Ye olde geeky blog

My buddy and I really like to do coop games with Borderlands 2, but could never really enjoy it properly. It's quite a common problem that the game experiences LAG when you play over the internet. It turned out that to fix the problem, we had to get a VPN going, but trust me, it's easier than it sounds! At first I tried doing it with Windows 7's built in tools, but I don't think I did it right (it also included setting up port forwarding on your router and stuff like that...). My friend told me that they always used Teamviewer at his previous work, and he remembered something about it have VPN functionality as well... We both got that up and running, and without too much hassle he connected to me and our VPN was set up. We were blown away with the performance of the game now, it really made a huge difference! One of us (usually the guy not hosting the game) experienced hectic LAG (imagine shooting in the game, and the bullet only starts about a second later!), but...

GTA V is still very fresh on everyone's mind, it being just over a week since release. I must say, it's a bloody brilliant game! I've decided to share some of the things I like to do in the game (besides the main story missions and stuff like that...): Playing tennis So far, I've played two matches, and won both of them. It's a lot of fun, and can't wait to hit the courts some more! It's not too complicated and difficult, which I really like :) Just driving I always liked doing this in all the GTA games, especially San Andreas - I'm very happy that the map is so huge in GTA V too, that you can just hit the open road and listen to the radio (the radio stations are hilarious!). Plus, the cars handle really nice, not like GTA IV which I didn't like at all! I especially like to get one of those off road buggies with Trevor and ride off-road, that's plenty of fun! Heists So far I've only done one, and I'm busy in...

After Kalahari finally delivered the game at 16:55 (they said between 14:00 and 17:00 - close call...) last Thursday, I immediately installed it on my Xbox. I only installed disc one, and the other disc is used to play the game. I have played most of the GTA games - from the very first one, to GTA IV and one of its DLC's (the Lost and Damned - didn't get to Balad of Gay Tony). My favourite, before GTA V, was San Andreas by far. To be honest, although I played GTA 4, I didn't like it very much. The way Nico handled was just wrong. Also, driving a car wasn't fun anymore :( I was also not fond of Liberty City, no open country areas and stuff like that... Anyway, over the weekend I had plenty of opportunity to play the latest one, and I must say, I'm blown away! It's a gorgeous game, and they fixed all issues that irritated me in GTA 4! The cars handle better, normal walking is better, and we have the open road again! (helicopters handle a bit weird though, bu...

I have a 4mb Telkom ADSL line. Last year, Openweb had a special where you can buy a 2mb standard uncapped account for R297 per month, but the best part was that you can have 2 people using the connection at the same time. I have very mixed feelings about the Openweb uncapped package. Yes I did manage to download a lot, I usually start it after work, and leave it on overnight. My only problem is that if I have done a night's worth of downloading, the next day my internet is shaped into oblivion itself and I cannot even access Gmail without pulling the hair out of my head. Luckily, I've always had a 20gig Telkom account too, so for normal work time, we use that. With both me and the missus using it for work during the day, we easily use over a gig of data just with emails and regular work browsing (I'm a web designer, she a graphic designer). Usually around the 20th or so, the Telkom account is totally depleted. Just too bad I can't really effectively use my uncappe...

My AWESOME wife bought me GTA V. I just put the order through on Kalahari, and got this email: Ok, I'll get it in two days, not too unhappy with that, will only be able to play over the weekend anyway I guess... So, 45 minutes later, I get this email from Kalahari: Turns out I'm getting it today already! Ahh the joys of living in Cape Town. :) Edit: As my luck would have it, it's now the 18th and still no delivery. Not charmed with Kalahari at the moment. It's fine if it takes 2 or 3 days, just don't send me a email saying it's coming today, and then delivery is only 2 days after that - Kalahari.com - not cool guys, not cool! Can't wait!

