Quake 2 RTX

It’s funny that I’m writing about Quake 2 over 20 years after it came out. Quake 2 is was one of my favorite games of all time, and it had been well over a decade since I had played through it. I used to know the whole game by heart, including the two secret levels and all of the secrets and easter eggs.

My Geforce 770 Classified was getting a bit long in the tooth, and NVIDIA’s RTX 2060 was the perfect replacement at a reasonable price. Though I didn’t get it for the RTX features, I couldn’t help but try them out, as I still have my copy of Quake 2 that I bought. In fact, I already had yamagi quake 2 installed on my main system, so it was quite simple to install the full version of Quake 2 RTX and play it through.

Playing through the game, I started at 1440p, but quickly dropped to 1080p, as that provided much smoother frame rates. I made it a point to explore as much of the game as possible, taking screenshots like a tourist hopped up on energy shots and whiskey. I took so many screenshots, in fact, that I hit the limit for the game, and had to call upon the services of KRename to rename the older screenshots so that I could continue my violent journey through the Strogg’s home planet in search their secret supply of Cookies & Cream Twix.

Here are a few of the screenshots (I took 1.5GB worth). I’ll write more thoughts later on.

Lived in three centuries – died over a century ago

John Edward Dargan, Sr

Birth: Aug. 17, 1799
County Longford, Ireland
Death: Apr. 4, 1900
Riceville
Howard County
Iowa, USA

The Moravia Union
Thursday, February 2, 1928
page four

Cresco – For a human being to live in three centuries is not a common occurrence. But such was the unusual discovery made at Calvary Cemetery at Cresco recently by members of the Cresco Monument Company. They found a plain marble slab bearing the inscription: “Grandpa, 1799-1901”.
The deceased referred to was John Dargan, born in Ireland in 1799 and died in April 1901. It is believed to be the only case of its kind in Iowa and perhaps in the whole northwest.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=65958570

As much change as this person witnessed, I can’t help but wonder how much more he could have witnessed if humans lived longer. The known record is 122, and I’ve read stories about extending the lifespan to 150 years plus. I then begin to wonder how much change I will end up seeing in my lifetime. I honestly feel as though this is a very special time in the history of this country and, indeed, the world.

It’s been a while…

I haven’t written for quite a while, nearly a year, but I’ve been wanting to. As life tends to get busy, various things get dropped to the side of the proverbial road. However, I’m now in the middle of a rebirth of sorts, both mentally and physically.

After going through quite a few changes, including dropping from my previous 160lbs, down to 120lbs, as well as energy level problems, I’m now on a fantastic upswing. I’ve put on a 3.6lbs in the last 6 days, as I’ve managed to reignite my appetite, due in no small part to my switch to an almost 100% organic diet. Combined with good quality natural vitamins, as well as 3 drops of Lugol’s Iodine Solution 2% a day, which in itself was life-changing, I now feel like I’m a teenager again.

I started taking the iodine about 6 months or so ago, which turned me from a person who would be awake 30 minutes before sleeping for hours, regardless of vertigo, to one who sleeps soundly at night, with no naps needed during the day. It also made my mind as sharp as it was when I was a teenager. I compare it to watching a video at 30 FPS, then suddenly having it upgraded to 60 FPS. I rarely forget something I’m thinking about, which was really a problem for a while. Add in some vitamins, which have given me additional energy and made my body as a whole feel much better.

What really got me going, was the expected, but still tragic death of my Grandmother back in September. We were very close and, after going through a considerable mourning period, I remembered my promise to her. That I was going to get my body as close to its old self as possible, regardless of what it takes, as well as attempt to re-engage with people and get my social life back.

I had slowly been switching over to organic foods, but it wasn’t until about 3 weeks ago, after a trip to the ER for fluids and Zofran, that I realized how little I had been eating and drinking. After slowly nurturing my nauseous stomach back to health with Bob’s Red Mill Creamy Wheat and generous amounts of whole organic milk throughout the day, I am now eating well over 2200 calories a day.

I hope to update this blog more often now that I’m “in the swing of things”, including updates on my weight gain, as well the foods and recipes that have helped make this possible.

 

 

 

Older music

Though the song isn’t quite as old (approaching 40), the title “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)” got me thinking.

That was 50 years ago.

Listening to the song, and other songs from CD’s I’ve long since packed into storage, I kept thinking about how much more complex and multi-layered the older music was.  I’m sure the modern equipment can far outstrip the old in terms of “# of tracks at once”, along with “fixing” everything, but then why doesn’t the music sound better?

Why does so much of it sound so much worse?

It’s similar to how, if you never walk and only drive everywhere, you limit where you can go. At first it is by choice, but then eventually you need the car.

The car is auto-tune in particular, but technology in general. Listening to older albums, you’ll notice differences in each chorus, because it was performed multiple times just like in a live song. I don’t hear that anymore when I do find myself exposed to mainstream music. Fortunately this is rare.

I’m quite optimistic about the indie music scene as I am about the indie gaming scene. The Internet is our infrastructure, and “we” don’t need the big companies anymore, at least not in the traditional sense.

Despite all the craziness currently going on in the world, I have the classics to listen to, and the future ones that are being written right now.

The end of Winamp

I remember Winamp fondly from the heady days of the late 90’s dot-com bubble. I had finally acquired enough currency to buy a computer of my own, which was a godsend after 20 years of using other people’s machines (family computer, Dad’s computer).

That would explain why I was up roughly 3 days straight (fueled only by coffee and enthusiasm, for the record) using it. Winamp was among those programs I installed when I finally had a chance to investigate this whole “mp3” thing I’d been hearing about.

This was during the prior year (mid ’97 to mid ’98), while I was surfing the web via the San Jose Public Library system’s Linux computers, running the Lynx browser. While logging into Hotmail (pre-MS) to keep in contact with friends and family.

Ever since I was about 13 or so (when my fingers started growing out), my typing speed had begun to increase. Part of it was BBS’ing, and the other was email (as that became more and more accessible). That is the only way you can make noise in a library on the computer and not get kicked out. In fact, I think it was more impressive to see someone type at 80+ wpm accurately and consistently.

Back to Winamp, I installed it on my PII 233mhz and heard the opening Winamp lama-ass whipping theme. I still use it to this day, and so the passing of Winamp is one of those little times I pause and think about how fast time flies and all the memories of days gone by flood my mind.

It’s the little things in life that make me smile.

OK – This is going to work well

Since I can only write in bursts, QuickPress is perfect.

Well images work, how about youtube embeds?

So for, so good

Kill it with fire!

Another SPAM blocker

I’ve installed a new SPAM blocking plugin. Hopefully this helps put a stop to the torrent of stuff I have to flag as SPAM.

When will the “crash” happen?

Depends on which crash you’re talking about. There are a lot.

I, like a lot of other people out there, am leaning towards a flashback of the first “dot-com bubble” bursting, with similar timing.

Speaking of which. Gold and Silver are a steal right now.