Adam’s Rambling Thoughts

When I saw the new features in Madden 10 I was pumped and, as I do every year, I went out and pre-ordered it. I’ve been a Madden player since 1994 and I love this franchise. I’m absolutely willing to spend $50-$60 a year to keep playing as that investment gets me about 200 hours or more of fun filled play time. Then I see this video:

At 1:00 in the video you see Elite mode pop up. It appears that you have to have Elite mode to play the game on All-Madden difficulty, which I’ve been doing since 1995. It appears that I paid $60 for a game, then I have to pay more to enable the difficulty I want to play it at? Is this serious? Also I have to pay more to get the most out of my superstar in my career? WTF did I spend $60 on then since you’ve only given me 4/5 of the game? THIS IS ABSURD.

Honestly I’m not sure what to do now. I’m a huge fan of football and the Pittsburgh Steelers and I look forward every year to playing this. At this point I’m considering 2010 being my last Madden game ever and I’ll just play franchise over and over like I did with 2001 on the PS1 when I had a ton of free time. All I can really say is EA, you got me. This is my favorite game and now I have to pay you $60 plus $$$ for unlocks to the features I want. I’ve been screwed. I know most people say, “Well just don’t buy it.” Well it’s not that simple for me, this is my absolute favorite game. Guess I need to find another football game….

aaltemus Entertainment, Gaming ea madden 10 micro transaction adam altemus

After all the signs in Pittsburgh referring to Benedict Hossa and You Can’t Spell ASSHOle without HOSSA I think it’s time for a new sign that says “Thank you for being nothing more than a rental that helped us get playoff experience.” Wait…what? No, I’m being serious here.

Think about this for a second. If Marian Hossa stays on with the Pens, then it is highly likely that the Penguins are not in the playoff predicament come February that they were in, so Michele Therrien’s job is never in jeopardy and the Penguins probably never end up with Dan Bylsma as their coach. While it would be foolish to consider Therrien a bad coach, he is in no means the correct coach for this young Penguins team. Bylsma turned the team around (coupled with some great moves by Ray Shero) and has them playing a style suitable for a young offensively talented team. What’s more is the team is actually fun to watch again. I’m not sure about any of you but around January/February there were times I wanted to scratch out my eyes when watching the Penguins sit back and not play any offense under Therrien. While in all likelihood the Penguins will not win the Stanley Cup While the Penguins beat down an aging Red Wings team this year, the addition of Bylsma will undoubtedly mean more Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh in the future than under Therrien. So in return for not getting an aging winger who probably wouldn’t have made the team any better than they are currently, we get a great young coach to lead the team with what appears to be a huge future. I call fair trade on that one.

Finally, Pens fans take solace in the fact that it is highly unlikely Hossa will get the same kind of offer the Edmonton Oilers offered him last year since the crumbling world economy has also hit major sports. So while he might get a Stanley Cup he still doesn’t have a Stanley Cup and the Pens have their third, he has lost millions and has been influential in Pittsburgh obtaining Dan Bylsma and his staff to coach the Penguins, so I say kudos to you fine sir and have fun watching Sidney, Geno, and crew parade around with Cups in the now and in the future!

aaltemus Sports NHL hockey Penguins Red Wings Hossa Bylsma Adam Altemus

I just read this blog post: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4111297 and I have to say, I am pretty dumbfounded. Alexander Ovechkin, while by far the best goal scorer in the league, is not the MVP this year and the statistics and circumstances all point to it. Yet, articles like these are practically giving it to him. Let me state my case why the MVP should be Evgeni Malkin.

Circumstances
Last year, Ovechkin won the Art Ross and Evgeni Malkin finished second. Ovechkin led a team that was not looking much like a contender into the playoffs before they lost in the first round in a great series. Malkin was on a team that breezed into the playoffs and into the Stanley Cup finals. This year the roles are completely reversed. Malkin is the Art Ross winner and was the key player in leading the team that was 10th in the standings to the second round of the playoffs, and maybe furhter (as of writing this the second round is about to begin). Ovechkin finished second and is on a team that breezed into the playoffs this year. This alone warrants Malkin the MVP unless the voters are nothing more than hypocrites.

