Very intense and very...

...addicting games come few and far between. Hey, do y'all remember the old PC game called Scorched Earth? I remember literally spending hours tweaking the config file, playing the game and then tweaking some more to get the best possible gaming experience out of it. Well, the days of the 386 may be gone (and Scorched Earth with them - bless you, Wendell Hicken) but now there is a new generation of Windows-compatible Scorched Earth games. One in particular that I tried out is called Atomic Cannon. This is basically, no frighteningly similar to the old computer game of yore. The best part is that the graphics are (slightly) better and it does have cool game music and sounds. One thing that it doesn't have is the talk.cfg file that you could tweak to no end with the old Scorched Earth game. That was fun because you could key in all kinds of taunts and each time the tanks shot at each other, they would rattle off some spiny, sharp-toothed, and sometimes offensive little statements. Aaaah, the golden days of computing - before Windows and all this bloatware (Every OS Sucks, by Wes Borg and Co.) Well, today we have, like I say, a slightly more modern version of the addicting classic. Play it against the computer. Play it against the computer many times over (that's Computer * many). You can even play it against your friends (or enemies, should you so choose.) Be sure to download the free demo version unless you want to spend $20 so you can get a bunch of extra weapons and terrains. Personally, I think the free version is great (except for the ad that shows up on the screen at the beginning of the 5th round.) Try it out. You'll be addicted.

So, I wrote to Nadine Wimmer of KSL News about a story that I read on ksl.com. I never saw the investigative report, but what I read was about the "Utah Driver" phenomenon. Utah seems to be nationally known for its bad drivers and the situation appears to be getting worse. They discussed on the news about how people just seem to be klutzes behind the wheel and it's affecting people's insurance rates and it's also dangerous. The story really hit home to me because I usually go out of my way to obey laws and drive safely. However, what I notice on a very frequent basis is the lack of concern most drivers seem to exhibit when turning at intersections. I frequently see people turning right at an intersection turn straight into the left lane of traffic. The same goes for those turning left. They go into the right lane. People, that is dangerous and it's illegal! It is considered an improper lane change because you are not supposed to change lanes in an intersection. Anyhow, the report on KSL that I read didn't say anything about this problem and so I wrote to KSL about this problem. Nadine Wimmer has been following up with me on it and said that she would love to interview me if they pick the story back up. I was also talking to one of my coworkers about it today and he suggested that I make a trip to the city council and bring it up before the city officials. I just don't see many people getting into any trouble for improper lane changes like what I just described. What it has become is that people just think that it doesn't matter what lane they turn into and so they break the law in a very cavalier sort of mentality. I don't know how many times I have seen people get cut off by some [expletive deleted] turning into the wrong lane at an intersection. It just makes me really irritated. It's happened to me too. Anyhow, I'll keep y'all posted as to the development of this little gem. :)