Good god, is it Monday again? Days, weeks, months go by so quickly lately, I can barely keep up. It seems that I wait forever for something, the weekend, a holiday, and before I know it, it's come and gone. I appreciated the time I got to relax and I don't feel like it went by too fast, or that I wasted it, it's just that I wake up the next day, back at work, and realize how long I waited for it, and how it seems to have gone by in a blur. I remember when I was a kid, years went by slowly, time passed at a reasonable pace. I had to wait for things to come and it seemed like every day lasted a fair 24 hours. I was even sleeping more then, you know bedtimes and all. Now I spend more hours awake and things still seem to be flying by. I don't get it. I really do need an extra day in the week or two. Not so much so I have more time to do stuff, but just to slow this shit down! I just hope I'm not missing anything.

Well, Sunday was my birthday. I am another year older. 36 to be exact. The same day, my wife and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. As is my way when such an occasion reminds me, I'd like to thank my wife Monika for her patience with all this gaming nonsense and computer, web and other tech stuff, as were it not for her patience, support and encouragement, there's no way this website would exist.

Now as usual, what games are coming out this week? Here's a list: (Nov7-Nov13)

PC: 80 Days / Gun / Earth 2160 (US) / Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / Matrix: Path of Neo / Missing: Game of the Year Edition / Shrek SuperSlam / Taito Legends / The Movies / X3: Reunion (US)

PS2: Fatal Frame III: The Tormented / Ford vs Chevy / Gun / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / Karaoke Revolution Party Bundle / Matrix: Path of Neo / Magna Carta: Tears of Blood / Suikoden Tactics

Xbox: Ford vs Chevy / Gun / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / Karaoke Revolution Party Bundle / Matrix: Path of Neo

GC: Gun / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / Karaoke Revolution Party Bundle / Sea World: Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures / Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble

GBA: Care Bears / Fantastic Four - Flame On / Franklin the Turtle / Garfield: The Search for Pooky / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / Sea World: Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures

PSP: Crash Tag Team Racing / SOCOM: FireTeam Bravo / The Lord of the Rings Tactics

DS: Disney's Kim Possible: Kimmunicator / Ford Racing 2 / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / Sea World: Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures / Snood 2: On Vacation

This week on DVD we have: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, DuckTales Volume 1, The Devil's Rejects

Here's some stuff:

• Jack Thompson to be Disbarred? - A judge in the Alabama court case has taken the motion to revoke extremist attorny Jack Thompson's license to practice law and is also considering a motion to have the entire suit dismissed on the grounds that the First Amendment, which provides for freedom of speech, applies to videogames. The defendants' laywers also claim that Devin Moore's actions could not have been foreseen. Ed.note: Needless to say, Thompson took things too far with his ridiculous claims like The Sims conspiring with the porn industry...
• Film file-sharer sent to prison -  Hong Kong man has been jailed for three months for film piracy after he shared movie files over the internet. The authorities say he is the first person in the world to be prosecuted for passing on files using a popular file-sharing program called BitTorrent.
• Macromedia Patches 'Critical' Flash Flaw - The vulnerability, which was privately reported to Macromedia four months ago, is rated "critical" and could lead to arbitrary code execution attacks. The flaw was flagged in Macromedia Flash Player 7.0.19.0 and earlier versions. Macromedia has posted fixes to its Download Center.Windows users can determine which version of the Flash player is installed at this Web page.
• New worm targets Linux systems - "Lupper" worm takes advantage of several vulnerabilities in Web server software to propagate and install a backdoor on exposed systems.
• Windows AntiSpyware becomes "Defender" - The tool, designed to protect PCs against hidden software, has been renamed "Windows Defender" and is getting a new look as well as capabilities to detect rootkits, keystroke loggers and other threats.
• Microsoft Faces Late Heat over Visual Studio 2005 Quality - According to some bloggers, the much anticipated release of Visual Studio 2005, which is slated to ship Monday, following a vaunted launch event here, may be going out too early.
• I Want My HDTV -- But Which Flavor? - You'll need help when it comes to sorting the many, seemingly bewildering, options available today. Here it is. High priced? My documents and photos are worth it.
• Buying an LCD Panel: A Quick Rundown - Here's a quick rundown of the things you need to look for before buying an LCD panel.
• How secure is my broadband internet connection? - This is a subject that comes up a lot with my clients. The answer is not as straight forward as it may seem. There are a lot of factors that can effect this.

