tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213953522024-03-07T22:41:53.983-05:00The Game RoomVideo games, life, musings and thoughts!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-80886666372367803252013-09-20T15:41:00.001-05:002013-09-20T15:41:29.197-05:00Making a decent beverage out of two horrible things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1czXYwZaVZu7IOQaXShY3yVc8NULVplbMz-7_dwAYc-uA0Lbx6MKk7rIEDgEFhUGHPUkUmnZ9y2mOZ1rOTRsOyHvv5pqcwb8DgvjIyyRnKEyOPSDDssH6uL_Wh4A96yjr_r6/s1600/IMG_7184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1czXYwZaVZu7IOQaXShY3yVc8NULVplbMz-7_dwAYc-uA0Lbx6MKk7rIEDgEFhUGHPUkUmnZ9y2mOZ1rOTRsOyHvv5pqcwb8DgvjIyyRnKEyOPSDDssH6uL_Wh4A96yjr_r6/s320/IMG_7184.JPG" /></a></div>
Generally speaking, I like Gelato and I like Lemon. So I had to figure that Lemon Gelato would be a good thing, right? It turns out it's not - at least for me. Super sour, this "ice cream" replacement was barely edible. It's the kind of reaction that makes your face go funny and people around you laugh.<br />
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So here it is, and nobody else is going to try and eat this stuff. It's just too much. I hate to waste things though, so I put it away thinking about what I could mix it in or how else I could use it.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvwdaSZtKVVWr97OJfieYlq35zNBlKNouc0B7pYAJG08hZyaaFzAoJH_xGFM4e_jn2uG_M0jFLjYOzbN19X3dKUrdwfuV9ZnoE5jhrfnHnh0bLORzFCSSFCW5Mux3JkFgjJ0a/s1600/IMG_7187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvwdaSZtKVVWr97OJfieYlq35zNBlKNouc0B7pYAJG08hZyaaFzAoJH_xGFM4e_jn2uG_M0jFLjYOzbN19X3dKUrdwfuV9ZnoE5jhrfnHnh0bLORzFCSSFCW5Mux3JkFgjJ0a/s320/IMG_7187.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8Qyk0Y9d8OOCu2dvyAbKPXU1kpqPbaTLPAv10R5R_SVD-iQjYaXG_IgzGuEtGgvCntvTX4gs0bVFuYHrzZC9_Fi8N_m2PFPFDvbxhTx_Huk4uXBJ6QKM0yEzQU8-mcXWyQnk/s1600/IMG_7186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8Qyk0Y9d8OOCu2dvyAbKPXU1kpqPbaTLPAv10R5R_SVD-iQjYaXG_IgzGuEtGgvCntvTX4gs0bVFuYHrzZC9_Fi8N_m2PFPFDvbxhTx_Huk4uXBJ6QKM0yEzQU8-mcXWyQnk/s320/IMG_7186.JPG" width="320" /></a>So now let's switch gears to this little gem. I LOVE, absolutely LOVE my Keurig. I make coffee and tea with it all the time. Now they have this iced tea as well, which you can brew over ice cubes. Perfect. It works - kind of. I find it a bit of a challenge to get just the right amount of ice cubes into the cup without making the thing overflow like Niagara Falls, and then when it's not enough I add some ice to it at the end and it all kind of works out. But honestly, it kind of tastes like shit. If shit was just rather lifeless and boring. To get this stuff cold enough I usually end up diluting it too much which makes it less sweet than I'd like. Maybe it tastes different because it's Lemonade Iced Tea. Whatever that means. Then the Eureka moment comes! Why don't I combine these mediocre beasts! The cold gelato replaces the ice cubes and adds a hint of sweetness and sourness to the tea - to actually give it some flavor. This is going to be an interesting experiment. I wonder how it will all turn out?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvNt70MKgDo_LiiBIUXlPwMyW9pv7NZP5m5hFei0-D0zvvZKN2IGvLrgqUwB49jGHuyOsPDn2zBxAYXDoNLglh-tvoAv_riCX5h9pKP-KIWODp25kI0UGea_acP7CFzTYywH4k/s1600/IMG_7190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvNt70MKgDo_LiiBIUXlPwMyW9pv7NZP5m5hFei0-D0zvvZKN2IGvLrgqUwB49jGHuyOsPDn2zBxAYXDoNLglh-tvoAv_riCX5h9pKP-KIWODp25kI0UGea_acP7CFzTYywH4k/s320/IMG_7190.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
There it goes! The hot tea mixing with the cold gelato. I'm excited at this point! The gelato is melting now as the drink fills up the cup. It turns out that I'll still have to add a couple of ice cubes in the end, but it's smelling pretty good. The only problem now is the final appearance.<br />
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Look at this! Hmmmn. It doesn't look too appealing to be quite honest. But adding some ice cubes and giving it a final stir, I'm ready to give it a try!<br />
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Wow. It's actually delicious!!! I'm going to be able to polish off the rest of these ingredients! Gelato Iced Tea. Who knew?Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-22445358657790887462011-06-21T08:36:00.005-05:002011-06-22T08:18:21.934-05:00It's All About Nintendo, Of Course...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OrSVoVierydHXWSe9BhLOFCbEIcztH0odXVM2GDS7QbbFUphE-OIWo2pvDQImlPaQ7hMDK9hzb2UBbn95ZO0qM4zVr36KGh_lvSqE8bwcuZZiXhhl85XAW0V5-uVEpB6xu_K/s1600/AtomicOrangeNintendo.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OrSVoVierydHXWSe9BhLOFCbEIcztH0odXVM2GDS7QbbFUphE-OIWo2pvDQImlPaQ7hMDK9hzb2UBbn95ZO0qM4zVr36KGh_lvSqE8bwcuZZiXhhl85XAW0V5-uVEpB6xu_K/s320/AtomicOrangeNintendo.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620667911536410722" /></a><br />This past Saturday was an open house at the <a href="http://www.pcmuseum.ca">Personal Computer Museum</a>. We called it our "Father's Day" open house since it was part of Father's Day weekend. I know there are a lot of Dad's out there who would love nothing more than to geek out at our place for a few hours and so I encourage people who have Dad's like this to bring them out. One particular family I am thinking about did just exactly that and spent the better portion of the day with us.<br /><br />On Sunday I was catching up on some e-mail and received one in regards to the museum. It was asking about us being open on Father's day. "Did I miss it? Did I dream it? I can't find anything about it on your website!" he said. No, because the next day the website automagically updates and shows only FUTURE open houses. I wrote back to the mysteriously named "PRH" and told him that our open houses were only Saturday's and that it was the weekend we were referring to, not the actual day. He politely grumbled back and said that he hoped to have another chance to come out in October.<br /><br />Later that same day I was spending some time with my best friend Scott. I was cataloging some software for the museum and he was testing some LCD monitors that had been donated. Part of testing these things is of course to put them into actual, daily use and so he sat down at a computer with one of these monitors connected and starting surfing. His web pointer went to Kijiji and somehow he ended up looking at the video game stuff. He called me over in excitement. "Check this out! I don't think you have one of these do you?"<br /><br />There it was. The Atomic Orange (or Fire Orange as the seller called it) Nintendo 64. Not only that, it came with the box (and styrofoam) and even a copy of the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (my all time favourite game). He wanted $60 for it - a bit pricey, but ....hey, it's hard to find systems like that in this condition. He was also located in Simcoe which is around a 45 minute drive. However, it turns out that Scott works there and by the postal code literally around the corner from this guy. I told Scott I would see if he would take $50 for it and Scott agreed to pick it up from the guy on his way to work.