Jan 18

The Internet Blackout is Over

By KurisuNo Comments

Yeap. The Xadara blackout in protest of SOPA and PIPA has ended, along with that of apparantly a dozen or so “major” websites, many websites with cult followings, and indeed, possibly over 1000 smaller sites, and personal web pages.

It actually seemed to have a good effect, as President Obama reportedly said he would refuse to sign SOPA in it’s current form… which means the bill would never have a way to be made a law in it’s absurdly open-worded form.

I really don’t have much more to say on this topic, as virtually anyone else who has posted about SOPA and PIPA have said the very same things I would say, and feel the same way.

Don’t give up, however. Continue to fight for freedom. Fight for your right to say and do any stupid thing you want online, and make fun of, or praise, any product you want!

Protect your freedom!

Internet, Xadara
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Jan 17

SOPA Blackout

By KurisuNo Comments

From 8Am to 8Pm tomorrow, January 18th, 2012, Xadara will be “on strike” as it were, in protest to the ProtectIP and SOPA laws trying to be passed through the United States governmental system.

I’m not going to make some longwinded post about such, explaining what these things are, why these laws are so horrible to the internet, why you should oppose them, yadda yadda yadda. I am sure anyone reading this already knows.

If not, go a google search and read up.

Seriously.

SOPA

PROTECT IP

That is all. Thank you, and goodnight.

New article coming soon, by the way.

Internet, Life, Xadara
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Jan 07

Minor Updates

By KurisuNo Comments

I apologize for the lack of activity here the past 2 weeks.  For various reasons, some unknown even to me, I simply have not been able to come up with any good content for the site.  I have, however, had more than a few events occur, so maybe I should give a quick mini-list.

1: Got a Wii (finally) for Christmas.  No, I have not hacked it, nor do I intend to anytime soon (I want to, but I don’t, if that makes sense). I actually have barely played it in the past weeks of ownership…. which is really sad, as it may represent me moving away from video game consoles for good.  Indeed, I don’t play my PSP ever anymore, even though I have games for it that I have never even played!

2: I have been sick the past week or 2, off and on. I blame a heavy lack of sleep. Indeed, as I type these words, it is already an hour after I originally intended to be in bed! Insomnia, you have overstayed your welcome, please get lost!

3: I have completely overhauled Venus, originally upgrading to Ubuntu 11.4, then converting that into Xubuntu, and realizing how broken that conversion was, I have done a clean install of Xubuntu 11.4, and will continue to customize the machine in the upcoming days.

I actually had an idea to go 24 hours without using anything Windows based, but that will have to be over a weekend, for one funny reason: Handheld and Desktop terminals at work all run versions of either Windows CE, or a very stripped down Server 2003 variant, so doing it during a normal work week would be impossible, by the rules of the challenge.

So, that project is on hiatus, while I think of other things to do for the site.

Would you like to see details on my computer systems? Would you want details on the overhaul of Venus? Seriously, let me know! Suggestions for topics on the site are always welcome! If you know me, then you know what I like, and what would be my kind of subject.. and if you don’t know me, then fire away with what you think anyway. Always worth a shot!

Catch you next time, hopefully with something awesome.

Life, Xadara
Dec 23

The State of KMXV

By KurisuNo Comments

It’s almost 2012, so it is time for me to do do a status update on KuriMix -5th Generation- V.

As it stands, the game is nowhere near done. I was planning to have it completed in time for a release January 1st of 2012, but that simply is not going to happen.  The reasons are pretty simple, but are ones that naturally cripple any games development.

1: Day Job.

My normal job is taking up the majortiy of my time… and with it being the holidays, naturally, I am busier than ever.  I am left with only a few hours on any given day to even attempt work on the game.

2: Relaxation

Naturally, with me working so much, I want to relax. As much fun as it is to develpe the game, it is still a time consuming task, and often times, I simply cannot force myself to work on the game. I blame it partially on procrastination, but mostly on simply wanting to relax. It’s much easier to play a game than it is to make one.

3: Feature Creep

Not as bad as in KMX4, but KMXV still has had its share of planned elements, that have taken up more time than they should have, only to be abandoned in the middle of development. Again, this isn’t as bad as what occured with KMX4, but it has still caused some issues and delays. Combined with the above issues, it has been a critical cause of lost production time.

