Kevin Quillen - Coder / Rocker / Ranter

New iPhone 3GS

// June 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Technology

Typing this on my new iPhone ! I’m getting faster at typing on it. I think I’m up to 35 wpm now with just a finger typing. Not ideal but not bad!

Starting my own TF2 Server

// May 26th, 2009 // No Comments » // Gaming

I am starting my own TF2 server after talking about it for what feels like forever. Part of this reason is one hosting company we use kicks ass, Slicehost.

I decided to buy a Slice and setup my own server because their method is really easy. After creating your account, you pick the OS you want to use. In this case, I chose to go with Fedora 10 because of my familiarity with Fedora and its reliability. I initially started with a 512MB slice (512mb ram, 20gb hdd, 200gb bandwidth) and we will see how it goes. If I can support at least 16, that would be cool. 24 man would be ideal as that seems to be the minimum for most servers. I don’t have the money to support a larger server just yet.

It only took about 15 minutes to get everything installed. All thats left is creating server.cfg and the security, then testing it out on my own and it should be public.

Gaming the System

// May 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Gaming

My favorite game for a year running is Team Fortress 2. Valve did an exceptional job meeting the high expectations for the game, seeing as how it was in development for 10 years.

Last summer, they introduced goal-based incentives for each class. For example, one goal for the pyro class is to get 500 kills, or get 6 axe kills in a row without dying. Every time you get 10, 20 and 25 attained goals, you hit a milestone. Each milestone unlocked a new alternate weapon for your class. For the Pyro, you’d get the Flaregun (replaces shotgun) which fires a flare long distance to light up foes. At 20 you get the Backburner which replaces the regular flamethrower, 100% crit damage from behind, but no air compression blast. There are trade offs to using alternate items as you can see, and it all depends on how you want to play.

All you had to do was work toward your goals to get your prize. Then, Valve changed all that last week with the addition of the Sniper and Spy class updates.

How do you get unlockable weapons now? Wait. Yes thats right, you have to wait for it. Now its all solely based on luck, and NOT goals. You play the game, and at random (and very rarely) the game hands out an item to a random player. It could also be an item you already have. So, you could play for 12 hours, and if you’re lucky to get handed an item, it could be a duplicate of what you have! The reason for the duplicates is Valve intends to have a player trading system. But, since this idea was half assed err I’m sorry, half implemented, players are confused about why they get dupes. By the time Valve implements trading, most players will have everything they want anyway.

People who know me know I loathe cheaters. Video games, taxes, relationships. Cheating is for losers. But in this particular instance, I didn’t want to be a slave to Valve’s new system of play. There is currently a loophole in the item drop selection that most people are taking advantage of. You can join a server and go spec (spectate) which makes you idle watching others play the game. Spectators can still get item drops. So hey, why bust your ass all day waiting for an item when you can do that instead and do other things? Nothing, and thats exactly what I did after getting fed up playing 3 nights in a row and having crap items assigned. I left it on last night for about 12 hours, woke up the next day and found 3 brand new items in my backpack for Sniper and Spy. Woot. Just before I was about to quit the game, Steam (Valve’s gaming cloud) freaked out apparantly and it doled out hats and items to five players, me included, one right after the other. So now I have a handful of new items, and new hats for engineer and medic. Last two are just for visual flair while playing. Funny thing is, hats are supposed to be very rare, rarer than an item drop, and a handful were given out in under 2 minutes this morning. I witnessed it. Gotta be a bug.

I can’t help but think the TF2 team at Valve took off all weekend for the holiday and haven’t been working on the game, because otherwise I expected the spectator exploit to get patched right away. I do expect it to be patched tomorrow (Tuesday the 25th) because its happening on pretty much every server. So if you’re a TF2 player, take advantage now, it could be the only opportunity to have a shot at the new stuff without playing hours and hours every day like World of Warcraft.

Still love the game though.

Still Kickin Ass

// May 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Gaming

Its Been 4 Years Almost 5

// May 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music, Reviews

The last time anyone heard from CKY, it seemed that the band was done with. Despite huge grassroots successes with Volume 1, IDR and An Answer Can Be Found, the rock and roll lifestyle finally caught up with the band, and a much needed hiatus ensued.

While virtually 2007 and much of 2008 passed without so much as a sentence from the band, many fans hoped they were working together to patch things up and move on. Not ones to simply quit, CKY settled their differences, met their demons head on and came out of it stronger than ever.

2005’s An Answer Can Be Found was met with mixed reception, there were questions in the air about if the band’s heart was still in it. Though it was a great rock album, many felt it lacked the substance and polish of their previous efforts.

With their fourth album Carver City, CKY has really outdone themselves in every area. This album is a very progressive effort from their raw rock sound on Volume 1 and thick in your face guitars of IDR. Deron Miller has really matured with his craft, as has Chad Ginsburg who doubles as producer and guitarist. Like a pheonix reborn, the album feels fresh and new from the songs to the attitude. Layers of guitars and vocals complete with sonic soundscapes from synths and keyboards run full assault on the ears for the length of the album.

The album opener ‘Hellions on Parade’ cuts right to the chase (no pun intended) and explodes out of the starting gate, reminiscent of fan favorite ‘Escape from Hellview’. From there we’re led into the seedy town of Carver City, where tales of missing girls, dead bodies, ghost crews and thoughts of self hate preside over the inhabitants. This seaside resort town is supposed to be a dream, but instead serves as a nightmare for anyone inside. ‘And She Never Returned’, ‘Rats in the Infirmary’, ‘Imaginary Threats’ and ‘The Boardwalk Body’ showcase CKY’s hard rock edge and their talent for addictive hooks and melody. ‘Plagued by Images’, ‘Woe is Me’, ‘A#1 Roller Rager’ and ‘Fishermans Wharf 1 & 2′ are classic CKY. These progressive riffs with eerie overtones that harken all the way back to Volume 1’s ‘Lost in a Contraption’, ‘Rio Bravo’ and ‘To All of You’.

Longtime fans will appreciate this offering. It’s without a doubt their best effort to date, check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/Carver-City-Cky/dp/B001XJBDLM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1242854436&sr=8-1

New Look

// April 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // General

Yeah, I know. It’s not custom. I don’t have the time for all that and I am not a graphic designer. I like it though. WooThemes are pretty good and WP 2.7 has some great advanced features.

Hopefully soon I’ll have time to write about some of the higher level stuff we’ve been doing like CDN Networks, MySQL Clustering and high performance tuning for heavy traffic websites.

Google Attempting 3d on the Web… Again

// April 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Business, Javascript, Software, Technology

Google is giving 3d on the web another go (after their failed Lively initiative) with O3D. O3D is an open-source web API for creating rich, interactive 3D applications in the browser. 3D delivery on the web is nothing new. Years ago you may remember VRML markup and technology, but it was short lived. Flash bridged the gap between client hardware and browsers, ensuring visually rich delivery of 3d worlds and content. Flash though, is also limited and Google is looking to take advantage of the end user hardware more.

It will be interesting to see what Google can come up with, especially since the launch of iD Software’s Quake Live this year. Quake Live is a new service that lets players run Quake 3 in their web browser of choice and play against other people in the world, for free. It’s quite remarkable. So lets see what Google does.

For more information, head on over to Google Code page for O3D.

Hellions on Parade Hits iTunes

// April 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Music, Thoughts

CKY’s first single from Carver City hit iTunes this morning and quickly came up under ‘Whats Hot’ on the iTunes homepage. Cool shit! Can’t deny great rock and roll.