<br /><br />I went back to my desk as Scott continued to delve into the mysterious world of used goods. He called out to me a bit later and said he found a guy with two WaveBirds for sale. The WaveBird, if you don't know, is a wireless first-party controller for the GameCube but has become even more ridiculous to find as of late because it's also great for the Wii. We have gotten accustomed to wireless this console generation and wired controllers can sometimes be hard to go back to. "That's probably Chris that has those" I yelled back at him. Knowing that Scott wanted some WaveBirds, I purchased one from Chris just the month prior and gave it to Scott as a gift.<br /><br />Chris lucked out in arriving at our local Liquidation World (recently purchased by Big Lots) one time when the old Nintendo truck drove up and dumped its load of unwanted GameCube memory cards and shovelware titles. Along for the ride however, was a treasure trove of WaveBirds all new in the package that ended up falling into Chris' hands for a mere $10 each. Chris has been doling them out like the golden ticket and his ad indicated he had only two left.<br /><br />As luck would have it, I had *just* been in contact with Chris the day before. He said he had a couple of computers he wanted to donate to the museum and I told him to come out Monday evening because that's our usual drop off night. I sent him a quick message asking him to to bring a WaveBird if he had any left with him, and that I knew the price was $60 from his ad. Keep in mind - I never did confirm the ad on Kijiji was his I just assumed. Scott told me he would grab me the cash when he left but in the end we both forgot and we always settle up later.<br /><br />Monday morning arrived with its usual amount of stresses. Things needed resetting and propping up, computers need rebooting and cuddling and people tend to have forgotten how to use their keyboards over the weekend. I checked my e-mail from time to time, looking for that reply to see if I was going to be able to land this great find for my collection (I already have the Pikachu and Gold Nintendo 64's but having another one still pleases me to no end). Near the end of the day, it finally chimed into the inbox - the e-mail I had been waiting for.<br /><br />"I have four people interested at $60 and I am waiting for calls. If none end up wanting to come to Simcoe for it in the next couple of days, I will email you."<br /><br />Well if that just isn't a kick in the nuts. I suddenly had a vision of Conker's Bad Fur Day and my heart sank a little as I knew I'd never be experiencing it on the "Fire Orange" Nintendo. The seller's note left me with a small opening to negotiate however. It was pretty clear that the price was going to be $60, but a lot of people won't bother driving out to Simcoe for a variety of reasons. Some say it's the smell but for me personally I've had a hard time getting a good cup of coffee down there. Regardless, I wrote back and told this guy that my buddy works right near him and that he would be there the next day, cash in fist - all $60 of it. As I hit the send button I couldn't help but sense something familiar...almost like a disturbance in the Force.<br /><br />My friend Chris arrives in the evening with the two computers and the WaveBird! He hadn't replied to my earlier message so I wasn't sure if he even had one or could bring it. We went to the bank and I retrieved his $60. I asked him about the ad and he said when he posted it a couple of months ago he was down to his last two and that someone who was vacationing from "somewhere" picked up one and now this last one has remained. He can now delete the ad.<br /><br />After closing up the museum and checking my e-mail I received another reply from the Nintendo 64 seller. "No wonder I missed the Father's Day open-house, I have been a bit obtuse lately. I didn't realize that you were the same Syd from the computer museum." As I looked at the e-mail, it was indeed from "PRH" - the same person who I had a brief e-mail exchange with on Sunday about the museum. What are the odds? As soon as he realized who I was, he said that for sure to send my buddy over to get the system and he further elaborated that the Nintendo 64 sale was for his daughter which was partly why he was staying firm on the price. He then indicated he also had a small palmtop computer he would like to donate to the museum (which we don't have) and that Scott could get that too, at the same time.<br /><br />As I tried to wrap my head around this strange coincidence and clearly inevitable connection to PRH (whose name is Peter by the way) my mind was further warped as I sent to the details via a text message to Scott. I thought about getting the money to him and then I realized that he owed me $60 for the WaveBird anyways, so he could just pay that to PRH for the Nintendo 64. BING. <br /><br />It blows me away that the Nintendo 64 came from someone who had a connection with me earlier the same day, that the WaveBird Scott wanted was going to arrive from someone I knew and was already coming to visit me anyways, and that both transactions were $60 and most importantly - they were both for Nintendo products. It is one of those things that starts as a simple coincidence but then grows larger. Really, it's like a Seinfeld episode although not nearly as funny. Oh Nintendo, look what you've done now.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-10354626287301135642011-04-18T08:27:00.002-05:002011-04-18T08:42:09.096-05:00The Great Divide<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ichabodsquad.net/images/lane_divider_4qzw.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 228px; height: 180px;" src="http://www.ichabodsquad.net/images/lane_divider_4qzw.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I am sure this doesn't really belong in the "Game Room" but I've talked about random stuff before and so today is no exception.<br /><br />I have to tell you, I'm a little concerned about the cashier's at the grocery store. There needs to be some changes - albeit minor ones - if I'm going to get through the checkout without feeling somewhat angry.<br /><br />You might be thinking "hey why not use self checkout and avoid this whole problem?". The answer to that is NO. I'm not being old-fashioned, I don't like self checkout (for groceries anyways). If I'm picking up batteries or a couple of items in an electronics store that's fine, but groceries require some skill to ring up. You might say I should know better, but if I have to flip through a catalog looking for the code for a rutabaga I'm not going to be happy. In most cases, the cashiers already know it. There are other reasons too but that's for another post.<br /><br />Anyways, my main question here is----"<span style="font-weight:bold;">WHY DO CASHIERS NOT PUSH THE DIVIDERS DOWN TO THE END?