June 29, 2005
Counter-Strike:Source and Direct x9c
I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, but basically, I istalled directx 9c for Battlefield2 demo and now my Source games are getting an ultra-low fps. It basically went from 70-80 to 15-20 which is unplayable. What I also noticed is that my packets in are about 200-300 and sometimes even 1000 which is way more than normal (30-40). I've tried some stuff, but it seems like 9c which is supposed to be better than 9b is messing me up. I really don't want to do a clean install of everything that I have, that will take forever!
Posted by Alex at 04:05 PM | Comments (3)
June 23, 2005
Civ3 adventures
...Civ3, and just had my first victory on Warlord. I was playing the Arabs, Abu Khar or something, and had my best game ever. My other best game was using the Greeks, and then I like the Russians. It's still pretty hard for me to do the opening, by the time I exchange maps with other civs and see how many towns they have, they always have more than me, i will have about 7-8 towns with average size of 3-7 and they will have 10-12 with size 2-5. Then I look and they are all in the desert. I think the AI just wants to put up as many towns as possible to get the territory, but does not care where the towns are, although then will ask for the territory map and you can give it to them, but if they see that you did not put a town on a resource, they will come with a settler and put a town right in the middle of your territory. Usually couple of turns later that town "overthrows the oppressors" and joins me. Muhaha! Because I am cooler than some weird AI. So, go ahead and plant those towns right next to my capitol, have fun.
Posted by Alex at 11:30 AM | Comments (3)
June 22, 2005
I joined a corporate tennis team
When I was in college, the sport of choice for me and my friends was roller hockey. Fast, fun, and being of Eastern European descend I had a natural inclination to the sport. After 3-4 years of playing we became pretty good and more confident in our game. Now, it's been about 2 years since we really played and I am like 25 pounds heavier than my heaviest ever and would not be able to hit a slapshot if my life depended on it, my friends are taking up tennis and golf, which clearly must mean something. At any rate, I joined a corporate tennis team so we will see what will happen out of it. I played for about a day when I was 12, so naturally there is room for improvement. Wish us all luck, we are up against some serious guys and gals from the local businesses.
Posted by Alex at 04:31 PM | Comments (2)
June 14, 2005
Our recent trip to Israel
Also, in this trip we were in Israel to see my relatives and show Maria the country. We saw a little bit of it and Maria was really fascinated and mesmerized by its beauty, and I think it helped Maria to see how people live there to really appreciate what we have here.
Posted by Alex at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
Our recent trip to Paris
Couple of things are worth mentioning, I had two conversations with the "natives" and they were totally different.
Conversation 1:
Setting: Paris Train, Maria just met me at the Airport and we are going to the hotel with my huge back full of presents for my Israeli relatives and my backpack. Maria already having spent 3 days in Paris is looking very French. I can't put my finger on it, but it's something romantic as hell. We are talking in Russian, I am telling her about the flight, she is telling me about the city and what she thinks of it so far. She is feeling totally at home and loving it. She has learned the Paris subway system in 5 minutes and now carries herself as a true Parisian...
Next to us two guys, one dressed "normal" and another, younger dressed like a rapper movie star are talking amongst themselves in some sort of Slavic language that I don't understand, but I know they are my old neighbours because the younger one is cussing up a storm. Also, they are drinking beers and have some extra in a 6-pack.
Then all of a sudden, the older one turns to us and asks if we are Russians. So, I say, "Yes, we are from Kiev, Ukraine". -Oh, well, thats a totally different thing and the guys are now talking to us in their language, in which i can't understand a word, they give me beer, open it, we say cheers, talk some more to each other without understanding a single word, and exit at the next stop with Maria, my bags and a beer in my hand. That was fun.
Conversation 2:
Setting: The Louvre, right after we saw the Mona Lisa (or Jakonda). We decided to show our American know-it-all and asked one of the Louvre guards where the Last Supper by Da Vinchi is hanging (The Last Supper is a Fresco and is part of a wall in some other place and by no means can be found in the Louvre). The Guards reaction was a little unexcpected and overwhelming:
Guard: "You have read the Da Vinchi Code"!!!!!!
We: "Yes"
G: "Its a very very bad book, a lot of people read it and beleive whats written in it (in the book, the last supper is a painting and is hanging in the Louvre)"
G: "You should not have read that bad bad book, in which they talk of things that should not be talked of...
We: "Well, its fiction and we just thought that not everything thats written in the fiction books should be taken as a pure coin"
G: "Still, this is a very very bad book"...
[Great, thought we, a religious fanatic that is about to go bezerker in the Louvre on us and show us some of that French kung fu fighting]
We: "If you beleive everything thats written in the fiction books, maybe you should not read them, sir!"
And calmly walked away.
Posted by Alex at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
Where is all my stuff?
The site has been moved to a new server and in process I decided not to move any of the old stuff and start fresh. I will still upload the pictures in the new future, but the old blog entries are gone.
Posted by Alex at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)