So I’m trying something new. I’m using my Sprint Mogul to post. I went all out with the new phone. Reviews to come. Also, Th!nk has a new weekly feature to unveil. Details to come.

“I want my sale-priced beer to have an Easy Button.”

I’m a fan of tasty beverages. I’m always intrigued by fantastic libations. When I’m enjoying said drink-of-choice, I like to relax. Sometimes I’ll watch a movie, read a book, play my guitar. The common theme here is that I don’t like to put in a lot of effort. That being said, why in the sam hell does my beer come with a mail-in rebate?

When did this happen? You can buy 10 packages of ramen for a buck, but you can’t get instant savings on beverage purchases?! How do I even know that I’m going to get my money back in 6-8 weeks? Already my mind frantically searches for answers instead of enjoying the delicious inebriation to follow!

Maybe I’m just used to living in a Mickey Mouse, instant gratification type lifestyle, but I remember the days as a young lad going to the store with my dad. And you know what? When beer was on sale, it was actually on sale. The sale didn’t require postage. I want my sale-priced beer to have an Easy Button.

I’m stuck in the middle with what to say about Vegas 2, other than “whatever your feelings were about the first game, they won’t change based on the second.”

What it comes down to is that:

• The storyline makes little sense, has little bearing and forces your created character “Bishop” play the role of teacher and all-around good guy
• The game is fairly buggy; audio tracks glitch and loop infinitely and guns refuse to display hi-res textures until you switch weapons during a Terrorist Hunt
• The AI is a bit more aggressive, but also feels stupider on this victory lap; oftentimes, enemies will just stand still looking around when they should be pursuing
• The leveling/experience system adds something to the game…
• As does the character creation system; it’s nice to be able to skin your own character, customize their gear and camouflage
• Nearly half of the Terrorist Hunt maps are updated versions from Vegas 1; spend some more time creating new levels for crying out loud!

As much as I was really looking forward to this game, I can’t help but say that I’m fairly disappointed with how it turned out. If this were treated and priced more like an expansion pack, I would have been much more complacent with the game itself, but in it’s current state, I can’t help but hope that then next Rainbow Six game that gets released adds something new to the mix. In a way, it’s like ordering a favorite meal at a new diner and finding it surprisingly average and not really satisfying.

So, I’ve logged roughly five or six hours thus far with the game, and I have a few things to say.

• The game is remarkably the same. While this is a good thing, some of the levels feel eerily similar to the first course.
• The AI, even on normal, is a bit more aggressive this time around with seeking you out from your hiding hole.
• At least on the Playstation 3 version, has had some strange audio issues. Enemy voices get caught up in the middle of a sentence and continuously loop over and over. I’ve also had it happen with a couple of boxes where their sound bytes will loop throughout the level.
• The leveling system is enjoyable at first, but quickly moves to “meh” after time. The equipment payout reward, however, is a nice touch that shows some thought.
• The camo/armor customization is genius. I had a good time in the first game changing my character to the different styles for LAN play; the new set-up is a good evolution.

Generally, typically, stays in Vegas. That is, unless you manage to get an STD. In which case, that stays with you, pretty much wherever you go.

Anyway, against all of my desire, I decided to rent a copy of Vegas 2 for the PS3 because 1) I wanted to celebrate my new job and 2) I don’t want to play WoW all day.

So far, I’m loving the experience system, as it keeps the endless killing seem somewhat fresh. I’ve read that this is what the Call of Duty experience system is like, but I don’t play it online so I wouldn’t know. I’m glad it unlocks some equipment and whatnot, in addition to being able to customise your armory loadout, in addition to your armor loadout and even what camo you get. Pretty damned cool!

Anyways, I’ll more than likely blaze through this game by tomorrow, so I will hopefully have a review up in a day or two. Also picked up a copy of Devil May Cry 4while I was out, got convinced to join the Blockbuster Rewards program (my family had a complimentary one because I rented so many friggin’ games when I was a kid), and got Get Carter and Any Given Sunday, both of which I have never seen.

