Category: Uncategorized

Just wanted to lay out some ground rules for my posts, your comments and my site.

First, this is my site. I will do what I want with it.

Second, your comments are your comments, I take no responsibility for them, except if I find them offensive, or don’t like them, I will remove them.

Third, this is not a tech support website. I can not make your PS2 network adapter magically work. Google might have brought your here, but that doesn’t mean I can help you.

Fourth, I am not the guy from Star Trek nor am I that guy from that Andy Richter show. I am Patrick Stuart, I’ve been on the internet since before it was the internet. Those other guys are Patrick Stewart and James Patrick Stuart.

Fifth, well there is no fifth rule, but five sounds better then four and is less then seven.

That’s it, nothing more to say, except have a great holiday.

To Whom It May Concern:

As a vetern of many MMORPG’s and a Star Wars fan, I wanted to take this time to express my extreme dissatisfaction with Star Wars: Galaxies and Sony Online Entertainment. As a fan of MMORPG’s and Star Wars, I feel it is a total embarassment on behalf of LucasArts and SOE to release a game to the general public that after 3 months of release, is still clearly not ready for prime time.

My complaints are as follows, Content, bugs, balance issues and cost to fun ratio. First off and tops on my list is the simple lack of content. Granted, SOE has created a game in which the world of Star Wars comes to life on the computer screen. However, they failed to capture any of the rich scripting or story lines / quests that Lucas made famous in the movies or various books. The lack of any quests or content beyond a “story arc” is pathetic. It has made this game a boring, hack and slash or click and craft game for progression only.

Second is the bugs… Bugs plague any MMORPG but there has been a bastardization of what is a bug and what is a player exploit. From not listening to their player base, many of whom were beta testers (including myself) to calling a bug in which damage calculations were misentered a player exploit is downright upsetting. Lack of simple consistent patch notes, hotfixes to fix game balance issues, mis-representing “fixes” for nerfs, all are rookie mistakes that SOE should have known about.

Third is the balance issues and broken classes. It became very clear, after launch, that the developers of SWG and SOE were concerned with one thing and one thing only. Longevity. The player base that signed up for this game, out played, out guned and found every hole in this game within a matter of days, if not weeks. Characters where maxxed out on skill points in a matter of weeks, leaving them to push the boundaries of character classes. In response, the devs attempted to slow progression in classes down, but only weekened the most played classes, ie Creature Handler, stating that it wasn’t meant to be a fighting class. They implemented a “test server” environment, but failed to listen to the rare person who would pay for the priviledge of testing SOE’s nerfs.

Fourth, given the fact that for the last three months, this game has remained in beta stage, whether they want to call it that or not. This game is far closer to what they wanted to launch then what they launched 3 months ago. One could easily say that the last 3 months have been a public paid beta. Well, at 14.95/month and 49.99 for the game… That is too much to have to pay to suffer through the last 3 months. There is nothing fun about waiting to see what SOE and SWG will do in the next patch to make your gaming experience tougher, harder or less fun.

However, if you want to pay to continue to test and help nerf a game that has a ton of potential but fails miserably in listening to its paying customers demanding content, fun and consistent, accurate communications… Well, Star Wars Galaxies is for you.

But for this former Beta Tester and former player of SWG… I’m done. For now. Maybe in 3-6 months Star Wars: Galaxies will be worth playing, but for now, I’m cutting my losses and devoting my time to other fun diversions…

I haven’t posted anything in a long time… Sorry about that, lots of stuff going on….
(more…)

Ok… Everyone one says Linux is all great and powerful. I admit, its really exciting to install a completely non-microsoft OS and have it work.

But it is missing one key feature!!!

No where can I find a way to have a Linux Email client automatically forward my email to my Cell Phone!

This was such a simple thing to do in Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. Just set up a rule to forward incoming email to a specific address and keep a local copy. That specific address was my cell phone email address.

Sounds simple… Right?

Nope… Not for Linux.

I’ve tried RedHat 9.0, and installed every X-Windows Email client I could find, Kmail, Mozilla Mail, Ximian Evolution, Slypheed, etc, etc… NONE HAVE THE ABILITY TO FORWARD EMAIL BASED ON FILTERS!!!!

I even found a cool program called fetchmail which will download my mail for me, place it in my linux user’s inbox, but still can’t forward the damn email to my cell phone!

