I was watching a documentary about the dangers of the path that America is taking under Obama last night, and for the most part it was fantastic and entertaining. It nailed the points about the (lack of) sustainability of his wildly out of control spending binges and constant increases in spending year over year, mostly, and how raising taxes to pay for it (which won't even work) would destroy our already fragile economy, which it most certainly will.
Where the documentary falters is in the discussion of the dangers to our rights and freedoms. Far too often they resorted to saying that those rights and freedoms were given to us by God. In fact the truth is that those rights and freedoms were given to us by the founding fathers, codified into the constitution (see the bill of rights for example, also known as the first ten amendments). There was no God to give them to us, and no God will stop us from taking those same rights away from the people.
It falls to the people to protect those rights. They are fantastic rights, the very best granted to any people on Earth, and I wouldn't want to lose any of them. They are worth protecting, even dying for. However it's clear to me that we need a much better argument than "God gave them to us" to champion the value of those rights, because if that's all we have, they'll gleefully strip those rights from us and tell us they've done us a favor by doing so. I know we can do better than that. We're using God as a crutch, and it makes our thinking lazy when we do. A god that does not exist justifies the existence of absolutely nothing at all. We're invoking his name in an argument with people who, like myself, do not believe that he exists, and, unlike myself, seek to destroy absolutely everything that has anything to do with God. Under such conditions we'll never convince them of the value of our rights, and they'll keep pushing to eliminate them all one by one.
I get the cultural roots of having authority handed down to us from on high. From ancient times it has been handed down from kings, emperors and warlords, many of whom enjoyed claiming that it was in turn handed down to them from the gods (or more recently, the one God). When we abolished our kings, we removed the middle man and claimed that God handed us authority directly to the people.
That way of thinking today is utter fucking nonsense. There is no authority to hand down from on high and our constitution, as written by the people and ratified by the people is the law that protects our most cherished rights. The rule of law, as it is written in that constitution, is vital. Yet it is under assault because it hinders what they have planned for us. We have good reason to fear what they have planned for us. We MUST protect that document and preserve its literal interpretation, word for word. If we allow it to have a "flexible" interpretation, then all is lost, and if they ever manage to discard it altogether we are doomed completely.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Chromebook Evolution
Google has continued to knock out updates for Chromebooks since they shipped, but I have to say one thing...
That new login screen sucks! The white background makes it look extremely cheap and ugly. Can we please go back to the black login screen? Pretty please? Ugh.
That new login screen sucks! The white background makes it look extremely cheap and ugly. Can we please go back to the black login screen? Pretty please? Ugh.
Gratifying Results from Predictions Past
What could more gratifying than a prediction coming to pass? After all, we make them with as if we can somehow see directly into the future and actually know what will come to pass. That makes it taste so much sweeter when one does in fact come to pass, reaffirming our self sense of understanding about the trends shaping our world.
About a decade ago I predicted that in the future all devices would one day have touch screens. Touchscreens already existed at the time, and had for quite some time, but I had just started working with them on industrial automation projects, and instantly recognized their value and potential. Most of the touchscreen devices that I use every single day were yet to be invented. I had marveled at them while watching STTNG (although the greater marvel of the time was how they created the illusion of touchscreens without actually having any), but now I was working with them every single day to make very real and useful interfaces for end users. It occurred to me that the touchscreen was THE natural evolution of all end user interfaces for electronic devices.
That decade since has been absolutely filled with examples that show that I was right. Our phones, music players and tablet computers now have them. They are beginning to show up in cars, TV remote controls, household thermostats, security systems, desktop computers, and much more. However, the thing that drives my point home for me recently is that I just saw a touchscreen on a refrigerator the other day.
My rule of thumb is simple. If it is now, or could logically be made electronic in the future, it will get a touchscreen, barring examples where such an interface could never make sense. Any device which is smaller than a touchscreen would need to be, or which is unusual enough in shape will likely never have one, but all other devices are fair game. Although discounting the creativity of the designers to implement them in seemingly impossible applications is probably a bad idea.
