Sometimes when I watch videos with MPC I find that I want to add some more videos to the playlist so that’ll they run after the video I’m watching. This can be done from the program, but you’ll have to muck about with opening the playlist and browsing through the programs little “Browse…” feature. It’d be very convenient to be able to add videos, songs, etc, to the playlist by just right clicking on them in Explorer (Like you’re able to with Winamp).
Well, this is possible thanks to the command line switches MPC has.

In Explorer goto Tools -> Folder Options and select the File Types tab. Select the file type you want to enable this for (for example .avi) and press Advanced. Press New. As Action type in:

Enqueue in MPC

and as Application type in:

"C:\WINDOWS\mplayerc.exe" /play /add "%1"

That is, if that’s where your Media Player Classic installation is located. If you installed to another directory, you need to adjust the above line to fit your installation. When done editing, press OK three times to get out of the menus.

That’s it! Now you should be able to right-click on any .avi file and select “Enqueue in MPC” and the video should be added to MPC’s playlist. I suggest you also add this Action to the following file types: .avi .mp4 .mpg .m2v, since those are all fairly common for video files.

• monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday
• catday, catsday, catnesday, catrsday, catday, caturday, catday

Why? Because days are named after gods we have worshipped in the past and I think it’s time to update the weekdays to gods we worship of today. No I don’t mean Jesus, Allah or any of that horseshit, anyone can see that stuff is bogus. I mean come on, the earth was made in 7 days, 6000 years ago? You people make me sick.

No, we need to set our worship-drives to maximum while changing to cat-gear. I mean, who doesn’t like hilarious cute cats with bad grammar? That’s right, no one. And if you happen to be that no one, then you are a dark soul my friend and you should seek professional help. Like, right now… seriously, go away.
Anyway, back to what I was talking about. What was I talking about? Oh yes, lolcats are awesome and need to be worshipped. We should make enermous statues with pointy ears, build churches with lots of sand in them, etc.

But we should begin with changing the weekdays to their cat-counterpart. We already changed saturday to caturday, what’s wrong with changing the rest? Ok, it could potentially be a bit annoying to have three days named “catday”, but let’s just change the week structure aswell to get around that:

• monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday
• catday, catsday, catnesday, catrsday, caturday, catsomeday

I removed one of the workdays, for convenience, so now we’ll work less and as a result be happier.
All of this might have been a little bit complicated, so here’s a nice little summation of the awesomeness this proposal will bring,

End result:

• No more focus on ancient gods
• Less workdays
• More lolcat pictures will be posted online
• People will be happier
• The financial crisis will be over

So there it is folks, it’s time for change and the world has recently been open to change, so I think this will work out just fine.

The idea is to sell Good old Games™ that are 100% compatible with Windows XP/Vista, that contains NO DRM, at a low price.

It seems like a really good idea and all, but, they really do need some more games on there. So far, it’s full of games were the “goodness” is kinda debatable… Such as:

• “Battle Chess: Special Edition” - A chess game? Yay…
• “Evolva” - I got this game for free with a PCGamer magazine, I don’t have it anymore though since I threw it away. It had a bit of a MDK-feel to it, but the concept was too done and boring already.
• “F/A-18E Super Hornet” - Some random flight-sim. Never heard of it before.
• “I.G.I. 2: Covert Strike” - Another game I acquired for free. I played it a few times… I remember not being able to finish the 4-5th level (something like that) because of a bug that kept comming back regardless of if I reinstalled it/patched it/whatever.
  It’s kind of like a bad ripoff off “007 GoldenEye” for N64. I managed to sell it for $3 though.
  The only user comment (as of now) on gog.com about this game reads:

  “Not good. I don’t like this game [...].” -Pajk

• “Kingdom: The Far Reaches” - Wtf? is that santa-claus?

  

• “Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader” - A quote from the user comments sums up the lack of excitement you should be feeling for this game:
  

  “[..] Lionheart failed to deliver.” -jopo

• “Shattered Steel” - Some old mechadroid-shooter. Lame.

But don’t worry, the store has a few gems and hopefully in the future it’ll be full of them. The gems include such wonders as “Operation Flashpoint” for $10, “Freespace 2” for $6 and “Fallout” for $6.

Anyway, the real story here is that there is an actual webstore out there, selling games, without forcing DRM on your ass. And that, is most definitely : cool.

Ben There, Dan That! by Zombie Cow Studios is one of those games. It has everything a fan of adventure games could ever want, and it’s FREE (donations are welcome though).
The game begins with a simple puzzle and a hilarious plot that just reeks of reference-humor. I can’t help but to fall in love instantly and declare that this game is absolutely awesome! After sorting out how to bring a zombie back to life, you’ll be introduced to the main plot of the game which is to get the TV-signal back up so the guys can watch Magnum P.I. How can you go wrong with such a plot? Do you really need to read anymore? Just go ahead and download it right NOW.

