tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20306111947042072622024-03-24T12:48:14.543-05:00Decay-Proof Record Scrollan infrequently updated online chronicle of a chronic dilettanteCrystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.comBlogger460125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-12152858881852593322024-03-24T12:47:00.002-05:002024-03-24T12:47:18.705-05:00Keeping Watch in the Walled Garden<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Full disclosure: I'm writing this on a <b>Mac mini</b> while my <b>iPhone 12 mini </b>charges and before I do a little drawing on my <b>iPad Pro</b> later. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Officially, I identify as platform agnostic. I don't care what operating system I have to use; I will make it work. I grew up on classic <b>MacOS</b>, I switched over to <b>Windows</b> <b>XP</b> shortly after college, I was a <b>Linux</b> user for a while, and my phone choices have been equally all over the map. I'm far from an early adopter, but you name it, I've probably tried it. Ever heard of <b>Maemo</b>? <b>Symbian</b>? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For my money, <b>Apple</b> makes exactly two good products, the <b>Mac mini</b> and the <b>iPad</b> <b>Pro</b>. I often joke to people, "I don't have an <b>iPhone</b>. I have an <b>iPad</b>... Oh, by the way, did you know <b>Apple</b> makes a camera? It takes calls too for some reason." Also in the interest of full disclosure, I have a smartwatch from <b>Fossil</b> that works well enough with my <b>iPhone</b>. I have no desire to buy an <b>Apple</b> <b>Watch</b>. For perspective, my favorite feature about my <b>Fossil</b> is that it doesn't have a screen. It's got a plain, ordinary watch face (which I think is called a complication if you're in the know) and the hands occasionally move to different positions based on what notifications I've set it to. In recent months, however, this has stopped working. It's a little irritating, but I don't miss it. It certainly doesn't make me want to buy an <b>Apple</b> <b>Watch</b>. Those could well be famous last words, but on the whole, the only <b>Watch</b> feature that had my attention was using it as a painter's palette for <b>Procreate</b>, and I don't even think that feature is supported anymore. As for my <b>Fossil</b>, I've actually stopped wearing it altogether. I simply don't need a watch that much, and its use as a pedometer and sleep tracker are simply no longer part of my daily habit. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As of this writing, the <b>Department of Justice</b> has taken <b>Apple</b> to court over its monopolistic practices, particularly in the smartphone market. Among its talking points was the fact the <b>Apple</b> Watch currently only works with <b>iPhones</b>. <b>Android</b> users are simply out of luck and have to settle for a <b>Garmin</b>, a <b>Fossil</b>, a <b>Fitbit</b>.... </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm not saying the <b>DOJ</b> doesn't have some kind of a case against <b>Apple</b>. What I am saying is that their angle of attack speaks more to their lack of knowledge not only of the technology, but of the market itself. This isn't like 20 years ago when <b>Microsoft</b> was under the microscope for their own monopolistic practices, but this is far from apples to apples (no pun intended). That's why I brought up all the other smartwatch brands, smartwatch brands that work with both <b>Apple</b> and <b>Android</b> devices. Moreover, I'm a little confused by this talking point. The <b>DOJ</b> is saying <b>Apple</b> has too much of the smartwatch marketshare with their watch which is exclusive to <b>Apple</b> products. So, what happens if they add <b>Android</b> support? Wouldn't that give them a bigger piece of the pie they allegedly already have too much of? Won't that just land them back in court for the exact same offense but now with slightly different wording? Wouldn't that make any ruling on the matter tantamount to self-incrimination? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Personally, I don't know anyone who wants an <b>Apple</b> <b>Watch</b> so badly they're willing to give up their <b>Android</b> phone to get one. That's simply not the market we live in. Once upon a time, I worked for a cell carrier that did not earn the <b>iPhone</b>'s exclusivity contract with <b>AT&T</b>. Needless to say, this led to a deluge of calls about when the <b>iPhone</b> was coming to our neck of the woods and what hoops would have to be jumped through to make it happen. A workaround did emerge at one point. The <b>iPhone</b>'s exclusivity was limited to the <b>United</b> <b>States</b>, so it was possible to use the phone on our network... in <b>Germany</b>. That means you'd have to import a <b>German</b> <b>iPhone</b>, and use a <b>German</b> SIM card, which meant all of your calls would be international ones. Would you believe someone I spoke with still wanted one after all that was explained to them, that it would literally cost them more to use the phone in a month than to buy the thing outright because all of their calls would be for a <b>German</b> number on a <b>North American</b> network? I have no idea if this person went through with their plan, though I like to think he got as far as putting in a bid on an <b>eBay</b> listing before losing it and taking it as a sign to simply wait for the <b>iPhone</b> to be available on other networks. He didn't have to wait long and, frankly, those early iterations of the <b>iPhone</b> are among the many reasons I'm not an early adopter. My first <b>iPhone</b> was a <b>5c</b>, which was only supposed to be a temporary device while my <b>Sony Xperia</b> phone was getting its battery replaced. None of my <b>iPhones</b> have been the newest model. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There was likely a certain time in my life when I suffered from the dreaded <b>Fear of Missing Out</b>, but I was a kid, and like all kids, I grew up. So, when I see people lining up to buy a phone or a game console on launch day, I don't envy them. In fact, I only sort of feel bad for them. Do you know who was the first person in <b>North America</b> to own a <b>Nintendo 64</b>? Neither do I. I don't think anyone knows. Even with social media, I don't think we could ever know for certain the name and face of the first person to own a <b>Playstation 5</b>. I'm sure it was a big deal to them, whoever they are, but let's not pretend that this <b>FOMO</b> business is anything to give in to or follow like a cartoon character floating toward a pie cooling on a windowsill. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I think the <b>DOJ</b> is misunderstanding <b>FOMO</b>, treating it like some perfectly rational mindset in a consumer-driven economy regulated (loosely) by a democratic republic. Someone really wanting an <b>Apple Watch</b> does not make the niche <b>Apple</b> has carved out for itself a monopoly, even if that niche is worth several billion dollars. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"What do you mean this person has to get a new phone for their watch to work!? This is an injustice!" </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Seriously, where is this attitude when it comes to big Pharma or the oil companies? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That'$ only a $lightly rhetorical que$tion. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">My point is that the monopoly <b>Apple</b> has allegedly made for itself is nothing like the one that <b>Microsoft</b> got called out on 20-some years ago or the one <b>AT&T</b> was broken up over however long before that. I can't run <b>MacOS</b> on a <b>Microsoft</b> <b>Surface</b> tablet. I can't play <b>Nintendo</b> <b>Switch</b> games on my <b>iPhone</b>. I can't use a <b>BMW</b> part in my <b>Honda</b>. The list goes on. If <b>Apple</b> wants to paint themselves into a corner by playing their cards close to the chest, let them and most importantly let the market decide whether that's playing fair in the game of capitalism. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-69113724044765377842024-02-25T10:36:00.000-06:002024-02-25T10:36:02.030-06:00A Little Tipsy<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMrYpHB8fxxNQmMBdGQHD9HTHkgo6RWnKWAxx0JGomjkkGiFBuQLXDlth0jSI1XY3dJxN73uj6G07DfEPbb6jj7VUCFbTnemm6YmxRG2RdBx1zsni9EailjftRsNop_rXsMhyphenhyphenFTy8OZDO8e-_HLP6XeggpQou39VYQOA5w_J2C1VxvLCHfeWEZDbTgJ8/s587/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%2009.30.13.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="587" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMrYpHB8fxxNQmMBdGQHD9HTHkgo6RWnKWAxx0JGomjkkGiFBuQLXDlth0jSI1XY3dJxN73uj6G07DfEPbb6jj7VUCFbTnemm6YmxRG2RdBx1zsni9EailjftRsNop_rXsMhyphenhyphenFTy8OZDO8e-_HLP6XeggpQou39VYQOA5w_J2C1VxvLCHfeWEZDbTgJ8/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20at%2009.30.13.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p>Let me start by admitting that I am by no means an expert on aerospace engineering and could most certainly not land anything on the moon or <b>Mars</b> or anywhere else in our solar system. I don't think I ever even succeeded at that egg drop challenge everyone did in elementary school (not even sure I participated). The point is that my opinion on the <b>Odysseus</b> <b>Lander</b> is only that, one of 10,000 opinions by someone with no expertise on the subject. </p></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Remember that email chain letter from a few years ago about how the booster rockets on the space shuttle are based on the width of a horse's ass? It's got to do with train tracks being based on old wagon trails, which in turn owe their dimensions to <b>Roman</b> chariots, and you see where this is going. The credibility of the story is debatable, but the point is that for anything we construct, eventually some part of the process is going to be arbitrary or born of a necessity that's no longer a problem to overcome. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I was thinking about this when I saw the <b>Odysseus</b> lander. I wondered if it had to be designed the way it is to properly fit in the payload space of the rocket, hence it effectively being taller than it is wide. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYGp_0yIJ7fbZyRuEddJPG4_8jrFcx_MfuZSkrcsE7Rqk97oM8nXjG6cS9Tj4w_Gjt92E3j5Nfd9dX9bvEW5TSLGHCxWrz8N4ALkhlP-cd58RtBjw2eUonC8dIFD5jzVoFaUWuKd2KXsRAFV745hKFDdAtr7TK05FMMO2U_rknlKeZa9XqSc-dWLHxYM/s768/Intuitive_Machines%E2%80%99_Nova-C_lunar_lander_(IM_00309)_(cropped).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="734" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYGp_0yIJ7fbZyRuEddJPG4_8jrFcx_MfuZSkrcsE7Rqk97oM8nXjG6cS9Tj4w_Gjt92E3j5Nfd9dX9bvEW5TSLGHCxWrz8N4ALkhlP-cd58RtBjw2eUonC8dIFD5jzVoFaUWuKd2KXsRAFV745hKFDdAtr7TK05FMMO2U_rknlKeZa9XqSc-dWLHxYM/s320/Intuitive_Machines%E2%80%99_Nova-C_lunar_lander_(IM_00309)_(cropped).jpg" width="306" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">From what I can find, the <b>Falcon 9</b> rocket is about 3.66m (12 feet) wide. I don't know what that is in horse asses, but let's leave that rabbit hole be. I don't feel like researching what other landing craft it housed or exactly how much of that diameter is usable cargo space and not insulation or whatever else it takes to get that phone booth into space. All I want to know is why it was designed that way when so many other craft understand the importance of placing your center of gravity as low as possible. </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUjgs7KwzVpSok0XGTnnza35A-qPRuETXj37_ZCV-vjbyW1S91UVwyV9w9gGWfGlcCkwzvfz_uWWvtQhzDP8sxy2TJaEsU4gLyBZFTIoVqp0Oe617rYRHSAcNtUdOXohZPjFEk3ZGYnZDyyW8zxWqyjI3zOmbZIJoVnkNlGKIA8znp-kuhc-HSohF0no/s1429/philae.jpg.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1126" data-original-width="1429" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUjgs7KwzVpSok0XGTnnza35A-qPRuETXj37_ZCV-vjbyW1S91UVwyV9w9gGWfGlcCkwzvfz_uWWvtQhzDP8sxy2TJaEsU4gLyBZFTIoVqp0Oe617rYRHSAcNtUdOXohZPjFEk3ZGYnZDyyW8zxWqyjI3zOmbZIJoVnkNlGKIA8znp-kuhc-HSohF0no/s320/philae.jpg.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This is the <b>Philae</b> <b>Lander</b>, part of the <b>Rosetta</b> mission to <b>Comet 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko</b> back in 2014 (launched in 2004, by the way)</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(27, 27, 27); color: #1b1b1b; font-family: "Public Sans Web", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">It had a rough landing of its own. One missed harpoon and a failed thruster caused it to bounce twice before finally landing and resuming its mission. You'll notice it only has 3 legs and is overall fairly low to the ground. </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMLPLI3OOQBAb8v0boqnPqJChh3_UR9LLUg6UJuzIXRWSigjklPndLD_BLKufHVAZ1l7cTaQIjYYyxvWYZVBlFjU0KJMe7kZiZGpfRPS-IrqJMQtSEn78UtQvN4Blwt4nOhevP0O6emEpPpBkuHy7r095sCHkoy8hdN_wP-5okuq0dtyRcjDxxVSDfTo/s597/NASM-A19790215000-NASM2016-02690.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="597" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMLPLI3OOQBAb8v0boqnPqJChh3_UR9LLUg6UJuzIXRWSigjklPndLD_BLKufHVAZ1l7cTaQIjYYyxvWYZVBlFjU0KJMe7kZiZGpfRPS-IrqJMQtSEn78UtQvN4Blwt4nOhevP0O6emEpPpBkuHy7r095sCHkoy8hdN_wP-5okuq0dtyRcjDxxVSDfTo/s320/NASM-A19790215000-NASM2016-02690.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This is the <b>Viking</b> lander. It landed on <b>Mars</b> in 1976. It also only has 3 legs and is overall wider than it is tall. Are you noticing a pattern yet? <br /><br />The <b>Odysseus</b> lander has six legs, but <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/23/1233677833/lunar-lander-odysseus-sideways-moon">according to reports</a>, one leg may have snapped, sending it on its side and possibly leaning against a rock. I don't want to diminish their accomplishment, but ignoring decades of sensible design doesn't endear me to their cause. </span><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOdj-sw8fR9mvqiDjMyWZDQBNuQXI-woSJJdFwQDuaWs1Zzd3yN1WXnwxctFjFtR3rq6BkdFqlHuGsBg2M9iT5KkPOrgDBcovYupocDoQdm4L26PgXvOPPDU9QG-B1GNnkPr2858M5_rPiU8kVjSptT-HgFwlrB8F94-GgNBBuO5l6TD5JKERYEsRGQE/s800/icotens_1_orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="788" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOdj-sw8fR9mvqiDjMyWZDQBNuQXI-woSJJdFwQDuaWs1Zzd3yN1WXnwxctFjFtR3rq6BkdFqlHuGsBg2M9iT5KkPOrgDBcovYupocDoQdm4L26PgXvOPPDU9QG-B1GNnkPr2858M5_rPiU8kVjSptT-HgFwlrB8F94-GgNBBuO5l6TD5JKERYEsRGQE/s320/icotens_1_orig.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a tensegrity robot, designed by the <a href="https://www.creativemachineslab.com/tensegrity.html">Creative Machines Lab</a> out of <b>New York City</b>. It uses tensioning rods to maintain its shape and can even roll by telescoping and expanding its legs in a sequence. Theoretically, a science payload could be suspended in the center of this "skeletal ball" and with no obvious up or down could land in any orientation and be able to correct itself. Also, depending on where we drop it, it may not even need a chute or booster to slow it down. As stated, though, this is all theoretical as only various field tests have been conducted to prove the concept of rolling as a viable means of locomotion on uneven terrain. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It makes me wonder if <b>Intuitive Machines</b>, <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com">creators</a> of the <b>Odysseus</b> lander, maybe had to answer to some higher-ups who weren't too keen on any unproven technologies, instead opting for something that at least resembled a more conventional design. </span></div>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-66488519508857260882024-01-23T17:00:00.001-06:002024-01-23T17:00:00.281-06:00The Death of Drafts<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Something I need to get in the habit of is using <b>Evernote </b>to write my rough drafts before bringing them into <b>Blogger</b>, rather than my usual method of writing into <b>Blogger </b>directly. The interface is fine when I need to insert things like links or videos, but as far as the core activity of writing the entry, it's not always as smooth and pleasant a user experience as it should be. I feel the same way about <b>WordPress</b>, though to a lesser degree because the block system it uses is relatively intuitive. <b>Blogger </b>is too much like a word processor; it's very much about the <b>WYSIWYG </b>philosophy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To better illustrate what I mean, we have to talk about <b>2001: A Space Odyssey</b>. A lot of people don't understand the relationship between the movie and the book, specifically which came first. Technically, the book was written first, but it was meant to serve as something of a wiki for the screenplay. As <b>Arthur C. Clarke</b> put it, "Before you can make a movie, you need a script. Before you write a script, you need a story." Screenplays, by their very nature, aren't really meant for embellishing details or offering backstory to a spotlighted item. There's an unwritten rule in screenwriting of no paragraph of more than 3 lines. They're designed to be concise and quick to read, each page amounting to roughly one minute of screen time. Novels can play with time and structure in ways screenplays can't, hence why some novels are deemed "unfilmable."