I am posting this from a new freshly built computer system. I thought this would be a good time to list the components that went into it. Click on titles for more info.

In short, it has an Intel Core i7 CPU with 12 GB of RAM and Radeon HD 5870 (interesting story about that) running Windows 7. It’s fast and it has plenty of memory for video editing etc.

MB – EVGA LGA 1366 Intel X58 SLI LE

I don’t use the SLI, but EVGA has always been good for me. This just seems like a really nice X58 mobo.

CPU – Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz

This is relatively low end for an i7, but it gets the job done and leaves room for upgrades. 8 cores of awesomeness.

RAM – Corsair XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) DDR3

12 gigs give me plenty of room for multitasking. I can video chat while writing a letter while editing a movie while watching YouTube while editing several photos while playing a game while cracking government encryption.

GPU – Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 Vapor-X

If you read a previous post, you know what I went through to get this. The 5870 is one of the latest from ATI and features DirectX 11. What’s unique about this one is the non-reference cooler, which supposedly works better because of magic vapors.

HDD 1 – Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB

This is my primary drive for the OS and program files. I’ve always used WD and never had one fail (though none of the Seagates I’ve owned have either).

HDD 2 – Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5TB

This is the drive I use for documents and storage. Hopefully I won’t fill it up too quick… :p

Case – Antec P183 Black Mid Tower

This is a very nice mid tower case with a sleek low profile design. There’s no lights on the fans or anything flashy, but it is a very quiet case. There is sound dampening material on the sides and rubber padding on the drive cages and frame. I also added 2 intake fans to the front for more air flow.

PSU – Thermaltake Toughpower 850W (recycled)

This was the one part reused from my old system. It still works great as far as I can tell and it’s plenty of power for this system.

Filed under: General by StevoTVR
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I’ve been trying to get something new posted here for the last few days. It’s just that whenever I started to, someone would say “durrr, let’s play L4D2” and I did. Sorry loyal reader(s) but playing that game is more fun than writing.

So the reason I’m posting is to talk about my adventures ordering the parts for a new computer system.

I started by compiling a list and posting it for my good friends at TheVille.org for advice on improvements. Several changes later, it was ready and I decided to order everything from NewEgg on Black Friday. This saved me a couple hundred bucks.

There was just one problem.

While I was able to order most of the parts, one part was missing. It was the elusive ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card. This sneaky little bastard was nowhere to be found. Legend had it the thing was a myth, but I would not except that.

I set out on a quest to find the 5870, searching every website, store, warehouse, outhouse, crackhouse, and taco stand in the country. At some point I was searching a sewer when I realized they don’t sell electronics in sewers.

I searched all these places

I was somewhere in the Sahara when I saw it in the distance. With light shining down from the ridiculously hot sun, the card was levitating there before it turned into a cheeseburger. It was then that it became obvious I was suffering from severe dehydration.

After that I decided to check NewEgg again, and there it was. The Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 was in stock, so I ordered it immediately.

Victory!

So that’s it… I have captured the mythical 5870!

Filed under: General by StevoTVR
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Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to the popular zombie shooter Left 4 Dead was released earlier this month. Overall it is a huge improvement over it’s predecessor, with new weapons, new types of infected, and some new game modes (and more detailed gore). This review will cover what’s new in Left 4 Dead 2.

Game Modes

Along with original Co-op, Verses and Survival modes, L4D2 adds Scavenge and Realism to the mix.

Scavenge mode pits two teams of 4 together in a race to collect the most gas cans. Teams take turns between Survivors collecting cans, and Infected trying to stop them. The winning team can be determined in a single round or the best 2/3 or 3/5 rounds. Scavenge is my new favorite game mode, since games are short and full of action!

Realism is basically Co-op with the “user-friendly” features removed along with some damage modifications. This means that helpers like halos around teammates and items are removed for a much less forgiving environment. It was designed for the hard-core players.

New Special Infected

Among the original Hunter, Smoker, Boomer, Tank and Witch, L4D2 introduces the Charger, Spitter and Jockey. The game also adds a new type of common infected called uncommon common, which have unique traits.

Charger, Spitter, Jockey, and two Uncommon Common

The Charger’s special ability is charging at groups of survivors. Successful charges can stun up to all four survivors, grabbing one and pummeling him/her into the ground. He can also carry someone over long distances, sometimes over a cliff. He is useful in a variety of situations, but can be very difficult to use due to it’s odd clipping.

The Spitter’s special ability is spitting acid over an area. Survivors take damage while standing in the acid, forcing them to move. It appears to be designed specifically for countering camping tactics, which is a welcome change.

The Jockey’s special ability is hopping on someone’s back and steering him/her into danger. Once on, he can be difficult to remove since his victim is moving. The Jockey is definitely my favorite to play, and the most hilarious with his maniacal laughter.

New Weapons

One of my complaints about L4D was a lack of variety in weapon choices, but this is definitely not the case in L4D2. Along with the original lineup there are several new weapons, the addition of melee weapons, new items, as well as special ammunition and attachments.

Magnum and Grenade Launcher

The new melee weapons are my new favorite (probably used more than guns). From katanas to guitars to chainsaws, there’s plenty of options when it comes to knocking zombie heads off.

Guitar, Chainsaw, and Fire Axe

The new items offer plenty of options. You can pick up an adrenalin shot for a temporary speed boost, or a jar of Boomer bile for a role reversal. If you are willing to give up a first aid kit, you can pick up a defibrillator or explosive/incendiary ammo.

