mYstAddict's Blog

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

Well, there are five days until Christmas... and everything in Riven is done in fives...

I posted this image exactly one year ago, and am going to make a tradition of it. I was going to try to improve the image this year, but time got short. So, anyway, have a Very Merry Christmas everyone!

Interims today!

2006-12-13T13:54:00.001-08:00

I got my interim report today, doing much better than I was at the end of 1st quarter. My grades are as follows:

Italian 1 H: C

English 1 H: 85=B

World History H: 87=B+

Biology 1 H: 68=D

Algebra II: 99=A+

Intro to Career Dev.: "Passing"

Health Ed.: "Passing"

My Italian grade is really a B, but my teacher gave me a 0 on a quiz I was absent for yesterday... it stays a 0 until I make it up. A bit silly, really, but oh well. The Biology grade is shitty because I split my time in that class between not being able to hear the teacher, and wondering what the hell is going on. Oh, well, probably leaving the Honors track in Science anyhow. I didn't get numbers or letters for Health or Car. Dev., I was merely informed that I was "passing", as opposed to being "borderline" or "failing". I'm pretty sure I have A's in both classes, though. So, all around, a good interim report.

Interims today!

2006-12-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

0|-| 73|-| |\|035 7|-|3R 0|\| 2 \_/5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1one

2006-11-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

Leet speak

Parent panic taken too far-now 1337$|o33|< is a secret language used by hackers and online gamers, and now YOUR TEEN IS USING IT TO KEEP SECRETS FROM YOU. They make the symbols and number represent letters, and ARRANGE THESE SYMBOLS AND NUMBERS TO LOOK LIKE THE LETTER THEY REPRESENT. SHOCKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

MUST... HELP.... YEEEESHAAAAAAHHH!

2006-11-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

Which Myst Character are You?

You are Achenar. Your greatest asset is your strength. You tend to rely too much on what you can accomplish with brute force rather than finesse. Your love of fighting turns you savage on occasion, and drives you to horrible extremes.
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Thank God for Politicians

2006-11-07T07:38:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I bet you never thought I'd say that seriously, did you?

And why do I say it? Because I get election day off from school.W007! A nice day off to ... do homework. Oh, well. I'll get plenty of time today to do what I wish. Eventually.

Moving on... not much to say, except I REALLY CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THEY REOPEN THE CAVERN! It's going to be great. I won't be able to get down right away, but I will be down there within a month of the cavern opening. Finally! The chance to actually meet some of the fellow explorers I have been talking to online!

Well, I guess that's all for now, until later, shorah!

About the last post, and other things...

2006-11-03T20:34:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I had a long project due, which I had put off for a long while... I was a bit stressed (understatement). Luckily, I got that pile of shit out of my way, and it's on to the next pile! I have a six-to-eight page essay due in two weeks, on cystic fibrosis, which is just a horrible topic any way you look at it: not happy, not amusing, not joyful, not interesting... yeah.

Well, life goes on... I've been getting back into gaming, as I said a couple posts ago, and have been playing some HomeWorld and StarCraft: The Brood War lately. Unfortunately, I cannot find my AoK disc-I have been searching for months. It's just gone. So I will be ordering the AoK Gold Edition sometime in the next couple of weeks-need to get some money together first.

Speaking of lost discs, I have someones BattleFront discs sitting here on my desk, their either T'layeh's or NBuick's, guys, I need to get these back to their rightful owner.

I guess that's all for now, until next time, good night, and good luck.

I HATE REPORTS

2006-11-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

ESPECIALLY USELESS ONES THAT ARE MUCH HARDER THAN NECESSARY.

Sooooooooo long without updating

2006-10-26T19:02:00.001-07:00

Damn. First update in a looong while. School has been hell, as always. I'm actually passing some classes this year, as contrasted to last year, when my highest grade in an academic class was a D. When I got my interims a while back, my grades ranged from a 77 (C+, in Science) to a 93 (A-, in Math). I have a mixed bag of classes and teachers this year: I like my English teacher, and my Math and Career Dev. teachers, and my World History teacher just plain PWNS. I have a horrible Science teacher, however. Which sucks, since with the right teacher, I can enjoy Science. So, yeah, not enjoying Science this year. I am enjoying Math, however, and am doing much better than I did last year. I found out yesterday that I have a 95 average in that class. Probably my highest grade since 6th grade. Granted, I am taking the exact same course that I did last year... but oh well. My World History class is beyond awesome, I had a 92 average at interims, and I am really enjoying the class. I can't say I'm really enjoying my English class, but at least I am doing well. My Italian 2 class isn't bad. And Bio is just horrible. It's aweful. I hate my teacher. He is uber-confusing. He makes no sense, even when you can hear what the man is saying. Uhggh. As for my other two classes: Intro to Career Dev. is a joke, no work ever gets done. Good period for doing homework, though. And P.E. is moderatly fun, when the jocks don't take control of the class. In other words, it sucks, too.

