Garrett Kelley

In some circles it is the holy grail of the BlackBerry. Countless hours have been wasted in bathrooms, airports, buses, subways, etc. by people all over the world playing the game of BrickBreaker. I myself, have fallen victim to all that is BlackBerry BrickBreaker. That being said, I am here to tell you that BrickBreaker is not all that it is cracked up to be.

I find the game more frustrating than anything. My largest compliant is that if a data transfer occurs while playing, it seems to bog the game down. Now that in it of itself is bad enough. To further compound the problem, when this happens the ball jumps randomly around the screen! I’ve even seen the ball go directly through bricks without breaking them. WTF? Also, there appears to be a magic space where the corners of two bricks meet. I can’t tell you how many times the ball has “slipped” through this little hole. Fuck you ball!

Lastly, the paddle. Oh, how I hate you paddle. I depend on the WHOLE paddle to play the game. Apparently the programmers did not intend for this. You see, sometimes the ball goes right thorough those curved corners. To make matters worse, sometimes the ball goes through the whole damn paddle. The paddle can go to hell! Now should the paddle be still when the ball hits it, the ball may just decide to speed up after bouncing off the paddle for no apparent reason. Who the fuck programmed this piece of shit?

Couple all of this with the fact that sometimes when I try to feather the paddle, it goes the complete opposite direction of the trackball! Now, I do attribute this more to sketchiness in the trackball than I do to the programming of BrickBreaker. Nonetheless, it is infuriating!

BrickBreaker is useful for one thing: instilling within me the strong desire to throw my beloved BlackBerry at the wall. You won’t win BrickBreaker! I’ll thwort you yet!

I would just like to take a moment to wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving. May we all be thankful for the blessings which we receive on a daily basis.

<rant>While this great nation grants you the choice to purchase a domestic or foreign made automobile, make the right choice, purchase American made. This is particularly true in the Detroit area. If I hear one more person who drives a foreign vehicle that lives in the state of Michigan complaining about our current economic situation, I’m going to explode. Michigan’s economy is driven by the auto industry. Whether or not you directly work for one of the big 3 or a supplier of the big 3, your job likely depends on the strength of the domestic auto industry. Pull your heads out of your asses people: buy American made.

When you purchase a foreign made automobile, you forfeit your right to bitch about Michigan’s poor economic status. When you lose your job, when the value of your home decreases, when the quality of your child’s education suffers because the automobile industry is tanking: don’t complain to me about it. I won’t have sympathy for you. When you can’t find a job, I’ll be there watching and laughing.

When I lose my job because the domestic auto industry implodes, I’m going to kick your foreign automobile loving ass.</rant>

NVIDIA has released today version 180.48 of its drivers for GeForce 200-series, 9-series, and 8800-series desktop GPUs. The new drivers add mulit-monitor support for SLI configured GPUs, along with PhysX, and SLI support for Intel X-58 mainboards. Full details from NVIDIA.com are below.

This is a WHQL-certified driver for GeForce 200-series, 9-series, and 8800-series desktop GPUs.

Exciting New Features:

• Enables NVIDIA SLI technology on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards with the following GPUs: GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 260, GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce 9800 GTX+, and GeForce 9800 GTX. Learn more here.
• Enables NVIDIA SLI Multi-monitor support, giving you the ability to use two monitors with your GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode. Now you can easily switch between multi-monitor desktop mode and full screen 3D gaming mode. Learn more here.
• Enables NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects. Learn more here. (Note: GPU PhysX is supported on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory. This driver package automatically installs PhysX System Software version 8.10.13).

Blazing Fast Performance:

• Boosts performance in numerous 3D applications. The following are some examples of improvements measured with Release 180 WHQL drivers vs. Release 178 WHQL drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
  • Up to 10% performance increase in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)
  • Up to 13% performance increase in Assassin’s Creed
  • Up to 13% performance increase in BioShock
  • Up to 15% performance increase in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
  • Up to 10% performance increase in Crysis Warhead
  • Up to 25% performance increase in Devil May Cry 4
  • Up to 38% performance increase in Far Cry 2
  • Up to 18% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID
  • Up to 80% performance increase in Lost Planet: Colonies
  • Up to 18% performance increase in World of Conflict

And More:

• Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way and Quad SLI technology.
• Supports CUDA.
• Supports Folding@home distributing computing application. Download the high performance client for NVIDIA GPUs here and join the NVIDIA team: #131015.
• Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
• Includes numerous 3D application compatibility fixes. Please read the release notes for more information on product support, features, driver fixes and known compatibility issues.

A Detroit Free Press article published yesterday explores six myths about the Big 3. The big question is: if a company is the largest automaker worldwide, selling over 9 million vehicles within a year, why is it in financial ruin?

BY MARK PHELAN • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • November 17, 2008

The debate over aid to the Detroit-based automakers is awash with half-truths and misrepresentations that are endlessly repeated by everyone from members of Congress to journalists. Here are six myths about the companies and their vehicles, and the reality in each case.

Myth No. 1

Nobody buys their vehicles.

Reality

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC sold 8.5 million vehicles in the United States last year and millions more around the world. GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the United States last year and holds a U.S. lead over Toyota of about 560,000 so far this year. Globally, GM in 2007 remained the world’s largest automaker, selling 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide — about 3,000 more than Toyota.

Ford outsold Honda by about 850,000 and Nissan by more than 1.3 million vehicles in the United States last year.

Chrysler sold more vehicles here than Nissan and Hyundai combined in 2007 and so far this year.

Myth No. 2

They build unreliable junk.

Reality

The creaky, leaky vehicles of the 1980s and ’90s are long gone. Consumer Reports recently found that “Ford’s reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers.” The independent J.D. Power Initial Quality Study scored Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Mercury, Pontiac and Lincoln brands’ overall quality as high or higher than that of Acura, Audi, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Scion, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Power rated the Chevrolet Malibu the highest-quality midsize sedan. Both the Malibu and Ford Fusion scored better than the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

Myth No. 3

They build gas-guzzlers.

Reality

All of the Detroit Three build midsize sedans the Environmental Protection Agency rates at 29-33 miles per gallon on the highway. The most fuel-efficient Chevrolet Malibu gets 33 m.p.g. on the highway, 2 m.p.g. better than the best Honda Accord. The most fuel-efficient Ford Focus has the same highway fuel economy ratings as the most efficient Toyota Corolla. The most fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cobalt has the same city fuel economy and better highway fuel economy than the most efficient non-hybrid Honda Civic. A recent study by Edmunds.com found that the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact is the least expensive car to buy and operate.

Myth No. 4

They already got a $25-billion bailout.

Reality

None of that money has been lent out and may not be for more than a year. In addition, it can, by law, be used only to invest in future vehicles and technology, so it has no effect on the shortage of operating cash the companies face because of the economic slowdown that’s killing them now.

Myth No. 5

GM, Ford and Chrysler are idiots for investing in pickups and SUVs.

Reality

The domestic companies’ lineup has been truck-heavy, but Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have all spent billions of dollars on pickups and SUVs because trucks are a large and historically profitable part of the auto industry. The most fuel-efficient full-size pickups from GM, Ford and Chrysler all have higher EPA fuel economy ratings than Toyota and Nissan’s full-size pickups.

Myth No. 6

They don’t build hybrids.

Reality

The Detroit Three got into the hybrid business late, but Ford and GM each now offers more hybrid models than Honda or Nissan, with several more due to hit the road in early 2009.

Article retrived from Freep.com.