little on the subject...
It turns out that is used for "multicast dns" (that was a first for me :oP) and, apparently, systems like Ubuntu and SuSe use it.
I believe the idea is to multicast the dns request and hope there is a multicast service on the network that resolves the address for us.
Unfortunately, our network does not have one (and i suspect most won't have one either ;o)) so it was causing more harm than good.
I researched a little more and found out Ubuntu does this when the Avahi-daemon and Avahi-dnsconfd services are running! So..if you bump into this problem, just be sure to turn them off! ;o)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Primeiro jogo 3D que experimentei na Sony PS3
Ontem fomos a uma loja e tive oportunidade de experimentar o meu primeiro jogo 3D na Sony PS3.
Era um first person shooter (nao sei bem qual, so sei que era no meio da floresta e tinha dinossauros, pelo que pensei logo no Turok hehehe)...
O jogo nao era la grande coisa e, embora ate veja que a tecnologia possa ter potencial, para ja nao sei nao...
A coisa mais evidente que reparei foi ver o nosso personagem extremamente tremido (parecia que falhavam frames na animacao do nosso boneco), embora o resto da paisagem estivesse aceitavel...
Nao sei se era o jogo que era fraco ou se era a tecnologia que nao da para mais mas vou torcer pela primeira :o).
Ouvi dizer que a PS3 so ia fazer 3D a 720p por nao ter capacidade de processar 3D aos 1080p mas, se aquele jogo estava a 720p e com aquela qualidade...entao a coisa deixa mesmo MUITO a desejar!
Fora isso, parece que o 3D veio mesmo para ficar...cada vez mais se veem tvs preparadas para 3D!
Alias, quase me arrisco a dizer que pelo menos umas 40% das expostas naquela loja eram ja 3D :o)
Era um first person shooter (nao sei bem qual, so sei que era no meio da floresta e tinha dinossauros, pelo que pensei logo no Turok hehehe)...
O jogo nao era la grande coisa e, embora ate veja que a tecnologia possa ter potencial, para ja nao sei nao...
A coisa mais evidente que reparei foi ver o nosso personagem extremamente tremido (parecia que falhavam frames na animacao do nosso boneco), embora o resto da paisagem estivesse aceitavel...
Nao sei se era o jogo que era fraco ou se era a tecnologia que nao da para mais mas vou torcer pela primeira :o).
Ouvi dizer que a PS3 so ia fazer 3D a 720p por nao ter capacidade de processar 3D aos 1080p mas, se aquele jogo estava a 720p e com aquela qualidade...entao a coisa deixa mesmo MUITO a desejar!
Fora isso, parece que o 3D veio mesmo para ficar...cada vez mais se veem tvs preparadas para 3D!
Alias, quase me arrisco a dizer que pelo menos umas 40% das expostas naquela loja eram ja 3D :o)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
First Year in the USA!
Yeaps, it's been a year since we emigrated to the US! :o)
I think the only thing i can do is share my wife's words on the subject...
"Today we complete our first year living in the Unites States of America.
We are so Happy to be here!! :)
One year later, we just have 1 thing to say:
We love you, America!
And we love you more now even more then we did 1 year ago.
We hope one day to have the honor of being citizens of this glorious Nation...
And sooner then that to proudly be parents of an American citizen.
I think the only thing i can do is share my wife's words on the subject...
We are so Happy to be here!! :)
One year later, we just have 1 thing to say:
We love you, America!
And we love you more now even more then we did 1 year ago.
We hope one day to have the honor of being citizens of this glorious Nation...
And sooner then that to proudly be parents of an American citizen.
God bless this Country and all the amazing people that make it so wonderful. "
Monday, November 1, 2010
SCUT: portagens vão trazer prejuízo ao Estado
Segundo uma notícia TVI, a forma como o Governo renegociou os contratos só vai dar lucro às empresas concessionárias. Assim, o dinheiro das portagens não chega para pagar a renda anual dos privados.
O negócio que deu origem à introdução de portagens nas SCUT é classificado como «ruinoso» pelo maior especialista português em auditoria às parcerias público-privadas. «É absolutamente relevante e quase escandaloso o risco que está a ser transferido para o Estado», diz o ex-juíz do Tribunal de Contas europeu e português, Carlos Moreno.
Enquanto não houve portagens, o Estado pagava uma renda variável aos privados concessionários das SCTU, em função do volume de tráfego. Se houvesse pouco tráfego, o risco e o prejuízo eram do privado.
Mas o Governo, para introduzir as portagens, renegociou os contratos. A renda a pagar aos privados subiu e passou a ser fixa. Assim, o Estado fica com a receita das portagens, mas esse dinheiro não chega para cobrir a nova despesa.
As portagens, aquilo que quem passar nas SCUT vai passar a pagar, «não paga a totalidade, longe disso - 30 a 40 %, da renda que a EP vai pagar às concessionárias», disse o mesmo especialista.", in Agencia Financeira.
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