I'm not getting as much homework as I did last year, thankfully. I don't have any teachers who take pleasure in assigning behemoth assignments to be done in one night, as my Alg. 2 teacher did last year. I have a few projects, though: so far, I have done one on a potential future career as a Computer Programmer, for Business, a project on an idol, also for business: I did H. P. Lovecraft. Just last night, I completed a Science project on the Grassland Biome, possilby the most boring topic on the Planet Earth. I also have an English project on The Grapes of Wrath due next week, and a massive essay on Cistic Fibrosis due for Science towards the end of the month; I have even started that thing yet. I think it has to be a minimum of 6 pages of writing, Times New Roman 12. Double spaced, thankfully. I think that's it for projects, but I know I have a big one on Ancient Greece coming up, and NO INTERNET SOURCES ALLOWED. Uhghh.

I have some more time this year for extra-work activities. I have joined the Italian Club, which is quite fun-I have also been elected treasurer of that club. I have been semi-active gaming, as well-not as much, lately, but I did play through Half-Life recently, excellant game. I shall be starting the expansion packs pretty soon here. I have also found my Homeworld disc, I will probably restart that pretty soon here as well. I've also been writing a couple short stories recently, I might post them here when I get the wrinkles ironed out.

Ah, well, that's all for now. Good night, and good luck.

An interlude from all the Myst/Uru stuff: AVG proves its worth

2006-08-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a hint: don't download a virus. I did yesterday, and let me tell you, it sucked. I'm glad I got rid of Norton VIRUS, and am now using AVG, as AVG is awesome. It took care of the virus (which had scattered itself around my computer), and I am now (mostly) virus free.

The End of Ages

2006-08-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

CAUTION: THIS POST CONTAINS [b]EXTREME[/b]MYST V[B]SPOILERS[/B]. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE SERIES!

Well. That's it. I'm done. The ending, at least for the Stranger, has been written. He/I am now living in Releeshan, with Atrus, until the end of his days. A nice way to end the series. My only gripe: it didn't end with "the ending can never truly be written" being said by Atrus. Oh, one more gripe: officially, you never revisit Myst island if you go for the good ending. Oh well.

As for the rest of the game... it was good. Esher got annoying, but oh well. All of the ages were nice, and Noloben and Todelmer were fantastic.

I am going to write up a full review, and post it here when it is done. Following this shall be a review for every entry in the series, and a website, possibly at mystaddict.tlayeh.com, containing various Myst things: Myst reviews, walkthroughs, favorite scenes/screenshots, wallpapers, etc, all created by me, in memory of the greatest games I have ever played.

Shorah B'shem.

The ending can never truly be written.

No Beta for me... but playing plenty of MV instead

2006-08-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

Sigh... I didn't get into beta... THIS TIME! Oh, well, ,there are always other things to do, such as Until Uru, Myst V, Quake 3, Jedi Academy... yeah. I'm doing quite well in Myst V, after many hours of playing, I ahve reached Laki'ahn, the last of the four ages. I'm doing well in it, am making some progress. It looks like I'm going to finish this Myst game in record time... Less than two months! It is fairly short, and I've had lots of time to play, so... yeah.
I played Quake 3 yesterday for the first time in a while, and remebered how much fun it is. Haven't played online with it, recently, am training with bots to get back in shape.
Well... I am also downloading the demo for Battlefield 2, I heard that it doesn't REQUIRE a 256 MB video card like I thought... I'm still doubting that it will work, but it can't hurt to try.
So, lots of gaming going on... and so much more gaming to do! Haven't played MP or AOEIII or hardly any strategy games at all recently, I need to get into shape there, too.
Well, as a final note, I got Xfire, so everyone can see what I'm playing, and can look in the statistics and see how much I PWN bots in Q3. Will find out how to incorporate it into this blog shortly.

