It's been 4 years since the Hushed Casket rolled out onto Bungie.net. I recapped the past year over at rap.thx.[url t=_blank]http://rapture.hushedcasket.com/08/29/2006/4_years_of_a_hushed_casket[/url]

Another year has passed in the world of the Hushed Casket. For over 4 years we’ve been lanning, laughing, flaming, eating, drinking, throwing, riding, hauling, troubleshooting, rafting, golfing, bowling, talking, watching, listening, reading, learning, graduating, working, earning, serving, fighting, protecting, and leading.

Thanks for four great years. Welcome to all the new members who joined us over the last year. Another gathering is being planned. We'll most likely meet at Rayne’s in a few weeks.

We've come a long way baby from gaming in 2001 to hopping on the Se7enth column in 2002. We didn't just play HALO. We LAN'd Halo! Rather than grow into a community of gamers (and bad Warthog drivers) we grew into a community of friends. Thanks for another year of memories.

Speaking of memories...

2002-2003: Hushed Casket on Bungie.net Se7enth Column
2003-2005: old hushedcasket.com

Legendary content via archive.org!

So, what has happened in the last year in the world of the Hushed Casket? I’m glad you asked:

So, I wrote about changes that will have to come to MLG sooner than later, IMO. Give it a read here. [url t=_blank]http://rapture.hushedcasket.com/08/23/2006/console_gaming_versus_pc_gaming_input_device_wars[/url]The article discusses keyboards, mice, and handheld controllers and the future of MLG when it comes to changes in the XBOX 360 platform. Yeah, it's a year off or so...but so is HALO 3.

Major League Gaming, the premiere console-only competitive gaming league, has said that PC gamers are geeks and that computers are not meant for gaming – they are meant for checking your email. It’s a marketing stance from their top leadership. MLG believes that console gamers are “cooler” than PC gamers.

But is MLG going to have to change their stance soon? Will keyboards and mice be making their way onto MLG events?

I think they will sooner than later without the introduction of PC’s per say at MLG events.

You see, the discussion about console gaming versus PC gaming really boils down to input devices. Console gaming doesn’t currently support keyboards and mice as native input devices. But, one day it will. When that day comes to console gaming, you’re basically limited to handheld input devices like the XBOX controller.

My XBOX 360 is down and out.

Last night I got the notion to play HALO 2. I fire up the 360, boot to the dashboard and eject the tray to insert HALO 2. I launch HALO 2, sign into XBOX Live, and visit my friends list. I accept a friend request from Dweezle. Just after accepting the invite my box froze. The controller wasn't responsive and the video was froze.

I wait a few moment before powering down the 360. I boot the box back up to the dashboard and all is fine for a moment, until the box freezes again. This time, after the freeze 3 red lights blink in the ring of light.

I start looking for support on XBOX.com. The error I was experiencing must be popular. It was listed under "Quick Help" on the main XBOX support page.

I followed the instructions on the support page. I unplugged everything and trying to reboot. Still getting the error. I took the harddrive off and trying to reboot. Still getting the error. Yikes!

I call up Microsoft support for help. They conclude that I should send the box in to repair or take it back to where I bought it. The box is out of warrantee with Microsoft so they want $130 to fix it. I bought the box from SEARS in November of 2005. They aren't going to take the box back.

After some further investigation, I am experiencing a 0102 secondary error as listed on this great resource which "literally means the console does not know what is wrong."

What to do? Our main DVD player is now down and I can't game on the 360. I wasn't gaming that often on it. We were watching the occasional DVD on it. Should I wait for a new version of the XBOX 360 to be release? Dang. I was looking forward to Texas Hold 'Em on the XBOX Live Arcade this week.

I went out to Honeycomb today and had a blast with some friends. Check out the pics on Flickr.

Lake pics on Flickr

I am back from Lanbex: a weekend-long HALOfest in Atlanta. I finally got to meet some people that I had only known through e-mail, forum posts, digital pictures, and voice chat. Thanks to dolbex for being an awesome host.

I took some pictures of the event and posted them with notes to my Flickr account. You can see them here: http://flickr.com/photos/ericatkins/tags/lanbex/

If you are wondering what it was like, it kind of looked like this:

Allegedly on hand were:

Ma1agate
Max Power (aka- dewbe)
Greiver
Tyrus
Sleeves
Dolbex
Furhman
Jynx
Fuzz
Liquid
Neogenics
Freewill
KP
Rapture
Mintz
Your Mom
Zergorf
Pinkuh
Aros
Schooly D
Dizzy
Foxcross
McClown
frag qu33n
Thanos
plus a few natives.

I just got back from Lanbex: the all weekend-long HALO LAN party in Atlanta. It was a lot of fun and I managed to snap a few pictures.

Mintz and I left out from Huntsville

GG,, Alienware.

It looks like Motorola has let slip a beta update to the Motorola Q ROM. HowardForums has coverage of what's a

--Motorola Enhancements--
- Dial-Up Networking (DUN)
Q can now be used as a modem - either tethered or via Bluetooth to the PC.
Multiple NAI - Allows handset to be enabled for modem use on the network.

-Cold Boot
Provides users the ability to master reset device using key-presses if device becomes locked after forgetting Device Lock password.

- Proxy Server
Enable Q to access network via different proxies (corporate IT feature).

- Motorola Software Upgrade Tool – Upgrade must be initiated from your computer desktop
Tool to conduct upgrade of prior Motorola Q Software Version
Available on www.hellomoto.com/update
Download takes approximately 30 minutes
Available on date TBD

--Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Enhancements-- (AKU2.4)
- OS Enhancements
Improved browser experience
Allows Q to access websites that support frames which increases the variety of websites that a user can visit.
SMS to E-mail functionality now supported
Bluetooth separated from Airplane flight mode. Users can now independently Bluetooth while Airplane mode is enabled. (E.g. Listen to Bluetooth stereo & MP3 music while on a plane)

- MSFP
New mobility features built into Microsoft Exchange Server (SP2). Available on release of Q – Refresh1
Key Features: (see next slide for further details)
Push E-mail: When new e-mail arrives in the corporate mailbox, e-mail will be pushed automatically to the Q
Global Address Lookup
Enhanced security

Mobile & Security Feature Pack (MSFP) brings important new Enterprise features to the Motorola Q.

What Motorola has said:

"It is true that the Verizon Motorola Q update is on our server for download. We have not publicly released it yet. our programmers as well as our beta testers are looking at the update to see if there are any changes needed before its release. We have noted that the download link was leaked and the server is getting bombarded with downloads. Any damage caused by the pre release will not be warranted under Motorola. Please signup for our release notice via email. http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/Motosupport/source/SoftwareUpdate.asp#

Mark Salvitor
Motorola Development"

I'm hearing rumors of a faster browsing experience. I will be looking forward to the new DUN features as well.

Mintz at Halo:Portable needed a guest host for the third episode of his site's biweekly podcast. So, I gave him some help. If you get a chance, go give it a listen.

Podcast found here: http://haloportable.com/206/h_p_podcast_episode_3