Month: July 2010

LITTLE ABOUT ME://////////////////////

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Sometimes, Craigslist is a hit or miss. People are pretty upfront, and it’s like a business transaction. It’s one of the most accepted ways to look for apartments and roommates. Other times though, it is a comedy goldmine.

This is one of those moments. Enter Christana:

from: christana bally

to: XXXXXXXX

subject: LITTLE ABOUT ME://////////////////////

Well a bit about myself.am Chriatana, 25 yrs old , a non-smoker, don’tdo drugs, not a drinker, and drama free.  I myself like to be home and onoccasions sign up for classes.  I graduated last year , I am single and haveno children. However, I dont have dogs..am comingback home (U.S.A ) for my masters degree in any university i want. I wasborn in Michinga.my dad is from there too but my mum is fromLondon Uk.Am on research work at Paris (France), am almost done.with thatbcos its part of my prerequisite for my masters in Microbiology . I wouldhave loved to call you but I cant get thru bcos I believe its the longdistance call  issue.Am really interested in renting from you and willreally want to know everything about the place .I do really love pets but idon’t have any at the moment. Iwould have loved to see it but am very far,but with pictures,I am glad. Iwill also like you to tell me more about you and if you have pets. i don’tsmoke.pls let me know the total payment of the place and more over,I  willsend your email to my dad for him to email you laterbcos he is the one that will be paying the bills. I will wait for your emailto know if the place isstill very much available bcos i want to make a complete arrangement andwant to also have your words that you will have it reserved for me bcos iwill be coming soon take care and write me soonest.

A Brief History of OSS

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In pictoral form:

At this point, the question we’re asking ourselves is…

How can we possibly combine SC2 and Bacon?!

Well there IS the world renowned Fleet Bacon… nah that’s too expensive.

…wtf Blizzard, nothing?!  Help us out here!

fffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuu

How To Play Starcraft 2

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In honor of the new Starcraft 2 Trailer, I’ve decided to post a Newbie’s Guide to Starcraft 2.
A lot of you people out there on the Interwebs are totally jazzed about Starcraft 2. Well, you should be–it’s a sequel to an awesome game that you probably played in, like, grade school. In fact, it was probably one of the last PC games you touched before leaving gaming altogether in favor of trying to get laid.
Now gaming is sufficiently widely accepted that you can spend a few hours every day playing Modern Warfare 2 without taking a vow of chastity, and you’re chomping at the bit to drop some nukes online.
Starcraft 2: You're gonna get raped.

Starcraft 2: You're gonna get raped.

Fun fact: You’re gonna get raped. I’m talking painful, excruciating, humiliating ass-beating. People will beat you to death with SCVs just because they can. And once you’ve lost every single placement match and ended up in the copper division, you will get raped by hungry scrubs who have watched a few pro replays and kill you dead with cannon rushes, early Reapers, and 6-pool zerglings

And that’s because the nerds who really liked Starcraft have kept playing it for the last 12 years. If that doesn’t sound like fun, cancel your pre-order right now–or keep reading for some tips that just might help you earn a “GG” from your opponent.

Here’s what you have to know.

Playing Terran? Block off your ramp. Just do it. A barracks and two supply depots should work fine–you can lift off the barracks or lower the supply depot as necessary. If you don’t block off, your ass will be owned early on–marines can’t really hang against zerglings or zealots without some kind of fortification.

See that ramp in the lower-left? Block it or get devoured by The Horde.

See that ramp in the lower-left? Block it or get devoured by The Horde.

Build a lot of first-tier combat units. New players often try to build up their tech tree as quickly as possible because they want the big flashy stuff. This will get you killed by the guy who decides to build just two or three more marines than you have. Think of it this way: you have to earn those big flashy units by living long enough to get them without losing, and for that you need zerglings/zealots/marines.

Spend your money fast. Money in the bank is money that isn’t winning you the game. If you have more than 300-400 minerals on hand, you’re not spending fast enough.

Keep an eye on your opponent. Scout the living shit out of your opponent. Send an SCV out to look for him maybe a minute into the game, and check up on him periodically. Sacrifice overlords, build observers, use comsats–just do what you gotta do to know what he’s building before he kills you with it. Don’t be that guy who goes mass zealots and loses to a single mutalisk.

Key term: “Macromanagement” or “macro”. This is all the stuff that falls under building your army up. Your skills at maneuvering your army don’t matter if your opponent’s army is 3x the size.

Build more workers. Workers give you money. You need money to make an army. Constantly build workers. If you think you have too many workers, build an expansion at another mineral patch and send half your workers over there, and continue building workers from both Command Centers.

This guy needs more workers.

This guy needs more workers.

Attack their workers. You don’t have to take the opponent’s army head-on. Harass the worker line and it’ll make it harder for them to rebuild their army or research better tech–and you can catch the army out of position when they come back to defend.

Build more supply depots. All the time you spend waiting for your supply depots to build so you can build more units is time your opponent is, well, building more units. Don’t give him that.