</span>". Do they not realize how incredibly difficult it is for the person heading for that belt to get that thing? When it's near the cashier it's useless. Either I have to reach over someone else's groceries (which is just a no no in my book) or I have to ask the person in front of me to get the divider and put it down for me.<br /><br />Which brings me to the next question - divider etiquette. I think you're only really responsible for the divider that goes between your groceries and the person in <span style="font-style:italic;">front</span> of you. That being said, if everyone put a divider down <span style="font-style:italic;">AFTER</span> their last grocery item, this would solve a lot of problems.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong - I'm not putting this all on the cashiers. The grocery store chains have some responsibility in this too. They build lanes with huge channels for these dividers and then populate them with like 2 or 3 dividers. Come on now -- fill that space up with dividers. They have advertising on them and can't cost very much being all plastic, so why be cheap? Doing this would mean that the extra "push" the cashier has to exert would be reduced, leading to less instances of work injuries acquired from repetitively slamming dividers down to the end of the channel.<br /><br />All I ask is that we all work together here. Stores - buy more dividers. Cashiers, exert a little effort and shove those dividers down to the end. And shoppers, be nice and put a divider after your food. You're only helping yourself in the end - otherwise you run the risk of a stranger leaning over your food or getting into your personal bubble. That leads to a whole other topic--- fragrances in a shared work place. I'm "divided" on that topic, too!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-55882805389629678712010-11-05T10:41:00.003-05:002010-11-05T10:54:15.087-05:00Creating MP3's from YouTube Videos on a Mac<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.techreaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/MP3-Icon.jpg.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://www.techreaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/MP3-Icon.jpg.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Just realized I haven't written anything here in a while and what I wanted to talk about today isn't really game related, but I think it will be useful nonetheless.<br /><br />With the shutdown of certain peer to peer network programs (like LimeWire) there has probably been a number of people having trouble getting music files. Now I'm not here to promote piracy, but there are times when I'm sure you'd love to take the music portion of a YouTube video and easily convert it into an MP3. Not just for music but other things, too.<br /><br />There are a bunch of websites and tools out there to do it, but I'm going to share with you my method. I found that the online tools tend to be slow, inconsistent, and generally a pain in the ass.<br /><br />Now the first thing you are going to want to do is make sure that your Mac can import FLV files into iMovie. Mine just started to be able to do this after installing the full Adobe suite which may be required and if so, sorry about that (unless you already have it). If you can drag and drop an FLV file into iMovie without screwing around you are golden.<br /><br />The FLV file is the file that contains the "flash video" that YouTube uses. The tool that I use is the excellent iFunia YouTube downloader. It's free and you can <a href="http://www.ifunia.com/free-youtube-downloader-mac.html">get it here</a>. Just go to YouTube, find the video you want and cut and paste the address into the software. No mess.<br /><br />Now you have the FLV file, drag it into iMovie. Move the clip into the timeline and select "Split audio" from the edit menu. You will now be separating the audio from the video.<br /><br />Now run a free great audio tool like <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a>. Arrange the windows on the screen so you can drag the audio track from iMovie into Audacity. Make sure in Audacity you have grabbed the <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3">LAME MP3</a> stuff to be able to export to MP3.<br /><br />Once your audio is in Audacity you can trim it (if there is extra stuff at the beginning or end you don't want) or play with fading, volume, etc.<br /><br />Now just export it as MP3 and voila! You are done.<br /><br />It sounds like there is a lot of setup involved but it's really not that bad and once you have this solution ready to go it's very easy to continue to use it and becomes quite intuitive. Enjoy!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-39145647778998557532010-03-19T08:12:00.002-05:002010-03-19T08:57:10.201-05:00Canadian Olympic Gold<a href="http://www.goldsilverinvestments.com/wp-content/uploads/canada-olympic-gold-coin-2010.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 243px;" src="http://www.goldsilverinvestments.com/wp-content/uploads/canada-olympic-gold-coin-2010.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I know I usually write about video games in this space, but today I just had to add my thoughts about games of a different sort - the Olympic Games. A recent article in the <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/28/2003874_p2/in-these-olympics-canadians-only.html">Star-Telegram</a> really bugs me because it seems like no matter what we do, we often get viewed by Americans in a bad light. This guy basically beats Canada down for the fact that we showed a huge hint of patriotism, at the cost of failing to recognize that the Olympics are a worldwide event.<br /><br />Huh? Clearly it's a worlwide event and one that gives each country a chance to be proud of its accomplishments amongst other countries. That's kind of the point. It seems like the minute we show the faintest sign of patriotism we get criticized for doing so. You're telling me the Americans don't act and do things the same way? <br /><br />Having dealt with Americans my whole life I can tell you that like anything, there are exceptions to the rule. By and large though, most Americans I've dealt with don't seem to understand Canada except in the most stereotypical ways. We don't all live in Igloos. We don't all drink beer all the time (but I have to point out truly that ours is better), and we don't all sit around saying "EH?". We also don't mean to say "a boot" when we say "a bout" and I can also honestly say that we don't hear it that way.<br /><br />I just don't get it. We're normally meek and mild and quiet about how we feel about our country. We finally stand up and actually show some of the patriotism that the Americans normally do, we get beat down...by an American.<br /><br />Wow. Ironic. And dumb. Clearly this guy is a hockey fan and he's just pissed. He's from Texas though, so he probably has a gun. A big one. Ouch, it hurts doesn't it? Just remember the stereotyping can work both ways.