Upon Further Statisical Analysis
We always hear from moron fanboys like Pierre McGuire how Ovechkin carries the Capitals more than anyone on any team. He is their best player, no doubt but, he did not do more for his team this year than Malkin did for the Pens. Look at the statistics:

• The Caps have 5 50+ point scorers and the Penguins have 2.
• The Caps have 5 20+ goal scorers, the Penguins have 4.
• The Penguins have 11 10+ goal scorers, the Caps have 9.

These statistics tell a few things. First, they both play on talented teams that they make better and neither is lacking help. But, the argument that Ovechkin carries the Caps more than Malkin does for the Penguins because he is on a team with Sidney Crosby is ludicrous, and all statistics point directly to it. Lastly, the statistics tell me that Malkin, in my mind, actually makes his teammates better. A big reason for the Pens having so many 10+ goal scorers is because of his 78 assists (and Crosby’s 70). I am not going to say Ovechkin does not make the Capitals players better because he is one of the three best hockey players in the NHL and as such he does. But, honestly, to say Ovechkin did more than Malkin this year is laughable.

Conclusion
The three MVP finalists all deserve the award. Some more so than others and Evgeni Malkin should be the choice. Anything else would be criminal in my mind.

aaltemus Sports malkin ovechkin nhl mvp playoff crosby adam altemus

I remember loading up F.E.A.R Combat a few days after it was released and jumping on a server. Instantly some cat is flying at me duel pistols blasting. In my haste I launched a grenade at him and it him directly in the chest. In his place was a blood mist and the server echoes out “HOLY SHIIIIT”…At that moment I was hooked and ran out and bought F.E.A.R. Two fantastic plays through the single player and I was highly impressed. Great single player, faster good death matching multi player, and superb maps and sound packs coming to the multi-player from the community. A CAN’T MISS. I was a F.E.A.R. fan for life, or so I thought.

Fast forward to pre-release of our new F.E.A.R. fix: F.E.A.R. 2 - Project Origin. The community had been following this game closely, anxiously anticipating another great FPS experience. First came the October 2008 delay - no big deal if the game is as good as the first because it is worth the wait. Then comes the demo - which comes off on all platforms as a clear Xbox 360 game. Controls are not very good on PS3, and the PC is shock with un-modifiable film grain and letter boxing. Things about the first game that rocked - lean, grenades exploding on contact - removed. AI is dead simple to beat on the hardest difficulty and we haven’t heard anything yet about multi-player, minus a video claiming to look on the popular game forums such as CoD4 and copying what they have done. Complaints are filling up the forums. It’s OK, we are told, wait for the release because Monolith is a good company (a very valid argument). So we wait…

Release date: Single player is good, really good but, really short. Playing through it on the hardest difficulty and collecting every item occupies all of 7 hours. Not what they told us (it is longer than the original) but, it is good and the original was only 10 hours at a maximum. So we have the great F.E.A.R. multi-player to play to get our full moneys worth. PC gamers get the same single player as the demo with a multi-player that includes no server files, no SDK, and no anti-cheat. Within a week people are filing back to other games. Just wait, it will be patched we are told. Complaints are calling the game a blatant console port -which it is regardless of what they say - that is tailored to the 360. On console multi-player is littered with waiting because of stupid ranked rules tied to GameSpy (on average players spend over half of their time waiting on ranked if they want to have statistics kept). Crap is flying everywhere on the forums at http://www.projectorigincommunity.com Just wait we are told - we cannot say what we will or not fix because of design decisions…and stuff. Just wait.

Patch one - film grain is removed, a few issues fixed and the multi-player still stinks. Just wait we are told. During this time there is a console patch but, no one really knows what it did because everything is the same in multi-player so it looks to be some single player bug fixes.

(Not sure on the order of these next two but, it is meaningless)
Patch two - the same, still no server files, AC, or SDK. At this point I’m saying they are not coming, as are others, and we are told to shut it and wait.
Then last month DLC hits XBL only to be pulled and told it is coming the next day. Whoops, we meant next month they tell us.

Upcoming is patch three. Console multi-player still sucks and now no one plays it. PC is dead, hackers do not even care about it with no AC software. Most of the community has quit on this game, awaiting what it needs to be worth their time to play it. Wait, we are told…we will have our answer. Almost two months after release we finally get the answer…nothing can be done. The game is as it is and now there will be no SDK as well (which were told we would get). You will get that kick ass DLC we promised last month…sometime soon. Everyone is up in arms. Those who are seriously mad are being banned, told to can it, etc. We cannot even get the SDK to mod out what we need in the game. I assume it’s because no one would play the original release…oh wait, it’s already at that point.

