I got most of them in just a couple tries but I can’t figure out 24…

[Spoiler]

I really thought the Dark Tower series fell off the rails towards the end.  Or I was just not interested anymore. 

For me Dark Tower was all about the journey and not the conclusion. I typically don't like those types of endings, but when I was finally done I realized that I honestly didn't care how it ended because I enjoyed the story for what it was. That was unique for me at least.

I can't stand this argument. No offense against you personally but King and others have made that argument about this and other stories and here's my question: "So if the story is about the journey, then why should I care about what happens when the journey ends?"

Spoiler for Hiden:

By the end of the story, the characters will usually have changed for the better or for the worse, and worlds will have been changed. Yet my argument on the Dark Tower series is that it basically is little more than The Matrix series if the series had followed the One prior to Neo. It would end as all the others have, only maybe there would a slight hint that next time things would be different (ala the horn that Roland ends the story with). So why the hell couldn't we have had THAT story instead, King? Was 30+ years not enough time to draw a conclusion? Hell I came up with a better one in about 15 minutes after finishing the book.

In my ending, Flagg is still the dangerous wizard he always was and when he realizes Mordred has entered his mind, manages to trap Mordred there and paralyze him. Flagg then stomps the spider to death and rips off the seal from his chest (aka the key to the Tower). He then heads straight for the Tower knowing the sub-routes throughout the world. As such, it comes down to a footrace to the Tower. "The man in black fled across the blasted wasteland and the gunslingers followed." It comes down to Roland and Flagg shooting at one another as they both race for the Tower across the field of roses while dodging attacks from the Crimson King.

I hadn't planned anything more than that, but that alone strikes me as way the hell better than what King did.

Yes I'm still bitter at the final book and a half of the Dark Tower series. I maintain that Wizard & Glass though is one of the finest books I've ever read, period. I still have trouble believing just how great that book is. It is magnificent.

I liked the ending of the Dark Tower well enough but I have to admit I would have preferred your ending.

To the original question I would suggest the

Spoiler for Hiden:

Long Walk

also by King as Bachman.  It leaves you guessing until the very end as to who will live or die.  The fact that I read it right when the reality TV craze was first starting up added a lot to the story. 

It’s very much a spiritual successor to Fallout, which is not surprising since it’s made by much of the same team.  The amount of options you have in both character creation and game play progression are astounding. 

There are really only two problems I have with what would otherwise be a classic game.  The first is that unlike in Fallout where you could do no wrong, it is entirely possible to create a broken character in Arcanun.  The second problem attributes to that and it’s the fact that the last ¼ of the game is terribly combat heavy. 
If you play a technologist, which I would highly recommend to get the full flavor of the game, get used to having to switch back and forth between turn based and real time combat depending on your situation. 

Either way make sure to track down the restoration project that fixes many of the bug/incomplete quest that were in the original game.  Even with all the problems I think it’s still worth a look.

Either  use the Tentacle Plant or put a Wallnut/tallnut on a lily pad and make sure you have stuff to shoot behind.

Congratulations!

 I was one of the lucky ones who found work shortly after graduation so it is possible.  Let’s hope your luck is the same.

Amazon has Season two set to come out on DVD July 21 for anyone who is interested in buying it.

Make sure you end up with the Directors cut.  It makes a mediocre movie into one of the better epics I’ve seen.

If they can match the controls like it looks like they do in the video that would be awesome but I thought No More Heroes did a much better job with sword motion controls than the original did.

Yay pancake button…
...aww stop button?  Do people really use stop buttons on browsers anymore?  Opera doesn’t even have one.

I’ve used steam for two years now and I have absolutely no idea what this button does.  For some reason it’s really bugging me today so please educate me! 

I liked the Demo.  Full version is well worth $10.  I just wish I could use my Steam order number to unlock it now.

Or use liquid nitrogen to freeze him.
Or drop him into a swimming pool filled with partially solid cement. 
Or since his skeleton is magnetic why not use a big electron magnet to catch him?

Gee, super villains aren’t very creative are they?

Actually, if his bones weigh that much he should sink like a rock in water.  Knocking him into the ocean seems a very logical way of getting rid of him.

Pretty much impossible to cut off his head if his spine is indestructible…and you would have to remove his heart by reaching up underneath his ribcage. 

How much would someone have to pay you to live alone on the moon for three years?

