Fatal_Papercut~SPARTA~

Unfortunately, EA & DICE have already confirmed that there will not be any Commander/Squad Leader screens/functions, other than the ability to "suggest" that a squad attack/defend an objective (as implemented in BC2). They state (although not in these exact words) that the feature was too much for consoles to handle. http://bf3blog.com/2011/02/battlefield-3-wont-include-commander-feature/

I had hoped that I wouldn't have to make this post, but the TV Doctor just called, and there is no hope. My 42" HDTV that I used for gaming is dead. The power brick located inside had a meltdown, taking part of the primary PCB and LCD panel with it. The extended warranty expired sometime after the first of the year. On the plus side, I now have an excuse to look into buying an even bigger TV, possibly one with 3D capabilities. In the meantime, I suppose I will be reduced to squinting at the 24" display you also see pictured below. Ok, perhaps not really squinting, but it is going to feel that way. The real world is going to intrude on my fun, as it is now visible at the periphery of my vision. Rest In Peace. I only had eyes for you.

We actually discussed this article on the latest podcast, and there were some mixed feelings about it. Personally, I have confidence that BF3 will be a good game. BC2 is great, and if you look at BF3 as "BC2, only with more of everything", that doesn't sound like a bad (if not radically different) formula. I do hope they avoid the server issues they had with the launch of BC2. I took the release day off from work so that I could spend some quality time with it, only to find that I was unable to connect to any servers, a problem which persisted for almost a week if I recall correctly. EA said it was because they hadn't anticipated how popular the game would be and that the master servers were suffering from overload. I also know that there were problems with PunkBuster. I have a feeling that there was more it than just that, and hopefully the same mistakes won't be repeated.

My unit used to do things like this even without the prompting or official support of our command structure. Alcohol was usually involved.

Um, like the title says, The Little Podcast That Could is now available. You can now subscribe via iTunes! It's also much shorter (56 minutes) so as to be more palatable for those of you that have a life.

But wait! When I get shot, I won't be able to see the compass because you know how the screen turns red, like some sort of jelly has been splashed on it, and you have to find a corner to hide in until you heal up? That's going to make it hard to see, so....oh. Wait. This is for Arma, isn't it?

Viper, with your sig, every thread is a Birthday Thread!

Howdy folks, Again, thank you all for your support and interest in my podcasting project. As the podcast is strictly my own personal project that has no relation to SPARTA other than the fact that some of the participants are members/regulars here, I feel that it would be inappropriate to continue to use the SPARTA forums as the hub through which communications regarding podcast production are conducted. It would also be inconvenient for those outside of our community that wish to be more involved with this project. I do hope that those that are interested will to continue to listen to or even subscribe to the podcast. From this point forward, if you wish to contact me regarding the podcast, whether it be to submit feedback, to suggest a topic for discussion, or to inquire about appearing on the show, please visit the official podcast website and use any of the contact methods mentioned on the 'About Us' page. Please be aware that you are still free to chat me up on TeamSpeak, and if we need to engage in a longer discussion, I have my own resources that I can use for such purposes. You can also reach me via Steam, at least when I remember to log in. If you're not already on my Friends List, please feel free to add me: fatal_papercut Thanks everyone! knightsofthecatcable.com

The difference between Football and Soccer: Do you mean to tell me that it should be illegal to touch this with your hands? Y'all go ahead and play footsie with her if you like; I'm running this one in for a touchdown. P.S. Happy Birthday, Rizz!