</span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There's another rule about screenplays, that the first version of your screenplay submitted is always your first draft, no matter how many rewrites it went through up until that point. When I was in school, we made these things called rough drafts. They were handwritten on paper, and your teacher would eventually hand it back to you with red marks all over it, pointing out every little mistake you made (sometimes with helpful suggestions on what to do next). You would then completely start over and write out another paper taking the edits to heart. I'm sure this is still technically done, only with digital files instead of sheets of notebook paper. My point is that word processing created a convenience in terms of editing your written work. Some writers forgo "drafts" altogether and edit as they go along, never even bothering with the "version history" feature some word processors and notetaking applications provide. There's no more starting over, barring any serious fundamental hiccup like finding out a source is inaccurate or an entire premise is off the mark. It's overall a more nebulous process. You can still number your drafts, but those can be reserved for page one rewrites rather than little typos or moving a sentence from the end of a paragraph to the start of one. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">This concludes the experiment. Draft was successfully transferred from <b>Evernote </b>to <b>Blogger</b>. </span></div>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-45261599902647392962024-01-13T10:18:00.003-06:002024-01-16T07:55:05.342-06:00I Am The Alphabet And The Omega<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Google</b> has declared my site unfit for advertising. I imagine it's due to a low level of traffic. I'm far from an influencer, and if I had to guess, my <b>WordPress</b> blog probably gets more views than anything I've written here in the past year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And that's fine. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The upshot to all of this is it means there are no ads on my site, which is how it should be. Contrast this with <b>YouTube</b>, where a channel can be demonetized, but still have ads all over it. The channel in question simply does not get the money. Maybe that's how it should be, though. After all, what advertisers were most afraid of when it came to <b>YouTube</b> was their money going to content creators who they disagreed with or otherwise didn't want to be associated with. The platform still got the support it needed, and users were free to share what they wanted to (within reason). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course, I'm sure <b>Blogger</b> takes a lot fewer resource to maintain than a data hog like <b>YouTube</b>, so <b>Google</b> didn't have much of a choice when it came to their "advertiser friendly" policies. It's what makes <b>Elon Musk</b>'s recent middle finger to advertisers so frustrating. He's both right and wrong for more or less the same reason. Businesses have a right to decide who they will and won't do business with, just as consumers have a choice with where they spend their money. That's called the free market. However, just like <b>George Carlin</b> said about the <b>American Dream</b>, you have to be asleep to believe it. Right now, big businesses hold more power than they deserve and the average consumer is in no position to do anything to their bottom line and therefore effect change in an unfair market. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When consumers boycott, it takes a town, so to speak. When businesses boycott, it's usually a handful of guys in suits sitting around a table, never mind the hundreds or thousands of employees who may feel otherwise. This is the fundamental flaw with voting with your wallet, something I used to advocate for quite vehemently. When people vote, it's one vote per person. When dollars vote... well, they can't actually vote. The people holding the dollars do. As <b>Douglas Adams</b> said, "On the whole, it was not the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As for <b>Blogger</b>, I intend to stay; monetization wasn't the goal... not really, anyway. I've been comparing <b>WordPress</b> with <b>Blogger</b> for a few weeks now as the former keeps sending discount codes my way. <b>Blogger</b> technically offers a lot while asking for "nothing" (besides your data) in return. The only real paid feature on <b>Blogger</b> is registering a domain name. <b>WordPress</b>, meanwhile, offers a more streamlined user experience, but only if you play their paywall game. <b>Automattic</b> is not <b>Alphabet</b>; they can't afford to give <b>WordPress</b> away for free. They want money, not data. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As of now, <b>WordPress</b> is my after show for <b>Blogger</b>. Anything I don't feel like posting here usually ends up over there. At most, <b>WordPress</b> is my back up if <b>Google</b> decides they don't like keeping <b>Blogger</b> around. It wouldn't be the first time I've had to migrate from a blogging service, and if the <b>Muskrat</b>'s acquisition of <b>Twitter</b> has affirmed anything for me, it's that no platform is permanent. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-84148718318375706012024-01-01T15:32:00.002-06:002024-01-01T15:32:30.459-06:00Lowest Resolution<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Roughly this time last year, I gave myself a project with a year's deadline. I thought it was enough time, only for it to fall by the wayside because of life happenings and a host of other factors. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I was going to program a rock, paper, scissors game, start to finish and from the ground up. I didn't think a year's deadline would be too onerous. I looked into some programming courses and tried a few small projects, as I've done in the past. Unfortunately, nothing quite worked out. The same problem I always have when I learn to program came up again. There's this method in the way coding is taught where it always feels like there's a step missing. The best analogy I can think of is learning an alphabet, then being asked to write a paragraph. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At one point, I made a second <b>Twitter</b> account just to chronicle my journey into learning to code. Now, that's sitting abandoned along with my primary <b>X</b> account as I've migrated over to places like <b>Threads</b>, <b>Post</b>, and even <b>Bluesky</b>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm mad at myself, but I suppose I should have expected it. I need a new approach, but I have no idea what that could be. Most coding schools I've seen advertised are brick and mortar campuses, cost a lot of money, and are nowhere near me, so I'd have to move to <b>New York</b> for 3 months, which I am in no position to do. I was hoping my local college literally down the road from me offered coding courses, but strangely that's notably absent from their curriculum. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I suppose I could simply make the same resolution this year and see how far that goes, make a full-fledged application, from the basic, under the bonnet coding all the way up to the graphical assets and... any other technical jargon I'm forgetting. Essentially, I want something to put on a resume or in a portfolio. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Happy 2024, everyone. Hopefully you have better luck with your resolutions this year than I did with mine last year. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-37281232607672329932023-12-31T08:34:00.010-06:002024-01-01T13:12:44.738-06:00Quoth the Elephant, Evernote<div style="text-align: center;">
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<p>
<span style="font-family: arial;"
>Something I forgot to bring up in my last entry about <b>Amazon</b>
<b>Prime</b> was a little addendum about how <b>Evernote</b> is increasing
its price by nearly twofold. It's gone from around 70 per year to 130. I was
a little stunned by this. It's one thing for <b>Amazon</b> to want 3 extra
dollars to take away ads on their streaming service, but this is a pretty
big fundamental shift in the business model. I don't pretend to know all the
goings-on at Evernote, but they do promise some major upgrades to the newer
versions of their application. Most of these had to do with <b>AI</b>,
which made me roll my eyes a bit. To be fair to them, they also offered
better synchronization among devices, which is definitely something I've
felt has been lacking. There was a glitch for some time with the scratch pad
where it would "double" itself when I went from typing it out on the desktop
to checking it on my phone. Rather than simply double post whatever I'd
written, it would insert the copy in the middle of the text, which made copy
and paste rather tedious. </span
>
</p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"
>So, I'd write out what I wanted to say in the scratch pad on the desktop
versi </span
><span style="font-family: arial;"
>So, I'd write out what I wanted to say in the scratch pad on the desktop
version, and then when I'd check it on my <b>iPhone</b> to copy and paste
into something like <b>Threads</b>... </span
><span style="font-family: arial;"
>on, and then when I'd check it on my <b>iPhone</b> to copy and paste into
something like <b>Threads</b>... </span
>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span>
<p></p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: arial;"
>Irksome, isn't it? In any case, despite the sticker shock, keeping
<b>Evernote</b> running is kind of a no-brainer. I've been using the
application for years, though most of that time was in using the free
version, and I still use it virtually everyday. It's where I keep track of
my medications, probably the longest journal I've ever kept outside of
<b>Blogger</b>. It's also my address book for when I send out my holiday
cards. The point is I don't mind this increase. I just hope the
synchronization is all it's cracked up to be. </span
>
</p>
Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-87227860862197109602023-12-30T11:55:00.001-06:002023-12-30T11:55:20.940-06:00A Prime Example<p><span style="font-family: courier;">In the interest of full disclosure, I am an <b>Amazon</b> slave. I've been a <b>Prime</b> Member for years, I have several <b>Alexa</b> smart speakers, I use <b>Subscribe</b> <b>&</b> <b>Save</b>, I use <b>Kindle</b> and <b>Audible</b>, and I even watch <b>Prime</b> <b>Video</b> (mostly for the <b>Grand</b> <b>Tour</b> or anything the old <b>Top</b> <b>Gear</b> crew is attached to). I know the company is evil, they treat their workers (especially their drivers) like garbage, their returns are a joke, and <b>Jeff</b> <b>Bezos</b> is dumping tons of <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/08/21/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-rocket-tests-texas-emitting-methane-see-from-space-iss/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">methane</a> into the atmosphere with his phallus rockets, to say nothing of that stupid yacht he tried to have a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/07/world/europe/bezos-yacht-rotterdam-bridge.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bridge</a> disassembled over. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Yet... I'm still paying. I can only offer so much in my defense. There's still plenty of small and local businesses I support, and there's certain items that I simply will not buy from <b>Amazon</b> if I can avoid it. If I can get it straight from the manufacturer, I'll go that route (especially if they let me check out with <b>PayPal</b> because that's just as convenient as <b>Amazon</b>). To me, <b>Amazon</b> offers a way to eliminate tedium. I don't have to haul bags of cat food, kitty litter, and sparkling water around in a cart, into my car, out of my car, and into my house. Now, all but that last step has been eliminated. It's one less thing I have to deal with. It's cruise control, not fully autonomous driving, if you follow. The point is if it all went away tomorrow, I'd be only a little bit bummed... for about five minutes, and then I'd move on to something else. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Is it really an addiction if you're in control of it? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Anyway, there's still the dilemma of supporting a terrible company, but the awful truth to that matter is that <a href="https://youtu.be/Ipb5kUjIdZA?si=nwTfpfK23SO0trZG" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">voting with your wallet</a> is kind of a hollow promise. After all, there's no "vote against" just voting for something, and not voting at all. Moreover, if you know anything about how the company is structured, their main money maker is not their retail branch. It's all their web hosting. That's where this gets really scary. I heard once that all of <b>Netflix</b>'s servers are owned by <b>Amazon</b>. That may seem like a massive conflict of interest, but it's actually good business. There's a similar sort of relationship between <b>Apple</b> and <b>Samsung</b>. Yes, they're rivals in the smartphone space, but if you were to open up your <b>iPhone</b>, you'd find <b>Samsung</b>'s name on more than a few components. In fact, the <b>iPhone</b> camera is actually a <b>Sony</b> <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/13/23506978/apple-iphone-sony-camera-sensor-confirmation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">component</a>. I find that funny because the camera on my old <b>Xperia</b> phone wasn't all that great, but the little <b>iPhone</b> <b>5c</b> I got to replace it took damn fine pictures right out of the box. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">I decided to write this entry after receiving an email from <b>Amazon</b> that some of you may have read yourselves or at least heard about on social media. Ads are coming to <b>Prime Video</b>. Although they insist there will be overall fewer ads than television, it's more than a little disheartening that this is what they resorted to in terms of expanding their market share in the streaming space. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Rather than create a new, lower-priced, ad-supported tier and bring in new customers, they'd rather punish loyal customers who have been paying for <b>Prime</b> for years (seriously, whatever happened to grandfathering?). Instead, they now offer an ad-free version of <b>Prime</b> for an additional fee. Obviously, this is about <b>Amazon</b> making more money. They chose this strategy because simply raising the rates would have deterred many from renewing, so they decide to raise the proverbial temperature of the pot of water instead of dunking us in straight away. As I said, I think they could have done more to draw in new customers than try to tiptoe around existing ones. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">As for what I'm going to do about it... very little. Ironically, most of what I've been watching on <b>Prime Video</b> of late has been through their subsidiary <b>FreeVee</b>, which is ad-supported anyway. There's also that practice of advertising their other shows before the ones I'm already watching. It's frustrating that this is happening, but I'm more mad at myself for not being more bothered. I feel like I should be cancelling my <b>Prime</b> membership as a statement, but I know it's not going to change anything and despite what I said about what I'd do if this all went away, I don't want to be the one to pull the plug. Given the scale, it would be cutting off my nose to spite my face. Then again, we're also living in a time when a comedy about <b>Wile E. Coyote</b> suing <b>Acme</b> was brought back from a fate worse than death for <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/coyote-vs-acme-not-dead-warner-bros-discovery-tax-write-off-david-zaslav-1234875257/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">media</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Maybe we're reaching a point where it's more than just the bottom line that a business can pay attention to. Yes, <b>Coyote Vs. Acme</b> got a big boost from a number of meetings being canceled, as well as the potential threat of Capitol Hill getting involved (one congressman <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/coyote-vs-acme-warners-investigation-1235647011/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">compared the move</a> to committing arson and insurance fraud), but it's still notable how much of a public outcry got heard. Hell, remember when the first <b>Sonic the Hedgehog</b> movie got delayed because of <a href="https://screenrant.com/sonic-the-hedgehog-ugly-sonic-producer-explains/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">backlash</a> against the early trailer? No calls for boycotts there, just plain, "Dear God, what is that thing!?" from a few thousand voices on <b>Twitter</b>. Yes, there was still a bottom line ultimately being threatened, but we didn't have to wait until opening weekend for the change to occur. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-45737521011088977122023-12-24T10:55:00.003-06:002023-12-29T12:12:53.774-06:00I'm The Type to Block Things Out<p><span style="font-family: courier;">I realized I've been lying to myself the past few months. I've been writing a lot about my keyboard of choice and my potential efforts to preserve the typing experience by buying a backup (made difficult by it being constantly out of stock at <b>Logitech</b>). What I haven't been very honest about is my alleged love affair with the sound and feel of the keys. