Fuckin' Digsby

I don't really like Digsby anymore and it's not just because their product is the iTunes of instant messaging clients, but I've come to realize that I don't like their business tactics. Not only do they try and trick you with all their checked boxes, one of the saying "I agree to the terms of service and I want to install this virus," but they just sent me an e-mail, basically asking me to become a spammer.

"Our friends at cocksuckers.org have launched a platform that pays you for tweeting about the brands you already love. Tens of thousands of Twitterers (like Kim Kardashian, Nicole Richie, and George Lopez) are already using cocksuckers.org to make money on Twitter. Click the link below to check out their website and sign up."

I should say that I changed the name of the website and it is not actually cocksuckers.org, but I don't even want to contribute any, no matter how little it may be, traffic to them. What a way to abuse your e-mail list. By the way, that is the weakest list of "celebrities" I've ever seen. On a related note, I went back to Pidgin a few months ago, but I never got around to uninstalling Digsby. Thanks for the reminder.

Instant messaging services

I've been recently on a journey to find a new instant messaging client because, sadly, I've been using regular 'ol basic AIM, which has these really cool ads that expand when your mouse accidentally rolls over them. I always have backup clients, and I've had a bit of a history with Pidgin, which was my main client for years. Pidgin has a lot of good things about it; mainly the ability to message just about anyone because of the amount of supported IM services, while being extremely lightweight. At the same time, however, the plugins are occasionally a bit of a hassle to use and there doesn't seem to be much room for customization because skins are nearly impossible to come by.

I just downloaded and installed Digsby. The guys over there have, what can only be described as, the complete opposite design philosophy of Pidgin. This program is big and bulky, but it can integrate your e-mail accounts and your social networks. I don't know if supporting people's crack-like addiction to checking their social networks is a good thing, but it does it well. As an actual instant messaging service, it'll do the trick just fine, while being fairly aesthetically pleasing and customizable. For example, I get to look at my buddy list with white text on a black background. I then removed the buddy icons that are displayed next to my buddy's names and lowered the spacing so I can fit everyone on screen at once. Although Digsby has seemed to work well so far, be advised that if you choose to download it, go over everything before you just click next, next, next on the installer. If you don't uncheck those boxes, Digsby will install several toolbars and use your spare CPU cycles when you're idle. Stuff like this really, really pisses me off, but the software works well nevertheless.

I'd avoid stuff like basic AIM or Trillian.

Gamefly: get games shipped to your house sometimes

Gamefly is something I have been interested in for some time. It sponsors some of my favorite podcasts on Revision3 and it seems to be run very similarly to Netflix, which I absolutely love and highly recommend. I decided to get an account just about 4 months ago now, during which time I've been nothing but disappointed..NAY.. fucking pissed off by how horrendous this service is. I'm going to compare it to its movie equivalent, Netflix, just for you to get an idea of how different they are.

Let me start by saying that they have a wide selection of games. You can add just about anything you can imagine to your queue, just like Netflix. The difference lies with availability. I have never had an issue with Netflix availability, but thus far with Gamefly, I have never been shipped a game that was higher than 6th on my queue because they were never available. It would be as though your local Blockbuster put a case of every game ever created out on display, but they didn't actually have any copies of any of them. Pretty useless, right? I e-mailed their support team once before about availability issues. This was their response.

"Thank you for your inquiry. As you have noted, the demand for the titles in your GameQ has been high. We use information from our members’ Game Q’s to identify the most popular titles and anticipate customer demand. Circumstances such as a rush of signups or a sudden demand shift can make titles suddenly unavailable. In most cases, the unavailability is temporary, as the games being returned by other members and additional game purchases make these titles available in a few days. We pay close attention to our inventory levels and will continue to work to minimize the number and duration of unavailable games."

Just about as automated as you can get. Basically a waste of time, but what did I expect? In response, I lowered my queue down to just three games, hearing that this is the way to get around their shitty availability system.

So, after dropping my Gamefly queue down, was I able to finally get what I wanted? Well, no. The next time I e-mailed Gamefly was today and it was about the lack of availability of a single game on my queue. That's right; they have nothing to ship me. I asked them if I am expected to continue paying when I am sitting without any games available to me that I want to play. This was the response.

