Since most of the folks that signed up for Quake Live in the beginning were more seasoned FPS gamers, there was no way I was going to join up and get slaughtered every time I tried to play. Even though Quake Live is fitted with a matching system to help out the less apt players, we were not in full force in the beginning. It is not that we do not love playing these games, just some of us are not that great at them.

Fast forward two weeks after Quake Live became an open beta, I figured it was safe to hop in and get a little bit of fragging done. Being more of a console gamer, I still have a PS2 Quake III Arena around somewhere. It is just a shame that I lack skills no matter whether I play it or its free QLB counterpart. Thanks to the aforementioned skill matching system, this has not been an issue since I started playing.

After completing the standard fill out this form and confirmation number setup process, the user is invited to download a small bit of software and reload the browser (IE7,8 or Firefox 2,3 Windows XP or Vista only right now). Once this is done, the player can select an avatar from the list of familiar Quake characters and change some settings like the crosshair and railgun color schemes.

The aspect of setup which I find most appealing is your first match is with an AI dubbed Crash who is designed to assess your skill level in a match you play while the bulk of the game is downloaded. Crash appeared to have done a good job of finding my skill level since the couple of matches I have played have not been completely one-sided. When you login to QLB after that inital match, you have an option to practice or to just jump into matches currently happening. The matches are setup to load the ones best suited to you first, with green checkmarks notifying you that its right up your alley and arrows up or down

The one downside I have experienced playing the game was that there was occasional lag, but since I am using somewhat dated equipment it may be just me. It looked a bit better than the Q3A I played on my PS2 and there are lots of people waiting to play Team Deathmatch 24/7.

Here is a user made video of the training mode with Crash:

Related posts:

1. Windows Live And Open ID May Become Friends

Section: Audio, Home Audio, Speakers, Video, HDTV, Communications, Cellphones, Gadgets / Other, Green, Household, Features, Originals

In a world where the environment quality and economy are rapidly declining, it is important to know what you, as an individual, can do to help the environment and stay afloat in a recession.? Every week, I hope to find some cool Green products to talk about and see whether they are worth the money.? Today, I have found a few products from Monster, as well as a special outlet from Kill A Watt.?

If a product is turned off, why would I care about a special surge strip?

A common misconception that I would like to address first is something commonly referred to “Vampire Loads.“? Essentially, this is a term used to describe electronics that still draw power even if they are turned off.? When electronics, such as HDTVs are turned off, they actually enter stand-by mode.? During stand-by mode, electricity is still being used, albeit not as much when it’s actually running.? However, everything adds up, so with all your equipment, 20% of your bill is due to vampire loads as cited by the U.S. Department of Energy.? For example, if you leave your cell phone charger plugged longer than the necessary time, it will still draw power and run up your bill.? Don’t worry this happens to be best of us, even I am guilty of this.? However, I do try to make a conscious effort to unplug the charger as soon as it finishes charging.? A product that can really turn off and stop drawing power are becoming more and more common.?

Monster’s HDP 850G, HDP 900G, HDP 1400 and HDP 1850

At CES 2009, Monster had on display these GreenPower PowerCenters, which are special surge strips meant for home theater set ups.? These surge strips have the ability to turn off all equipment when not being used, as well as analyzing how much power your HDTV is really using.? The more advanced models, such as the HDP 1400 and HDP 1850 contain technology such as Clean Power HD Filtering, which actually makes your picture on the screen look better and more clear.? In addition, they are IR compatible meaning they can be powered on/off with any remote control.? On the surge strip itself, there are specially marked outlets where you plug in your peripherals for your home theater.? Whenever the main device is powered on, such as the HDTV, all the other peripherals are powered on and vice versa.?

The HDP 850G costs $99.95, the HDP 900G costs $129.95, the HDP 1400 costs $249.95, and the HDP 1850 costs $349.95.?