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">I'm wearing headphones right now. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">There's even a dark ambient mix playing in a <b>YouTube</b> tab as we speak. It hasn't completely blocked out the <b>G413</b> <b>Carbon</b>'s<b> Romer G</b> tactile switches, but it has taken the edge off of them. I'm reminded of something <b>Sir Alec Guinness</b> once said about writing, how amateurs will go in full of enthusiasm only to get bogged down. The idea of a clicky, tactile keyboard always seems delightful... for about five or ten minutes, then you've got to get some real work done. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">There is an upside to this. As being clicky goes, the switches in this keyboard are something of a worst offender. <b>Logitech</b>'s site has a comparison of the various key switches, including those in the <b>G413</b>'s. Put simply, you can do a lot better for not very much in the realm of pricing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Speaking of blocking things out, I've learned something about <b>WordPress</b> that I feel rather embarrassed about. I had thought for the longest time that embedding videos was behind a paywall. In a way, it kind of is, but not to the extent I'd previously thought. If you want to upload a video file directly to the entry you're writing, that requires a plan. If, however, you're simply embedding a video from <b>YouTube</b> or <b>Vimeo</b>, there's a block for that. Maybe it's a newish feature, but I wasn't aware of it until a few days ago when I was trying to see what I could do with my current <b>WordPress</b> theme. It's not bad, but I'm not sure I like the way it's structured. It was chosen because it closely resembled the one I use for <b>Blogger</b>. You've got your main body of text, next to which is a sidebar with a few widgets and an index of all previous entries. My <b>Wordpress</b> theme is technically set up the same way, only there's a wall in front of it, so to speak. Instead of showing you the most recent entry in full and with the sidebar and widgets fully visible, it shows you a "highlight" reel of sorts. You see excerpts of the entries in chronological order, but with no sidebar and widgets. You have to click on an entry in order to get to a place that's closer to what I've got going here on Blogger. I don't know if there's a way to restructure that, but it's only really a minor annoyance. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Speaking of mild annoyances, there's one thing I think <b>WordPress</b> does better than Blogger, and that's inserting images. Here, it's kind of a hassle to upload (I had quite a time with an entry from some months ago about old videogames) and once you've inserted it, it's another struggle to get it to fit in with what you're already writing. on <b>WordPress</b>, everything is separated into blocks. I don't have to worry about infringing on the caption of the photo I've uploaded. I don't have to worry about empty space above or below the image. I don't have to readjust the alignment of the text. Best of all, I don't have to adjust the size of the image based on some arbitrary "small, medium, large, or original" selection like I do here. It justifies it to the width of the text column. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">None of this means I'll be leaving <b>Blogger</b> for <b>WordPress</b>. There's still plenty of things I don't like about the latter. It also wouldn't feel right to simply migrate this site over there. Granted, it's not like I've built up some large, loyal following that I'd have to impose upon. I'm sure I have a few regulars and a few curious passers-by. Of course, when comparing <b>WordPress</b> and <b>Blogger</b>, one must consider who's footing the bills. <b>Blogger</b> is owned by <b>Google</b>, after all, and they don't have much vested interest in upgrading or overhauling it. In fact, I'm convinced the only reason they keep it around is it doesn't cost them very much to keep the servers running and it would probably be a small headache in and of itself to shut it all down. <b>WordPress</b> doesn't have such a sugar daddy. <b>Automattic</b> isn't the tech giant like <b>Google</b> is. It's not even close. Sure, a number of websites are powered by <b>WordPress</b>, but that still doesn't translate to the kind of figures that <b>Google</b> deals in. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">That's the dynamic. <b>Blogger</b> is a little clunky and outdated, but it's more or less completely free and full-featured for it (there are some paid features, but you've really got to dig for them). <b>WordPress</b> is a far smoother and more straightforward user experience (theme customization notwithstanding), but they try to nickel and dime you every step of the way. It's a little like with my keyboard; it's familiar, but clunky and not entirely pleasant. Other keyboards are more expensive, but they offer a smoother and more engaging typing experience. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-33169054948661346522023-12-02T10:38:00.000-06:002023-12-02T10:38:06.552-06:00Not My Carbon<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Logitech</b> lied to me. I asked to be put on a waiting list to be notified when the <b>G413 Carbon</b> is back in stock. I recently received the notification and was all set to buy up my backup. When I clicked the link, however, I found it was only the <b>G413</b> silver version. Similarly, they've made another <b>G413</b> called the <b>SE</b>, which splits the difference between the silver and the <b>Carbon</b> in the worst possible way. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tLKtZrJzyPo_tKbEGRr9u21w1-6Rc4IKbfSuysRRr3WZhLH7coFFzYCK7mmzkSMEAcgn35FayTF6w3dnWV423zEQ-pcj67j8NZVY9pYxlzjIaAUHcKTP3toz1F8IedjSB9ggDNqt1z88f6jjl9NSRyh-4lM8Cd_v5-tUXExYsikalHceViwpwfNFlMs/s473/Screenshot%202023-12-02%20at%2009.54.25.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tLKtZrJzyPo_tKbEGRr9u21w1-6Rc4IKbfSuysRRr3WZhLH7coFFzYCK7mmzkSMEAcgn35FayTF6w3dnWV423zEQ-pcj67j8NZVY9pYxlzjIaAUHcKTP3toz1F8IedjSB9ggDNqt1z88f6jjl9NSRyh-4lM8Cd_v5-tUXExYsikalHceViwpwfNFlMs/s320/Screenshot%202023-12-02%20at%2009.54.25.png" width="237" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The silver is the same keyboard as the <b>Carbon</b> under the bonnet, only with an aluminum faceplate and white backlighting. By no means an ugly keyboard, just not what I'm looking for. Also, I refuse to believe more people prefer white-lit keys to red. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDYM_WbvA4nm3kJPvaHq5bpsmSI6G69btpsubNmmDW5ccc3CcaHEb9reAftnq6mVPaUymuj1PtBkmuvRtVVc-IE5yAMHgQwHmNvI5xRdsk4me-oNjAH-3VyUweM19sCnY-uH9b08fibwdjuMus2pR7V4OtShTlvGMQRth05uu-y_yhw_WCq44Xmaw47k/s389/Screenshot%202023-12-02%20at%2009.55.03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDYM_WbvA4nm3kJPvaHq5bpsmSI6G69btpsubNmmDW5ccc3CcaHEb9reAftnq6mVPaUymuj1PtBkmuvRtVVc-IE5yAMHgQwHmNvI5xRdsk4me-oNjAH-3VyUweM19sCnY-uH9b08fibwdjuMus2pR7V4OtShTlvGMQRth05uu-y_yhw_WCq44Xmaw47k/s320/Screenshot%202023-12-02%20at%2009.55.03.png" width="289" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The <b>SE</b> is black like the <b>Carbon</b>, but uses white backlighting. There's also a <b>TKL</b> version that's still white-lit. As I said, I can't believe some people would prefer white to red when it comes to ambient lighting on their desktops. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVPzrTyi_kGPYDU5sFW24tQ7jS3frP_zEvMfoM0JGo2lPsr2-c2ZcCffMLoiNKciouxrqHDJeUyZQA44F0_qHeu99vSQxa_0eX57FEBGBzrcNToRvr_7aZvH8EpBupdnWPqg8p1RohSqxk-U49sn-eWjRT4HXlqH1kTVgXwKnZF4u-YKsIFxBsaIfGJQ/s3520/IMG_4634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1980" data-original-width="3520" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVPzrTyi_kGPYDU5sFW24tQ7jS3frP_zEvMfoM0JGo2lPsr2-c2ZcCffMLoiNKciouxrqHDJeUyZQA44F0_qHeu99vSQxa_0eX57FEBGBzrcNToRvr_7aZvH8EpBupdnWPqg8p1RohSqxk-U49sn-eWjRT4HXlqH1kTVgXwKnZF4u-YKsIFxBsaIfGJQ/s320/IMG_4634.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I only wish I could turn the LEDs on the <b>Mac</b> <b>mini</b> and <b>SpaceMouse</b> red. Guess I'm going for that <b>8BitDo</b> keyboard sooner rather than later. That's not backlit at all, nor is there a number pad, but it will give my setup more of a <a href="https://www.8bitdo.com/retro-mechanical-keyboard/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">vintage</a> vibe rather than a <b>Batmobile</b> interior sort of look. I'll consider that a fair trade. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've never participated in <b>NaNoWriMo</b>. At least not in any official capacity. Frankly, the workload terrifies me. I once used it as a jumping off point for a shorter novella project I wrote some years ago from <b>October</b> until around mid <b>December</b>. It was released as an eBook for the exorbitant price of a whole dollar. I later made it free and even posted the first chapter to my <b>DeviantART</b>. It's probably aged far better than anything else I've written, though I'm sure if I took a good, long look at it, I'd end up sitting down and rewriting it from page one. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There is another story of mine I thought of a few weeks ago that I might want to take another swing at. It was about someone checking themselves into triage by way of a robotic receptionist. It didn't have much meat on it in narrative terms, a quick jab at the bureaucracy of the healthcare system, the dehumanization of automation, and a cozy, wholesome interaction between a nurse and a patient. Now, years later, I want to make it a horror story, the robot now going haywire and posing a threat to everyone in the wing. I doubt I'll go through with it. My days of writing about monsters tearing people apart left me in around the end of middle school. We were learning a writing technique called "sensory imagery" which is best described as "Tell, don't show." Being the age I was, this meant an awful lot of gore and bizarre creature designs. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Although <b>November</b> is now 2 days behind us, I do hope some of you consider continuing work on whatever writing projects you were thinking about during <b>National Novel Writers' Month</b>, even if it's only al sort of catch-and-release approach and it never moves far beyond a file on your desktop. </span></div><p></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-79267950785540906922023-11-26T12:50:00.002-06:002023-12-02T10:39:13.923-06:00A Gigabyte of RAM Should Do the Trick<p><img height="400" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7b/bd/54/7bbd54a8d39cd740f94d9631459597a4.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; margin: auto;" width="301" /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">I am forever fascinated by the craft of writing. I always have been. Even merely looking at photos of old typewriters is inspiring to me. I read that William Gibson wrote Neuromancer on a Hermes portable typewriter. In his words, it's "the kind of thing Hemingway would have used in the field." By contrast, I heard an interview with Robert Ludlum where he explained that he used to type out his books, but resorted to writing on legal pads to hand off to a typist because he didn't want anything between him and his work. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Here's a fun fact about typography. Once upon a time, it was customary to follow each period with two spaces. The reason for this has to do with typewriters not always striking the ribbon properly, potentially making a comma look like a full stop. The extra space is supposed to signal to the reader that the mark they've just read is in fact a period and not a comma. Nowadays, with the state of word processing being what it is, this is unnecessary. Now we've adopted this behavior in texting where ending a sentence with a period is seen as cold and unfeeling. Meanwhile, leaving the sentence hanging, so to speak, is taken as warm and inviting, encouraging the conversation to continue. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">As for my weapon of choice, I'm using a Logitech G413 Carbon mechanical keyboard hooked up to an Intel-based Mac mini with a mere 8 gigabytes of RAM. I don't know remember how big the hard drive is, maybe 256 gigabytes, but the most data intensive thing I even do on the Mac is SketchUp, and I haven't opened that program more than a half-dozen times since my job finally agreed to reimburse me for using it out of pocket all these years. I think the largest file I've ever created in SketchUp was about 20 megabytes, and that was because it used a custom texture I painted in Procreate on my iPad. Speaking of my iPad, keyboards are the primary reason I don't ever want a laptop again. I utterly despise their keyboards. They just don't feel right and they hurt my fingers after a while. It doesn't help that many are also exceedingly fragile, a problem I seem to recall Apple having with one of its MacBooks. I have a portable, bluetooth keyboard for my iPad I sometimes take with me when I go out. It has a kind of low-profile version of a mechanical switch. It marries the solid, tactile feedback of a mechanical keyboard while also keeping a low profile in terms of its ergonomics. It's still no match for my G413, but it does well enough on its own. I have considered upgrading to something a little closer to my G413 in a portable package, but that may end up having to wait. Besides, I've written at length about it in a previous entry, so I'll try not repeating myself here. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Really, I simply felt like typing something today. I wrote up a long Wordpress article a few days earlier, but there was a fair bit of copy and pasting there. For as long as it ended up being, I was able to write it up fairly quickly, since most of the counterpoints I was offering to the diatribe it was dissecting were old hat. It was practically instinctual, like when your predictive text is making all the right suggestions because its well-worn territory for your earlier discourses. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">It does give me quite a charge when I get into a good groove and can almost space out a little while I'm writing. The only issue is I tend to make a lot of mistakes. Auto-correct catches most of them, but it always makes me feel a little guilty when I lean on it too much. Once upon a time, unless you shelled out for some especially fancy typewriter, your options were limited in the backspace department. Your speed suffered, but your accuracy went up, and vice versa. Makes me wish there was still a good typing game out there I could drop into and hone my craft with. That one typing game I was eyeing some time ago has been delisted from the App Store, and Facebook games aren't exactly a thing anymore. I mean, they exist, but it's a very different landscape than when I played Bejeweled or something like that. It's more cluttered and overall has less variety than it appears. It's over-saturated and spread too thin is what's wrong with it. Searching for "typing" returns zero results. </span><span style="font-family: courier;">It's a shame, really.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Maybe it's all this internet discourse that's reduced our need for typing games. Now, we have keyboard warriors training themselves via online spats over various socio-political discussions and hot takes gone awry. I'm sure the rising of mobile platforms hasn't helped things much, either. More people interact using their smartphones than laptops or especially desktops, where that's more the realm of online gaming, MMO's and shooters and such. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">My Mac isn't exactly a gaming machine, but that's not why I got it. I needed something for SketchUp and Inkscape. It's more than adequate for that, though I'm wondering more recently if it's worth getting an upgraded Mac mini or simply going in whole hog on a new iPad. I wouldn't be able to bring my G413 with me, but I'd still have plenty of options for keyboards. The fact is I don't use Inkscape that much here as Affinity Designer is a very good vector drawing program. As for SketchUp, like I said, I don't use it very much at this point for my artwork. Of course, I'm making it sound like this is all going to be a decision I have to make soon. My Mac is holding up beautifully and my keyboard is great. I may get a new monitor, such as an ultra wide so I can have reference images off to the side while I work in Affinity Designer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Ideally, my monitor would be some kind of split-level affair, a normal-sized monitor up top for most conventional tasks, and a small, narrow, lower-res one just below it, about where I'd be looking at a sheet of paper in a typewriter. There are some "cyber deck" projects out there that are close to what I'm looking for, but I don't have the patience for such a project. I feel I would get too absorbed in the process and lose sight of the end goal. It would be the Ferrari Cameron's dad wipes down with a cloth diaper in his glass house. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">My keyboard at work is wearing down, certain letters completely worn away revealing the colored backlight. It certainly doesn't get used to anywhere near the extent as this one, but it isn't exactly a high end model anyway. There isn't any noticeable wear on the G413, not even a fuzzy edge on any of the letters. I think it's due to how the keycaps are made. Logitech recently got more back in stock, according to an e-mail alert I got some time ago. Maybe it's time to buy that backup I mentioned in a previous entry. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">My roommate is upset that she doesn't know what to get me for Christmas. My answer is always nothing, which flusters her. Maybe I'll move that one keyboard I added to my wishlist up a few tiers and start dropping some hints her way. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">If you made it this far, thank you for joining me on this little typing session/stream of consciousness. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-91978243949024644782023-10-22T12:28:00.004-05:002023-10-22T12:28:38.878-05:00Batflash: a 90's Shared Universe? <p> <span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">Unpopular opinion time.... </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">I actually kind of like <b>The</b> <b>Flash</b> movie. Don't get me wrong, it is a bit of a mess, but it's nowhere near the mess that is the original <b>Suicide Squad</b>. As the <b>DC</b> movies go, I do feel it's one of the stronger entries. It took some legitimately creative risks. Whether or not those risks paid off is up to you. For my money, it hit more than it missed, but there is something about it that's been bugging me for some time. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">Why exactly is <b>Batman</b> the one to explain the time travel problem <b>Flash</b> created? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">Backing up, if you haven't seen the film, here's the fastest rundown/summary you will ever need. <b>Flash</b> (real name <b>Barry Allen</b>, portrayed by<b> Ezra Miller</b>) uses his speed to go back in time to undo a personal tragedy to make a better future for himself, his friends, and his family. However, instead of merely changing the future, he changes the past as well. This is known as retrocausality. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">While the movie's explanation of this phenomenon is adequate, I prefer the explanation offered in the animated film <b>Flashpoint Paradox</b> (itself based on a similarly named crossover event in the comics). The briefest rundown of that is as follows: When a speedster uses their power to travel in time, they're essentially outrunning time itself. Going faster than time creates the temporal equivalent of a sonic boom. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">In the film, what <b>Barry</b> creates in his time travel endeavor is a kind of mash-up universe, bits and pieces of alternate timelines playing mix and match into some sort of cohesive whole. In this case, it's comprised primarily of the <b>Batman</b> from the 1989 <b>Tim Burton</b> film and a minor variation of the plot from <b>Man of Steel,</b> namely <b>General Zod</b>'s invasion of earth. Other details include <b>Eric Stoltz</b> playing <b>Marty McFly</b> in <b>Back to the Future</b> instead of <b>Michael J. Fox</b>. However, it's what ISN'T spelled out that makes this crossover interesting. After all, <b>Back to the Future</b> is never mentioned in <b>Batman</b>, so who's to say <b>Eric Stoltz</b> isn't the lead in that film and <b>Michael J. Fox</b> is known only as that kid from <b>Teen Wolf</b>? There's also no mention of <b>Superman</b> (<b>Batman & Robin</b>'s throwaway line doesn't count as that was a different actor and director, we're focusing on <b>Batman</b> & <b>Batman</b> <b>Returns</b>). While there's also no mention of the <b>Flash</b>, <b>Bruce Wayne</b> (as portrayed by <b>Michael Keaton</b>) doesn't seem all that surprised by his arrival. Sure, there's a little scuffle between them, but it settles down relatively quickly and, as we've said, <b>Bruce</b> is the one who explains the situation rather than <b>Barry</b>. It's almost as if he expected this. Speaking of the past... </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9jeqpBSstEnAx1Bky9ZjCJr4jKt7hXfxsyKU3PaOA1i19S2zzl04u0BffnpYHsaHTX1QUrCpx-RN-siLpfNewcewVsBnwfu83gGpHj6XM9lODzsTbJd78zZw2gq2BQmUraLInKHx6POGxxDYoS0hVPN9p86l_gm6FAcqR9KuUBjkWnZD-qOvLxHZRI1o/s592/Screenshot%202023-10-22%20at%2011.49.17.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="592" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9jeqpBSstEnAx1Bky9ZjCJr4jKt7hXfxsyKU3PaOA1i19S2zzl04u0BffnpYHsaHTX1QUrCpx-RN-siLpfNewcewVsBnwfu83gGpHj6XM9lODzsTbJd78zZw2gq2BQmUraLInKHx6POGxxDYoS0hVPN9p86l_gm6FAcqR9KuUBjkWnZD-qOvLxHZRI1o/s320/Screenshot%202023-10-22%20at%2011.49.17.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans";">We haven't forgotten this version of the Flash, have we?</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">This was a series that ran for one season in 1990, 22 1-hour episodes featuring <b>John Wesley Shipp</b> as <b>Barry Allen</b>. Production began in 1988, but picked up speed (ha) after the success of <b>Tim Burton</b>'s <b>Batman</b> the year earlier. My memory of the series is overall positive, if a tad faded with the passage of time. It was a very well-made show, with exceptional production values despite being spread a little thin over 22 episodes. Of particular note is the costume itself, which ran a pretty penny for the time. It was decided that audiences wouldn't accept a spandex bodysuit, even in a modest television outing of a well-regarded superhero. In fact, it was because of <b>Batman</b> that the sculpted rubber suit was accepted as a justifiable expense. After all, it's in every episode. That makes it an investment. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">My point is that, in terms of overall aesthetics, who's to say these two different properties aren't sharing a setting? Who's to say <b>Shipp's</b> <b>Flash</b> and <b>Keaton's</b> <b>Batman</b> haven't met in the time following <b>Batman Returns</b>? Maybe this <b>Flash</b> isn't around anymore because of his own time travel shenanigans. Maybe he's the one who explained retrocausality to <b>Bruce</b>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">I'm not pretending this is a perfect solution to what may not even be a problem. In fact, it might even create more problems by bringing another <b>Flash</b> into a film with 3 different <b>Batmen</b>. It could simply be a matter of plot convenience. Perhaps <b>Bruce</b> spent his post-<b>Batman</b> days reading up on <b>Quantum</b> physics. After all, in <b>Flashpoint</b>, it's <b>Flash's</b> nemesis who explains the problems with causality, and since he's not in this new movie, someone else had to take on the role of exposition dump. Like I said, despite some problems with the scene, I think it's one of the best, and <b>Michael</b> <b>Keaton</b> is clearly having fun with every last minute of it. He's still got it. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-54086096814593585982023-10-08T13:22:00.000-05:002023-10-08T13:22:24.743-05:00Stockpile: I Won't Stand For It<p><span style="font-family: arial;">My <b>Mac</b> <b>mini</b> was a housewarming gift to myself back in 2020. I'd always wanted one, but the timing never quite worked out. I set it up in a room that was going to be my home office, on an old kitchen table with a monitor stand I made from some old desk parts, some scrap aluminum, and 3d printed joinery I designed. I set about designing a whole new desk only to give up on the process when I found this "music station" desk from <b>Monoprice</b> on clearance. It's a little wobbly, but it's a good height for me and has a very small overall footprint that works well with the <b>mini</b>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At first I was using an old dining room chair that came with the table. I still have those chairs as they became a favorite bed spot for the cats, especially our late <b>Holst</b>. They weren't the best chair option, but I was content with making the most of what I had until something better came along. Some time later, I decided to spring for a <b>Hag</b> <b>Capisco</b> chair. This was a big investment; technically, it cost more than the <b>Mac</b>. I got it through a company called <b>Fully</b> and after waiting for a different height cylinder to work with my desk, I was up and running... until I realized this chair wasn't going to work on the carpet in the front office. This was especially the case when my rollerblade style casters arrived. I moved the whole operation into my dining room where there's a wood floor. It's a better space in the grand scheme of things, right next to my bedroom and within earshot of the upstairs, provided I'm not wearing headphones. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I found out yesterday that <b>Fully</b> is no longer in business. Their <a href="https://fully.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">site</a> instead directs you to two other websites, neither of which offers <b>Hag</b> chairs. There's still a <a href="https://www.flokk.com/en/us" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">company</a> called <b>Flokk</b> that distributes them, and they don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. In any case, should the need arise, I don't know if I'd go with another <b>Capisco</b> chair or go for <a href="https://lauradavidsondirect.com/pages/shop-chairs-and-seating" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">something else</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The ergonomics are good, with the notable exception of the posterior area. At the risk of TMI, this is a problem with all chairs I've owned for I am an assless chap. My chair at work has a cushion and I've considered upgrading that to something from the mattress company <b>Purple</b>. Sadly, cushions aren't going to be a possibility with my <b>Capisco</b> because of the height of the chair and the saddle styling of the seat. As I said, this is a problem with all chairs for me, and what I told myself when I got the chair was this was all part of the plan. I wanted the chair to be comfortable, but not so comfortable that I could spend several hours in it at once like so many gaming chairs seem to be moving towards. I wanted to sit down, do my work, and then get up every now and again to take necessary breaks. If I'm sitting down to watch <b>YouTube</b> or whatever, I'm doing so on the couch. I've got <b>YouTube</b> open right now, but only in another tab for music while I work. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking of breaks, one of the best pieces of writing advice I ever heard was from the one and only <b>Sir Alec Guinness</b>. When he was writing his memoir, he had a rule: don't get up or stop unless you know exactly what you're going to put down when you get back. That's not to say don't get up or do something different if you get stuck or something, but try to make it a rule to have something to come back to. It helps it stay in your memory while also giving you an incentive to get back to work sooner rather than later. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-42753126019039910272023-10-08T09:17:00.002-05:002023-10-08T09:17:57.506-05:00Stockpile<p><span style="font-family: courier;">I've been on something of a typing spree today. Not only have I written two entries for this blog today (one very short, mind), but I've written an entry over on my <b>WordPress</b> site. It's been some time since I sat down at my <b>Mac</b> and belted out a few paragraphs on my <b>Logitech G413 Carbon</b>. It's still one of the best mechanical keyboards I've ever used. After dealing with replacing a keyboard for my roommate's PC, I debated getting a backup just in case anything happened to this one, but it's temporarily sold out at <b>Logitech's</b> website. I've even put my name in to be notified once it comes back. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">It's not even <b>Logitech's</b> most premium keyboard. Rather, it's probably the cheapest mechanical keyboard you can get that's worth a damn. There's plenty of others, but they're either double the price of the <b>G413</b>, or they're from small brands of, shall we say, a suspicious nature. There also seems to be this move away from having the number pad, which I like having for when I use <b>SketchUp</b>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">I could probably do a lot better. In fact, if and when the time comes, I've got a few alternatives picked out should the <b>Carbon</b> not come back in time. <a href="https://a.co/d/3P3Pzcj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">One of them</a> is from <b>8BitDo</b>, who make lovely game controllers for the <b>Nintendo</b> <b>Switch </b>and other platforms. Likewise, its color scheme is based on the original <b>NES</b> console (both the US and Japanese versions). The switches for its keys are notably different than those in the <b>Carbon</b>. They're far less clicky, but just as responsive. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">With a typical membrane keyboard that most of you are probably used to, you have to push the keys all the way down before the letters appear on the page. With a mechanical keyboard, you don't have to do that. It's difficult to explain the sensation. The way I like to think of it is that the keyboard better reflects your mood. I can go fairly quiet on this keyboard, but if things start getting intense and I get into a fast groove, it can fill the whole house with a satisfying cacophony of clicks</span><span style="font-family: courier;">. I say "quiet" but the </span><b style="font-family: courier;">G413 Carbon</b><span style="font-family: courier;"> is one of the louder mechanical keyboards out there even at my most delicate. I suppose it's still quieter than an electric typewriter of old, but that's a low bar to clear.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">My mouse situation is a little more well-prepped. I have a <b>Steelseries Sensei 310</b>, one of the best truly ambidextrous mice I've ever used. In fact, it's so good that <b>Steelseries</b> discontinued it and its closest cousin is currently sold out. On the little shelf below my keyboard is a <b>Corsair</b> <b>M55</b> which is something of a backup, though I'm more likely to bring my <b>Razer Viper</b> home from work. There, it's a backup to my <b>Razer</b> <b>Naga</b> (left-handed version). Then again, I'm more likely to just get another one of those in a few weeks in case they get discontinued out of nowhere for a second time. There's really no comparing all the keypad shortcuts on a <b>Naga</b> with only two buttons on my other mice, at least when it comes to my workflow in <b>SketchUp</b>. My vector art doesn't rely on so many keyboard shortcuts, not to where I'd like them mapped to my left thumb, anyway.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">In the documentary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1018887/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dreams with Sharp Teeth</a>, writer <b>Harlan Ellison</b> shared his stockpile of <b>Olympia</b> manual typewriters with his friend, <b>Robin</b> <b>Williams</b>. <b>Williams</b> laughed at the sheer number of them while <b>Ellison</b> explained he also had a refrigerator full of ink ribbons. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Conservative writer and intellectual <b>William F. Buckley, Jr.</b> was such an avid fan of the 1978 word processing program <b>WordStar</b> that he used it up until his death in 2008, working through the hurdles of getting it to run on newer platforms. He <a href="http://feigenson.us/blog/?p=764" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">said</a> of his dedication, "I'm told there are better programs, but I'm also told there are better alphabets."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">These are things I think about when I sit down at my <b>Mac</b> <b>mini</b> and write away a few hours on occasion. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-58520792427064427512023-10-07T14:44:00.003-05:002024-01-01T13:10:18.342-06:00Gex Got Going<p>
<span style="font-family: courier;"
>In
<a
href="https://matsugawa.blogspot.com/2022/08/get-gex-going.html"
rel="nofollow"
target="_blank"
>August</a
>
of 2022, I wrote about the short-lived <b>Gex</b> franchise and how it tried
to go toe-to-toe with the likes of <b>Mario</b> and <b>Sonic</b>, only to
fall into obscurity. </span
>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: courier;"
>Well, Limited Run Games dropped this trailer, and I couldn't be
happier:</span
>
</p>
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<br /><span style="font-family: courier;"
>There's no release date as of this writing, but it almost doesn't matter. I'm
just happy that <b>Gex</b> has a home with <b>Square-Enix</b> rather than
getting sold off to a crypto scheme. </span
>
