My LEGO Nexus Organization

Portal is a first-person puzzle game released by Valve Software in 2007. It is available on Windows, Mac OS X, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 for $10. (Between 9/15/11 and 9/20/11, the computer version is free! Get it while you can! If you download it during that time frame, it is yours forever!)

It has a sequel, Portal 2, available on those same platforms for $30.

They are incredibly enjoyable games and I highly recommend you give them a try. (And since Portal is free right now, what do you have to lose?)

Discuss.

-Canama

Trying to sign up to download portal right now! stupid picture character identification.... XP

Are you trying to sign up through the Steam website? Because that tends to not work.

Download the Steam client first and sign up through it.

I wish someone had told me this when I joined back in May, it would have saved me 45 minutes.

-Canama

Thanks so much! Installing the client now! (I tried 10 times on 2 different browsers, and even had one of my friends over google talk try signing me up :P)

No problem! If you have any further issues with Steam, just let me know either on the Steam topic or via the Steam group.

-Canama

oh, yay... only at 3 percent after 10 minutes.... im going to bed :P

It's a huge install, yeah. Don't expect to be playing for a few hours.

-Canama

I'm stuck on test area 18. :headdesk:

These puzzles are tricky!

Mine downloaded in about 10 minutes!!  Mak's is taking a bit more..

I'm on 16/19 I think. Addicting game.

Is there a way to window it instead of full screen??

I didn't see that option ....

You can window it. press escape, go to options, graphics options, display mode. Or something like that.  ^^;

Thanks...

Am I stuck with wasd or is there an option there as well??

I don't think so.

BTW, Advanced Chamber 16 is a nightmare.  Seriously, I don't think ANYONE here would like it.  Well, maybe Canama, but that's just because he's so awesome the digital bullets just bounce off his digital characters' bodies even when he has cheats disabled. :P

BTW, shoot the cameras.  Anytime you can, it's a good idea. ;)

I probably won't play much if it is wasd..

You really need to use the mouse to survive, a LU-esque playstyle (i.e. arrow keys plus "fire" key) just wouldn't work for the game.

EDIT: I'm a fool, it's in options on the main menu. :embarassed:

EDIT2: Oh, and DEFINITELY shoot those cameras!  Too many people miss out on things because they don't! ;)

Well, windowed mode goes to full screen as soon as you start a game.. =(
I am too tired to deal with it tonight...

Well, I know how to beat Test Chamber 18...now to actually do it. :P

Oh, that chamber is FUN. [/sarcasmmodeon]

yes, you  can easily change that.

i made it the arrow keys right away, wasd controls always screw me up

I've downloaded the game off Steam, played for a pit, got up to partway through Test Chamber 15. I didn't give up, just that I wanted to stop playing for a bit.

Sweet. So, is this kinda like the controls for Half Life one, or slightly different? Just curious.

How am I supposed to know?

The control scheme uses the WASD keys, left click to shoot blue portal, right click to shoot the orange portal. E is to pick up or use stuff. And space, like many games, is jump.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

And I was more meaning the others who had played both. =P

Technically you could play it on a laptop; but not with a touchpad.

I don't think any of us have played Half-Life.

And I did play throuh the game on a touchpad. :P

@MsRR - To remap the controls, press escape, choose options, choose controls, and from there change whatever you want.

-Canama

1. Good point. =P I, however, have. =P And the controls do sound similar.

2. From what I've played of HL, I'd say you're very brave for doing so. =P

/EDIT: Hey, uh, Canama? Can you edit group names by any chance? I notice a very large typo in the name...

"My Lego Nexus Orgainization."

Just wanted to point that out. =)

I just beat Portal and I'm Still Alive.

That last part took a few tries, mainly because I didn't notice the BIG SCREENS WITH A COUNTDOWN ON THEM.

So, what did you think? :P


i'm playing it on a laptop - mouse is better than the touchpad here, but not necessary. easier to use a mouse tho. my mouse hasn't been used in months :P

Technically it's not, but the touchpad is the likely the worst of the options. =P Mouse is definitely the best, though.

My touchpad is working fine for this...useless for shooters though. :P

IDK, i love touchscreens, but i think swiping the screen would be the worst option by far :P


try a mouse, it'll be better, trust me :P

Eh, I'm not sure; touch screen aiming works on some FPS games.(See: Bionicle Heroes DS)

But actual gesture based games? No thanks...

there's nothing wrong with touchscreen gaming (see Sony Tablets, they're really good for playstation games) but portal really requires a mouse, and there are no mouse alternatives that work as good with portal's specific controls.

I will agree with that. =P You'd have to have like three hands to touchscreen game.

Though, technically the old laptop built-in mouse would work kinda well... Nowhere near the precision needed, but if you really needed it and had no other alternatives, that likely would work.

It works quite well, actually.

If there was a TF2 server I knew of that I could play on, I'd see how well I could fare in a shooter with trackpad controls.

-Canama

i'm stuck on level 15... >_<

 How many levels are there?

There are 18 test chambers.

What are the 6 levels mentioned in the achievements; some of the last few levels?

Advanced chambers.  They're the normal test chambers, turned insane.  You know the level with the turrets?  They're now invincible.  Have fun with that.

I haven't played the game yet, but that should be interesting. >=D

Basically, you need uber portal skills to beat it? =P

Yeah.

I've only completed the first 3 Advanced Chambers; the others are beyond my skill level. :P

-Canama

D= i'm on level 16. halfwayish. impossible under normal circumstances. D=

I've actually beaten all of them.  The bad thing is, I did it while in Steam's offline mode, so I'll have to do them again for the achievements.  Oh, well, when I get around to it, at least I'll be able to do the Radio achievement...

EDIT:
You do know that certain items are bulletproof, right?  Also, think with portals.  And don't ignore any advice you're given. ;)

How do you beat Advanced Chamber 16!?

Test Chamber 17, I could beat, but it was too tedious so I stopped.

I got stuck on 18 pretty early on.

-Canama

Flipz: I'm definitely trying that when I get to playing Portal. This'll be my first actual Achievement game, so it'll definitely be interesting. ;)

 Ahh! I'm so jealous! I'll just have to brag about Portal 2 when I get it. =P

We'll figure it out, don't worry. ;)

-Canama

Plus, you have like a whole week to try to get it to work. =P

It's displaying on his game list, so he should have it forever.

-Canama

Canama: Well, I was meaning more before I get to play it... I don't really wanna play this on a laptop. =P

Flipz: Hey; you have Steam, right? And I'm assuming this isn't your only Steam game? Wanna join the MLNO Steam group? Plus, you can friend me, if you want... Yes, I know, this belongs in the Steam topic, but he hasn't looked at that seemingly. =P

 So how are the graphics on Portal?

Not mind-blowing HD or anything, but not bad.

-Canama

And i'm thankful for that. If it's bad enough that it'll run on my comp, but good enough that it doesn't seem like a 1998 game; I'm alright with that. =P

 From the trailers, the Portal 2 graphics look completely EPIC! =D I hope they actually are. =P

Stand on the cages, then aim a portal so you can drop one of those heavy block things from the hidden room in front of one of the turrets facing each other.  Grab a cube, portal your way to the top of that turret's cage and crouch behind the cube.  pop a portal to block that turret's line of fire, grab the cube and get back to the hidden room, drop another heavy block in front of that turret.  drop a normal cube through the hole, then grab the other one and fall through the portal.  crouch behind the storage cube as you walk, transporting both to the safe zone behind the two turrets.  portal over to the room of cubes, and use them to make walls in front of the turrets.  (Crouch behind a cube, and as soon as you let it go, the turrets won't see you; this gives you a few seconds to run away.) Stack two cubes in front of the door, then open it and pop a portal so you can get above/behind the turret behind the mesh fence.  From there, you can either take a cube with you for safety, or you can just run for it; basically, shoot a portal into the exit hallway as far in as you can get it, then run through to the elevator.  Phew! :P

I'm in the room with the three generator things...what do I do now?!

Also: Please tell me there are more cameras coming up. I still need five more!

The room with the what? Where?

-Canama

After I escape test chamber 18 and the room where the robots are shooting at me...a while later, there's a room with three generator-things.

Is this before or after the room with all the goo?  Before or after the missile room?  Before or after the game loads the final portion of the game?

I have played through the game 3 times and I literally have no idea what you are talking about.

-Canama

@Flipz: After the goo, before the other two things, I think.

OK, I see where you are.  Chamber 15.  (Sorry, can't give any more than that for fear of spoilers.)

@Flipz:

Umm:


And by robots you mean the turrets. And by chamber 18, did you mean chamber 19?  Could you take a screenshot?

I looked through the first page, maybe I missed it, can someone provide a link please?

Download the Steam Client (http://store.steampowered.com/) and create an account (If you don't already have one), go to the store (in the client), search for "Portal", and then find the download button.

-Canama

I meant, he has to use the technique he learned in Chamber 15. ;-)  That room is a bit nonintuitive at first, since the distinct visual cue isn't there this time, it's shifted to a slightly different form. ;)

EDIT: If you remember, it's just before the first missile room. ;)

I'll try it, thanks.

While MLNO was down, I completed Advanced Chambers 13 and 14. Both were easy, especially Advanced Chamber 14. (Which, tbh, is more like 'Simplified Chamber 14'.)

Aw. We were so close to having Moss's actor from The IT Crowd to voice Wheatley in Portal 2. Dang. =P

Merchant did an excellent job, I think. He was perfect.

-Canama

Haven't heard anything of the character, and don't doubt that Merchant did a good job.

It'd just be very funny to hear Richard Ayoade voicing Wheatley. =P

 Yay! Portal is Awesome! =D

yes it is =D


http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/d1e7_aperture_laboratories_work_shirt.jpg

http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/d1dc_aperture_laboratories_polo_shirt.jpg

^i want one of those :P

 I don't like the button up, but I'd definetly take the polo. =P

Though cool, what I really want is an Aperture Laboratories lab coat.  Now THAT would be awesome!  :D

That would be uuber kewl!



http://www.etsy.com/listing/40234397/portal-game-aperture-science-lab-coat

xD too awesome

Wow; that would be cool*Hasn't viewed link, but is imagining what it'd look like*... Haven't actually had a lab coat before. =P

The free Portal 2 "Peer Review" DLC is OUT! The game is 50% off on Steam to celebrate!

-Canama

Best part of the game:

Cave Johnson: "Say goodbye, Caroline."
Caroline: "Goodbye, Caroline!"
Cave Johnson: "... she is a gem."

I replayed Portal 2 just so I could hear that again. xD

Wow. xD That sounds very interesting. =P

Cave Johnson is the best character there ever was.

"All right, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! I don't want your [dang] lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's managers! I am Cave Johnson, do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! WITH THE LEMONS! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"

"You're not part of the control group, by the way - you get the gel. Last poor son of a gun got blue paint, ha ha! ...All joking aside, that really did happen. Broke every bone in his legs. Tragic. But informative, or so I'm told."

"The lab boys just informed me that I should not have talked about the control group. I pay the bills here, I can talk about the control group all [darn] day!"

"All these science spheres are made of asbestos, by the way. Keeps out the rats. Let us know if you feel a shortness of breath, a persistent dry cough, or your heart stopping, because that's not part of the test - that's asbestos."

"Good news is, the lab boys say the symptoms of asbestos poisoning show a median latency of forty-four point six years, so if you're thirty or older, you're laughing. Worst case scenario, you miss out on a few rounds of canasta, plus you forwarded the cause of science by three centuries. I punch those numbers into my calculator, it makes a happy face."

-Canama

*laughs really hard*

i SO want portal 2 xD

Well, it's only $15 right now!

-Canama

SERIOUSLY?!?!   *rushes to buy*

 Portal 2 is pretty sweet so far. :)

Oh, portal is awesome! I've played both 1 and 2, not too long after they came out. The commentary is extremely well done, and because I am as interested in physics and technology as I am the whole portal concept is fantastic. I also love the end credit songs.

The Portal 2 discount ends in about 26 hours; if you want it, get it while it lasts!

-Canama

 The end credits of Portal was hilarious. =P

And the Portal 2 sale is now over! Hope you got it if you wanted it.

