Audiosurf

As I begin to consider my next PC purchase to replace the four-year-old P4 fossil currently sitting on my desk, I'm starting to think about all of the PC games I've been missing out on recently.

Recently, just out of curiousity, I was looking at apps made specifically for the click-wheel classic iPod.  I was first of all struck by the face that they range from Trivial Pursuit to Pac-Man (not a huge surprise there) to Sonic the Hedgehog. I've never owned a click-wheel iPod, but I intend to borrow one just to see how these games work.

One game I was really impressed to find though was Phase. It's a simple rhythm game by Harmonix that uses your iPod's music library to generate levels.

Since I don't own a classic iPod (the one and only device Phase is available on), I immediately searched for any similar games on other platforms. I immediately came up with Audiosurf.

My current PC would likely suffer a stroke if I tried to run it, but I can't wait to play it later on when I finally get a new one. Here's a sample:


As I begin to consider my next PC purchase to replace the four-year-old P4 fossil currently sitting on my desk, I'm starting to think about all of the PC games I've been missing out on recently.

This morning, just out of curiousity, I was looking at apps made specifically for the click-wheel classic iPod. I was first of all struck by the face that they range from Trivial Pursuit to Pac-Man (not a huge surprise there) to Sonic the Hedgehog. I've never owned a click-wheel iPod, but I intend to borrow one just to see how these games work.

One game I was really impressed to find though was Phase. It's a simple rhythm game by Harmonix that uses your iPod's music library to generate levels.

Since I don't own a classic iPod (the one and only device Phase is available on), I immediately searched for any similar games on other platforms. I immediately came up with Audiosurf.

My current PC would likely suffer a stroke if I tried to run it, but I can't wait to play it later on when I finally get a new one. Here's a sample:

Politigaming: Fatworld

I'm all for video gaming as a method of communicating complex ideas- I was an avid supporter of the fair hearing of Super Columbine Massacre RPG, for instance.

New Media artists are always bringing us new ways of looking at the world. The latest edition? Fatworld.

Fatworld is a sim-style game that takes the player through the complexities of good nutrition, and "explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition, and socioeconomics in the contemporary U.S.". Rather than caving to the usual 'this behaviour = good', 'this behaviour = bad', the game allows the player explore for themselves just how many factors are involved in their nutrition, and the long term results. These factors can include things like age, weight, and genetic pre-disposition. The player chooses what to eat, and what not to, how much exercise, and has to run a restaurant that serves their friends and neighbours.

It's an interesting idea, considering how much the media dictates our view of what constitutes a 'healthy lifestyle'- not too long ago, carbs were evil, now trans-fats are evil etc. etc.

However.

I have yet to try the game (though I intend to), but my first impression is that this game does not look very fun, or even engaging. The text on the website reads very much like it was written by New Media artists passionate about their goal, but as much as I admire their innovation, I do not feel compelled to play the game. It just doesn't sell it for me.

Judging by the trailer, the graphics are slick and simple, and the characters echo the cute, customizable characters on the Wii console system:



It reminds me a lot of a combination of The Sims and Diner Dash. Which does intrigue me. A little.

The inspiration behind this game is solid, but I'll have to give it a test-run to see how well it holds up.

But hey, it's free.

Who are the Watchmen that you will be Watching?

Ah Comic Con is in full swing on the West Coast which means comic news is going to be coming fast and furious over the next little while. I'm going to blog the highlights of what I hear (I'm not there so it'll all be second hand) and provide links to better version of the story.

First up and roaring out of the gate is confirmation on Watchmen casting. If you have not read Watchmen, stop reading, hit a Chapters or comic shop, buy the paperback (or if you have the cash the amazing absolute edition) and read it and then come back. After you read it, you'll know why I'm excited and frightened by this coming to the screen. This is kind of like Lord of the Rings for fantasy nuts.

Jackie Earle Haley is Walter Kovacs/Rorschach
Billy Crudup is Dr. Manhattan
Malin Akerman is Juspeczyk / The Silk Spectre
Matthew Goode is Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias
Patrick Wilson is Night-Owl
Jeffrey Dean Morgan will play The Comedian

(pics available at http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33449 )

I'll be honest, I have not seen many of these people in anything. Haley apparently was nominated for an Oscar for a movie called "Little Children" but I have not seen it. In fact the only credit of his listed on IMDB that I can say 100% sure I've seen is The Bad News Bears...the original one. Crudup I know from Almost Famous and Big Fish. Patrick Wilson does an amazing job in a small thriller called Hard Candy which was one of my favorite films of last year. The rest I don't really know.