I've had Logitech devices for years now, and lately I've been experiencing all kinds of crap with them, and I'm really considering shifting my loyalty elsewhere. I guess it started with the original G15 keyboard - now, I had that one for quite a few years before it started messing about, so I wrote it off as good old fashioned wear and tear. I liked it a lot - in the beginning. It has an MR button (stands for Macro Recording), you basically press that, and one of the left hand side G-keys, and then start typing. The keyboard then records what you're typing, and once you're done, you just hit the MR key again. Now, every time you press that button, it simulates all your key presses while you did the recording. I never actually used it for gaming, and mostly for regular work (I'm a programmer remember). Anyway, my gripe was that the MR button started getting stuck, making the use of the G-keys really a huge pain in the ass to use. Also, almost no game...

Yes, that's right. A gun that shoots knives. I'll maybe buy Saint's Row IV just for that!

Here's the latest Terraria version 1.2 gameplay trailer - yes, it looks awesome!

Look what I just finally got: Will blog about it some more when I've tested it. So far, the signal indicator is orange at my house, which means there's signal, but it's weak... I didn't really expect more though, since MTN's coverage in our area is a bit crappy anyway. I'll mostly use this for when we're on the road and things like that. And thanks Afrihost, for the extra 5 gigs for October! That will come in handy! Need fast, reliable local South African web hosting or a custom website? I host all my client builds on premium local SA servers. Check out my studio over at Snoot Web Design .

Steam announced that they will launch a new feature in a few days that will allow you to share your whole Steam Library with up to 10 people. That is freaking awesome! There are some restrictions though, while I'm sharing my library with a friend, both of us can't play at the same time. I have first dibs though, and if my buddy is busy playing a game, and I start one up on my side, then he'll get a chance to buy the game to continue, or his game will stop. Sounds fair! Your friends can then have their own save games and Steam Achievements. I think this is a really awesome move from Steam, I expect nothing less of them, they always seem to surprise me! It's starting the beta next week, and to participate, you need to join this group on Steam. And here is more info about the system on Steam's website. Don't get your hopes up though, it seems that they'll only select 1000 people to participate at first (and the group already has over 100000 members!...

If you've never heard of the Humble Indie Bundle - SHAME!!! It is this awesome platform where Indie game developers put their games up for sale, and the best part? YOU decide how much you're willing to pay, and then you also determine to who that money goes (the devs, charity or as a tip for the guys at Humble Bundle). It's a great way to support the Indie developers, and you get some really kickass games for an absolute steal! This time around, it includes some really awesome games: Trine 2: Complete Story (new for me, I've played Trine 1, and it's awesome!) Mark of the Ninja (this game is absolutely beautiful, and an awesome stealth-em-up!) Eets Munchies (no idea what this is, installing as I type this) Brutal Legend (Action RPG with Jack Black voicing the main character. Also, it has Heavy Metal, what's not to like?) FTL: Faster than Light (manage your own space station, and die a thousand times doing that) FEZ (I've just seen screen shots ...

It appears the map for GTA V have already been leaked on the internet, and it is absolutely huge! Other people who've posted it mentioned spoilers, but I can't see any that will spoil anything... That is freaking huge! Here is a comparison to San Andreas: They say there will be at least 100 hours worth of gameplay, and that the game cost $265 million to make, the biggest budget ever for a game, and second biggest for an entertainment product ($300 million went towards making the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie...).

A couple of weeks ago I saw the video with the girl doing some twerking (I weep for our youth!) and she goes up against the door, then someone opens it, and she falls on the table, which has some candles on it, and she catches fire. Turned out, the whole thing was fake hehehe! Here's the original: And Jimmy revealed he was behind the whole thing, and the girl is a stunt woman - epic! Jimmy Kimmel is a legend, I always laugh my ass off at his videos!

