Category: tech

Game On

I am so looking forward to this game. The first one didn’t get much press but it was a very fun game. If you’re a nerdy consoledarkness gamer like me that enjoys a game that’s fun to play, this is a good one to have. In the first one, the story isn’t overly complex but it gives you a decent history as it unfolds. It had a few bugs in that it was too dark on some scenes and the monologues were boring as hell and couldn’t be skipped. But the game play was fun. If you’re like me and you enjoy FPS [1]first person shooter games w/more than just army nonsense, then this one is worth checking out. Well the first one was. I haven’t played part 2 yet but it’s been getting good reviews.

Like blogging, I come and go on gaming. Free time tends to be limited these days so just finding time to get lost in a game is challenging enough. lol I gauge a games worth on how many times I play thru it end to end. If I play it once and put it down, then it might have been ok but not phenomenal. If I’m willing to play thru it on increasing difficulty modes or just like replaying over and over, then it’s a keeper.

Anyway, I’ve always been a fan of scifi/horror/fantasy games. I know everyone else is big on war and sports games but I need more than speed or just different scenes to shoot opponents. I like a game with good visual layouts, music that fits the game play, and ease of use. The latter can be harder than you think. Every game developer seems to wanna ‘reinvent’ the game world which can often start with large expectations and small outcomes. You also have to have a feel for the game developer. Some companies turn out crap over and over until they find a hit. Some actually spend a lot of effort really focusing on how gamers play the game. The later often turn out to be big hits. I’m a huge fan of the Gears of War franchise. The third one seemed a little rushed but it was still good. The God of War games were awesome too. Both had great game fly, difficulty but not too difficult, and wonderful visual/audio scenes. I wish they’d come out with another Ratchet & Clank game. It was one of my all time favorite games. lol I played each one over and over and over.

Anyway, rather than wasting money I don’t have on buying all these, I use gamefly.com. It’s like Netflix for video games. I can play a game as long as I like and send it back when I’m done or I can buy it at a reduced rate. I used to buy 5-8 games a year and that shit adds up. Now I play twice that many and only buy the ones I really like.

For you nerds, I’ve got Infamous 2, Darkness II, and Portal 2 all up next in queue. My username/gamertag for Xbox 360 and PS3 is the same as my twitter handle.

References

References
↑1 first person shooter

Banned

Someone got banned by my spam blocker today. lol Apparently, his IP address was being used to hammer my admin account in an attempt to crack my blog. tsk, tsk! heehee I’ve removed the ban as I know it wasn’t him but I’m tickled it was his IP address. [1]A prime example of why you should never use your default admin account in WordPress.

As a reminder, if you find you can’t access le blog, email me and I’ll look into it. A good first-step is to try to access it from a different location or internet connection. Spammers often hijack open wifi points and/or unsuspecting users and use their computers to do all their dirty work. I see it time and time again sadly. While few sites are truly hack-proof, a few precautions go along way to keep out the bad guys.

Don’t randomly open links/files in emails that you weren’t expecting, even if it is from someone you know. If you use Chrome, they do a good job of blocking malware sites but it’s never 100% foolproof.

Don’t fall for “your account as been locked or suspended, here click on this link and verify your info…” scams. You can do like I do and manually type the link into your location field of your browser of choice. That way you know you aren’t being spoofed.

On a follow up to that, most email clients allow hover functions. Meaning if you hover the mouse over a link it shows a tiny pop up window that displays the actual link. If it is different, in any way from the one displayed, don’t click it.

When you aren’t using your computer/laptop, shut it down . The old adage about ruining your pc by turning it off/on too much is really nonsense. You’d have to do this a 100 times more than the average user to really cause a problem.

At the end of the day, do like my Maw-maw always said, “believe none of what you hear, and half of what you see.”  In other words, if it sounds suspicious don’t just click it like an idiot.  lolol

Oh, and welcome back Brett.

References

References
↑1 A prime example of why you should never use your default admin account in WordPress.