But before everyone starts critiquing the casting choices and saying things like "How can Crudup be Dr. Manhattan? He isn't 30 feet tall or blue!" I'd like to present some things to calm fan boy minds.

1) Zach Snyder. The dude has performed two film miracles. He created a remake of a Romero zombie film that wasn't only not horrible, but it was pretty damn good. he also took a graphic novel that not many outside of comics had heard of or read, called 300 and made it into a movie both faithful to the book and a blockbuster.

2) Micheal Keaton. When he was chosen to play Batman, everyone, including myself thought it was a terrible idea. Who thinks that now?

3) Hugh Jackman. No one had any clue who the dude was until X-Men came out. And he wasn't even the first choice. First choice was Doug Ray Scott.

So take heart fanboys. Yes it is one of our most cherished books but there is possibility it might not suck.

Benoit and the media

I had earlier in the day decided I wasn't going to retouch the subject especially since everyone else is across the board but it has become an interesting exercise in a media study of spin.

Here are the facts:

Chris Benoit is dead and he more then likely murdered his wife and child before he committed suicide. These are facts that aren't likely to change.

But here's where the weird aspect of the media comes in and spin.

Monday night, the WWE's website was filled with tidbits about Benoit his death and his life.

RAW (the WWE's monday night wrestling program) was not live. They canceled the sold out live event and instead paid tribute to their fallen co-worker both in comments and be rebroadcasting his finest matches.

This was all before the WWE and the public knew what had happened.

Now if you go through the WWE's website, there is only one mention of him and that regards the facts as the WWE knows them. All mentions of Benoit have been deleted from various things (take a look through the dvd section of their online store for instance) and the tributes have been taken down. The tribute show will not be re-broadcast.

In many ways this is the most respectful the WWE has ever been about such things.

And the wwe has also made a statement regarding how steroids more then likely did not cause this tragedy.

I believe that is what they refer to in movies as "batting down the hatches"

Now on to me.

I was a little torn on if I should take down my previous post in light to the new facts. I've decided that I would just in light of the fact that something I had heard along the line is wrong about a man I respected. And he has two children who are still out there and for the time being I don't want them coming across the post praising their Dad who may have murdered their brother.

Back in the saddle...at least, temporarily

I have recently been laid off due to budget constraints with my former employer, so I now have a little bit more time to give this blog an overhaul....visually speaking. I'll be trying to post more and update the template.

In other news, here's a site that tells you how to raise a Pirate in a proper, piratey way:
http://www.pirateparenting.com

I was surprised to have found that one via URLwire, since it's a little more irreverant than Eric Ward's usual fare, but hey, even he has a sense of humour, right?

Time to Pimp my Stuff!

You'll notice that there is now an amazon link in the sidebar of this blog- well, that's because I wrote a short career book about the Video Game Industry, and I want to tell everyone about it.

Of course, me posting this has nothing to do with the fact that if you click on that link and buy the book, that I'll get a little money out of it in the process...nope, nothing whatsoever to do with that. Gotta love affiliate programs.

Rosen is doing a great series of Career books about how young people can develop career from their digital hobbies. I've written one so far (shown in the sidebar) and hopefully another one's on the way. Please do check out what they have.

Apartment of the future

Momus and his blog readers put together an amusing tongue-in-cheek look at a new year in Technology with his article "Touring the Home of the Future" over at Wired.

But how about touring the apartment of the now? I've been mulling this over for a while, and considering this age of 'convenient entertainment' that we live in, we can have most of that entertainment- for free (or cheap) and completely contained on a hard drive.

Of course, as a person that cherishes analog media, I would never get rid of my cassette tapes or battered paperbacks (or unique hard-covers). But that has a lot to do with how I was raised, and my own personal experiences.

If I were more bent on saving space (and really, I should be) then I would opt to have all of my media paperless, plastic-less, and all contained on a single storage medium.

Currently, with Flash memory at its finest, you can fit about 10 gigabytes into something smaller than the size of a deck of cards. Movies and videos are watchable even at a smallish resolution (YouTube has proven that). You can store a whole album's worth of songs in about 50 megabytes, and the average Microsoft Reader version of a novel takes up about half a megabyte (nevermind how mind-boggling small plain-text would be).

