Hit up your Settings window and opt-in to the current Steam update beta.  You'll be able to arrange messages into a single window using tabs, instead of juggling one IM window per friend.  Unfortunately right now it seems you have to manually drag and drop tabs onto a single window to use it.

Give this short article from Gizmodo a read and laugh it up.

I would like to direct your attention to Valve's latest FREE offering on the Steam store: Alien Swarm.  It's like someone took the multiplayer co-op from L4D, the class system and unlockables from Killing Floor and the gameplay of Shadowgrounds and smoothly blended it into one excellent package.  It really is a fantastic game, though as a free product at launch it contains one seven map campaign and nothing else.  Several difficulty modes ranging from cakewalk to donkey punch should keep your party of four busy until custom maps start rolling out.

Unlike the launch of L4D, Alien Swarm debuted with its SDK hot on its heels.  The editor package can be installed from the Steam Tools section and weighs in at a light 250MB.  Get mapping!

I don't really know how to say this, but I feel I should at least post about it.  This evening my grandfather Curvin passed away quietly in his sleep, ending nearly a decade's long fight against Alzheimer's disease.  It's been nearly five years since my family banded together to provide full time care for him under our own roof, and we've struggled to bear the stress it entails.

His wishes were to never be placed in a nursing home, and we fought hard to prevent that.  He passed at home among his family.  I think perhaps I'll write my own form of obituary for him when things settle down.

Nothing like spending your birthday working in 90+ degree heat all day.

Also, comments are no longer restricted to registered users, just a recaptcha.  Don't know why they were in the first place.