Probably Archer: The QWOP for Archers

I love QWOP, is one of the most amazingly frustrating games of all times, and if you mix that with Surgeon Simulator and some arrows, you get Probably Archer.

This is a game that teaches you how not to be an archer. It’s a free game that can get you frustrated on a few missed shots. It’s pretty straight forward:

• Hold left click to pick an arrow (DON’T RELEASE THE CLICK YET)
• Move the mouse to move the right wrist.
• Q + mouse moves the right shoulder.
• E + mouse moves the right arm.
• Shift + mouse moves the left wrist.
• Shift + Q + mouse moves the left shoulder.
• Shift + E + mouse moves the left arm.
• Right click prepares the shot.
• Now you can release the left click.

Still is annoying as fuck; the wrist move practically at random and doesn’t obey your mouse, moves must be slow or you’ll create a mess, your head is a balloon, so you better watch that pointy arrow.

Anyway, fun, addictive, and a complete waste of time. For more information, here’s a gameplay.

Stranger - Official Trailer

So here’s a trailer about a movie I know nothing about, and it’s shows so little about what’s about that I just lost my mind. Watch it…

… now go to reddit and see the comments for crazy theories.

Allow/Block a site’s content using Chrome

One of the most amazing feature in Chrome is the possibility to customize with content you want to allow and which one you want to block. By content I mean:

• Images
• JavaScript
• Plugins
• Popups
• Location
• Notifications
• Fullscreen
• Mouse Lock
• Multimedia

This content can be easily customized and set to Allow or Blocked just by clicking the site’s information on the far left side of the address bar.

The blocking/allowing can be easily done and undone, so you can try it out to set it to a confortable browsing of specific sites. Let me show you, here’s how reddit looks with settings at default:

Now let’s block Images and JavaScript.

This is how it looks now.

Of course, reddit is pretty simple stuff. Most sites when you need to use this feature are sites where mouse and keyboard events (click, hover, keypress) activate other events that may cause you an unpleasant time.

If a site is fuckin’ mess, just block the JS.

YSK you can have nameless bookmarks

A short note that it’s worth mentioning again; on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, or any modern browser, you can have bookmarks without names. Like this:

And in case you want to group these into folders, you can folders with a blank name by using ye ol’ ALT+0160.

Of course, since that is a character, if you want another nameless folder you need to do the char twice. But the problem will be remembering what’s in those folders.

Backup and protect your local Chrome profile

When sharing a PC, it’s hard to keep your files and documents private, you could have an alternate user profile, but when you share your PC a few times a month and reinstall Windows every two months, is a complete waste of time, effort, and space to do it. That’s why is better to just isolate your files. In this case, Chrome’s profile.

Go to:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome

In that folder you should see a “User Data” folder.

To keep it private, just rename it or move it, that way, Chrome will create a new default profile and yours will remain private.

Now, this is a way to keep it safe, but if you want to backup your profile or keep it really secure. You can use, let’s say, WinRaR to save it and password protect it.

Of course, there are thousands of software to protect folders, but I consider this the easiest way. Just make sure to save that single folder, and your browsing history will remain secure.

TMQFEL: Assaulting a Castle

The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is relatively easy to get once you pass the tutorial. Is very simple and straight forward; defend your castle and attack other’s castles. So, for those who are starting, here’s a quick guide on assaulting a castle.

First things first, selecting a castle to assault. Note that Blue castles users’ castles, Green castles are NPC castles.

Disable Windows Error Reporting Service for good

Windows Error Reporting it’s actually a good thing; it works by sending error reports logs to Microsoft so they can search for a fix and send it through Windows Update. This is awesome, but still, I don’t like Windows Error Reporting, it only pops up when I shut down a program using the task manager or I’m doing something I shouldn’t be doing… It’s never Windows’ fault. So, to me it’s useless, here’s how to disable it.

Go to services.msc (type that on the run prompt). Search for “Windows Error Reporting Service”. Stop it and disable it.

Now, when a program crashes, the service will set to Manual and will be started, we need to stop this.

Go to “C:\Windows\System32\”. There are three files you’ll need to rename:

• wersvc.dll
• werfault.exe
• wermgr.exe

I’m not sure these last two have something to do with it, but I remember that on W7 I used to do it, so I do it here anyway.

Since this service launches itself at random, it’s hard to replicate, but I started shutting down and hanging programs and the service didn’t start. I believe that this did the trick.

Skipping the Ubisoft intro logo from The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot

Yes, I haven’t played it for 24 hours and I’m already starting to tweak it. The first thing, the annoying Ubisoft Logo.

To disable it, skip it, remove it, go to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot\GameData\Data\Movie

In there is a file called “Ubisoft_Logo.bk2”. Rename it:

Now when you launch the game, the intro won’t show up.

The mighty quest for epic loot Closed Beta - I’m in

So, yes, I finally got into the Closed Beta of The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, which is one of the games I was more anxious to try out… but I was a little disappointed at the beginning. First of all, it crashed every time I switched tabs. Then, every time it rendered anything, a white screen will appear before rendering. I was unable to get into the settings.

