The computer hasn't moved an inch since I mentioned the idea of doing so.  My dad and I briefly talked about it tonight and I brought up how the cord was now tied to a beam and such.  Fortunately he whipped out a tape measure and did a few measurements and concluded what I'd already thought: the cord could indeed stretch another 12', but that's it.  We'd have to build a shelf of sorts to place the router on, then bring a cord down to the computer.  Assuming we're both right, a female-to-female connector wouldn't be needed, though I still wouldn't mind having one.

So, if we project ourselves into the future and the computer gets moved, the router would be about 25' directly under my room with 1 floor in-between.  My dad said we could simply snake the cable through the air duct and out of the register in my room.  Once in my room I'm still not sure how much extra cable I'd have to play with, but thankfully my Xbox/TV are only a few feet away.  The main reason I want to do this is to see if it can actually be done, out of the sake of curiosity I guess.  While the possibility of using Xlink-Kai from my room is certainly intriguing, it's also 100x more of a hassle since you really need to be close to the computer to change rooms and such.  LIVE©(lol copyright symbol) is much more appealing.

Then again, all I have to play is Halo 2.  No 360 in this house.  But Halo 2's multiplayer gave me the greatest gaming experience(s) of my life.  Yes, I've certainly bashed Halo 2 in the past, but the multiplayer has always been awesome.  I've only played system-link, so I've never experienced superjumps, stand-by's or annoying 12 years olds screaming into the mic.  The game only has 3000 playing right now and 15,000 over the past 24 hours.  Is it really worth the hassle of sneaking a cord into my room and $50 a year?

(in my opinion, Live should be free for those using the original Xbox.  No NXE, Netflix, avatars, ect.  What exactly are you paying for?)

For a while now, one of my legal guardians wants to move the computer back into our living room.  This wouldn't be such a huge project if it weren't for our fairly big(and heavy) computer desk.  It's quite large, roughly 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide.  Depth-wise I'd say it's about 3 feet.  And we're not talking about cheap, flimsy plywood.  This is real, actual wood we're talking about here.  Thankfully the top half comes off, but it really doesn't help with the weight.  Most of the heavy stuff is on the bottom half.

This isn't to say it can't be done.  It can be done because we've done it countless times before.  It originally started in our basement back in 1998 and since then moved back and forth from there to the basement so many times I've lost count(ok, maybe 5).  It's a task I should be used to by now but the mere thought of moving everything again isn't too pleasant.  We also have a huge-ass printer I'd have to bring upstairs as well.  Moving everything isn't set it stone, just an option that one of them wouldn't mind having.  I much prefer where it is now because the computer is quite loud at times, and adding in the annoying sound of typing is enough to drive anyone crazy. 

We also have another option that at least two people in this household agree on(one of them being me):  Moving the computer back about 12 feet, flush against a wall and right next to an outlet.  1.) This would free up the extension cord we're currently using.  2.) The mess of cords would be..well, hidden from sight(even though no one really goes down there).  3.) This would take care of having to create a whole new outlet to ease up on the amount of cords, something my dad plans to do this Sunday.  4.) According to my calculations captain, I could be given access to Live-or at least Xlink Kai in my room.  Now, this is actually possible now...for about $100.  Since explaining our entire floor plan would be a pain, lets just say that having the computer flush against the wall would make things a whole lot easier for me.  I could simply send the Ethernet cord though the register and into my room, and voila.  Instant internet access.  Plus, a nice wired connection makes me happier than going wireless.

But, alas, there's a catch.  The other guardian seems completely against this.  Why?  I haven't the slightest clue.  One reason I heard was that it'd increase the cost of our internet.  Now, I haven't even mentioned Live as being one of my main reasons for doing this, so this reasoning is even more absurd.  Cost seems to be a major issue for this particular parent, and I agree.  Right now, times are rough.  That's why I wouldn't even consider this if it wasn't financially possible, and it is.  25' of CAT5 cable should do the trick, and how much is that, $20?  I just did a quick search and found one for $5 (though it's Belkin.  Haven't heard fantastic things about them lately).  I may or may not have to get a female-to-female connector as well, but those are only $2 or less so that isn't an issue.

