POKE WARS will never be the same!
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6018/742.abstract
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
EvE Offline
I was playing EvE Online and enjoying it somewhat - figuring out the game system - but as I was playing I realized there is a severe imbalance in the game play for new players, including the sales of in game currency by out of game purchasing using real world cash.
So I canceled my subscription.
I know many other games choose a micro payment model and have done even better than their initial monthly charge fees by going "free" + micro payments for in game items, but I think there are many times where this is destructive to the game play. Especially when it comes to play balance against other players.
The game suffers from other issues as well, including a bad attempt at trying to copy Blizzard and other "login portal news and hey-why-don't-you-buy-this!" issues, but I did really enjoy looking at the stars and space simulation.
So I canceled my subscription.
I know many other games choose a micro payment model and have done even better than their initial monthly charge fees by going "free" + micro payments for in game items, but I think there are many times where this is destructive to the game play. Especially when it comes to play balance against other players.
The game suffers from other issues as well, including a bad attempt at trying to copy Blizzard and other "login portal news and hey-why-don't-you-buy-this!" issues, but I did really enjoy looking at the stars and space simulation.
15 minutes later...
I'm off FaceBook. What a lousy messaging system they have seem to implemented. Not only that I think they lack any sense of decency in using phrases like "user xyz found you via friendfinder" and other statements, including when I was closing my account "user xyz (with your picture) will miss you! Are you sure...".
I'm pretty sure my friends won't miss me. I'm pretty sure representing the people they showed me as actively missing my account on facebook was a lie. I'm pretty sure I couldn't put up with that damn design another fifteen minutes...
I'm pretty sure my friends won't miss me. I'm pretty sure representing the people they showed me as actively missing my account on facebook was a lie. I'm pretty sure I couldn't put up with that damn design another fifteen minutes...
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Friday, February 04, 2011
Do I Hafta?
Do I have to go to work?
Do I? No. I'm reminded I probably don't have to get paid, either.
Do I? No. I'm reminded I probably don't have to get paid, either.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
I'm hungry
Thank you, dear neighbors, for talking loud and slamming your door shut on the way home from the bars. As I'm told by the speed addict in the alleyway, sleep *is* a poor substitute for coffee.
Time for the Diner!
Time for the Diner!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Conversations With Myself
Where is my mind? *drools*
I'm taking a melatonin pill, Valerian root pill, and going to bed. No sunlight 'til Saturday!
I'm taking a melatonin pill, Valerian root pill, and going to bed. No sunlight 'til Saturday!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Custom Customized Firewall OTW!
Just ordered a Jetway NC92-330-LF Dual Core Atom Mini-ITX Mainboard
with add on 3x 10/100/1000 Intel LAN Module,
that I'm going to put inside my 1920's Breakfaster
and install a firewall on for my home computers!
I still have to figure out the power supply but figured I'd wait to see how well it fits before ordering that and maybe a compact flash or fixed disk.
with add on 3x 10/100/1000 Intel LAN Module,
that I'm going to put inside my 1920's Breakfaster
and install a firewall on for my home computers!
I still have to figure out the power supply but figured I'd wait to see how well it fits before ordering that and maybe a compact flash or fixed disk.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
My systems are so secure...
...not even *I* know how to get into them!
I was playing around with encrypted partitions on my Ubuntu server. I forgot the password. D'oh!
I needed to reformat and upgrade as part of my trying to automate my backup and recovery scheme. I could *swear* I put the password on a little piece of paper. A little piece of magic paper. Magic disappearing paper. Hmm.
Did I mention KeePass is a part of my overall backup schemes in general? D'oh! D'oh! D'oh!
I was playing around with encrypted partitions on my Ubuntu server. I forgot the password. D'oh!
I needed to reformat and upgrade as part of my trying to automate my backup and recovery scheme. I could *swear* I put the password on a little piece of paper. A little piece of magic paper. Magic disappearing paper. Hmm.
Did I mention KeePass is a part of my overall backup schemes in general? D'oh! D'oh! D'oh!