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Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-55779980402272452902023-10-07T12:05:00.003-05:002023-10-07T12:05:59.467-05:00Inktober2023: Proactive Procrastination<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;"> OR:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans";">Pick It Up and Phone It In</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">I've been dealing with some motivation problems of late, evidenced in part by my absence from this blog. I participated in a drawing challenge early last year and I really liked how it went... until I didn't. Inktober of that year was rather anemic. I was only doing a few drawings, mostly leftovers from other projects or miscellaneous challenges that were only Inktober-adjacent. Overall, though, my motivation was shot. I just about got through the winter in terms of making my annual holiday card, but I felt totally spent after that. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">It's not because of the onset of AI-based art programs like MidJourney and Stable Diffusion, though it certainly doesn't help. DeviantART has become a bit of a minefield. I'll think I've discovered a new artist and fervently peruse their catalog only to find they're using AI on basically their entire portfolio. That can be very disheartening. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">Fast forward to the first of September when the Inktober 2023 official prompt list drops. Leading up to the day, I was thinking about how I would explain to everyone that I wasn't going to participate in the event this year, that I really needed some time away to think about things. Seeing the list at first didn't inspire anything in me. Actually, that's a lie. It inspired despair. My motivation issues got put on full blast when I saw that list and felt absolutely no drive of any sort to make anything of it. I'd been making some vector pieces off and on in the months before, mostly text-based pieces, puns and turns of phrase, things like that. About 2 weeks later, I took a look at the list again and focused on a single word from the dead center of the list, halfway through the month. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">I got an idea. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">It was the word "demon." I was looking at the shape of the letters and got an idea to write out the word but with a pitchfork taking the place of the "m." I'd been watching some tutorials for Inkscape and all the various text-based effects one can do with a little pre-planning and some basic tools. So, on a lunch break from work, I opened Inkscape, and made my little bit of word art, Demon with both the "m" and the "n" being replaced by barbed pitchforks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">3 days later, I had all 31 prompts done. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">Actually, it was more like 4 because I took a break after the second day. Some were straightforward, some were a little more elaborate, but all 31 were effectively in the can. I had even thought of going back a few days later and sprucing up a few, but I decided against it. I was pretty damn impressed with myself though I do say so my... self. There was no pre-planning, no juggling of work and play throughout the month of October. My only real responsibility would be posting the illustrations on a schedule. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">In years past, my rule was that I could come up with ideas and sketches the moment the prompt list dropped. I could start actual work on the illustration as soon as the weekend before the 1st, so I'd have something to post that morning at the very least. This year, I threw that workflow completely out the window and more or less by complete accident. I even thought to take it a step further and try to automate the posting process. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">Instagram has an option available to all its users to toggle between a personal account and a professional account. There's no cost or anything, and you can cancel at any time. One of the biggest perks is the ability to schedule posts up to 75 days in advance, descriptions and tags and all. I thought I had it all figured out... until I didn't. When I post to Instagram, I'll also have it post to Facebook, where most of my family spends their social media time. Many of my relatives look forward to my Inktober posts, so I was more than a little disappointed when I found that scheduling an Instagram post did not include the option to mirror the post on Facebook. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">So, I'm still posting the images on the day, though some may end up getting scheduled anyway depending on how busy I may get on a given day, if I have a rushed morning or something like that. Like I said, it's disappointing, but hardly the worst thing in the world. The first full week of Inktober is done as I write this, and the response has been so-so compared to years past. I'm not bothered by this. I expected it in a way; word art doesn't exactly set the world on fire. It may get a good chuckle here and there, but it's just visual metaphors through text, like concrete poetry. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Gill Sans;">And that is how I told myself no, and got the job done anyway and with time to spare. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-72729643294083537762023-03-11T09:54:00.000-06:002023-03-11T09:54:02.924-06:00I once saw a SKP file THIIIIIIS big<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> (Originally posted to the "<a href="https://forums.sketchup.com/t/i-once-saw-a-skp-file-thiiiiiiiiiis-big/222616?u=wataru.kannuzuki" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Corner Bar</a>" of the <b>SketchUp</b> forums)</span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I've seen about a half-dozen posts this morning from users making <b>SketchUp</b> files in sizes I frankly never would have dreamed possible in a thousand years. I think the largest file I've ever made in <b>SketchUp</b> was maybe 10MB. 90% of my work is for 3D printing, so I don't really need a lot of components, textures, or assets from the <b>3D Warehouse</b>, and geolocation is only handy for a few practical demonstrations of scale. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the files I saw someone have difficulty opening was almost 300MB. A lot of it turned out to be some unused components, and a quick purge from my fellow users with Enlightenment levels of patience brought it down to a somewhat more manageable 100MB. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Moments later, I happened upon another forum post from someone else having difficulty opening a file. I get a bit worried; maybe there's something wrong with 2023 that's emerging or some compatibility issue with <b>Apple Silicon</b> nobody's worked out just yet. I click on the provided <b>Google Drive</b> link and almost fell out of my chair. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It was nearly a full gigabyte. I mean... how? I'm frankly surprised it took getting to that size for them to start having issues. It's as if they made everything in one single session and only reopened it the next day. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">This isn't me knocking these folks for not being efficient. I recently spent a fair chunk of time re-uploading the same model file to the <b>3D Warehouse</b> because I could not for the life of me figure out how a shipping pallet with a default texture was a full megabyte. It was literally made from a single component (a plank) arranged in the overall shape of a pallet. Even with the default scale figures (of which there were two for some reason) successfully purged, it was showing up as a full MB. It finally dawned on me that I had saved the geolocation in the file, complete with satellite image and topography. Obviously, that's not going to be much use to someone who just wants something for their forklift to pick up and set down, so it had to go. The final tally sits at 89KB. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="326" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/embed/7255211e-de75-46c4-b4f7-c88ec47fbcd5?token=Uyg_JhPHYU4=&binaryName=s21" width="580"></iframe><div><span style="color: #4d5259;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span data-markholder="true"></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I was an early adopter of the browser-based version of <b>SketchUp</b> (I've still got files that have the "my <b>SketchUp</b> beta" watermark on them), so I've been at this for a while, and even I can still lose sight of the bigger picture and bog down a file with unnecessary guff. I think we're also all spoiled on larger hard drive sizes and file transfer services like <b>WeTransfer</b> and <b>Drive</b> that we don't see a large <b>SKP</b> as any big deal. I scoffed once at a <b>YouTube</b> video of someone proudly bringing the size of their file down to a few hundred kilobytes. Now, I understand. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's important that, when we pass on our knowledge to others, be it at work or through these forums or <b>YouTube</b> comments or wherever, that we emphasize simplicity and efficiency. Space-saving tricks like components should be introduced as early as possible, even if the other person doesn't grasp it right away. It will plant a seed in their mind that they don't have to model multiple identical versions of an object. It will teach them to think more laterally and embrace "<a href="https://youtu.be/6BzCDVR-tr8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">creative laziness</a>." </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks for coming to my corner of the corner bar. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Goodnight, and good luck.</span></div>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-32322716849580352982023-02-28T18:40:00.001-06:002023-02-28T18:40:09.735-06:00Penny Gadget<p><span style="font-family: courier;">It's the last day of <b>February</b> and I've written more this month than I had in any month last year. Of course, I'd like to think I put more effort into my writing last year, favoring quality over quantity, whereas these last few entries have been an exercise in trying a sort of stream of consciousness approach, hence no real paragraphs (and only <b>bold</b> for the sake of tracking). I decided to splurge on some quality of life upgrades for my home setup. I decided to finally get that USB hub from <b>Satechi</b>, the one that goes under the <b>Mac Mini</b> so it looks just a little bit closer to the <b>Mac Studio</b>. This style of hub is technically older than the <b>Mac Studio</b>, so it's likely <b>Apple</b> took note of all the extra ports and SD card slot. I'm getting the hub because I want to free up some USB ports. My keyboard and mouse occupy the only two old school <b>USB-A</b> ports on the back, leaving me with only 4 <b>USB-C</b> ports and barely any devices that use <b>USB-C</b>. I got a special cable for my microphone and I've got a <b>USB-C</b> to <b>lightning</b> cable for when I need to charge the <b>iPad</b> or my phone. I need the extra <b>USB-A</b> ports from the hub because I also got a <b>3D</b> mouse. It's the smaller, portable version of the one I've got at work, so I can work more efficiently in <b>SketchUp</b>. I won't get as many shortcut keys, but the important thing is smoother camera controls. I'll also get the benefit of a SD card slot rather than unplugging my keyboard and using the mouse to transfer files. <b>Satechi</b> also makes a small standalone adapter so I could use one of the free <b>USB-C</b> ports, but it's rather big and the ports are spaced relatively close together, so I'm not sure if it would fit properly. In any case, the hub looks pretty cool and I'll still have one <b>USB-C</b> port free in the back. It's kind of funny how much this reminds me of when I had my <b>iMac</b>. It only had two USB ports, but you could daisy chain the keyboard and mouse to leave one free, and that was typically used for the <b>Zip</b> drive. It was a solid little machine for how underpowered it was. Sometimes I wish I hadn't bought that <b>Compaq Presario</b> shortly after college. I wanted to play games and I wasn't sure how well the <b>iMac</b> would run <b>OSX</b>. Plus, <b>Windows XP</b> had come along and singlehandedly fixed pretty much every single complaint I ever had about <b>Windows 98</b>, so migrating made perfect sense at the time. I later tried out <b>Linux</b> (specifically, <b>Linux Mint</b>) until I found a <b>Toshiba</b> laptop at a decent price that brought me back to <b>Windows</b>. I later gave that laptop away to a friend because my <b>Android</b> phone became my daily driver. That phone stayed with me for a few years until I got my <b>iPad</b>. An <b>iPhone</b> followed that, and a short time later I got this <b>Mac mini</b>. I'd always wanted one, but the timing was never quite right. Now, it's 2 generations behind the current models, new processors and everything. I don't particularly care. I'll keep using it until I can't. Much like my <b>iMac</b>, even if it was underpowered, it was more than adequate enough as a word processor. My screen flicker hasn't cropped back up, so I can rule out some issue with the video output. That makes me happy. My keyboard makes me happy because of how it feels to type on. The <b>iMac</b>'s keyboard was pretty good too. It wasn't mechanical, but at least it's not one of these damned chiclet keyboards that everything seems to be moving towards. It's why I don't really care much for laptops anymore; their keyboards are such inferior experiences. I watched some videos about the old <b>Sinclair ZX81</b>, and noticed for the first time it didn't have a proper space bar. It was essentially where the right shift key is. This is because the machine was never intended as a word processor. It was meant to be a gateway drug to introduce youngsters to programming and computer science. Code, as a rule, doesn't lend itself to the kind of writing I'm doing right now. It's more slow and methodical, with arguably more punctuation than spaces. Coding languages often using something called camel case. It's where there are no spaces between the words, but the first letter of each word is capitalized. There's also one called snake case. It's all lower case letters and uses underscores instead of spaces. The reason camel case tends to be preferred is because space can be at a premium, and it's more efficient to rely on capitalization to be readable. I didn't say it the last few times I wrote these, but in case you've been reading these, you have my thanks. Hopefully, you learned something, or maybe it at least briefly took your mind off of something you didn't want to think about. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Goodnight, and good luck. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-53802357873435074422023-02-23T09:58:00.000-06:002023-02-23T09:58:56.316-06:00Take a Penny<p> <span style="font-family: courier;">I need to get new tires for my car. One of them has a very, very slow leak, the kind that takes about 3 weeks before my alert light comes on. I learned something interesting about tires. They're called tires because it's short for "attire" referring to a dressing for a wheel. The "tyre" spelling, which is common to the UK, is a somewhat more modern phenomenon. Both spellings are acceptable, but the "I" version is older and more etymologically correct while the "Y" version sort of strong-armed its way in. I think the treads are wearing down as well. My caliper pen has a tire gauge, but I'm not sure how to use it. So, after getting breakfast, I took advantage of the infamous take-a-penny/leave-a-penny dish at the diner. I don't remember exactly how it goes, but you're supposed to be able to hide <b>Lincoln</b>'s nose in the tread, as though he's peering over the edge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">I just checked <b>Bridgestone</b>'s site and they had a very helpful <a href="https://www.bridgestonetire.com/learn/maintenance/how-to-check-your-tire-tread-penny-test/#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">article</a> on the proper and extremely esoteric procedure. It's also dated 1 APR 21 THU, so now I'm questioning everything. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">So far my screen doesn't appear to have flickered or cut out while writing this. That makes me happy. It's probably going to be the highlight of today. I've got to take <b>Holst</b> into the vet because he hasn't been doing all that great. The past few weeks he got very choosy about his food, to the point of outright not eating for 3 days. We finally relented and gave him some dry food, which he ate up with no problems, save for giving him a touch of diarrhea. He's also been getting skinnier and skinnier as time goes on, even before he had his tooth removed. We thought maybe it was because he wasn't eating because of his tooth. When the tooth was removed back in <b>November</b>, he seemed back his old self. This recent development has only spanned about 2-3 weeks. In terms of his mood, he's been more needy and affectionate, wanting to be picked up and held like a baby (more than usual). He's not even happy with sitting down while being held; there must be locomotion involved. Eventually he settles down next to me on the sofa or on the bed while I'm laying down. He goes back and forth on sitting in my lap while at my <b>Mac</b>.