YSK when you’ll be able to see the ISS from your house

The International Space Station, ISS, believe it or not, is visible from earth just by looking into the sky at the right time. Of course, it will seem like another star, but since it moves faster, just by paying enough attention you’ll be able to see it without problem… except one: When is going over me?

Spot the Station is a NASA site that allows you to check when the ISS will be coming to your neighborhood. Let me explain the date offered:

• You have the date, which is the when.
• You have the visible time, which is how much time will be visible.
• The Max Height is the maximum height
• It will appear on 11° above NW.
• It will disappear on the same place or near it.

Here’s a graph to explain it.

Since it will appear and disappear around the same place for a little over a minute, we can conclude that it won’t be on a place that will be easy to be spotted unless I’m on top a building or something.

Just try it yourself and hopefully you’ll be luckier than me.

Disable Run Prompt History

I love using the Run prompt, is way faster to access the control panel and some of it’s items, it’s good to run some apps and get to some files faster than using the Windows explorer. Anyway, since I share my computer, I don’t like people knowing my history of used documents or common programs, so I prefer disabling it.

Right-click the taskbar > Properties. In there you’ll go to Jump List.

Disable/uncheck the “Store recently opened programs”.

Good news, everyone, your commands, apps, addresses, you open with the Run prompt will no longer be showed.

The bad news is that you need to type everything like the first time every time.

WoW Patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar - Official Trailer

This morning has just become epic with the trailer of the new World of Warcraft Patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar. This patch will have a main focus on how Garrosh tries to conquer Pandaria, destroying anything in his path. The trailer is awesome, the lore is awesome. Just enjoy it.

Finally is here! Battle.net Desktop App

Years I’ve been playing WoW for a while and I have no plans for stop doing it, and today they finally did something that all Blizzard players needed: a fuckin’ desktop app.

This app is for Blizzard players in general, meaning that if you play any blizzgame, you can use this app to manage them; World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo.

What can you do with this app? Well, there are a few notable things that it offers. For starters, there is no local account management, you can’t do it using the app, instead it links to the website. This is good because it keeps you account safe, but there is no way to customize it from here.

Ok, each game has it’s own settings. For example, since WoW has 3 different versions (Starter, Live, PTR), you can install these three without downloading their respective .exe, instead the app will download and install them for you.

-- NOTE: This app will replace the old launcher for all your games. --

Settings are pretty regular: Start with Windows, Save email and password, Minimize to tray, Where to save games, Reset the game settings, Use proxy… pretty regular stuff.

A thing I liked is that you can see the game’s patch notes without leaving the app, and way more organized than the old launcher.

Now, the app has two tabs, Games and News, in games you can manage and install your games and stuff, and News takes care of all Blue post for the three games. You can even read them without leaving the app and filter them by game.

And yes, the app will be send to try when minimizing and the downloads can be paused and resumed later.

 

Few things to notice here:

• This is beta, meaning that it can change at any time without letting you know.
• This is beta, meaning that you can provide feedback to fix features or add new ones.
• You only need a registered mail at blizzard, you don’t need a full account to download it, but you do need one to play.
• YOU NO LONGER NEED TO PUT YOUR EMAIL AND PASSWORD TO GET INTO THE GAME. If you’re logged into the app, you’re logged into the game.

If you find something I miss, let me know. I’ll try to be up to date for updates and see what new things it has to offer.

If you missed it, here’s the download link.

Creating Control Panel Shortcuts on your Start Menu

One of the most useless stuff on W8 is the impossibility to create Control Panel shortcuts on the Start menu. I like to keep my desktop and my taskbar as tidy as possible, sending all my programs and shortcuts to the Start Menu, where they belong, but some Control Panel items can’t be created there directly. There is no “Pin to Start” or “Send to start”, you have to do a workaround to create one.

Go to the Control Panel, right-click on the item you need on your Start menu > Create Shortcut.

You should see it on your desktop.

Now, go to:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Copy and paste the shortcut in that folder. Rename it if you want.

Go to your Start menu and click on the arrow below to go into the All Apps menu.

You should see the shortcut right there.

Right click it > Pin to Start. And you’re done.

Enjoy your new shortcut.

Creating an exception on Windows Defender

I don’t know if this is a W8.1 feature or is because it’s a preview, but on Windows 8.1 I’m not able to disable Windows Defender using “regular” ways, you need to do a lot of stuff to disable it and the effort is way bigger than the profit, making disabling it a waste of time.

-- On a related note, for those who don’t know, Windows Defended on W8 and ahead has the same level of protection of Microsoft Security Essentials. --

Now, to activate Windows or remove watermarks you need a patch, this patch is recognize as a virus… because that’s what it is, evil… evil being used and controlled by you, but still evil. And Microsoft knows this, that’s why this kind of behavior is forbidden and you need to create special rules to keep this files on your PC by adding them to the folder/file exceptions.

