Sure, I waited until the price of this game came down to below $30. After watching the trailers and videos, I decided that it is not worth $60. It turns out I was right, at least for my liking. The whole thing feels like it was made to make quick buck. May be because unlike Microsoft Game Studios, EA may be more greedy.

There is not much of an exploration in ME2. In ME1, you could land on unexplored planets and just drive around. Not in this one.

Customizations are almost crap. Half of what I did in ME1 was customization. OK, it is dressing up. But I am pretty sure a lot of players enjoyed that. Even though they are only armors and the helmet.

There were a lot of different guns and armors in ME1. Me2, not so much. Not even half as much I think.

All these replaced with more missions? Not in my opinion.

There is one difference though. The worlds are more diverse than they were in ME1. ME1 worlds were monotonous. If you have seen one world, then you have seen most, mostly the building construction and people.

People still keep babbling the same thing for years. Sometimes silence is better than repetition.

I also got cheated by Cerberus network. When I clicked on on one downloadable item after logging on to Cerberus Network, it showed this download free. I clicked confirm download and Microsoft points were deducted. That wasn’t nice. I clicked on another and it showed free too. I waited for few seconds and then the Free changed to 560.

The code in this post works fine if you compile using Visual Studio .NET 2003 with .NET Framework 1.1.

If you compile the same code in .NET Framework 2.0+ it fails. Something is broken in my opinion.

You will get an error: Min (number) must be less than or equal to max (-1) in a Range object.

The error occurs when you don’t specify the data type of the column. A strongly typed data set will not get this error.

I got this error when loaded up some Excel spreadsheet in to a data set and did some search on a column I knew would have integer values. The rest of the columns contain user data that may contain unexpected type.

I cannot comment on why it is failing when the type is the default string type and only on certain values. I haven’t looked at the framework code yet. May never look at it.

Here is one place where a similar problem is discussed.

Here is a code to reproduce the problem. Program.cs

using System;
using System.Data;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        DataSet ds = GetDSNoType();
        LoadData(ds);
        SearchData(ds);
        ds = GetDSWithType();
        LoadData(ds);
        SearchData(ds);
    }
    static void SearchData(DataSet ds)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Searching data with type: {0}", ds.Tables[0].Columns[0].DataType);
        foreach (DataRow row in ds.Tables[0].Rows)
        {
            string Query = string.Format("some_number={0}", row["some_number"]);
            try
            {
                DataRow[] rows = ds.Tables[1].Select(Query);
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Query: {0}", e.Message);
            }
        }
    }
    static DataSet GetDSNoType()
    {
        DataSet ds = new DataSet("NewDataSet");
        ds.Tables.Add("T1");
        ds.Tables["T1"].Columns.Add("some_number");
        ds.Tables.Add("T2");
        ds.Tables["T2"].Columns.Add("some_number");
        return ds;
    }
    static DataSet GetDSWithType()
    {
        DataSet ds = new DataSet("NewDataSet");
        ds.Tables.Add("T1");
        ds.Tables["T1"].Columns.Add("some_number", typeof(int));
        ds.Tables.Add("T2");
        ds.Tables["T2"].Columns.Add("some_number", typeof(int));
        return ds;
    }
    static void LoadData(DataSet ds)
    {
        foreach (int index in T1)
            ds.Tables[0].Rows.Add(new object[] { index });
        foreach (int index in T2)
            ds.Tables[1].Rows.Add(new object[] { index });
    }
    static int[] T1 =
    {
        2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,
        26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47,
        48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69,
        70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91,
        92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110,
        111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,
        129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146,
        147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164,
        165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182,
        183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200,
        201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218,
        219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236,
        237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254,
        255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272,
        273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290,
        291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308,
        309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326,
        327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344,
        345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362,
        363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380,
        381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398,
        399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416,
        417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434,
        435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452,
        453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470,
        471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488,
        489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506,
        507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524,
        525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542,
        543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560,
        561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578,
        579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596,
        597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614,
        615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632,
        633, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650,
        651, 652, 653, 654, 655, 656, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668,
        669, 670, 671, 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686,
        687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, 697, 698, 699, 700, 701, 702, 703, 704,
        705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720, 721, 722,
        723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740,
        741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757, 758,
        759, 760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 769, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776,
        777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787, 788, 789, 790, 791, 792, 793, 794,
        795, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812,
        813, 814, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829, 830,
        831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 841, 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848,
        849, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866,
        867, 868, 869, 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877, 878, 879, 880, 881, 882, 883, 884,
        885, 886, 887, 888, 889, 890, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895, 896, 897, 898, 899, 900, 901, 902,
        903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, 918, 919, 920,
        921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 931, 932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937, 938, 939 };
    static int[] T2 =
    {
        77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99,
        100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117,
        118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135,
        136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153,
        154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171,
        172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189,
        190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207,
        208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225,
        226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243,
        244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261,
        262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280,
        281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298,
        299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317,
        318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335,
        336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353,
        354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372,
        373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390,
        391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408,
        409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427,
        428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445,
        446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463,
        464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481,
        482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499,
        500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517,
        518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535,
        536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553,
        554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571,
        572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589,
        590, 591, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607,
        608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625,
        626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642, 643,
        644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655, 656, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661,
        662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670, 671, 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679,
        680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, 697,
        698, 699, 700, 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715,
        716, 717, 718, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733,
        734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751,
        752, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757, 758, 759, 760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 769,
        770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 787,
        788, 789, 790, 791, 792, 793, 794, 795, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, 805,
        806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 813, 814, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 823,
        824, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829, 830, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 841,
        842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859,
        860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 868, 869, 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877,
        878, 879, 880, 881, 882, 883, 884, 885, 886, 887, 888, 889, 890, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895,
        896, 897, 898, 899, 900, 901, 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913,
        914, 915, 916, 917, 918, 919, 920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 931,
        932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937, 938, 939 };
}

