why I hate IMs

First let me say, I love instant messengers and think they are a great tool for networking as well as meeting new people. Unfortunately I hate it because of spam, scams and the idiots that do not know how to use them. The main thing I am talking about boils down to one thing, ASL. In some chat rooms it is ok to ask it as basically a roll call type question where everyone answers as an icebreaker.  In my opinion that is fine, but instant messaging a stranger and no sooner than you say hello asking ASL is not only idiotic it is annoying. I have buzzed a few strangers out of the blue, on yahoo especially. Usually it is after doing a yahoo search for whatever I want to chat about and then reading their profile to see if they seem interesting to me. If they don't have a profile I do not waste my time.

First thing I do when someone buzzes me is click their profile to see #1 if I know them or #2 to find out if I want to get to know them. Most of the time if they have no profile  the first few things out of their mouth and mood I am in is going to decide if I want to chat or not. If they say Hello ASL I can guarantee it is going to be CLICK goodbye. On some of my screen names that is bad enough because it shows they have not took the time to read my profile, but what makes me sick at the stupidity of some members of the Human Race is when I  am on my main chatting nickname. The name makes it pretty obvious the answers to SL of the ASL question the name is Bamacwby as in Alabama Cowboy with emphasis being BOY.

Unfortunately the next reason is due to scumbag scammers giving groups of people a bad rep. I am sorry, but for that reason I have got to where I will not chat with anyone from the UK or Africa. I have been contacted by dozens and every time it has got to the same scam so I am sorry, but if I hear someone is from either place that’s an instant ignore. I had one “girl” I chatted with almost every day for close to a month. I enjoyed talking with her until it eventually got the “cheque” scam. They message you sometimes like in this case building up a relationship hopefully getting you to trust them. Then eventually it always boils down to the same conversation usually almost in verbatim that they have got into some sort of trouble and can not cash a check they have gotten. They offer to send you the check to cash if you will send them a wire transfer. It is just one of a million of the scams that have been around since long before the net was even in someone’s dreams, but unfortunately the web makes them a lot worse.

Like I said I love the invention of instant messengers and the web, but they can be a royal pain in the ….

What's your sign???

For those that don't know me well I am not extremely religious, but I am spiritual and while I believe in a God I also believe in other things shaping our lives including the Moons and stars. While I do not know whether we are pre-destined and our decisions are already written in the stars or if we truly do choose our road in life I have always found it interesting how you truly can tell a lot about a person by the sign of the Zodiac they are born under. I was born during the year of the Tiger (1974) under the sign of Cancer.

Below is a cool site I just found that gives good descriptions on each of the signs including some of the people that are born under each sign. I decided to link directly to my Sign that of the Crab, but once on the page go to the bottom and you can click on your sign or that of people you know well and see if it does not strike you as interesting how much is hard to believe something so generic as the period of time you were born can be so detailed and factual. While not 100% accurate I have to agree most of it does describe me well.http://www.astrology-online.com/cancer.htm

I am the God of War!!!!

In case you don’t know what that refers to. Last week I beat what is being hailed as one of the greatest games in recent history, and I agree, “God of War”. The game revolves around Kratos a Spartan warrior that traded his soul to Ares during a battle where he and his army were surely to be destroyed by Germanic Barbarians. While Ares spares his life and turns him into a warrior never before seen on this Earth it sends him on a road that will send him to the depths of Hades and beyond before his battle is done.

After Ares tricks him into destroying the last piece of his soul turning him into a nearly demonic Soul known to all as the Ghost of Sparta, Kratos begins serving the Gods. Kratos after 10 years of servitude is ready to give up he is asked by Athena to do one last dead and save her city from the Wrath of her brother Ares.

Prior to battling Ares and saving Athens, Kratos must face almost every aspect of Greek Mythology battling Sirens, Cyclops, Gorgons, Hydras, Minotaur warriors and more. That is just the half the fun of this game though. While it has some of the more brutal battles you must also solve puzzles, find your way thru deadly mazes to capture the Power of Pandora’s Box.

Thanks to Game Fly I have played some killer games over the last year and this definitely ranks among my favorites if not at the top of the list. While not for everyone, if you are into Brutal Battles, challenging puzzles and some amazing artwork or are just a fan of Greek Mythology it is highly probable you will love this. It deservedly has a Mature rating most likely due to the occasional topless or sheer top maidens and Goddesses as much if not more so than for its brutal and sometimes very gory kill scenes.

I would say it probably took me 20-30 hours to beat the game spaced out over a week or so on Spartan (Easy) Mode. Even though I beat the easy version in about a week there are a lot of things I enjoy about this game so when the price comes down some I may still get a copy.

On a scale of 1-5 this is one of the few games I have played that gets a straight up 5. One reason is the Great Visuals, the artwork is amazing even on a 19” TV the details are incredible. Second is Hardcore Action, this is one of the more brutal games I can remember. Not just the normal body parts flying and blood spurting brutality. At times it really puts you to your paces and you feel almost as if you are in there fighting for your soul itself. For that reason I do not suggest trying to beat it in one sitting unless you are a glutton for punishment or are trying your best to get carpal tunnel syndrome. Third this has an Amazing Story. Not only the main story is interesting, but it has good sub-stories and several flashbacks telling Kratos’ History. Fourth is it is not just an action game, several portions of the game make you think. Some of the solutions to the puzzles are not very obvious and take some trying to solve. Last, but not least is it is truly worth Playing over and over again. I really enjoyed this game and have played some of the higher levels after beating it, but that is just part of it. Not only does it have I believe 5 level difficulties after defeating Spartan mode a sub-game is opened up as well. While not quite as tough as the actual game “Challenge of the Gods” is not easy. I have not defeated even level 1 of 10 so I can not say how rough the higher levels are or if they are even possible for most to beat, but I think it will be worth several hours or attempts.

Whether it will still be fun to play after beating God Mode I do not know. My only gripe about it is I enjoy after beating a game being able to go back and play specific battles over and over again. Since I have not Beat the Higher difficulty levels I do not know if this is an option or not so I could not count off for that reason. I would love to be able to go back and fight the Centaur Army again, The Cerebus and her pups, let alone Ares himself without having to go thru some of the more tedious levels my least favorite being one of Poseidon’s challenges. When you play it I am sure you will be able to figure out which ones.

Again I have to highly recommend this game for its action, mental challenges, story, replay ability and most importantly some of the most amazing and interesting visuals I have seen on a video game. While maybe not the Best Game Ever I think it will definitely be talked about for quite a while. There have been some hints about possible sequels, but if they put half as much into them as they did this (3 years in the making) do not expect to see God of War 2 on the shelves anytime soon.

Part 2, my top 5 games of ALL TIME!!!!

These are not in any specific order. I consider them my all time favorites for various reasons

1. God of War, I think I have made my feelings clear on it.


2. Pac Man, while not the first game to make a mark it was one of the first that really caught my attention in the Arcade let alone at home. I would still love a playable 2600 and copy of this one.


3. Super Mario Bros, For pretty much the same reason as Pac Man it took gaming to a whole new level


4. Castlevania, this was pretty much the first action adventure game that really caught my attention. While no where near as amazing as current versions the action was great and the visuals were amazing.


5. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, I enjoy this game for many reasons. The one that makes it stand out more than any other though is the soundtrack. I grew up listening to a lot of the songs and I loved that you could play not only different songs, but several different genres.