So let's speculate that I don't go too crazy, and I just get a couple of 500 Gigabyte external hard drives to store things on. I just recently signed up to iTunes, so I can eliminate all physical versions of future cd purchases. If I lived in the US, I could make use of a service like Movielink to buy or rent movies online, and just download them (legally). If I have more obscure tastes, there is always Google Video, YouTube, and public domain content, which totally free. There are many, many podcasts out there to listen to as well, which are usually free.

For books, there are often eBook versions of popular titles available, and many, MANY classics are legally available for free on the internet from sites like freebooks5000.com. I could spend a couple of lifetimes reading all of the best works of literature, without even filling out a library card.

There are also subscriptions to streaming content of popular video and audio through sites like SaltWaterChimp or Streamwired.com. For about $5 to $10 a month, I can watch as many hours as I can plow through of my favourite TV shows, all on Winamp, without taking up a single bit of hard drive space.

I've got my pda and cellphone for on-the-go computing, and note-taking, and who needs paper when I've got windows notepad? I can ditch that pesky landline phone too, and just have myself a headset, and a Vonage subscription.

So my apartment 'of the future' could feasibly just (aside from appliances), contain one or two large hard drives (which would take up significantly less space than my bookcases), my desk, my PC, a really kickass monitor and some nice speakers, and perhaps a large screen tv. There are many online and cd-rom versions of classic board games, and if I scan all pertinent correspondance, I can get rid of that pesky pile of old mail in the corner.

Stories in Six Words

Hemmingway famously wrote a story in six words: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." and considered it his best work. Wired magazine has asked a bunch of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror writers from all matter of media to write their own. The result was made into a series of gorgeous graphic art pieces, seen here. (Much thanks to Moxywoman over at DD for pointing me to this)

In the creative writing program, we spent a great deal of time focussing on how much could be said in so few words- Ezra Pound's In a Station at the Metro, being a famous example. When we were struggling with a piece, Priscilla encouraged us to try to say what we wanted to say in only a few words. It was a great exercise.

My first story in six words:

"What's a tree, dad?" asked Tommy

My favourite from the series in wired:

"From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings." by Gregory Maguire

word of the day - iGeneration

Wikipedia describes the iGeneration, in one sentence, as:

The term foregrounds the paradoxical ways in which this generation's idiosyncratic subjectivity and individualism ("I") develop within global capitalism and its technological mediation in a way that both constrains and expands the possibilities for identity-formation, akin to how Michel Foucault points to the relationship between sexuality and discourse in the nineteenth century's generative effects of power.

Well, I think that just about covers it. But just in case you needed any visual aid to clarify:



Ya, I'm scared too.

Firefox is burning out my computer

My computer has been hiccuping a lot lately-suffering from lock up, because it keeps running out f system resources. Now, my computer is a P4 at about 2 GHz and over 256mb of ram to spare; usually the most I ever run is firefox, a messenger program, maybe windows media player, and sometimes limewire.

I've tried everything- checking if I have a virus or adware, checking if I'm being hacked; but today, ultimately, when I was running nothing but MSN messenger and Firefox, and I checked my task manager I resigned to one conclusion, and one conclusion only- Firefox is a system hog.

I would seem I'm not the only one who's noticed. And here.

Just when we thought it was safe to stop worrying about our browsers, we have to put up with poor old XP coming to a crashing halt, and all because the browser is sucking all the memory. :(

Dear old Firefox, I hate to lose you, but if I find another non-IE browser that uses less memory, I'm sorry to say I'm going straight to my "Add/Remove Programs" box and bidding you adieu.

I guess I'd better update

Well, I finished all my assignments etc. My interview with Xenophile media revealed that they are not currently developing, but merely filling out applications and proposals and whatnot. They really wanted me around for the creative stuff (for free), but the creative stuff doesn't start 'til the fall, and that wasn't going to work for the placement, so...

I'm now working it out with...*drumroll*...Bookshorts!

Bookshorts is a project for creating short films ('teasers') that describe books, and encourage people to read them. I recently attended the launch of "A Quiet Courage", which is a short based on a book by the same name. Since the book is non-fiction, the short takes on a documentary structure, which leverages the content of the book itself. The book details the true stories of several people, all of whom have overcome great hardship.

