For the two or so of you that have been wondering where I was, I'll just fill you in. Without going into details, I've been put into a situation where the hydro company is giving us a hard time. It seemed to come out of nowhere (I was blind sighted, I won't blame anyone but I'll just say I had no control over this)but at the moment I've gone a week without power and I'm potentially faced with an additional week or more in the same condition.

As someone who practically relied on technology, this is an extreme. All modern forms of entertainment no longer exist, the most simplistic of devices such as microwaves and stoves are no longer a convenience, and I've mostly relied on the written word (books) to keep my mind somewhat stimulated. I'm really starting to realise just how much I took these basic things for granted and while I think I'll come out of this experience with an all new appreciation for hot water (yes, it's that bad) and moving images, it's not something I ever want to experience again.

Life without power is both therapeutic and torturous at the same time. Flashlights replace bulbs,take out replaces the stove, books replace most forms of entertainment, the radio replaces my dailynews, talk radio replaces my podcasts. My thirst to see moving pixels again is only satisfied by my Nintendo DS at the moment, and luckily I have cunning ways of rechargingit in public areas. At the moment the best way to describe how I feel at times is disconnected. How do people who live on farms, or secluded from modern society do it? probably because it's all they've known. Maybe another week will help me get used to this sort of life style but by then it would have been over.

Is this service honestly the future of gaming as we know it?

I have to say that this little black box packs a whole lot of ambition within its plastic (on the television side of things). Its technology promises to provide users with an unprecedented ability to play video games as if it were actual interactive video in a sense over an internet connection. It gives that extra oomph to the term "video" games. The service essentially means that if you have a PC capable of running MSN messenger you'll be instantly given the ability to practically play a title like Crysis according to them. It really boggles the mind.

I've seen services and technology attempt to offer all in one solutions to steep hardware requirements etc. One such example would be a system we all remember as an absolute failure. The Phantom.

It was a console that touted the unique ability of playing the latest PC games. Of course any logical person would come down to the conclusion that eventually you'd need to upgrade the Phantom's hardware to keep up, essentially still making it a PC without the same customizable functions.

Onlive however doesn't focus its offerings to PC titles however; it also serves to provide gamers with Xbox 360 titles and to a lesser extent, certain PS3 titles.

As I hinted to before, the technology relies on a relationship between your internet connection and Onlive's servers. So imagine playing a game from another person's house as its being instantly projected through your own TV screen. This also means that a person could allow literally thousands of spectators to watch them play there favorite game at any given moment. It all sounds really cool and convenient on paper. However, like the Phantom I see a few flaws with this method.

• Lag:

I'm sorry you just can't avoid this. We're talking about streaming an entire game instantaneously over an Internet connection, and what happens when you want to play online at the same time? Hell what if something happens with their servers, I don't even want to think about a day when virtually every individual is suddenly stripped of the ability to play there offline game of choice.

• Mods:

If I'm essentially playing a game from another person's server, how will I have the ability to manipulate my own game? I'd seriously be constrained to what is given to me in its original package. That seriously hurts the modding community as far as PC games are concerned.

• Price:

This will fluctuate and get higher as the demand grows. There is no way that any company can handle the cost of millions of gamers streaming title after title with a modest price tag.

• Competition:

Do you really think Sony, Nintendo and MS will allow this to succeed to a great degree? I know I wouldn't want these three in my cross hairs. Makes me doubt just how much flexibility they may have to succeed on a grand level.

Despite those concerns, I'm really impressed by the promises being made and the technology certainly has the potential to be groundbreaking if done right. At this point however I can only see it as some sort of casual alternative that will help bring in more gamers rather than be a replacement. It'll also help the PC industry in a way by both eliminating the piracy problem and hardware requirement issue in one swoop. (Providing you have a damn good Internet connection).

Note: I wrote this before Onlive's Press conference, so check it out here to inform yourselfs on the technology if you're interested.

What do you guys think about this tech?

It seems like I find something new or generate a new hobby every year, a couple of years ago it was video editing, and now it's 3D rendering and so far I'm loving it. Now let me be real here, I'm no animator, I'm not at the level where I can create an entire model from scratch so all the credit goes to the talented individuals that provided the meshes, textures, etc. I do know the basics after days of research however. So behold I give you my first 3D scene rendered from Poser 7, along with Photoshop for the post work. Allow me to show you just a glimpse of my geekiness during my free time.

Wanted: Dead or Alive with his suit intact.

Last seen: November 2020

Codename: Bullet

Profile: His body suit is a product of military experimentation, a system that revolves around the shock of certain muscles triggered by mental signals allowing a regular human an almost automatic super human ability to both dodge bullets and move at incredible speeds through the forceful actions of the technology. He is no ordinary subject due to his ability to handle the suit's wear and tear. He's gone through several years of mandatory training funded by the government's tax dollars. This involved pain resistance, mental training and the overall control of muscle spasms.

The gloves and boots were especially designed to provide Bullet with soft impacts, due to the forceful speed of his movements, punches, kicks or simple landings without added protection would end up breaking more than just his bones. Vice versa, recieving a blow from Bullet is the equivalent of being shot by the very object he's named after. After growing dependant on the suit's offerings he suddenly went rogue. At the moment he's wanted by the government for stealing a piece of technology that is financially irreplaceable. If you see this individual and do not think you can retrieve him with your current AE (anatomy enhancement), contact the XIE immediately.

So there you go so I plan on doing some video game themed stuff. I'm currenly working on an Assasin's Creed 2 deal so look out fo rthat. I also put this little scene together. She's extremely rough around the edges (I don't know what I was thinking with those gloves), I'm to lazy to add decent hair at the moment. .