At this point I quit. I played the original F.E.A.R. for almost 2 years and it was one of my favorite games, as it was for many others. We have almost all quit. Most of us will not come back for F.E.A.R. 3 because we feel ripped off. The community is almost dead. Good job Monolith and WB, you’ve killed what was one of my, and many others, favorite FPS games with one crappy release. I hope other developers and publishers take note and take a little more time and actually beta test and play test a game and fix what people do not like about it before pushing it on their community and saying….we’re sorry you do not like it but, this is what it is and nothing will change.

aaltemus Gaming, Tech fear, fear2, fps, Gaming, project origin, shooter

With the recent rash of some men being dumped because their significant other wanted someone who is more like Edward, the teen vampire from Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, I figured Stephenie Meyer might be providing a little insight to an age old question men have been asking. You know, this one:

What do women want in a man?

It is only natural to assume that since these women dumped their boyfriends because they wanted someone like Edward that they, indeed, want someone like Edward. So, men, let’s review what this group of women want out of you. Sooo, what is Edward to his damsel? Well let us list.

• He is part of wealthy, powerful family. So wealth and power, check.
• He is seventeen and a stud, forever. Forever young and studly, check.
• He is immortal. Immortality…that’s a tough one…check
• He lives off of the blood of living things. Blood sucker, check
• He is super powered. Super speed and strength, looks like you should hit the weight room….check
• He can read minds. Hmmm…check
• Destiny has set him up in such way that his female partner to be is the complete answer to everything he can possibly do, making them undeniably linked for each other. Destiny, check.

So, there you have it. If you want to be with these women all you need to be is wealthy, immortal, super powered, and have fate put you two together in such a powerful way that neither of you can deny it from the moment you see each other. Come on guys, that is not too much to ask for. Special thanks to Stephenie Meyer for clearing this up.

And on a final note I would like to say that this is not all women; just those who dumped their boyfriends/husbands for “their Edward”. I have found that most people I know here on Krypton actually know the difference between fantasy and reality.

aaltemus Humor edward, man, stephenie meyer, twilight, vampire, woman

Honestly, I do want to try to keep this blog tech related but, I felt utterly compelled to post this review of my recent viewing of The Watchmen.  When a co-worker showed me the preview to this months ago, I was floored.  A great story done by the same person who did 300, which is one of my favorite movies in recent years.  This was a definite first weekend watch. Well, it is now the first weekend so let’s see how it really was.

The Good
The story line is great.  If you have read the graphic novel, you know this.  And, towards the middle to the end of this movie it actually shows up and you start to see why this is so great.  The acting, while nothing close to Oscar worthy, is capable.   There is some decent gore, if you like that, which of course I do.  Lastly, the music is good, it is classic rock and some really good selections at that.

The Bad
Similar to Peter Jackson’s King Kong, this movie is too long with too much attention being paid to too many things that could have been left out.  Yeah, stay true to the story but, seriously it is a movie.  Make it a good movie experience.  In a movie with a story this good I should never find myself bored silly, which I did numerous times in this three hour zinger.   Also, every five minutes you are presented with a nice shot of the d**k of Dr. Manhatten.  I understand clothing is irrelevant to him but, I want to be entertained and I do not want to spend three hours staring at a CGI p***is.  I just don’t, it is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY.

The music, while good music if the songs are listened to standalone, was completely out of place and seemed to wander in out of nowhere and catch you by surprise in moments that left you going “WTF????”

The Ugly
Three hours staring at a CGI schlong.  I don’t want to harp on this but, it was beyond distracting and pretty much ruined the movie.