<br /><br />I went to a Toronto Maple Leafs game last night and I can tell you that the pride for our country hasn't just ended with the conclusion of the Olympics. We were louder, prouder and stronger than ever last night when our anthem played. I was proud to take part in it.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-49584945178727119572010-01-29T15:36:00.003-05:002010-01-29T15:38:57.462-05:00New License Plate<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mIvzpmBxyHbvxdJ9Mhv2mhRxDv6qHQrj1TPefnlXxjO9jKlFb1VjcewEH6YYv5zrrFuZU5WdOPJHKpn7RRBquxrWZm65EbVE4PrhMr7tb-bN8RiFlxDNveB5Xmem3e_Phw1Z/s1600-h/CarLicensePlate.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3mIvzpmBxyHbvxdJ9Mhv2mhRxDv6qHQrj1TPefnlXxjO9jKlFb1VjcewEH6YYv5zrrFuZU5WdOPJHKpn7RRBquxrWZm65EbVE4PrhMr7tb-bN8RiFlxDNveB5Xmem3e_Phw1Z/s200/CarLicensePlate.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432263517183146914" /></a><br />So I finally did it...after whining about getting a custom license plate for my car I took the plunge and here it is! PCMUSEUM is exactly what I wanted and now that Ontario offers 8 digit plates I was good to go! Of course, I had to accessorize it with a "WILL WORK FOR BANDWIDTH" plate holder that I picked up from <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com">ThinkGeek.com</a>.<br /><br />So if you're out driving around town and you see this plate, you'll think of the Personal Computer Museum and come pay us a visit sometime!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-8931138274496536862010-01-19T17:21:00.003-05:002010-01-19T17:31:50.706-05:00Auto Incrementing with InfoPath<a href="http://www.sharepointresources.net/p7bpassets/images/ms/infopath_1.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 256px;" src="http://www.sharepointresources.net/p7bpassets/images/ms/infopath_1.png" border="0" alt="" /></a>So instead of my usual conversation, I thought I'd add a "practical" technical experience I went through because I was not able to find the solution to this particular problem online. If I couldn't find it, perhaps other people out there have had similar issues.<br /><br />I've been using Microsoft's InfoPath to create a form for Human Resources to do Performance Reviews. Various sections include parts where I wanted to put in a repeating table and although I found ways to "auto increment" an area there to number the entries the user added dynamically, I did not want to use numbers. You see, my sections are numbered and therefore this would just look wrong. It would be much better if my entries were incremented with letters starting with "a".<br /><br />I wanted my repeating table to look like this:<br /><br />1. Indicate the primary responsibilities of the position:<br />a) | User types in section A<br />b) | User types in section B<br /><br />So in this table (with two columns, the "a)" is in a column by itself) I set the first "a)" to be an Expression Box. Then you can right click on it and select "Properties". The data source should be "XPath" and set the function to be:<br /><br />concat(substring("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz", position(), 1), ")")<br /><br />What this function does is concatenate (join) the letter of the alphabet based upon how far down the list you are, and then adds the ")" at the end.<br /><br />You can make this work with uppercase letters or change the ")" to a "." or whatever you want.<br /><br />Seems easy once you set it up, but I struggled a bit at first finding where to put this. My programming background came in handy to create the function itself.<br /><br />Enjoy!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-19267658366604472542009-12-04T09:53:00.004-05:002009-12-04T09:58:18.071-05:00New Day, New Job<a href="http://www.acic.com/_img/methapharm.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 348x; height: 170px;" src="http://www.acic.com/_img/methapharm.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Well I'm settling into my new job as Manager of Information Technology at ACIC / Methapharm here in Brantford. So far, I'm enjoying it. I've met some great new people (and look forward to meeting more) and there is not only opportunity here but also some great new challenges that I look forward to meeting head on.<br /><br />A lot of time happiness in the job clearly comes down to attitude and a new place certainly brings about a new attitude for me and I'm happy to be here. Fresh paint at home is helping too!<br /><br />Changing your job might be one way to bring new perspective into your life. Another way would be to make changes at home that at least make you feel like you are moving forward in life. If that doesn't work, buy lottery tickets and hope you win!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-78469840489585359322009-10-11T10:54:00.003-05:002009-10-11T11:01:16.934-05:00Turtles at the Computer Museum<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzC3_mVruNFgWVUxemODSxJfLTySjsAA3rmzESAn8C_-YtOsJPbqNYbTT6lpShpkG5lkyzYETlBJYG11Vl9ahCcewfeHO02d6m7f9ErVPwF8zRW4z4qrjy3UPkQw7xm4SCHOw/s1600-h/Turtles70s.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzC3_mVruNFgWVUxemODSxJfLTySjsAA3rmzESAn8C_-YtOsJPbqNYbTT6lpShpkG5lkyzYETlBJYG11Vl9ahCcewfeHO02d6m7f9ErVPwF8zRW4z4qrjy3UPkQw7xm4SCHOw/s320/Turtles70s.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391372284815959282" /></a>No, we're not talking about Testudines here. Sometimes, at the Personal Computer Museum we end up getting donations that include things other than just computers. Like in this case, someone dropped off some disks inside of a box of Turtles Chocolates. The Smiles'n Chuckles Ltd. company made these way back in the day, which I am guessing is the 70's. I say that because it looks old but it does have a barcode, which puts it into this era.<br /><br />I just had to share this with you because I thought it was cool. And it's not everyday you find turtles at the <a href="http://www.pcmuseum.ca">Personal Computer Museum</a>.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-69654688334717589692009-10-04T18:05:00.002-05:002009-10-04T18:12:42.985-05:00Windows 7 Launch PartySay what you want about Windows Vista. Say what you will about Microsoft. One thing is for sure: they are trying to shake the bad image and doing whatever they can to do it. Is it working? So far. Someone came up with the great idea of having Windows 7 house parties. In my case, I decided to have ours at the <a href="http://www.pcmuseum.ca">Personal Computer Museum</a> on October 24th. Will it work? It has already peaked the interest of many people who want to come out and take a look. It's always better to get a product view from someone you know directly and trust, than to read a review from a stranger online.<br /><br />The other thing we are going to do is show Windows 1 (and just because they are already there, Windows 2, Windows 3 and Windows 95). The entire slew of early Windows programs will be there, just to show how far we've come. Which is a lot in some ways.... and not that much in others.<br /><br />Don't take my word for it, come out to the museum from 10-4 on October 24th. At the very least, have a coffee on me.