All Your Base Are Belong To Us — The Kip Lange Homepage

Figured I might just add some few helpful tips here about hooking up an HDTV with a Comcast HD-ready box. First of all, you need the Comcast HD-ready box, as I mentioned. It’s a silver Motorola (not the black ones, those are just digital boxes). Now for the part that’s a bit confusing. Comcast has not yet, to my knowledge, released a box that has an HDMI (standard HD cable format) output. The only digital output on the box is a DVI-D plug. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it looks like the only thing on the back of the box that resembles a plug for a computer monitor.

Now, whatever Comcast tells you, you’re going to need to use that DVI-D port to get yourself a digital picture. This means you’re going to need one of two things, either a cable that is male HDMI on one end and male DVI-D on the other — they sell around $100 — or, alternatvely, you can buy a stanadard HDMI cable (male on both ends) and a DVI-D adapter. The adapter costs around $20 or so. It should be female on the HDMI end and male on the DVI-D end, the part which connects to the female jack on the HD-capable box.

Still with me? Good. You’ll need one other thing, one other cable. It”ll be a simple two-jack (on both ends) component cable. One connects audio left, the other connects audio right (welcome to stereo). They’re usually red (for right) and white (for left).

Turn the TV on, switch it around, test the HD channels, you should be all set.

Also, one caveat: if you plan on getting a Playsation 3 anytime soon, like me, make sure you pick up an extra HDMI cable. You need one to play the PS3 in high-def (that’s actually the big point, all the PS3s’s games are in HD, and right now there’s not much of a jump in graphics if not played in HD).

I hope this helps someone else along the way to hooking up their HDTV (and you can always mail me with a question if you want) , here. Remember, Comcast, no matter WHAT they say, does not yet make a box wth an HDMI output.

Happy vidding, me droogs!

The 42-inch flat-panel plasma arrived today. It’s a Panasonic, and, my God, it is beautiful

HD on it is crisper than I thought it would have been, the contrast is great, the colors are vivid — FINALLY, I have one of the things I have pined away all my life for: the Big TV.

Now, if I can just get a Playstation 3 and a flying car, my life will be complete (I believe it’s easier to get the flying car than the PS3 right now).

Plasma. Oh yes. Oh yes.

So, here I am, having ordered a 42-inch plasma HDTV from Circuit City…and the idiots can’t seem to figure out when to deliver it. First they said it was coming Friday, now they tell me I have to get a new receipt and it’ll come on Saturday. Well, it damn well better come, because I plan on watching this week’s games in HD. I can always try the TV downstairs but bah, that’s a rear-projection HDTV, who wants that?

Took an hour on the phone with Circuit City to clear things up, too.

This damn TV better arrive on Saturday. My whole life, I’ve wanted the Big TV. I finally go shell out the money for it, and what happens? They tease me with delivery dates. Not fair. If I wanted to feel this frustrated, I’d start dating again.

And nobody else can watch the Big TV when it comes. Thppthh!

Muhahahahahah! Hahah! HAH!

USC bites it in a contest with UCLA. Oh, thank you God. If it couldn’t be Cal, at least another UC-system school…

May your throwing arm break in two, Booty.

Just thought I’d take a moment to address this issue, since most of the game sites are so fed up with people asking the question that they simply won’t answer it anymore. The question is:

“Why does my character have permanent silence on him/her? I’ve tried Vox and Echo Herbs and nothing works. Also, s/he has no mana points!”

Or, just:

“My character has no mana points!”

Here.

Go into the party screen, go into the accesories for your characters, and unequp the manufactured nethicite or the Dawn Shard.

That help?

And do I totally sound like a RPG geek now?

And out…

I mean this from deep, deep down in my heart. Fuck USC. Fuck the University of Spoiled Children. Fuck the University of South Central. Fuck them all, fuck them all up the ass with a spiked-tip mace.

I can say this because once, a few years ago, Cal, my alma mater, DID fuck USC up the ass with a big spiky stick.

