Chief Oddball – Page 4 – Oddball Update

Solving Windows 8 Sleep Issues

November 3, 2012November 3, 2012 Chief Oddball 4 Comments

I first installed Windows 8 when the RTM became available to MSDN subscribers in August, and on my home computer I had one serious problem that kept bugging the hell out of me and which I was never able to solve: Windows 8's sleep, hibernation and much-vaunted "Fast Startup" options just plain wouldn't work right.

Dodge Is The New Pontiac

October 21, 2012March 25, 2013 Chief Oddball

Nobody is reviving the American muscle car better than Dodge, who has apparently gone all-in with the idea of producing unapologetically aggressive stuff. With “in your face” styling borrowed from Pontiac’s operating manual, plus not one but three big-engined sports/muscle machines on offer, Dodge since 2009 has swiftly stepped in to fill the “driving excitement” void left by Pontiac.

Junior Programmer

October 18, 2012October 18, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

It’s a rare event when I actually go to bed at 8:30 in the evening, but tonight it’s happening because I’m whipped. A few months ago a coworker and I went through a crash course in .NET development using the custom GIS controls our company makes, and since then I’ve served as “Junior Programmer” (my words) for made-to-order projects when all of our mainline developers are otherwise tasked out.

A Grab Bag of Game Impressions

October 14, 2012January 23, 2013 Chief Oddball

I've come to the conclusion that I really, really like the Borderlands 2 soundtrack. Being a fairly gaudy shooter-looter, Borderlands 2 is not the sort of game that you would expect to have a sophisticated musical palette, but it's one of the best game soundtracks I've heard this year.

A Taste of the Mechromancer

October 11, 2012October 11, 2012 Chief Oddball

Just a quick update tonight as I come off a couple hours of Borderlands 2 goodness, during which I sped through several additional levels as Gaige the Mechromancer. Now that I’m getting class skills, it’s becoming quite interesting. I’ve decided to mainline the “Ordered Chaos” branch of Gaige’s skill tree.

Games and More Games

October 10, 2012October 10, 2012 Chief Oddball

As my mom recently pointed out, I think gaming is in my blood. As a kid I was always the one who wanted to drag out the Knight Rider board game, or The Game of Life, or Aggravation or even freaking Mouse Trap, much to the eye-rolling consternation of my parents.

Insurance Fragsters

October 9, 2012October 10, 2012 Chief Oddball 4 Comments

Over the summer, the company I work for began offering group health coverage for the first time in 18 months. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as affordable as the coverage they offered previously, which was based out of Kansas. The new Texas-based coverage was literally three times more expensive, to the point where I couldn’t even afford to insure my family.

A Traveling Success

October 7, 2012October 8, 2012 Chief Oddball 1 Comment

I’m going to try not to let this go to my head, but our son Connor apparently has no trouble flying around. In an airplane, that is. Most of us have experienced the shrieking and unruly baby on one flight or another, and now that the shoe is on the other foot, I was dreading the possibility of experiencing it up close and personal.

Face Value: Dead or Alive 5

October 4, 2012October 7, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

Known in some circles as the “beautiful fighter” — and not necessarily in a congratulatory sense — Dead or Alive is nonetheless my favorite fighting game series, and that status is only reinforced with the introduction of Dead or Alive 5.

I’m So Bad, I Vacation In Detroit

September 29, 2012October 4, 2012 Chief Oddball

I once saw the title of this post printed on a T-shirt. It was being worn by someone who has probably never ventured beyond the borders of California, but I appreciated the sentiment. Fact is, I’m here in the Detroit ‘burbs now, and it’s actually for a real vacation.

Author: Chief Oddball