Well like every year, I took alot of photos of the convention and have selected the medic as the best costume of the event. As you can see this guy did an excellent job of an original costume from Team Fortress 2. We are hoping to have him visit the next lan which is also Web's birthday. The convention has alot of good custumes and I will post those pics up soon. I was disappointed with the quality of the vendors this time. I brought plenty of money this time and was planning of picking up a full size metal Tie Fighter Advanced. To my surprise not one vendor has one. Most of the Star Wars items were over-priced. They did have a few good actors but nothings really amazing. Dani and Darkbard both found some things to get. The Dave school had a good setup and Wacom displayed their newest tablet screens. The best graphic artists in my opinion were Marc Wolfe with paintings of super heros and woman that did fairy photographs. I will get her name soon after I find her card. Hope alot of our gamers got to go to the convention and don't forget that this weekend will be a BBQ lan. FREE dinner Saturday night thanks to Dani the Hot One and Darkbard.

Ok these have the best gamming equiptment you can find. There mousepads rock and their have have a ton of audio gear. This event they are donating three (3) Qck pads. IF you dont know what they are visit the site and druel all over them. The pads will be given away at the event for three lucky gamers. As if that was not cool enough, they are also donating a white SteelSeries Siberia full-size. Not sure what that is, well visit their audio products by by clicking here. This pair of headphones will be on one of the spare rigs so that all the gamers can play with and try out this great product. And if you want one well visit their website and order one TODAY!!

Even though I have been telling everyone for the last few months to show to this concert I only noticed like twelve Solgames Gamers at the event. This was one of the best concerts I have been to period. And most of you know my wife works for the Festival and therefore we get to go to alot of concerts. This was proof that videos games are here to stay. The event was produced by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall who showed thier true love for music and video games. There was a featured local band named Select Start which allowed them the showcase their abilities. The video game pianist was there as well and was featured for a number of songs. I was hopeing to see a larger orchestra but when I found out they were using local talent instead of touring the entire musical crew it made sense. The performance was amazing and in some places touching. I will post some photos later and make them available. In the meantime visit their website at www.videogameslive.com

As a nice Christmas present, Tom Drapeau, the Director of AOL's Netscape Brand, said the team is ending development and would cease issuing security updates as of Feb. 1. 2008. Netscape Navigator once was the center of attention during the landmark federal antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. Drapeau said: Given AOL's current business focus and the success the Mozilla Foundation has had in developing critically acclaimed products, we feel its the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reigns fully to Mozilla and encourage Netescape users to adopt Firefox. Netscape Navigater stared in 1994 when Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark started the Mosaic Communications Corp. By 1995 Netscape was being used by more than 80% of all browsers. Microsoft Corp launched a free browser named Internet Explorer with started to whittle away at Netscapes lead. By 1998 Netscape Communications announced that they would stop charging for the browser and formed the Mozilla Foundation to handle the open source code.
AOL bought Netscape later that year for $4.2 billion. Now only .60% of the internet use Netscape while 77.4% use Internet Explorer and 16% are using Firefox. Even though a ruling in federal court said Microsoft had quashed its rival using illegal practices, including tying its free Internet Explorer to Windows and bullying partners into not bunding Netscape with new PCs, the browser has not been able to regain users. Netscape will still be available to download from an AOL site but Drapeau encouraged current users to move to Firefox. The Netscape Team fully stands behind the fine work being done by the Mozilla Foundation. We recommend that you download Mozilla Firefox and give it a try. Drapeau said. We know you will enjoy it!

Well we are getting ready for the end of the year lan and decided to pull out some of the toys that we are going to be using in the new year. So if you want a sneak peak, be sure to be at the last lan of the year 2007. First toy is a new room. This new porch room has room for smoking gamers or just for those that want some fresh air. This room also features a large 28 foot wide projector screen. This screen is awesome for large scale rock band and gutair hero games. We can also run the projector in reverse mode so that we can watch television from the pool. You can see a few pics here and here. Now if that was not enough, we just got a new cotton candy machine. This is a full size cotton candy maker and it makes alot of cotton candy at once. It is a great addition to the popcorn machine and soda fountain. And the last new toy is the hot tub. I know we have been talking about it for a while now but it is up and running. Vicious is enjoying himself with Dardbard and the HotOne. There are more shots here and here. So if you are comming to the lan be sure to sign up quick because we are only taking the first 50 people that sign up. Happy Holidays to all.

It is with heavy hearts that we make this announcement. Better known as Huma to most Solgamers, Michael Ruschak passed away on September 24, 2007. He was shot in Oviedo, Florida while helping out a friend. The news story with details can be found here at the Orlando Sentinel. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Michael's family and friends. If you would like more information about funeral arrangements or the visitation, please contact Joe Boy (Breaker) at joeboy@yctp.com.

This is Huma. He was 22 years of age. He started coming to LANs back in 1999. Many will remember him as the guy that bought the green machine from Breaker. He loved playing counter-strike, Starcraft, and messing around with his best friend Rage. May he rest in peace. He will be missed.
UPDATE
There will be two viewings on Friday, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, and then from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. The viewings will be held at Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home in Oviedo. The address is:
501 E. Mitchell Hammock
Oviedo, FL 32765
Their phone number is 407-366-8999 if you need help finding the place. You should be able to find it on yahoo.com without a problem.

