New Job

Been a while since I've had time to sit down and blog a bit. Recently I started a new job in a processing and bottling facility. So far (3 weeks) it has been awesome. I'm loving work again. So far the coolest thing about my new job is the free product that we occasionaly get. Did I mention that we bottle booze? Mostly Hiram Walker Schnapps, Wild Turky whiskey, Seagram's Gin, and Kahlua.

Yesterday, they had an activity called Tasty Tuesday. The had a "sample" of Redbreast Irish Whiskey, just had to go to the QC lab. They pour about a shot worth for you to taste. It was pretty good for whiskey(I don't really care for whiskey myself) smooth without the burning sensation I usually get with whiskey. So far I've tried Kahlua Especial, Rootbeer schnapps, and Wild Turkey American Honey. The American Honey was pretty good, it is mostly just honey and bourbon. The honey left a sweet after taste which was pretty good.

Anyways, just thought I'd drop a line to those people I haven't been able to play with recently.

Posted by Onesimos @ 6:41 pm EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments

Champs 3 years running

Recently, my volleyball team won the little community league we have. Not really due to any outstanding plays or players, but just because we sucked less than all the other teams. So far 3 years, and no losses in play. Winning always seems to make playing worth it.

As a side note, I will now have more time to play video games.

Posted by Onesimos @ 1:23 pm EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments

Motorcycles

As a certain clan member is looking to purchase a bike, I thought this was interesting.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/02/ap/strange/main3988165.shtml?source=RSS&attr=_3988165

[quote](AP) Mount Carmel police say a Kingsport man clocked driving a motorcycle 156 miles per hour may have been testing the town's new speed enforcement cameras. Authorities said 23-year-old Loda Eugene Ward Jr. has been charged with reckless driving.

Police say the cameras were not activated last week, but an officer on patrol clocked him at the high speed. Police did not pursue but an arrest warrant was issued and they detained Ward on Sunday.

Mount Carmel police said Monday they suspect Ward was testing the cameras because he had removed his license plate to avoid detection.

Police say the camera's maker has assured the department they will capture the image of a vehicle speeding up to 200 mph.
[/quote]

Wonder when someone in a supercar will try the "up to 200MPH" statement

Posted by Onesimos @ 2:17 pm EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments

Frontlines: Fuel of War

A simplistic review.

I enjoy this game.


The slightly longer version.

    Negatives:
Quite frankly, this game has some glaring issues at release(similar to the COD4).

Hit detection is severely hampered by any little hiccup of lag, although it hit detection (or lack thereof) is also present to some extent in the single player campaign. This is especially noticeable if you are sniping, some times I one shot the target like a pro, the next time they may not even realize that some is shooting at them until their friend in a chopper sees me and gives me a rocket bath.

There have also been some issues with joining Kaos's dedicated servers, even though the server shows a zero population. However, I've noticed that this has gotten better since the release, so it is not as prevalent. I'm not sure if this is due to more servers being brought online, or fewer people trying to join them.

Finally, lag. This game does not handle lag well, i.e. at all. This is mostly apparent when joining a regular player hosted game, and Lord help you if more than one person is unleashing with the AA Tanks.

    Positives:
This game is serious fun, when my internet and the games server are properly aligned. Usually my iSPmanages to screw this up somehow.

Some people have complained about the squad chat component(myself included), but I have come to appreciate the fact that I don't have to listen to timmies, EVAR. I haven't noticed too many problems in bigger games when only 4 people are in each squad. I've been in games where the independent squads worked quite well, even without inter-squad chat.

The vehicles are obviously a major selling point of the game, and they are a blast. They range from jets(and the steep learning curve) to main battle tanks. My personal favorites are the Anti-Air tanks, flak cannons and homing missiles are fun for knocking little timmy and his friends out of the sky. Even when the sucker jumps out of his chopper, the flak will usually kill them before they have a chance to deploy their parachutes.

The roles loadout were a wild card to me when I first started. I have come to love them, while they lack the complete personalization of COD4's perks,  it is easy to switch to different loads between lives.  The goodies range the gamut from RC toys that go boom to EMP rockets that nerf vehicles for a time to air/gunship strikes to, my personal favorite, the sentry turret (the great lag equalizer for me).  So far all of the loads have places where they are extremely useful, and places where they can be utterly uesless, providing a good chance to mix things up.

Overall

This game is a blast to play, though it lacks some of the social networking aspects that would give it real staying power, i.e. no lobbies between rounds or clan support. I would recommend this game as a rental for anyone that enjoyed the BF series. Also, the achievement points are pretty easy to grab, and the entire single player campaign only took 4~5 hrs on normal, though the multi player is where this game sometimes shines.

Posted by Onesimos @ 12:50 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Book Review

Command Legacy: A Tactical Primer for Junior Leaders of Infantry Units
by Lt. Col. Raymond A Millen, U.S.A.

This review is coming from a civilian's viewpoint, though the book is marketed towards junior officers.

It basically boils down to a compilation of army field manuals seasoned with the author's experiences and historical references. If you're looking for war stories, this is not the book for you. Instead, it opened my eyes to all of the actual behind the scenes planning and preparation that must go into each mission. The author takes a very business-like (although I guess technically war is his business) approach discussing how to arrange troops for movement, attack, defense, and resupply.

Excerpt from the Preface:

I was prompted to write this book because there is no previous definitive source on small unit tactics. Existing manuals are too general, have too many doctrinal buzzwords, and are not applicable to company-level units. None addresses the details that infantrymen must consider and the tasks they must complete during any mission. Based on my own experiences in company command, I decided to write a book on tactics, techniques, and procedures that addressed the needs of junior leaders. This book represents my conclusions regarding tactical problems and missions and the link among tactical theory, doctrine, and practice. This is a single source reference for the purpose of priming junior leaders for tactical operations, instilling the concept of corporate effort, and inspiring thought. To be practical, any book on tactics must be specific, explaining in detail what needs to be done, why, when, and by whom. It must attempt to reconcile both what to think and how to think.

I believe this would be a good read for any soldier, but for a civilian, it might be a little tedious (I'm just a civilian, but I'm weird so it doesn't count).

I know, not much of a review, and I've got a stack of books I'm trying to get through at the moment, but those darn video games just keep getting in the way.

Posted by Onesimos @ 11:47 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments