Drinking the Apple-flavored Kool Aid

I am sitting in the living room as I write this.  While that is not exactly novel, this is: I am using a MacBook to type while experimenting with an iPad *and* a 4th Gen iPod Touch.  Three years ago, I would have fallen on the floor laughing my head off if someone said I would be here now in this set-up.  Heck, even two years ago, I would have been scoffing at least a little.  A year ago, we didn't even know what an "iPad" was.

For the record, let it be known that these devices are not "mine," but rather they belong to my place of employment.  I simply get the benefit of using them until one of several things happen: a) something new comes along and I "trade up," b) I decide one or more of the devices cause more headache than they solve and pass them on to someone else, or c) my employment with the education service center where I work is no longer a factor and I have to turn them in.  Okay, I threw that last one in for fun.  I like to create controversy every so often just to keep people's juices flowing.  At least, I *hope* it's a joke!

Let me start with the iPod Touch 4th Gen.  Why?  Because, for me, it has the least amount of impact.  Why is that? Because I have a 3rd Gen (technically 2.5 Gen) iPod Touch that I personally own.  While the addition of two cameras is nice, it's still a Touch.  Frankly, it's not a very user-friendly one either.  You see, the edges are even more rounded than in previous versions.  Not a bad thing in and of itself, right?  Well, pair that with the top and side buttons that are essentially flush with the unit, and everything I do on it feels as though the thing is going to squirt out of my hands and crash to the floor. 

The metal is ULTRA slick, and this is one slippery fella.  In fact, the power button on top is basically on the back of the unit.  Not easy to manipulate, in my opinion.  The camera takes pretty good pictures and can fire off several pretty quickly.  In my unscientific testing, I was able to shoot about 3 pictures (like 2.5, really) every second.  I did a rapid-fire shutter test.  that is, I pressed the shutter button as fast as I could ten times.  The camera took 6 of the 10 shots!  That is impressive for something mounted inside a media player.

Is the device worth the extra $30 over its predecessor? Even with my grumblings about the unit, I have to say yes.  Having the dual cameras is a nice touch, and I'm sure I'll figure out other things once I get to using it more and more.


(note: the reflection of the bookcase in the picture was intentional. I've been letting Kevin Honeycutt's creativity rub off on me!)

Now, let's talk about the iPad.

You may recall, I posted several times about my dislike for the device.  Granted, I had only played with one for a little bit and at the time it was nothing more than an iPod Touch XL.  In a lot of ways, it still is that.  But, in other ways, it is more.  There are iPad-specific apps that take advantage of the resolution and screen real estate.  Other apps have been ported to the iPad.  And, if you do run iPod/iPhone apps, you can use the "2x" control to zoom in for a larger (not better) view.

One of the first apps I installed was iNet.  It is an iPhone/iPod app that I could run from the smaller device.  But, having a bigger screen means that I can READ what it is telling me much better.  Another app I installed is Jump.  Jump is a remote desktop tool that offers all kinds of great options, settings, etc.  I also installed Flipboard for reading Tweets in a magazine-like layout. Oh, man, that is worth the price of admission alone.  It also reads your Facebook feed, provided you set it up to do that.  I wish it would let me add RSS feeds as well, but there is Pulse for that, I guess.  Not a big fan of the Pulse app.  Too much vertical scrolling.  I'm not a good vert scroller, as I've mentioned on here in relation to my DSL at home.

I also snagged several educational apps, and will keep adding those.  Since part of my job is to show teachers what they can do with the device(s), I want to get my hands on as many different apps as I can - weed out the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I installed VTrace, but it doesn't seem to work. It locates me via wi-fi, but when I enter an address or hostname then press "Trace," all I get is the empty map (not even showing my location).  Maybe someone knows what I'm missing here.

I'm still learning what I can and can't do on the iPad, but so far, I have done a full 180-degree turn around from my initial thoughts on it.  With the tools I have, plus others that will come along, I'm sure, I can fully understand why so many TECH people are snagging these up.  And, of course with the other apps, it's no wonder non-techs are diving into the thing.

Yes, I have drunk the Apple-flavored Kool Aid.  And, ya know, it ain't half bad.

Castle Wolfenstein

I am a child of the 60's.  Not the 1960's, though I was born in 1969, but rather, I am a child of the Commodore 64 era.  Pictured above is the first game I can remember playing that had anything to do with World War II.  The player is the green guy.  The SS guards walked around and the player had to use stealth and timing to open up the golden chests to collect various items.  The zig-zag grid on the right is a set of stairs. 

