Put down the joystick, this is the real deal...  I was staring at the Oakville Beaver the other day (insert obvious joke) and took a step back when I saw our own Dan (OldSkool) Drobotenko on the front page.  Dan once threw grenades at the Abattoir BTM LAN Parties and now a few years later at the age of 22 he's a Corporal in the Army Reserves and he's shipping out to Afghanistan for a six month tour of duty with the National Support Element as a heavily-armoured HLVW driver.  Dan volunteered to go, "It's not a summer at Boy Scout camp, but I can't dwell on things that are worrisome." he said in the interview, "At the moment I'm not nervous, but I bet you on the flight over that might change."  We wish to the best Dan and everyone hopes your tour in Afghanistan is a safe one -- do us proud!

 

So could you sleep at all last night?  I mean, knowing that Windows Vista is out and all...  There were line-ups outside several retailers this morning awaiting the doors to open, but they were all still lined-up for a chance to grab a Nintendo Wii, not Windows.  Unlike the fanfare Windows XP brought on, Vista will most likely trickle into computers as people purchase new machines rather then upgrade their current boxes with the new OS...  In light of Vistas premier world-wide, there are some very real concerns over the new OS that are surfacing on message boards and tech articles.  One such rumour is that you must have a currently installed and valid copy of either Windows XP or Windows 2000 on your machine in order to use the Windows Vista upgrade -- that is to say, you cannot do a "clean" install of Vista with the upgrade version.  When I upgrade my OS, I like to wave a magnet over the hard drive and start from scratch to make sure all my Sony rootkits are gone *smirk*, in the past, you could do a "clean" install with an upgrade version of Windows as the installer would simply ask you to insert your previous version in the CD-ROM for verification...  If this scenario is true, it would mean formatting your drive, loading Windows XP, applying the 4 terabytes of updates and patches, then loading over the Vista upgrade.  Curiously though, Microsoft's own site speaks of doing a "clean" install from the upgrade version -- here's how it works, you install Windows Vista over your existing XP or 2000 OS, after the installer starts and verifies your previous OS, then you have the option of formatting your drive and loading Vista; whew.  Doesn't help you out too much if your starting from a new hard drive though, does it?

The next series of concerns regard the incredible lack of rights a user has after accepting Microsoft's EULA...  Here's a quote that should make you shudder, "this agreement only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights."  Nice talk.  Windows Vista contains new elements, like Windows Defender, a program that monitors for malware, adware, spyware and viruses; sounds good so far other than what deems a program to be any of those are not outlined leaving Microsoft to be the judge and jury with regards to what the software erases on your machine, be afraid.  Microsoft has also bowed to pressures from Hollywood; Vista intentionally degrades the picture quality of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray in order to protect "premium content" programming.  No matter how you look at it, both Hollywood and Microsoft really want to keep an eye on you and it looks like their teaming-up to do just that.  Also, I hope your motherboard doesn't blow after installing and activating Vista, you're probably going to find yourself on the phone with Microsoft activation being told that you have to buy a new copy of Vista since the previous copy was for your 'old machine', not your 'new one'.  This is all starting to make an Apple look more delicious.

 

The wait is over, the Wii has landed at the Abattoir...  Like so many thousands out there, we've been trying to secure a Nintendo Wii since well before Christmas with no luck.  Many thought that after the Christmas crunch ended, the shelves would begin to look a little less barren in the Nintendo section, but that's far from the case as demand for the Wii gaming console still outweighs the supply by massive proportion -- Dozens of times I've walked into stores and said "Now for the most overheard question..." and the sales person doesn't even let you finish your sentence before saying "We have no Wii's."  Stories circulate about Purolator trucks actually being followed, line-ups in the middle of the night on just speculation that a store might be getting a few, the list goes on.  Isis has been calling almost every retailer around trying get regular updates -- when I was home for lunch, she had just spoken to EB Games in Mississauga (Heartland Plaza) and was told that the shipment hadn't arrived yet, so I decided to pop in on my way back to work.  There were four people in the store, the cashier said "Can I help who's next?"  I raised my brow looking beyond him at the stack of shipping boxes on the floor behind the counter and said "I'll take one of what's in those boxes so my wife can stop harassing you..."  He laughed and said, "That's your wife that's been calling? Okay!"  He took a box-cutter and slashed the first box with the skill of a terrorist and hauled out a new Nintendo Wii -- every person in the store whipped-out their cell phone and started calling friends, the stampede was on.  I picked-up my Wii and while leaving called a friend who's been trying to get one as well...  Too late.  Within 5 minutes they were all gone -- that's the same story I've been hearing for months now, thankfully I was on the other side of the fence at last.  I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I can't wait to get home and play with my Wii.