It's just strange that someone would be against moving a computer back a mere 12', yet seems perfectly fine with moving it up another floor.  To me, the benefits certainly outweigh the cons, but I might be overlooking something.  After things cooled down a bit I really wanted to see what I was up against, so I started to measure just how much extra cord I'd need for everything.  Unfortunately someone decided to zip tie the extra internet cord onto a metal beam and piping, so I wasn't able to conduct my research.  My hands feel like crap now from trying to get the cord through zip ties without having to break them.  Not to mention I broke a small plastic bottle of cologne all over the floor, which really isn't all that bad to be honest. 

Time will tell if any of this comes to fruition.  I'm hoping that once we explain everything the other will realize that this isn't such a big deal after all.  It seems to be more of a "Why do you want to do this?" argument.  Ours will be "Why not?".

Having played both the N64 and PS1 last night, so far the N64 is dominating the nostalgia test.  Rush 2 alone is demolishing both Gran Turismo 2 and Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed(though the latter is considerably better than GT2).  I'm finding the controls to be much better, even though the N64's controller gets a lot of hate for some reason.  And I'm not half-assing this experience, either.  I'm going full nostalgia:


That TV can't be much bigger than a 14", and the VCR next to it is around 12 years old or so.  While a nice 50" plasma would be nice, this is still fun in its own sort of way.  I'm probably going to play Rush 2 again tonight because it is quite fun, regardless of its age.  I started thinking how epic that game would be on XBLA with 16 other people.  Just imagine that for a second.  It'd be mass chaos on the Stunt Track, my favorite track in the whole game(though Alcatraz is up there).

I haven't had the urge to write...anything for a while now.  Sometimes I'll go on writing sprees and write a blog or two per day for weeks, other times I lack the enthusiasm to even care.  An audience would help, but there isn't much I can do about that.  It's weird though, because I do have stuff to tell.  Plain, ordinary and boring stuff.  But nonetheless stuff, such as a nice nostalgia trip I had tonight, or the fact that DamnStraight finally has a new template.  But I just don't feel like getting into it all.  Honestly, is there a point?  I know of no one who reads this other than me.

Back when I first started blogging I actually had readers.  They were few(very few), but they were there and that's all that mattered.  I thought that over time I'd get a bigger audience and my blogs/articles/whatnot would actually matter and improve.  But the fact of the matter is that I'm unfortunately stuck, or perhaps even going backwards on my blogging trek.  No readers.  Nothing of value to write about.  But I still continue to do so because I need some place to vent out every once in a while.  And to me, venting out isn't necessarily always in a negative tone.  Just releasing my thoughts onto the internet helps, in a weird sort of way.

I'll usually make a post like this once or twice a year and eventually get back into the swing of things, so I'm even sure why I continue doing so.  It's just frustrating not to have any feedback.  Just one little comment on each post assures me that what I'm writing doesn't go to waste.  I can understand how some posts don't have any comments because there really isn't anything to give feedback on.  Other times I'll make some pretty good posts(if I say so myself) and they go unnoticed.  This might change one DamnStraight gets going, but I'm not counting on it.

Having been part of a website before showed me that even when someone pumps out new and useful material each day, it doesn't automatically mean there will be someone there to give a damn.  Starting a new website nowadays is such a huge pain in the ass that I don't think I'll ever attempt one myself, at least not for internet fandom(more likely a personal site).  You go through so much work with getting together a template, then coding it, then getting content and publishing it only to see no one is absorbing it.  The key to a successful website is unknown to me.  You'd think that putting out good content on a regular basis would do it, but you couldn't be more wrong.

Kotaku, for instance, gets so much traffic and is well known throughout the internet even though it's known to put out faulty information.  The main reason it's so popular, to me at least, is because it was part of that initial "boom".  Kotaku, Gamespot, IGN, ect.  All have been around for a decade or so, and they've made their own niche in the internet.  New websites, especially gaming websites have a hard time at success because everything's been done.  What could they possibly offer that's new and unique?  To this day I still don't know what DamnStraight will be about, exactly, or how it will be different.  The whole process is quite off-putting really.  You invest so much into something that usually results in an epic failure, and it hurts.  Just like blogging...