Bile Jar, Defibrillator, Laser Sights, and Incendiary Rounds

The Story

What stands out about the story is the setting. The entire campaign takes place in the southern U.S. and has a continuous plot. There are several scenes taking place during the day for a nice change. There are also some really amazing environmental effects in some scenes.

The characters seem rather uninteresting for the most part, but they all have a unique personality. I don’t know what it is but the original cast seemed much more original and appealing.

Conclusion

If you enjoyed Left 4 Dead, you will definitely enjoy Left 4 Dead 2. It has everything good from the original and tons more added on top. Even some of the original features were improved like the AI and Verses mode scoring.

The game plays much better overall, with much less hiding in corners and much more frantic running through hordes of zombies. I approve! 😀

Filed under: Game Reviews, Reviews by StevoTVR
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Today, here in the U.S. we celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a very special day about eating a lot. So, I drew this just for you!

If you aren’t in the U.S. you can still celebrate it if you want, I don’t mind. 😀

Filed under: General by StevoTVR
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This is just a quick post about using Gravatars. A “Gravatar” is a global avatar that you tie to your email address using the online service. All you have to do is register (or login using a WordPress.com account) at gravatar.com. You can then upload an image and tie it to your email address.

Once you are set up, whenever you make a comment on a supporting blog using that email, the avatar will automatically show up on your comment. This allows people to visually recognize you across different sites. Gravatars are widely supported by many blogs. WordPress blogs, for example, support Gravatar by default.

If you do not have one set up when you comment on this site, you’ll get what is called an “Identicon”. An Identicon is a geometric representation of your email address, so it is unique to each author without requiring action.

Filed under: General by StevoTVR
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I saw the Blue Man Group at The Venetian in Las Vegas. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I was not disappointed. I think this would be a great way to start off the Reviews category, so here goes…

So what can you expect from three blue men on a stage? The most accurate answer to that would be to expect the unexpected. The show includes sounds, lights, comedy, and just plain weirdness. There’s even some educational parts if you can believe that.

They don’t talk, but they still manage to communicate and have a great personality simply through body language. They act almost like aliens exploring their environment and they seem very intrigued by the audience and human culture.

Blue Man Group playing with plumbing (Drumbone)

They do some pretty cool stuff with improvised instruments made mostly from plumbing. Just when you are thinking “that’s pretty neat,” something else happens that makes you think “huh?” (not huh as in “that was stupid”, but huh as in “haha, that’s crazy” IYKWIM). They also have a talented backing band with several drum kits, guitar, bass and Chapman stick.

I would definitely recommend seeing this show, especially if you want to see something totally unique. There’s something to enjoy for people of all ages. Not only is it visually entertaining for younger audiences, it also has some deeper meaning for older audiences to appreciate.

Even the signs telling you to turn off phones are funny. Also as an added bonus, you can meet the blue men after the show if you want.

Three words to describe Blue Man Group: Bizarre, Intense, Hilarious

Notes: There are strobe lights used in parts of the show, so you should be careful if you have epilepsy or other problems like that. There’s nothing inappropriate to worry about, so feel free to bring kids or family along. Individual shows may vary.

Filed under: Misc. Reviews, Reviews by StevoTVR
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Well now that everything is settled, here’s what you can look for here. Soon, I’ll starting adding some reviews on things like music, movies, and games. I have some already written from a previous website, so that’s where I’ll start.

Something else you can look forward to is commentary on random topics I find interesting. I’ll try to keep things as entertaining as possible.

Anyway, that’s all for now…

Filed under: General by StevoTVR
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In the previous post, I said I would write about the making of this theme. I created it from scratch, but I used some free resources in the process. So here I will link to all those resources so that you may find them useful.

First of all, creating a WordPress theme is surprisingly easy. The obvious place to learn about making themes is the WordPress Theme Development documentation. You can also check out this tutorial, which starts with the very basics of HTML and walks you through the building of a theme. It is somewhat outdated, though, and doesn’t cover threaded comments for instance.

After creating the base structure, I started working on the header. I started with a base of a texture from the Tutorial9 Grunge Cement Texture Pack with some color and contrast adjustments. I also added some visual enhancements with some of these grunge Photoshop brushes. The warning stripe textures in the header and footer are the ETC Grunge Stripes Pattern. The font used in the header is called Stencilia-A, from which I created a template and used the paint tool to simulate spray painting.

The Stencilia-A font was also integrated into the navigation and headers using cufón, which uses pure JavaScript to render fonts. This allows you to use fonts that users are not likely to have installed. Other options I considered are sIFR and typeface.js.

So that’s the story of the StevoTVR WordPress theme. I may post some more detailed info in the future. I hope someone finds some of this useful!

Filed under: General by StevoTVR
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Hello.

You are looking at the new face of stevotvr.com. What was once just a utility domain name for various uses is now the home of a blog thingy. Do I know what I’ll be posting? No. But I will be posting something that isn’t nothing, but nothing that is something else.

Anyway, the theme was custom made from scratch by me. It’s really my first real attempt at a “grunge” style theme, but I think it turned out pretty well. I plan to improve it as I go along, so any suggestions or criticisms are welcome!

Comments are open to everyone. Registration is not required to comment, but your first comment will have to be approved by me. So don’t panic if your first comment goes missing for a while. Police will laugh at you if you attempt to file a missing comment report.

Thanks for reading. Next post should be something about the making of the theme… 🙂

Filed under: General by StevoTVR
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