Playstation firmware updated to 1.60

Just a quick note/reminder to PS3 owners -- plug that ethernet cable in, because Sony has just released version 1.60 of the PS3 firmware.

If you're having troubles connecting to the network with your PS3, you can always get the firmare at Sony's website.

It includes the ability to download a neat new app, Folding@home, which allows you, if you're not playing a game/watching a movie/etc, to aid Stanford researchers in the study of protein folding. Kinda neat.

Perhaps all women aren't insane...

Well, I do have to report good news. I got in touch with an old friend whom I parted with on less than great terms -- an old female friend, not a girlfriend, but a good friend. And the young lady in question has absolved me from the temper tantrum I threw at her during our last meeting. Which is a huge weight off my back, because this is one of those temper tantrums you have that lasts five minutes and then you realize how stupid it was but there's no damn going back.

I am guilty, I believe, of blanket judgment of all women sometimes. If one acts one way, I somehow think they all act that way. Which is stupid. Which is why I don't have a girlfriend or many female friends (when, in fact, I actually like platonic female friends -- a lot -- the few that I have).

I'm working on it, that's all I can say. Thirty-one years old and I'm still working on it. Then again, can any guy reading this tell me they really understand women? I don't mean understanding how to manipulate them, because I know some guys like that, and I don't particularly like that approach, and it certainly isn't anywhere near the same thing as actually understanding women.

But I feel better. Dharma has been restored. Karma has worked to swing things back to their natural balance. The Eagle has landed (no, wait, that last one, right, that makes no sense -- I just like saying it -- "the Eagle has landed!" -- it never loses power as a phrase to me...)

Perhaps I'm not hopeless after all. :-)

Nah, who am I kidding...hehehe.

I do feel better about myself, though.

Splitfish introduces a first-person shooter mouse system for the Playstation 3

Yep, it's true. We may not have rumble back yet, but for all of you people out there who, like me, like first-person shooters better when you have the freedom and precision of a mouse over the (for FP shooters) clunky controls of a regular Sixaxis controller -- Splitfish has announced it's releasing a mouse system (which can fit in your lap) for the PS3 that should allow all of us spoiled by the PC precision of shooters to match that precision on a Playsation 3.

Hardly as monumental as reviving rumble, but still, an interesting device, especially if you frag like a mofo on a PC but get yourself perpetually waxed when trying to play Resistance online.

Error 80710102 and the new PS3 firmware -- issues resolved?

I'm not sure if the PS3 firmware updates (currently at 1.54, again) are responsible for this, or if Comcast did something to their network, but I have found that it is now a lot easier to connect. You no longer have to power cycle your cable modem when you swap back and forth between your PC and your PS3. This makes things a hell of a lot easier.

However, that still doesn't help much you if you buy a Playstation that has the old firmware and you need to connect to update (classic Catch-22, although you can always download the firmware update to a memory stick and import it to the PS3 in that manner). So, if you've just bought a PS3 with the old firmware, you'll still need some help, and I'd like to once again refer you to how I managed to fix the 80710102 problem.

Happy gaming!

Sony Playstation 3 Firmware Updated to 1.54

Yep. That's all. The PS3 firmware is now at 1.54. Remember to hook up your ethernet cable.

The Universe's Greatest Mystery: What Women Want

The title of the post says it all.

Being a fan of the didactics of "Misogyny 101", I'd like to point out another instance of a woman not knowing what in hell what she wants.

The case in point is a girl that I once had a fairly intense romantic relationship with. Now, these days, she's engaged to be married, she's just had a kid (she should have reversed the order of those two, but alas, no one cares anymore in today's society), and who is very much settling down.

This mystery woman wanted me to know I am an "old friend who can say whatever". So, in one email, I attempted a compliment, because I do know that women need good potting soil, a lot of light, water, and a constant flow of compliments.

All I dared say was -- this is not a verbatim quote, but anyway -- "You know, you're a hell of a girl. I doubt I'll ever be 100% over you."

In return, I get an email reminiscent of one long sigh, telling me that the recipient feels she "is being disloyal by just reading such a thing".

Now, come on! I'm not a homewrecker. I don't break up relationships, especially when there's a kid involved. I don't stop weddings. In fact, were the good lady in question single but still with her child, I would still shy away from her, not because I can't stand children, but because I'm not in any way equipped to be a father yet -- much less a stepfather!

So, I just don't get it. Had a girl from my past written me something similar, I would have been flattered, but certainly not taken it as overture to restarting romantic activities, especially if I had a child and was engaged to be married. The truth of the matter is that, while I may or may not be "an old friend" of the female in question, I can't "say whatever I want", obviously.

Of course, in this case, the woman in question is taking the compliment even further -- that my comment somehow implies that I want to wreck her whole current relationship and get back together. Which I wouldn't want to do, nor would I really want to date her if she was single again, even without child -- that chapter of my life is closed, and frankly, our personalities clashed a bit.

I suppose where women are concerned, I should dump all concepts of chivalry out the window and triple-check my messages for anything that could possibly be misconstrued -- like, for instance, "Hello!"

Now, I did do my best to respond and point out to the young woman that if she thought that I was the type to come in and try to smash up a family, she certainly didn't know me well enough to call me "an old friend" and that I was highly disappointed.

I expect I'll be getting some sort of histrionic comment back telling me that again, somehow, I got it all wrong and I'm evil.

Which leads us back to our topic, which was, what the hell do women want? And how can they not understand men, when we are as simple as "sit, scratch, watch ballgame"?

My favorite male-female situation is when a woman asks me what I'm thinking, because the answer, invariably is -- and hey, you women, remember this, you can check it with any man you know -- absolutely nothing. I am thinking about absolutely nothing. Only my autonomic systems are functioning, and that means the most important thing on my mind is most likely, Where did I put the remote? -- and even that isn't really formed as a coherent thought.

Ah well. Men are from Mars, women are from the 9th Circle of Hell.

MLB 2k7 does have Dice K in it...

I stand corrected. I posted earlier that MLB 2k7 does not have Dice K in it.

I was wrong. Because Dice K is not a member of the MLB Player's Union, they can't use his real name. So, following in the tradition of EA's MVP series, Dice K is there, but under a different name. Red Sox fans, rejoice.

On the Red Sox, Dice K is "Dennis Miles". You can edit his name easily. Although I see no signs of the fabled "gyro" pitch being available.

Anyway, I'm glad he's at least in there. A Dice K by any other name would throw as sweet.