I’m assuming it’s possible, I mean come on, Microsoft can do it, and does it in their basic email client. It’s not like this feature is reserved for only Microsoft Outlook and not Outlook Express!

I did find a bit about a ~/.forward file which should send out email in the local user’s mailbox but can’t find anyway to make this all work.

Anyway, this sucks… Any Linux Guru’s out there want to explain to me how to make such a simple feature in MS work in Linux???

It’s been awhile since I’ve had to really rant about the lack of service, not due to lack of experiences, but due to the fact that I haven’t had time to talk about them all.

However, recently my experiences with Gateway Computers has elevated the need to publicly rant about their service (or lack there of).

It all started back on March 15th when I decided to purchase a new laptop. Being a long time Dell customer I looked there first. Unfortunately, the problem was they couldn’t deliver a new laptop to me until April 28th at the earliest. Since this laptop was to be a birthday present for me (March 20th is my birthday) I wanted to get it sooner then April 28th.

So I shopped around, even went into the nearest Gateway store down the street, and settled on the Gateway 600x P4 mobile 2.2 gig 60 gig HD, 512 megs of ram, laptop.

Recieved the 600x within about 10 days (on a Friday), and immediately after taking it out of the box, the trackpad was defective. Took it to the nearby store, and they ordered a replacement trackpad and offered to order a whole new system. They gave me an external mouse to use in the interim. The replacement trackpad would be in by that wednesday.

Over the weekend I set up the laptop, and it was Blue Screening and locking up on me like I had never seen before. I engaged their online tech support on 3 occasions, resulting in repairing XP, reloading XP and one complete idiot who wanted me to delete my internet cache. Well, that Monday, I took the laptop back into the store, spoke with the store manager, who ordered the replacement laptop as he had originally offered.

10 days later the replacement laptop arrived. Opened it up and found that the replacement did not match my original order, as it had 2 256 meg sim cards instead of 1 512. I called Gateway service again, they instructed me to swap the memory and send the old one back with the 2 256 sims.

Within days, the replacement 600x was locking up, freezing, and Blue Screening again. I worked with tech support again to try to get to the bottom of the problem. After reloading XP 3 more times, making it a grand total of 6 times, a conclusion was reached that I had defective ram. They ordered a replacement memory module to send to me.

The memory arrived a couple of days later, and instead of recieving the 512 I orginally ordered, I recieved a 256 meg sim. Called back and the issue was taken care of and a new 512 sim was shipped and I was to send back the 256.

New 512 meg sim comes in, I swap it, and within minutes I’m still locking up and crashing. Clearly there is something wrong with this platform and the 600x.

Call back tech support at Gateway and ask what are my options. I opt for the option to return this 600x and purchase a 450XL as I am assured that the 450XL does not have these problems. The tech support person and his manager approved the return and I was told I would recieve a packup kit and return labels. I then was transfered to a Sales Rep and ordered the 450XL.

I’m tracking my 450XL order via their online order status. As of Friday, it shows that its out on a UPS truck for delivery. 10:30am, the UPS tracking information shows that it had been delivered. Called my wife, she says she never signed for anything, and it was never delivered. Call UPS, they say it was delivered to a completely different address then my own and was signed for by someone I have no idea who. Come to find out that they delivered it to the Gateway Country store!

I called the store to confirm they had the 450XL in my name. They found it and I told them I’d be in to pick it up. When I got the 450XL from the store, the address on it was mine, not the store’s, clearly showing UPS screwed up royally.

450XL arrives last Friday, and before even opening it up, I call back to Gateway to insure that the return labels are on their way. I am assured that they were scheduled to arrive at my doorstep on Tuesday. Set up the 450XL and so far, 0 lockups, no crashes, loving it.

Tuesday is here and gone, and Wednesday night I call back to Gateway to find out where the return labels and packup kit are. Find out that the return kit was cancelled. I’m put on hold and passed around for 40 minutes until finally talking to someone who is completely un-empowered to solve this problem. He assures me he will take care of the problem and get the return labels out.

The story should have had a happy ending, and at this moment it is not completely done. However, in my fustration, the support rep explained to me that I shouldn’t even be allowed to return the 600x since it was beyond the 15 days allowed for returns. This just set me off. Which 15 days would that be? The 15 days from which I got the first, which was defective? or the 15 days after I got the replacement, which was incomplete? or the 15 days after recieving the replacement memory? or the 15 days after they finally sent me the correct memory? Oh and did I mention, no where did it ever say that the return policy was 15 days, nor can you find any mention of a return policy or procedure on their website or invoices. Nor did any of the service reps and manager’s I dealt with mention the 15 day return window.