This is from Windows Live Family Safety. The error message says “An attempt was made to reference a token that does not exist.”

Error Code: 800703F0.

The solution seems to be reinstalling Windows Live Family Safety.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wlfamily/thread/305ae3e2-1412-4a1a-88e3-f2eaa693b622

If you are like millions of gamers around the globe playing Modern Warfare 2 everyday, well may be less than millions, you tried to download and play the new map pack called stimulus package. But if you tried to get it at the advertised time, you are probably disappointed. It came late and when it came, it wasn’t good enough because patch wasn’t there yet. Then when the patch came, you realized that you have to play types that you don’t like to get to the type you love, or like. Smelled like Gears of War 2 map packs.

Based on my past experience with all these game companies, I decided to skip the stimulus package. I am glad I did.

The game has one of the worst match making in my opinion. That doesn’t mean it IS the worst match making. Lot of people like that fresh meat. Me not. I like to play with people of similar skills. I kind of think that games won’t be able to “detect” people who don’t care. The kind that keep rushing to the same spot and die over and over by a camper or a super skilled player.

I only play team death match express. I used to play the mercenary team death match but the intervals are insanely long. My preference is to start the next match right away saying “match begins in 15 seconds” instead of giving a 15 second interval, then match begin in 8 seconds and then once the game loads another 10 or so seconds. But, express is good enough.

Then there are maps that should never have been, like Derail and Karachi. Again, just my opinion. Call of Duty 2 originally had an option to exclude maps you didn’t like. I loved it and hated the patch that “fixed” it. The frequency at which favorite maps appear is like one in 100. Some days I don’t even see them even though I play 2+ hours.

Another strike against Stimulus Package is the inclusion of the one map I did not like, the overgrown. Crash was a reasonably good one.

Alright, I probably just gave away my play style. I don’t snipe. The only challenge in basic training I never finish is the ghillies in the mist. The total sniper kills out of ~25,000 kills I have right now is less than 10. One of the first challenges I finish is NBK. I love long shots using rifles without a scope.

In the past I have blogged about how Microsoft bungles major game releases on Xbox live. The service goes down with almost every big game release because it couldn’t handle the traffic. If it happens once or twice, I can completely understand. But if it is the same story every time, I will have to call it insanity courtesy of Einstein.

So, am I going to get the stimulus package? May be, but I would wait for things to sort out. I am reading blogs and conversations on the Internet about it. Make it worth that 1200 MS points. As long as I see those two playlists at the bottom, I may not buy it.

Here are some of my favorite answers and comments on online forums

• RTFM
• First!
• First comment!
• I don’t know. Please don’t ask me questions I cannot answer.
• Why would you want to do that?
• Doesn’t make sense. You are an idiot. Go back to where you came from.
• I don’t know what your question is about but here is what I think the answer is.

• just live with it. its not that bad

I received an email from Infragistics with a bunch of images. Every time I move through that email in Outlook 2007, it goes crazy. There is no virus in that email. Just a bunch of images and text.

Linksys wusb600n USB wireless N device shuts down while in use. I have experienced this on both Windows Vista and Windows 7. I checked why the connection was broken and then tried repair. Wireless settings are active. In the end I looked at the device and there was no light. I pulled out the device and plugged back in and it started working.

This may be due to the fact that the driver by default allows the device to be shutdown by the OS when not in use to save power. The problem seems to detecting if the device is in use and how long it has been in use. I need to look for a better wireless N device. I can update the device to never shutdown but that is not what I want.

Update: I disabled the option to allow shutting down to save power. That didn’t solve the problem. The radio goes off. I turn off the radio from device manager and turn on again to get the network connection back.

Update 2: I have reinstalled the driver version 2.0 from the Lynksys site.

There was a time when you could look for reviews of gadgets on Internet. These days there are no reviews. Most are either advertisements or just PR stuff. Major e-commerce sites are flooded with positive comments from who knows whom. You buy the gadget and then experience the pain.

I have cut down greatly on my gadget purchases due to unreliable products, faulty drivers and lack of reviews. I also cut down on online purchases because if I find the devices to be faulty, it is much easier to return to the local shop rather than returning to online site. That may help the local economy as well even though I the sales representatives are not that friendly or helpful.