A year I could probably do but I think three would drive anyone crazy… 

[Spoiler]

Spoilers on that:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Basically, the whole watcher society collapses, everything.  But, Garret finally accepts and takes his place as the father of a new watcher organization.  As he's walking the streets he goes through a scene just like the beginning of Thief 1 where a talented thief girl sees him, and tries to pickpocket him.  He catches her and says that quote that went along the line of he has work for her, for it is hard to spot a watcher, especially one that does not wish to be seen.

So, female protagonist in the new one, with an old Garret heading up this new watcher organization?

"To see a Keeper is not an easy thing. Especially one who does not wish to be seen"

Jow and I started playing through the campaign in Co-Op and it was a lot of fun.  Each person has control over two squads and since you are able to use your abilities much more efficiently you can pull off some things you would never be able to in single player.    Voice chat is mandatory for effective play. 

The one think I would suggest is make sure you are playing with someone who plays at a similar pace and has good communication since the host controls which missions you go to it’s possible to get dragged to a mission without knowing anything about what you will be facing. 

Thief 1 & 2 are nearly perfect in my opinion.  Thief 3 was “ok” but it just didn’t have the charm and the setting felt a lot more like generic fantasy than the world from the original games. 

It’s funny; I’ve had my Wii for a few months and about the only time I would play it is if guest came over.  Well that was until last week when I got a copy of No More Heroes from Amazon for $15.  Completely over the top, crude and looks just terrible on a HDTV but I love it!  I also like that it’s fairly short, I’m eight hours in and I only have two more bosses left.  The older I get the more I realize that I am more apt to play short games because I hate starting a game I won’t finish.  This is likely the first console game in over a year I will actually finish.

Victory!

After two days of searching I found a program that does exactly what I needed. Once I could add the programs to the open with list all the associations fixed themselves.
For anyone else who has this incredibly annoying problem check out OpenWithAdd v1.2 for Windows® XP/Vista.

Big thumbs up to Author of this little piece of software.
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/openwithadd.htm

I recently upgraded my adobe suite to CS4 which is great but it broke all my file associations. I can open all my files manually but I can’t click on a file and have it open correctly. Choosing the “Open with” option does not display the correct programs and even if I navigate to the location it won’t let me add it to the selection. Same thing applies for going through Vistas "set associations" program.

I’ve had this problem before when I updated Word and managed to download a program to fix it but I can’t remember for the life of me what it was.

Any Thoughts?

At least it’s an email address from the right company…

I think I prefer it to the real version…

There is some combat, or at least there was in the first one, but it’s handled in a more reserved fashion than most FPS.  No guns if that’s what you’re looking for but I remember being able to set enemies on fire in creative ways.

Another vote for Looking Glass. 

+1 Gratch

Why is it making me install Chrome?   

The first was better than I expected and it looks like they’ve got all the original actors to return so I’ll at least give this one a rent.

You have to download the whole thing.

With Dawn of War II launching this week I figured this was appropriate.

So how much is the 360?   

Awesome, I wonder if this will make the scout truly viable at long range.

Why isn’t the PS3 version ever on sale? 

I have... Skype.  No cell phone no land line.  I pay $3 a month and can call any phone in the world unlimited for no added expense.  Phones are silly. 

All other disks read fine that’s really the reason I am puzzled.  The strangest difference is I have a couple TV shows on bluray and they don’t have the problem but all full length movies do.  I don’t know how blurays work…do they switch “tracks” half way through perhaps?

No switcher, plugs directly in.

This is a problem I’ve started to notice more and more now that I have more Blurays.  About once per movie the video in a movie will slow down and move at about 2/3 normal speed.  This usually goes on for about 5-10 seconds and then is fine.  The problem only happens with bluray movies, normal DVD’s and games are fine. 

I tried searching Google but I couldn’t find mention of this anywhere.  Does anyone else have this problem?

Well the problem returned.  While the Trojan probably wasn’t helping I don’t think it was the cause.  Thinking about what Scraper said I opened up the computer and tried starting with only the main hard drive plugged in.  Doing so everything was running fine so I came to the conclusion that that drive is failing. 

Funny thing is when I plugged it back in restarted to finish backing up and everything is running great again.  Now I’m not sure if it was just a loose connection or if there is a more serious problem.  Does anyone know a good testing application to tell if a drive is failing?

Glad to hear its coming.  I hope they don’t make it too dark though.  The silliness of the original is one of the reasons I loved it so much.