</span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-34495787312443587752023-02-19T07:32:00.001-06:002023-02-19T07:32:28.242-06:00Knock Knock Knock Penny<p><span style="font-family: courier;">I put off doing these for a few days because I felt like they had run their course, but I'm in a bit of a typing mood again, so here we are. </span></p><p> <span style="font-family: courier;">My monitor has been cutting out lately and I need to figure out if it's the monitor of if it's the <b>Mac mini</b>. If it's the former, then I'll take it as a sign to upgrade to an ultra wide. If it's the latter, then that puts me in a rough spot. I suppose I can try to have it fixed, but I'm not sure what that's going to involve. I thin it if it was the Mac mini that was cutting out, there would be other issues. I'm wearing headphones right now and listening to music while I write. Of course, that's coming out of the headphone jack on the <b>Mac</b> rather than out of the monitor. The only true test would be to plug another device into the monitor and wait and see if it will cut out again. It's reminding me a little bit of when I would look down at the keyboard while writing (getting into a frantic groove), only to look up and see that my app locked up and the last two or even three paragraphs are basically gone. That happened back on a <b>Macintosh IIsi</b>, though I don't remember if the app in question was <b>MacWrite II</b> or <b>Corel WordPerfect</b>. I learned to type in either the 7th or 8th grade. It was sort of an odd arrangement; there were very few classes that were only half a year. In fact, the only ones I knew about were the computer classes, one general knowledge and one specifically for typing. I tried to talk my parents out of putting me in the typing class because I was anxious about how well I would do. Some kids could get waivers from their parents. I suppose the thinking was they already knew well enough to not need the class. My parents insisted, however. So, first was the computer class, which I still think was unnecessary (and my parents probably did, too), but like I said, it was a weird arrangement with the half-year classes. I had a bit of fun in it. The curriculum was concerned mostly with general knowledge. We literally played <b>3D Tic Tac Toe</b> and <b>DinoPark Tycoon</b> throughout the entire class for weeks on end in order to demonstrate we knew how to use the mouse and navigate menus. We even had a section on typing, which was awkward because I was supposed to take that class in a few months. It wasn't graded as harshly or anything, but it still gave me a little anxiety. What was funny was that we learned on <b>Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing</b> on <b>Macintosh LC III</b>'s while the typing class learned on what I believe were <b>Apple IIe</b>'s or at least something similar in form factor. This was the early to mid 1990's, so CD-ROMs were fairly new. I don't even think I was playing <b>Myst</b> by then. The <b>IIsi</b> only had a SCSI input for the CD-ROM drive, and clicking between any two locations in the game took several seconds. You'd know an animated sequence was coming up because you'd hear the drive get louder just before the scene change. I just reached up and behind the monitor to see if the HDMI cable was loose or something like that. I barely touched the power cord and the screen got some horizontal black lines for a moment. I unplugged the HDMI cable and plugged it back in. I'll keep typing to see if it cuts out again. It doesn't seem to cut out long enough to get the "no signal" warning on the monitor, which leads me to believe the issue may well be with the <b>Mac</b>, which I'm calling the worst case scenario. If I have to send it in to get fixed, it's not like getting my phone fixed where I'd have to find a replacement device while it's away. Still, it would be an inconvenience. According to <b>Apple</b>'s website, it looks like I'd have to call in to even find out if I can send my product in for repairs. It's showing an <b>Apple Care</b> icon, which I thought would have given out by now since I've had the device for close to 2 years by now. The only difference really is whether it's covered by the Care package or if I'd have to pay something out of pocket. Since it's likely something with the HDMI output, I doubt it would come to very much. Most of the cost would likely be shipping it back and forth. Maybe while it's away I'll get one of those <b>Pi</b>-based computers. There's one directly from <b>Raspberry Pi</b>, and the other is called an <b>Orange Pi</b>. They're very similar devices, essentially thin keyboards that house full single board computers. They evoke the old microcomputers like the <b>Commodore 64</b> or the <b>ZX81</b>. They run and <b>ARM</b>-based version of <b>Linux</b> and can supposedly run some <b>Android</b> apps. I'd essentially treat them like that old <b>Chromebook</b> I used to use once upon a time before the <b>Mac mini</b>. I plugged a mouse and keyboard into it and used its display output on an external monitor. Both its internal display and built-in keyboard were atrocious to use. There was no contrast control for the screen, only a display setting that might as well have been a toggled labeled either "eye strain" or "way too bright." I suppose if the worst case scenario were to happen and I'd have to replace the <b>Mac mini</b>, I would finally get to try out one of the new <b>M1</b> or <b>M2</b>-based versions and see how they stack up. I know there's some apps I wouldn't be able to use anymore, but the majority of them haven't been used in some time, so I'd hardly miss them. I never had one of those microcomputers. My first was an <b>Apple IIgs</b>. I guess I was spoiled, given how pricey those things were. Now that I'm confronted with the possibility of being without my <b>Mac mini</b>, I'm looking at cheap alternatives rather than making the investment. That the cheap alternatives would be a stop gap rather than a final solution is what makes it worse. <b>Apple</b> no longer sells an <b>Intel</b>-based <b>Mac mini</b> like I've got. There are two in their clearance and refurbished section. One's decently spec'd out with a larger hard drive than mine, and the other has got 4 times the RAM and a full terabyte of storage. It's also about 3 times the price of my mini, which tracks with <b>Apple</b>'s pricing scheme. In my experience, though, I've never had serious hardware issues with my past devices. At worst, they were just a little underpowered. If there's a problem with my <b>Mac mini</b>'s display output, it would be the first serious issue I've had with an <b>Apple</b> product. I've been lucky.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Goodnight, and good luck. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-13577803605652453522023-02-12T15:27:00.000-06:002023-02-12T15:27:01.269-06:00A Ha'Penny Will Do<span style="font-family: courier;">I wonder if I can repeat what I did <a href="https://matsugawa.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-penny-for-word.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">yesterday</a>. </span><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5dPOxj4MBMGOijTf47rPvnkZF1uTq3aJJmauM8x8F5MVerY36c9zy0hM9Y1_J6Umtk0QVBa5S4F5fioqqngiYQFcW8aF4J1rDDExYjlldfmtlxLaOaRjCL-ysWJ-5WclWvWQq8kP-H92xTZqbYibZec3PHFoqiXu8VwZ8XCRIb7I6Cl39feXWYEb/s2000/IMG_4564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5dPOxj4MBMGOijTf47rPvnkZF1uTq3aJJmauM8x8F5MVerY36c9zy0hM9Y1_J6Umtk0QVBa5S4F5fioqqngiYQFcW8aF4J1rDDExYjlldfmtlxLaOaRjCL-ysWJ-5WclWvWQq8kP-H92xTZqbYibZec3PHFoqiXu8VwZ8XCRIb7I6Cl39feXWYEb/s320/IMG_4564.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Keychron</b> has a keyboard with the number pad on the left hand side rather than the right. I like this idea. The problem I have with the way most people set up their keyboards and mice is to start with your keyboard, have the number pad on the right, and then also have their mouse on the right. This means you either have to reach far to the right to operate the mouse, or you have to lean to the left to center the home row and type. For years, my solution to this has been to have the mouse on the left, leaving home row in the center where it belongs. Of course, one has to consider the overall application of the space when discussing ergonomics. Put simply, if you spend more time writing than using the mouse, then he occasional reach over to the right isn't too taxing. If you spend more time using your mouse than writing, leaning over to type up the occasional piece of text isn't that big of a deal. Moreover, if you spend more time using the mouse than your keyboard, splurging on a fully mechanical keyboard is more than a little excessive. I'm using a mechanical keyboard right now, a <b>Logitech G413 Carbon</b>. It's probably the cheapest mechanical keyboard you can get that's really worth the price. I don't remember what I paid, but it was not full price, and it frequently goes on sale. At work, I have an old <b>Corsair</b> keyboard that used to belong to Tabi before we got her another mechanical keyboard. The <b>Corsair</b> is actually a membrane keyboard, the more common type of keyboard out in the wild. As far as whether I use my keyboard or mouse more, I'd have to say it's a fairly even mix, maybe leaning toward using the mouse more. When I have to use my keyboard, apart from brief e-mails and <b>Teams</b> messages, it's for the shortcuts in <b>Sketchup</b>. That hardly warrants using the satisfyingly tactile qualities of a mechanical keyboard. I've been shopping around for a keyboard to use at work instead of the <b>Corsair</b>, though it's also not a mechanical keyboard. My mouse is a <b>Razer</b> <b>Naga</b> (lefty version, which was not one, but two separate hassles to get ahold of, but that's another story I won't bother with now). It has an onboard memory to hold all of the keyboard shortcuts I've programmed into its thumb pad. Changing those macros requires a software download, <b>Razer</b> <b>Synapse</b>. Any software we want on our machines has to be installed under our <b>IT</b> department's supervision for security reasons. This usually isn't any big deal; it's merely tedious. I don't have the software for the <b>Corsair</b> installed, so if I want to change the keyboard's lights to match my mouse's red, I've got to go through <b>IT</b>. Meanwhile, if I get a <b>Razer</b> keyboard, I've already got the software installed, and therefore can have a matching keyboard and mouse. Specifically, I'm looking at their <b>Ornata V3 X</b>, easily their cheapest keyboard. I haven't decided yet because I've essentially got a perfectly good keyboard right now and matching the lighting and branding is mere vanity. As I said last time, there's a difference between a purchase and an investment as much as there's a difference between a want and a need. There's something called the <b>Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness.</b> Named for a passage from a <b>Terry Pratchett</b> novel, the long and short of the story is that more expensive items lasted longer while cheaper ones wore out sooner and therefore the more frugally-minded wound up spending more money due to replacements following general wear and tear. You wouldn't expect wear and tear to apply to a desktop and monitor, but as I say this (as off and on while writing this), my monitor will cut out for a few seconds. Its LED is still blue, which means the issue may rest with my Mac mini. That's troublesome as I don't know how to use any of the USB-C outputs for a display. It may simply need a cable and the Mac will simply figure out the rest on its own. I know it's not the sleep mode because it happens while I type and move my mouse around. My TV started doing the same thing some months ago. I worked out it's the TV and not the <b>PS4</b> because it does it with the <b>PS3</b> as well. It could well be a software problem because whenever it comes back on, the clock will show one time, then skip ahead about an hour and a few minutes. I've gone through the update process and it says it's the most current version of the firmware. Then again, a bad component can likely cause a software malfunction, maybe a small battery somewhere that keeps the clock synched when it's not connected to the wi-fi. It's the intermittent aspect that's the most irritating. If it would simply cut out and stay cut out, that would be one thing, but for it to work properly 90% of the time makes it much harder to justify an upgrade. It's an annoyance, not a deal breaker. I also don't like the idea of passing the TV on to someone else through a thrift store, knowing full well they may be every bit as annoyed at the blackout as I am. Yes, buyer beware, but I'd still feel guilty about passing off my problem. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: courier;">Goodnight, and good luck. </span></div>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-4562505661598204682023-02-11T12:56:00.001-06:002023-02-11T12:56:24.441-06:00A Penny For A Word<p><span style="font-family: courier;">Let's go with the courier font today since I'm in such a good typing mood. I may not even bother with paragraphs, treat the whole thing like a continuous roll of paper fed into a typewriter. Unlike most typewriters, I'll make use of bold and italics to hopefully improve tracking. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">My motivation problems continue. I've got a few drafts in <b>Evernote</b>, but none I feel are really worth posting, but maybe that's okay. I saw a short on <b>YouTube</b> asking, "What is a sketchbook?" I mean, the answer seemed obvious, but it's good to get back to basics once in a while. Yes, it went over the fundamentals, but it also added some solid advice. Namely, it hit home the point there's a difference between a <i>sketchbook</i> and a <i>portfolio</i>. Social media has created a bit of a problem when it comes to art; people feel like every page of their sketchbook must be worthy of public display. In reality, it's a place to practice, practice, practice. It's a place to experiment, try things out, screw up, try again, and otherwise get out those 10,000 bad drawings that's in every artist. One of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard about art came from <b>YouTube</b> animator <b>Tabbes</b>, that you have to be willing to destroy your art supplies. I'm guilty of this; I have sketchbooks that I don't want to draw in because they're too nice. I have a nice one that <b>Tabi</b> gave me that I fully intend to turn in a fully illuminated manuscript, and I said as much at least 3 years ago. The last 2-3 years have really affected my sense of time and progression. Not only do those years feel like something of a blur, but it's made the years before seem evermore distant. <b>YouTube</b> will recommend <b>Zero Punctuation</b> videos from 10 and 11 years ago. <b>Dead Space</b> has had a remastered version released this year on the game's 15th anniversary. I think back to what was going on in my life back in those days. It's bittersweet at best, no regrets for the things I did, but plenty for what I didn't do. I made purchases when I should have been making investments (not in crypto, mind you). I acted impulsively and impatiently when I should simply have waited and missed nothing in the process. I was wrong about plenty of things and remain glad to be proven as such. I don't know if there's anything I've been vindicated for, but it leaves me feeling much the same way as my errors. I feel a little guilty of late for ribbing on someone in <b>Quora</b> for their various errors, namely an uncanny knack for missing the space bar on their keyboard. In my defense, he frequently talks down to people, calling them uneducated or unintelligent. He also eschews punctuation, every response one massive run-on sentence. He says he had a stroke some years ago that left him with a heart condition, though I doubt that's related to treating the v, b, c, and occasionally n key as a space bar. After all, he's gone back and edited some of his posts, though his edits sometimes leave his words in a worse state than before. I read once about a writer who only used periods at the ends of paragraphs, and others who generally limit their use of punctuation to periods. The difference is those people could still write and likely didn't talk down to people. There was another writer named <b>Timothy Dexter</b> who wrote his entire autobiography without punctuation. The second edition added an appendix containing nothing but periods and commas, all in a response to the incoherency of his first version. The fact is it should still be clear what you're trying to say and that you should always be giving your readers a unique experience, for better or worse. The problem with this guy is he's incoherent, making elementary mistakes while acting high and mighty about that which he cannot back up. I can forgive an ego if there's a redeeming talent. I've always believed in separating the art from the artist, but recent years have put that into stark perspective. It was <b>Lindsay</b> <b>Ellis</b> who put it best: if <b>George</b> <b>Lucas</b> suddenly started spouting problematic remarks, it wouldn't affect <b>Star</b> <b>Wars</b> in the slightest as he's been a small cog in a very large machine, even going all the way back to <b>Empire</b>. <b>J.K. Rowling</b>, by contrast, is very much at the heart of the <b>Wizarding World</b>. Then there's writers like <b>H.P. Lovecraft</b>, whose works are beloved by millions the world over despite his obscene levels of racism. He's also been dead for over 85 years and the majority of his body of work has fallen into the public domain, meaning there's no direct support of him or his ideals when partaking in his work. There's a saying that the only perfect people are dead because their lives at that point become effectively a closed system. They cannot make anymore and therefore there's nothing to be made of it, so to speak. <b>Ayn Rand</b> felt <b>Objectivism</b> was a closed system, she's also no longer with us, and her works are still enjoyed the world over despite some problematic viewpoints of her own. I've also learned recently about a conservative pundit named <b>William F. Buckley Jr.