Hoshnasi

Back in August I was hit by a moving truck while riding home on my bicycle. Paramedics came to the scene and checked me out. They bandaged my tore up arm and as I remember it mentioned to me that “Ambulance rides are expensive, the hospital is just down the road a block maybe you should just walk there or get some family to take you.” So I did just that, in my post accident haze I waited till my fiance came and got me. We popped into the hospital and I got five brand new stitches in my arm.

A few weeks later I get a bill for $300.00 from the paramedics who arrived on the scene. I joked saying “Thats alot of money for someone to wrap my arm in gauze.” The next day I called the paramedics billing company and forwarded them my medical insurance info. Fast forward to yesterday I see a bill from my insurance co. that is for $300.00. Very much perplexed I called them this morning. During the call I was informed that my coverage only covers paramedic treatment when after you ride to the hospital in the ambulance. I twirled this info around in my head and it hurt. It was so illogical I almost had to spit. I asked the women from the insurance “So let me get this straight. I got hit by a car. Paramedics came because I was bleeding all over the place and stopped the bleeding. I elected not to ride in the ambulance because the hospital was down the road and I am not covered for that?” - “Correct” she replied. My next question was “Had I taken the block ride in ambulance would the insurance cover my paramedic treatment?” The answer was of course “Yep!”

So, because I didn’t want a spectacle made of myself being put into an ambulance, nor did I want one less ambulance out there helping people hurt far worse than me I get stuck with a $300.00 bill for treatment that I needed regardless of how I made it to the hospital.

After the phone call I sat in amazement and then a morbid thought entered my mind. If I had been hit by car and I died on the scene after paramedic treatment and there was no ambulance ride would they still send the bill for the on-side treatment?

I’m still sitting here in awe of the stupidity of this.

Cooper Lawrence of MassEffect smashing fame came out with an apology in a New York Times interview yesturday. Here is an excerpt:

“…Ms. Lawrence said that since the controversy over her remarks erupted she had watched someone play the game for about two and a half hours. “I recognize that I misspoke,” she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke.

“Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,” she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.”

That was a very classy way of handling this. She sounds like a completely resonable person and does not need to be thrown into the Jack Thompson pile with the rest of the sensationalist bozo’s.

I’m really quite glad with this positive turn of event. I hope we can all look at Cooper in agreement that she is reasonable and at least willing to put forth some research before taking a bad position.

Kudos! You can read the full story here.

This kid is amazing. In my mind, if it was America I don’t know that this kid would be legally responsible for the party. While yes, the crowd came to his house, I’m not exactly sure he planned on 500. That seems a bit ridiculous. He also seemed to follow the instructions of the police and he stayed inside. However I’m not a lawyer.

Best part is where the new anchor tries to get him to repent and say “KIDS DON’T DO THIS!” instead he gives her the preverbial middle finger and says “Get me to do it for you.”

Either that or they have been living in the studio for some 20+ years.

Again video games are in the media. This time a piece on Fox News. Mass Effect is the target of a psychologist Cooper Lawrence, a dumb blonde anchor and an ethnically diverse panel, NONE of whom have actually played the game. Oh there is also Geoff Keighley trying his best to shoot these morons down.

High points on the banter:

- Wannabe psychologist Cooper Lawrence calling Keighley “darling”, then asking the anchor to “let me at him.”

- The panel of morons talking about the Good-ole-days of Atari.

- References to “Full Digital Graphic Nudity” and “Ability for players to engaged in sex and to control the characters actions”

- Wannabe psychologist saying “…they are seeing women as objects of desire that are only wanted for their sexuality and its a man who decides who he wants to be with.” Hosh note: Insanity, Cooper Lawrence pushing her own agenda here using a game as the spring board. Mass Effect for all intensive purposes is a pretty unbiased game. As Keighley said, “You can play as a woman or a man”. I’d also like to add, that in this game the characters in your party are valued members of the team not for sexuality, but for specialized skills used in battle

- “Boys who play video games cannot tell the difference between reality and what they are seeing in a game”

- 30-somethingish host saying “I just had my first experience buying a video game recently” Hosh note: WHAT THE HELL. What country do you live in? Are you a member of a nomadic arctic circle tribe that hunts seals for food? If you have no field of reference you opinion is moot!

- “Who can argue Luke Skywalker meets “Debbie Does Dallas” is a good thing?”

Hosh note: Again, what is wrong with these people. The game isn’t called Mass Screwing. They make it sound like you spend the whole game scoring chicks and objectifying them. The game has little to do with the small sexual scene and its there for character development.

A young kid isn’t going to sit down pop in Mass Effect for the sake of seeing side-boob. Its a FORTY FREAKING HOUR game. The scene in question isn’t for hours into the game. No child has the patients to see a boob that badly, hell. No one does.