URU LIVE BETA

2006-08-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

It's starting... emails have not yet been sent, don't know if I'm in yuet or not.... skyping Layeh... he hasn't gotten his either.... will update if i get in

Path of the Shell is complete... Started Myst 5

2006-07-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished PotS the other day, after spending many hours on it. Much thanks to TL for helping me finish THE EVIL AHNONAY. I will now be coming into the cavern on UU more often, hopefully every night. My KI number is 02003112 (need to type that out repeatedly to help memorize, 02003112, 02003112...)
PotS was nice, more plot than To D'ni, and Er'cana was a very nice age, as was Myst Island and K'veer (the ending was quite nice). Ahnonay, however, was probably one of my least favorite ages I have encountered so far in my travels, second only to Serenia. 'Twas confunsing, and not very large.
I started EoA as well, it is nice so far, I finished Tahgira, the first age last night. It was fun, and very nicely done, but it was short. I hope the other ages are a bit larger...
And, oh yes, I got to revisit THE GREAT SHAFT! 'Twas marvelous. 'Twas awesome.

Esher is starting to get on my nerves. HOW DARE HE BLAME TI'ANA FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF D'NI, IT WAS CLEARLY D'NI PURISTS LIKE HIMSELF AND VEOVIS THAT CAUSED THE FALL!

The game is still great, though.

Starting down the Path of the Shell...

2006-07-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

I started PotS last night, and continued today. So far, I haven't done much except explore, which is the best part of the Myst games. I've reached both Er'cana and Ahnonay, and have been exploring Er'cana mostly. It's an awesome age, I love the huge tram-type thing. Ahnonay was a nice age as well, I was amused by the fact that I can swim. However, I have a feeling that I'm not going to have as much fun swimming later on... It's so hard to fight the currents... oh well, PotS seems short (I only have 1 book missing from my library, now), but promises to be fun.

To D'ni: Completed (At last)

2006-07-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

Whew... [i]finally[/i] finished To D'ni today, 'twas lots of fun. The puzzles were fairly blah, none of them were very memorable. The plot was ok, not much of it, but it was good, especially the journal at the end. The locations were astounding, finally being able to explore D'ni was awesome. And I am now officially a Myst Geek: at the end, I literally lost my breath when I figured out I was in the tunnels used by Gehn and Atrus in BoA, and it took me a full ten seconds to mentally realize that these were just 3d models, not the actual tunnels. Overall, TD was great, and I can't wait to start PotS.

First Blog Post in a While

2006-06-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Ah, hello world. So, its finally summer, I've finally gotten out of Junior High. I've gotten a chance to resume Uru, I'm so far behind in it, still haven't finished To D'ni. I got a copy of EoA, though, so as soon as I finish To D'ni and PotS, I can start on that.
In other news, I discovered that Norton Virus was taking up NEARLY 60 GIGS on my HD, so that was finally deleted. I'm now in the process of cleaning up my hard drive, by making directories of programs and deleting those I don't need, and making a directory of files, and putting those files into logical categories and folders.
So, therefore, my goals for this summer are to:
-Organize files on the computer
-Finish Uru
-Begin and finish EoA
-Improve my CS:S skills
-Improve my AOK and AOE3 skills
-Purchase Myst: Book of D'Ni

So much to do... such a short time to do it. I have summer homework, too; four books to read and do reports on; two of them are generic young adult novels, but the other two are The Once and Future King and Soul of a New Machine, which seem to be really, really, good. I also have a math packet to do, which shouldn't be too hard, since I think its the same one I did last year. (I'm repeating my Alg 2 class, 'twas just horribly taught this year, I couldn't follow it).

Anyway, got to get back to work, organizing 81 GB of stuff is no small task.

NHD

2006-04-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

I went to the state competition for NHD today... all 7 hours of it. 'Twas very disorganized, I spent about half the time wandering around the college campus it took place on. However, it paid off in the end; I got first place in the "Junior Individual Documentaries" category, and I get to go to D.C. to compete in the Nationals. I'm the only person from my school to go though, so I won't know anyone there.

