Category Archives: Computers

Back in full swing

Posted on May 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

Er…sorry for the unexplained extended leave of absence. Two weeks may not seem like a long time when you’re in school, but when you do blog-type stuff on a regular basis on the Internet, it kinda leaves a pretty big gap.

I’ve spent most of that time preparing for a final exam in Network Communications (which I finished earlier this morning with an A grade) and working on a small Dreamweaver project for my Web Page Development class. I had to cut back on up to 95% of my normal video game-playing in order to get them finished. On the bright side, this now means I’ve completed my first semester at DCCC, and can go back to a relatively normal work schedule (regular work and blogging). In the fall, I’m planning on moving into Flash, PHP and MySQL, and since they’re all Internet-based courses, I can take them from home without having to worry about travel expenses (except for those times when I may have to get books or other crap).

I also had to deal with a minor computer issue over the weekend, where the update to my AMD graphic card drivers screwed up almost all of the 3D graphics in the games I own. After spending a lot of time fiddling with my computer settings, I concluded that it was the new drivers themselves that were corrupted. So instead of updating to version 12.4, I’m going to stay put with 12.3 until AMD releases a new version that doesn’t make everything look like a demented checkerboard.

As a bonus, I used part of the money I won back from selling my textbook to purchase Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, which I hear is supposed to be quite a bit better than the original. I’m only about 25% done with the first Neptunia, and pretty much stopped updating my playthrough of the game to concentrate on my studies. I suppose I should try to finish the first game before even sniffing at the second, as I’m quite sure there are some things I’m going to need to know about the first game’s story for any of Neptunia mk2 to make sense. Then again, I’ve already started a new game file in Atelier Totori, even though I’m not quite done with Atelier Rorona yet. I’ll try to get an update done on that front by Wednesday.

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Posted in Computers, Life, PlayStation 3, School, Shopping, Video Games

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Probably not the ‘Droid I’m looking for

Posted on April 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

(…and I probably have to pay George Lucas a small amount of money for using that quote. Well, he’s not getting a penny from me!)

I found out a few days ago that my school is offering courses on Android and iOS application development for the summer. It’s too bad I don’t have enough time or money to try that out, because mobile development seems to be “all the rage” right now, especially when it comes to website design. If I could figure out a way to get this blog platform on mobile devices, I would (although that’s more in the hands of the WordPress devs than mine), so …meh.

First step…acquire devkits. I only have the Android one right now because I think the iOS devkit can be used on a Mac. Plus, even though I think the latest Android version is 4.0, I can grab a kit for the older versions so that I can try out something that has a possibility of working with my phone (2.2). From the looks of it, I think I should bone up on my knowledge of Java, as well.

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Posted in Computers, Life, School

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Random non-Neptunia updates

Posted on December 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

I spent the last week or so waiting for an update from DCCC to determine how many of my credits could be transferred from my college degree to be applied to my attempt at scoring a professional certificate in web development. It turns out my English Comp I and Calculus I credits transferred over, but I won’t need to take those. Instead, I’ll use the credits I got from taking Intro to Computer Science and skip those and take Web Page Development as one of my first courses (the other being Networking, where I’d have to understand and explain TCP/IP and other such concepts). I haven’t used Dreamweaver since I first started to learn HTML, but I suppose there’s no time like now to start learning it again, even though I prefer using notepads to code.

I also bought an Android-based tablet computer from CVS last week (the Sylvania one, not the Craig one) as part of my first steps into tablet computing. It’s decent if you’re looking for something simple to carry around with you, but I have some complaints about this device:

  • Short battery life (only three hours, and the battery indicator doesn’t seem to work properly)
  • Can’t access the Android App Store, as it’s only licensed to work with certain Droid tablets and cell phones. Your best bet is to go to the Amazon App Store, as their selection is way better than the built-in SlideMe App Market.
  • The USB ports don’t seem to work properly. I tried connecting it to my computer, but it wouldn’t recognize my device. I sent a tech support inquiry to Digital Gadgets (the manufacturer); hopefully they’ll have a solution for my problem.

I won’t be doing the “Gift of Game” feature this year, or any sort of “Top X Games of the Year” list. I have played a lot of games, but haven’t given all of them enough attention to make decent write-ups. Maybe next year once I get myself a Nintendo 3DS or a PlayStation Vita, I may consider bringing the feature back.

And last but not least, if you haven’t played Sonic Generations by now, you should. It’s quite a good game, and not bogged down with most of the problems that many of the other post-Genesis Sonic titles had. I just finished it a few days ago, and now I’m ready to go back through the old levels to try to get the rest of the Red Star Rings. I think I may actually have a chance to get a Platinum trophy on this one, if I can sink enough time into it.

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Posted in Blog, Computers, Life, PlayStation 3, School, Video Games

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NaNoWriMo 2011, Day 1 – And we’re off

Posted on November 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

So I’ve hit 1700 words on my first day participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I’m off to a good start, but I know that I’m going to need to do more on my non-working days if I’m going to keep up the pace to make up for the days that I do have to work (like tomorrow and Thursday, for instance).

I have a college placement test on Friday, so that might cut into my prep time, but hopefully not too much. The only thing I need to do for now is to keep on writing, even after I’ve hit my target for the day.

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Posted in Computers, Literature

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The things I do for money and entertainment

Posted on October 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Yesterday marked the end of an era for me. I sold my Rock Band 2 (PlayStation 3 version) kit at a yard sale, along with the first three Guitar Hero games and two guitar controllers. When I still lived “full time” with my brother and sister, we’d gather around to play them whenever we got the chance. I played the hell out of the GH games, unlocking and attempting to play every song I could for the highest score possible, but once the third gave hit me with “…Fire and Flames”, I jumped ship, thinking that I’d done pretty much everything I could.

Then, of course, the fourth game switched to a “full band” setup to keep up with Rock Band, and the rest is pretty sad history. I jumped on the Rock Band-wagon when I asked my parents to get the second game for me for Christmas. Unfortunately, with so many songs and challenges, I wasn’t sure I’d have the time or energy to play through every last one of them – let’s not even get started on the “Endless Setlist”. And I was right…my band got to Europe, and I just sorta gave up. Now, the only music games that I have in my library are ones that don’t require large and bulky controllers (DJ Max Fever, Rock Band Unplugged, PaRappa the Rapper, etc.)

Meanwhile, my list of “games to play before the end of the year” list is still growing. Batman: Arkham City, Atelier Totori, Dark Souls, Disgaea 4 are just a few of the names on that list, but I’ve had to satisfy my appetite with some of the less-expensive stuff for the time being until I can find an excuse to swing by GameStop or Best Buy or one of those places again, which may not be until January. In fact, I’m trying to finish my game in Atelier Rorona so that I can be somewhat prepared for the events of Atelier Totori. Review scores for Totori have been generally positive, so I’m probably gonna put it on my Christmas list if I don’t buy it myself before then.

I played and beat The Binding of Isaac (made by one or two of the guys who also did Meat Boy and Super Meat Boy) last night, but couldn’t get in on the bonus content after defeating the final boss because CCleaner wiped out my save game. Thankfully, a patch came in this morning that protects it from accidental deletion, but I really wish I could have figured out how to save it myself (like I could with other Flash-based games like VVVVVV). It’s a good game, but not one for the very squeamish, as there’s lots of blood and bile.

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Posted in Computers, Music, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3

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