Reviews: Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (8/10) / Age of Empires III (9.1/10) / Age of Empires III (B-) /  Black & White 2 (6.5/10) / Black & White 2 (8/10) / Blitzkrieg 2 (7/10) / Call of Duty 2 (8/10) / Call of Duty 2 (9/10)) / Call of Duty 2 (8.8/10) / Chrome: SpecForce (9/10) / Civilization IV (9.5/10) / Civilization IV (93%) / Fahrenheit / Indigo Prophecy (8.8/10) / F.E.A.R. (9/10) / F.E.A.R. (8.7/10) / F.E.A.R. (9/10)) / Quake 4 (7.9/10) / Shattered Union (7.9/10) / Shrek Superslam / Sims 2: Nightlife (7.7/10) / Starship Troopers (4/10) / Star Wars Battlefront II (7.8/10) / Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 (8.5/10) / UFO Aftershock (7.9/10) / Warhammer 40k Dawn of War / World of WarCraft (8.4/10) / X3: Reunion (8/10) / X3 - Reunion (9/10)

Previews: Marc Echo's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure / Neverend / Panzer Elite Action

Media: Elveon movie / DOOM RPG Trailer / Gang War movies / Gun movie / Monster Madness gameplay movie / Mouse Trophy intro trailer / SpellForce 2 Movie / Unreal Skaarj Unleashed Tech Trailer 1

Mods/Tools: Bugerz BF2 Realism Sound Mod / Battlefield 40k Alpha Damage System Patch (BF1942) / CTC UT Mappack Volume 3.1 (UT2k4) / DM-1on1-Backspace (UT2k4) / Grav 'Nades 1.1 (D3) / Q3 Downgrade for Q4

Other gaming news:

• Will amBX Be A Revolution In PC Games? - Immersion in PC games usually comes from the graphics and sound, but TV maker Phillips announced today a new way to look at putting the gamer more into the game with amBX that they claim will take immersion to a whole new level. The system, which is scheduled for release in May 2006, will reportedly use a set-up that uses light, color, sound and even heat and airflow to make the gamer feel more into the game he or she will play.
• Quake 4 Piracy - In the past week around 100,000+ illegal copies of Quake 4 have been downloaded on various websites. GameGirlz had an interview with Todd Hollenshead about the issue. Hollenshead: "We vigorously enforce our copyright protections and will pursue anyone we find pirating our games. We work with the SPA and their international anti-piracy efforts. Other than that, we send the Cyber Demon out to destroy all of the warez sites." LOL :)
• Mouse Trophy Playable Demo  - A playable demo of Mouse Trophy. There is a time-limit of 60 minutes on this demo.
• Darwinia Linux Demo #2 - There's a second playable Linux demo for Darwinia. This demo features an entirely new scenario not included in the full game, as well as the new icon-based control mechanism and a full tutorial.
• F.E.A.R. v1.02 Uncut Patch (German) - This patch (for v1.02) is for the German retail version of the game only, and allows you to activate the gore / blood effects that are in the standard North American version.
• Take-Two Acquires Firaxis Games - Take-Two sends along a press release announcing that they have acquired game developer Firaxis Games.
• D&D Online Euro Plans - Turbine announced that Codemasters will be responsible for hosting, community management, technical support and billing for Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach in Europe when it launches next year
• The Movies Online website - Lionhead has launched The Movies Online website where people can upload movies created in the movie studio sim game coming to stores this week and have them rated by web site readers
• Cross Racing Championship 2005 website - The official Cross Racing Championship 2005 website has been revamped. It contains a cheat section and a page where you can buy the extended full version of Cross Racing Championship 2005.

Buy goodies: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Chosen Collection (40 Disc DVD Set - Seasons 1-7) (you save $30) /  Stargate Atlantis - The Complete First Season (you save $18) / Madagascar (Full Screen Edition) (you save $14) / Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition) DVD (you save $14) / War of the Worlds (2-Disc Limited Edition) DVD (you save $14)