My second rule of thumb is that even the touchscreen itself is but a stepping stone on the path to even better interfaces. It is not the destination, but rather an obvious step in a chain of evolution that will continue beyond it. The touchscreen will make scores of electronic devices better and simpler, but it is not the end of interface evolution by any means. It is a creative leaping off point towards an even more rapid acceleration of improvement, from a position of great usefulness and productivity.
The fact that touchscreens will make electronic devices better merely sets the stage for us to advance further and faster going forward along the technological path of evolution. They will help open up the raw power of our electronic devices for easy exploitation by the users of that technology, creating another explosion of creativity and productivity. That will make for an even more interesting future with even more possibilities.
About a decade ago I predicted that in the future all devices would one day have touch screens. Touchscreens already existed at the time, and had for quite some time, but I had just started working with them on industrial automation projects, and instantly recognized their value and potential. Most of the touchscreen devices that I use every single day were yet to be invented. I had marveled at them while watching STTNG (although the greater marvel of the time was how they created the illusion of touchscreens without actually having any), but now I was working with them every single day to make very real and useful interfaces for end users. It occurred to me that the touchscreen was THE natural evolution of all end user interfaces for electronic devices.
That decade since has been absolutely filled with examples that show that I was right. Our phones, music players and tablet computers now have them. They are beginning to show up in cars, TV remote controls, household thermostats, security systems, desktop computers, and much more. However, the thing that drives my point home for me recently is that I just saw a touchscreen on a refrigerator the other day.
My rule of thumb is simple. If it is now, or could logically be made electronic in the future, it will get a touchscreen, barring examples where such an interface could never make sense. Any device which is smaller than a touchscreen would need to be, or which is unusual enough in shape will likely never have one, but all other devices are fair game. Although discounting the creativity of the designers to implement them in seemingly impossible applications is probably a bad idea.
My second rule of thumb is that even the touchscreen itself is but a stepping stone on the path to even better interfaces. It is not the destination, but rather an obvious step in a chain of evolution that will continue beyond it. The touchscreen will make scores of electronic devices better and simpler, but it is not the end of interface evolution by any means. It is a creative leaping off point towards an even more rapid acceleration of improvement, from a position of great usefulness and productivity.
The fact that touchscreens will make electronic devices better merely sets the stage for us to advance further and faster going forward along the technological path of evolution. They will help open up the raw power of our electronic devices for easy exploitation by the users of that technology, creating another explosion of creativity and productivity. That will make for an even more interesting future with even more possibilities.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Fleeting waves of epiphany
What I wouldn't give for a machine that would pour epiphanies into my brain, one after the other, a constant stream of mind enhancing clarity to keep me from slipping back into my old sleepy ways. Ah, but alas, there is no such thing.
Sadly, if you were expecting me to say "but wait, maybe there is...", well, no there isn't. Although that would have been the perfect lead in to a pitch for such a device (be it a real one or a scam). If somebody ever makes one, sign me up, I'll take two of them!
I still get my epiphanies the old fashioned way. Randomly, when I least expect them. Usually they don't last very long either. For a day or two I'm excited about my epiphany, but then I go back to life as it was, and even forget all about it. We are creatures of habit, and epiphanies threaten to break us out of those habits. Habits usually win out in the end.
Last night I watched Limitless, which I'll summarize as "a movie about a guy who finds a drug that expands his mind and uses it to change his life". It has drama and action, and the plot is a good concept that could have been better executed, but it lead me to another epiphany. I don't need to artificially expand my capabilities to accomplish great things- I just need to actually start using the capabilities that I already have. I could say the exact same thing about nearly every other human being on the planet as well.
We sabotage our success with fear and doubt. We allow others to tell us that we don't have what it takes, or that we don't know the right people. We end up believing that we can't when in fact we all probably can. We don't need help to get it done, we need to believe that we can actually do it and start trying. We need to get off our collective lazy asses and start doing.
I'd swear I've had that exact same epiphany dozens of times before (deja vu all over again). So I'm wondering what I could do to make my epiphanies longer lasting, to keep the energy needed to act upon them alive long enough to get things done. How do you make the same epiphany stay fresh in your mind for prolonged periods of time? I'd love to have the answer to that seemingly simple question. Call it my new holy grail... until I move onto the next idea here in a few oh look shiny!
