Return Of The General Faffing

Time for an open post of general faffing!
(I'm not even sure what "faffing" means. It's something I heard somewhere.)

First order of business: auctions!
I started putting stuff up on eBay and Furbid.
On eBay, it's my Squadron/Signal aircraft reference books. I've decided to sell my entire collection of 40+ books.
I'm only keeping the ones on the F-14 Tomcat and the A-10 Warthog (but of course!!).
eBay stuff is here.
On Furbid, I'm currently putting up my entire collection of Furrlough comics, all 101 issues, from #1 to #101.
I'm bundling them up in packs of 10 issues (1-10, 11-20, 21-30, etc.). I'll add other stuff later.
Furbid stuff is here.
Check it out, and as Bartles & James used to say, "thank you for your support!".


About two weeks ago, I started working at Sony Connect, doing testing of online stuff.
It's only for a month. When it's over, I hope to move to a different company, with whom I have already interviewed.
PlayStation 3s became available for testing this week, so I got to actually use one and explore it.
Okay, first of all, the PS3 is beautiful.
Standing on end, it looks like a scale-model of a modern building ganked from an architectural firm's offices.
I mean, it's got that big curvy section on the side (or on top if you lay it horizontally).
That curve blended with the sharp angles on the other side, and the gleaming black finish, it's really something.
Also, it's really surprisingly heavy. Which means it's less likely to fall over, I guess.
It looks like a fine handcrafted piece of high-end technology. All that's missing is the Bang & Olufsen logo.
It's so much classier looking than the XBox 360, which looks like a tarted-up external hard drive.
And it's stuffed with more technology too.
I'm not saying it's "better", so don't you be startin' with the Console Flamewars, okay?
I'm simply describing what I feel when I look at it and use it.
The most shocking thing for me, as a longtime PlayStation 1 and 2 user, is how light the controller is.
You don't notice how heavy the Dual Shock hardware is until it's gone. Or you use the old old PSX controller.
Also shocking? No cord! It's wireless! Actually, it comes with a USB cable so you can charge it up, but once charged,
the cable goes buh-bye and you're good to go for several days, maybe weeks, I dunno. It's wonderfully freeing. :)
There's a new button added to the controller: a PlayStation logo between the Select and Start.
It turns the console on and off and does other useful things.
I haven't been able to play with the console's user interface too much. There seems to be a whole lotta stuff to adjust,
configure, and tweak. There's room for videos, music, games, photos, the whole multimedia thing. Way more than the PS2.
It's got 4 USB ports and dedicated slots for Mini-SD, Memorystick, and a third format I don't recognize.
You can hook up all sorts of stuff to it via USB: mice, keyboards, printers, what have you.

Okay, okay, let's talk games!
Unfortunately, there's no time for games 'cause we work hard!
Well, okay, I was able to try out the "Ridge Racer 7" and "Resistance: Fall Of Man" game demos after-hours.
The Ridge demo only has one track and about 8 cars to choose from. How do you say "stingy bastards" in Japanese? :D
The graphics are eye-popping and neurotically detailed. The drifting is over-the-top, as expected for a Ridge game.
They've added nitrous, and you build up your supply by drifting. I wonder what the final game will look like.
Resistance is an FPS. Boy, is it ever! It's like Killzone XL with fugly aliens and carpet-bombed urban landscapes.
Stupendous graphics, but the same ragdoll physics with sometimes amusing clipping. The demo has three full levels,
which gave a good feel for the general gameplay. I would probably pick this up used if I had a PS3.
And since I probably won't be able to get a PS3 before January 2008, I think this will probably come true.
I've been kinda out of the loop since my free game mag subscriptions ended, so I don't really know what's coming next
on PS3. I know "Warhawk" is out and that's one title I'm definitely interested in, being a veteran of the original.
"Lair" looked really good too. And I definitely want "Motorstorm" in my game library.
Guess I need to do some reading in my copious spare time. :D


In other news, the office chair I bought a month ago is now broken.
I didn't expect it to last long, but this is ridiculous!
The breakage point is hard to describe. It's the big knob that's under the chair and is tightened to keep the metal plate
connected to the back rest from moving. I sat in the chair and the bolt connected to the knob sheared right off!
I took the chair back Saturday and got an exact replacement. Hopefully this one will last a little longer.
Until I can get something sturdier.


Work is keeping me pretty busy, and my commute is almost an hour each way, so that doesn't leave much time for posting.
I'll try to catch up over the next few days.