The return of Beavis and Butthead

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Kip
Beavis & Butthead

Beavis & Butthead return...

Yep, you heard me. Beavis and Butthead are returning to MTV with 30 new episodes. Or so the “confirmed” rumor goes.

I might actually turn MTV on for the first time in thirteen years or so…

You can read more about it here.

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A good BP joke…

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Kip

Alright, this ain’t the world’s BEST joke, but it ain’t the world’s WORST, either.

You hear that BP has figured out a way to deal with the oil leak?

They’re going to lower a giant wedding band on top of it; they figure it’ll immediately stop putting out.

<rimshot>

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Some updates to kiplange.com…

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Kip

You may have noticed, I’ve been polishing up the blog a little. I’ve overhauled the sidebar as well as adding a rating system for posts and comments.

I’m particularly fond of the rating system. Hopefully it will help people get to the better parts of kiplange.com without thinking too much. 😉

Kip over and out.

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Resetting the Logitech Dual Rumble Gamepad

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Kip

There’s nothing posted in the instructions included with the Logitech Dual Rumble Cordless Gamepad about this, so I felt it would be a good idea to share this information.

If your controller suddenly stops working, or if the red light on it starts blinking, and it will not connect, attempt to reset it. This is done by taking out ONE of the batteries, holding down buttons 5 and 7 (these are the two right-hand huddle buttons) and re-inserting the battery.

Hopes this helps some people out.

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Beware of iPhone screen protectors with liquid applicators

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Kip

Just a warning here. I bought a “Bodyguarz” screen protector, and I want to severely steer you away from buying this brand or any other that uses a liquid applicator to help affix itself to the surface of your phone.

The reason? Water is not good for your iPhone. I used a minimal amount of fluid with the Bodyguardz protector, and my home button stopped working. After two days of drying out, it’s finally working again — although not as smoothly as I’d like it to. I’m going to wait another few days, and if it’s not totally better, I’m going to have to either exchange the phone or have someone replace the Home button (which is relatively easy to do but which I am not going about doing myself as it voids the iPhone warranty).

And if you do mess up your iPhone with a liquid applicator, and have to bring it into an Apple store — it just happened. You did not use a liquid applicator. Because methinks that would also help to void the iPhone warranty.

Stick to the dry-apply films, as annoying as they may be. You’ll thank me later.

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Lord of the Rings Online going “free-to-play” — is WoW next?

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Kip

Some good news for MMORPGers — The Lord of the Rings Online is going free-to-play in a couple of months.

Now, it’s not entirely “free”. You have a gold limit (albeit a large one) with the free service and you have only three character slots. And you do not have the same priority in logging in during busy times as a “Premium” or “VIP” (paying) member. But this is good news.

Turbine already took Dungeons and Dragons Online free and it’s working just fine. Same math holds true with that MMO, though — if you remain a paying member, you get more perks.

Still, this is a good move. And Blizzard may be contemplating taking the grand-daddy of ’em all, World of Warcraft, free as well. You can read about a potentially free WoW over here.

Well, actually, I guess Everquest is the real “grand-daddy of ’em all” but let’s not parse things too finely.

See you online — for free!

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The Kia Soul Hamster Ad — Somebody Must PAY

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Kip

Seriously. Whoever greenlighted this idea should be taken out back and put out of his or her misery like Ol’ Yeller.

After watching this annoying piece of garbage a few times, I have decided a few things. First, I will buy a giant toaster before I buy a Kia Soul. Second, rendered hamsters are fucking creepy. And they’re even creepier when they dress up in hip-hop attire.

Third, and most important, “The Choice is Yours” by Black Sheep is a great song and even this evil, vile, horrid commercial will not stop me from liking it.

What, are the Kia ad execs now sniffing airplane glue or something?

Worse yet, scanning the Internet, I keep running across people who love this ad. One person said, “I wanted to rush out and buy a Soul right away!”

These people should not be allowed to breed.

This commercial came very close to forcing me to create a new category to file the post under, something like, “Things That Are Desperately Wrong And Make Me Want To Off Myself”.

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The curse of the long back…

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Kip

So I get up this morning, I head for the coffee; I put my hands on the counter for just a second and WHAM my back goes out on me. I spent fifteen minutes just lying on the floor trying to get up. The pain is running all down my right leg, too, so it’s obviously something to do with my sciatica (I have chronic problems with that).

Anyway, it runs in the family. I have what’s referred to as a “swimmer’s back”, meaning it’s very very long. And the longer your back is, the more likely you are to have some lower back pain. At least it’s not killing me so much I can’t sit comfortably anymore. Well, it’s still uncomfortable, I guess, but Advil helped and if I stay in one position I seem to be okay.

Ironically, my father’s still getting over his back going out on him ten days ago.

Bit of a meaningless post to the blog, but I felt like venting my frustration, so just deal with it.

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Apple “bumper” solves my antenna problem

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Kip

Well, after waiting for two weeks, my “bumper” from Apple has arrived. For $30 you get a cheap piece of plastic that goes around the phone in a strip. It does afford some protection if you drop your iPhone, though, and, more important, it gets rid of the “death grip” antenna glitch by separating the antenna from your hand with aforementioned cheap plastic.

Personally, I think Apple should be giving a free bumper to all iPhone 4 users, but we know that’ll never happen, right? Especially when Steve Jobs’ response to the glitch was, “Stop holding the phone the wrong way…”

So it works. A case would work as well. Anything that separates your sweaty palms from the small black line on the lower left that is the new antenna.

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Singularity for the PC: Quick Review

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Kip

I’m not the world’s hugest fan of FPSers, but when a good one comes along, well, it’s a pleasure to see.

Singularity is a FPSer with a bit of a twist. Made by the same folks who made Wolfenstein, they use a gimmick to make this game infinitely more fun than a regular FPS. Remember your occult abilities in Wolfenstein? Well, in Singularity, you have the “TMD” — “Time Manipulation Device” — which seems to be the big brother to the supernatural powers you had in Wolfenstein.

Using the TMD, you can age things, or creatures, levitate objects, and so on. Using the TMD effectively is- a large part of the game.


The TMD sets Singularity apart…(click to enlarge)

The game’s premise is rather simple; you’re on a mission to investigate a place called Katorga-12, where the Soviet Union, in the 1950s, discovered a powerful element named E99. Minor spoiler coming up — when you land on the island, early on, you are shot back into time to rescue a man — a man who goes on to harness E99’s power and drops an E99 bomb on the USA, giving Mother Russia a monopoly on power in an alternate timeline. Your goal then becomes to undo the damage you’ve caused.

Basically, Singularity is a straight-forward FPS, with the TMD thrown in, and that is exactly what makes it so fun. Rebuilding staircases and such using the reverse-aging function of the TMD provide a level of puzzle-solving to the game.

The rest of the game’s mechanics are fairly simple. Point, aim, shoot. You can get upgrades to your TMD using E99 tech, and upgrades to your weapons using “weapon tech”. You can even use E99 tech to purchase ammo, although that’s rather a waste of a substance that you could be using to upgrade your powers.

I give Singularity a solid 9 out of 10.

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