Sadly, if you were expecting me to say "but wait, maybe there is...", well, no there isn't. Although that would have been the perfect lead in to a pitch for such a device (be it a real one or a scam). If somebody ever makes one, sign me up, I'll take two of them!
I still get my epiphanies the old fashioned way. Randomly, when I least expect them. Usually they don't last very long either. For a day or two I'm excited about my epiphany, but then I go back to life as it was, and even forget all about it. We are creatures of habit, and epiphanies threaten to break us out of those habits. Habits usually win out in the end.
Last night I watched Limitless, which I'll summarize as "a movie about a guy who finds a drug that expands his mind and uses it to change his life". It has drama and action, and the plot is a good concept that could have been better executed, but it lead me to another epiphany. I don't need to artificially expand my capabilities to accomplish great things- I just need to actually start using the capabilities that I already have. I could say the exact same thing about nearly every other human being on the planet as well.
We sabotage our success with fear and doubt. We allow others to tell us that we don't have what it takes, or that we don't know the right people. We end up believing that we can't when in fact we all probably can. We don't need help to get it done, we need to believe that we can actually do it and start trying. We need to get off our collective lazy asses and start doing.
I'd swear I've had that exact same epiphany dozens of times before (deja vu all over again). So I'm wondering what I could do to make my epiphanies longer lasting, to keep the energy needed to act upon them alive long enough to get things done. How do you make the same epiphany stay fresh in your mind for prolonged periods of time? I'd love to have the answer to that seemingly simple question. Call it my new holy grail... until I move onto the next idea here in a few oh look shiny!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Information Transcendence
I've been thinking a bit lately about the power of information, as well as its true meaning and value. Although we've reached a point where we often consider information itself to be valuable, we sometimes forget the reason why it has value. It has value because it enables work to be done.
Information becomes useful when it is acted upon. Better information enables faster, simpler and easier accomplishment of some task using fewer resources. Thus the manipulation of that information to facilitate more efficient use of it becomes useful work in and of itself.
I'm fascinated by the clever ways that new information tools are used to transform how work gets done. Every time that new uses emerge it changes our perception of value both towards the tool itself and the information being handled by it.
My major thought to be pondered now: how will our information tools, and the information itself be transformed by the current explosion of information sharing and storage that we are experiencing now? What impacts will that have on society? How rapidly will this change take place?
Information becomes useful when it is acted upon. Better information enables faster, simpler and easier accomplishment of some task using fewer resources. Thus the manipulation of that information to facilitate more efficient use of it becomes useful work in and of itself.
I'm fascinated by the clever ways that new information tools are used to transform how work gets done. Every time that new uses emerge it changes our perception of value both towards the tool itself and the information being handled by it.
My major thought to be pondered now: how will our information tools, and the information itself be transformed by the current explosion of information sharing and storage that we are experiencing now? What impacts will that have on society? How rapidly will this change take place?
Saturday, November 19, 2011
A disturbing obeservation
We got a little bit of snow overnight, lightly covering the ground and the rooftops with snow. When the sun came out everything that wasn't in the shade melted away.
The disturbing bit came when I looked at the rooftops. I could see from the melt patterns exactly where the trusses were. The trusses had slowed down the transfer of heat, leaving snowy parallel lines. That heat came from inside the houses, from furnaces working harder than they ought to have to to warm up homes that are leaking heat through the roof (among other places).
Insulation, or lack of it seems to be the problem. In my own home I've noticed that some of my exterior walls seem inadequately insulated. I'm pondering solutions to that, but it's difficult to fix something like this once the house is completed. On the other hand, the roof is easy to deal with. All you have to do is spray in some more insulation (being mindful not to block the vents along the edges), or lay down some rolls of insulation over what you already have.
My proposal, in the form of a voluntary code to follow (I hate the words "there ought to be a law", and advocate mandatory beatings for all people who utter them), is that we begin building our homes with 6" studs instead of 4" to allow for 2 extra inches of insulation. We should also start using an extra couple of inches of insulation in the roof area. Reducing heat loss reduces the total amount of energy required to heat or cool a home. Of course I know that 2x4's are cheaper than 2x6's (slightly), and that 4" insulation is cheaper than 6", and that the average consumer is more concerned with price than energy efficiency, but in some respects there is a right and a wrong way to do it, and under-insulating is the wrong way.
