Dog.Beckament.net

In a recent post I mentioned that I’d been playing the free MMORPG, Project Torque (PT) for a while and that it may be updated soon… Well that happened just the other day (the new build is called Julia) and I can definitely recommend this game to anyone who likes racing games (and as always it’s free to play).

It includes simulation and arcade physics and various game modes (and I guessed correctly… the game modes have changed with this build): vs. Race, Battle, Return the Flag, Thunder Alley (fast oval track draft racing), Explorer, and Team Capture the Flag. They have added a new interface and more tracks as well! (Tokyo tracks are now set at night instead of day… A great atmosphere for street racing). A couple of game modes were removed, but hopefully we will get them back in a new build.

You can find more information out at the Project Torque site and forums, you can download Project Torque here.

Project Torque is published by Invictus Gaming and run by Aeria Games in North America and Gamigo in much of the world.

Now that judge Kimba Wood has ruled that the popular filesharing software Limewire infringes on copyright, the recording industry lawyers have asked US courts to order LimeWire owner Mark Gorton to pay $1,500,000,000,000 (that’s 1.5 Trillion) for 200,000,000 alleged downloads of the Limewire software as reported by the P2PNet news site (go there and read it, it’s quite informative).

A quick Google search of US GDP shows the US Gross Domestic Product (in current US dollars and not adjusted for inflation) in 2008 as 14.6 Trillion dollars. So Limewire has cost the recording industry 10% of the 2008 US GDP…??!?!? Has the industry even made that much in it’s entire existence?

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I have only been here a few months and it’s easy to get bored when you don’t know many people. Usually (at my age) you meet people at your work, but since we are a small lab there aren’t a lot of (single) people my age to hang out with. I spend plenty of time in the lab (all the hours I want… lol) but in my free time I have been exploring Tempe.

I live just off of Mill Avenue (the west edge of ASU) so there is lots to do in the evenings nearby. Plenty of nice restaurants and clubs, etc… I got bored and tested my blood (at work) the other day and my lipid panel was terrible, I have been awfully sedentary lately and eating worse (and more) than I did in Denver (boredom strikes!!). My only solution (other than taking statin drugs) is to try and get more exercise and eat better (apparently it is kinda tough to change old habits)…
Read the rest of this entry »

After years of a domain squatter sitting on my old domain name Beckament.com (yes… I forgot to renew it), I finally got it back. They wanted $500.00 (USD) for a domain that is pretty much worthless to anyone but me. When I approached them with some offers they ignored me. I guess they finally realized that it was not worth the money they were paying to park the domain.

Domain squatters really annoy me, but I won’t bother listing the company as they don’t matter… I can not transfer it to my current host for 60 days, but currently Beckament.com links to my band’s website, I hope to have the subdomains set up as soon as I can transfer control to my current hosting company.

I have still been really busy at work, but I do plan on keeping both sites updated more frequently. I am quite happy to get the old domain back… even though I had to wait a few years for it.

My work is relocating me soon. They flew me to Arizona last week to find a place to live. They gave me a phlebotomist’s car during the day, but I was on my own at night (never fear I found plenty to do). We are opening a new lab in Phoenix, AZ and I get to move there and set up the lab (and obviously work there too).

I found a house in Tempe, AZ… It took a few days and was a much bigger pita than it should have been. I got a 3bed/2bath house (all bills paid except electricity & gas) w/a neighborhood community pool. I really like the place and I think that it’s in a good area, and it’s only 4 miles from work (which is definitely a plus). It’s fairly close to ASU, so I am sure that there will be plenty for me to do in the area.

So… I am moving to Tempe, AZ at the end of September, I have been looking at the local weather forecasts lately and I think that it will be a lot hotter than Las Vegas was when I lived there. I am definitely not looking forward to driving that U-Haul… it looks like a long way away (~900 miles or so). On a side note I got my moving allowance from work today, so I’m going to buy some moving supplies after work tomorrow and start packing. Ugh, I’ve got a lot of stuff… maybe I can find somewhere for my old stuff; I need to get rid of a lot, I have way to much crap to move.

Updating the site… expect problems! I just changed to a new blog engine and I probably won’t bother to import all the old posts.

OK, the blog works now (well at least on the one computer I tested it on). I doubt anyone is going to read this, but what the hell… and I promise I’ll update the site soon.

Kevin brought his digital camera to practice last week and we got a few new pics of us playing. He also lined up another gig for us soon (another private party, sorry). We have been so focused on recording that it will be fun to go play these songs live (especially the new ones), not just playing the same song over and over in the studio until you get the best performance. I think the quality of the recording and songwriting is the best work that I have ever been a part of and I can’t wait until it’s finished.

Read the rest of this entry »