Build more barracks/gateways/whatever. The more unit-production buildings you have, the faster you can rebuild your army. And they typically don’t cost much, either.

Don’t worry about towers. Towers are great, except they can’t move, and no dipshit is going to walk his troops in the way of a photon cannon when he can walk around it. Most of the time, they’re not going to help nearly as much as the stalker or whatever unit you could have built instead. Bunkers and Spine Crawlers are a bit more useful because you can salvage them or move them around, though.

Use the back door. Your guys will get killed going in the enemy base from the front. Use dropships/Nydus Canals/warp-in/whatever to get your army in a favorable spot, or use highly mobile units to dictate where the fight happens.

Key term: “Micromanagement” or “micro”. This is how you control your army to maximize each unit’s battle potential. Don’t worry as much about this until you’ve got your macro down. As long as you’re not walking into turret fire or getting owned by units on the high ground, you should be okay.

Build a detector. Observer, comsat sweep, Overseer, whatever. Build a detector that can move, so you won’t get totally owned when your opponent builds ONE unit that can cloak.

Don't get killed by these guys.

Don't get killed by these guys.

Start every game with “gl hf” (Good Luck, Have Fun) and end every game with “gg” (Good Game). Just do it.

-patrick miller

Mr. Brown in the house!

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This is probably not a good thing (long-term), but I just found out our local Vietnamese owned tiny grocery/produce store has Mr. Brown “iced coffee”!

Mr. Brown

Damn, were you always this fat Mr. Brown?! Your vest only has two buttons left!

Ahhh the memories… I wonder if anyone actually drinks this in Taiwan, where it’s supposedly made.

Anyone have any Mr. Brown stories?

Oh Snap, Music! “Zucchini Drive”

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Hello Dear Readers,

We’re going to be throwing in posts about random music we like, especially the artists we think you might not know about.

We’d love to hear from you on these posts, so if you have any artists/songs/operas you’d like to throw in the mix, let us know!

Today I bring you Zucchini Drive, from the Marathon of Dope label.

I was wondering how to describe their sound when I came across the term “glitch hop” the other day.  Simply put,  it’s a kind of hip hop with a dirty, gritty feel, and heavy electronic influences.  On their recent album ‘Shotgun Rules’, which you can download here FOR FREE, Zucchini Drive delves into the realm of electro-rap, but also puts forth a surprising number of more melodic and haunting pieces.  Check out the contrast between these two.

Marcus Graap of Zucchini Drive was a member of the self-proclaimed ‘Eurocrunk’ group Stacs of Stamina, who deserve a post all to their own, and it’s definitely great to hear his work again in another group/project.

We hope you enjoy the music!

Dear Liza…

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Holy shit.  Internet stalkers are awesome.  We here at OSS are awaiting the appearance of our own stalkers.  Any minute now…!

In the mean time, I bring you this crazy post from the KCRW website.

Just to give you some context, it’s a comment posted on a recent show by Liza Richards (dj).

dear liza

What is the dental floss thing?! I MUST KNOW!!

Here is the comment in its entirety.

Read the whole thing, I promise it’s worth it!

Liza,

I’ve loved you from the first day I saw you. 1984 . Campus of South Gate high (GO RAMS!).
you were being escorted out with your dad after being expelled for that dental floss thing.
My backpack was broke and torn by seniors and I was crying on the sidewalk.
The sunlight reflecting off your short brown hair. You were so beautiful.
Your dad stepped on my math book.

Since you ran away from home and Cris rescued you from that orphanage in Oxnard
I’ve been listening to you on KCRW.

Living in South Gate, Downey, Fullerton, Buena Park. El Toro and Lake Forest. South Gate again. Lake Forest. Rancho Santa margarita. fullerton.
Wherever I went, you were there. Rocking it.
Even when I moved to Carlsbad and the reception is so bad, I knew you were there. Rocking it.
Year and years have gone by.
And today on my phone taking the coaster to work there you are. last weeks show. ROCKING IT! Sleigh Bells!

Well after all this time I thought I’d reach out and say hi and tell you a little about myself.

I believe in love at first sight.
I believe a man should be macho.
I believe in a diet heavy in protein.
I believe in running. running far. running often.
I believe in the collective unconscious.
I believe in tickling said collective.
I believe that a group of monks, maybe several groups have been chanting the existence of reality into reality.
Without them there would not be.
I also believe that powerful corporate firms have hired some of these same monks to chant product names and lobby for political gain.
I am certain a certain president got reelected that way.
I believe in cranberry buttermilk muffins.
I believe that coffee is a right, not a privilege.

Liza, I’d like to come to your house and play some tracks for you that you played for me many years ago. A glass or two of brandy. Then, make love to you on the plush white bearskin rug in front of your fireplace. Later I’d slip out the kitchen door before the sun came up forgetting my thumbdrive full of mp3s in your stereo.

Keep Rocking it Liza.

Love Always
-C

Boo yah!