Disk Inserted

Good evening once again, fellow Gamers and Gamerettes! Your’s truly, Mike checking in, and I have a review on a really cool PC game you might wanna check out. It’s called Tropico 3.

For those of you that are fans of city building experiences, as I am, Tropico 3 is nothing short of pure fun. First of all, I must say the graphics are absolutely astonishing with everything beautifully rendered in high definition detail. Kalypso entertainment gave their graphics engine a MAJOR overhaul. So much so that it won’t even run on my PC! I have to play it whenever I go to Jonathan’s house since his computer is the only machine that can run it.

But Tropico 3 not only has it’s astonishing, crisp graphics to boast about, but the added realism that comes with a city building game is there too. For instance, when you construct a building, you will see it start out as planks and scaffolding. A truck from your construction office will then bring builders to the site, and they will build your building for you.

At first glance, the “Island” and it’s style of buildings, will bear a striking resemblance to Cuba. In fact, this is what the game is based on. In Sandbox mode, you can choose to play as Fidel Castro, Che Guevarra, or create your own avatar that wanders the island and supervises everything that you, El Presidente, are “watching”. Another thing I find to be a really cool feature of the game is how you not only manage tourist attractions, but also the native people within your own country. Have a rebel that is conspiring against the government, and you’re trying to avoid being overthrown? NO PROBLEM! simply arrange for your secret service agents to take him out. Got a riot going on? Call in the army to eliminate and disperse the rioters. In addition, for newer players, the people at Kalypso have also taken the liberty of starting off every island you play with essential buildings – e.g. construction office, Teamsters office to move product to the docks for shipping, and a dock, seeing as how this is the only way for your island to make money.

When you first start playing the islands, I would strongly recommend you place at least one or two tobacco farms right off the start. Tobacco usually gets a good export price to get you going, then you can build a cigar factory later and really amp up your income. The same applies with sugar cane farms and rum distilleries. You can also make a lot of money by building the right tourist attractions. once your island starts attracting more affluent tourists, they usually are extremely hefty spenders, and you’ll make a substantial profit. On the training side of it, the tutorial is extremely user-friendly and thorough, and it’s quite easy to get the hang of the way the game runs.

Overall, Kalypso has come a long way from the Tropico 1 and 2 days back in 1998 and 1999. I would strongly recommend this as a can’t miss edition to every gaming library. a solid 10 of city-building genius

Hello my fellow gamers! Just checking in once again, and apologizing for not posting anything in a while. I recently have set up my Xbox Live account and have been somewhat addicted since my last post. For those of you that would like to add me, my gamertag is HrubixCube. If you forget, just ask Jon.

Anyway, what I have come to write to all of you about is a review of two levels I have recently downloaded for Tomb Raider Underworld- Beneath the Ashes, and Lara’s Shadow. For 800 Microsoft points each, I must say I was disappointed by the length of both of these levels. I would have liked to have had more time playing as Lara’s doppelganger and a more involved story involving her double- but first, those of you that are not familiar with the plot behind both of these levels, Lara’s shadow allows you to play as the doppelganger of Lara- the one that killed Alister in the game- and use its powers to overcome challenges Lara couldn’t otherwise pass.- on that subject, Lara’s double possesses what is known as “Shadow power” which gives her increased speed, agility, sharper aiming, and basically the “Lara on steroids” approach to the game. The thing I did not like about this level, firstly is that Lara’s shadow is actually the SAME LEVEL split into two parts. The level it takes place in is the remains of the Yggdrasil ruins after Lara kills Natla. The double is entrusted with activating a machine to keep Natla alive, then destroying the machine at the end of the game, which means you essentially visit the same area twice. Another thing I dislike about Lara’s shadow is that if you download this level, be prepared to face thralls over and over and over again. tons of them. After a while, I got sick of constantly fighting thralls and wanted an actual enemy I could shoot. The thralls seem to be immune to Shadow Lara’s bullets, and even if you use her enhanced firing ability, you’ll go through an entire clip before the thralls actually die. Lara’s double can also perform hand-to-hand combat against her enemies, the designers didn’t vary her combos. Her Shadow blast is effective as a knockback attack, but initially that’s all it’s good for. you’d have to significantly damage an enemy before it kills them. The same result occurs if you shadow strike your enemy on the first hit.

With Beneath the Ashes, the plot seems disconnected from Lara’s Shadow- Lara returns to Croft Manor to examine the Eitr stone, which can not only create thralls, but when she learns the phrase “Akeshiva” at the end of the game, she can control them. All Beneath the Ashes consists of is a level that is supposed to be a dungeon beneath Croft Manor that Lara ventures into in search of this thing. A lot of unanswered questions remain- What happens after the doppelganger kills Natla again? Does Lara create any Thralls using the Eitr stone? the levels were too short to really answer these in depth, and had it not been for the six new uniforms that Lara can wear for these new levels, and her double’s “Shadow combat” I probably wouldn’t have downloaded them.

I’d give these a 4 at best.

Announcing the collaboration between Disk Inserted and Nosta Solutions! My friend Nick over at Nosta Solutions has joined the Disk Inserted team and I, Jonathan, have joined the team at Nosta Solutions to help the site’s efforts. Nick brings with him a solid technology background that includes in depth knowledge of computer hardware, graphics and electronics. A warm welcome to Nick as he joins the team! If you’d like to connect with Nick, you can check out his posts, Twitter, or Facebook page.