Idle Hands and Space Opera
I've been playing Eve Online. It is an interesting game but I don't know if it really is worth playing long term. I've been thinking of creating my own game, mainly because so many of the games I want to play because of the visuals - eve online being one of them - fail to engage me in an expressive way.
I don't mean just fun. I like 'twitch' gaming - being a first person mode where I control every move, similar to being a fighter pilot, but Eve is slow ship movement and learning skill points over a long period of time to allow you to perform certain functions. Since you accumulate skill points second by second, you have to choose what you want to learn and spend time waiting for those skills to finish.
Since I've unfortunately been sick the past few days, it has been somewhat relaxing to start mining and drift off to sleep (damn being tired from this nasal infection!) and wake and target a new asteroid to mine.
It takes quite a long time for my mining laser to pulverize the rock and pull it into the hold.
One of the other aspects of Eve Online - curiously it seems to be the primary purpose of the game yet I don't think it readily supports it being the primary focus in terms of game theory objectives and rewards - is ship to ship combat. I've been blown up while on a recent mission. So I'm working to get the skills to fly a space cruiser: a Gallente Vexor
So I do enjoy the visuals of space and the ships, but crave something more imaginative in terms of creating custom ships and building planet resources and fleets. I've played role-playing games that were very similar in the past - this one very much reminds me of Traveler, except instead of rolling a character you slowly build up the skills for your character - but there isn't much Eve Online does to help encourage role-playing.
I don't mean just fun. I like 'twitch' gaming - being a first person mode where I control every move, similar to being a fighter pilot, but Eve is slow ship movement and learning skill points over a long period of time to allow you to perform certain functions. Since you accumulate skill points second by second, you have to choose what you want to learn and spend time waiting for those skills to finish.
Since I've unfortunately been sick the past few days, it has been somewhat relaxing to start mining and drift off to sleep (damn being tired from this nasal infection!) and wake and target a new asteroid to mine.
It takes quite a long time for my mining laser to pulverize the rock and pull it into the hold.
One of the other aspects of Eve Online - curiously it seems to be the primary purpose of the game yet I don't think it readily supports it being the primary focus in terms of game theory objectives and rewards - is ship to ship combat. I've been blown up while on a recent mission. So I'm working to get the skills to fly a space cruiser: a Gallente Vexor
So I do enjoy the visuals of space and the ships, but crave something more imaginative in terms of creating custom ships and building planet resources and fleets. I've played role-playing games that were very similar in the past - this one very much reminds me of Traveler, except instead of rolling a character you slowly build up the skills for your character - but there isn't much Eve Online does to help encourage role-playing.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Laptop Screen Repaired!
Just finished replacing T's laptop screen - someone evidently sat on it whilst it was snuggled away on top of a beanbag seat - and it was easier than I expected.
Had a great experience ordering from SCREENAID - try them out if you need a laptop screen fix - cost me a hundred bucks.
Of course, I'm a DIY sort of guy - no instructions specific to the model laptop but it was fairly obvious how to replace it. I will say a credit card edge is one of the best tools for splitting the snap edges without scratching the plastic case of the laptop.
And small screws require a towel to keep them from bouncing when they fall. It took 10 minute to find one very specifically small and unique screw that bounced into a crack on the floor!
Had a great experience ordering from SCREENAID - try them out if you need a laptop screen fix - cost me a hundred bucks.
Of course, I'm a DIY sort of guy - no instructions specific to the model laptop but it was fairly obvious how to replace it. I will say a credit card edge is one of the best tools for splitting the snap edges without scratching the plastic case of the laptop.
And small screws require a towel to keep them from bouncing when they fall. It took 10 minute to find one very specifically small and unique screw that bounced into a crack on the floor!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, November 08, 2010
What I Did This Weekend
I had a no phone weekend and was able to get a few things together, catch up on sleep (sleeping when one wants with no obligation to daylight or schedules is a wonderful thing!), and read C. S. Freidman's Feast of Souls. I enjoyed the book but not quite as much as her other Coldfire series. The ideas and concepts of magic were somewhat related in both books; magic being a thing of thoughts and spirit, tied to our souls.