Conclusion
The Watchmen had so much promise but, left it completely unfufilled and overall I did not enjoy the movie nearly one iota as much as I thought I would. Maybe I was expecting too much but,  I won’t even rent it from Netflix when it comes out to be honest, which says a lot because I really try to pull the good out of every movie I watch because I love them so much.

aaltemus Entertainment, Humor blue, cgi, dr. manhatten, movie, watchmen

I would like to talk about two of the many methods for creating dynamic list elements using HTML and JavaScript. We will also take advantage of the ability to set the innerHTML of an element.  The two methods I will discuss are:

1. Displaying content that is already loaded but hidden.
2. Using AJAX and the innerHTML to display dynamic content

Let’s start with the simpler of the two, displaying hidden content.  For this, it is assumed there is a page with a list and the content of the list is currently hidden.  For this example the content of the list is a sub-list.   Something along the lines of the following code:

<ul>
  <li>
    <a href="javascript:showList()">List Header</a>
    <ul id="hiddenList" style="display:none">
      <li>Element 1</li>
      <li>Element 2</li>
     </ul>
   </li>
</ul>

The header of this list is wrapped in an HREF which will make a call to the JavaScript function showList() which will toggle the display property of the sub-list, creating a list with a sub-list that alters its display on each click of the header. The JavaScript function can be similar to the one below:

function showList()
{
    var list = document.getElementById("hiddenList");
    var displayString = "block";
    if (list.style.display == "block")
    {
        displayString = "none";
    }
    list.style.display = displayString;
}

A working example can be seen here.

And now…

Next I will talk about using the XMLHttpRequest object to create a dynamic list using a server side call.  It is important to note that a lot of JavaScript frameworks will do this for you very easily but, I feel too many times people know what a framework is doing without actually knowing what it is doing so I’m going into a little more detail on some of the “behind the scenes” stuff.

First the list code is modified from the original HTML page to be similar to the following.  You will notice how none of the sub-list data is currently loaded.

<ul>
  <li>
    <a href="javascript:showList()">List Header</a>
    <div id="hiddenList" style="display:none">
    </div>
  </li>
</ul>

The call to showList() now will set up the XMLHttpRequest object and make the call to the server, using a GET, to get the content of the list, which is stored in another HTML file.  The algorithm for making a call is:

1. Create a new XMLHttpRequest object if the browser is not IE, if it is IE create a new ActiveXObject
2. Set the callback function using the onreadystatechange of the object.
3. Use the open method of the object to make the call.
4. Pass any data if the call is a post

The pieces of the showList() function relevant to the call can be seen below:

// For Mozilla
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{
    request = new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else if (window.ActiveXObject)
{
    // For IE
    try
   {
        request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    }
    catch (e) { }
}
if (request)
{
    // The callback method.
    request.onreadystatechange = updateList;
    // A GET call to the server.
    request.open("GET", url, true);
    // Not posting any data.
    request.send(null);
}
else
{
    alert("Could not create XMLHttpRequest");
}

In the callback function, updateList, the innerHTML of the DIV that contains the sub-list is updated to be the responseText of the request object. You could also use the responseXML of the request object and traverse nodes but, for this application I find it much simpler to use the responseText, which contains the HTML of the page we have requested. Using this method you may run into caching problems but, that can be easily solved by making sure the URL called is unique each time.  Following you will see the updateList method.

function updateList()
{
    // Check to make sure the request is ready.
    if (request.readyState == 4)
    {
        list.innerHTML = request.responseText;
        list.style.display = "block";
        displayed = true;
    }
}

You can see a full example of this list implementation here. For fun’s sake I have added the toggle in on this page as well.

There you have it…

That was just two of the many ways of using JavaScript and HTML to create dynamic lists. You can also use the XMLHttpRequest object and the innerHTML of elements for creating many, many dynamic effects (AJAX, Web 2.0, etc, etc, etc). As I have already said a lot of frameworks such as JQuery or DOJO will handle a lot of this for you but, I feel it is important to know what they are actually doing. And, to be honest, when I started doing this they were not around…Honestly I am not that old…

aaltemus Software Engineering, Tech Add new tag, ajax, css, dynamic, html, javascript, list, xmlhttrequest

I am getting spammed with new users so, for the time being, if you’d like to follow this blog you must contact me personally and I will add you.  I apologize for any inconvenience but, the spam is currently out of control.  BTW, expect something new soon.

aaltemus Uncategorized

Well, I’ve decided to play around with some web space.  This gives me a place to check out new development related materials and possibly post any helping tidbits I have gained from my time.  As for a first blog, this one is the rudimentary “Hello!” but hey, everything starts somewhere.

aaltemus Uncategorized