—-

This of course, is only a basic basic rundown on the delay causes for KMXV. However, there are some positive notes, which show that the general effort and time spent has not been a TOTAL waste.

1: A bonus stage system has been implimented, which will allow for unique content and chalenges.  Well, nothing too unique if you are a player of any of the major dance game series, but for KMX series terms, this represents a logical addition, and was a feature originally intended for KMX4.

2: The Data Display component of the select music screen has been refined, and looks alot better. More organization, and separation between elements actually used in core KMX charts, and elements that would be used in fan edits, or player loaded songs.

3: The songlist organization has been revised.  Instead of songs being releagated to their original game origin groups, they are now sorted by new songs, 4th gen songs, and finally, 1st-3rd generation songs, and all sub-sorted by difficulty rating. This keeps all the songs better organized, and accessable without constant folder hunting and sorting changes.

That about sums things up. KMXV is still being worked on, but is just delayed. I am sure that soon, I will get a major urge to really work on the game, and will crank out a good 5 or so songs a night, for a week straight. Until that happens, though, we will just be waiting.

KuriMix
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Dec 22

Facebook Integration Test

By KurisuNo Comments

This is just a test of a facebook integration system. Please ignore this post.

42

Computers, WTF, Xadara
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Dec 21

Software in Action: Microsoft Security Essentials

By KurisuNo Comments

So, yesterday, I had to fix a friends laptop. The machine in question had your now classic situation of malware that behaved like normal antivirus software. This type of malware is beyond annoying for the simple fact that it tends to restore itself after a cleaning. Indeed, just being able to even gain access to the software to clean said infection can sometimes be near impossible, as most malware of this type is programmed to block virtually every application a user tries to run, including virtually any form of antivirus a user might use.

The machine in question is a Toshiba Satellite running 32bit Windows 7. UAC was fully active on the machine, so, I questioned naturally how the software actually made it onto the system. User error, of course… but this isn’t a blame game. Stuff happens, and the situation at hand was obvious: I would have a battle ahead of me.

So, naturally, my first action was to see what actually would run on the system… which of course, was virtually nothing. That is, until the fake antivirus made a little mistake: it would try to run more admin-level code, which would bring up a UAC prompt. Saying no to this would kill the software, and leave the system running in a mostly usable state. The processor, however, was slammed 100% with a “Com” process, which was something related to the antivirus… probably a batch code to “fake” system instability. Using the now-available task manager (which was originally unavailable while the fake AV was running) killed that off quickly enough, and left me in a good state to clean the system.

So, I ran Avira.. it detected the virus, and appeared to clean it. I rebooted the system… and the virus was still there. Avira was unable to properly clean the system. I planned for as much, but of course wanted to try the most simple option first.

I decided to, after once again killing off the malware, download and run Microsoft Security Essentials. I was going to change the system out to this antivirus anyway, so it was a way to complete 2 tasks at once.

After installing MSE, and letting the definition update, I let it run. This was actually my first run of MSE on a system that was known to be infected, so this was a chance to actually see the program in action, and to judge its effectiveness on cleaning a system.  It quickly detected the infected files and painlessly cleaned them. After rebooting, I noticed that the malware did not load up with the system: it seemed clean!

MSE Scan Results

I ran another scan of the system. Nothing detected. I checked the system processes; everything looked good. I had beaten the virus. Normally, the best option to be rid of such malware is to simply do a system restore, but in this case, I was able to clean the system without any permanent damage being done.  Obviously, I was very happy with the end result, and I hope the owner of the laptop will be as well.

Computers
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Dec 17

Comments are enabled!

By KurisuNo Comments

Well, for now, I have enabled registration and comments on the site.  I hope I don’t have to deal with too much spam.

Fire away with your thoughts, etc. Just please, don’t be a jerk. ‘Kay?

Xadara
Dec 17

The Quest for Power

By KurisuNo Comments

Power supplies are the most overlooked component on any computer. However, in many ways, it is the most critical part of the entire machine. Without enough power to the components, even the most capable system on Earth will behave poorly, if even boot.

For me, my OEM 250 Watt power supply (a Lite-On 5251-08)  just wasn’t cutting it: the system would run, but components were overheating (see my previous posts about video card issues). I eventually decided to go ahead and do an upgrade I had never done before: A power supply change out.