This voluntary code could take the form of some certification that home builders could earn. It would be accompanied by random inspections of homes they are in the process of building to certify that the builder remains eligible for the certification after the initial process. Certified builders could display the certification logo, assuring home buyers that the home meets the minimum efficiency standards of the certifying agency (non-governmental, since we want something that is useful rather than political and corrupt). Any certified builder found to be not in compliance is fined and subject to 100% inspection for an entire year during their "probationary" period (or they can opt to not pay the fine and lose the certification for a minimum of one year). Uncertified builders displaying the logo would be sued to the fullest extent of the law (at a minimum for violating a copyright by using the logo without authorization).
The disturbing bit came when I looked at the rooftops. I could see from the melt patterns exactly where the trusses were. The trusses had slowed down the transfer of heat, leaving snowy parallel lines. That heat came from inside the houses, from furnaces working harder than they ought to have to to warm up homes that are leaking heat through the roof (among other places).
Insulation, or lack of it seems to be the problem. In my own home I've noticed that some of my exterior walls seem inadequately insulated. I'm pondering solutions to that, but it's difficult to fix something like this once the house is completed. On the other hand, the roof is easy to deal with. All you have to do is spray in some more insulation (being mindful not to block the vents along the edges), or lay down some rolls of insulation over what you already have.
My proposal, in the form of a voluntary code to follow (I hate the words "there ought to be a law", and advocate mandatory beatings for all people who utter them), is that we begin building our homes with 6" studs instead of 4" to allow for 2 extra inches of insulation. We should also start using an extra couple of inches of insulation in the roof area. Reducing heat loss reduces the total amount of energy required to heat or cool a home. Of course I know that 2x4's are cheaper than 2x6's (slightly), and that 4" insulation is cheaper than 6", and that the average consumer is more concerned with price than energy efficiency, but in some respects there is a right and a wrong way to do it, and under-insulating is the wrong way.
This voluntary code could take the form of some certification that home builders could earn. It would be accompanied by random inspections of homes they are in the process of building to certify that the builder remains eligible for the certification after the initial process. Certified builders could display the certification logo, assuring home buyers that the home meets the minimum efficiency standards of the certifying agency (non-governmental, since we want something that is useful rather than political and corrupt). Any certified builder found to be not in compliance is fined and subject to 100% inspection for an entire year during their "probationary" period (or they can opt to not pay the fine and lose the certification for a minimum of one year). Uncertified builders displaying the logo would be sued to the fullest extent of the law (at a minimum for violating a copyright by using the logo without authorization).
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Why Microsoft is on the rocks
It doesn't take a genius to see that Microsoft isn't doing well lately. Although many would dearly love to be failing as profitably as they are managing to do so, nevertheless, the long term prognosis sucks. Why? Lack of innovation.
When Bill Gates ran the show Microsoft shamelessly stole from anybody who dared to innovate, and that me too attitude propelled them to the dizzying heights of extremely profitable mediocrity. Now, however, things are different, with Steve Balmer "leading" the fail train.
The most classic failure I've seen in recent times is the decision to embrace the Windows 8 concept over the elegant, disruptive, innovative Courier concept. Courier was so slick that it could have been an Apple concept if it weren't for the incorporation of a stylus (as well as finger based touch- Courier used both, and did it well). People drool over Courier, but Windows 8 is a screwed up mess that lacks direction and function. Balmer made this choice after a round of committee think and consensus building, which is the exact opposite of leadership, and he surrounded himself with committees full of visionless idiots. Visionless idiots much like himself.
Even Bill Gates could not have saved the day here. He personally recommended to Balmer that Courier be cancelled. Perhaps because there wasn't yet an Apple product to shamelessly copy in this segment (Courier predates the iPad), but also because it lacked email. I can see how email was important, but to choose "we should kill it because it lacks email" over "why don't you add an email client and it will be killer" is beyond stupid. If email was so damned important, why did they remove it from Windows 7 anyway? Yes, answer me that! It seems like a no-brainer to just ADD EMAIL and call it good. The email thing was all about Exchange being important to their business model anyway, and they have allowed Apple to steal their thunder since iPads support Exchange email. What does Microsoft have now in the tablet space that supports Exchange email: nothing at all. Unless they plan to add email back into Windows 8 (and my experience with it says otherwise), this isn't going to change anytime soon.
