LAN gaming phantasmagoria!
Friends hosted a LAN gaming party this weekend in honour of thier birthdays (which bracket this weekend, more or less). It was a particularly fun time!
The hit of the party was a relatively new "mod" (set of modifications) for the game Half-Life (from Valve Entertainment; very popular), Natural Selection. Wow! I have to look in to what group of people could devote the creative energies to produce such an incredible add-on to a commercial game -- with no prospect of being paid for their efforts!
I finally, finally got a laptop with half an eye to running games well (that eye's other half went to making sure it's powerful enough to run compute-server demos, as I've toyed with doing on a consulting basis -- ask me for details in email) (the other eye had to be fixed on getting it as cheaply as possible... under CA$2k as it turns out). So my gaming kit consisted of two soft-sided briefcases, where I used to lug a heavy 19" CRT monitor, a desktop computer case, keyboard, and sundry cabling. There was room for my 5-port ethernet switch, spare cables, my entire game software collection, and my hands were still free to help carry whatever else came up (friends' gear, foodstuffs, whatever).
All in all, a really good weekend. Despite failing to line up a ride over on Saturday morning (cost me a few hours of manic fun, but somebody was able to pick me up on a later errand once they learned of my error). Also despite recognizing that this could be one of the last such parties I participate in, at least with this crowd. On the question of leaving Edmonton, I have a random followup message from a local recruiter to return tomorrow. Better odds than the lottery, I suppose.
The hit of the party was a relatively new "mod" (set of modifications) for the game Half-Life (from Valve Entertainment; very popular), Natural Selection. Wow! I have to look in to what group of people could devote the creative energies to produce such an incredible add-on to a commercial game -- with no prospect of being paid for their efforts!
I finally, finally got a laptop with half an eye to running games well (that eye's other half went to making sure it's powerful enough to run compute-server demos, as I've toyed with doing on a consulting basis -- ask me for details in email) (the other eye had to be fixed on getting it as cheaply as possible... under CA$2k as it turns out). So my gaming kit consisted of two soft-sided briefcases, where I used to lug a heavy 19" CRT monitor, a desktop computer case, keyboard, and sundry cabling. There was room for my 5-port ethernet switch, spare cables, my entire game software collection, and my hands were still free to help carry whatever else came up (friends' gear, foodstuffs, whatever).
All in all, a really good weekend. Despite failing to line up a ride over on Saturday morning (cost me a few hours of manic fun, but somebody was able to pick me up on a later errand once they learned of my error). Also despite recognizing that this could be one of the last such parties I participate in, at least with this crowd. On the question of leaving Edmonton, I have a random followup message from a local recruiter to return tomorrow. Better odds than the lottery, I suppose.