Big Load

You were so thinking something dirty weren’t you? lol
Am I the only one that has become desensitized to FB and twitter? It just seems to be so much random info that I have begun tuning it all out. FB drives me absolutely nuts. The new layout is horrific and not at all user friendly. Not to mention, they sprung new ‘groups’ on my friend lists which annoyed the holy hell out of me. And on top of that, I got a lovely message from FB last week telling me they are phasing out RSS feed support. That means no more posts from my blog showing up on FB. I can still manually cross post them of course but that defeats the purpose. I’m not sure who is in charge at FB but from my perspective they are putting nail after nail in their own coffin. I’ve completely stopped adding new people on FB unless it’s someone I actually know. And it’s fine that they are phasing out support. I can share once from Google+ and bounce it out to twitter and FB at the same time so take that bitches.
I think I spend more of my time on Google+ these days primarily because the streams are more about data vs crap. People share funny, cutesy stuff galore but I’m also finding tons of news links as well. And the sharing just seems more intuitive to me. I’m also being careful on how many folks I follow or circle. I’m trying really hard to avoid info overload again. Its actually been quite nice logging on and only having to sift thru 10-20 updates compared to 100’s.

As an early-adopter I’m not at all dismayed by the current small amount of updates. This will change once Google starts releasing more API’s for developers to integrate with Google. Its a double-edged sword but it really does seem as if Google is moving into Plus being centric to the entire Google experience. The changes across their many services already indicate a gradual shift to total integration, which I love! Even better, managing, using, and updating is so much easier and nicer than FB. twitter still gets props for being the easiest site to update but its a one-trick pony and Google has a whole stable.

Heavy Roller

Well, my listing today on Amazon and I have ten, yes count them, 10 whole subscribers! lolol I didn’t really expect anything major mind you. 🙂
I also discovered changing the RSS feed being pushed to Amazon is very VERY easy. I was a tad worried how I could mantain control over certain types of content that isn’t necessarily for public consumption. *snicker* You very long time readers know what I mean.
I also have a lot of random drivel that I don’t share. One of the ways I keep myself blogging is I try to log on at least once a day (or so) to post my meanderings, basically “dear diary” sort of stuff. While completely boring and mundane, it keeps me talking not only to myself but to you. I didn’t want all that cluttering up everyone’s stream.
Annnnyway…. I just tweak the feed link on my dashboard for Amazon and hit publish. I can custom string basically any category [1]or not that I want. *whew* So far it has handled pretty much everything I’ve thrown at it. I added categories, hid categories, etc and it worked. Most excellent.
I’m also trying to expand my list of blogs I read again. It’s been so long since I’ve followed anyone new, I really need to start blog hopping [2]jumping from blogroll to blogroll exploring friends of friends of friends, so to speak again. I really miss having personal blogs to follow and keep up with. I’m down to about 10 and that’s fewere than my first month all those years ago.
On a side note, I’ve been checking my site analytics and after filtering out FB, Google, and twitter, Large Tony is still the number one referal to my blog. And ironically enough, brettcajun was a distant second. I guess I should pop over and thank them for having such loyal blog jumpers. hehehe And speaking of Brett, he is ever the attention whore of the blog world. 🙂 It seems he and Jimbo are having a war to see who can flame the other the most.

References

References
↑1 or not
↑2 jumping from blogroll to blogroll exploring friends of friends of friends, so to speak

Know Thyself

People really crack me up sometimes. They say perception is 9/10’s reality but there are also times when you need to use your head for something besides a hat rack. I just had a rather odd email conversation with a distant Facebook friend who was pissed at me for not knowing what was going on with him. Apparently, he’s been going thru some drama and updating FB with it. It was somehow my fault for not knowing. I saw him online, sent a polite message, and proceeded to get attitude because I was being jovial. Excuse the hell out of me!

