Back to the Table

Many moons ago I got rid of almost all of the vinyl LPs I had. I did so because I had a record player that no longer functioned and I fully intended to replace all the albums with those wonderful space-saving CDs. I packed up all of my albums and took them to a local shop that bought used vinyl and discs. I can't recall how many records I sold or how much I got for them, but it couldn't have been enough; I'm now regretting have done that.

Feeling nostalgic

I enjoy playing guitar. I should, I have five of them.

Stats and Pops

I started Cities: Skylines around a week ago. After a few struggles, my city began to hum along nicely. I even received an achievement for keeping the crime rate under 10% for 4 years. But, as I began to expand the city, I began to have major problems.

Happier times

Vorsicht! This game is scheise

Wolfenstein: The New Order is much like its protagonist: big, dumb, and ugly.

I don't feel like dancing, no sir, no dancing today

I am intrigued by Wolfenstein's alternate reality; it's fascinating to speculate on what would have happened had the so-called Third Reich won WWII. But this game pursues it only insofar as a reason for shooting, killing, and exploding Nazis. All of that, ultimately, is unrewarding as the thick-necked, fat-headed American protagonist tears his way across that overused linear path from point A to point B, through a vast, grey, flat wasteland, to yet another dull, cliched, laughable final boss. I'll never get those hours back.

Minecraft Notes

My girlfriend tells me I'm I nerd.

Just Suggesting

Looking for music to code or clean by? Check out Stars as Lights. Here's the artist's own description:

     Stars As Lights is a one-man ambient / post-rock project aiming to be the background music for beautiful moments.

I would also add a bit of shoegaze/dreampop in there. It's all instrumental, and the guitar work is fantastic.

If you're looking for something a bit more electronic I suggest you check out the soundtrack to Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The tracks are short ---- the longest being 4:25 ---- but they are moody, atmospheric, and introspective. Perfect if you need unobtrusive background music.

Just in Case

From this

To this

I spent a good deal of time and money modifying my old Thermaltake case, but I was never satisfied with it. So, when I saw that my favourite online computer components store had the NZXT H440 in stock, I promptly charged it to my favourite credit card. This case has many cool features (e.g., a fan hub, LEDs, sound-dampening material), but the one that clinched it for me was the PSU shroud. It hides all those ugly cables and has two slots for SSDs. It sports a nice, clean build and it's as quiet as a church mouse.

So that should be the final upgrade (at least, for the next few years). Here's the final build.

NZXT H440 case
     includes 3, 120mm intake fans in the front and 1, 140mm exhaust fan in the back
Corsair AX860 860W PSU
ASUS ROG Maximus Hero VII  (Z97) motherboard
Intel i5-4690k CPU
G-Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB 1866MHz CL9 RAM
Gigabyte GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 3xWindforce graphics card
     GPU clock: 1114MHZ; Memory: 1753MHz; Boost: 1253MHz
Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB SSD
Seagate 1TB HDD (secondary drive)
Western Digital Blue 2TB HDD (backup drive)
Coolermaster Seidon 240M Liquid CPU cooler
     stock fans removed and replaced with two, 120mm Noctua NF-P12 PWM fans
Corsair braided cables, red

Razer Deathadder mouse
Razer Deathstalker keyboard
ASUS VG248QE 144Hz LED monitor

Post

A Borderlands: The Pre-sequel video in which I obtain the Excalibastard, another example of a (shitty) so-called Legendary weapon. I've found it only moderately useful.



Since advancing to the Ultimate Vault Hunter mode I have actually begun to enjoy The Pre-sequel. The weapons are better, the enemy AI is more challenging, and the action is more exciting. I still hate all those ridiculous fetch-quests, though. So much wasted time going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Far Cry Completion

I thoroughly enjoyed Far Cry 4, even though it was more of the same stuff offered up in Far Cry 3. It's a formula that seems to work for Ubisoft in the series. Borderlands: The Pre-sequel is much the same as Borderlands, and Borderlands 2, but I have found it much less enjoyable. In fact, while playing it, I feel I'm just going through the motions. What is it about the Far Cry series that makes it much more exciting and, seemingly, new with each iteration? I'm not sure I can put my finger on it.

How much did I enjoy Far Cry 4? Well, I achieved 100% completion after 60 hours of total gameplay.

And I may even go back in and reset some of the outposts. They should be more interesting now that I have all the weapons and skill upgrades.

Changes

So, I managed to install that extra fan in my old Thermaltake case.

It's alive!

And there it is. I intended to put a Noctua fan in the top position , but instead decided on a Zalman sharkfin-blade; I put the Noctua in the rear of the case. Although it is a top-notch fan, the Noctua is an ugly beige and brown that looked hideous in the front. It's better as an exhaust fan anyway.

Since the day I took the above picture I have made a few changes. I have completely removed the DVD drive (because I rarely used it anyway) and I have reversed the top fan so that it acts as an intake and not an exhaust.

I have also made a few more changes to my PC

Gameplay

I've been playing Far Cry 4 and Borderlands: The Pre-sequel lately. And I've been making use of NVIDIA's GeForce Experience Shadowplay utility to record some gameplay. Check out the videos below.

Accomplishments

I have accomplished a few things since my last post.

Success and final Upgrade

The motherboard installation was a success. The best part was not having to reinstall Windows 7. I simply had to make a few adjustments in the ASUS UEFI and then the machine just booted to the desktop. Sure I had to verify my copy of Windows, but that was hardly an inconvenience. I also had to make some minor tweaks in the Task Scheduler, but overall it was a delightful experience.

A few weeks after that change, I implemented two other upgrades to complete my ideal machine.

Changing of the Guard, Part II

My ASUS P8P67 and  Intel i5-2500 have served me well, but it's time for an upgrade.

I'm installing an ASUS Maximus Hero VII and an Intel i5-4690k. Wish me luck; it's my first install.

Changing of the Guard

Out with the old,

And in with the new.

Time for some sweet gaming.

Garbage or Art?

I did a little decorating in my new apartment recently.

Check out the EZ-Mode Unlocked blog for details.

Rainy Tuesday Tunes

In keeping with today's weather (which I thoroughly enjoy), here are some tunes about rain. Hit the jump to find them.

Big Crowds and Powerful Moments

I love it when the crowd gets into it. And I have to wonder: what does it do to a man when a stadium full of people sings the song that he wrote? Gallagher might have the answer at the 5:50 mark of the first video.



"Feel free to join in on the chorus", he says, and the crowd sings the entire effing song. Powerful stuff.





I love the guitar work in that song, and the enthusiastic crowd.




Wembley stadium, a packed Wembley stadium, joining Dave Grohl on "Everlong". Music moves everyone.

Games and Writers

I'm always amused by the video-game articles that appear in the so-called mainstream media. The writers attempt to help those who don't play video-games (i.e., parents) understand both the appeal and the effect of the games on the players. But they are far from helpful. They generalize and simplify and show that they don't really 'get' either the specific game they are discussing, video games in general, or the people who play them.

Fortunately, there are a few that do get it.

This Happened

The wind came

And it made me sad.