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Tron Lightcycle

I want one..

So I have gone above and beyond out of my way to avoid learning any details about Tron 2.. (Tron Legacy is it’s officially called.) ..but it’s hard not to see the lightcycle.. And man does it look cool..

It’s very reminiscent of the Dodge Tomahawk concept bike but for some reason, just looks cooler.. The dodge just looks like raw power, and as such dangerous.. I’m pretty sure the lightcycle looks cooler to me because its tapping directly into my childhood fantasies..  I loved Tron as a kid.  I loved the universe, I loved the movie, I loved the games.. and I loved Cindy Morgan but that’s another story.. Most of all I just liked the concepts, core of which was the whole lightcycle fight..   The lightcycles really made the universe feel real..  And to this day I have to wonder how many people ride around on their “crotch-rocket” with the Tron theme running through their head..

Well apparently, the lightcycles in the new movie are real working motorcycles.. (or so is the rumor.. )  That appeals to every childhood fantasy I ever had regarding the Tron lore.. I so want one!  I’m pretty sure everyone else wants one too..  I am willing to bet if they sold them, they would go like hotcakes..  I’d get one if I could..   Dream on…

So I prefer Warhammer Fantasy to 40k..  I just think the rules are better, and the game as a whole has a lot of tactics and strategy to it, where as 40k is written more for the kids to be a fast paced shoot’em’up style game.  I still play 40k, but I prefer fantasy..

I also believe in having multiple armies for your game.. I have two 40k armies; Tau and Orks.  I like them both and am not really looking to change them..   But right now I only really have one fantasy army;  Skaven.  I love my rats, but I want to find another army to play and have been looking for a while..  I tried Ogre’s and I tried Tomb Kings but really didn’t get into them.  I have a lot of TK stuff painted up and I very much like the models and the lore, but for whatever reason the TK army just doesn’t excite me..  The Ogre’s never even got that far..

So I’m back on the hunt and I think I have settled on getting a Daemons of Chaos list going.

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BN.com Nook

So I have been in the market for an e-reader for a while.  I do a lot of reading and thought it would be darn handy to have a single device that could carry multiple books, and have the ability to order new books at any time, anywhere.  I like real paper books, but the ability to carry many books in one small device is appealing.  And despite what my sister in law says, I think they are generally a good idea and can only encourage reading..

Everyone I know swears by the Amazon Kindle, and while the device works just fine I just didn’t much like it.  I got my paws on a friends and it felt cheap to me, plus I really didn’t like that keyboard down there.. The Kindle DX looked really nice, but it’s big and really expensive.. I could have purchased an Apple IPad for the cost..

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Rock Band to Real Band

I have been playing the hell out of Rock Band 2.  I very much enjoy it as it’s quite fun and challenging.  I’m also willing to bet that games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero are helping the music industry quite a bit as most likely people are getting exposed to music they have never considered before (I know I have been)..  But what might me more important is that people are getting exposed to the notion of making music..

In an era where school music programs are on the decline (or completely gone) I can’t think of anything more important for the music industry as a whole than getting kids interested and/or hooked at an early age..  This is the perfect venue!

They just need to bridge the realism gap..   Rock Band (and guitar hero, band hero, etc..) are great games, but they aren’t realistic at all..  For the guitar and bass you are producing notes by strumming a single piece of plastic and pushing one or multiples of 5 buttons..  As you graduate through the difficulty levels things get harder in that the waterfall of Chiclets come faster and the fingerings are more difficult, but you don’t actually progress towards being able to play a real instrument..

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The Sonic Infusion

My music tastes range far and wide, but when it comes to some tunes to play in the background while working I find that good techno, house, or trance serve me the best.  I can really get into a groove when listening to this music..  Oddly enough it helps me focus on my work and blocks out the distractions nicely..   My productivity probably triples when I can code to the beats..

Typically I would listen to some Classic or Vocal Trance on DI.FM (Digitally Imported Radio) a service I happily pay for because it did such a good job of keeping me focused on my work.  A while back I stumbled across the Sonic Infusion while browsing the podcasts available on iTunes and I’ve been hooked..

The Sonic Infusion is a free podcast put out (about once a month) by Spencer Gordon consisting of skillfully mixed and current Progressive, House and Trance music from all over the world ranging in length from 1 to 3 hours..  And it’s great!  At this point I have listened to all 120 episodes and he is only getting better..  What blows me away is that he does this for free..  He puts it out there solely to promote his and the other artists’ work, and is completely worth the listen.  The quality is high enough that if he put CD’s out there I bet people would buy them..

I realize this post is a shameless plug, and as such not something I typically do.. But man its worth it..  This guy is great as is the product he puts out..  I listen to one of his episodes (randomly) every day just to get into the groove and help me focus on my work.. (Which is in all likelihood completely NOT what he had in mind.. hehe  Hey it works for me!!)  Give it a listen, and to Spencer I say thanks man..

You can check it out here:  The Sonic Infusion or by going to http://www.thesonicinfusion.com/

Net Neutrality

Most gamers typically play games online, download expansions or other forms of DLC, watch hulu, stream music..etc.. generally speaking, use more bandwidth than your average user who just browses the occasional website or checks email.  As such, Comcast feels they can charge those users more or block / throttle  them.   This led to the whole “Net Neutrality” fight.  For those of you know up on what that means, it’s basically the fight to keep the price of bandwidth static and common for all users.

You see, back in 2007 Comcast actually did start blocking and throttling certain types of traffic, and targeting gamers because they did use more bandwidth..   Well the FCC have been fighting it, but yesterday three federal judges sided with Comcast saying that the FCC “lacks authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks”.. This means Net Neutrality is dead and really soon you can expect all broadband providers to raise their fees.

Read more about it here:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FCC-loses-key-ruling-on-apf-78990100.html?x=0

This sucks for everyone.. Frankly it’s a greedy ploy by all the companies involved and ultimately as with anything else, we pay the price.   If Time Warner raises their rates I will leave.  Vote with your wallet people..