Not writing for 6 days has its advantages, such as something to actually write about.  So many little things happened I could easily make this my longest blog yet, but a giant wall of text isn't very appealing.  I'd add a few pictures in between paragraphs but Live Spaces doesn't like that.  So I guess I'll start by explaining a discussion I had with someone during Thanksgiving.

He and a friend of mine have put together a few projects they want publicized.  I really had no objection to helping them so I said I'd do my best to promote it however I can.  Skip forward to this past Wednesday when I'm about to call it a night when my friend sends me a message over Live Messenger.  I'm informed that, finally, the projects are ready for release.  Great, I think.  I'd been looking forward to seeing them ever since I first heard about them.  So I wait...and wait...and wait.  2:30am comes along and I'm tired as hell.  I checked their YouTube channel one last time and go to bed.

The next day I see that they've posted one of the projects, a comedy album, less than an hour before I got on.  While I was happy they finally released, I would've preferred it at around midnight or so.  This was when I posted some material of theirs in a thread on Reddit that seemed to be doing quite well.  I knew that if I posted it the next day it'd be pointless because the thread would be dead by then.  I posted it in their anyways and it has receive a whopping 2 up-mods.  Not sure of how many hits its received, however.

Not too long after this they post the second and final project online, which is a mystery/crime series heavily influenced by Twin Peaks.  While I enjoyed it, I seem to be part of the few who did.  Only 3 episodes have been released thus far, with 10 or 12 planned(I think).  Neither of the projects have gotten positive feedback, which sort-of sucks because they both felt they were quite good.  However, any feedback is good feedback I suppose.  They can always improve with any criticism they receive. 

I planned to continue this post, but it really has nothing to do with the above so I'll save it for another time.

After having a few computer problems I was a bit on-edge this afternoon.  I needed to let off some steam but didn't know where.  Splinter Cell doesn't really calm you down(it actually does the opposite).  I thought about popping in Halo: Combat Evolved, setting it on Easy and going on a murderous rampage.  This sometimes helps, but I haven't been in the mood for Halo for quite a while.  Instead I reached for Unreal Championship.  I honestly can't remember the last time I played this game...

Anyways, I pop it in and play a quick 30-kill match.  With the bots set to easy this only lasted about 8-10 minutes, so I decided to mess with the settings a bit.  During my first run my aiming was quite slow, so I increased the sensitivity a bit.  I then increased my speed, turned on Vampire(you receive health in the amount of how much damage you inflict on enemies), and set the weapons to Rocket Launchers.  The game loaded, and it was much more intense than I had originally thought it would.  The aiming and speed increase really made a difference.  With the bots still set to easy it was another slaughter, but fun nonetheless.  I may come back to this game tomorrow and increase the bot skills.

My rage was gone while playing, but came back as soon as my Xbox switched off.  In about 30 minutes it'll either turn to joy or disappointment.  Time will tell...

Does everyone know what time it is?  Splinter Cell Time!

To be honest, I haven't been playing the original Splinter Cell a whole lot lately.  Instead, I decided to pop in the Chaos Theory demo I got back in 2005.  Playing the original SC for a short streak, then suddenly playing Chaos Theory really brought out the differences between the two, mainly Sam's speed while crouched.  In the original SC, you can move at a pretty decent rate while in the crouched position, which is quite a bit of the time.  In Chaos Theory however, you move at a noticeably slower rate.  It isn't a game, or I should say demo breaker, but it's worth noting until I eventually get the full game one of these days.

Then we have the button layout, which I'm sure I've mentioned before but I'll say it again: changing the controller layout for a sequel isn't very easy to get used to.  Especially for someone like me, who has recently been playing the original game for some time.  Now obviously there are exceptions, such as Halo 2 when dual-wielding was introduced.  But with Chaos Theory, I wasn't aware of the layout change during my initial run(which was back in 2005).  Case in point: 2 enemies are in front of me.  To better hide myself I decide to hug a wall.  Like I normally would in the original game I pressed Black, but all of a sudden Sam whistles!  My cover is blown, and I die.  The thing with demos is that they don't come with instruction manuals that display the controller layout.  But instead of getting mad at Ubisoft I simply laughed at my own stupidity.