SteelSeries, a leading manufacturer of innovative professional gaming gear, today announced the SteelSeries Ikari Optical and SteelSeries Ikari Laser professional gaming mice. The new, ergonomic right-handed multi-grip mice mark the company's entry into the market for gaming mice. Adding the gaming mice line compliments an existing portfolio of professional gaming gear that consists of headsets, keyboards, surfaces, accessories and security software designed for competitive gamers. You can read the entire press release and even see photos of the mice by clicking here. Be sure to show up at the next lan to see some of their new mousepads and get a poster.

That is right folks Nintendo has announced a new peripheral for the Wii which turns both Wii controllers into a light gun. The Wii Zapper is a plastic housing for the Wii Reporter and Nunchuk that combines the two peripherals into a two-handed gun controller. Reggie Fils-Aime described the device as "a new housing for the Nintendo and Wii Remote... However, it will change the dynamic of first-person shooters in the same way the Wii Remote changed sports games." He also revealed that Nintendo will be working on bundling the product with a first party game which will retail for $19.99. Other game that will take advantage of the Wii Zapper include Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Metal of Honor: Heroes 2, and Sega's Ghost Squad. Be sure to look out for it. Also SolgamesUSA now has a Wii on a projector in the pool table room. So bring your own controller and you can use whatever game of the LAN that has been picked. Only ONE game will be chosen per LAN. We may put it on the net for friend play in a few weeks.

If you were around in the 80s you remember the cartoon Transformers and the Hasbro toys which could transform from a regular car to a really cool robot. The toys were great and the cartoon was good enough to keep you wanting to buy the toys. When I saw that there was going to be a release of a live action version of transformers, well I was not jumping up and down. After seeing the two hour and twenty-three minute movie I will say it was one of the more difficult projects Michael Bay has taken, as well as one of the best cgi action projects that I have seen. If you loved the toys you will love the movie. I am sure Hasbro will be selling the toys for many more years to come.
If you don't know the story you have two sides of Non-Biological Extraterrestrials. You have the good guys (Autobots) lead by Optimus Prime who can transform into a big rig and you have the bad guys (Decepticons) lead by Megatron who acquires power first, and kills anyone in his way. They fight for eons on their home planet and have now brought their fight to earth looking for an object called the AllSpark. The AllSpark can create more transformers. The movie had a lot of comedy in it and of course included the tag line from the cartoons, More that meets the eye. In my opinion this movie will be a box office hit. With lots of comedy and action, this movie is a great way to relax on July 4th after enjoying your barbeque.

There has been alot of talk on the internet about a new tool that is being marketed as a great new benefit to us the users. This tool is called the "Microsoft Genuine Advantage" This allows the great benefit of allowing the user to check to see if they have a legal copy of windows. And if you as the user find that you do not have a legal copy of windows, you have the great options to either put up with an annoying popup window by the clock alerting you to the fact that you may be a victim of software counterfeiting, or to pay $150 to fix the problem. So far the great benefits seem to only be for Microsoft. Now after a little poking around with a router that records all incomming and outgoing ports the following information can be found. After this tool has run on your system, even after it is been confirmed that you have a legit version of windows, the tool contacts Microsoft over the internet EVER TIME YOU BOOT. A few people have made blogs and posted their findings about this issue. Is WGA a spyware program. According to Microsoft, the answer is, "It depends upon your point of view." We all know that Microsoft has had major piracy issues, which is why the costs of their software continues to rise. What users dont understand is that even if your computer is validated, it is not necessarily a permanent state. Even after a copy of Windows XP has been validated, Microsoft may choose to "revoke" that validation at a later date if activation codes are found on another computer in the future. So since you are required to post your activation code on the OUTSIDE of your computer case where other people can copy it down. They want to ensure that WHEN someone steals your code that you bought and paid for that they can "revoke" your right to use your software.
Now hear is the kicker. All this annoying trouble is occuring on legal windows xp computers as well as illegal copies of XP. Microsoft requires your computer to DAILY contact them with your IP address, date and time, vaildation code, and maybe even more. What is even more disturbing is that when the user community complains, it will lead the way to a even more controling form of software distribution. Imagine if Microsoft took the same approach to software distribution as Valve Software does. The steam engine requires you to store a username and password along with validation key to allow you to play games on the internet. This allows the user to go to any computer and play their game. The problem is you are now RENTING the software and not fully in control. At any time the company could remove your access to the software. Do you really want Microsoft to have that much control over your computer and your ability to complete your work. I would hate to have my windows shut down because someone at a lanparty copied my cd key. But more importantly you have to ask yourself, how important is the data on your computer and the ability to access it.

I am so tired of hearing how myspace.com is hurting our children. There are hundreds of community websites that promote blogging and friend lists. But the only site targeted by the news and other media is myspace. They have been accused of creating an enviroment that allow child predators to access children. They are accused of creating a place where you can scam other people without concern of getting caught. They have even been accused of causing people to be fired because users have put on information on their site that was not pleasing to thier employer. Today it was stated that Myspace is now hurting our children because they are allowing kids to stay on the computer for long periods of time and therefore starting arthritis. Since they are using the computer all day and with proper supervision to assist them in how to sit and position themselves there has been a few cases of repetitive stress injuries (RSI). They are even finding cases of eight year olds complaing of headaches, neck problems and backaches. Now I am sure this is an important problem, but why blame myspace for it. We might blame Disney.com since they have eight year old kids playing games on their site. But myspace wont let you make an account until you are at least 14. It seems that since Myspace is a popular target it is just more news worthy of a story if ANY new child problem is caused by myspace. I would be interested to see what you think. You can find the MYSPACE SOLGAMES GROUP and put your thoughts on the forum.