</b>, who was an avid fan of the DOS-based word processor <b>Wordstar</b>. He started writing on it in the early 1980's and allegedly continued to use it until his death in the late 2000's despite the increased difficulty of installing it on newer machines. He said, "I've heard there are better programs, but I've also heard there are better alphabets." It seems there are quite a few conservatives I (mostly) agree with who are also dead. They tended to be a little closer to center than most, what sometimes gets called a <b>Country Club Republican</b>, best described as being social liberal and fiscally conservative. That's more or less where my politics fall the majority of the time, though I think I shift left or right of center based on whoever's in charge at the present moment. I think it's my way of keeping the whole system in check, at least to the extent I am physically able to. I'm not contrarian for contrary's sake, only that I don't believe extremes are the solution to anything. Were that the case, there would be fewer problems in the world. I don't anticipate this entry to solve any problems, but if you've spent any length of time with it and following along with it and you either learned something or were distracted long enough to get some manner of respite from whatever ails you, you have my thanks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Goodnight, and good luck. </span></p>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-5781678505804513972022-11-19T08:31:00.004-06:002022-11-19T08:31:54.194-06:00A Plague of Insecticons<div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial;">I got an email this morning from <b>Orkin</b>. It contained a graphic I'd never noticed before and almost couldn't help but laugh at. </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRWf5M1om9PMwpD2ipLa1VemDXBeLglYXz6qgDEb0NKZXQLYkVUWPWLwx3NqwlOD3cJGBxQiyoNZFF69ShuXXNeHxoWTObYr5L7y2rk9i8nR7M02TUr5b37ctEpD20MFQ9Dbidp6ZT6dBx6oKGUDQ10OuXSCyXpyBSLaaQ9f1YjDNk4fOXPu8DouUw/s330/Orkin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="330" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRWf5M1om9PMwpD2ipLa1VemDXBeLglYXz6qgDEb0NKZXQLYkVUWPWLwx3NqwlOD3cJGBxQiyoNZFF69ShuXXNeHxoWTObYr5L7y2rk9i8nR7M02TUr5b37ctEpD20MFQ9Dbidp6ZT6dBx6oKGUDQ10OuXSCyXpyBSLaaQ9f1YjDNk4fOXPu8DouUw/s320/Orkin.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's the most pestilent time of the year.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Remember this? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pAsZZ60PB5d63XOXqUVT4bMpV9F6pKp8xKI-CQKPMwziSSbbdGJqrLP5xofj7Jk3f9RuGCQU9x1YlPVg8omjrIHfKpATPeGwLB1NYVNm37BbTNPv3teF2sRw9oYD798otRwaIDBNxRJihD7kXoAAXF6t3xPAIXCCX8tNzk5d3n3lwyWAjw4jxTVd/s480/321px-Hsas-chart_with_header.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="321" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pAsZZ60PB5d63XOXqUVT4bMpV9F6pKp8xKI-CQKPMwziSSbbdGJqrLP5xofj7Jk3f9RuGCQU9x1YlPVg8omjrIHfKpATPeGwLB1NYVNm37BbTNPv3teF2sRw9oYD798otRwaIDBNxRJihD7kXoAAXF6t3xPAIXCCX8tNzk5d3n3lwyWAjw4jxTVd/s320/321px-Hsas-chart_with_header.svg.png" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hands down, everyone. We're going to go over why this was dumb.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Created following the <b>September 11</b> terror attacks, the <b>Department of Homeland Security</b> created this color-coded terror alert system to notify the public of the current threat level. This system was in effect for nearly ten years before being scrapped in favor of a more "text-based" alternative that would offer more specific information than a simple color. At no point during that time did the terror threat fall to green or blue. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">From the start, I think we were all asking similar questions about this scale. What exactly would a "low" threat level look like? What in <b>Hel's Realm</b> is a "general" risk? What exactly makes a terror threat more or less threatening? Moreover, if your job was monitoring terrorist activity, wouldn't you almost always see some kind of threat somewhere in some form? It's like that saying about how giving someone a hammer causes them to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">see only nails</a>. This is a problem inherent in communicating a lot of information in a clear and concise way to a lot of laypeople. It's a messy process with a lot of trial and error, all while balancing on a knife's edge of trust and authenticity. Too much certainty, and you set yourself up for a fall. Not enough certainty, and there's no confidence in your abilities in the first place. It's an "Us vs. Them" scenario that shouldn't exist. The worst part is it's nothing remotely new. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Ever heard of this thing?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfSpqpZQcgiNlKUa3MG9QGgshLaOXTG07GOJmac3z-Z-VmrCgTf_-AyZfQrPFbpN0ZQSo3qybHojlZiWg9VQ5qkQKVKjUOFtTE-pwswvG9w3Ih2JDBEdhIwChx_8qNwKu20EurSh9Xzc8TzSypdZLFs3PqqbMjxUNQrOpJ-Y4DJAAo3MOqCW356uiX/s480/Doomsday_clock_(1.67_minutes).svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfSpqpZQcgiNlKUa3MG9QGgshLaOXTG07GOJmac3z-Z-VmrCgTf_-AyZfQrPFbpN0ZQSo3qybHojlZiWg9VQ5qkQKVKjUOFtTE-pwswvG9w3Ih2JDBEdhIwChx_8qNwKu20EurSh9Xzc8TzSypdZLFs3PqqbMjxUNQrOpJ-Y4DJAAo3MOqCW356uiX/s320/Doomsday_clock_(1.67_minutes).svg.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least we're not arguing over colors.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The <b>Doomsday Clock</b> was created in 1947 by <a href="https://thebulletin.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a nonprofit organization</a> called the <b>Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists</b>, a name so simultaneously cool and boring it alleviates all doubts I may have had about the involvement of actual scientists. It was in response to growing public concern over the use of nuclear weapons following the end of <b>World War II</b>. Unlike the terror alert system, this has been more or less completely unchanged in form since its inception, showing the upper left fourth of an analog timepiece, the minutes hand representing how close we are to a man-made doomsday scenario. The "time" is updated in an annual announcement, currently sitting at "100 seconds" from midnight. In case you're wondering, the hour hand has never moved, and probably isn't meant to, depending on who you ask. The minute hand, meanwhile, started at about 7 minutes from midnight and has moved 24 times up to the present day. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The lowest it ever got was back in 1991, when the <b>Soviet Union</b> dissolved. It was practically off its own scale at "23:43." I guess we weren't too concerned with climate change back then, despite what <b>Captain Planet</b> <a href="https://youtu.be/uVzLzClY2E8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">would have had to say about it</a>. In fact, climate change wasn't officially added to the threat list until 2007. This 17 minutes to midnight streak lasted until 1995. Exactly what happened in 1995? In a way, nothing. Military spending remained at <b>Cold War</b> levels and there were growing concerns over a power vacuum created by the <b>Soviets</b> packing it in. Many of the changes to the clock in the subsequent years could probably best be summed up as, "Little has changed, therefore it's getting worse." That said, since the clock was only concerned with nuclear armaments, neither <b>Three Mile Island</b> nor the <b>Chernobyl</b> disaster had any impact on it. 1988 did see a little improvement in the <b>United States</b>' relations with <b>Russia</b>, doubtless because of the awkward position they were in during the cleanup of the disaster. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://thebulletin.org/2022/11/how-a-deliberate-pandemic-could-crush-societies-and-what-to-do-about-it/#post-heading" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jury's out</a> on whether or not the <b>Pandemic</b> has or will have any effect on the clock. I mean, the virus wasn't man-made (despite what conspiranoids would have me take on faith), but the spreading across the globe was pretty much squarely on us. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't necessarily have a point beyond my usual advocacy for media literacy. I just thought it interesting to see a pest control company using such a tactic in their marketing. Granted, I'm no expert on pest control or the life cycles of various insects that fall under their purview, so I don't doubt there's merit behind the data. I've used <b>Orkin</b> for years and I don't begrudge them for doing their job. It's only the perspective and priorities I question. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">"I would only agree that a symbolic clock is as nourishing to the intellect as a photograph of oxygen to a drowning man." -- <b>Watchmen</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Goodnight, and good luck. </span></div>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-21187372751061058972022-09-05T09:22:00.007-05:002023-12-31T18:42:23.896-06:00The Peanut Butter Jam Session (second reading)<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Foreword: <i>This was initially published to my <b>WordPress</b> account a few weeks ago. In the time since then, <b>JIF </b>has been slowly replenishing their stock across many grocery stores. I've also read the poem. It's all right. </i></span></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial;">While the title of this blog is a reference to an indestructible journal by an explorer trapped in an invisible maze on a jungle planet, I am by no means an expert on lost media. In fact, the name is meant to be somewhat ironic as I’ve actually got a rather unpopular opinion when it comes to archiving or preserving our art and media, idealism versus pragmatism, that sort of thing. It was also made to coincide with a <b>YouTube</b> channel that would focus on obscure pieces of media that didn't fit into proper categories. Speaking of ephemera and miscellanea... </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There is a poem by cyberpunk writer <b>William</b> <b>Gibson</b> called <b>Agrippa (A Book of the Dead)</b>. It's not exclusively a work of literature as much as a kind of small scale performance piece. It exists in a few different forms, but all with the same gimmick, that it can only be read a few times before it eventually fades, leaving the reader with an impression of the poem rather than anything that can be directly referenced. What’s interesting about this is that when <a href="http://www.textfiles.com/sf/cyberlit.txt" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">submitted</a> to the <b>Library of Congress</b>, two copies of the book were submitted, one opened and one unopened. The opened version has long since faded and the unopened version remains as it is, putting the work in an odd quasi-quantum state of both read and unread. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking of pretentious existentialism, let's talk about <b>Metal Gear Solid 2</b> for the <b>Playstation</b> <b>2</b>. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I haven’t played the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_2%3A_Sons_of_Liberty" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">game</a> in almost 20 years. It’s one of the last marathon gaming sessions I ever engaged in before I got a rude awakening about managing my time. It wasn’t cutting into my college work by any means, but it put things in perspective. I started what was supposed to be a quick session in the early evening before bed, my expectation being that I would get stuck at a difficult boss or puzzle or something like that and would pick up where I left off the next night or likely later. I ended up beating the game. It was only when I stood up to strike an obligatory pose of triumph that I realized it was nearly morning and I had a class in a few hours. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking of rabbit holes, I went back shortly after beating the game and discovered a <a href="https://youtu.be/tgd3W690lDY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">text file</a>. When I say "text file" I'm not talking about a document that you access by putting the game disc in a DVD-ROM drive. That would be too obvious. I'm talking about a text log you access in the game's menu and you have to use the controller to turn the pages, which number <a href="https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/944753-metal-gear-solid-the-essential-collection/42297959" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">something like 129</a>. I read it, and like <b>Agrippa</b>, I've been left with an impression of the work. It's about an investigative journalist looking for a secret base in the arctic. At one point, he takes out a flask and explains that the liquor inside has been mixed with peanut butter. He goes off on this tangent about how much he hated peanut butter growing up, and actually still hates it. Back in his youth, in an effort to make himself like peanut butter, he gorged on it until he couldn't stand it. As a result, he now has to have it in everything, including his liquor. I thought of this passage a few days ago while grocery shopping. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div marginbottom="11" style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>JIF</b> is currently going through a <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/j-m-smucker-co-issues-voluntary-recall-select-jifr-products-sold-us-potential-salmonella" target="_blank">devastating recall</a> of the majority of their products thanks to a potential salmonella contamination. It’s estimated to have cost them millions of dollars and store shelves have been empty for weeks by this point. I wouldn't have even noticed or been at all bothered by it were it not for <b>JIF</b> being the only company that makes a peanut butter fortified with Omega 3. When you're a vegetarian, some nutrients' sources require you to get a little more creative, or at least flexible. </span></div><div marginbottom="11" style="margin-bottom: 11px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sfes9gs9qZg" width="320" youtube-src-id="Sfes9gs9qZg"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-76231292925693240002022-08-21T09:51:00.001-05:002024-01-01T13:32:05.562-06:00Get Gex Going<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: arial;">It's not even funny how much I want this to be a real thing. I'm sure
<b>Dana Gould</b> wouldn't have minded the extra work, either. </span>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Gex</b> is a painfully short-lived series of games about a TV-obsessed,
wise-cracking gecko. It began life on the <b>3DO</b> console and, much like
<b>Crash</b> <b>Bandicoot</b> for the original <b>Playstation</b>, became a
sort of de facto mascot for the system (as well as for his developer,
<b>Crystal</b> <b>Dynamics</b>). I only ever knew one person who owned a
3DO. He was a friend of a friend, and he got more use out of it as a CD
player than a proper games console. This was likely a typical story as
<b>Gex</b> didn't stay exclusive to the <b>3DO</b>, getting released on the
<b>Sony</b> <b>Playstation</b>, <b>Sega</b> <b>Saturn</b>, and <b>PC</b>. It
was a serviceable 2D side-scroller, its main draw being a more diverse
variety of locations beyond the typical terrains common to <b>Super</b>
<b>Mario</b> <b>Bros</b>. or <b>Sonic</b> <b>the</b> <b>Hedgehog</b> (fire,
water, ice, etc.). <b>Gex's</b> abilities to interact with these
environments was also notable. <b>Mario</b> could jump high,
<b>Sonic</b> could run fast, and <b>Gex</b> could stick to walls and
ceilings. Reviews of the time were middling, at least when it came to the
<b>Saturn</b>, <b>Playstation</b>, and <b>PC</b> ports. The
<b>3DO</b> version would be well-received, if only for the platform creating
such a low bar for quality. </span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;">I only played the first game a few years ago on the <b>Playstation</b>
<b>3</b>. <b>Gex's</b> moveset was definitely its best feature, but the
level design left much to be desired. Playing off of <b>Gex's</b> wall
crawling, exploration was encouraged over more straightforward,
left-to-right layouts. Unfortunately, there often wasn't very much to
explore, leading to a lot of backtracking. </span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;">Despite a lukewarm reception, <b>Gex</b> did get a pair of sequels in
fairly rapid succession, this time in full 3D on the <b>Playstation</b> and
<b>Nintendo</b> <b>64</b>. At this point, a number of well-known videogame
mascots were trying to make the leap from 2D to 3D with relatively mixed
results. <b>Mario</b> hit the ground running with <b>Super</b> <b>Mario</b>
<b>64</b> and <b>Sonic</b> would have some awkward first steps on the
<b>Saturn</b> (<b>Sonic</b> <b>3D Blast</b> and <b>Sonic</b> <b>R</b>)
before getting a decent foothold with <b>Sonic</b> <b>Adventure</b> on the
<b>Sega</b> <b>Dreamcast</b>. </span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;">While I was aware of these sequels, I never played them as I was busy with
RPG's, racers, and fighting games. Also, rentals of <b>Donkey</b>
<b>Kong</b> <b>64</b> and <b>Banjo</b> <b>Kazooie</b> put me off of the
whole 3D platformer genre for some time, with their large but mostly empty
levels and ludicrously lengthy laundry lists of largely insignificant items
to collect. In any case, I was glad for some variety in the space, as
<b>Gex</b> didn’t seem to share the same flaws as his lesser 3D brethren.