Anyways, this blog wasn't supposed to be about Chaos Theory.  I'm not even sure why I brought it up, really.  I decided to go back to Splinter Cell's final mission this afternoon.  The first half of the game is a cinch.  Distract a few guards here, snap a few necks there.  It starts out like your ordinary level, but when you really look at it, everything you've learned throughout the game is put to the test in this final mission.  Wall jumping, ledge and pipe climbing, avoiding spotlights, bypassing laser censors, picking locks, ect.  It's all wrapped up into one for your final task, as it should be.  Like I said earlier, it starts off rather mundane after you complete the first few obstacles(wall jumping and ledge climbing mainly).   Once you get to the last half of the level, things suddenly get hectic.  Very hectic...

I take an elevator down to the bottom level and I'm suddenly surrounded(I've explained this before here.)  I'm assuming you went to that link, so I'm not going to explain my current situation in exact detail.  Anyways, I exit the elevator and attempt to secure the area in the same fashion that resulted in success last time.  Unfortunately it didn't work.  5 restarts later and I still wasn't getting anywhere.  The problem?  My gun is too damn powerful.  The best way to complete this particular battle is to use smoke grenades(in my opinion at least).  Last time it was sheer luck that got me out of there alive.  Now that I know what to expect, things are strangely harder.  When I fire the smoke grenades, one of them always bounces back at me.  The other does his job, but the other turns into my own enemy.  I give it another go and I finally get it.  Luck was still on my side, that's for sure.  It wasn't even anything to be proud of because I didn't take everyone out.  Once the smoke grenades went off I just said "Fuck this" and ran to the exit. 

Now I'm in a basement.  Again, check the link for details on my current scenario.  The first time I completed this was in mercenary-style.  Instead of taking FULL advantage of the blackout, like an idiot I stuck around for a gun fight.  I watched a walk through after I did this and realized I could've simply ran to the exit while my enemies are trying to figure out why the lights went out.  So that's exactly what I planned to do this afternoon.  The lights went out and I made a mad dash to the exit.  But what happens?  I die.  I restart the checkpoint and get ready for another dash for the exit.  This time I'm fully prepared: Rifle equipped with an air ring coil, night vision on, and aimed at the platform that'll shave off a few seconds.  But again I fail.  Perhaps if I wasn't such a dumbass during my elevator battle in acquiring multiple bullets I wouldn't be in the mess.

So I did the unthinkable.  Once the lights went out, back into mercenary mode I went.  After a brief run for cover I crouched down to analyze my inventory: Plenty of rifle ammo, 6 bullets in the pistol, 1 air ring coil, 3 sticky cameras and 1 frag grenade.  My health: 1/4.  It certainly wasn't the best of scenarios for me, being surrounded by 4(possibly 5) guys with automatics and armor.  Amazingly it turned out to be easier than originally thought and I eventually got out of there alive.  Now onto the next challenge: the assassination.  The assassination itself is quite easy, and even the parts up to it aren't too bad(just 2 guards to take care of).  Once my duty is done, I'm now onto the final part of my mission.

I take care of 3 more enemies and then encounter the staircase.  Ah...the staircase.  I'm at the top of the stairs, directly facing my exit which is roughly 30 feet away.  To the left of me are 3 baddies, to the right are 3 more.  Fortunately they're facing the other way so this should be an easy getaway.  All I have to do is run to the door, and I'm done.  So I do just that, which ends in utter failure.  The short animation of Sam opening the door is just enough time for the 6 men to kill me.  I decided to call it quits at that point.  I have the checkpoint saved so I can always go back to it if I want.  Next time I think I'll have to take out a few baddies before going down those stairs.  How I'll do this isn't known right now...

Earlier this week(Sunday to be precise), I stated that DamnStraight might just finally launch within the week.  Due to even more time constraints things have been pushed back slightly.  I still have no exact date for when it'll go live, but there are almost daily updates on the site from James.  The good news is that there should be even more reviews available than originally thought because James has received a few more products from publishers(mainly hardware).  So that should be a good addition.