This story is getting alot of attention. Cooper is getting book review slammed on Amazon and other gaming sites have picked it up.

Kotaku, Game Politics

Work takes alot of my time during the week Then there are the general chores and eating to think.

Most days however I can sneak a break on Travian. Travian is an online nation building game. Its all web-based and is pretty simple at first glance. You have a field of resources. In the center is your village. You upgrade the fields to yield more resources. Then spend the resources on buildings, research and troops. The games typically run for months. Alliances are made with other players and epic wars are fought. Towards the end, a new race appears. In the form of an admin controller race called the Nadars. In their villages they have ancient tomes for creating world wonders. After raiding the Nadars for the ancient tomes an alliance can construct a wonder. Completing the wonder ends the game and feels very much like Civilization 4. Thats the game in a nutshell.

However there is much much more. Since it is played online with other players there is a ton of aggression and fighting. Those without an alliance find their villages smashed and pillaged for its valuable resources. Sometimes leaders with large armies will request protection funds to keep the smaller villages from getting smashed, normally by the leader providing the proection.

Its an easy timewaster and with most web-based games free to play and enjoy. Try it at your peril though. Its highly addicting, esspecially once you see some jerk with a massive army come raid you. The learning curve is light, mastery however is very difficult.

When the announcement at MacWorld came that the iPod Touch would be receiving a software update I went out to find a cheap one on eBay.  Fast forward a week and I have in my hot little hands a Touch.  Its really quite nice.  I like the size the most I think.

Next on my list is to get the SDK.  Should be fun to make something for this nicely integrated device.

For the readers out there.  What web tools do you use?  I went to find some, but didn’t get very far.

I’m literally in shock right now. Heath Ledger, star of many a movie I like has passed away today. He was discovered in full cardiac arrest by his housekeeper and masseuse.

I hope we don’t learn that his untimely passing had anything to do with drugs.

Its 10:47 as I type this up. I’ve been sitting on the couch surfing around different sites. Look up the details on loading the ScummVM emulator on my iPod Touch when it gets here. The reason is simple.

But back to the Food Network. I’m watching Dinners Drive-ins and Dives. Tonights episode I believe is a re-run. Regardless, its about BBQ. BBQ gets me going. I love it, brisket and ribs is just heaven to me. I like it slightly sweet and spicy. Then problem is as I mentioned its almost 11:00 and I have an urge to find BBQ of any kind.

So there is this email list at work of Apple fans.  In the worldwide aerospace company I work for this list circles the globe talking about Apple fan-boyism.  Its really helpful most of the time.  Someone always knows the answer to different questions.  However when MacWorld comes around the troubleshooting lessens and it becomes a torrent of fan boy love.  Today’s topic:  The Apple TV.  I myself do not have alot of interest in the set-top box.  Maybe because I have a chipped OG xbox rigged with a 200gb hd that out performs the Apple TV (without wifi though).  So when the comments went from “Picture looks great!”, “Its easy for my kids to run.” or “regardless if its 1080i, it looks great on my 1080p TV.”   to, “So, you guys check out the rentals?”

I quipped.  “Just speaking on the movie rentals alone.  Isn’t Netflix a better deal?”

*SCREECH!!!!!!*  The fan boy train just derailed.

<BEGIN FAN BOY REPLY DUMP> - My comments in bold.

<I would think it would depend on the number of movies you rent a month.  Isn’t netflix about $20.  About all I could rent in a good month is 2 movies, so for me Apple TV would work out best.> 

 So naturally I sent an email stating.  “I don’t have any rental service, so I’m not a shrill.  The website says plans start at $4.99 and if that’s 2 rentals a month.  Its already beating the iTunes rentals. “

<I think it is 2 rentals a month, max.  I’ll take the convenience of downloads vs. mailers for the diff, and the fact that many months my quota would be 1 or zero.  That’s just me though. >

I stopped replying after here figured I’d ride the wave.  Not to mention what he is saying is pretty lame.  Like he would never log into NetFlix to watch part of a streamed movie?  I’m waving the BS flag.  Not to mention you just queue up movies and they show up and you aren’t ties to a 24 hour watch timer.

<…Netflix may be cheaper for a bulk plan, but they are not instant for last minute movie watching.>

I can see the marketing strategy now. “iTunes rentals, for those who can’t plan ahead.” Or, “iTunes, use it when you find you have too much time on your hands at the last minute.”

<END FAN BOI DUMP>

Remember this is a thread from a major company so the replies are muted, but I can only imagine those who sent replies are in reality grinding they’re teeth together as I send the rental system down the stream in a basket made of reeds.

Apple, cut the price point and double the nanny watch timer.

I don’t know about you. I thought the weighted companion cube would play a larger part in my portal life. For those who want to relive its companionship, like me. Check this link