On a similar rant, a while back I had another FB friend (who found me thru twitter) get pissy with me because I didn’t want to have cyber sex with him over cam. I first politely explained it wasn’t my thing even if I thought he was attractive. Sex over cam is so 90’s and boring to me. I realize it may be fun for some but that doesn’t mean everyone is into it. Finally after like the 4th or 5th push to show my junk, I got rather direct and let him know it was never going to happen. He has since unfriended me, to my delight.

So yes, all these sites can be wonderful mechanisms for communication. But lets face it, none of us only friend people we actually know in real life. Hell some folks have thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of friends on these sites. It is unrealistic to think every one of your “friends” keeps up with your every update. Frankly, it borders on impossible for anyone who has a life offline. For myself, I’m not so foolish to think everyone on my list knows everything I post. Most of what I post on FB and such is absolute drivel anyway. lol That’s when I’m even on. Most of my updates on FB come from my Google+ account (or twitter).

Yes, I have some nice friends online whom I’ve never met. I have some I’d love to meet someday as well. That still doesn’t mean I’m all up in their grill 24/7. If I’m a real friend to you or vice versa, then I’ll take the time to talk, text, email, or see you. in person. In person isn’t always possible but a friendship is only as good as the effort you put into it, not what you get out of it. And posting online is not what I would call effort.

The sex thing is funny. But again, don’t get all twisted because not everyone is into the same thing. I clearly have no problem with sex and/or hookups. That doesn’t mean every profile I have online is filled with a insatiable desire to get laid. Even still, if I politely decline 2 even 3 times, take the hint.

At the end of the day, just use your brain people. Don’t get pissy because some random stranger doesn’t know you’re having a bad day/week. Be happy someone actually took the time to reach out to you in the first place.

/ rant

Theme

I loaded a new theme on the ole blog site this week. I like the fact that is has tons of custom options, many of which I haven’t even begun to tinker with yet. The theme itself is clean, easy to read, as well as being easy on the eyes. [1]Or at least I think so. 🙂

The design also suits my mobile theme plugin. They are completely separate items but I like the symmetry of the look. The header can be set to slide to different images or load a new header on each page load. I’ll probably swap out headers at some point. Right now the one provided is nice and clean. I was gonna use one based on the new Google+ layout but it was too simplistic. I didn’t like it.

Anyway, the right column looks soooo much nicer now. It’s very easy to browse, read, and find info. I’m planning on deleting some of the Dandy ID links. Many of them I don’t use that often, if at all. Having them clutter up my blog is pointless. Sometimes less is better. I’ve already removed the “recent comments” box. It really didn’t add much. I’ll probably add a different one at some point but for now its gone.

I’m thinking of adding a photo slide/viewer in the right column. Ideas? Feedback? Suggestions? Hate it/Love it?

References

References
↑1 Or at least I think so. 🙂

Why

Well, after 30 some odd texts, emails, comments, etc from my last post, everyone seems to be curious as to why. Why I listed with Amazon. Lawd, you’d think I announced my blog was ending! lol There are several reasons actually. What? You think its an easy one-liner? Pssshaw! When am I ever that one-sided? lol

One, I feel a little bit guilty for dropping off for so long in my regular blogging. I know I probably shouldn’t but I do. In the last few months I’ve had quite a few folks [1]mostly unknown to me at that stop me in person or comment online to tell me how much they really missed my blogging. It was very flattering and humbling after all this time to still have complete strangers stop and share their love of my blog. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling deep inside. [2]No, not there, get your mind out of my gutter! 🙂 I had one guy stop me in Starbucks, he was visiting from out-of-state, and share how much he enjoyed my blog. Two different guys came up to me at Folsom (and I was only there about 2 hours) to tell me how happy they were I was blogging again. I even had a a couple guys on Scruff message me to introduce themselves and tell me they liked my blog. There have been others but the point is I started feeling guilty. Primarily because I know exactly how they feel. I’ve been very disappointed at times over the last 10 years when some of my favorite blogs ended. Whether I knew them in person or not didn’t matter, I had spent a chunk of my life getting to know them thru their blogs and it was disappointing to lose that contact. So to realize I’d sort of done the same thing made me feel a bit guilty.