I first saw Courier months before the iPad was announced. I loved it. It was "bet the company" awesome, exactly the kind of new blood Microsoft needed to shake up the company and make it alive again. It was disruptive on a level we had only seen from Apple up to that point, and that is exactly what got it killed... and why Microsoft is dying right before our eyes.
On the other hand, Windows 8 is a whole different kind of disruptive. Disruptive to work flow, instead of enabling it. Disruptive to ease of use, disruptive to intuitive process, disruptive to pre-learned skills. Disruptive to future viability of the company. Disruptive to the continued success and dominance of Windows, and their other core business: Office. The irony is that while Courier might have been potentially disruptive to Windows and Office, it offered an alternative that could replace sales of them, while Windows 8 only offers a deterrent to buying future Microsoft products in the form of destroying those same products from within the products themselves.
I predict that we'll see Windows 9: We're Really Sorry Edition within a year of the release of 8. Too little, too late? Maybe. It takes more than a year for people to make big switches, so PC's will still be sitting on desks, waiting for a worthy upgrade that isn't more trouble than its worth.
I'm also predicting that next year is the year that Steve Balmer gets his pink slip. After that, maybe they can right the ship. Bringing back Gates won't fix it, he's no longer useful in any meaningful way. They need new blood.
When Bill Gates ran the show Microsoft shamelessly stole from anybody who dared to innovate, and that me too attitude propelled them to the dizzying heights of extremely profitable mediocrity. Now, however, things are different, with Steve Balmer "leading" the fail train.
The most classic failure I've seen in recent times is the decision to embrace the Windows 8 concept over the elegant, disruptive, innovative Courier concept. Courier was so slick that it could have been an Apple concept if it weren't for the incorporation of a stylus (as well as finger based touch- Courier used both, and did it well). People drool over Courier, but Windows 8 is a screwed up mess that lacks direction and function. Balmer made this choice after a round of committee think and consensus building, which is the exact opposite of leadership, and he surrounded himself with committees full of visionless idiots. Visionless idiots much like himself.
Even Bill Gates could not have saved the day here. He personally recommended to Balmer that Courier be cancelled. Perhaps because there wasn't yet an Apple product to shamelessly copy in this segment (Courier predates the iPad), but also because it lacked email. I can see how email was important, but to choose "we should kill it because it lacks email" over "why don't you add an email client and it will be killer" is beyond stupid. If email was so damned important, why did they remove it from Windows 7 anyway? Yes, answer me that! It seems like a no-brainer to just ADD EMAIL and call it good. The email thing was all about Exchange being important to their business model anyway, and they have allowed Apple to steal their thunder since iPads support Exchange email. What does Microsoft have now in the tablet space that supports Exchange email: nothing at all. Unless they plan to add email back into Windows 8 (and my experience with it says otherwise), this isn't going to change anytime soon.
I first saw Courier months before the iPad was announced. I loved it. It was "bet the company" awesome, exactly the kind of new blood Microsoft needed to shake up the company and make it alive again. It was disruptive on a level we had only seen from Apple up to that point, and that is exactly what got it killed... and why Microsoft is dying right before our eyes.
On the other hand, Windows 8 is a whole different kind of disruptive. Disruptive to work flow, instead of enabling it. Disruptive to ease of use, disruptive to intuitive process, disruptive to pre-learned skills. Disruptive to future viability of the company. Disruptive to the continued success and dominance of Windows, and their other core business: Office. The irony is that while Courier might have been potentially disruptive to Windows and Office, it offered an alternative that could replace sales of them, while Windows 8 only offers a deterrent to buying future Microsoft products in the form of destroying those same products from within the products themselves.
I predict that we'll see Windows 9: We're Really Sorry Edition within a year of the release of 8. Too little, too late? Maybe. It takes more than a year for people to make big switches, so PC's will still be sitting on desks, waiting for a worthy upgrade that isn't more trouble than its worth.
