Xorton's Rant

You know you can safely throw out old software when: Your computer doesn't have a drive for the media.  The media included has a size of 512KB or less.  The product has DOS, or mentions DOS in the recommended hardware requirements. The original packaging doesn't have a website or email address printed on it. 

Released : March 3, 2009 Publisher : SEGA Developer : The Creative Assembly Platform : PC, Mac Type : Turn Based Strategy, Real Time Tactics Graphics : Narly Game Play : Narly Originality : Narly How many hours I’ve wasted : Narly The Nostalgia Factor : Nary Empire Total War is an excellent RTS/Turn based strategy game and probably the best of this type I've ever played. It's also one of the few games I play that's been released within the last five years (as most people have probably noticed, most of the games I've reviewed so far, predate the Pentium processor!) Empire Total War focuses on the historical colonial period leading up to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, featuring several theatres of conflicts including: North America, India, Europe and North Africa. Players can play in either single or online multi-player mode, and the game features a veritable bounty of nationality choices to play from, each with unique military un...

As an IT professional (and a cheap bastard), it infuriates me when I see people being roped and lured into spending hard on cash on expensive software solutions when there are a multitude of open source, free alternatives readily available on the internet. Stop throwing your money at greedy corporate executives who certainly don't need yet another fancy chess set (that they don't even know how to use) carved out of some endangered species or another ocean going yacht to add to their fleet. Why spend hundreds of dollars when you can pay nothing at all (most of these software projects accept donations, which I would strongly encourage). You'll feel a lot better donating ten bucks for some fabulous software and keeping the free software revolution going, than lining the pockets of the above mentioned corporate goons. Here's some stuff you'll find useful at home: Gimp : A flexible and comprehensive alternative to throwing hundreds of dollars away for Adobe Photosh...

User: "Do I need to plug the UPS cable into my hard drive for the printer to work?" Me: "Despite the inaccuracies laced throughout your question, I have been able to deduce the intent. The answer is: no, it works by friggin' magic".  Okay, I didn't actually say that, but I've never been so sorely tempted. 

"They" say that nobody travels to Scotland for the weather. "They" have never met me. I travel to Scotland almost exclusively for the weather. It's one of the few places I don't have to slather on several layers of spf 600 sunscreen and I'm in no danger of sunstroke or heatstroke. Such are the hardships for those with a complexion of pasty pale blue. Of course there are many other compelling reasons to visiting Scotland in addition to the weather, such as the best fish suppers in the world, and the best drink in the world: Irn-Bru *. It's the only country on the planet where Coca-Cola is not the best selling soft drink. Oh, and there's a bunch of scenic places, sites of historical interest and cultural stuff too: Coldingham and St. Abbs Coldingham Bay It's not the first destination people have in mind when they visit Scotland, but I have family there and I also love quaint wee sea-side villages. Additionally, it's quiet, h...

Detroit... now less like Robocop I'm just back from an IT conference in Detroit, and I have to say it's not anywhere near the kind of place I imagined it to be. Over the years I'd heard and read some pretty scary things about what Detroit was like and imagined it to be a cross between Sarajevo (circa 1993) and Robocop. I half expected to be mugged the moment I stepped off the plane. I'm happy to report that it's clean, surprisingly quiet and in pretty good shape (at least the places I saw) for a city that's been ravaged by a badly run economy. There were surprisingly fewer burned out abandoned buildings and a lot less graffiti than I expected. The airport which is actually located near a little place called Romulus, was only disappointing in that there were no actual Romulans marching about. The airport is clean, beautifully and efficiently designed, and the customs and security people are helpful and very friendly. I was quickly on the interstate, n...

Hotels and Bibles Why is it that the vast majority of hotels have Bibles in each room? On a recent visit to the United States, not only was there a Bible in my room, but also The Book of Mormon. Essentially the hotel industry is saying: "We'd like to share and spread ignorance, fear and superstition among the masses." I believe hotels really should keep to only one message, and that is in regards to the quality of their accommodations and facilities. I would question whether commercial industries are qualified enough in making comment on spirituality and how to live life. It would be like your doctor explaining the health benefits of smoking. If they must insist on sharing something philosophical, I think as an alternative they should also stock a copy of Carl Sagan's : " Demon Haunted World " as an alternative. Demon Haunted World is an excellent book that questions much of what we as humans believe and why we believe it. It is a great guide on...