The party was great, and I met a number of fascinating people, many of whom were in production. This project is the perfect marriage of literature and film, and could possibly present some great opportunities for me as a writer. The networking opportunities alone are mindboggling.

On a side note, I had googled "bookshorts" a couple of times, and their site had come up perhaps 3rd or 4th on the list, and today when I googled it...it came up first! So I'm guessing their launch party was successful in promoting the website.

One more assignment to go...

Hey! Still hailing from here in Markham, and keeping the dogs company while Phil's at work. I did my take-home exam lastnight and sent it off, and now all I have left is my online portfolio, which is almost done.

I was down in the city yesterday for an appointment, which basically meant I had several hours to fill before Phil could pick me up (taking the bus to Markham is not an option- their transit up here is horribly unreliable). I went to Value Village and bought some nice "office appropriate" clothes. I also found a digital camera for like, two bucks. It's one of them crappy little barbie cameras, but I immediately recognized that it uses the same connector cord as my Yahoo Camera, so I figured I'd tool around with it. If I can't get it to work, I'll just take it apart. According to design specs, it can only store 6 pictures, and that's only if the camera stays turned on.

"Cultural Commons"

I don't know if it's the program that I'm in that has made me more aware of my New Media 'language', but being that I already read some of Howard Rheingold's "Smart Mobs" and have read countless articles about similar subjects, it kind of annoys me when someone misuses the term "Cultural Commons".

Boing Boing used it in this article.

"So there you have it: the MPAA has ripped, mixed and burned a phrase out of the cultural commons -- they appropriated it, reversed the meaning it had been imbued with by its copyfighting popularizer, and put it out there, not even bothering to credit Lewis or Barlow. Sly old MPAA."

My understanding of "Cultural Commons" is that it represents a common good that many people contribute to, and a large number of people benifit from, whether they contribute or not. Like for instance, Bittorrent (and this comes up a lot): many people download but not everyone uploads or seeds.

Given this, although I can understand the context (a quote from a famous IP abolitionist), does the song necessarily describe that? The song isn't part of "Cultural Commons"- it's a song. And even if it was, the irony is, it would technically be okay for anyone to quote from it..? I think it was just his phrasing that got me, but I understand his frustration.

It reminds me of that commerical I saw once (might have been a car commercial- I can't remember) that was very patriotic and it used a clip from CCR's "It Ain't Me"- the irony here being that the song was railing against how easy it was for the upper class to be patriotic. I remember Doug went crazy when he saw that 'cause he's such a CCR fan.

Anyway just blabbing some thoughts down.

ps, if you wanna see the MPAA in action, here ya go.

Warning: This story is completely true

I don't ALWAYS write about death, this is a complete coincidence of what this photo reminded me of. Sometimes the truth is just as heartbreaking as fiction. I apologize for the length.
-----------------------------------------------------


Northumberland Forest - Ganaraska Conservation Authority

A couple of kilometers on Hwy 45, out of Baltimore, the second and third growth forest of Ganaraska flash by monotonously- row after row after row of trees. Until there is a sudden break in the tree line and a large driveway appears, with a sign- "Ganaraska Scout Camp". For an instant in the car you might catch a glimpse of an immense and well-preserved open area of small rolling hills, with a few buildings decorating the landscape, and a giant tower in the distance.

The Scout Camp is actually a small, renovated ski-resort, in which the chalet and the bunk house were kept. A flag pole sits in the centre of the main field, with a campfire pit about thirty feet behind it. There's also a dining shelter off to the far side.

The geography of this place is more or less etched in my memory (with some distortions, of course) as a place I have been to many, many times. My father was a Scout leader with Quinte region, along with several other individuals who had a passion for making scouting the best it could be.

Unlike some other scout camps, this one was incredibly useful for winter camping. For the Beavers and Cubs, the small hills provided great sledding opportunities, and the well-worn trails of Ganaraska forest were good even in winter for the Scouts and Ventures to hike through, and in a few small sites, camp in.

The steepest of these hills, the one with the tower on it, was blocked off. Ever since I can remember, we would eye the scraggly wooden fence at the bottom, contemplating how we could climb over it with relative ease. From there our eyes would trace the eroded groove up its centre, littered with broken branches and harsh stones, to the abandoned tower at the top. This hill was a lot less than a 45 degree angle, and very, very scary.