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-83503981427922313792009-08-16T10:47:00.002-05:002009-08-16T10:54:35.474-05:00Getting Ready for the Competition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://guitarherocompetition.ca/images/NewGHLogo.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 220px; height: 212px;" src="http://guitarherocompetition.ca/images/NewGHLogo.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The Guitar Hero Competition is next weekend. I'm starting to feel the pressure pretty badly as I get prepared for what is definitely going to be Brantford's largest gaming event of its type - ever. In a lot of ways, it's actually more stressful than running a Guinness World Record challenge like we did last year with <a href="http://www.tetristournament.ca">Tetris</a> but in other ways it is not.<br /><br />It's been great working with the City of Brantford - Parks and Recreation and Lori-Dawn Cavin. It's nice to have someone else taking over responsibility for various aspects.<br /><br />As we sit - a week out, my major concern is that we don't have a lot of players in the 35+ category. Where are you guys? Worried about getting your butts kicked by 12 year olds? Remember, you'll be competing against others in the same age range so....if you don't come out and play, then nobody will and there will be no body to take that prize money!<br /><br />Anyways, make sure you register at the <a href="http://www.guitarherocompetition.ca">official website</a> and see you Saturday August 22nd from 10am to 4pm at the PCM!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-57507018373960147332009-07-13T08:52:00.002-05:002009-07-13T09:02:55.478-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.oshawadodgers.net/sitebuilder/images/NewLogo_RogersTV_Various_copy-393x142.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 196px; height: 71px;" src="http://www.oshawadodgers.net/sitebuilder/images/NewLogo_RogersTV_Various_copy-393x142.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>First of all - the news. It looks like I'm signing back on with Rogers Television after a bit of a hiatus. Yeah, sure, I do the <a href="http://www.jcibrantford.ca/projectdetails.asp?id=104">JCI Brantford Santa Claus Parade</a> every year but other than an occasional appearance on First Local, I really haven't been around much.<br /><br />That is all going to change in September.<br /><br />First of all, I'm going to be part of a brand new show called "Inside Brantford". I hope this isn't a secret, because now I'm posting about it. Oops. I didn't sign anything saying I couldn't talk about it. On this show, I'll be appearing once a week during a live segment talking tech.<br /><br />Then, you'll also see me weekly doing a video game segment on First Local which is going to be a lot of fun!<br /><br />Finally it looks like Rogers is returning back to its community roots and I'm excited to be part of it. Not only because I think it will be good for the community but it will reunite me with Jason Souliere and Patti (Dickie) Berardi - whom I've had the pleasure of working with in a previous life.<br /><br />So look for these all new shows in September on Rogers 20 - BRANTFORD!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-78162775369727984742009-07-09T18:28:00.003-05:002009-07-09T18:41:53.538-05:00Welcome to the New PromotionWhen my PS2 collection recently went over the 1,200 mark I thought it might be a good way to draw attention to the museum. I know this sounds strange, but this is how my brain works at times. I thought I'd post the story to Kotaku, and I wasn't wrong about the idea of promotion. It turns out, the <a href="http://kotaku.com/5307967/you-dont-have-as-many-ps2-games-as-this-guy">story</a> has drawn a lot of attention and a lot of heat.<br /><br />At this point, almost 47,000 views and a couple of hundred comments. It is somewhat surprising the negative comments (like it's "sad" that he has so many games) like it's a problem to have that many or something. I just laugh. Whatever. It's all good.<br /><br />The thing is, those that know me will realize I didn't post the story to brag. I posted it to draw attention to the museum and it's doing that. Close to 20,000 hits on the museum website in 3 days is a record and I'm proud of it. Let's spread the word!<br /><br />On a completely different tune, I wanted to point out how the soda pop industry must really like computer geeks. There are at least two major brands that I think have been created to cater to the programming geeks of the 80's for sure.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/1/17470/38_2007/sprite2.preview.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 152px; height: 275px;" src="http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/1/17470/38_2007/sprite2.preview.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />First, we have Sprite. If you worked on computers like the Commodore 64 you know that it had 8 Sprites built into it. Sprites are special graphic elements that can be moved around the screen independently of the background and essentially "on their own". In games, this translated into enemies or the player themselves. Atari computers had sprites too, except they called them "player/missile" graphics which was just a narrow way of saying the same thing. So Sprite, as a pop is going to be favoured over it's rough equivalent, 7-UP, by computer programmers every single time. I can't explain why - it just happens.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.usasoda.com/images/hires16.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 143px; height: 265px;" src="http://www.usasoda.com/images/hires16.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The other pop conspiracy with computer geeks is Hires Rootbeer. We don't say "hires" like hiring for a job, but rather, we call it "HI - REZ" rootbeer. As in "high resolution". In the good old days on the Apple II computer for example, you could put the computer in various graphic modes. Some were low resolution and some were high resolution (or hi-res for short). So again, the geek in all of us is going to be drawn to a higher resolution form of Rootbeer than say, a low one. Honestly, I can't make this up.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-67199279730078646952009-06-17T10:54:00.002-05:002009-06-17T11:00:53.268-05:00Holy media, BatmanI've been very fortunate to have had lots of media attention lately. The <a href="http://www.pcmuseum.ca">Museum</a> has been featured in two pieces on the butterscotch.com network. The <a href="http://butterscotch.com/show/On-Location-At-The-Personal-Computer-Museum">first piece</a> is an interview with me, and the <a href="http://butterscotch.com/show/The-Lab-Rats-On-Deck-At-The-Personal-Computer-Museum">second one</a> has Matt Harris, Andy Walker and Sean Carruthers.