I've also thought about giving this Space a whole new design.  While I really like the darker tone, viewing Sonic Alpha's Space has really made me think about lighting things up a bit.  Not only is it easier on the eyes, it also loads faster.  Now, obviously it won't be an exact mirror image of Alpha's, but the general layout will be similar.  I won't have nearly the same amount of boxes on each side, or at least not like his.  He's obviously a gamer, an up-to-date gamer to be more precise.  I'm sure I'll have a feed or two, probably my twitter box and a few other devices or widgets.

If you're interested, I'll also be posting 3 brand new Kill Zone 2 videos from the demo that's been making the rounds.  Keep an eye on my YouTube channel for updates.

These past few months have really made me think about where Web 2.0 is going.  For the longest time I've had a simple, daily routine of checking my inbox, catching up with friends on Facebook and watching social networking sites take over the internet.  But now things are suddenly changing.  My lovely Hotmail inbox(yes, I still use Hotmail) has now gone under the scalpel of an amateur, Facebook has been rearranged by Picasso himself, and the people in charge simply shut out the community that uses them.

It all started back in mid-September, when Facebook forced us to use the new layout.  Weeks prior to this we were able to use either the old or new format with the click of a button, which was nice.  I, and many others, preferred to use the old layout we were all used to.  Having that option was a good move by the Facebook team, but when they forced the new design upon us, it wasn't a pleasant experience.  Things certainly take a while to get used to, especially a new website layout.  I hated it from the beginning and never thought I'd grow used to it.  And you know what?  I still haven't.  This new layout is horrid in my opinion.  Nothing is uglier than the comment layout, which is a complete and utter mess.  And what happened to our beloved add-ons?  Oh, they've been put together in a new tab labeled "Boxes"...

People protested for a while but soon forgot about it and went on with their daily lives(this is all of America wrapped into one sentence, sadly).  It wasn't the fact that the layout sucked, it was Facebook taking away the option to continue using the old one.  Then we have the whole Hotmail debacle, which is still undergoing changes.  I've been a happy Hotmail user for 6 years now and have never had any real problems with it, and I still don't.  It functions perfectly fine after the "upgrade", but the new layout looks like a downgrade to me.  This was the general layout Hotmail users had been using for a good number of years.  Over time it's gone through a few graphical updates, but the basic layout has been the same.  Then comes early November when things suddenly changed.  As you can see, things are certainly different.  Mainly the left-hand bar.  Again, I'm not angry at the new layout, I'm angry because none of us have the option to keep using something we feel is better.  Microsoft has claimed that this new layout is superior because "they've listened" and made the appropriate changes.  Well, just because you feel it's better doesn't mean we want it.  At least not yet.

And finally we have Pownce.  I've never used Pownce, nor have I heard so much about it until recently.  From what I gather it's basically a site where you can share media with friends and organize events.  Sounds simple and harmless, and judging by the people involved(including Digg's Kevin Rose), it's got quite a large following.  Just 4 days ago it was announced on the Pownce blog that they would be shutting down their services and joining up with a site called Vox(another site I've never heard of).  The Pownce community is echoing what I've been saying all along: why?  Many users are asking exactly why Pownce is being shut down and forcing them to migrate over to Vox.  They aren't attacking either parties, but simply want an explanation. 

So far these are the only 3 that have come to my attention, but I'm sure there are and will be many more.  It's an unfortunate trend of those in charge not continuing to listen to community.  While their user base may have shouted for change, and they did so accordingly, they've for some reason stopped listening to what people think after they impliment it.

Ever heard the phrase "Waiting is half the fun", or at least some form of it?  Well, yeah.  It's true.  Anyone who has been looking forward to something knows this, and I'm sure this is a lot of you.  For example, take gaming(though this equally applies to movies).  Particularly Halo 2 in this instance.  Now, I can't pin-point the exact day I first heard rumors of Halo 2, but it must've been sometime in 2003, possibly 2002.  Halo 1's ending heavily suggests things are just getting started, but actual confirmation of a sequel is so much more satisfying.