When co-ed scouting was finally started in our area, my father and any other leaders who had daughters immediately rejoiced. Because of this, I attended Scouts with two other girls I had grown up with in the scouting community who had leaders for parents- Debbie and Lindsay.

Debbie's father ended up being the main leader and the hiking professional for our camps (my father has always had bad knees and would often stay behind at the chalet to do other things).

One memorable year, for an indoor winter camp (meaning we stayed in the chalet- all other activities were outside) we went on the longest hike we had ever taken. Debbie and Lindsay and I were nearing the end of our scouting experience, and would shortly be coming up for our Chief Scout Award.

We wound up and up and up the highest trails. Huffing and puffing, but keeping up a steady flow of conversation. The boys chattered behind us as we laughed and giggled, dragging our sleds (Debbie's father had insisted we bring them) behind us. When we finally reached the top, we had a breathtaking view of the whole county. Every peak and valley laid out before us, it was a moment of pure poetry. We made our way back from slightly the other side, ending up on the hill with the tower.

It was less impressive looking close-up; the bottom of it being a tangle of old metal and things that had been ripped out. There were great cement slabs that remained, warmed by the sun. We all lay down on them and looked up- up through the trees, in a different direction this time. Baking in our winter parkas, and speaking softly about philosophy we wouldn't fully understand until we were older.

As we finally rose and turned to leave, Scouter Dave finally told us what he meant to do. He pointed to the snowy trail we had come from- worn by our own feet. It wound down into the forest.

"Wanna sled?"

I think Debbie and Lindsay, who were on one sled, dived into the snowdrifts at least five times. Those who were able to negotiate the turns remarked that it was like bobsledding through the forest. Me, I only crashed once, but I cannot begin to describe the exhilaration of the winter wind whipping past my face and the delighted laughter of my comrades further down the trail.

This story is probably a conflated version of more than one event that happened to the three of us- or perhaps it is on the nose. I would need collaboration for that.

In any case, Debbie and I have never had much common in personality, but have many wonderful memories on which to feed. This memory is one of our favourites, perhaps because of its simplicity and complexity at the same time.

In the year of 2000, Lindsay was diagnosed with bone cancer and had to have her leg amputated. She had, in fact, been beating the odds associated with her disease, but unfortunately a blood clot formed by the operation went to her heart, and we never had the chance to find out.

There is no telling what sort of events will affect us for the rest of our lives, or what memories we'll recall from the other side of those events, like the reflection in the water of a river.

Being a technophile

I love technology. I am a multimedia ADDICT. I'm big on all those goofy little gadgets that may or may not be of use to me. And it occurs to me that technology fascinates me for the same reason that writing fascinates me- technology is like a blank piece of paper. Simply a bare medium or tool, until you pick up that pen or pencil, and suddenly there's a whole world of possibility that awaits. Like the words that I put together, I can put together technological elements that can do so many things.

I know it seems that I'm coming from nowhere with this, but as much as I've always been aware of my love of multimedia, I never really stopped to consider why. I always thought that my love of literature and my love of technology were on opposite sides of the fence. But maybe it's just a whole lot simpler than that. :)

Decima Reports ICT Update, Monday Sept. 20, 2004

This is taken from the NewMedia section:
"Al Jazeera decision cited as precedent for further Internet regulationThe CRTC’s decision to grant Al Jazeera carriage in Canada but at the same time require TV distributors to ensure no derogatory comments are broadcast on the station could serve as the legal basis for holding ISPs accountable for illegal material transmitted through their lines. Mark Goldberg, a prominent telecom and broadcast consultant, tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that he has been involved in early discussions around the formation of an industry self-regulatory body that would block access to sites hosting illegal content, with the threat that ISPs might be held liable for hate and kiddie porn crimes if they are made aware of illegal material and continue to allow subscribers to access it. Goldberg says the Al Jazeera ruling makes it clear that carriers can be held responsible for content, and hopes the principle will be applied to the interactive environment, as well."