Right now, I’m just hoping Notre Dame can wipe them off them field. They’re like some kind of annoying virus bred in the depths of Los Assholeses. They must be dealt with. Quickly. I’m tired of seeing them in the Championship game. Tired, tired, tired.

Fuck USC. Always hated the bastards.

That goes for all you USC alums, too, fuck you all up the ass until you’re raw and bleeding. Good riddance to your arsehole, that’s what I say.

Happy Thanksgiving, to all…

Happy Thanksgiving, to:

Nig and Heidi, wherever they are right now — Jersey, I’m guessing…

Danny F., Chris F., Michaela, Danny’s GF Kat (did I get that right? hope I did) and the rest of the NorCal crew, sippin’ mulled wine…

Dan B. in Benicia for the holiday, yet another Berkeley man, doin’ his law thing in Indiana…

Carlos K. (K-Rhyme, my man) and Liz, wherever THEY may be…LA? Right around the corner?

To my Aunt Judy, my Uncle David, my cousin Rick, and all the Lange clan in Minnesota…

To my Uncle Tom and his family out in Bakersfield, CA, same bloodline as above…

To the other half of my bloodline, wherever they may be, the Stewardsons, scattered across the East Coast — my cousins Dana, Carrie, and Lizzie, and their families…

Happy Thanksgiving to Sally T. and Peter, in their new house in Colorado…

Happy Thanksgiving to Tracy, in Australia, who has no idea what the hell Thanksgiving *is*…

Happy Thanksgiving to Kristin, in her new digs in Framingham, and to her enormous dog “Baby”…

Happy Thanksgiving to my favorite American expatriates in Costa Rica, the Kung Fu design team, Jolon, Martha, their son Gibson…

Happy Thanksgiving to my man Serge in Germany — don’t hit that absinthe so hard…

Happy Thanksgiving to the man figuring out how to be a father right now, my man David R., also in Germany…

And, of course, Happy Thanksgiving to my mother and my father, who are downstairs, and to my best sidekick, my psycho cat Fritz (bloated from turkey and guarding his favorite rug)…

I’m sure I’ve forgotten people, but Happy Thanksgiving to them as well, and I swear if ya didn’t make it this time you’ll make it to the Christmas list…

Happy Thanksgiving to ME!

And I’m out.

You really have to watch this video to believe it. I don’t know if you’ve heard the backstory — this is “Kramer” from “Seinfeld” trying to do a stand-up act at the Laugh Factory in LA, until he gets interrupted by some black people talking loudly during his act (they didn’t start the heckling). This truly has to be watched to be believed — and his apology on Letterman is pathetic compared to this. Watch it.

By popular demand, Sacha Baron Cohen’s alter ego Borat doing perhaps the most talked-about bit from Da Ali G Show:

Yeah. I said it. We’re not going to a get a PS3. That is, you people reading this. Because as I write this, people are camping out — or lurking around areas where you can’t camp out until a certain time — to get at pretty much a max of 20 premium units and 6 crap 20 gig units (who wants those). So we’re not getting one. I’m almost positive I’m not getting one. I’m too old to camp out. I camped out for Floyd tickets, but I am NOT camping out for a video game console. Those are the same assholes who camped out for the first Star Wars movie — and it SUCKED. I don’t want to have to sit in line for more than twenty minutes with that sort of person.

Know where the PS3s are going? EBay, of course. They’re selling for as high as $2000 on EBay. Those people waiting in line ahead of you are most likely selling their unit on EBay. Why? Because they can make a ton of money, and this is a buggy first release.

Buggy? Did I say buggy? Let’s end this on this note: there is word floating around that Sony’s supposed “backwards-compatible” PS3 is unable to play over 200 different PS2 and PS1 titles. “Oops”?

The Motley Fool is predicting it will be 2008 until we see PS3s around for the buying. I’m not that pessimistic. Give it six months or so, maybe even less. Sony is short on Blu-Ray diodes, sure, but they also know they’re staking their entire reputation on a highly-priced system that is entering the arena rather late.

Who cares, though? You’re still not getting a PS3 for Christmas. Unless you mug somebody. Shh. We’ll talk later, I need someone to drive the getaway car.