"Our apologies. We have reviewed your account and noted we are unable to ship you another game immediately since you have only three released items in your GameQ that are currently high in demand. We ship games to our members based on the length of time that you have been waiting for a game (once a return is received in our facility) and the time the desired available game was placed in your GameQ.

GameFly strives to send you your highest ranked game, however, if it is not available at the time of shipment, we will ship you the next available game on your GameQ to minimize the time you are without one. Therefore, we recommend you place more released games in your GameQ so you do not miss out on receiving titles.

We pay close attention to our inventory levels and re-order key titles regularly to minimize the number and duration of unavailable games.

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know."

No mention of any refund and nothing done to resolve the issue. They're just basically ignoring what I'm asking of them and continuing to send these automated, bullshit messages.

Next issue is turn around time. Netflix has over 40 shipping centers, which means if I send back a movie today, I'll have another one sitting in my mailbox the day after tomorrow. Gamefly has 4, which means I'll have to wait 5 days after shipping a game back, assuming they have one to send to me.

Surely, I wasn't expecting Netflix-like customer service. This is an e-mail I recieved from Netflix, just 2 days ago.

"Last night, you may have had trouble instantly watching movies or TV episodes via your Xbox due to technical issues.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. If you were unable to instantly watch a movie or TV episode last night via your Xbox, click on this account specific link in the next 7 days to apply your 3% credit on your next billing statement for the price of your 1 DVD out at-a-time (Unlimited) plan. Credit can only be applied once.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us at 1-866-923-0898."

I never even fucking noticed. I was not aware of an issue at all, but they were so on top of that shit, that they offered 3% of my money back anyway. I didn't e-mail them or do anything at all.

All in all, avoid Gamefly. I regret to say that getting a game that is at all popular or fairly new is highly unlikely. The only thing I can recommend is to sign up for a 2 week free trial, play a couple of games, and cancel that shit.

If you couldn't tell though, Netflix is the shit. Recently getting a PS3, their selection of Blu-ray titles if amazing. And get this! They are actually available! It would cost me about 2 and a half months of Netflix to buy a single Blu-ray disc. And if you're not in the mood, just put your account on hold. Something you can't do on Gamefly. Totally sick bro!

People are idiots

I was looking for a TV stand yesterday as I have just purchased a pretty 58 inch Samsung plasma. Because there was no weight capacity on the description of the stand, I asked one of the sales assosciates. Instead of telling me he didn't know, he said "It can hold any TV." Really? Maybe he isn't aware that 60+ inch televisions exist or maybe he's just retarded. I'll just go into the store and throw my 300 pound rear projection tv on it and leave.

I hate Nintendo

Nintendo's press conference sucked and I think this is the first time I can admit to myself that they are a company I no longer like and will no longer be rooting for. Sure, I'll buy Super Mario Galaxy 2, but I really think that's the only thing I'm going to buy. How can they fool people into buying their $250 console when it requires a wii-mote, nunchuck, and now Wii motion plus for a total of $80 per controller. Why do we have to pay $20 for an accessory that makes the controller do what it was supposed to do all along? A Wii with 4 controllers and 1 game will run you $580. Did I mention the console isn't HD and can't play DVDs either?

Sony and Microsoft, on the other hand, have both excited me.

Co-op

I wrote a post a while back, which admittedly should have been called "an old shitter podcast," about attempting to replace 97.5 The Brodeo, also known as GFW Radio with another gaming podcast. Although GFW is still very near and dear to my heart and nothing will every truly replace it, I've been watching Co-op to get my gaming podcast fix. It has a very likable crew and just enough off topic stuff to keep it fun and interesting. Plus Jeff Green was on the latest one, so there's even more reason to watch it.

Twitter and Delicious

I've always been a huge fan of Delicious. It makes sharing all the shit you find around the internet so much easier and I really think that everyone to should have one (as well as add me and my great findings to their network). I've also just recently signed up for Twitter as well, which I'm not nearly as sold on, but willing to try. I figure if I can't update my blog as often as I would like to, I can at least add my Twitter and Delicious feeds to the left to give the page some fresh content more frequently. This page can officially become your one stop to all that is me. Hope you enjoy.

What've I been up to lately?

