NViRT

For some time I’ve been needing another 360 for another entertainment center and I’ve had a voucher for a new unit just sitting in my lap. The thing is, I couldn’t take advantage of the damn thing until Monday because since Christmas it’s been impossible to find 360 Pro units in stock anywhere. Anyway, the local “Sell Shit Now” chain had 360 Pro falcons in stock yesterday so of course I mobilized my ass and got one. My verdict? Frickin’ sweet. Not only does this thing run cooler, it’s a bit quieter too. While still not as quiet as the PS3, the 360 falcon is still noticeably quieter then previous 360 units, especially in idle mode. The previous models made this loud “RRRRRRR” noise that was especially annoying when trying to play a movie on the 360. The Falcon still makes noise in idle mode but now its a much more tolerable “FWWOOOOOOO”. The DVD drive seems to be of noticeably higher quality as well. So if you’ve been undecided, now is the time to buy your first or second Xbox 360.
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I‘ve been toying with whether to reinstate AdSense and I’ve come to a conclusion. “Not right now” is the short answer. This mainly has to do with the current state of NViRT and the fact that a reemerging/struggling publication such as ours would be worse off with ads mucking up the works. It’s not that we aren’t greedy bastards or anything, far from it. Know that if(read: when) we decide to place ads on this site, it will be done in the most tasteful/profitable way possible. So yea, NViRT is ad free for the time being.

We will reassess profitability vs reader loyalty in the future and who knows, we may even get those bullshit contextual links in the middle an article. You know,  those links no one wants to click on in the first place but does anyway. All because they are thinking the author is referencing something relevant. Seriously though, that will never happen. Worst case scenario, theres going to be specific adverts for things that we endorse or an AdSense box in the sidebar with some defined control over what AdSense will display.

It all started with the new header image I whipped up two days ago. It must have got my mind stuck on giant robots or something. I say this because when I went to Borders the next day, this fantastic piece of required reading caught my eye and just had to buy it immediately. From the author of “Where’s My Jetpack?” (a delightful guide on all the missing items we were promised in the 21st century), comes “How To Survive A Robot Uprising”. This informative guide will teach you how to deal with your cold steel adversaries when the time comes; everything from your standard Dr. Killall’s Death Machine to your own smart home gone to HAL. Whether you believe the end of the world will be dominated by giant robots or not, the end of the world will happen… it’s up to you to ensure its not the end of the world for mankind. The book has its own website as well so go on and check it out while your waiting for your books to ship.

Inner turmoil at its best! A very thought provoking music video with a really cool effect that, in itself, takes the emotion of this song to a whole new level. I forgot how I even came across this song in the first place. It might have been one of those mindless YouTube click-a-thons; clicking on the thumbnails that look cool as they come up. I tell you this video hit me on a whole different side of me than I was expecting. As I watched, I knew it was all done using an infrared camera, but the eyes still intrigued me. Also, the directors use of hot and cold liquids out of proportion from reality really emphasizes each scene in way I cant quite explain. You’ll just have to watch, and don’t let the pig keep you up at night. Watch it via high quality Quicktime, or if your in a hurry then just click below to see the embedded low quality embeded youtube.
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A while ago I wrote about the XFPS 360 units that allow you to connect a keyboard and mouse to your Xbox 360. These boxes man-in-the-middle attack a wired 360 controller’s protocol to bypass the 360’s peripheral security. Once connected to the 360, the XFPS unit allows you to plug in ps/2 (protocol) keyboards and mice, usb keyboards and mice, or PS2 (gaming system) DualShock controllers. Sounds great huh? Well, it’s not. It’s horrible. Accomplishing anything greater than minor aiming tricks sits near “why bother” even with the sniper model of the XFPS.

If you remember my original review of the XFPS, I talk about how the unit translates input from a keyboard and mouse and literally pukes the translated input at the Xbox 360. So, in exorcist green projectile vomit fashion, you’ll be frolicking around Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 worse off than you were with those barbaric analog sticks that made you purchase the XFPS in the first place.
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