So the good news is I have a solid laptop the 450XL, and a piece of junk that one way or another will find its way back to Gateway (the 600x) and I will get my refund.

My advice to anyone buying a computer… When you have problems, write down everything. Write down the person you spoke to, get numbers to contact them back, say its in case you get disconnected… Keep a journal of your problems with your computer. Write down when it crashed, what programs were running, what you were doing when it crashed and what error messages, if any did it display.

As for if I can reccommend Gateway to anyone buying a computer… The judgement is still pending. As of now, the service is decent, but they have consistently dropped the ball, yet I seem to keep giving them chances to fix it. Assuming they do ultimately resolve my issues, then they will have redeemed themselves and my opinion will be positive. However, if it comes to issuing a chargeback and litigation, well, you can only begin to guess my opinion of Gateway if it comes to that.

What are your thoughts?

The “F” Word
Written by Jordan Beswick.
Actor’s Theatre of Washington at the Source Theatre, Washington, DC.

I recently had the oportunity to see a brand new play by Jordan Beswick, called The “F” Word at the Source Theatre on a recent trip to Washington, DC. Playing to a practically full house on opening night, the audience thoroughly enjoyed the show.

The play, contray to it’s title, doesn’t not “hit you over the head” with vulgarity or anything of the sort. Instead the premise of the play revolves around the main character, Eric (played by Louis Cupp) at a cross-roads of life. Eric’s roommate, Mary (played by Lynn Chavis) is apparently desparate to have a child.

The play starts with Mary attempting to inseminate herself thanks to a contribution from Eric. Legs up on the couch, the first of many humorous moments occurs as she accidently spills the specimen, prompting Eric to have to provide a bit more.

The story unfolds, explaining the “non-traditional” path Eric and Mary are taking to bring a child into the world thanks to Eric’s brother Paul (played James O. Dunn) who plays the “traditional” role of straight man, in more then one sense of the word.

Paul brings gravity to the play, grounding Eric and as the play progresses we are introduced to their sister, Cindy (Jennifer Phillips) who is the antagonist to the entire situation. Cindy adds that fourth dimension to this play as she eptimizes the anti-gay, ultra-conservative, religious right who is completely opposed to Eric and Mary bringing a child into this world.

At this point in the play the audience has picked up that Eric is gay, thanks to a very humorous exchange between his brother and him. The dialogue between the characters is fantastic, making it easy for the characters to be revealed through the acting.

As the play moves on, which is at a brisk pace, we discover that Eric is not dealing with issues in reality but really the issues are in his head. He is truely trying to deal with the possiblities of bringing a child into this world against the values of traditional society.

The intermission comes at a perfect spot, giving the audience time to soak in the situation and realize that 50 minutes just went by. One of the great things about the placement of the intermission is it leaves the audience wondering where this play is going and how will it end…

I won’t spoil the ending, but it is a series of wonderful, convention breaking scenes that ultimately reveal the path Eric is finally ready to take. Overall, the play is a fantastic piece of work, well ahead of its time.

The production value of the play was one of my only critiques. The set is crudely assembled of simply a couch, chair, tv and a back drop resembling a wall. Lighting is well done for the space, masking areas where needed and highlighting the actors. My only complaint was the tv was distracting as it was on twice during the performance, and the flicker was pulling attention away from the dialogue downstage. The sound was sub-par, but given the limited technical requirements for the play, it did not detract from the performance.

Overall, The “F” Word is a tremendous piece of work. Highlighed by several extremely funny scenes and dialogue. The actors do a good job of breathing life into such well written characters. Clearly the playwright, Jordan Beswick, knows how to write excellent dialogue which clearly carries the play. I highly reccommend you take a moment to catch The “F” Word if you are in the Washington, DC area.

It looks like the first salvo of missles and bombs have been dropped on Saddam and Bagdad.

God Bless our Troops and I wish them God Speed.

It sounds like these first attacks were “Targets of Opportunity” or in other words, we had a chance to catch them with their pants down.

As the night lingers on, we’ll learn if these first strikes accomplished their goals as well as what their goals were.

The ground war and massive invasion is yet to come. Let’s hope that we cut the head off the snake.