Fight Micro$oft!!!11one!! elevenexclamationmark

2006-04-28T10:52:00.001-07:00

I recently downloaded off Shareaza an .iso of Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2, a $300 file! I haven't got a chance to burn it yet, to tell if it is real; I will do that tonight. However, if it is real. it could come in handy... about 6 or 7 computers here at school, including the one I am on here in the Computer Lab, use XP Pro SP2. As the disc I d/l'ed is supposedly bootable, I can use it to gain admin access... heehee. As a final note, this file is apparently popular; I got > 600 kbs (!!!) on the d/l. Best d/l rate I have ever gotten. \m/. All for now, will post more once I have the disc burned.

EDIT 7/10/06: Changed title slightly to make it a bit smaller.

Schools Out.... A Day Early For Me

2006-04-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

HA! My last day of school was Wednesday. Technically, it would have been today, but I didn't go in today, since I was sick. So I stayed home all day and watched Lord of the Rings and played CS:S. In other words: my day pwnd.

Norton antiVIRUS is Spam

2006-04-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

So I log onto the computer, my mother has just finished using it, ready to get some homework done, when Norton antiVIRUS pops up with a message, saying it has taken a file, moved it to Quanantine so I have no idea whatit is, and deleted it, because it might have been a virus. After going through about 100 of these messages, I go to the quarantine folder to find TWENTY-NINE GIGS OF TINY ONE KB FILES!!!! How these appeared in then hour my mother used the computer, I don't know, because it takes me a couple days to download just a gig of data. I am currently deleting all the files; after that goes the Norton Virus. Of course, when I tried to delete it before, it told that me (the computer admin) did not have permission to delete it. This really pisses me off. I control my computer, it doesn't control me.

Scratches

2006-04-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

Current Music: Det Som En Gang Var ~ Burzum

Downloaded an ISO for the adventure game Scratches... haven't had much of a chance to play, but from what I've seen, it seems kind of like Myst, only it takes place in a creepy old house. It uses prerendered graphics that are about the same quality as Exile's; in other words, very good. The music is also very nice.

I am now downloading ISO's for Jedi Academy, in preparation for April Vacation.

Yeah...

2006-04-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

Current Music: Khazad Dum ~ Summoning, from the Dol Guldur album.

So... the last post was a (rather lame, last minute)April Fool's joke, if you didn't notice. I know, not very funny, but, well, I did it at 10:00 at night. Anyway, to read an April Fool's joke that is actually funny, go here. Not much else to say... so I guess I will wrap up this post.

Farewell, Shorah, and Ciao.

Moving

2006-04-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

Unfortunatly, I will soon be moving. There was a slight shift in job detail for my dad, so within the next week, I will be moving to Japan for a couple of years.

I got CS:S!!!!

2006-03-17T16:59:00.000-08:00

Well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. Purchased CS:S off steam, paid my $19.95, and am now waiting for the remaining 4% to download.

National History Day

2006-03-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

Current Music: Iron Man ~ Black Sabbath, from the Paranoid album.

Was not able to get CS... or play at all this weekend :-(. Was working on the documentary on Vietnam protest songs I'm doing for National History Day. Now that that is just about over, I can breathe... and begin work on the next Social Studies project. Arg. Summer is just too far away...

I Hate My Math Teacher

2006-03-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

I guess when it comes to teaching, teaching a lesson is fine. And assiging homework is fine. Assigning homework after teaching a lesson is good. Teaching a lesson and not assigning homework is even better. But not teaching something assigned for homework is a sign that the devil is afoot. I guess there's a reason 666 is the answer to a lot of the math problems we do in class.

Uru resumed... and Myst fanfic

2006-03-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Music: Slayer ~ Silent Scream from the South of Heaven album.

Last night, I played To D'Ni for the first time in Yahvo-knows how long. I finally got a break from the nightly grind of homework. The way things are looking, I'll be able to play again tonight... I just need to draw a picture depicting a scene from the novel Starship Troopers. For english. Why am I drawing for English homework, and not writing IN [b]ENGLISH[/b]??? Who knows.

In other news, I have written two short stories, one based on Myst, the other on Riven. I have had some free time in English class lately, so I wrote some short fiction. Hopefully, I can type them up before the day is up, and post them here tomorrow.

All for tonight. Shorah.

(4 days till I get CS:S!!!)

Been A While

2006-03-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

Current Music: Robyn Miller ~ Temple, From the Riven Soundtrack

Its been a while since I've updated this blog... since I've played Myst... since I've played anything, period... since I've done anything besides homework, really. However, this is gradually changing. I'm planning to get CS:S next week off steam... will hopefully be able to play on Nick's new server. I had the National Italian Exam yesterday... probably did horrible on it. I could barely hear the listening portion. I'm now going to write what music I'm listening to in my blog entries, since I now have 94 hours of music on my hard drive. Thats all for now. Shorah.