The irony here is I don’t really follow that many personal blogs anymore. Primarily because so many of them have ended. I have a very small dedicated group that I still read. Most of the blogs I follow these days are news/tech sites. I still keep up with some folks via FB, twitter, Plus, etc but even that is losing it’s appeal for me.

I am truly flattered and humbled that people care and listen to what I have to say. It makes me feel honored and proud that you take the time to follow me when there is so much content (in so many places) out there these days. I’ll admit the desire had sort of left me for awhile but I’m finding that I really missed it. I get such a sense of well-being when I settle into blogging mode and being back in the saddle has really made me see how much I missed it.

My free-time is always a factor but I’m finding ways around that as well now. I can’t promise I won’t have lapses again but that’s life. Life first, blog second has always been and continues to be my approach.

Another reason is flat out geekiness. I love the idea of having my blog content being so readily available in such a cool format as the Kindle. For someone like me, its a bit awe-inspiring seeing my blog on an Amazon page. Never in a million years would I have ever dreamed I’d grow up to actually have people pay attention to what I say. For you long time readers, you get it I know.

Three follows closely behind reason two. Its not so much adulation as appreciation. One person asked if I wanted fame. I’m sure there is a small facet of that mixed in but honestly, I don’t feel its a driving force. It isn’t so much that I want people talking about me as much as I like knowing that people care enough to follow me. I guess that’s sort of the definition of fame but in a different context. I’ve never been a popularity blog. [3]Unlike another blog I shan’t mention. heehee And frankly, I prefer my attention up close and personal. lol Aaaaanyway…I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Of course, I write knowing people are reading but my content is usually for me and I’m simply sharing with you. I don’t think I’ve ever sat around and just tried to think up ideas to blog about. Often times, I forget many of my ideas because I don’t take the time to jot them down when they pop up. Lawd knows I’m rarely w/o something to say.

On a funny note, one lurker called me a sell-out. I’m a bit surprised by that because my blog is still completely free on the web. And $0.99 a month is hardly big business for the convenience of getting my madness on your Kindle device. lol Hell, who knows if it will even go anywhere.

Lastly, since my blog readership has dropped off somewhat, I’m hoping to revive it with a new avenue of distribution. Hopefully, over time people who have drifted away will realize I’m back at it and tune in for their weekly dose of my nonsense. Looking forward, you can definitely expect some discussions about Spike, work, my life in general, and probably some stuff dealing with my most recent break-up. No, not dirty details but definitely about things I learned and am still learning from it. Of course, my random and unexpected nonsense will be ever present.

Thanks again for those loyal folks who have stuck with me. I hope to not let you down.

Moby

 

References

References
↑1 mostly unknown to me at that
↑2 No, not there, get your mind out of my gutter! 🙂
↑3 Unlike another blog I shan’t mention. heehee

Amazon

Well, I’ve gone and done it! My blog is now officially available thru Amazon.com for download to your Kindle device of choice. For the amazingly bargain basement price of $0.99 per month you can now get my madness automatically downloaded every time I post an update. Yes you read it right, per month. [1]It is only available on actual Kindle devices vs. the Kindle reader app than can be installed on many mobile OS’s.

First, I didn’t choose the price, Amazon did. While you can still (and will always) get my blog perfectly free on the web, you can now fork over a measly dollar a month for the convenience of having it updated automatically for you if you wish.

Second, this was not about money but exposure. For such a small fee I’m clearly not looking for profit. It is my hope to increase my user base. I’ve only been back at it steadily a short time now, yet I’ve already had several people reach out to me and tell me how much my blog has meant to them. It’s been a humbling experience to say the least.

Depending on how well it goes, I may at some point decide to disable my internal subscription service. It’s become very laborious to manage and keep up with. For now, nothing has changed. My RSS feed is still available directly from my blog for free. The Kindle route is about convenience and hopefully, more exposure.