My hopes and prayers are with our Men and Women of the US Armed Forces engaged and supporting the effort to liberate Iraq. Good luck and God Speed.

God Bless America. Let’s Roll…

Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared!

I guess my biggest question / complaint is the whole concept of letting people know a threat is imminent. I mean we are on a High Alert for Terrorism. One step away from the Highest Alert possible.

The military has a great way to determine our War Status. Its called DEFCON. DEFCON 5 is where we are at peace. DEFCON 1 is all out Global Thermal Nuclear War. When there is a threat to the USA our military moves through the DEFCON stages which include diplomatic and milaristic solutions to resolve the issue.

Trying to explain this to the average American this whole color coded system of warning of terrorism is crazy. Right now we are at “Orange”. What the heck does orange mean? The next level is “Red” and the Previous warning is “Yellow”.

If our military or government tells me to be on High alert for terrorism I’m taking it seriously. BUT I AM NOT GOING TO STOP LIVING AND GOING TO WORK AND GOING ABOUT MY NORMAL ROUTINES! I am not going to be paranoid and duck tape all the windows and doors just because some “analyst” or “subject matter expert” on MSNBC says others are. Granted, I’m going to seriously think about how to handle a potential situation.

Personally, the way that I look at it is the only way to fight terrorism is to be vigilant about it. Try to stop any attack before it occurs. This can only happen if the average American is educated enough to know what the threats are, know that suspicious activities should be reported to the authorities and that who our “enemies” are.

So who are our enemies? This is the hardest part. There are so many individuals around the world that hate America, and American’s ideals of freedom, life, and liberty. Just because they hate our ideals doesn’t make them an enemy of America, there is room for people who disagree or atleast can live in peace and disagree on their ideals. Our enemies are those that are willing to kill or die for their cause at the expense of American lives. Right now the focused on group is Al Queda because of their ties to 9/11 and their outspoken hatred of America through Osama bin Laden.

Here’s the problem. Because in America you have certain freedoms. One of these freemdoms is to speak what you want and even speak against the government, its people or ideals. Freedom of speech even has its limits. You can’t yell “FIRE” in a crowded theater if there is no fire. Same goes for disagreeing with American ideals versus threatening American lives via terroristic threats.

So, how do you solve this whole thing? Frankly, I don’t know if there is a “solution” but I do know that America is a strong country. History has proven we are willing to fight for the protection of democracy, freedom and America. We can all work together to help root out those individuals or groups inside America that are working to try to disrupt our way of life. Look for anything suspicious. It was average American’s whould stopped Richard Reed from blowing up a plane via C4 in his shoes. I hope the apathy that the 80’s and 90’s showed where people stood idly by while crime occured is over. Let this decade be a decade of vigilence and awareness.

Stay alert, stay informed, be prepared, but do not stop living and going about doing what you do.

Well,

Just wanted to give everyone a personal update as to what I’ve been up to lately. Work is keeping me quite busy. That’s a good thing, for the most part.

Touched base with an old friend, Rocky and I think he and I will be partnering on a new venture very soon. Stay tuned…

Been working on Video editting in my spare time, learning Premiere and just got Sonic’s DVDit! for authoring DVDs. More on that at a later time.

Got my replacement SX56 from AT&T due to some glitches in the old one. The new one is working like a charm. If only there was a mute button besides the one on the handsfree cord…

Haven’t been able to help Mike much at www.pdaphonehome.com but its still a great site for all kinds of information about PDA Phones.

Anyway, have to get back to work if you need me, email me 🙂

According to Fox News, NASA and various other sources…

The Space Shuttle has apparently lost contact with NASA and appears to have had catistrophic problems. The footage showing on Fox News appears to show the shuttle coming down in pieces.

At 9:44 CST I can only hope that there is somehow these astronauts have survived this. However, my gut feeling says they embraced the risks of space flight and apparently have perished doing what they loved.

7 Astronauts, lost their lives today, but millions are now reminded of the dangers of space exploration. The irony of today is that it is almost 17 years to the date of the original Challenger explosion, and that this was the 113th shuttle mission NASA had done.

My deepest thoughts and prayers go out to the 7 astronauts, their family and friends. These 7 lost their lives while pursuing their ultimate dream, escaping the boundries of Earth and doing their job in the heavens above Earth. They paid the ultimate price for furthering our need to explore and go further then we have gone before.

Today is truely a sad day…