-Canama

I did!  Can't wait to play!  ;D

 I just started chapter 3 on Portal 2; unfortunately though, I don't know when I'll get another opportunity to play it. Maybe this Sunday with any luck.

Hey! What do you portal people think about this?:  :D

(http://www.instructables.com/image/FJD14X7GLL4YECA/Lego-Portal-Turret.jpg)

I personally love it. =)

that's great. personally, i like this one.

(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4370629315_80ae49acef_z.jpg)

If anyone is having trouble with the speedrun challenge for Chamber 16 of the original Portal, this should help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2NF_zrl4sQ

I keep forgetting to mention this, but...

The Portal 2 soundtrack can be downloaded here (http://www.thinkwithportals.com/music.php), free of charge!

-Canama

Mtm, that's pretty awesome too.  :D I prefer smaller models though...

Cool, Canama, thx for posting.  ;)

I've been playing portal for a a couple of weeks and its not as fun as I was hoping it would be :sigh:. It's really disappointing, there's this one level that I just cant beat :headdesk:.

What level is that? Welcome, Mak.  :)

Yes, what level? Maybe we can help!

(And if not, we can give cheatcodes. :P)

I'm going to have to guess it is the level where you first meet the turrets (level... 16?). I found that one challenging at first. 

I'd guess Chamber 15.  The double-fling is a PAIN to get.

Speaking of Portal, I really need to finish my papers so I can go play the sequel. :P

EDIT: Hey, Mak, here's a tip for using the fling technique in Chamber 15: Shoot the blue portal up at the top of the room, then shoot the orange portal on the wall.  Run through the portal, and shoot the orange portal on the floor right when you land.  The segment where you have to place your portal and run into a side chamber to do your initial jump actually requires this.

To sum up: whenever you have to shoot a portal on the floor, try to do it in mid-air, right before you land. ;)

 Hey, on Portal 2, they got rid of the balls of fire and replaced them with lasers; it's way nicer, and cooler. Frying turrets is fun. =D

I like the Excursion Funnels. :D

And the Gel.

-Canama

You guys are trying to make me jealous that you have free time and I don't, aren't you?  :( ::) :P

Flipz - It's possible. =P

Canama - I haven't gotten to either of those yet. =P

I LOVE THE GEL!!


Who said I had free time? :-/ Portal is simply eating up the time I should be using to study.

 Lol, I think I could probably say the same. =P

I recently got started on the Transmission Received achievement. It's getting really hard.

I never bothered finishing that. I should do so sometime...

-Canama

 Ugh... college has halted my progress on Portal 2, but I'll finish it eventually!

I have a solution to your dilemma:

Drop out, acquire ASHPD.

/s

-Canama

 Haha, I wish. =P

 It's okay; the quarter is going to be over on... Dec 5, then I'm free for a whole month! =D

http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/04/thinkgeek-and-aperture-science-do-what-they-must-intro-more-por/

ThinkGeek has come out with some awesome portal stuff, check it out!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/portal/feature/desc/0/100

I want this (http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/e5a2/) so much.

And this (http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/giftsunder50/a9e0/), and this (http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/e71c/), and this (http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/portal/ba6a/), and this (http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/e8cf/), and this (http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/e8c3/), and screw it I want everything.

-Canama

...aaand time to revive another topic!

So, what is everyone building in the map editor?  (Or has anyone besides me even started playing with it yet?)

I've looked at it but I haven't used it yet.

Things like this I always want to play through the main game first. Im towards the beginnings of the cave johnson part. Just turned on the gel machine.

Ah, so you haven't yet heard the lemon rant. >:D

Protip: take your time and look around for ALL of the sealed test chamber doors.  There be Achievements fer doin' so.

(I have no idea why I started to talk like a pirate there. :P )

i already found the 3 on a far wall.

"if you've cut yourself at all during the tests, you may have noticed that your blood has turned into gasoline. That's because we've been hitting you with a laser that turns blood into gasoline."

"for this next test we're going to be hitting you with a particle beam. i'll be honest here, i don't actually know what's going to happen. At this point, we're just throwing science at the wall to see what sticks. Best case scenario, you get superpowers. Worst case, you'll get some tumors, which we'll cut out. "

:3

Good, good, there's 3 more.  (Admittedly, I missed them first time around, and haven't actually ventured inside myself, but I've seen videos.)  There's 2 achievements available by finding the other set of doors. ;)

there was a third but i forget what it was. the fourth i found led to test chambers, no quote.

