STG's

A couple of days ago, I've started using the excelent FTP Voyager , instead of my *very* old copy of WS_FTP Pro. While it did take a bit to get used to the new interface, it was well worth it. Some of the neat things: - SSH: I feel so much safer - Compression: now my logs are downloaded 90% faster. It's not so much for less repetitive file types, but still a lot on most text based files. - Synchronizing: instead of picking the files that changed manually, just tell it to synchronize. - Scheduling: it's very easy to schedule downloads and synchronization (both sides, server to client or client to server). I've added an item that grabs new log files, for example. And if you don't want to schedule, you can run it manually when you want to. - Multiple downloads/uploads: it automatically generates multiple connections when downloading several files. That saves a lot of time, specially if you are sending several small pages. Support is pretty good too - I...

...and the other reason was Half-life 2. Yes, I hate their delivery system and activation in general (but I'm still thinking whether to use it on my own software or not), but all in all, this is an awesome game. The *LOADING* time is very annoying, but the gravity gun and the neat physics system and the puzzles make it well worth the time spent. Far Cry still beats it on outside views such as jungles and water (and by a lot!), but other than that, HL2 is probably the best FPS shooter ever done. I also like the fact that it must be one of the first major titles to be distributed through the net at launch. I got a few games from Stardock's Totalgaming.net , but they are not anywhere in the same league as HL2. I still would rather have a download system that is less intrusive, like Stardock's, but I guess you can't have everything...

I've just finished reading State of Fear, and it was very good. The best part is easily the enormous amounts of graphs and data on global warming and the consequent discussion on what we know, as opposed to what was made up. Also great were the reflections on the state of scientific research and the increasing lengths to which media will go to increase the scale of turning pure speculation into major scares. The extra essays (on the e-book, not sure about the print versions) were very nice, too. Of course, it also helps that it just being released and I got a 100% rebate on Fictionwise . Some of the particularly scary parts is how much of the nuclear winter theory was made up (but hey, are you in favor of nuclear war?) and the DDT ban. One of the reasons I started posting at the blog again was this book. I just felt the need to post my opinion on such a great book. And the other reason...

I haven't posted in a few months. In that time, I read all available books of the Honor Harrington series , including both Anthologies available at Fictionwise. Not to mention several dozen other books... That particular series is just great, I've liked several other series by David Weber (Empire From Ashes and the Prince Roger series), but that is easily the best. One of the points I like the most is the tactical setup. The technology of the series is very well suited for complex (sometimes a little silly, but most often not) scenarios.