When I need a break from my gaming tonight, I’ll have another post covering a few topics I’ve seen as of late that I think I need to address. I also have a discourse between Gr00ve and I that I need to edit and post and that’ll hit sometime soon, maybe I’ll save it for a day I’ve got nothing to do or nothing to write about. A slow news day.

As if those existed.

“Hey Baby. Looking for a good time…?”

We’ve laughed, we’ve cried.  It’s been a rocky and tumultuous relationship.  Often times, we will go prancing hand in hand and others I strongly must resist the urge to smack her around a bit and leave her for another mistress.

I’m talking about Windows of course.

After this latest rumored betrayal, how can I learn to trust again?  As it is already, Microsoft is already overcharging the hell out of their products.  There, I said it.  I know others have said this before, but I always have sided on the defense of Microsoft.  “Development costs, support costs, value (examples like Office which have several functions built into one).”  But if I have to start shelling out for specific components of an operating system, especially media features that were standard… there will be no more forgiveness. 

The worst part about the whole thing is the idea of a subscription; the absence of actual ownership makes my skin crawl.  With the number of free, or relatively inexpensive alternatives, how dare they?  You can get just about any flavor of linux that you’d like with minimal effort; hell, even Apple’s OS X offers a full version of there product with every feature Apple offers for $129.  A 5-License “Family Pack” is available for $199.  To get five licenses of Vista Home Premium you would spend $1200.

To think that for one minute I’m going to shell out for an incomplete OS and then shell out even more (perhaps continuously) to flesh it out is absurd.  I know that this entire rant is on the premise that Microsoft will overcharge for all of this, but there has been precedent.

I’ll leave you with this:

-Gr00veMerchant

Why pay more?

As I was trolling through my usual sources, I came across an article regarding Sony computers and their option to remove Bloatware via a “Fresh Start” service ($50) that they offer.  Pretty ballsy if you ask me.  Put something that customers do not want on their product, and then charge them money to take it back off.  Sounds kind of shady to me, but apparently I wasn’t the only person who thought so.

Soon after, Digg users had the article posted, targeted, and annihilated.  As clusters of complaints poured in, Sony then retracted the $50 fee, offering it as a free option on two of their customizable machines. 

I suppose Digg is good for something other than knocking out websites.

When we first started this blog, all it took was a Google Search for ‘everyblog’ and *PooF*… there we were.  A-#1 on the results.  With less than fifty posts under our belt, we’ve already been picked up for syndication!

Or at least that’s how it seems.  Yesterday when I searched for our site on Google, Technorati had our page basically copy and pasted right onto there’s as if THEY were hosting it.  And this is not an isolated example; pretty much every day I see our words posted on someone else’s site as if they wrote it.  Often it seems as though it has been done by bots, because the posts are generically the same:   fill-in-the-blank   wrote and interesting post today over at   fill-in-the-site (not ours) … and then an exact replica of a given post.

We tolerate this because 1.) The more people that read what we have to say, the better.  Perhaps it may even count for something, even though I’m not sure what.  2.) I’m lazy.

Because it would be virtually impossible for us to police something like this, let us thank you for choosing to read OUR site.  It is here for YOU to enjoy every bit as much as we enjoy it.  We just hope you leave entertained.

     -Gr00veMerchant

Starting… meow?

…to go, it’s your time to go.

If there is any doubt that there is a God, and that he has a plan, this should absolve all doubt.  And boy does he have a sense of humor.

How can you not just accept that it was your turn to die?  For those of you who were to lazy to read the full article, the short version is that a 75 lbs. spotted eagle ray jumped out of the water, into a boat moving 25 miles an hour, and struck this lady in the face.  All that was missing was the tire!

This spotted eagle ray, was out for vengeance.

So that girlfriend o’ mine who ruined Guitar Hero for me?

Yep, she’s hooked on the damn thing.  I’ve never heard “Slow Ride” so many consecutive times in my life.

This month being March, we at least have basketball to look forward too.  Don’t get me wrong, I like basketball as much as the next guy.  But seriously, I don’t need 64 games of it.  They call it the Big Dance; in hockey, when you “dance” someone usually ends up bloodied in the sin bin.

I just wish that I could get Fox Sports Net on Dish Network… blast you satellite television.  Be gone from the sky.