Did you find the one that leads to the huge empty room with the life preserver in it?  If not, and you've moved on to the test chambers themselves, then you'll have to hit it next time you play through, not a big deal. ;)

Apparently I missed that one.

It's a PAIN to get to, I'd recommend waiting until you finish the game before trying to get it. ;)

Also, just fair warning, the last test to get out of their is SUCH a trolling puzzle!  you have been warned.

Oh, and when you need to put goo into a glass box, try and grab the cube before it hits the ground, it's purely luck, but it's another Achievement. ;)  (Yes, I'm being purposely vague. :P )

*thread revive, sorry for Double-Post*

Well, I just managed to play Portal 1 in online mode, so I now have all of the achievements except for the challenge medals and "Transmission Recieved" (I'll go through and try for that tonight if I can).  It'll still be a while before I can do this for Portal 2, but I feel very happy with being able to get all these Portal 1 Achievements checked off!  ;D

Something I don't get:

Why does Chell look prettier in Portal 2 than 1, despite all the abuse she's been through? Shouldn't she look worse?

Here (http://i1.theportalwiki.net/img/8/81/Portal_Chell.png) she is in Portal 1, and here (http://i1.theportalwiki.net/img/4/40/Chell.png) she is in Portal 2. I mean, they even changed her facial structure and body shape to make her look better! (Well, not her whole body. Mostly her... chest.)

What?!

I know this is a small diatribe about something really minor, but I don't care.

-Canama

GLaDOS noticed it too.  Remember? ;) :P

I don't play portal.. If you hadn't told me I'd have thought it was mother & daughter. 2's facial contours are noticeably softer.. even the eyes are a different.

you would love portal MsRR. ;)
 

Check this out...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48487023@N02/galleries/72157630188917386/

So much win.......

I know, right.. Too bad cuucuso didn't act on it!

Flipz, Post 96: Oh my... That is amazing. =O I'll have to try that, but that seems way quicker than my reflexes, to me. We'll see, though; because that is an amazing way of getting through it quick enough. Would it help with least steps, or is there a more efficient one for that?


Dunno if you've beaten it since last September, but...

From the start...

Jump over the turret, and try to portal away so you don't get shot. Move along kinda like normal, things don't get iffy until the two turrets that give you trouble even in normal mode.

Grab a Weighted Cube, and use that as a shield. I just portals over the far turret, but apparently you can 'drag' another cube to guard you from both sides.

Once you're at that turret, drop the cube while crouching(Do all that while crouching, by the way), and portal behind the turrets on the other side. They can't touch you as long as you're behind them, and the ones in the room can't hit you either.

Next, portal into the radio room(You know the one I'm talking about, the one with the broken transport system, that plays Still Alive instrumental.), and portal back as many cubes as you can.

Next, go grab one of those cubes, and move toward the room, while keeping the cube 'in front' of you, despite the fact that you're backing toward the room, keeping the turret in your sights. Once you get into view of the button room's entrance, keep the cube in front of the turret's view, and drop it, and then fire a portal at the ceiling above the button, pick up the cube, and get out of there.

Go back to the wall where your cubes are, and fling them into the room. With luck(Or just waiting a few minutes, they should go in, if you positioned it right, if not, load up your auto-save and try again. Since it saves once you get past the hallway, you're save. It saved for me in the radio room. =P), then you'll get it on the button.

Once you do that, then you'll really need good reflexes. What you're going to do, is drop into the portal, crouch to the ground, run for the room if possible, and then shoot a portal at the opposite wall, and then preferably under you or so. If you try fancy maneuvers, you will die, trust me. If you want to be really safe, and you have some left over, take a cube for a shield, though you'll have to recall that your reflexes and portaling skills are still needed, thanks to the other turrets to the back of you, to your right, facing the door.

If you get behind the turret, then you've won, simple as that. Quick save so you don't accidentally mess up somehow, and are forced to redo what is easily the hardest part of the level, and then portal away past the final turret, and do a victory dance, as you reach the elevator.