Last but not least, my content will still be my normal ramblings, opinions, ideas, pet-peeves, etc. From what I’ve seen, nothing I post or write about comes anywhere close to violating any of Amazon’s TOS. I don’t foresee any need to censor myself. If it does, it is easy to manipulate what enters my RSS feed. [2]Amazon loads my blog via the RSS feed.  I am not sure how pictures translate to Kindle devices so I will still need to work that out.

As for content, from what I’ve seen on some of the listings so far, most of my content is perfectly acceptable. The only real difference you might notice is reposting content from my old blog. Since my old blog isn’t tied to the new one, I may from time to time repost some of my older more significant posts.

That’s it. A big welcome to any new readers and a big thank you to anyone else subscribing thru!

References

References
↑1 It is only available on actual Kindle devices vs. the Kindle reader app than can be installed on many mobile OS’s.
↑2 Amazon loads my blog via the RSS feed.

E-what?

It’s no secret that I’m a big proponent of the digital age. It’s been great to see the push to convert traditional printed media to e-formats; be it music, video, books, magazines, etc. In an ideal world this would mean people are getting more access to content they own with a minimal of fuss and a lot less waste of natural resources.

Sadly the reality is somewhat different. The ridiculous and often extremely out-dated copyright laws in this country are strangling the growth of the digital convergence. Not to mention even more ridiculous restrictions by content authors. And if not updated soon, it promises to make things even worse. There are 3 different bills regarding copyright and “fair use” circulating thru congress as we speak. [1]I read up a lot on TechDirt. I highly recommend you follow them if you like reading about such stuff. None of which does anything to improve access to the consumer. I blame the whole Napster/RIAA drama for jumpstarting an atmosphere of litigation based on irrational fears, ignorance, and flat out lies. Every independent study I’ve ever read shows pirated content makes up a fraction of the total online availability of econtent. Granted, theft is theft regardless of the format. That being said, the approach here is draconian and ineffective. For every illegal site taken down, 10 more pop up.

You’ll always have a few folks who want to beat/cheat the system. That won’t go away so trying to legislate them out of existence is an exercise in futility. Most people on the other hand will do the honest/right thing when given the option a convenient, cheap, and effective distribution model. Case and point, I can view an e-subscription of the SF Chronicle on an actual Kindle device but I can’t view the same subscription on an iPad, iPod, or Android device running the very same Kindle software. [2]Don’t get me wrong, I’m not picking on Amazon as this isn’t their doing. Now how exactly does that solve anything? I’ll tell you what it solves; it means I won’t be buying an esubscription (or any other) to the Chronicle. Instead, I’ll continue to scour the web for my news/info from free sites. Yes, it’s a bit harder but I want to consume content when it’s convenient to me. A prime example of control vs. use gone wrong. Considering printed newspapers are already dying a slow death, it borders on sheer stupidity to limit your user base. While I can get the same content for free elsewhere, I am perfectly willing to fork over a small monthly fee for
congregated content related to my interests.

Another example. Two of my favorite scifi/horror authors have several eBooks online for sale [3]at the same price as a paperback which is ridiculous in itself but whatever. yet once again you can only get it on this device or that. Even worse, several books in a series are available but 1 or 2 in the series aren’t. Once again, does it mean I’ll run out and buy the missing book in traditional paper? NO! It means I will pass on the entire series until I can get all of them in the format of my
choosing.

I am hopeful that companies and authors will wise up and realize they are cutting their own financial throats. The music industry was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age and for all their fear-mongering and lies; they are still making money hand over fist. The RIAA even admitted a while back that yes, pirated content is only a fraction of global sales and distribution. tsk, tsk! Why other industries haven’t learned from them is beyond me. Actually, that’s not true, I know why. Greed. They are holding onto dying, yet originally more profitable, distribution models. [4]And don’t even get me started on the things people/companies actually try to
copyright now. As they watch traditional distribution (and consumption) of content dry up, they become ever more restrictive of the content itself. They seem to overlook the fact that while newer digital distribution models demand less per person, they reach a much much larger audience (and cost a whole lot less to produce). This more than makes up for any loss. One would think it’s a no-brainer but sadly not.

