August 05, 2014

Brief watching notes

So, after a lull of many years, I've found myself watching a lot more anime again recently.  I blame Knights of Sidonia for part of the increase in watching, and Crunchyroll for the other part of it.
more...

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July 12, 2014

Ghost in the smartphone?

On a slightly more somber note, I'm starting to think there is a ghost in the machine. Or at least, I'm learning we leave a bigger digital footprint behind us than I have expected. I keep finding  the name of a friend who passed away several years ago from ALS listed in my phone contacts, favorites, and messages thanks to various information services auto linking things on my phone.

Scrolling contact list,
Your name appears many years later.
Lifetime remembered.

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iOS Tales of Phantasia pulled?

Well, it looks like Namco Bandai (who's name has changed recently) has decided to remove Tales of Phantasia from the iTunes App Store.  Here's to hoping they'll recode it to be a one time purchase with no online needed for anything and no IAP.  Okay, they can leave the IAP if they want as long as the game's difficulty isn't adjusted to encourage the use of IAP just to get through fights.

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April 26, 2014

The need for the Second Amendment

Steven Den Beste has probably laid out the best description of the need for the Second Amendment in our country that I have heard in a long time:

http://chizumatic.mee.nu/si_vis_pacem_para_bellum


While I probably fall on the other side of the political line from Steven most of the time, I'm glad he said this.  It's much better than I could have ever done.

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January 24, 2014

iOS release of Tales of Phantasia

Oh Namco/Bandai...  you finally release one of the Tales games on iOS, and yet you disappoint me so.  It isn't because of the lack of Retina scaled graphics.  It isn't because the intro movie from the PSP version is grainy.  No, you went and had to modernize the game and release it for free.
more...

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October 25, 2013

Stepped out


  The hardest part about going home are the memories. It never quite matches up to what you remember. In my case, it is made doubly difficult because I'm not quite in the same world I started in.

  Two weeks ago, I woke up in my bedroom and found that all the sports poster my older brother had given me were gone. They had been replaced by various star 'scapes and modern space craft. I ran out of my room and smack into my mother.
   "Mom, where are all my posters?" My voice cracked a little bit for old times sake. She leaned into the doorway and looked into my room.
   "Right on the walls where you hung them?"
   "Those are not mine. I want all of the posters Brad gave me after he headed off to State." She did not respond. "You know what I'm talking about. All his Steelers posters, basketball players, you know!"
   "Hon, you've never cared about sports posters. And who is Brad?" more...

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September 03, 2013

Yes, I've been slacking.

A brief update:

Yes, I'm still writing.  Its going slowly. 

Went to GenCon for the first time ever, had a blast, was sick half the weekend.  Spent the other half of the weekend meeting friends I had known for years online. 

With my wife going back to school, I've decided to borrow several of her books from last semester to fill some critical gaps in my personal knowledge.  See, I wish I knew basic calculus, yet I can barely do basic algebra.  So I'm taking some time in the evenings to read up on the Algebra to bring myself back up to speed.  Hoping to be working on Calculus by next year.

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July 31, 2013

I need help...

I can't stop watching Chrome Shelled Regios.  I think I've watched it three times through in the last year.  And I thought I used to be obsessed over Last Exile...


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July 04, 2013

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Be safe with friends and family today.

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June 13, 2013

Agricola is out for iOS

Here it is folks, the best farming simulator ever.



Sixteen turns of play, see how well you can score.  This is an excellent board game conversion, and so far, plays really well asynchronously.

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So, there is a new Tom Clancy game coming out...

And I'm cautiously optimistic.  Here's the setup trailer:



And a seven minute gamplay trailer is below the fold.
more...

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June 01, 2013

JRPG series...

Found a copy of Tales of the Abyss for the 3ds yesterday.  Very happy.  While the final fantasy series has always been fun, the Tales of and Phantays star series have long been favorites of mine.  Abyss is one of the better ones,though Tales of Symphonia is right up there, and tales of vesperia was good.  Once im done actually finishing Abyss, i might have to try and play Vesperia all the way through on the Xbox.  Never did finish it.

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May 21, 2013

Storm watching..

I really shouldn't but I find myself drawn to watching the radar images for Dallas/Fort Worth today.  It is not helping my stress levels any...

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May 16, 2013

Memory and the Social Network

While I know it is basically an ad for an upcoming video game, I still find this video rather inspiring. And it also still makes me think too about other issues with our digital revolution. Who is going to be able to read it in ten years, twenty years? Will we be the equivalent of the Gate builders from Stargate SG-1, leaving behind huge cities full of inscrutable texts and unusuable technologies?

http://youtu.be/LczkikAgAVE


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May 14, 2013

Amost Human?

Might we actually get a decent cyberpunk series on Fox?




Nice trailer!

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May 13, 2013

My idiot light...

Some days i wonder why i go to bed and stare into my ipad reading or watching something on netflix well into the night.   Then i turn it off and remember all the voices in my head that i dont want to hear...

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May 05, 2013

Well, kiddos are ill now...

No plan ever survives contact with biology...

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May 04, 2013

Slight delay...

Text on the way, but it looks like it will be in the morning.

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May 03, 2013

Iron Man 3 Midnight showing!

Okay, head is a little clearer now... Iron Man 3 was a very good movie. I think they used the Mandarin, Ben Kingsley, and the Extremis storylines very well. Loved the ending sequence. There is the usual post credit sequence, and it is pretty funny. I want to say more, but for now it will suffice that RDJr, Gwenneth Paltrow, and the rest of the cast knock this one out of the park.

It was well worth the the midnight showing and my craving for brains this morning at the office.

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May 02, 2013

Today is a writing day!!

Time to get ready for Saturday's post.  Which means I need to go over the section I want to post and see if there is anything too painfully bad in it.  Considering I've recently changed the MC's rank on the ship and such...  I probably have some work ahead of me.


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