<br /><br />Also, my new coffee table received some great coverage on both <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/better-than-ikea-the-custom-pac-man-coffee-table-136421.phtml">Destructoid</a> and was also picked up on <a href="http://theawesomer.com/pac-man-coffee-table/14965/">TheAwesomer.com</a> so that's pretty awesome. If you are looking for a cool coffee table or custom piece, please talk to the artist directly, Erin McFadden from <a href="http://www.damedecor.com">DameDecor</a>. She's wonderful to work with.<br /><br />On Wednesday, June 24th I'll be brought before the judge to raise money for Crime Stoppers. Please consider donating to Crime Stoppers to keep me in or get me out! Thanks!Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-77440307010405773522009-06-10T08:00:00.002-05:002009-06-10T08:11:23.504-05:00Being Star StruckSo Kevin Smith was in Brantford this past weekend and I think he's really cool - and would have loved to have met him. However, with everyone pawing at him on the weekend I decided to respect his space and be one less person doing the pawing.<br /><br />But this weekend, at the Personal Computer Museum, I've got Andy Walker, Sean Carruthers and Matt Harris coming. Although you might not have heard of them before, I'm actually a bit star truck at them coming (especially Andy) who I have watched on my television for years.<br /><br />There is a Joshua Jackson piece on butterscotch.com that mentions the museum and you can <a href="http://butterscotch.com/show/Joshua-Jackson-At-The-Rogers-Wireless-Android-Launch">view it here</a>.<br /><br />So come on out, to 13 Alma Street on June 13th from 10am to 4pm---50 free t-shirts to the first people that arrive.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-33833210310581642052009-06-03T08:49:00.002-05:002009-06-03T09:43:46.226-05:00The Solution for Road Rage<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hyundaicanada.com/Content/SantaFe/colorsVehicle/286.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 165px;" src="http://www.hyundaicanada.com/Content/SantaFe/colorsVehicle/286.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I think I made an amazing discovery today - a possible solution for road rage. All you have to do is buy a new car or find some new music that you like. I have made this discovery after many years of research. You see, every time I have a new album or group of songs I like I put them on a CD and play them in my car. I find myself not feeling as much of a need to get to my destination when my experience in the car is more enjoyable. Yesterday, I picked up my new car (2009 Sante Fe) and this morning I was actually grateful when the light turning onto my work street turned amber. My thoughts that usually amount to "bastard!" turned to "Sweet...." as I soaked in the new car smell.<br /><br />So really, that's it -- the solution. Get a new car every week. Doesn't even have to be new - maybe if we all just swapped cars with each other every week then we'd still be in the honeymoon phase, plus it would have the upside of car anonymity. You know, so the person you cut off last week can't easily hunt you down this week because you're now in a different car.<br /><br />I think I'm on to something.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-36608827220969952432009-04-23T08:33:00.002-05:002009-04-23T08:42:00.447-05:00Blue Meanies from Outer Space<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.6502dude.com/cbm/vic20/arma/tapescans/screenshots/Bluemeaniesfromouterspace.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 272px; height: 141px;" src="http://www.6502dude.com/cbm/vic20/arma/tapescans/screenshots/Bluemeaniesfromouterspace.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Someone called me a meanie today and for some reason, my mind turned to one of my favorite named games of all time - <span style="font-weight:bold;">Blue Meanies from Outer Space<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span>. You can see from the screen shot it really wasn't a great looking (or playing) game but the name has just stuck with me over the years. I think I'll do an article on the best named games of all time - because I'm not sure anyone else has done that. Somebody liked the game enough to <a href="http://www.allegro.cc/depot/project.php?_id=1380">do a remake</a> but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to download it.<br /><br />My game room is going to be on SPACE: THE IMAGINATION station on Friday, April 24th at 7:30 PM EST and I'm looking forward to it. A number of my Internet friends have never seen the place (and I've never shared video of it) so this will be interesting.<br /><br />Game Night is Saturday and there is just not enough time to get ready for it. Oh well, it comes whether I am ready or not. Kind of like the ocean.<br /><br />It's been a good week though. We collected over 50 pieces of recyclables from S.C. Johnson and Son for Earth Day, I exchanged e-mails with <span style="font-weight:bold;">War Games<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span> director John Badham and I'm probably going to call a Hollywood celebrity tonight. Cool beans.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com183tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-86649934281718845172009-03-24T08:18:00.002-05:002009-03-24T08:27:48.663-05:00Why Inkheart the Video Game is like my cold<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.games-advance.com/images/Inkheart%20DS%20Games.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 283px;" src="http://www.games-advance.com/images/Inkheart%20DS%20Games.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Well, I finally got it this year. If I hear one more person say "Yeah, there's a really nasty bug going around right now" I will shoot them. Can you honestly remember, in the past two years, when you didn't hear someone say "there's something nasty going around?". It's the nature of the nasty.<br /><br />Speaking of nasty, I played "Inkheart" for the Nintendo DS yesterday while waiting at the doctor's office so she could tell me about it "going around". You can read my full review at the <a href="http://www.armchairempire.com">Armchair Empire</a> sometime in the next week or so, but until then, here's a summary.<br /><br />Much like my nose this morning, this game blows. The animation of the main character sprites reminded me of the Amiga computer from 1985. When I say it reminded me, I meant that it reminded me that the animation that came out on the Amiga was better than this 2009 release. I wish I was joking.<br /><br />So like my cold, this game made me ache. It was painful. Like a train wreck, I couldn't help staring at the animation to make sure what I was seeing was real. It felt like a dream. A dream from 1983.<br /><br />Germans made this? I stared in disbelief. I like Germans, they usually make good things. I was thinking German, so when I sneezed on my DS, I said "Gesundheit!" and the sad part is that my screen looked better after the sneeze. Unbelievable.