You look a bit tied up there, Zombie-Dan.

The puzzles involve roaming about randomly to try to grab as many things to put in your inventory as possible. Then you combine these things in some elaborate way to make your way to the next place where you’ll be roaming around randomly. All in good adventure gaming tradition of course. The difficulty level isn’t that high, so you shouldn’t be too frustrated with this game even if you’re a complete newbie with adventure games. And even if it’s somehow too much you can enjoy the game by going through the walkthrough with clues on Zombie Cow Studios website.

The visuals are very reminiscent of the good ol’ adventure games such as Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle or Sam & Max. Although not as detailed, but very much in the same spirit and style, which makes you feel right at home walking through the different rooms. The animations are far and few between, but once you get to one, it’s always a pay-off.
There are plenty of sound effects and some of them are really right on. Such as the “yoink!” sound when Ben picks up something. There’s background ambience sound in almost every room which is a really nice touch. There are no speaking voices, but that really isn’t necessary.

There are lots of jokes that references old adventure games and promptly make fun of them, and for someone like me who loves those good ol’ games: hilarity ensued. The writing is very much in the same style as fan would be used to, but there’s even jokes here that people who haven’t played any adventure game will enjoy.

There are a few bugs, but nothing major. And sometimes it gets a little annoying having to wait for Ben and Dan to walk all the way to the exit your clicking at. If one could double-click his way out of a room, that’d be swell! (hint).

Ben and Dan hanging around some Zombies.

Pros/Cons

+ Great graphics and sound effects that will bring you back to “the good ol’ days”.
+ Lots of fun
- A bit short.

Conclusion

All in all, this is a wonderful humourus adventure game that will appeal to all the fans of the classics and newbies to adventure gaming alike. The graphics, sound effects and story-line is everything you could hope for. This game DELIVERS. Go get it NOW. And, consider donating, so that the developers can be inspired to create an even better sequel!

If you can’t hear it.. then you might wanna go check your hearing. There’s an obvious buzzing noise when there’s supposed to be a slight increase in volume. This is what they in the industry call “clipping”

Clipping is a form of waveform distortion that occurs when an amplifier is overdriven, which happens through attempts to increase the voltage or current beyond its maximum power capability.

This is the waveform for the 'The Day That Never Comes' sample that you just listened to.

So, five years after the complete letdown that St. Anger was (to most of the fans anyway) due to the horrible production and lack of awesome Kirk-solos. Metallicas attempts to put out an awesome album was yet again foiled due to shoddy sound engineering. How could this have happened?

Didn’t they listen to the tracks before putting them on the cd? Or were there just too many steps of production, mastering, remastering, etc, with this problem showing up too late in the process for anyone to notice it before printing? Don’t worry, we’ll find out in due time. But in the meantime you can check out lots of other morons discussing it here.

But wait, there’s more (and this is the best part). The album recently became available for Guitar Hero 3 on Xbox360/PS3 and that version does NOT have any of these clipping problems. Don’t believe me? Listen to this.
Shocking isn’t it? One wonders how they managed to send a proper version to Neversoft but couldn’t manage to print a good sounding version on CD! I guess you got to buy your albums for video games nowadays if you don’t want them ridden with sound distortion problems!

The waveform for the Guitar Hero 3 version of the sample.

If you don’t have an Xbox360 or a PS3, you might just find the Guitar Hero 3 version on the internet somewhere…

Some further reading on this topic:

• Metallica “Death Magnetic” sounds better in Guitar Hero by Ian Shepherd
• Low Volume in GH3? Read this! by Hancoque
• YouTube: Metallica Death Magnetic - CD vs. Guitar Hero comparison by florixg

There’s a moral here. You try to find it.

Correct Answer: The store charges way too much for cigarettes.

“The game incorporates a draconian DRM system that requires you to activate over the internet, and limits you to a grand total of 3 activations. If you reach that limit, then you’ll have to call EA in order to add one extra activation. That’s not as simple as it sounds, since when you reach that point EA will assume that you, the paying customer, are a filthy pirating thief. You will need to provide proof of purchase, reasons why the limit was reached, etc, etc (it has all happened before with another recent EA product, Mass Effect). EA, of course, is not obligated to grant you that extra activation or even provide that service. In a couple of years they might very well even shut down the general activation servers, because “it’s not financially feasible” to keep them running. What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing.

This basically means that you are actually RENTING the game, instead of owning it. The game WILL stop to function in the future. That’s inevitable, because even if EA keeps the activation servers going, there IS going to be a time when EA will simply cease to exist because of financial issues or federal laws (like most businesses eventually do).”