Go to Control Panel > Windows Defender. You’ll see the main Window, in it, go to the last tab, Settings. Then to the Excluded Files and Folder.

In there, to the right, you’ll see a “Browse” button, click it, browse for the folder, then hit “Add”.

Don’t forget to click on “Save Changes”.

Now you can have all that bad stuff that you’re hiding safely without worrying that Windows will delete it without your permission.

-- On another related note, I really like Windows Defender. Is one of the most light antivirus I’ve had. Also, is not intrusive and easy to configure. If you want a free AV, this is the best you can get… or Microsoft Essentials, it’s essentially the same. --

Should I remove it?

Every once in a while I like to talk about this awesome software called Should I remove it? What this software does is list all your currently installed programs and show them their ratings and a % of removal (the more %, the more you should remove it). Of course, installing the software is just plain optional, in my opinion, if you know which programs are installed on your PC, you can go to the site and search for these programs by yourself. In my case:

• Pando Media Booster
• Orbit Downloader
• Skype
• Fraps
• Chrome
• Firefox
• Unlocker

That way, you can check if they program you’re using is considered useful or a piece of crap and know if it’s better to uninstall it or leave it be. I really recommend this tool for users who don’t know about different software and have no clue what an specific program does.

Billboard’s 100 most popular songs since 1946

Today a friend posted on Twitter a list of Billboard’s 100 most popular songs since 1946. Listing over 6000 songs, it’s the perfect place for anyone who’s feeling nostalgic and want to remember those songs that were a fundamental part of our childhood and/or adolescence.

What’s more amazing about this list is that you can see how music trends changed from year to year, and if you look closely, you can even see where music started to go downhill into the crap we’re hearing today.

Each song listed has a YouTube pair with the song playing, and if the song has a video, a video, both song or video has it’s own description (if possible, some don’t have one). The page also offers a Search feature, but it works by year, so if you’re looking a song by “Nirvana”, you type “Nirvana” and then click year by year until you find the band/song.

Get the old YouTube buffering with YouTube Center

It’s been a while since YouTube added a new buffering method called “Dash Buffering”, and what it does is load your video by blocks, that’s why when you return to a previous one the video is reloaded, because that block was not buffered anymore. This works great with fast Internet connection, but not so great with an slow connection. So, YouTube center was created.

 

Fix BlackBerry Link installation problem

My brother was fixing some guy’s Q10, this new BlackBerry is not compatible with the old BB Desktop MAnager, you need BB Link; this is a new software provided by RIM with, to me, two main differences: (1) You don’t need the cable, all operations can be done via WiFi, and (2) is way more easy to use than the old one.

Now, the big annoyance is that for a massive amount of users, the software won’t work. When finishing the installation, a problem will occur and all changed will be reversed. This “problem” has no error number, or description, or anything, so there’s no way to know how, why, when, or where is happening, you just have to figure it out by yourself… that’s what I did, and that’s how it worked.

First of all go to this folder:

32 bits: C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\
64 bits: C:\Program Files (x86)\Research In Motion\

If there is no such folder, create it and go in it. Now start the installation process, that folder should be the default path for the installation. Try to keep the folder and the installation window visible at all times.

Now you’ll see several steps, some may go to fast, so these are the ones that you must be watching: Copying new files, Writing registry values, STARTING SERVICES. This last one, Starting Services, is the one that causes the whole problem, I don’t know why or how to fix it, it may be an issue with the Desktop Manager, but the good news is that there is a way to ignore it and use it.

When you see “Starting Services”, copy and paste the BlackBerry Link folder. You’ll have like 2 seconds to do this. Keep focus on the explorer, when you see “Starting Services”, quickly hit “Ctrl+C” and “Crtl+V”.

Since the folder is in use, the program won’t delete the files immediately, it will wait until the copy is complete. After that, the original will be gone, but you’ll have a working copy of the program. There is a huge chance that is not actually portable since uses the services from the Desktop Manager, but works 99% (the sign-in doesn’t work). Other than that, you won’t be disappointed, hopefully.

Just create a shortcut on the desktop for BlackBerryLink.exe and run it.

World of Warcraft: The Burdens of Shaohao

I love World of Warcraft, since Warcraft II: Reign of Chaos, it has been one of my favorite video games ever. Not only the game itself, but the lore, the history, characters and plot twist, all of that makes you go into the game, feel sad, happy, angry, or all at the same time. And some of the best things are the design, sound, and animation, and the latest shorts shown on YouTube have proven this one more time.

This 6 short chapters are called The Burdens of Shaohao, the last emperor of Pandaria, and the events happen way back in time, just when the Burning Legion attacked Azeroth and Shaohao had to find a way to save his people and land from it:

• The vision
• Doubt
• Despair
• Fear
• Anger
• The Sundering

These six short animations are awesome, with an amazing music and an amazing animation (personally, remembers me of Samurai Jack). If you’re an avir WoW player, I highly recommend you to watch these videos. You won’t regret it.