For more than a year I had been waiting for Halo 2, which in the end ruined the experience.  Hype is a fickle bitch that always seems to target me in the nastiest of ways.  By waiting I mean scowering the internet for anything new; pictures, videos, podcasts, ect.  ilovebees certainly kept me entertained, and those 3D images were quite wonderful as well.  And call me crazy, but I swear I remember seeing a video of an actual Rocket Warthog.  NOT the Guas Warthog, which is in Halo 2.  But an actual Warthog that had a rocket launcher as a turret(like in Fall of Reach).  I've yet to find that video, then again, I haven't really searched for it since 2003/04.  Anyways, as I said, hype ruined it for me.  To quote 40 Year Old Virgin, "I put it on a pedestal".

And I'm currently in the waiting-game again, but this time it's quite different.  Instead of a game, it's music.  And instead of something massive like a Pink Floyd reunion, it's hearing new material from a local band, which is just as important to me.  They're called Lemon Test and were formed in 2004 without a name until 2005.  At the time the only person I only knew was the lead singer, who has been a good friend of mine ever since elementary school.  I'd never met the rest of the band, though knew who they were because we went to high school together and saw them every now and then.  Shortly thereafter, and because of my sister being friends with them, I soon began seeing them on a semi-regular basis due to Xbox parties or general get-togthers which then lead to friendships.

By 2006 they were quite busy with local gigs, which as of now I'm highly regretting not going to more of them at the time.  They were featured on a local radio station and quite a few online podcast as well.  That same year they traveled down to Nashville and worked with Tim Lauer to record a few tracks in an official studio.  To me, everything seemed to be going great for them.  But as usual I was kept out of the loop on a few things....well...a lot of things.  I still don't know the full story and I fear it to be quite lengthy and cold so I never really bring it up.  Up till this Thanksgiving I was under the impression that one of the band members and the lead singer, my friend, just couldn't stand one another anymore.

For roughly 2 years this was the brief "story", if you can call it that, that I knew.  This Thanksgiving a few more details were revealed to me that drastically changed things.  I was informed that the lead singer really wasn't doing anything for the band anymore, as far as writing new songs.  He'd show up late for rehearsals, groggy and out of it.  They eventually just stopped calling him and played anyways, which has an eerie resemblance to the Syd Barret story(minus the drugs[I hope]).  They did eventually get a lead singer in 2007 I believe, but I've yet to hear him in person.  And he isn't even a permanent singer, but rather a guest until they do find a permanent one.  I've only seen a handful of his performances via YouTube. 

2 years have gone by since I've heard anything new from them, and there really hasn't been any inclination of that changing...until tonight, at least.  They've recently created a page on Facebook, which already has about 20 fans.  Why they did this I'm not really sure, since they already made a group.  Perhaps pages have more options.  I'm not really familiar with how each Facebook feature works so I didn't dwell on it that much.  Just tonight, a few minutes ago, I noticed they posted a new "note".  This is really the first update I've read of theirs since 2006, in regards of new material at least.  The note stated that new material is on the way and that they've had new material for 2 years.

So now, the waiting game continues. 


Hong Kong: High Bandwidth
 

After reading an article listing the best Xbox 360 games of 2008, a spark went off in my head: The media doesn't know shit about games other than sales figures.  In that article, they claimed that Fable 2 is the best game of 2008 for the Xbox 360(exclusively).  Now, there will be a bit of bias and lack of knowledge in this post because I haven't played any of the games on the list.  But judging by the comments on that particular article, it doesn't take a genius to know people disagree with it.

This is mainly due to media sites looking at the first-week sales of said game and concluding whether or not it's a smash hit that gamers love.  They couldn't be more wrong, but I'm sure you already know this.  What they need to do is wait, for about a month or two, until the initial hype and buzz wears off and gamers start seeing the game as it really is.  When you're really looking forward to a game and finally get a chance to play it, you sometimes overlook a few bugs or glitches.  You want to enjoy the game, so letting a few bad spots slide is just fine.  But after a month of encountering the same things over and over again, those nasty bugs become clear as day and annoying as hell.  This is when the media should then go to community forums and see how gamers feel about the game.  To see if the developers are working on any patches or DLC to keep the customer satisfied and interested in the game.