What the hell? I support all efforts to rid the web of kiddy porn and hate-crime, but I still think it is completely unfair to try to hold ISPs responsible. It's one thing to monitor TV programming- it can be difficult, but compared to trying to censor every webpage on a single ISP....my god, I can't even imagine. Maybe my understanding of how the internet works isn't quite hitting the mark here or something....but it's fairly easy to make TV stations hold responsibility for their content. It's not as though it's going on under their noses or something. There's only 24 hours in a day after all, and some TV stations go off the air at night. That's a finite number of programming hours to be responsible for in a day. The hardest of those being anything filmed live (take, for instance, Don Cherry having to now work on a 'delay' due to his overactive enthusiasm). The internet is live. All the time. Stuff can go up and come down in a manner of hours, even minutes. When Gnutella first began it's reign, the main code or whatever was only online a few hours before it was torn down (this was in the wake of Napster's demise); but that was all it took. Tons of people downloaded it in that small amount of time. They go up, they come down. It's all in the control of the users, and what they want to use their space for. Every Average Joe just can't hook in to the TV station and broadcast what they want- there's a lot of decisions to be made in between.
So do they want the same level of control for the internet? Can only change content once a day or something? The way the net works, some pages are meant to be updated/changed multiple times a day, that's what they're for. That's what the medium is. Immediate information. Live information. That's why the internet is the internet, and TV is TV.
Is there a happy middle-ground? Maybe. Possibly. But holding the ISPs responsible for the actions of their customers just doesn't seem like the proper solution to the problems of the internet. At the very least, it doesn't seem very feasible at this point.

Ya, that rant probably sounded totally insane. But anyway.

Grrr

Well, on friday I actually DID make it for a film festival movie....the bugger of it was, I missed the first one I paid for, and Phil didn't come at all. The hot water pipe burst the night before and was spraying water all over the furnace, and it turned out that the funky smell we'd been trying to determine the source of several days was a dead rat. Morris tryed to imply we'd left a window open or something, but the there was rat poison already in the crawlspace where the rat started out, so Morris must have known at some point that there was vermin. Anyway, Phil had to wait for a plumber.

*deep breath*

So I pre-paid eighty bucks for nothing. Well, not quite nothing. I went to see "Duck Season", which is a Mexican film about these two boys that stay home on a sunday to play video games (mainly Halo) and a bunch of crazy stuff happens to them. It was a wonderful movie, and Phil said that he felt bad that he had to stay and that he would pay me back. I'll be happy if he agrees to buy me the film on dvd, if it ever makes it Canada.

I bought a copy of EGM's fall preview while I was in the Manulife centre, at Indigo. I could have bought the one that said it covered both PC and Console games, but that one looked kind of lame, and EGM came with a nifty disc with a bunch of cool trailers and demos and stuff on it. We watched the trailers- that was fun. I don't have an Xbox or a Playstation 2 (but you have no idea how tempted I am to get one now, after seeing all of those new games), so we couldn't play the demos, but I might see if I can go over to Emma's later and play some of them on her Xbox.

I'm going to do my film analysis thing today- I rented "What's Up Doc" with Barbara Streisand and whats-his-face. That felt pretty 'typically hollywood', and I think it was made in like the 70s or 80s or something. The Blockbuster at keele and St. Clair SUCKS- they hardly have anything older than 20 or 30 years. All I saw was a couple of films with Jack Lemmon and...damn it I can't remember her name. They didn't look too interesting. Which I guess should have made them a good choice, but I felt like going with something reasonably familiar. That, and because it has Barbara Streisand in it, Phil's less likely to try to watch it with me, leaving me at my leisure to rewind it as much as I like.

So I thought, I can type faster than I write, maybe I'll watch it on my computer. I popped it in and a browser window appeared advertising that I could purchase a Linspire DVD player for $5 if I was member and $30 if I wasn't....the hell with that. But I looked around, and supposedly Mplayer is supposed to be able to play DVDs. I have Mplayer (or at least, Linspire tells me I do). Apparently, I have to run it from the console with some -dvd function or other. So I go to the console. I get into the "My Programs" directory, but I'll be damned if "Multimedia & Design" wasn't too complicated of a directory name for it to open, and it wouldn't go into the directory. So I renamed the directory "Multimedia" and that worked. But then I couldn't figure out what damn command I'm supposed to type in to run programs....I thought I would just type in the name of the program and the function-thingy and it would work. Argh. I'm contemplating downloading Xine, but when I have to install anything more complicated than an Instant Messenger on this thing, it gets disasterous. It's all a learning experience, but I think know how my parents felt when they were first presented with Windows. I have a headache.