I have been silent for the last two years over yon blog. I’d make the excuse of being busy, writing a master’s thesis, graduating, moving to another country and starting a new job along with other volunteer projects, but it isn’t really a good enough excuse.
Resolutions to keep in no particular order:
-take up Japanese again with a goal to complete the N5 this year,
-write something every day,
-get a hobby (that isn’t me sitting around trying to create a better sorting method in JavaScript, educational maybe, but also drives me crazy).
E-books are easy. They come in a flat surface, with their own light, their own heart that beats with the percentage bar of your phone or tablet. But books, those delicious works of wood made into paper. With the rough uncut edges that I hate, the pages that range from translucent to crisp and satisfying. After reading e-books for a year, two if I’m being honest, coming back to a real book - that scrumptious feeling of something real under your fingertips - it changes things.
I read most of my books from a screen. It’s so small, easy to transport, they are always there, those small pieces of your heart, all the hours you’ve spent on cultivating that feeling of love and wonder. Last week I picked up a real book. It was handed to me - take it and read it - was said and I did. I hated it. It made me feel so many things - tears and pain - I despaired. I haven’t read a book like that in a very long time. Three days later I picked up another book, one I had been saving. I looked at the title and was reminded of all those hours 15 years ago when I first read the first pages of this series. My heart leapt with joy when I opened the book and my old friends came to greet me. I read and laughed and mourned with the joy and pain emanating from the pages.
I finished that last night, it was closing in on midnight and I couldn’t put it down. My favorite character, the one I loved the most had emerged from the pages, I couldn’t let him go so I read until, with a twinge of my heart, I flipped to the last page which had a promise for more to come.
Today I opened a third book. I thumbed through it - it had those torn edges that I hate - and read the introduction and remembered the controversy the title of the book had caused. I’m grinning as I write this - I will soon dive into the many adventures in this short story collection and my phone lies forgotten on my night stand.
Gamespy shutting down on May 31st, effects hundreds of multiplayer games. Gamespy was a third-party technology that many publishers and developers used to host online services. Effected companies include: EA, Nintendo, Bohimia, SEGA, Volition, Rockstar Games, Namco Bandai, Ubisoft, and Capcom.
EA is going to take a huge amount of multiplayer games offline on June 30th. These games include: Battlefield 2 (PC), Battlefield 1942 (PC, Mac), Battlefield 2142 (PC, Mac), Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (PC, Mac), Crysis 2 (PC), Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (PC), Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC, Mac), and Star Wars: Battlefront II (PC and PlayStation 2).
Nintendo is going to launch a new console for emerging markets at the beginning of next year. President Satoru Iwata said: “We want to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what we currently have. The product and price balance must be made from scratch.” Also another product called Nintendo Figurine Platform which will be compatible with Wii U and Nintendo 3DS software. Games for this system will be announced at E3 in June.
Personal favorite, Don’t Starve, is getting a multiplayer mode update. This update will be free for all current game owners, but will boost the price of the original game to $19.99 USD. Don’t Starve is a survival simulator by Klei Entertainment in which you have to survive in a procedurally-generated unique world where your task is to not starve.
Microsoft Xbox is losing the kinect. You can now buy the new xbox one without having to buy a kinect! You can get one starting in June 2014.