Sadly, it didn’t have many strengths on offer, either. </span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsrtOHzPFaqHwoP_m3jNLbGw-s8ulk5tT6GMGbpNE4nOfwnfYMvgATqg9H3btx4bCmUgvTjtx3ssbtjF5IZfypttrxvfLjNlbOiOaQ16cLpj-RijOOvG9KYPG-GePa8NoE_QLpOnDc_gdYysrC8lsRNEbooj2BJdn2lPuono8IoW0p3BbSYbmmYLjX/s640/650008299052.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="640" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsrtOHzPFaqHwoP_m3jNLbGw-s8ulk5tT6GMGbpNE4nOfwnfYMvgATqg9H3btx4bCmUgvTjtx3ssbtjF5IZfypttrxvfLjNlbOiOaQ16cLpj-RijOOvG9KYPG-GePa8NoE_QLpOnDc_gdYysrC8lsRNEbooj2BJdn2lPuono8IoW0p3BbSYbmmYLjX/s320/650008299052.jpeg" width="320" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">This </span><b style="text-align: left;">N64</b><span style="text-align: left;"> cover art was also used as a marketing image for the
game. </span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;">The operative phrase when discussing the reception of any <b>Gex</b> title
is, "Not for any lack of trying." Some may argue it was the dawn of the
internet that caused Gex to fall by the wayside, that a TV-obsessed gecko
wouldn't be relevant in an era when more and more people were beginning to
look to the web for content. For my money, <b>Gex</b> was never so topical.
Many of his references were from sitcoms and shows predating his game by
several decades, so being out of touch is par for the course. Frankly, the
most topical <b>Gex</b> ever got was him becoming a secret agent in the
sequels, as <b>Pierce Brosnan's</b> portrayal of <b>James</b>
<b>Bond</b> was hitting its stride at the time with
<b>Tomorrow Never Dies</b> and <b>The World Is Not Enough</b>. If newer
efforts were to have him spouting modern memes or other varieties of
internet humor, he’d likely be met with the same reception as a certain
cartoon dog who died on the way back to his home planet. </span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTNZybaQybF9D5MMURc6TMGW26Uoj1QkNHnhR4eC0V-ByTUggh5InO2CiPdjjo1iutNTmivNC8Tp1Uwxj18zX42jOHOIM2ze2TABdw5G44zn05NN4Vj02WNxpulO5OZmYRQq-N1idqcWN3H8dsbRBZ2pe8J7oOkPrIN1b3zybW4T7s1q5ZAZ4TvAq/s480/hqdefault.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTNZybaQybF9D5MMURc6TMGW26Uoj1QkNHnhR4eC0V-ByTUggh5InO2CiPdjjo1iutNTmivNC8Tp1Uwxj18zX42jOHOIM2ze2TABdw5G44zn05NN4Vj02WNxpulO5OZmYRQq-N1idqcWN3H8dsbRBZ2pe8J7oOkPrIN1b3zybW4T7s1q5ZAZ4TvAq/s320/hqdefault.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking of sitcoms and animation, it may well be that
<b>FlippinDingDong’s</b> tribute is more on point than anyone realizes. Both
<b>Mario</b> and <b>Sonic</b> have had several animated programs dedicated
to them, to say nothing of <b>Mario’s</b> overall longevity keeping him in
the public consciousness. Even <b>Bubsy</b> had a
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubsy#Television_pilot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pilot</a>, and he’s gotten a
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubsy:_The_Woolies_Strike_Back" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">revival</a>
in the last few years. Whether that translates to any long-lasting success
remains to be seen, but it’s hard to ignore the correlation between having a
mainstream presence and a gaming IP enjoying a longevity. <b>Gex</b> rose
and fell within a single console generation. There were plans for a
<b>Gex 4 </b>on the <b>Playstation 2</b> and <b>Gamecube</b>, but it was
<a href="https://www.unseen64.net/2009/07/13/gex-4-ps2-cancelled/#abh_posts" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">canceled</a>
at the concept art stage. The most recent news about the gecko came in 2021
and 2022 when <b>Square</b> <b>Enix</b> registered trademarks for
<b>Gex</b> in the EU and Japan, respectively. This was a few months before
<b>Square</b> <b>Enix</b> sold off its <b>Crystal</b> <b>Dynamics</b>/<b>Eidos</b>
properties to a holding company known as the <b>Embracer</b> <b>Group</b>.
At the time of this writing, it's not actually known for certain if
<b>Gex</b> was part of the sale. It's possible <b>Square</b>
<b>Enix</b> held on to him and is planning some kind of revival. </span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: arial;">We'll just have to stay tuned. </span>
</div>
Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2030611194704207262.post-84961027924796296352022-08-02T20:14:00.001-05:002022-08-02T20:19:54.484-05:00Final Fantasy Follow-Up<h2 style="text-align: left;"></h2><h4 style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">OR:</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;">When It Was Hip To Be With Square</div></span></h4><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I wrote my <a href="https://matsugawa.blogspot.com/2022/07/first-world-regrets-videogame-hoarding.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">last entry</a> about <b>Square</b> <b>Enix’s</b> legendary franchise before learning of the company’s most recent plan to sell <b>FFVII</b>-based NFT’s, a move that is quickly earning them a tumbling snowball's worth of <a href="https://youtu.be/UNBgny7Ow2Q" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">backlash and criticism</a>. It got me thinking about the history of the company, especially when the <b>Playstation</b> came on the market. This is by no means an exhaustive nor comprehensive history, merely a general impression from an outsider's perspective. During the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_generation_of_video_game_consoles" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">16-bit era</a>, hey were known for publishing titles to the <b>Super</b> <b>Nintendo</b>, <b>Final</b> <b>Fantasy</b> <b>III</b> (technically <b>VI</b>, but that's another matter) being one of their most acclaimed releases. <b>Squaresoft</b>, as they were known back then, was leery of <b>Nintendo’s</b> insistence on cartridges over the CD-ROM format. On the other side of the great dividing wall between <b>Nintendo</b> and <b>Sega</b>, the <b>Sega</b> <b>CD</b>, despite not being financially successful, demonstrated how RPG’s and strategy games could benefit from the extra storage space, if only in the presentation department. Thus, their decision to abandon <b>Camp</b> <b>Mario</b> for the greener pastures of <b>Sony’s</b> gray underdog was made. </span></p><p><b style="font-family: arial;">Squaresoft</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> went all in on </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Playstation’s</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> promises of a bigger and better medium for their games, and I was there for it. I didn’t necessarily buy every single release, but I followed every announcement diligently. New games seemed to come out weekly. Not all printed money like </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Final</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Fantasy</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><b style="font-family: arial;">VII</b><span style="font-family: arial;">, but what hits they had were obviously more than enough to buoy their b-list brethren. It felt like the company was willing to take risks on more niche and obscure titles others would pass on, maintaining a faith the financials would work themselves out somehow. </span></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial;">About halfway through the <b>PS2</b>’s life cycle, <b>Square</b> seemed to begin losing their way. The bubble birthed on the back of the <b>PS1</b> hadn’t burst, but the surface tension was beginning to show signs of weakness. Focus was shifted to their major franchises like <b>Final</b> <b>Fantasy</b> while other established titles were allowed to languish by the wayside. The excitement of the new frontier was long gone, and they fell off my radar. I’d still keep an eye out for what was next for the <b>Final</b> <b>Fantasy</b> franchise albeit I’d stopped playing the games around the release of <b>IX</b>, last part of the great <b>Playstation</b> <b>One</b> <b>Trilogy</b>. Overall, though, I’d lost interest in RPG’s and started looking to other, more action-oriented genres. I often joked I had an abusive relationship with role-playing games, that I loved them dearly but had no time for them. <b>Kingdom</b> <b>Hearts</b> was probably my point of saturation. It was a good note to end the relationship on, an overall well-made game whose only real fault was an off-the-rails story that, as I've heard from even its most devoted fans, didn't get much more coherent in the sequels. </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ZaAWIENZZV9R_HvirP8i8dsVtynb9sfoWz2cf0t8UcGuKs4s21v8DTJ06Yp9M50qI9AEG4u3RIu3ufWQVJIPTumbtrwAUxNeo4XUnlSHASGye3fxU-bMoQQVx5MXa9hrcR9M9F64B-lW4BCK7JVJb_0262T1xCAc_QV6EfKP604euYNIFGnKhoon/s900/kh-boxart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ZaAWIENZZV9R_HvirP8i8dsVtynb9sfoWz2cf0t8UcGuKs4s21v8DTJ06Yp9M50qI9AEG4u3RIu3ufWQVJIPTumbtrwAUxNeo4XUnlSHASGye3fxU-bMoQQVx5MXa9hrcR9M9F64B-lW4BCK7JVJb_0262T1xCAc_QV6EfKP604euYNIFGnKhoon/w456-h640/kh-boxart.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I do genuinely love this image, albeit<br />I can't help but think they're up there looking for the lost plot. </td></tr></tbody></table><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><br /></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial;">When it came to the <b>PS3</b>, I found myself practically ignoring <b>Square</b> <b>Enix</b> (as they came to be known then) beyond a passing fascination with <b>Final Fantasy XIII</b> and one of its spin-off games. After that, it was off the radar again. The next major piece of news that caught my attention was their acquisition of the <b>Tomb</b> <b>Raider</b> franchise, giving it a fresh, gritty reboot I met with almost complete indifference. <b>Nier: Automata</b> held my interest for a bit, but had much the same problem as <b>Kingdom Hearts</b>, with a <a href="https://youtu.be/AuNFxZ_Zm0A" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">gonzo story</a> nobody seems to have a full and proper handle on. This was the time of the <b>PS4</b>. From what I can tell, the <b>PS5</b> isn't going to see much from its old friend. <b>Tomb</b> <b>Raider</b>, along with a number of other IP's, has been completely sold off to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embracer_Group#Rebranding_as_Embracer_Group_and_further_acquisitions_(2019–present)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">holding company</a> in favor of some <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/03/tomb-raider-publisher-square-enix-to-sell-iconic-video-game-franchise.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Crypto currency venture</a> I don't pretend to be knowledgeable about. </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKbFHPFQaNL3mPnx8lTgrra6uvayAkRlY_W-UB21Vnap9bWDrgfx1GmsJAt_Qk0LzmYrestL_g3qwf3g_J45-TqhnL3P1TxZ-bEEznlk7JYyKbSusONsX37BIW68GfrfVY3OV6-1lxPYdvDChYh3ehgzrXDEnQRJCUzB6botYCH6iXtfB5KGQuofD7/s1230/2853029-square-enix-logo-342.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="1230" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKbFHPFQaNL3mPnx8lTgrra6uvayAkRlY_W-UB21Vnap9bWDrgfx1GmsJAt_Qk0LzmYrestL_g3qwf3g_J45-TqhnL3P1TxZ-bEEznlk7JYyKbSusONsX37BIW68GfrfVY3OV6-1lxPYdvDChYh3ehgzrXDEnQRJCUzB6botYCH6iXtfB5KGQuofD7/s320/2853029-square-enix-logo-342.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is no longer a label that piques my curiosity nor captures my imagination. I don't recognize it from its heyday.</span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIAsLNkCunajhSUBAyXb6rw1fPkKTZ71CJzRtd6pyqYUNkP2DsNvARTBuRLfDy4SbA0Yg_P6GVMPMvyJ3Tr52_y5x2axy1H4vSPEKNXMz42L0bn_Vxjgp6tT5gZVRyhPQ-vGr7Hsn0Hgbg2DNbZTOA_Qi3FIkImg2NiNUXfd9fl9NNtidE_0zWD3X/s499/2791038-screen%20shot%202015-10-17%20at%208.43.48%20pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="499" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIAsLNkCunajhSUBAyXb6rw1fPkKTZ71CJzRtd6pyqYUNkP2DsNvARTBuRLfDy4SbA0Yg_P6GVMPMvyJ3Tr52_y5x2axy1H4vSPEKNXMz42L0bn_Vxjgp6tT5gZVRyhPQ-vGr7Hsn0Hgbg2DNbZTOA_Qi3FIkImg2NiNUXfd9fl9NNtidE_0zWD3X/s320/2791038-screen%20shot%202015-10-17%20at%208.43.48%20pm.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial;">And this one just makes me sad. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Calling them sell-outs is admittedly unfair. They're not so risk averse as to only bank on <b>Final</b> <b>Fantasy</b> and their merchandise which they're just as quick to advertise as any of their games. They have a wide range of titles currently on offer, and when I look upon <b>Power</b> <b>Washer</b> <b>Simulator</b>, part of me is assured they haven't changed as much as it may seem. <b>Square-Enix</b> has changed to be sure, but so have I, and maybe that's what I'm really sad about. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">What I really want to know at this point is, given the sale of their former <b>Eidos</b> properties, who owns the rights to <b><a href="https://youtu.be/V0adoiAjyzw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gex</a></b>?</span></div></div></div></div>Crystanubishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389586250831045241noreply@blogger.com0