ISSUE RESOLVED - Sort of. The definitive answer from WordPress is that hosting through them will not allow me to use plug-ins or make custom modifications to my site. I always have the option to switch to another hosting service, but them I am looking at both additional costs and the need for me to take additional time to acquire the technical know-how of setting up a website from scratch, be it using WordPress tools or any other set of tools. The price difference is substantial. I have no problem with telling you that I paid $37 for an entire year's worth of service via WordPress, and half of that was an upgrade that gets me 8GB of storage space with unlimited bandwidth (important for streaming the podcast from the site) for an entire year. I didn't even need to pay for the upgrade, which would have made my yearly cost only $17, but I liked the idea of having the podcast files stored at the same site as the blog. There are many other advantages I could go into, but the biggest one is that, for a non-web-html-type person like me, WordPress is incredibly easy to use. Minor tweaking aside, I had that site up and running in one day. Even if I wrote off the cost I've already paid to WordPress (I still have 2 weeks to get a refund on my $20 storage upgrade), as a hobby, I think $37 is a great price to pay for what I am getting. If I were to move the site elsewhere, I not only have to create it all over again without the easy-to-use tools, but I then have to pay around $20 per month just to get the same basic capabilities that I'll need that WordPress is already giving me (again, this is mainly the ability to store the audio files with unlimited streaming/download capabilities.) SO I'll stick with what I have. Maybe I don't get a fancy graphic and a full description on iTunes, but the podcast is there nonetheless.

Unfortunately, as stated earlier, my site is actually hosted via WordPress (the company), not just using the WordPress toolset on another hosting site. As such, I don't have access to my site via FTP or any other similar avenue. EVERYTHING has to be done using the WordPress menus that I get when I, as an administrator, log-in. I can't use PodPress or similar plug-ins because they require that I first be able to upload them to my site. With WordPress, I have no way to do that. So again, I need someone that knows a bit about web design that is willing to log in to my site with me and look it over to see if I am missing something or if I can add something via the tools available to me. Maybe there is something I am missing. If not, then it's ok, it probably can't be done, and it's not a super-huge issue. ** EDIT ** If you read further down the article about PodPress, you'll see that it no longer works because it's very old. WordPress has been updated many times since that article, and what PodPress did no longer works.

This weekend, Steam will have various Rockstar Games on offer. For the next 22 hours or so, you can get both of the Max Payne games for under $4 USD. On some Vista/Win7 systems, there is an issue with the sound. For some people, there is none; for me, the sound was always clipping. (** EDIT ** The problem only existed with the first game; Max Payne 2 worked just dandy.) Here is the fix for this issue. I've tested it and it works. Use the link to Filedropper because the first link is no longer active. http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=848215 If you need any help with this, please ask.

@ Hajimoto: Yes, the pic is 300x300 and is embedded in the MP3 file as part of the ID Tag system. @ PANiC (and everyone else, really): Perhaps I should be more clear. I've already found the info that you've linked to and provided. The issue is with the fact that the site is hosted through WordPress, which, unlike most sites, does not allow me any access whatsoever to the file directories. I can't use FTP or anything like that, I can only use the site design tools that WordPress provides. What I need is someone willing to take the time to look over the site with me; I will give that person administrator access so that they can look through the options and see if what I need done is possible. For example, by default, I don't have the option to do any CSS editing--that is something that I can do if I pay for an upgrade. I'm willing to do that if I know that doing so will allow me access to the page code that let's me edit/add meta-data that will feed iTunes what it needs.

Hey guys, As many of you know, I have a website hosted at WordPress.org for my podcast. iTunes is now carrying the podcast (it will be searchable by Monday), but it's not quite carrying the info on the podcast I would like, including the graphic. See below: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/knights-of-the-cat-cable/id431505094 I don't necessarily need someone to fix things for me, although any volunteers for that effort would be appreciated. What I do need is someone that is simply willing to take the time to see if it CAN be done, and if so, what options I may need to enable to make it happen. It's possible that I would need to pay extra costs to enable CSS editing to create/edit meta-tags that will ensure that iTunes displays everything correctly, but I don't want to fork out additional money for something that will not give me the results I want. If it comes down to it, I can just leave it as-is. The fact that the podcast is on iTunes to begin with is beneficial to everyone with an interest in it.