The real irony here is that the people who decided to download the cracked version (that came out 5 days before store release), won’t have to deal with any of this. So, the end result:

• Piracy wasn’t thwarted in any way whatsoever.
• Paying customers end up with an inferior product that can only be installed three times, requires internet for activation, might not work at all in the future and could likely cause your cd/dvd-burner to stop functioning. And on top of that, they will be treated like criminals as soon as they complain.

I think I’ve made my point already. But just for fun, here are some other quotes from the amazon review page:

“I purchased Spore directly from EA on Sunday night when it was released, and have yet to even install it because EA forces you to install their “EA Download Manager” first, which won’t install on my machine (Vista Home Premium). So I am here, 2 days later, no response from EA support to my open tickets, not able to even install the game that I paid for. I’ve opened a paypal dispute against EA/DigitalRiver but I doubt I am going to get my money back. Looks like EA made an easy $50 off me, but I promise you EA, it will be your last. “

“I wanted to voice my concern over the DRM. Electronic Arts, if you are reading this, take notes.

No one wants DRM in their video games.

I have long awaited the release of Spore; I was going to run out and purchase a “copy” until I heard about the 3 time install limit. This is worse then Microsoft Window’s activation scheme. Until the DRM is removed, I will not purchase this game.”

“The DRM for the game utilizes securom which is essentially a virus that installs itself without warning when you install the game. There is no way to completely remove it without reformatting and it is constantly running in the background if not removed. Sucking up computer resources.

It also is overpriced. This is actually a RENTAL, not a bought game because it only lets you install 3 times. If you install over 3 times then you must call EA customer support and beg them to let you play the game you bought. Did I mention the call is not free? If you live outside the U.S. it will be a very expensive call.”

Hopefully EA will learn it’s lesson and NOT use DRM in the future.  Maybe they could learn a thing or two from Stardock and Gas Powered Games.

4.1 Changelog:

• Added: Option to disable bold in media stats
• Fixed: Minor Mplayerc bug

Download v4.1
(The old version (3.2) that doesn’t use COM can be downloaded from here)

Don’t forget to read the readme before asking me any questions.

I’ve already played a through the demos of Settlers VI and Heroes V and I think they are wonderful strategy games. Ever since Settlers II, all of the sequels in the series have sucked, up until now, Settlers VI is actually fun and interesting. I’d recommend it to anyone who liked Settlers II back in the day. The same goes for Heroes V, this game makes up for the horror that was Heroes IV and brings back the joy of Heroes III in a whole new outfit. Both games stay true to the (good parts) of their series and Heroes V in particular doesn’t really bring that much new to the table. However, it’s still great fun!
I’ve never played Stalker before since the Stalker demo refused to start on my pc for some reason. But that was like a year ago now I guess, so now those bugs should be fixed…. That’s what I assume anyway. Even if it doesn’t start, I can probably sell the game for a higher price on Tradera once the CDON sale is over.

Something I cannot sell however is Toca Race Driver. I got this game for free when I bought Battlefield 1942 3-4 years ago and I haven’t played it once. I have tried selling it on Tradera two times. First time for 30 SEK ($5) and the second time for 1 SEK (17 cents), which is the minimum amount you can sell something for on Tradera. I didn’t even have more than like 10 page hits on the auctions, either time! No one wants this stupid game! Thus, it goes in the trash.

Look at it down there in the trashcan. It looks sad… Sad like a forgotten, unwanted old piece of shit game should be. You can almost imagine tears coming out of the eyes of that race driver. No wait, tears ARE coming out of those big sad eyes! Just wait until I’ve blown my nose a few more times and you’ll be covered in snot, then you’ll have a reason to cry. Unwanted, unloved, unsellable AND covered in snot! How do you like that huh?! Yeah, fuck you, you lonely, sad, depressing, low quality, old motherfucking piece of plastic disc shit.

Once you’ve installed it and opened it up, go to Editing -> Click to extract streams from AVI/MP4/MOV/TS files. Choose the out of sync google video you have as Input. Then choose Extract All Streams to Raw Format and click Next. After it’s done processing you will most likely have a .h264 and .aac file in the folder where the .mp4 file is (those are the formats I’ve run into so far). The .h264 file contains the video and the .aac file contains the audio. All we have to do now is readd these two streams into a new .mp4 file while altering the fps of the video.
Open up Yamb again and go to Creation -> Click to create an MP4 file with multiple audio, video, subtitle and chapter sstreams. Add the .h264 file and click on Properties. In there you add “30.000″ (without quotations) under Frame-Rate. Press OK and add the .aac file, after that, just press Next. Yamb will now mux the streams together and output a correct in-synch .mp4 file for you.

I hope this works as well for you as it worked for me. Here’s a video you can try it out on that I did it on myself: Matt Mason on The Pirate’s Dilemma. If you can’t get it working on that video, you’re doing something wrong