I'm also predicting that next year is the year that Steve Balmer gets his pink slip. After that, maybe they can right the ship. Bringing back Gates won't fix it, he's no longer useful in any meaningful way. They need new blood.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sometimes I just need a project
I recently got my hands on a used quad core Dell. It's a hand me down, which is unusual for me since I'm usually the one doing the "handing down". Nevertheless, it came to me used, and now I'm trying to fix it up.
It had numerous issues when it fell into my lap. I have already fixed a few of them. For starters, it was pulled right off a desktop as is, from a company that had it attached to a Windows domain. Which made it completely unusable, since there was no way to log into it and un-join it from the domain without actually having the domain controller available to bless the unholy divorce. So I wiped it clean and installed Windows 7 on it. One problem down...
Problem 2 is also easy to solve. The graphics card was designed for high end CAD work (for a user that I happen to know has never used a CAD program), and is not terribly good for gaming. I've got it running passably on WoW with the settings all turned down, but the frame rate could still be better, and I'd like to have the candy turned on at some point. So I'm looking for a better graphics card.
Problem 3 is that the CD/DVD drive does not work at all. I've tried all the settings, from cable select to slave to master, and none work. It has power, and the drive tray opens, but the computer never sees it at all. Since this is not rocket science, I'm figuring it is bad. I'm going to have to replace it or do without it.
Problem 4 is Dell's fault. The idiots shipped it with two cores disabled in the BIOS. Why waste the money putting in a more expensive CPU only to shut off half of its power? Dell should have known better, but then again there's a reason why Dell's sales are down- bad decisions all around driving customers into the arms of other PC makers. This is not a "just enable them" problem either, as the option is do so is also disabled in BIOS. There is an update, but in classic chicken or egg form it requires booting into DOS to apply, and this machine has never had DOS on it. Nor does it have a 3.5" floppy drive from which I could boot to DOS (I still have my old DOS floppies). I could make a DOS boot CD (using FreeDOS), but the CD drive is toast. The updater will not run from Windows. So installing this BIOS update could prove challenging until I fix at least one of my other problems first. I want my four cores though, so not fixing this issue is NOT an option.
Problem 5 is that it needs more RAM. 2 GB is not good enough anymore.
I'm beginning to feel like a mechanic working on a used car now. Still, fixing these issues is a lot cheaper than going out and buying a new quad core machine, and when I'm done I should have a fairly decent gaming machine for a few months. Until the next big game comes out anyway. In the meantime it does a great job running Windows 7 despite its shortcomings. I can't wait to get it to its full potential!
It had numerous issues when it fell into my lap. I have already fixed a few of them. For starters, it was pulled right off a desktop as is, from a company that had it attached to a Windows domain. Which made it completely unusable, since there was no way to log into it and un-join it from the domain without actually having the domain controller available to bless the unholy divorce. So I wiped it clean and installed Windows 7 on it. One problem down...
Problem 2 is also easy to solve. The graphics card was designed for high end CAD work (for a user that I happen to know has never used a CAD program), and is not terribly good for gaming. I've got it running passably on WoW with the settings all turned down, but the frame rate could still be better, and I'd like to have the candy turned on at some point. So I'm looking for a better graphics card.
Problem 3 is that the CD/DVD drive does not work at all. I've tried all the settings, from cable select to slave to master, and none work. It has power, and the drive tray opens, but the computer never sees it at all. Since this is not rocket science, I'm figuring it is bad. I'm going to have to replace it or do without it.
Problem 4 is Dell's fault. The idiots shipped it with two cores disabled in the BIOS. Why waste the money putting in a more expensive CPU only to shut off half of its power? Dell should have known better, but then again there's a reason why Dell's sales are down- bad decisions all around driving customers into the arms of other PC makers. This is not a "just enable them" problem either, as the option is do so is also disabled in BIOS. There is an update, but in classic chicken or egg form it requires booting into DOS to apply, and this machine has never had DOS on it. Nor does it have a 3.5" floppy drive from which I could boot to DOS (I still have my old DOS floppies). I could make a DOS boot CD (using FreeDOS), but the CD drive is toast. The updater will not run from Windows. So installing this BIOS update could prove challenging until I fix at least one of my other problems first. I want my four cores though, so not fixing this issue is NOT an option.
Problem 5 is that it needs more RAM. 2 GB is not good enough anymore.
