It's NOT A 3D MONITOR!!!

Welcome to another crazy rant about something that annoys me... Monitors being called "3D" monitors. There are only two makes of monitor that I know of which are actually 3D: IZ3D, which is no longer being made, and the 3D monitor made by Zalman.

Zalman's monitor has the drawback of being so reflective that you can use it as a mirror. I have no idea why they decided to take this approach, because it's obvious from reviews that it's a major problem. The monitor splits the resolution in half during 3D mode, so 3D won't be as sharp as 2D, but apparently it looks good.

Now onto the other makes... they are NOT 3D! It seems that any monitor which can handle 120hz (flickering 120 times per second) is called 3D. They can only be viewed in 3D if you buy the nVidia LCD shutter glasses for $200! This is an ancient technology that has been around since cave man days. I remember having 3D shutter glasses for my 120hz monitor back in about 2002. The problem with them is of course that they flicker! This means that after using them for about 15 minutes they start to strain your eyes.

All that for $200! There's a simpler solution... download the IZ3D anaglyph driver, and buy a few pairs of red and cyan glasses from eBay for a pound. Suddenly any monitor is 3D!

nVidia used to supply generic 3D drivers, so that any company could make LCD shutter glasses and virtual reality headsets. I used to have a Z800 3DVisor... one awesome piece of 3D technology that worked on the generic drivers. A few years ago nVidia decided to make cards which are no longer compatible with these drivers. Instead they now make drivers which only work with certain technology (THEIR OWN). This means that technology that used to be available for everyone now costs a fortune. Anyone who had a 3D device had to get rid of it if they wanted to upgrade their graphics card.

I suppose it's to be expected in a Capitalist world... I long for the days when a new system like The Venus Project will take over.

Steam Encourages Piracy!

All I wanted to do was download demos of the new games Mafia II and Civilization 5. I found myself having to waste an hour or so installing a program called "Steam". Steam is supposed to prevent people from pirating games. This silly program is required in order to download the free demos, or play the full versions of the games.

After having downloaded the program I found out that it doesn't work on my PC. On the site there's a long list of suggestions as to why the program might not be working. There is NO CHANCE that I am going to try all of those suggestions. It would take FOREVER!

I would buy legitimate versions of these games, but since Steam does not work, I will HAVE to get pirated copies if I want to play them.

It's 00:13 am now, and I'm going to bed. I just wish someone from a gaming company would read this... but what are the chances... about one in a billion?

The Flu Shot

Just a quick thought about the flu shot... I think many people confuse colds with flu, which is why they think they need the flu shot. I used to think I had the flu every year, but I've recently realized that they were always colds. I haven't had the flu in as long as I can remember!