This mic is great! Wait, what's with the--NOOOOO~!!!

The new microphone is great. I tested it by an open window and still barely got any background noise, and what I got should be nothing Audacity can't handle. I also got a new pop filter, so I should be ready to test everything.

Should being the keyword because apparently mic stands are different in Europe and the makers of this microphone apparently felt it best to pre-install the European adapter screw thus making it incompatible with the stand it came with until I can figure out how to remove it which I am finding exceedingly difficult as there is no tool in my possession designed for this purpose and the microphone can't stand on it's own once the USB cord is connected and even if I drive back out to Guitar Center to buy a separate stand I will still have to contend with removing the adapter because I'm betting they don't sell European stands and even if they did why would I buy one short of assuming all future microphones I may own are going to be European and that's not even taking into account the fact that something like that is probably low in supply and demand so if they did have one they'd likely import it and sell it for more so what the hell why did this thing come pre-installed why couldn't they have left that decision up to me?!

Seriously, an adapter is an extra "you might need this, but the majority probably won't unless they're traveling" sort of thing. I appreciate it being included, but I don't understand why it came already screwed in there. It looks like it could be taken out with an over-sized screwdriver, but I don't think I have a screwdriver with this huge a tip. Heck, I don't think I've ever seen one with this huge a tip. The gap is, like, nickel-sized.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll figure something out and I'm pleased that I will finally be able to record with some measure of quality, but I find this particularly ridiculous. If you know why they packaged it this way, please put me in my place and tell me, because right now I'm just baffled. There was room in the box for it, but I guess they might have saved a tiny amount on plastic per unit sold by having it screwed in there?

EDIT: And two seconds with a pair of scissors used in a MacGyver-esque fashion solved the problem. Ah well. Was still fun to rant.

Why Won't You Heal Me, DanShive?!

Something I've been wanting to do since snagging a headset (you know, the headset that isn't good enough for the videos I want to make), I've been wanting to play Team Fortress 2 again. It just seemed like there was something missing when I could only communicate via keyboard. When you're also using the keyboard to move and shoot, that makes communicating with teammates something of an issue.

First off, I STILL don't know if anyone could hear what the crap I was saying. I fiddled with the settings and did some tests, but I still simply don't know. Between the sounds of battle and other people on their headsets, I don't know if I didn't hear any acknowledgments of what I was saying because I was missing them, because people couldn't hear me, or because they muted me on account of my headset making me sound like nails on a chalkboard. So from a purely "testing the headset" perspective, I feel like I didn't accomplish much.

As for the actual play experience, well... it kind of sucked. I was playing Arena simply because it was easy to find games for it, and I was playing as a Medic as that's how I can be most useful in Arena (in pretty much anything else, I'm best utilized as an Engineer). I was quickly reminded of one of the major communication flaws in that game, and that is simply having no idea who is talking to me.

Okay, yeah, I know what their screen name is. It flashes in the lower right corner and I can recognize different voices. The problem is that the voice is associated with one of several other teammates, which is anywhere between 7 and 15 people most of the time with several of them playing as the same character class and switching classes between rounds (and even during rounds if not playing Arena). When someone asks me via their headset to heal them over others for the sake of strategy, and all they say is "Dan Shive, heal me!", odds are I don't know who the crap they are, where they are, or if they're right about being a priority, unless they're right there by me.

I should probably look into adjusting the settings. I currently have to look right at someone to see their name; maybe I can set them to constantly float above their heads, at least for teammates? I don't know. What would help, however, if instead of a "voice" icon next to the name of someone who is talking, Valve had it set up so an icon of the class they're playing as appeared. If I could instantly know that the guy who was talking was the soldier with the top hat, it would make communication one heck of a lot easier.

Son Of A...

So I've decided that I really want to try and do a good job with this whole video review thing and that the headset just wasn't going to cut it, so I ordered a relatively inexpensive, but well reviewed, microphone and a pop filter. For those who are unaware, a pop filter is something you put between you and the microphone to cut down on wind interference and "pop" noises from "p" sounds and the like.

Well, I'm still waiting on the mic, but the pop filter has arrived! ...And it has a hole in the screen. I have not even opened the package, and there is a hole in the screen. In fact, there are two screens in the apparatus, and both have a hole in the same spot. These holes are off-center and the screen may very well be capable of warding off pops, which would be enough, but I'm not even sure I should open the package to try.

Then again, I haven't tried the mic yet, and I'm expecting it tomorrow. Maybe it has some sort of unadvertised pop prevention built in and I'll be able to return this thing and get my money back without having to wait for a replacement to record anything. That could happen, right? Even though the packaging for the pop filter shows a mic that looks exactly like the mic I ordered, I might not really need it, right? Right?

...Crap.

April Fools Bullcrap

April Fools can be a fun day, but it also results in a lot of stupid, simply not funny stuff. I logged into Deviant Art today to discover that all the user icons had been changed to things like Lady Gaga and Twilight. That's a little weird, kind of annoying and not really funny, at least in my opinion. It's made worse by the fact that they've basically done it before, except they gave people "I herd u like mudkips" icons back then. Not as bad, but I still didn't like it.

One reason I don't like the icon swap is because on top of not being that funny, it's something forced upon the user and possibly leaving them with an icon that represents something they hate. There are people who not only don't like Twilight, but are genuinely offended by the lessons it supposedly teaches young women. An icon swap for one day is ultimately not a big deal, but it's still a bit dickish to force someone of that viewpoint to use a Twilight icon for any period of time.

I'm repeating myself from Twitter, but It would have been fun and amusing if they changed up other graphics on the site, replacing their mascot with various funny images. It would give people something new and provide a fun meta-game treasure hunt for the site. The "haha your icon is co-opted and possibly something you hate" is less funny joke and more middle finger.