References

References
↑1 I read up a lot on TechDirt. I highly recommend you follow them if you like reading about such stuff.
↑2 Don’t get me wrong, I’m not picking on Amazon as this isn’t their doing.
↑3 at the same price as a paperback which is ridiculous in itself but whatever.
↑4 And don’t even get me started on the things people/companies actually try to
copyright now.

Pretty Cloud

I’ve become a fan of all things Google as of late. Don’t get me wrong, while I’m definitely drinking the koolaid, I am not unaware of problems with working solely in the cloud. [1]Cloud is basically everything is online, apps, data, storage, etc  That said, I’ve been using gmail, picasa, docs, maps, etc for years. Recently, I’ve jumped on the beta bandwagon of Google’s new music and +1 services. I’ve rambled enough on +1 already so no need to be redundant, redundant.

Storage is pretty excellent. Each service gives you a default amount of usable online storage. That said, you can upgrade to 20 gigs for just $5.00 a year. [2]They offer even more if you are truly a memory hog.  Even better, the storage is shared across all your Google services. This is a big bonus for me and a large factor in my decision to use many Google services.

Gmail has come along way since its inception. Its now very robust and user friendly. Its built in spam filter is excellent. The new +1 like theme is very easy on the eyes. Enough said.

Maps has always been excellent via the web or mobile. Google continues to integrate it with Places and Navigation. Maps has been my go to service for directions, MUNI, etc for years. The navigation mobile app is awesome as well. The down side of course is it requires a cell connection to triangulate the gps.  That can be a problem when you ride a motorcycle thru the middle of nowhere. lol

picasa is good but not yet excellent. I say ‘not yet’ because I have high hopes for the service that has sort of floundered in feature updates until recently. Storage, uploading, sharing, and even editing is pretty good. Its integration with +1 is obvious and also off to a very good start. Unfortunately, organizing, tagging, and otherwise managing content once it’s online is not all that great. Batch editing/organizing is very lacking and cumbersome. I’m hoping as the merger into +1 continues, this will change. picasa also has a desktop app. While the app is very robust, its also a bit confusing. The interface is cluttered and its very easy to get confused on what is where. The mobile site is basically for viewing and sharing. While there has never been an official mobile app, the new +1 mobile app has pics integrated. It could use some more features. I recently migrated all my pics from flickr over to picasa. I got a sick kick out of deleting my flickr account. lol They charge a ridiculous $25.00 a year for a fraction of the storage offered by Google. The only call to fame flickr still had over picasa was its online organizing. Not enough to make me pay an extra $20 a year though.

Docs is doing better after also languishing for awhile. Dropbox is still more user friendly, especially via the mobile app. Mobile Docs tends to be sluggish. I’m still bouncing between the two currently. For stuff I need quick/dirty access to, I still use Dropbox. For generic storage and not so high-demand stuff I use Docs. Primarily because of the storage options mentioned above.

The beta music service works as advertised but it is still very basic at this point. It offers storage and playback, both of which work flawlessly. Currently, there isn’t much beyond that. You can download your music to a device or computer. Its still beta but I hate that its so basic as to be too basic. Google has a habit of doing that, so all is not perfect. I’m hoping it gets some major feature upgrades.

So there ya have it. My review of all things Google [3]Actually, not all. There are a ton of services that I don’t use  lol  The down side to cloud computing is of course, access. If you don’t have access then you don’t have shit. Several services offer offline support but that sort of defeats the purpose IMHO. That said, we are fast approaching an age where the entire planet will be blanketed in some sort of access to the web. The only time I really don’t have access myself is when I’m out riding the bike. Otherwise, I’m plugged in to the hilt, just like a good little borg.

References

References
↑1 Cloud is basically everything is online, apps, data, storage, etc
↑2 They offer even more if you are truly a memory hog.
↑3 Actually, not all. There are a ton of services that I don’t use