Boxes, in my opinion, are the one thing that they offer that gives me a connection to me.  I have my Steam profile, my Live365 station info, a daily Bible verse, buttons of what I support or like, etc. that I look at when I go to my page.  It’s a “make shift” home page and something static that I, or anyone else, can look at when hitting that page.  I would actually like to see the profile page expanded to more static “boxes” that are dynamically updated like some of these are or others to show, as I said what I like/support/etc. that I update.  I can only assume that Facebook is out to snuff out anything that isn’t actively making them money like these kind of features.  It’s unfortunate that companies that get big with poor management forget what got them to that point.

As for Google  Me…. I hope they build it out with a similar interface to FB since it does have some organization unlike mySpace.  Don’t get me wrong, mySpace gives people full control of their profile so that it appears as somewhat of a home page but it’s a bit much in terms of clutter on most of them.  I’d like to see Google strike a nice balance of the two sites.  Rather than removing the items that I organize and place into a particular spot, I hope that Google combines the features of the aforementioned sites and adds Google.  I’d love to open my browser, see my iGoogle page  (as today), click a tab to see my social stream, search or click on a friend and see their static homepage of information or hop over to mine and see any my dynamic app “boxes” and personal streams (as FB does today).  All of this would be configurable in the interface so I can see what I want, like if I don’t want to use iGoogle as my start and rather see my friends stream (as FB does today), I can set that or if I want to go to my profile page by default, I’m there first and I can click on the friends stream, iGoogle, etc.

My point is that rather than making FB more broad and open to me and my tastes, it seems they’re making it more narrow and restrictive and just a Twitter clone with a reply button.  Some of the things they should be more focused on, in my opinion, is streams that are broken out and more manageable.  I stopped playing games there mostly because they take too much time but they’ll also fill your wall in no time and people can post any crap they want to my wall rather than conversations or feedback and there’s little control over it.  I’d rather see a tab broken out for games that I play and separate from my conversations.  I’d like to see something as FB uses for groups/pages where you can see just what I posted instead of everything.  Just simple things but they’re going in the absolute opposite direction and I assume trying to find ways to make even more money.  The stupid iPod/iPad/iPhone, etc. spam is so rampant that some groups/pages aren’t worth reading or getting invites to the ridiculous “add 10 friends to see what happens next” crap.  Or their worst mistake in allowing the “like” for 1,000,000 phrases with no discussion and only there to make money and probably harvest personal information that FB shares with them.  While mySpace was just poorly coded, FB has decided to open the doors to the world and at the same time to your personal information that you may share (and by default is available).

I know this is a rant and may jump around a bit but it would be nice if a social network focused on the user and not their, already, fat wallet.  As I said, it’s unfortunate that companies that get big with poor management forget how they made it to that point and made the shitload of cash in their account.  You build something that gives people what they want and the cash will come as it did for FB but when you screw with your ora, so to speak, for money you’re just opening yourself to being smacked down hard and I hope Google does it quick and hard.

The game is set up so well for team play, unlike MW2, and yet they play it like MW2, forgetting that there is an objective to this game. that isn’t won by a KDR.  I’m only assuming, but thinking, that a lot of MW2 players have migrated as MW2 has grown old and they’re looking for something new to play and completely disregarding that THIS GAME is team and objective based.

Just getting really tired of joining a squad and finding that my 3 teammates are all snipers or like being a camping engineer with a Gustav.  I blame EA/DICE only for the freakin’ run and gun that seems to exist with the sniper kit.

[End Rant]

Until next time….

Hi, Battlefield fans!

We have just released our sixth VIP Map Pack on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. This means that you now will have the chance to play Squad Deathmatches on one of my absolute favorite maps, Panama Canal. You also have the opportunity to engage in fierce Squad Rush fights on Laguna Presa.

As per usual, the VIP Map Pack is free for new game buyers. If you picked up the game used, you can get a VIP code either through the Playstation Store/Live Marketplace, or via the in-game store. For PC players, this new content is free for all.

To give you a glimpse of the new action that awaits, here is our freshly squeezed trailer for the Map Pack. Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The game itself wasn’t too bad, the Strider boss fight was a pain in the ass until I figured out that the best position was staying to the far right of the platform but even then you’re fighting your own stray rockets that seem to come back to bite you if fired while you’re too close to the cover.   Running the citizens was fun as well but Alyx got on my nerves telling me to get the next group over and over when I had combine on my ass leading them to her protected area.  What took the cake is her saying “we did it!” as you’re leaving at the end after she hid behind a barricade with a turret during the rescue and then again while you fought the Strider by your self!   All-in-all it was a fun add-on, will probably start and finish Episode 2 this weekend.

So I took down Crysis (somewhat) and HL2E1 this week and as I said, probably HL2E2 this weekend.  I think I’ll take a look at Doom 3 again after that.

A nice break from Bad Company 2, too much time playing lately with nothing really new other than a few map converts from one mode to the other.  I’ve even went back to Conquest recently for something new to do and my most hated map at release, Panama Canal, is now my favorite in that mode after learning it better and playing engineer.

When I went out to download the latest version (I thought it took care of itself), it prompts me for a security verification code… Huh? To download a file?  Are there people fraudulently downloading PunkBuster?  The nerve of people!!  Or is it that they suck so bad that people were downloading it over and over as a manor of a DoS attack?  Who knows.  Of course the update for a full install of, what 5, 10 mb(?) is now 34 minutes.