Check out his site, Nosta Solutions, here.

Hello everyone! Sorry for not blogging for quite some time. I’ve noticed some unfortunate down time with the site and I was also on a cruise to Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas for the past two weeks. I’ll have pictures from my trip up soon for all of you to see!

I wanted to do a little segment about all the technology that goes into Disk Inserted. The equipment used to write posts, take pictures, edit on the fly and basically products and gadgets we here at Disk Inserted find us using in our everyday lives.

The first gadget in my lineup is possibly not the most important gadget, but it’s most definitely the best. This laptop is the best machine I have ever purchased in my entire life. It’s the Lenovo IdeaPad Y430-5342U. This baby sports a 14.1” WXGA LED screen, a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 64-bit dual core processor with a 800 MHz frontside bus and 2 MB L2 cache, 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250 GB hard drive, 6 in 1 memory card reader, a dual layer DVD±R/RW burner as well as an integrated 1.3 MP webcam and Wireless Draft N to boot!

I absolutely love this laptop and it beats the pants off of my T5500 Gateway I had a few years ago. Not the mention, I noticed that Lenovo doesn’t bloat down the system with useless software or preinstalled junk unlike many of the leading OEM manufacturers out there. Not only that, the price can’t be beat for the features. I managed to pick this unit up while Circuit City was going through its liquidation process for a mere $650 after discounts and taxes.

Check out a detailed review and specifications for the Y430 on CNET’s website located here .

If you’ve ever thought to yourself “I’ll never need to use that feature” or “I just make and receive phone calls” you’ve obviously never had the pleasure of using a BlackBerry. Simply the best PDA and smartphone wrapped into one for the money, my BlackBerry Curve 8900 from T-Mobile is with me no matter where I go. This particular model of RIM’s award winning BlackBerries features a 480×360 LCD screen, an auto focusing 3.2 MP camera with flash, 256 MB of internal flash memory and a completely redesigned look of the both the physical device and the OS. Price is most definitely a nail bitter, but you can pick it up for less than $200 with a new 2 year agreement or an upgrade. Otherwise, you’re looking at close to $500 plus.

Check out Engadget’s review of the 8900 for T-Mobile here.

The quality of the camera is far superior to any camera phone whether it be VGA, 1.3, 2.0, or even 3.2 megapixels. I’ll have to say that any device that I can make and receive phone calls with, text with blazing accuracy and speed, tweet, Facebook, MySpace, IM and email while on the go instantly becomes my best friend. I almost considered getting a Sidekick LX instead. I’m sure glad I stuck with the BlackBerry…

I just picked up this camera for about $250 at BestBuy on the 3rd, a day before I left for my trip. I wanted to get a better camera to replace my piece of trash 8 MP Polaroid that I had. After doing some research, I decided to pick up the 12.1 MP Canon PowerShot SD780 IS. Words cannot express how impressed I am with this camera and the quality pictures it produced. My family was shocked by the full HD pictures and 720p video I recorded of my trip. Yes, you heard me right… this baby is capable of recording 720p HD video while utilizing the camera’s 3x optical zoom! I wish the flash remained functional while video recording, but I’m not one to complain. The interface of the camera is simply amazing and extremely easy to use. All I have to do it just point and shoot and viola! The camera knows what you’re taking a picture of and adjusts accordingly, the ISO and white balance auto configure themselves and viola! The picture displays and saves instantly to my memory card. I managed to pick up my camera with an accessories package that included a case, additional battery and a 4 GB SanDisk Secure Digital memory card. After doing some shopping around, not even MicroCenter offered a somewhat similar deal. Overall, this gadget is turning heads everywhere I take it.

Take a closer look at the PowerShot SD780 IS as well as reviews and specs at BestBuy’s site.

I hope you enjoyed my little technology segment! I’m sure the rest of the team will be sure to follow and inform all of you about their gadgets and gizmos.

Looks like someone was desperate for a Pre. Too bad BlackBerry and iPhone still pwn you…

NBC Chicago is reporting that an elderly woman who "apparently couldn’t wait to get her Palm Pre" from a local Sprint store — and yeah, we’re pretty sure that’s not the case — decided to plow her car right through the entrance. Best of all, a security camera captured the whole incident. No one was hurt and the store will apparently be fixed in time for tomorrow’s big day, so if that puts your mind at ease, head on over after the break to witness, and possibly enjoy, all the mayhem.

Read more at Engadget.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of an important milestone in internet history — the development and successful link of the first host-to-host internet connection.

On April 7 1969, Steve Crocker of UCLA circulated around a memo entitled ‘Request for Comments, the first of thousands of “RFCs” documenting the design of ARPANET and the Internet. A few months and many memos and experiments later, in October, 1969, Charley Kline at UCLA sent the first packets on ARPANET as he tried to connect to Stanford Research Institute. Below, a copy of the transmission log.

(Courtesy of BoingBoing & Happy Cinco de Mayo!)

Today is Samuel Morse’s Birthday!….

Samuel F.B. Morse has been called “the American Leonardo,” because, even though he is a large number of famed for inventing the telegraph and the dot-and-dash code exhausted by telegraphers everywhere…

For more information on Samuel Morse and all of his work click here.

Today is the Hubble telescope’s 19th birthday! Happy birthday you big eye in the sky! If you’re intrested in more info about the Hubble, you can check out thier main website for all the info and a ton of neato pics from deep outer space.