One of the things I like about playing Arma on SPARTA servers is that I know there will always be something new to try out. Just when I had reached the point where I was burned out on Domination, we started running more Tac Missions. Yes, it takes a bit of work on the player's part to install new things and to get up to speed on how those things work, and I feel the effort is worthwhile. And I can't claim to be a fan of every new thing that we try--but at least we're trying. I was once a member of a group that fell apart simply because, as a whole, we were unable to adapt to change. If SPARTA occasionally plays a flavor of Arma that I'm not particularly fond of, I know that somewhere down the road we'll probably adopt something that I'll go bonkers over. Furthermore, I have a crap-load of other games that I can play to keep myself involved with my friends here at SPARTA--the only reason I've given even the slightest consideration to purchasing Minecraft is due to the fact that I think it would be fun to get a first-hand perspective of my friends as they go about the business of shaping their own little world. I would be content to act as a worker bee, carrying blocks for them as they build their Towers of Babel (or Towers of Butt-hole, as is sometimes the case). Finally, I think it needs to be said that, if you'd like to see something done or adopted here, I don't think that anyone is going to stop you from pushing forward with any projects you'd like to see come to fruition, so long as you are willing to do the work and make it happen. You'd probably only need ask to have a channel created in TeamSpeak to further your efforts. When it comes to my recent projects, such as the Arma videos and the podcast, the only thing that initially held me back was my own laziness when it came to getting organized. Once I got past that hurdle and took on the responsibility of making it happen, everyone here was very supportive and helpful. Hell, I'll bet that if I decided I wanted to start up a group to play the Hello Kitty MMO, I could do it if I were persistent enough; it's not any crazier than some of the other stuff you guys do around here.

Thanks. Not only was there a lack of a No-Disc mod, but the website specifically stated that the DRM was the "check once via the Internet each time the game loads". Annoying, yes, but at least I don't the disc and I can save $15.

Does anyone here have a hard copy of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood? I am wondering if, once installed, the game requires the disc to be in the drive. I can get the game for $35 at Best Buy because I have some gift cards, but I am trying to get away from copies that require a disc. A definitive answer would be appreciated. I Googled, of course, but did not find anything.

No mention of Torchlight? There is a sequel coming soon (my brain is saying July, but that could be wrong), and the sequel will support multiplayer in a vein similar to Diablo 2. I think the regular price for TL is $20, but it's been on sale numerous times for both $10 and $5. Wait until you see that price drop again. Well worth the money and time. And it has an end that you can get to in, oh, a week I'd say, if you really get into it.

Absolutely fake. Entertaining, yes, but fake nonetheless. http://www.reelseo.com/pepsi-shows-wrong-fake-viral-video/ It's been done before with these ads for the NFL, and they were acknowledged by the ad agency as being fake. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQsDZ0FXqSI

I can already see this causing issues for gamers when something like SecuROM won't allow us to play a game because it detects Window's virtual CD/DVD/BD drive and thinks we're trying to play hacked copies.

I tried it, but it wasn't really for me. Playing with those regulars is the only thing that kept it entertaining. But I will say this: the things WoT does, it does very well. It just doesn't do enough to hold my interest. Gotta get back to Minesweeper now, so pardon me. ** EDIT ** Oh. My. Goodness. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=141347259239092&ref=ts

Not even if they come out with a new Star Pony?

Oh, nice. There you go, Skaz, Halli just volunteered to go raiding with you!

It is and isn't a joke. That is to say, it's real, but it's meant to be humorous. It's DLC for Magicka (not HOMM), a game which has a pretty quirky sense of humor. A Vietnam expansion makes as much sense for that game as something that adds Dinosaurs or Formula 1 cars would. The devs, Paradox, don't have a big publisher hovering over them telling them what they can and can't do--they are their own publisher. I enjoyed Magicka for the bit that I played it, not really my thing, but other people out there really love the game, and I was happy to show my support for the devs by giving them $10. I'll probably sit down one day and actually finish the game, hopefully in co-op mode.

It's been nice knowing you Skaz, and remember, you'll always be welcome back here after your Intervention.