I just finished the second season of Dexter. Man, that show is amazing. I plan on reading the books after I'm done with the third season as well. In terms of games, I picked up Condemned 2: Bloodshot at Best Buy on the cheap, so I've been pissing myself while playing that. I also just got Plants vs. Zombies on Steam for $10. So far, it just seems relatively simple, but it's pretty hilarious.

So there you go, a show and two games to keep you occupied as you anxiously await my next post.

Robbie Lawler, top middleweight?

Sherdog and MMAWeekly both rank "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler in the top 5 middleweights in the world, but despite being 8-1 with 1 no contest in his last 10 fights, I'm not convinced he's going to be a threat if he decides to come to the UFC now that EliteXC has folded.

Those ten fights followed his two consecutive losses in the UFC to Nick Diaz via KO and Evan Tanner via triangle choke. He hasn't fought any top level competition since then. He did take care of Scott Smith via TKO in his latest fight to retain his EliteXC middleweight championship, but it was after a lackluster first round that had him backpedaling and up against the cage. It was also following a no contest with Smith that ended due to an unintentional eye poke in the third round.

After having so much trouble with Smith, an individual who was only 1-3 in the UFC, (his 1 win coming in that ridiculous comeback knockout over Pete Sell) I can't really believe Lawler is going to be any competition for the likes of Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami, or Demian Maia, let alone Anderson Silva.

I understand that those losses were over 4 years ago and perhaps Scott Smith has also greatly improved, but I'm always reluctant to give that top ranking to non-UFC fighters in any 170+ pound divisions unless their name happens to be Fedor Emelianenko. As for the lower weight classes, Dream has proven to be the home of all great lightweights that aren't BJ Penn and the WEC pretty much employs all the featherweight and bantamweight greats (Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Miguel Torres, Brian Bowles).

I do enjoy watching Robbie Lawler fight and it would be great to see Lawler return the UFC and kick some ass, but until that happens, he's out of my top 5 rankings. Actually, I'd love more than anything for him to avenge that loss over Nick Diaz. Let's make that happen.

Of the year awards!

I figured I would get around to this at some point or another and despite being about a month and a half late for this, I still haven't put enough thought into it.

Movie of the year! This has to go to Dark Knight. There wasn't anything nearly as exciting or kick-ass. I'd like to give special mention to Burn After Reading, which people seemed to forget was ever made.

Game of the year! I don't think there was anything delivered "pure, unadulterated gaming bliss" like Braid.

Disappointment of the year! Well, there were so many. Castle Crashers blew and Spore is one of the most horrendous things I've ever played, but the most upsetting, by far, was Ninja Gaiden 2.

Feelings on Left 4 Dead

I've been considering taking the time to write a post about my feelings for Left 4 Dead, which I purchased on Steam, but instead, I'm just going to direct you here, where you can read, basically, my exact issues with the game.

The Wrestler and Religilous

Expect to see shitloads of nominations for Mickey Roarke for his performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson. I wouldn't expect, however, to see many for the actual film, The Wrestler, which wasn't nearly as good. Don't get me wrong, as I thoroughly enjoyed it, but an anti-climactic finish left me feeling a little disappointed.

The anti-religion documentary Religilous from Bill Mahr was basically "preaching to the choir" when it comes to me, but I still think there is something for everyone to take away from it. Unless you forgot my feelings on religion, refer to this post. The film wasn't entirely original to me though, as I've read and watched plenty of stuff from Richard Dawkins. It was still very well made with plenty of interesting statistics and histories of various religions.

Gran Turino and Benjamin Button

Well, I'll start off with Gran Turino. It was decent. Clint Eastwood is always awesome, but besides him, the acting consistently sucked. The directing was decent, but some shots felt really canned and cheesy instead of spontaneous and surprising, like they were looking for. It was only 1 hour and 56 minutes but it felt much longer. Check it out if you really have a thing for Clint Eastwood or nothing else to do, but I'm certain your money could be better spent elsewhere. Overall, I have to give it a pass.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button's biggest problem is length. It's 2 hours and 48 minutes long. It never really drags or gets boring, but amidst all this time, the viewer loses tracks of some of those really well done scenes just because there is so much to remember. The film travels in so many directions, but not really in a bad way, just in the telling a life story way. It was mildly dissappointing considering all the Oscar buzz it was getting, but it was still really well done. Consistently great acting and directing throughout. Check it out if you have some time to kill.