So, although enjoyable, I didn't think this book as complex as the Coldfire series, and without noting anything of the plot or approach, give this a "good weekend reader" and a "warily bought the second book in the series". I'll journal if it improves!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
I'm of one mind on this decision...
Watched Jekyll on Netflix and have to say I really enjoyed it. It was different that expected, had it's weaknesses in acting and development of characters, but on the whole very enjoyable flight of fancy.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Recommended MP3 Cleanup: MusicBrainz Picard
Having several computer systems, in the inevitable process of moving music content from one computer to another, ripping on one computer, and pulling them into one library, managing things sometimes get confusing. That includes using different music managers that have different capabilities for managing MP3 tags metadata.
I've found MusicBrainz Picard to be very useful for auto scanning, fixing, and identifying tracks. It it also multiplatform - important to me as I use several different operating systems and several versions of those operating systems.
I've found MusicBrainz Picard to be very useful for auto scanning, fixing, and identifying tracks. It it also multiplatform - important to me as I use several different operating systems and several versions of those operating systems.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Really Enjoyed Her Voice
Found what is to me a new sound - maybe you've heard her before - like her voice and the sound arrangements too!
Natly Dawn on YouTube
Pomplamoose Music has a few of her other tunes. I like her cover of "Telephone" too. Check them out via http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic
Natly Dawn on YouTube
Pomplamoose Music has a few of her other tunes. I like her cover of "Telephone" too. Check them out via http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic
Monday, June 14, 2010
Urgent Security Hole?
I started up my Windows XP operating system for some testing, Firefox updated and warned me to update my Adobe Flash immediately. Had their own splash page with the notification that "You should update Adobe Flash Player right now".
If you click it goes to Adobe's download page where it automatically has selected to download McAfee's virus tools. Unchecking that and continuing on (no, that isn't part of an update, thank-you-very-much) and then it requires that you install their plug-in to update. There are plenty of _older_ versions that linked directly to the download if any failures, but no longer; you can't download the installer directly from those pages.
So screw them; I've uninstalled Adobe's products (Flash, Macromedia, and Acrobat) from my MS Windows image. I still use a 3rd party PDF viewer.
The only thing I miss is I did like the Fligo screen saver that needed Flash. The rest of the websites, although they indicate they need Flash, really don't - most of the functions have been banner checks, Instant Messenger functions, or "you've got mail" notifications.
The only other site I use that might need it is YouTube, as the Firefox stable versions don't support HTML5 unless you use the nightlies (firefox-3.7a5pre.en-US.win32.zip), so I guess I'll get the nightly for use on YouTube, and keep the stable version for all my plug-ins.
I imagine Adobe is doing this for their best interest, but as and end-user, I say "screw you for screwing me". You should at least make the barrier to entry (that is, acquiring your software) as low as possible, if you want it used. Based on the hope that we don't need Flash in the near future, keep on pissing on your users, and we'll go on to something else.
If you click it goes to Adobe's download page where it automatically has selected to download McAfee's virus tools. Unchecking that and continuing on (no, that isn't part of an update, thank-you-very-much) and then it requires that you install their plug-in to update. There are plenty of _older_ versions that linked directly to the download if any failures, but no longer; you can't download the installer directly from those pages.
So screw them; I've uninstalled Adobe's products (Flash, Macromedia, and Acrobat) from my MS Windows image. I still use a 3rd party PDF viewer.
The only thing I miss is I did like the Fligo screen saver that needed Flash. The rest of the websites, although they indicate they need Flash, really don't - most of the functions have been banner checks, Instant Messenger functions, or "you've got mail" notifications.
The only other site I use that might need it is YouTube, as the Firefox stable versions don't support HTML5 unless you use the nightlies (firefox-3.7a5pre.en-US.win32.zip), so I guess I'll get the nightly for use on YouTube, and keep the stable version for all my plug-ins.
I imagine Adobe is doing this for their best interest, but as and end-user, I say "screw you for screwing me". You should at least make the barrier to entry (that is, acquiring your software) as low as possible, if you want it used. Based on the hope that we don't need Flash in the near future, keep on pissing on your users, and we'll go on to something else.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
A great talk on what motivates me! http://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc
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