Opera

2006-01-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have left the Firefox webrowser for Opera. I still use Firefox, but I like Opera better. Give it a try, it's pretty nice.

The Riven Soundtrack!

2006-01-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

For my birthday, I recieved the Riven soundtrack CD! 54 minutes of Riven music awesomeness! 19 tracks from the game, plus a bonus track that sounds like rejected music for the game.

Look at it here

I Finished Uru Prime!`

2006-01-03T17:26:00.000-08:00

So, I finished Uru Prime. It was great. Far better than I expected initially. I also started To D'ni today. Wandered for about 3 hours, couldn't get anywhere, broke down, used a hint, and found out I start out in Teledahn. I'm kind of disappointed; I couldn't wait to explore the City, but now I have to go back to an age I've already explored. Oh well. Hopefully, it will get better.

Myst IV Bashing

2006-01-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Click

Well, having recently gotten Myst IV back from Matt, I went through my Revelation bookmarks, and found this little site. Very funny... if you don't mind a bit of Myst IV bashing.

I GOT AOE3!!!

2005-12-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

YAY! I finally got Age of Empires 3! I haven't had much of a chance to play it yet, I've just played the tutorials and a bit of a skirmish, but it's great so far! The graphics are amazing, and it is every bit as fun as AOK. One thing I have learned so far: artillary is fun. Very, very, fun.

I should walk around like this

2005-12-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

This is extremely funny. I would call the guy in this a geek, but that would be a bit hippocritical.

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

FIVE days till Christmas... and everything in Riven is done in FIVEs!

(screencap from Riven photoshopped in under 10 minutes by mYstAddict.)

Riven to be released on Pocket PC!

2005-12-18T14:32:00.000-08:00

Riven on the Pocket PC

It seems that porting Myst games to portable devices is all the rage. First Myst for the Pocket PC, then for the PSP, and now Riven for the Pocket PC. Riven for the Pocket PC requires
"Any Pocket PC 2003 or higher, 128 MB free Expansion Card, 16 MB free program space".

Screw the PSP, now I need a PocketPC!!!

Uru music in Munich TV Spot!

2005-12-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

The song 'Kadish Gallery' (one of my personal favourite songs from the Myst games) from Uru was featured in a TV spot for Spielberg's new film, Munich! 'Nuff said.

See it here

A new reason why I need a PSP

2005-12-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

A PSP: A Playstation Portable.
333 Megahertz Processor
32 Megabytes of Ram
4.3 Inch Display
Built-in stereo speakers
Capable of playing movies, audio, and most of all games.

But now: MYST IS BEING RELEASED ON IT!!!

The same old Myst game we all love, probably just a variation on Myst for the pocket PC, but with "new adventure scenarios."

That's all the info we have now, but it's enough.

I now officially NEED a PSP!

The Lattice Shard

2005-12-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

My friend Nick has been busy lately creating his own Until Uru Shard. It is almost ready to go public, and will be called The Lattice Shard. I am one of the members of the small staff for the shard, and I am in charge of public relations. So far, we have had two staff meetings. At the first one, we established the roles of all the members and the time and place of the meetings. The second one was held last night, and only two members attended: myself and Nick. We did not decide on anything of importance, we just threw some ideas around, and explored the city. Hopefully, there will be a chance for a makeup meeting this weeked, so all three members can attend.

Symphonic Metal for all the fantasy fans out there

2005-12-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been listening to an Italian band that appeals to my inner swords-and-sorcery fan: Rhapsody. They classify themselves as 'Hollywood metal,' a reference to the inspiration they take from the soundtracks of Hollywood fantasy films such as Lord of the Rings, and they sound nothing like Hollywood glam-rockers such as Motley Crue, Ratt, etc. Rhapsody sounds like the soundtrack to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies done with guitars, synths, and double bass drumming. They have even recorded tracks with actor Christopher Lee (Saruman in the Rings films) on vocals and performing narrations. They are great, and you should check them out.

Mighty Rhapsody

First Post!

2005-11-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

This is my first post in this blog. This blog will chronicle what I am doing in the world of computers, especially in the Myst/Uru community.