I played the demo for Shogo, and the engine itself was pretty impressive. There was a certain amount of lagging for quick, sudden mouse movements on my machine (a P233 with 128M RAM and an Orchid Righteous 3D card), but on the other hand, the turning was very smooth, as was all animation. Effects provided a visual feast of eye candy, and I only hope everyone has enough computing power to appreciate them.

There were a few sticking points about the game/demo itself. I found it rather odd that there were weapons in the demo that you could pick up, but couldn't actually use, because they're "not available in demo" (for example, the assault rifle). Why are they even there at all? And, as a gun guy, I found the misnomer applied to the "machine gun" rather amusing. The person who devised these weapons doesn't know the difference between a machine gun and a submachine gun? I may not expect the average joe to know the distinction, but if you're putting together a game based on weapons, you may want to do a little research (beyond just playing Quake II, which made the same silly mistake... that puny little thing is not a machine gun).

I've been spending a bit of time reading up on various online Y2k sites that prophecize the collapse of civilization caused by total economic and social breakdown. What I want is for someone to explain this to me: if all the banks fail and the government topples, why are all of these people saying that they're saving up "3 or 4 months mortgage" and rent payments? Who the hell are they expecting to pay? The banks? They're all going to fail, remember? Ah well. Nobody said these people had to make sense.

On a related note, if you're looking for reliable ammo at a low price, some of the lowest prices I've seen are in the Cheaper Than Dirt catalog. While you can't order directly from www.cheaperthandirt.com, you can have them send you a catalog. If anyone out there knows of a better retailer of ammo, let me know.

I have to say I do have my doubts about the credibility of the government's claims of "convincing information" about the Sudan and Afghanistan missile targets. What can you believe when the Sudan government itself is calling for U.N. inspectors to search the destroyed chemical factory and discover if Clinton's claims are true?

And was it appropriate for the United States to conduct an overt military strike against sites in countries without open hostilities towards America? Not that I don't support military action against terrorist organizations, because I do. But what would happen if Iran launched missiles at a target on U.S. soil that it claimed housed terrorists against their nation? Was a covert special ops force out of the question? The biggest question is this: what consequences will Clinton's actions bring about? Increased terrorist activities against Americans? More bombings on U.S. soil? The possibility of nuclear retaliation in an American city? The thought is truly frightening to think about.

Okay, I've reworked the way this section works. As you can see, the format is different. I'm going to try to be a little more consistent in my little rants here, and I'll try to focus on more realms of interest besides guns! Not that I think anyone reads these things, but what the hell... everyone else on the net is publishing their own worthless opinions. What's one more?

I spent the better part of the day reading Year 2000 doomsday predictions and how people are preparing for the chaos that will supposedly ensue. I can tell you surely, from my rather minor research into the topic, that absolutely no one really has any idea how bad the situation will be when the calendar flips to the year 2000. Most people agree that there will be problems, though there are those (a minority) that believe no effects will be felt. It seems that a lot of folks expect noticeable problems; there are those who think there will be power outages and economic crises for a period between a week and a couple months; then there are those who predict the breakdown of all social order and the end of American civilization as we know it.

Put me somewhere between second and third category. I hope to be prepared to survive for some two to three months on food and water stores. As you might have guessed, I have my own store of firearms, know how to use them, and plan to have quite a bit of ammunition stored up. One of my personal mottos I borrowed from the Boy Scouts: "Be prepared". Even better, "Hope for the best; prepare for the worst." My advice is this: do what you need to make through two or three months of uncertainty, but don't make any permanent changes that will leave you high and dry if nothing happens. You'll look pretty silly in your camouflaged Montana underground bunker if all that happens is a few banks fail. If worse comes to worse, we can all pack up everything that fits in our cars and caravan down to my friend's relative's house in the deep woods of North Carolina. But I don't think that will be necessary.

On the other hand, if you live in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, or any other large, extremely urban locale... ignore what I said. Get out of there; at least to the outskirts of the suburbs. The social order is so tenuous in these places as it is. The slightest nudge will push them over the edge. You just wait and see.