Game purchase

17-Oct-2008

Now that I had a working 360 again, I wanted a new game. I've been playing and loving LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga so I happily plunked down the money for LEGO Batman.

First, you choose whether to play as a superhero (e.g. Batman and Robin) or villain (e.g. The Joker and The Penguin). There are a total of 30 missions (15 for good, 15 for evil), which makes the length of the game satisfying. The first thing I noticed was the character animations and movements that are funny, cool and as entertaining as ever. I've watched the Star Wars movies countless times, but I'm not as familiar with the world of Batman. I've seen the movies, but I never read the comic or saw much of the quirky Adam West TV series, so playing through LEGO Batman was an intriguing way to fill in the history to the mythology behind the winged warrior.

• LEGO Batman

Evi wallpaper

15-Oct-2008

I enjoy digital photography and I hope that one day I'll have some willing models to help perfect my craft. Until then I will happily gain inspiration from Norwegian photographer Petter Hegre. Hegre specializes in female nudes and you can check out his brilliant work at Hegre-Art.com. Hmm. I just figured out all I need to do is combine beautiful models with luxuriant locales and perfect lighting and I will dethrone Petter!

Back in reality... you will find my latest wallpaper creation. It's edited from one of Petter's photos. The model is named Evi and this particular shot comes from a photo set called Bed Scenes.

Clutching Evi by ~nolody on deviant

Xbox 360 problems

14-Oct-2008

My Xbox 360 had been working fine for over two years, but then suddenly died at the end of September. The screen took on a green tint and then produced no video signal at all.

It was one of the original "Premium" or "Pro" units that shipped with a 20GB hard drive and no HDMI port. I bought it at Best Buy on 09-Aug-2006 with a 2-year product replacement plan. Unfortunately, my 360 died seven weeks after the Best Buy warranty expired. Ugh.

Microsoft originally offered a 1-year warranty but extended it to 3 years for units that displayed "three red flashing lights" (aka the Red Ring of Death). I never got any red lights so my unit wasn't covered. My options were to either pay $99 to have Microsoft service/replace it, fix it myself using a $20 kit and instructions available online or buy a new unit (at a minimum cost of $200). I ended going with the first option and got a refurbished 360 back today. It's working fine, but it still produces a tremendous amount of heat. I was hoping the refurb would run cooler. If the replacement dies after the warranty period, I'll try the DIY route. At that point I'll have less to lose.

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