Well, it's official. An aimbot has been publicly released to the UT community. I was one of the first to test it out. Let me say I'm sickened by this. What this aimbot, called "funbot" (although it has the potential to destroy more fun than almost anything I've ever encountered) does is uses your computer to aim. You don't have to worry about using any skill. Just stand back and click your mouse button quickly. It works best with the sniper rifle and shock primary fire (and instagib rifle). It's useless for rocket launcher, pulse, shock alt, etc. It's not much help for enforcer and minigun.

In fact, it's really buggy and irritating. It's useless up close, in fact, and since you can't choose your targets, and you're still subject to latency, it can be really detrimental when doing anything but sniping from a distance. Unfortunately, you can turn it on and off at will. I tested it online on a friend's server (with permission). With a low ping and a lack of conscience, you can spawn snipe 30 kills in 20 seconds on Facing Worlds. Since I almost never snipe anyway (it's just not my style to stand in a shadow and try to kill from distance), the thing is absolutely useless to me.

I actually breathed a little sigh of relief at seeing how buggy and annoying this thing is. I was imagining a whole lot worse. What is bad is how easy it was to find. Fortunately, measures are being taken right now to snuff out the use of aimbots. CSHP--Client-Side Hacker Protection-- is a server mod that admins can use that correctly detects the use of a number of different hacks, including funbot. It can be set to log IPs, to log and kick, or to log, kick, and ban IPs. Several admins from some of the better servers (Gamespy, The Roost, Kentucky Fried UT, Wizards of the Coast, etc.) are now working on sharing banned IPs. Users of funbot may find themselves banned from a number of servers within a few days. They're working on a way to log not only IPs, but name/ngStat password combos too.

The story broke on PuF yesterday, although the UT Instagib Gaming League has been discussing this since Monday--a clan has already been disbanded for using funbot. CSHP correctly identified all of them as having used funbot in a clan match--a match they won in an upset.

So what does this mean? Well, it will almost certainly lead to improved aimbots. It will be extremely detrimental to the online UT community. It's all that's been talked about the last couple days. The irony is that it turns the user into a bot himself, making him into a puppet at the command of the computer. I would never use this piece of shit, it's no fun, it's totally unfair, and it completely ruins the game. The problem is that UT tournaments are going on and will be going on that are for money, some of them for LOTS of money. The temptation to use a perfected aimbot will be huge for some of the lamer players out there. I mean, there's a $50,000 purse for one of them...

Other great news: Spectre_I. is now the admin for the PG DM 2vs2 ladder. Why oh why?? Spec is the most opinionated, arrogant, contentious bastard on PG and they made him an admin. Next, the Strike Force team has moved from UT to Tribes2. So they'll never finish all the new game types they had planned. Next, RA 1.60 was a big dissappointment. It had ONE new option, fixed TWO bugs, and had a few new maps... It could have been SO much more.

Oh, also the Florida thing continues and will now be going to the Florida Supreme Court. It doesn't matter now, does it? It's kind of a victory for Libertarians, isn't it? Bush looked like a wooden figurine during his little speech, Gore sounded like a used-car salesman. I'm losing interest. I just want a president so we can move on and see what kind of Congressional gridlock we have. This thing has gone on way too long and there's little else to learn from it.

Also, it appears that I was hasty yet again when I said I had a job as a security guard. Gawd, what do you have to do to get a job?