I'm beginning to feel like a mechanic working on a used car now. Still, fixing these issues is a lot cheaper than going out and buying a new quad core machine, and when I'm done I should have a fairly decent gaming machine for a few months. Until the next big game comes out anyway. In the meantime it does a great job running Windows 7 despite its shortcomings. I can't wait to get it to its full potential!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
April fool's day?
When I went to log into Warcraft the other day I was met with an announcement about the next expansion- Mists of Pandaria. Since playable Pandarens has been a rumor for ages and ages now, I had to check my calendar and make sure Blizzard wasn't just messing with us for another cheap April fool's day joke. Indeed, they were not.
My feelings are pretty mixed about it. New race: cool. New zones: cool. New class: cool. New talent system: hold on! New pet battles: wtf? No flying until level 90: hate it.
As if the hunter class wasn't pokemon enough, now we have full on pokemon for everybody in the game with fighting vanity pets. Um, ok. Not my cup of tea, but whatever, I guess. I suppose at least now they have SOME function in the game besides "hey! look at my cool vanity pet!". It does amuse me to think about leveling up my singing sunflower and having it go medieval on somebody else's pet. I would have to snicker and giggle watching it deal damage while singing "there's a zombie on your lawn" in that cheerful voice.
People either love or hate the new talent system. Since I agonize over each talent point instead of just plugging in whatever they say to plug in on Elitist Jerks, I'm comfortable with the current system. Now they're changing it completely, and my previous builds mean nothing. Will different actually be better? They've messed with it before, creating anger and chaos in the process without really making it better, so we'll see if history repeats itself.
I need some clarification on the flying issue. Are we losing it until 90 everywhere, or just in Pandaria? I'm not going to like either answer, but if it's the first one, I'll be much more angry.
Some of the things that I love about the upcoming expansion are amusingly the things that some people hated the most. Like playable pandas. I'm not sure why some folks hate that. Fine, don't roll a panda if you don't like them. Problem solved.
I like the new monk class. I didn't see any real hate about it either. You won't have to be Pandaren to play it, which silenced many would be haters, although I'm sure worgen and goblin fans are angry that they don't get it. I'll roll a monk, but I don't spend a lot of my time on hybrid classes because they usually don't do anything terribly well.
Perhaps the most interesting prospect of all is that Pandarens get to choose between horde and alliance. No other race gets to do that. I've always thought it was stupid that we didn't get that choice before. It goes to show that game worlds can evolve in complexity and realism (without losing out on fantasy, which is crucial). I like this improvement to gameplay, even if it does seem like a cheap way to only introduce one new race for an expansion.
I'm still trying to do my homework on this upcoming expansion so that I can know what to expect from it. I'll probably keep on playing, unless I get tired of the game (which could happen long before the expansion arrives, judging by Blizzard's past history). I'm an addict, so pulling the needle out isn't exactly easy.
My feelings are pretty mixed about it. New race: cool. New zones: cool. New class: cool. New talent system: hold on! New pet battles: wtf? No flying until level 90: hate it.
As if the hunter class wasn't pokemon enough, now we have full on pokemon for everybody in the game with fighting vanity pets. Um, ok. Not my cup of tea, but whatever, I guess. I suppose at least now they have SOME function in the game besides "hey! look at my cool vanity pet!". It does amuse me to think about leveling up my singing sunflower and having it go medieval on somebody else's pet. I would have to snicker and giggle watching it deal damage while singing "there's a zombie on your lawn" in that cheerful voice.
People either love or hate the new talent system. Since I agonize over each talent point instead of just plugging in whatever they say to plug in on Elitist Jerks, I'm comfortable with the current system. Now they're changing it completely, and my previous builds mean nothing. Will different actually be better? They've messed with it before, creating anger and chaos in the process without really making it better, so we'll see if history repeats itself.
I need some clarification on the flying issue. Are we losing it until 90 everywhere, or just in Pandaria? I'm not going to like either answer, but if it's the first one, I'll be much more angry.
Some of the things that I love about the upcoming expansion are amusingly the things that some people hated the most. Like playable pandas. I'm not sure why some folks hate that. Fine, don't roll a panda if you don't like them. Problem solved.