Having the actual media review a game is pointless nowadays.  It's way too "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours."  You need look no further than the whole Gamespot debacle.  Remember that?  Jeff Gerstmann was fired for giving an honest review of Kane and Lynch, a game by Eidos that plastered ads for the game all over GameSpot.com.  Advertising a game, then giving it a not-so-great review certainly didn't sit well with Eidos.  While no one knows the real reason behind the firing, it wouldn't be all that crazy to assume it was because of his Fair review. 

It's actually quite rare for me nowadays to read a review unless it's by someone I know or EGM, who's certainly been in hot water before and didn't back down.  The whole GameSpot ordeal has really made me re-think which websites give out worth-while and honest reviews, rather than sucking the corporate cock.

Last night, after dinner, I came back to a catastrophe.  All of my bookmarks and add-ons in Firefox were gone.  To make matters worse(and stranger), the back and forward buttons didn't work, nor did the status bar appear.  Each tab had that little circle animation as if it they were still loading the pages.  I spent quite a bit of time bookmarking each page I visited on a daily basis and customizing what add-ons to use and how to use them.  Starting all over again would certainly be a pain.

You'd think getting my bookmarks back would be quite simple, since I visit them on an hourly basis, but this isn't so.  As of now I only have about half of them back, and that's just from memory.  The other half...who knows.  I honestly can't remember every site I visit.  Now you're probably thinking "Why not just import the backups?".  Well, I'll tell you why.  Last night, when it first  happened, I went to the Mozilla forums to see what was going on.  I explained that importing my backups wasn't working, and I was still having problems with the back/forward buttons and such.  Creating a new profile seemed to do the trick, for the navigation buttons at least.  I still had to go in search of my bookmarks. 

After finally getting back to what I was used to(bookmarks, add-ons, styles, ect), things seemed to be back to normal...until tonight, that is.  Around 11:00pm or so the same thing happened again.  After opening Firefox everything was gone.  This time I really didn't want to start over again, so I made a decision: I would use IE.  I thought it couldn't possibly be as bad as people say it is.  I mean, sure, I've used it before.  It used to be the only one until I discovered Opera a few years back.  That was when IE and I parted and I haven't gone back to that bitch till tonight.  Man, what a horror show.  For starters, each page I went to bookmark was totally messed up, specifically Reddit.  The text was way to small for me, and zooming in turned the comments section into a disaster zone.  No amount of fiddling resulted in anything remotely close to what I'd call "acceptable".

Then came DamnStraight.net.  You'd think a plain Wordpress page would look fine, no?  Wrong.  Only half the gradient appeared at first.  Zooming in did help, but now the text bothered me.  Oy vey.  Page after page gave me more and more headaches, until I finally said "Fuck it" and re-downloaded Firefox.  I really didn't think it'd be that bad, since I still use IE every now and then on the computer at my dad's office.  Then again, that computer has a fairly standard resolution(1024x720).  This beast, however, is set to the odd resolution of 1152x864.  Hopefully re-downloading Firefox did the trick.  I'm still trying to fill up that bookmarks toolbar right now, but I know I'm forgetting some.

Even a simple option to use themes in IE would've made a difference.  Googling only gave me links to IE themes for Firefox, instead of themes for IE itself.  I also couldn't leave the bookmark names blank, like I do in Firefox.  A website logo itself is enough to tell me what site it is.  I don't need to know the name of it.  Clicking on the "home" button with my scroll wheel should've opened "home" in a new tab, like in Firefox, but it didn't.  So I had to manually create a new tab and enter in the URL.  Opening links to new pages really should've opened in tabs, but IE opens them in separate and annoying windows.  All of these things are what eventually lead me to abandoned IE and go back to Firefox.  I wasn't even using it for 10 minutes before giving up on it.  I'm sure if I stuck with it for a week or so things would get better, but there were just too many negative things about it within such a short time of use to keep me using it.

Goodbye IE, this time for good(other than the occasional use at my dad's office).