The Kill A Watt P4400

Moving on, we have another similar yet different device, which is meant to find out which electronic uses the most energy, so you would “Kill that Watt”.? Basically, you plug in whatever you want to test out into this device and it will tell you the efficiency by displaying Kilowatt per hour, and how much that would total.? By using this product, you will be able to found what is more efficient than something else, which would come in handy when buying electronics.? In addition, the retailer claims you can “calculate electrical expenses by the hour, day, week, month, even year. With an accuracy within 0.2%, you can safely know what to expect your expenses to be.“? Knowledge is power and I’m sure many people would love to know their bills before they come.? Being able to analyze exactly what is running up your bill will help you in the future so can unplug equipment or purchase a special power strip.? This product only costs $25.?

Is it worth it?

If the U.S. Department of Energy is correct in that 20% of your electric bill is due to stand-by power consumption, then investing some money in one of these would definitely pay off.? Not only would you be saving money, which is always nice, but you would be doing your part to help the environment.? After all, any electricity being used is harmful to the environment.? If you are having a hard time making ends meet, should you invest in something like this?? Probably not, getting food on the table comes first.? But, if you can afford one of these, then it will definitely pay off in the long run.

Read [Monster] Read [Kill A Watt]

Full Story ? | Written by Natesh Sood for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Section: Computers, Desktops, Netbooks, Trade Shows, CeBIT

I’m starting to think maybe Gadgetell should get into the netbook business.? Why not?? It seems everyone else is doing it.? Granted, all those companies have experience in manufacturing computers or components prior to getting into the netbook arena, but it can’t be that hard.? Just get some Intel Atom chips, some motherboards, a bunch of 1 GB RAM sticks, throw in a small 1.8” HDD or SSD and put it all in a 10” screen-sized shell.? Or we could just leave that to OCZ, the memory manufacturer who just announced it’s releasing a netbook with up to 250GB HDD or SSD, which is actually a bit impressive.

The real news with OCZ at CeBIT isn’t its new Ubuntu or XP LED backlit “Neutrino” netbook, it’s actually its 1TB SSD.? Before you get too excited, you should know that OCZ isn’t ready to talk anything about release or pricing for the drive yet.? But, there’s no reason to drool over the specs of the thing.? The SSD is called the Z drive, and connects via PCIe with a hardware based RAID controller and 256 local cache.? Oh yeah, it also has a read speed of 600Mbps and a write speed of 500Mbps.? So yeah, pretty fast for a 1TB SSD.

The reason why OCZ is just showing it off at the moment is because the company is trying to find a way to cool the drive.? I suppose it runs too hot to be used normally, and requires an entirely different way of cooling, or it just needs to be tweaked a bit.? Either way, a 1TB SSD?? Sign me up for that.

Read [Electronista]

Full Story ? | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

somegreybloke tells us what Facebook is really made for

Related posts:

1. Facebook Profile Redesign
2. Facebook Smacks Down Top Friends
3. Facebook Finally Takes the Hint

Section: Audio, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous

The Kindle 2 started shipping last week despite a possible problem with the Author’s Guild.? The guild wasn’t very happy when the Kindle 2 was announced with a text-to-speech feature, and wanted it removed.? To some, if not most, of us, the idea that text-to-speech could replace the experience of an audiobook is ridiculous, but not to the Author’s Guild.? Now they won’t have to worry as Amazon has listened.

For those of you who like the generated voice in the Kindle 2, the feature isn’t being entirely removed.? Actually, Amazon is just giving the option to allow text-to-speech to the publishers and authors.? That way, those who want Kindle 2 users to have the feature will be able to activate it, and those who think it’s a copyright issue can choose to block it.?

It’s a bit unfortunate for anybody who was thinking they’d use the text-to-speech feature a lot.? I’m not sure if there are all that many who were, though.? The voice just isn’t all that great.? There’s no inflection, and its possible it would have an issue pronouncing words made up to fit in the world of the book.? It just really can’t compare to audiobooks with its monotone, somewhat grating voice.? Just imagine trying to listen to any significant portion of Neal Stephenson’s newest, “Anathem” with the Kindle 2 as opposed to the Audible four-person dramatic reading.

Read [Reuters]

Full Story ? | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?