Guitar Hero Clone -- Frets on Fire

Don't have a PS2 or xbox 360? Check out the free open source alternative to Guitar Hero called Frets on Fire. You can use your PC keyboard like a guitar or even use a PS2 Guitar Hero controller if you have one. It works great and you can't beat the price. Frets on Fire is available for either Windows XP or Linux. Real songs are not included but you can download them if you have a bit torrent client.

Here are some seed links to some songs you can use with FoF:

Guitar Hero I Songs
Guitar Hero II Songs
Various Songs 1
Various Songs 2

I recommend mapping the keys to something that suits you best. My keyboard is routed so I can't hold it as a guitar. As a result, I changed the keys to I pick with my left hand and fret with my right.

The game is very fun and our family really enjoys it (yes, even Shelly). Guitar Hero II will be released for the xbox 360 on 4.3.2007. I've already pre-ordered it. Using an actual guitar is going to be much more fun. That being said Frets on Fire is a blast with the keyboard.

A Family Through The Years

I found this on Digg...

Apparently this family takes a picture of themselves every June 17th. They've done this since 1976.

It's actually interesting to look at.

Check It Out!

Cade Turns 7 - Baltimore Turns 10!

Cade Opens Some Gifts

Cade celebrated his birthday this weekend. His birthday actually falls on the 13th. He chose the theme of Miami Dolphins and received all kinds of new gear. Hans, Sherry's son from daycare, got him into the team and he's been a fan ever since.

Baltimore is getting up there. She's 70 in dog years now. Give her a throw toy and she still thinks she is a puppy. The next day she realizes she's not quite as young as she thought.

There are a few new pictures over at Flickr. Check them out if you desire.

Great Customer Service

You hear enough bitching and whining about companies screwing their customers. It's refreshing to see not everyone is that way.

Recently the SD media card that was in the digital picture frame that I gave Shelly for Christmas died. The card could not have been more than 2 or 3 months old. I was kind of annoyed, as anyone would be, so I emailed the company. That company was Kingston. I'm not a huge customer, but over the years I have purchased several memory products.

The next day I received an email from someone over at Kingston giving me directions on how to obtain a replacement. I followed the directions and submitted the info to start the return process. A few days later I received a new email with directions on how to ship the bad card back. All I had to do was stop by FedEx and ship it off. No fees required. Kingston took care of the shipping.

Yesterday, roughly five days later, I received a brand new replacement card. You always hear about the bad customer experiences. This was just the opposite. I can't say enough good things about Kingston and will continue to use them in the future.

It's good to see customer service like this. When a company does an outstanding job trying to make the customer happy it's only fair to let other people know. Kingson's got your back if something goes wrong.

FiOS Update

Back in November I was so excited about FiOS coming. I thought they were running the fiber. But as it turned out, they just ran the conduit. Last week they finally ran the fiber. Today we got the ability to pre-order the service. Of course I called and set it up.

Hopefully within 6 weeks we will have FiOS. That means my download speed will increase from 4 mbps to 15 mbps. My upload speed, which I am most excited about, will jump from 384 kpbs to 2 mbps. That means my upload speed will be 5x faster. Comcasts download speeds have always been good. The upload speeds, on the other hand, have always stunk.

I can't wait to call Comcast and cancel. Their service is fine, but they have been shafting me for quite some time since I don't use them for TV service.

TV isn't available yet on FiOS, but it's coming soon. I'll have to do some research to see customer reviews of the service. Right now we use DirecTV and really like the quality and service we get. We'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it.