I’ve been wanting a Mac for awhile. I have also been wanting to add a (good) HTPC (home theater personal computer) to my home theater for awhile too. I waited and waited… just when I thought I was ready to buy one I waited some more for Mac World ‘08 to see if they would announce a new Mac Mini, which would fit perfectly into the role of a HTPC not only in terms of functionality, but also aesthetically. Well I did it, last night I went out and bought one to replace the archaic Dell that was attempting to fill the role (I often didn’t even use it just because it was so slow).

I haven’t finished setting it up yet, but my first impressions of it are great. This is my first Mac (I have an iPod and iPhone, but this is my first Mac OS computer). The interface of Leopard looks great and all, everyone knows that. What I am really excited about is Front Row and the little Apple Remote and how easily it turns my HDTV and Surround Sound system into a juke box, movie theater (video podcasts HURRAY), or photo viewer. I have my portable hard drive connect directly to the AirPort Extreme router to share the music library and videos throughout the house. I also have to say I am quite excited about HD movie rentals through iTunes that I can view directly on my TV.

One of my main goals is to turn the Mini into a DVR to record live HD broadcasts or even use it to… shhhh… torrent some television programs. I will do a flushed out write up on the setup and functions of my Mac when I get it all together. I am very pleased with how it is coming together so far.

I decided to goof around in Assassin’s Creed today, maybe collect some flags or stab some Templars (I often enjoy stabbing). A Live update was downloaded and I didn’t really make note of it. I noticed a few new gameplay elements that I thought I had maybe missed somehow. Altair has two new stealth blade kills, one which he kicks his opponents knee out and stabs him downward in the neck and another where he stabs them up under the chin and lays them on the grab like a sleeping child. I also noticed I can now perform counter kills with the assassin’s blade, which I don’t believe I was able to do before.

Let me know if these aren’t new or let me know if you see anything else new.

Edit: It seems the guards are less touchy about riding your house at speeds beyond SNAIL now too. 

I have been quite busy with family and friends (life outside the internet… scary) and haven’t had a chance to post anything in awhile. But, despite that I have experienced some new things that are worth worth talking touching on briefly. I saw two new movies over the Christmas/New Years season, National Treasure 2 and AVPR. Both of which I can say were not spectacular in anyway, but they were good popcorn flicks. National Treasure followed the same formula of the first movie. However, in this film, Riley, the partner of Nicolas Cage’s character was even funnier than he was in the first and really provided the comic relief. AVPR was what I expected going into the movie, cheesy dialog and gore. But it delivered on what the name implies, Aliens fighting Predators, and plenty of human bystander casualties.

For Christmas my parents got me an awesome CORE-WOrKS EX-S conversion kit. The pieces are huge and the proportions looks so much better than just the plain master grade. This one I will truly try to make my masterpiece. After I finish my Hyaku-Shiki, Zeta 2.0, and CORE-WOrKS Double Zeta.

New Years Eve was a heck of a party over at Nate’s, my co-blogger on Spoylr, house. Friends, alcohol, and Rock Band were present, which in my book is the formula for a good time. The new DLC for Rock Band is pretty good, particularly Limelight by Rush. New Years day I was playing some Mario Galaxy with Nate (who is almost TOO good at collecting star bits) when I decided that my Wii needed something fresh, so we decided to go get Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. I didn’t buy a zapper, but the game is fun without it. Using the Wiimote doesn’t quite capture the feel of a true lightgun shooter like House of the Dead, but it is pretty close. The game doesn’t really need the nunchuck, so perhaps with one of those gun attachments it would be a little better.

Overall it was good holiday season. As a New Year’s resolution I would like to blog more often. Happy New Year everyone from the writer’s of Spoylr.