 

Another BTM LAN Party, another 48hrs of gaming action...  Thanks to all who called the Abattoir home this weekend, it was once again a pleasure hosting to such an awesome crew -- we had a blast!  Our door prize draw of the 500 GB Western Digital My Book Premium Edition external drive was random drawn by gt102 who picked Cam (CorpsE) Smith as the winner, since CorpsE won the LG L203WTX 20.1" wide-screen LCD Monitor at BTM 52 "Season Can-Opener" Edition in October, cries of "rigged!" filled the air along with moans and groans -- since I happened to have another one sitting around the corner, we decided to give away two 500 GB My Book drives (surprise!).  Congratulations to both Cam (CorpsE) Smith and Larry (IceMan) Lamonday who left the Abattoir with an extra Terabyte between them.  All the digitals (that we can show the public) are up already in the Gallery section, take a peek.  Keep an eye on the Abattoir, we'll be announcing BTM55's date very soon!

 

The weekend is upon us and so is BTM54 "500 GB" Edition.  Once again we open our doors, set-up LAN Central and get set to blow each other into pieces for the next 48 hours all the while hollering insults and smack-talk, with the occasionally thrown Cheeto -- there's still a few seats left if you want in, don't delay, time's a tickin'...  Head to the Sign-Up Page and register.  For the newbies joining us (and anyone else for that matter) who want to know a little more about our LAN parties, the forums are a great way to break the ice and chat-up the regulars who haunt the halls here.  You can even read the unofficial-official FAQs thread that answers scads of common questions and gives advise on how to make your BTM experience the best.  The Early-Bird is open tomorrow at 6pm and on, the BTM starts at noon on Saturday -- if you chose to move to Edmonton and can't be with us, you can always watch the fun live on the Abattoir MeatCAMs (you know who you are).  Have a great weekend everyone.

 

Trust everyone had a good news eve celebration?  I'm told I had a good time.  If you're like me, it's nice to know the holidays are behind us and we can finally relax...  We torn down the Christmas tree and backed-up all the garland almost immediately in an attempt to restore some sort of order to the Abattoir (...that and baby Chaz was eating the decorations off the tree...).  In my haste to get a LAN Minutes update done before 2007 hit, I made a rather stupid error that Brandon (Vitolagy) Phillips caught and pointed out...  We're giving away a 500 GB Western Digital My Book Premium Edition external drive at BTM54 so I called it "Half-Gig" Edition, which of course is only 500meg (DoH!) so we've renamed BTM54 to "500 GB" Edition to avoid any confusion.  Thanks for spotting that Vito.  The sign-ups have just begun and there's lots of room so get your name on the list and join us January 20th.

 

Seems much talk around the water cooler is centred on the weather these days...  It's now January 4th, it's sunny outside and it's also 10°C.  Southern Ontario has been enjoying a resurgence of El Nino that once again is causing record-breaking temperatures (...the ski resorts aren't enjoying it much though...) -- Scientists predict that 2007 could very well break all the records with regard to our planets surface temperatures.  Meanwhile in Kansas and Colorado they're actually air-dropping bails of hay in order to keep cattle livestock from starving after that area was clobbered with a storm that fell hundreds of hydro poles -- power, radio, television, cellular service and more have been knocked-out across the area with repair efforts severely hindered by massive 18ft snow drifts.  Now tell me global warming and climate change aren't a reality.