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com260tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-88323617628188307112009-03-11T12:43:00.002-05:002009-03-11T15:07:33.603-05:00Wendy's and the ELANSI know it's not directly related but what game room hasn't seen some Cheeseburger action? Well I'm here to give you some advice on ordering at Wendy's if you are super hungry and want to save a bit of money. Some friends and I were having a discussion about how to order things at Wendy's. My brother taught me a number of years ago to order a "#4 Combo" with an extra patty if you wanted a better sandwich than a double (a #4 in most of Canada is a Bacon classic combo). So you get two patties, bacon, cheese and the better bun at a cheaper cost than doing the same thing to a double. It was pointed out to me recently that perhaps a better way to order this is get the new "Baconator" combo with "everything on it". The default way the Baconator comes it essentially has the cheese, meat, and ketchup (and mayo I think). I like the lettuce, tomato and pickles so I've tried ordering it with everything. It turns out that so far, they've got it right 50% of the time. To some people "everything" that is on a Baconator includes just what is normally on a Baconator. It depends on whether they trust you, as the ordering party, to say what you want and not what you mean. It's a tough call at times. The upside of going the Baconator route is that it's $0.10 cheaper, and you get more bacon.<br /><br />Bottom line - if you're hungry and willing to risk the possibility of getting a burger that you're not 100% happy with, go the Baconator route. You'll save that $0.10. If you're not much a risk taker, stick to the #4 with an extra patty. If you didn't know about these options, now you're just a little bit of a smarter consumer.<br /><br />Talking about games though, I've been selected to be a judge of the ELANS - which is basically like the Oscars only for video games, animation and special effects. It's based out of Vancouver. You may not have heard about it before, but it's a truly up and coming event. The first year was hosted by William Shatner. Last year, it was Seth McFarlene. This year it's Tom Kenny (AKA SpongeBob SquarePants). Victor Lucas of Electric Playground, Reviews on the Run and now EP Daily is going to be talking about the nominees at a press conference.<br /><br />It's a real honour to be part of this process and I enjoyed it. Although I can't talk about who I chose, the process was interesting and perhaps more challenging than it should have been. But that's what learning is all about.<br /><br />Visit <a href="http://theelans.com">http://www.theelans.com</a> for more information.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-78542618460256380562009-01-21T06:52:00.003-05:002009-02-17T20:31:57.100-05:00PS2 CollectionWell it was great to have my post about my Xbox collection hit <a href="http://www.evilavatar.com">Evil Avatar</a>, resulting in a massive amount of traffic to my sites. Probably the best part was connecting with other Xbox collectors who are in the same situation as I am trying to determine what games are really out there. I'm working with a buddy to sort out these things and we'll be presenting our findings to the world through one of my web properties.<br /><br />The whole situation with the Xbox list - and the surprise in the manufacturer not even knowing what is available - leads me to realize it's true with other platforms too. My PS2 collection is at something like 1130 now but I'm not really sure how far I have to go to get them all (and more troublesome is the fact that new PS2 games continue to come out as we're knee deep in the time of shovelware). 1600? Just a guess. A scary, nasty guess. Why do I feel the need to have them all? I guess when you get so far you might as well keep going.<br /><br />I constantly get asked if I actually play all the games I have. Well, having over 5,000 games makes it near impossible to play all of them. Of course I don't. But I do play games ... just not all the time. If I played one game every day (and assuming I never added anything new to my collection) I could play for around 14 years. Yep. 14.<br /><br />It's great to see gaming become more mainstream. I guess I never really realized it wasn't -- when you are so immersed in something it's often difficult to see the perspective from the outside.<br /><br />I also wanted to share with you a great site I've been visiting lately. <a href="http://www.vgpc.com">Video Game Price Charts</a> is a great tool to figure out what your games are worth, so make sure you check it out.<br /><br />That's it for now - talk to you soon.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-45554839215213345782009-01-02T15:39:00.005-05:002009-01-02T16:02:23.187-05:00Xbox Collection Hits 713 - but how many left to go?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWLqzesby7PWq8xXCkPW_UTFfPgZ4CFbq71UwDkn25RpmHn_pWriTH_Q2URCigBLvlI8q472ury5Zy3QcOSuY0PFzE47hHXGfO8TE-QbGOyjOoRF-yzu2KBH1Dqho8iyHZqZr/s1600-h/IMG_0127.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWLqzesby7PWq8xXCkPW_UTFfPgZ4CFbq71UwDkn25RpmHn_pWriTH_Q2URCigBLvlI8q472ury5Zy3QcOSuY0PFzE47hHXGfO8TE-QbGOyjOoRF-yzu2KBH1Dqho8iyHZqZr/s400/IMG_0127.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="Syd Bolton's Xbox Collection at 713" /></a><br />So I picked up a few more original Xbox titles today, bringing my grand total to 713 (but this includes some variants like the Mortal Kombat Deception variants but NOT Platinum Hits versions unless they were unique). So I'm thinking I'm getting pretty close to having them all now - something I'd love to achieve.<br /><br />According to xbox.com, there are only 799 original Xbox games - yet I keep hearing there are over 800. When I look at Wikipedia, they list everything - North American, Japan and other territories. I want JUST North American titles.<br /><br />So why is this so hard? There hasn't been a new game out for years, you'd think someone would have this list handy. I've looked different sources - Wikipeida, xbox.com, Video Game Collector magazine and Digital Press. Everyone has a different number.<br /><br />Does anybody know? Can anyone tell me, definitely, how close I am? I've got most of the rare ones and a bunch of what I'm missing is common sports titles....but I have been a bit reluctant to kick this collection into overdrive until I can actually see the end goal.<br /><br />So...if you know, please post it here. If you're curious - my Xbox collection isn't even my biggest (I have over 1,100 PS2 games right now) and I use Game Collectorz (<a href="http://www.collectorz.com">www.collectorz.com</a>) to keep track of everything. Here's a photo of my collection and you can also <a href="http://www.sydbolton.com/games">browse the parts of my collection</a> that I've actually managed to catalog (original NES and Atari 2600 have not been tackled yet, and I'm scared--very scared).Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-14341005685086548052008-11-27T10:38:00.002-05:002008-11-27T10:49:55.327-05:00Google, Vinegar, and DentsI received a gift in the mail yesterday. A beautiful calendar from the Computer History Museum. I've actually been planning on creating a vintage computer calendar with the computers from the <a href="http://www.pcmuseum.ca">Personal Computer Museum</a>. The gift is nice, the calendar is great, but I'm more excited about the card that came with it. It's a Google card. If you've ever received one of these cards then you know how I excited I am. Why? Well first of all, it's from Google - do I need to say more? It's also completely Google in terms of simplicity. No copyright notice, no ISBN or UPC code. Just "Google", in colour, with a little "TM" symbol. I have it at my desk. I'm showing it to co-workers like I did when I got my first 100% perfect test in grade school. I'm such a geek.<br /><br />I've also been playing around with <a href="http://www.balsamiq.com">Balsamiq</a>. Like the stuff inspired by its name, Balsamiq Mockups are intended to help improve the flavour of your designs. If you've ever designed a web page or software user interface on a napkin, then you know exactly what this tool does -- only better. I never thought anything could be better than paper but this actually trumps it. Not only that, but you don't need to go through the process of scanning your napkin or paper into the computer you simply tell it to produce a PNG file.<br /><br />Yesterday I felt better after getting the Google card but not before I realized I dented my car. I was putting away my original tires after getting the snows installed and I dropped the one tire. It fell, "grazing" the back quarter panel of my car leaving a dent around the size of my fist which should soon follow anyways. Hate that.<br /><br />My week of hell with the <a href="http://jcibrantford.ca/projectdetails.asp?id=104">JCI Brantford Santa Claus Parade</a> is soon coming to end - and it couldn't be soon enough.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-29453987460610256042008-11-05T10:09:00.002-05:002008-11-05T10:15:49.387-05:003D Gaming, Swap Meets and ToesI like free stuff - heck who doesn't? So that's why I was excited to find out my buddy Neil had managed to arrange some great free prizes from the likes of AMD, iZ3D and Blitz Games (among others). Of course, nothing is <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> free right? But all he's asking is that you fill out a survey. Call <a href="http://www.mtbs3d.com/udecide.shtml">The U-Decide Initiative</a>, the survey is catered to either regular old 2D gamers (like I used to be) or those folks that own true 3D hardware (like me now). Check it out!<br /><br />So I had a few bucks to burn this past weekend and headed into Brampton for the annual (sort of) <a href="http://www.cgcc.ca">CGCC</a> Swap Meet. This group of Canadian Gamers is quite the bunch and I blew my wad in under 15 minutes I think. Wow. It went fast. Got some great Genesis stuff - my collection is taking up more room than I have now. So sad.<br /><br />And finally a note of caution. Because I'm a computer programmer and casual gamer by trade, you'd think that I'd be out of harms way for any kind of physical mishap on the job, right? Well ... running the <a href="http://www.pcmuseum.ca">Personal Computer Museum</a> means lugging around old things and yep, you guessed it - I dropped a 19" CRT on my foot. The worst part? I left it to its own devices and now it's infected. Doctors, pills, bone scans and a bit of radiation later and I'll be fine ... but don't be a dolt like me and leave it. It got so bad a few weeks ago I took a drill to my toe. But you don't want to read about that here.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-31738143670146851822008-08-26T08:47:00.003-05:002008-08-26T09:02:14.191-05:00Tetris, Prince's, Booty, and PeeIt's been too long since I've written -- sorry about that. Just hasn't been a lot to talk about but now there is almost too much!<br /><br />First off, we're planning a Guinness World Record attempt for the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Most Participants in a Tetris Tournament</span> on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at the <a href="http://www.pcmuseum.ca">Personal Computer Museum</a>. Interested people can find out more and pre-register at <a href="http://www.tetristournament.ca">TetrisTournament.ca</a>. Where else can you be part of a World Record?<br /><br />I finally got around to playing Prince of Persia. Yeah- the first one. Oh no -- that's not right. The second incarnation - on the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube. I actually played most of it on my PS3 but anyways, it was interesting. Frustrating at times-- enough to almost make me want to quit but glad I continued and finished the bugger.<br /><br />I moved right onto something brand new - <span style="font-weight:bold;">Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty</span> and that was a great 4 hours.... but that was it. Now I have to wait over a year for more. :( Oh well, love that series. <br /><br />Nothing to do with games but man did this morning suck. First, I go to take some letters to the post office--but the one I go to that is closer to me is not open until 9am (and it's 8:23 at this point). I take care of that, and go to drop off a 24 hour urine sample to a clinic....yeah....the thing was fine until I put it on the counter and then LEAKED all over....yeah. Talk about embarrassment. I would say I'm peed off, but that's just wrong.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21395352.post-45416659894784740892008-06-19T14:33:00.002-05:002008-06-19T14:41:55.618-05:00Games for WindowsMicrosoft loves to win in every business they are in. When they moved into the video game console space with the original Xbox they knew they weren't going to win right away, but they did manage to sell something like 24 million Xbox's. Not bad for a first outing. Then, they leapfrogged the competition to get the Xbox 360 into the hands of consumers and it has worked--despite hardware problems. The games are there, and people are loving it.<br /><br />What they don't seem to be loving these days is PC gaming. We've all read articles spelling out the "Doom" (pardon the pun) of gaming on your computer, and yet many people still play games on their computers. Why not? Computers and gaming go together like marshmallows and Rice Krispies. I'm personally a console gamer, but as curator of the <a href="http://www.pcmuseum.ca">Personal Computer Museum</a> I know the importance of gaming on a computer over the years and that it's still quite strong today.<br /><br />When Microsoft came calling us looking for help in creating a retrospective view of gaming and computers over the years I was both surprised and honoured. So we're going to be part of the Games for Windows event occurring on June 27, 28 at Toronto's Interaccess gallery at Queen & Ossington.<br /><br />Computers change quickly. Gaming is changing quickly. It's important to preserve the history as it unfolds---because before you know it, it's gone. These are your memories and your good times. We just help you remember them.Syd Boltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07439436777087182801noreply@blogger.com1