I learned quickly, from friends, the details of power supply voltage rails, and current ratings. That is when the thought hit me: how was my old power supply even running the video card? It simply should not be providing enough power. Then, suddenly, it all made sense; if the power supply is giving all it can, then the components might actually work, but very poorly, as they would not be getting their proper current flow. Thus, fans would not run as fast, and heat would build up quicker than it should. I had to upgrade.. there really was no other choice to the situation. I needed more power.

So, the first thing I had to do was research. I had to first learn the specifications I was working with on my current power supply, figure out the actual basic power amount I needed with the current hardware, and then finally see what was available that would fit the physical limits of my case.

In checking a website a friend linked to,  I found out my systems power draw was somewhere around 350-400 Watts, at max. So, a 400 Watt power supply was the baseline I needed.  Conveniently, I was able to find at Best Buy a power supply matching my case specifications perfectly; The Dynex 400W power supply.

Then came the actual installation. Now, while changing out a power supply sounds scary, it is actually a pretty straightforward procedure. Simply unplug all the cables from the motherboard and other devices, unscrew the suply from the case, and physically remove the power supply itself. Do the reverse for the new power supply, and things should be good.  Plug it in, turn the system on, and it should boot without issue.

Upon booting my machine, I noticed about 10 degree lower idle temperatures, and overall better thermal performance from the video card: it seems my system is getting enough power to get the job done, finally. For some reason, the card still sometimes runs hot, but I believe this is due to some bugs in the way Firefox and YouTube make use of the video card for rendering. I will have to do more research into it.

Computers
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Dec 13

Why do you like yourself so much?

By KurisuComments Off

If you use facebook, then you HAVE to have seen this happen more than you would like: Someone posts a status, and then, they like their own status. Now, if this is a post celebrating something major, or if the person has finally expressed something they have wanted to say for years, then it is a welcome occurance. However, to me, there is no sense in liking every single post you make.

I have several friends who do this, all of them good people, but it seems crazy to like everything you post. Not every post is special. Yes, what you have to say is (or, should be) important to your friends on facebook, but the “like” function is supposed to be used for expressing pleasure in what other people have to say: not in looking like a self-absorbed psycho!

So, please, if you use facebook, try to avoid liking your own posts. It really does look like you think you are the greatest thing ever, or that you obsess over everything you do.

Please.. just stop.

Thank you!

Internet, WTF
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Dec 08

The Woes of Display Scaling

By KurisuComments Off

Why can’t video cards ever keep correct aspect ratio?

 

It’s very simple: If you are playing a game on a widescreen monitor, and the game is in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio, the game should display in that ratio, with black columns appearing on the side of the monitor. It should not be stretched out to fill the screen. However, this is the default behaviour on virtually any monitor setup. If the connection is a classic Analog VGA, the only way to correct this is to use monitor-based scaling. Otherwise, if a digital feed, such as DVI, or HDMI (which are actually identical, for this discussion), is used, then logic would say the default behaviour would be to display the proper aspect ratio, regardless of the monitor in question.

 

This often is never the case.

 

For a good number of months, possibly up to the past year, my monitor did a fine job displaying proper aspect ratios. The Nvidia video card drivers had, after some coaxing, and a few updates, finally gotten to displaying older games full screen, but also at their proper ratios. Everything was going fine.

 

That is, until the other day, when I upgraded video drivers for the first time in a few months. Everything defaulted back to stretching to fill the screen. I didn’t think much of this, knowing that I could simply switch the scaling option back on, and all would be good.

 

The drivers simply refuse to keep the change. Every time the aspect ratio option is selected, and the selection is confirmed, the system would simply reset back to the previous setting. The only way to get the proper behaviour is to not run the native resolution, 1920×1080 in this case, and everything will be fine. How stupid! This means any classic game I play is stretched out, looking ugly, and in some cases, actually hard to play, due to the stretching.

 

Of course, I can use the 4:3 mode on my monitor, but that is silly to have to do, when I have a digital connection and video card drivers that are more than capable of setting the proper ratio. I should not have to do such. Scaling worked before, why did it break after an update, while it works for my friends on the same driver set?

 

Oh, the annoyances of being a classic gamer on modern PC hardware.

Computers
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