I like the new monk class. I didn't see any real hate about it either. You won't have to be Pandaren to play it, which silenced many would be haters, although I'm sure worgen and goblin fans are angry that they don't get it. I'll roll a monk, but I don't spend a lot of my time on hybrid classes because they usually don't do anything terribly well.
Perhaps the most interesting prospect of all is that Pandarens get to choose between horde and alliance. No other race gets to do that. I've always thought it was stupid that we didn't get that choice before. It goes to show that game worlds can evolve in complexity and realism (without losing out on fantasy, which is crucial). I like this improvement to gameplay, even if it does seem like a cheap way to only introduce one new race for an expansion.
I'm still trying to do my homework on this upcoming expansion so that I can know what to expect from it. I'll probably keep on playing, unless I get tired of the game (which could happen long before the expansion arrives, judging by Blizzard's past history). I'm an addict, so pulling the needle out isn't exactly easy.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Fruity Goodies
I got iOS 5 loaded on all of my iDevices the other day. So far I have to say that this is a worthy update. Easily the best yet.
It's not hard to say that the best iOS5 experience is on the new iPhone 4S. After all, that is the new hotness. It has the best of everything to found, and things like Siri that are only found there (unless you are still rocking the old version of Siri from before Apple bought it- I have a copy of it still).
Things like iMessage are killer though, and you'll get that on anything new enough to run iOS5 (for instance any iPad, iPhone 3GS or newer, and recent iPod Touches). The cell phone companies must HATE iMessage, because it circumvents their overpriced and overly profitable texting networks to give people free texting (between iOS devices). Outrageously expensive texting plans now have their days numbered.
Notification center is awesome. I love the customizability of it too. I can control whether or not something private will be displayed on the lock screen, and whether I get an icon badge, banner, or pop-up alert notification.
I haven't made up my mind about iCloud. I like the idea of it, but will I like the execution? We'll see, because it's way too early for me to give an opinion on it given my limited use of it so far. I did have some issues getting my contacts merged up to the cloud, so I ended up synching those with my Mac once to re-populate my contact list. Supposedly they are in the cloud now.
I won't talk about Siri here, because that belongs in a review of the iPhone 4S. Nobody else gets to have it yet. I'd bet money that it comes to future iPads and iPod Touches. Also, I have yet to use it, but only because I still have a few things to learn first (like how it supposedly knows where I live and work so I can dictate location based reminders such as "remind me about x when I leave home").
If your device can run it, you should get it. Just remember to back up before you do it! It restores data from that backup after installation, so you MUST do this. It will warn you to back it up, but a few idiots have ignored the warning. Not many really, but they have whined loudly about it on the web.
It's not hard to say that the best iOS5 experience is on the new iPhone 4S. After all, that is the new hotness. It has the best of everything to found, and things like Siri that are only found there (unless you are still rocking the old version of Siri from before Apple bought it- I have a copy of it still).
Things like iMessage are killer though, and you'll get that on anything new enough to run iOS5 (for instance any iPad, iPhone 3GS or newer, and recent iPod Touches). The cell phone companies must HATE iMessage, because it circumvents their overpriced and overly profitable texting networks to give people free texting (between iOS devices). Outrageously expensive texting plans now have their days numbered.
Notification center is awesome. I love the customizability of it too. I can control whether or not something private will be displayed on the lock screen, and whether I get an icon badge, banner, or pop-up alert notification.
I haven't made up my mind about iCloud. I like the idea of it, but will I like the execution? We'll see, because it's way too early for me to give an opinion on it given my limited use of it so far. I did have some issues getting my contacts merged up to the cloud, so I ended up synching those with my Mac once to re-populate my contact list. Supposedly they are in the cloud now.
I won't talk about Siri here, because that belongs in a review of the iPhone 4S. Nobody else gets to have it yet. I'd bet money that it comes to future iPads and iPod Touches. Also, I have yet to use it, but only because I still have a few things to learn first (like how it supposedly knows where I live and work so I can dictate location based reminders such as "remind me about x when I leave home").
If your device can run it, you should get it. Just remember to back up before you do it! It restores data from that backup after installation, so you MUST do this. It will warn you to back it up, but a few idiots have ignored the warning. Not many really, but they have whined loudly about it on the web.
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