Quaking, SUSE, leaves, Xmas holidays and Andrew Gregory’s hair

I noticed that some people have been talking about Quake 4, so I figured I'd chip in with a few thoughts of my own as I completed the game last week. Yes, it's based on the Doom 3 engine, which means the two games are quite similar. However, we've found that the gameplay mechanics are a fair mix between Doom 3 and Quake 3: it's unrealistic as heck, but looks gorgeous so no one minds. It's also very, very dark, but at least you can turn on your flashlight and shoot at the same time, which is a welcome change.

Some eye candy:

When we print game reviews in the magazine, we usually try not to show off any of the end-of-level "boss" characters so as not to spoil the surprise, but as this is an online blog I figured I could get away with showing you the bad guy you meet at the very end of the game:

Yes, Gregory has had his hair "cut", but we can't tell whether this was what he asked for at the hairdressers'...

I've been installing SUSE 10.0 a lot recently, which means I've had a fair amount of time to kick my heels and be bored. So, I figured I'd demonstrate how it is that SUSE 10.0 has actually come down in price:

On the left is the SUSE 10.0 manual, on the right are the 9.3 manuals. We're all for saving dead trees; perhaps SUSE 10.0 is just much easier to use...

Mike has brought up the point of our Christmas team do this year. We failed to have one last year, largely because people suck. But this year I think we should have a Texas Hold 'em Poker night, with fancy clothes, cigars and cheap bourbon. Who's with me?