It is no secret that Terraria is my favourite Indie game, and back in May they announced a new update for the PC version, version 1.2. It has been waaay too long now, it looks like there's a huge number of additions on its way. Here are some of the screen shots I borrowed from Terraria's Facebook Page . Wow, those look amazing! Here is a summary of new features based on the above screen shots: Clouds with rain. LOTS more bricks and blocks to build with. Pets! (I see a turtle) New doors Bigger trees Slimes have umbrellas when it rains (it looks like) Rainbow thing? Waterfalls Better water Zombies with coats when you're in the snow biome Bunny gun? Much more backgrounds and wall tiles New Jungle Biome boss (Plantera) Underground trees and more plants Cannons! Minimap Lots more items Half bricks Stained glass Coloured water Lots more creatures Bigger variety of chests You can dye your armor! A beach ball ...

I loved the first two Robocop movies (not so much after that...), I remember very fondly from my childhood watching those movies and playing pretend (I would have liked it a lot to have gun that comes out of my leg!). Anyway, they're doing a remake, and it looks freaking amazing: Dead or alive, you're coming with me!

Last year Firaxis finally brought out a very long overdue remake of XCOM games - XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It is a great game and I enjoyed it thoroughly! Their first DLC for it, however, I didn't even bother getting - all it added was a new council mission, and you had to start a new game to actually be able to play it (if I'm not mistaken...). Anyway, in a few weeks they'll be launching a new DLC for it, and it looks to be just what the fans wanted! It includes new ways of leveling up your soldiers, new enemies and items, plus Mechs! Here's a gameplay video showing off some of the new things we can expect - also can't wait for this one!

Samsung did indeed reveal their next model, the Galaxy Note 3: This time around it seems they have a stitched case giving it a more authentic notebook type feel. And here are the official specs: (borrowed from the awesome guys at Mybroadband, here's their article:  http://mybroadband.co.za/news/smartphones/86121-samsung-galaxy-note-3-announced.html ). Specifications Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Maker - Samsung Dimensions -151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3mm Weight - 168g Operating system - Android 4.3 Display - 5.68-inch 1080p (1080×1920) Super AMOLED Rear camera - 13MP Front camera - 2MP Storage, internal - 32GB/64GB Storage, expandable - microSD RAM - 3GB (nice!) Processor - 2.3GHz quad-core (LTE); or 1.9GHz Octa core (3G) (nice too!) Battery - 3,200mAh That is some fine ass specs for a cellphone. They also changed the pen you get with it, making it more accurate. And another nice feature, you can have two windows open ...

September is looking to be a really exciting month for us geeks. Firstly, on 4 September Samsung is doing a big reveal, and everyone is pretty sure it's the Galaxy Note 3 . I really hope it is, and that they bring it to South Africa ASAP, I so want to get that phone! Sony is also announcing their follow up on their really cool Xperia Z, and I think the new one will be called the Xperia Z1 . Very VERY curious to see what they come up with this time... Also, the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5C - the 5s will look the same, but apparently with an upgraded camera, processor and storage options. The 5C will have a plastic case, which can be changed to all kinds of funky colours. So far, it looks like 10 September is the date to look out for that one... As far as gaming, the biggest title of the year: Yes, Grand Theft Auto V is being released, and I keep getting more and more excited about it by the day. It will have 3 main characters that you play with, and it seems like the map ...

I was pleasantly surprised to learn over the weekend that Telkom have doubled all of their capped accounts' data allowance, meaning I have a sweet 40gig now instead of 20! In South Africa, I have found it very important to have backups in terms of internet connectivity. On the one side, we have Telkom, who we can't avoid unfortunately, them having that nice monopoly of theirs and all. Their data flows through the SAT3 undersea cable. If SAT3 is down, then you're pretty much screwed. So it is wise to have a backup, especially if you work from home like I do. I also use Openweb, and Afrihost. But, it now and then happens that the actual copper line coming to my house is down, then it really feels like we're in the dark ages. And phoning Telkom usually doesn't help at all, you get through to some or other call centre in Bloemfontein or Jhb, and they never really give you much in terms of how long it's gonna take, or even what's wrong! The last resort when...