Yo sueno de volar

I dream of flying. The video game giving me the most run now is 'Battlefield 1942.' I have used Ebay to buy each expansion pack, 'The Road to Rome,' and 'Secret Weapons of WWII.' Now that I have learned how to virtually fly an aircraft, that is about all I care to do these days. Thankfully, EA Games designed this game with perfect flying physics and believable battle tactics.

My favorite aircraft right now is the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber. I could re-play the Battle of Midway mission all day against just bots. When I spawn into the game, I'm standing on the deck of a carrier, next to my SBD. After takeoff, I look for enemy landing craft, and shoot 'em up. When my ammo is spent, I return to the airfield for a torpedo bomber. The rest of the game, I practice my attack vectors. The wheels have to almost touch the water's surface before I can release the payload, or the torpedo will run right under the enemy ship's hull.

The aircraft I am trying to learn is the P51 Mustang. Compared to the SBD, it is like flying a bee. Someday I would like to get good at air-to-air combat, and get into dogfights. The nice thing about BF 1942, is that I believe it's possible to practice and get better. The artificial intelligence built into the 2002 Game of the Year is astonishing. It's even more so, compared with the fact that EA Games left it out of their follow-up, 'Battlefield 2.'

Each mission in BF 1942 lets you control the total number of bots on the board, and the ratio of Axis bot to Allied bot. You can also vary the enemy's total AI skills, and the CPU time given to AI. Finally, you can assign a further penalty on yourself, by having your tickets count down to zero faster. The range of difficulty of each mission can be set from easy to impossible, in tiny increments. EA Games really were ahead of their time with BF 1942's AI. I see applications like my PTSD-flying simulator based on a variation of that algorithm.

Why they took the advanced AI out of 'Battlefield 2' is a mystery. The settings on BF 2 are: Easy, Medium, and Hard. And why do all the opposing bots in BF 2 have Anglo names? I like that they gave Japanese and German proper names to the opposing forces' bots in BF 1942. Don't remember too many Chinese or Arabic people with the name, "Tony Randall." And flying an F16 on a tiny BF 2 map is about half the fun of piloting a Spitfire at El Alamein. Electronic, push-button combat is no match for flying close air support and swooping in on a Panzer, sun at my back.

Somewhat excited that Ubi's 'Pacific Fighters' will command my attention next. The loader pf.exe 3.0 doesn't see the install CD, which is a known issue with customer support. There was a live person to direct me to download the rts.dll patch, which apparently is miracle elixir. A company that makes kick-ass games and supports them, that is cool.


11:48 ... Put in a short order for RIMM, at $76.50. I believe today's death's cross will cause people to leave this stock in droves. Waiting.... ...c'mon, there was an uptick just ten minutes ago... I could also try to short CIEN today, and see which one does better, er, I mean, worse.


15:21 ... Walked back in my door just as Cramer was telling people not to buy RIMM vs. Openwave. That might be the Unix / mobile internet play I was trying to remember. I wish E*trade had an input column, so I could make a comment about a stock on my watch list like that. On the other hand, my limit order for RIMM did go in for $76.61. That was so nice of them, to pay my commission. The plan is to cover the order around sixty dollars per share, and go long under there.

Today took a solid hit on the tech side, with RFMD, LIFC, and NovAtel correcting. On the other hand, Google might be an effective hedge against my high-tech bag holdings. They took the NasDAQ down today, and made me a little bit. That is a core reason to stay short GOOG.

With so many corrections today, some buy price targets are looming. StereoTaxis (STXS) seems to get a little weaker every day. I believe medical device makers in general are under pressure. WPCS is showing signs of stabilizing, but it has only been three days since the 20 -day sma went under the 200-day sma. RACK and NVDA are just starting to price toward affordability, but UNH has been beaten up the most.

Sell price targets are not so focused. Valero almost touched sixty-four dollars today. They are my heaviest holding, and a barometer for the entire outfit. Newfield is going to have most of the spring and summer to run. NovAtel is a hold for another quarter. SFCC 's pps slipped under the 20-day average with all the intensity of a blade of grass bending under a gentle breeze. That's a hold until after Hon. Sen. Grassley issues his 'great release' and the 8-K.

My SunOpta certificate is awesome. The image is of an angel, arms outspread, protecting the fruit of the harvest. There are bright shafts of light behind the angel. And it's written in both French and English, since STKL is 'amalgamated' in Canada. Next up for the wall of fortune: PIXR. Looks like my order has gone through, because those are my only 'cash' shares. I wonder if they will send me Disney certificates when the deal is done, or just credit my account.