Yeah... That one's easy to get stuck on... If you don't know what to do, which almost no-one does without luck or so. While flinging, you must face the ground on the upper portion you usually get to via the ceiling. Fire a portal at the ground quickly(Which is really needed), and hope you didn't miss the jump(I recommend quicksaving after landing the portal on the floor. =P).

Next, I believe you'd be at the part where you're actively moving forward across platforms, if not, it's not as difficult, though it might involve flinging. Even while trying to figure it out by reading about it, I couldn't put it together, until I realized I was shooting too high at the ledge. Once I remedied that problem, everything was fine. =P

From that point on, it was relatively simple, just continue using kinda advanced techniques to climb. ... Until the turret room. Oh boy, the turret room. It rivals that death trap of a level in Advanced 16. They can be destroyed, though. Both of the turrets on the right can just be knocked over by portaling from the far back left, where the button and switch used to be, and portaling right behind the towers. Slightly harder for the further back turret, since it's further away, and not as easy to get back into the portal.

The far left turret is rather easy; just jump into it from a very high portal, and push it off the platform, and jump back. Wait 'til it's dead, though... You don't want it auto-saving you jumping to your doom, like it did to me at least three times. Especially after actually killing all the other turrets.

Next, you need to go back to the spot where you activated the door. That could be a pain. But not so much, if you utilize the fact that the turret's blind if you're crouching, until you reach about mid-way. Then, you just jump across to the part the platform uses to activate the laser rail.(I learned about that trick by reading about it, and I've used it a couple times since, in the main game. It can be useful. =P) After that, jump again, to reach the button cavern safely, since it stopped shooting once you reached the laser rail thing.  It really is blind.

Then... You have to fling yourself up to the cube portion. Oh boy. So, the platform moved. To right under the button cavern. Activate the button, fire portal at door, fall down, shoot floor, fling yourself across the room(Turret's blind, it won't see you), shoot another portal as you're falling, fling yourself into the cube cavern. Fall down, and hope you didn't just kill yourself(Try and activate a portal on the other side just in case, and save, so you don't have to fling yourself again), activate the button, and portal yourself back, making sure to take the cube. I tried to send it across on the conveyer belt, but it fell off, and I just stood there going 'did it just do what I think it just did?!', and was sad.

So; that was not easy by far, but at least the hardest stuff is done! Right? ... Wrong. Yeah, uh, remember that up/down portal swapping on the pillars? They... made it harder. So, yeah, as soon as you fly into the air through another portal, the old platform disables and falls into the poison water. That means you need to be perfect, and get each portal on the first try. Looking down after firing so that you don't get a state where you're frantically looking around for the next platform, only to learn you've already passed it, and have to jump off to restart, really helps here. The only lucky thing, is it autosaves right before this part. =P

Then... You're finally done. I'd say Advanced 18 is much harder than Advanced 16, simply for cheap usage of advanced techniques. =P

---

Also, for those who haven't gotten any progress on the challenge stages, especially for Stage 14, the commentary mode has an excellent pointer on how to finish with a very intriguing shortcut maneuver. Dunno if there are any other hints during commentary mode, will find out when I continue playing tomorrow. =)

I honestly have not beaten Advanced Chamber 16 even though I've had the game longer than any of you

I basically threw time and tactics at it. Once I found something that worked, I kept it up. =P

The walkthrough of the chamber I wrote up should help, though. =)

I really, REALLY want a tool that can let me record and place my own commentary nodes in Portal and Portal 2 (and pretty much any other game ever, actually :P ).

Take it up with Valve. :P Or maybe it would be possible to make a mod?

That could actually be a cool feature.

That could definitely be a cool feature. Those commentary nodes in Portal 1 are very cool. =D

In Portal 2 they can actually control the camera and character, if properly coded.  Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds like a WAY more immersive Let's Play than just footage and commentary... :wink:

That would be pretty cool, yes, I admit. Of course, then people wouldn't get to see the thousand jumps you epically failed at, though that might be a good thing in some cases. =P

i just fond out there are hats in portal 2

<3

Yeah, I didn't know that until just recently myself. It seems pretty cool. Not that I'd know, though. =P