I actually believe I played the Apple-II version before playing the C-64 one.  For some reason, I remember the game having different graphics, simpler ones if you can believe it.

The sequel to this game was "Beyond Castle Wolfenstein," and I played it all the way through (as I did the first one).  It basically played the same way, if memory serves.

From there, we move to the first 3d 1st person shooter - Affectionately known as "Wolf3d" because that was the file name you used in order to play.  I know I've talked about it before, but I remember first seeing the game in a Sears store.  It was the demo.  This was back in the days of dial-up and floppy disks.  In fact, the kid playing the game made me a copy to take home.  This was a newly developed method of distribution called "Shareware."  You could play a demo (limited) version of a game for free, downloadable on the bulletin boards.  What got me hooked, though, was the fact that it looked 3D!  All I saw was the tip of the gun and the world in front of and around me.  Similar to this:

Eventually, graphics got better, worlds more realistic, gameplay more intense in a game called "Return to Castle Wolfenstein:"

If I remember correctly, this was one of the first 3d shooters my Dad ever played.  He was hooked.  I tried to show him the 'historical' version of Wolf3d (and even Duke3d), but he would have none of that. I still have a copy of this floating around somewhere. I may need to break it out of its shell and fire it up again.

What made me think of all this?  Well, being home sick from work while watching various WWII historical documentaries probably had a lot to do with it.  I watched a show called "Patton 360" along with several other shows on this Veteran's Day, and eventually fired up "Battlefield 1942" for a little Nazi-killing.

The Wolfenstein series is based on fictional experiments that Hitler and his upper echelon were conducting.  Hitler and the Nazis were such a definitive enemy that many, many games have been built around eliminating them.  In fact, there are libraries of games based on WWII - so many, in fact, that at one time there was an outcry for game developers to STOP making them.

As I get older, I am drawn more and more to the desire to role-play the scenarios and battles that so many people lived and gave up their lives.  I don't mean that as anything suggesting a trivialization of the lives lost or what veterans went through during those battles.  In fact, I am seeking just the opposite.  I am not a vet, instead growing up at a time when I was free (because of the sacrifices of those who came before me) to go to college instead of being required to enlist.  Now that I am passed the age of being able to serve, I love to learn more and more about those who DID serve, those who DO serve.  And reliving those battles gives me a sense of connection to a time and place that I would not have otherwise.  Even watching the documentaries on TV is not the same as taking on the role of some of the personnel in the midst of those scenarios.

I am so grateful for the men and women who dedicate their lives, or have given their lives, so that we may enjoy the life we have in these United States.  Though I did not mean for this post to take on a message for Veteran's Day, there is really no way that it could not have.  I am free because others paid a price which I will never be able to pay back, and I am forever indebted to our armed forces.  Thank you from the deepest part of my heart.

Hail to the King, Baby!

 Yeah, this follow-up to yesterday's post brings Duke Nukem to the forefront once again.  You see, while poking around the 3dRealms website, I went to the "Store" and lo and behold - Duke3d Atomic Edition is available as a DRM-free download for just $5.99!  Oh, yeah!

I snagged that puppy up quickly.  What's even cooler about the game is that it comes with DOSBox as its means for execution.  This means that it should run on any version of Windows!  In fact, I fired it up on XP and it ran beautifully - er, well, as beautifully as it could for the time it was created.

I understand there are higher resolution add-ins one can download, and I may do that at some point.  Right now, though, I am simply enjoying the walk down memory lane. 

"Heh-heh... What a mess!"

Want your own copy?  check this out:
http://www.3drealms.com/duke3d/index.html

Come Get Some!

I received the "Holiday 2010" issue of PC Gamer magazine the other day, I was greeted by the face of an old friend.  You may recognize him by description alone: Blond hair, crew cut style; Dark sunglasses; Smoking a cigar; Wielding a hefty weapon; Muscles to carry anything; Signature smirk on his face.  Recognize him yet?  How about this:

Yeah, that's right.  Duke Nukem really is back for the game that has been on the "waiting list" since 1998.  Seriously.  If you were a gamer back in those days, Duke 3-D (and its spin-offs) ruled the 1st person shooters, and then there was word that a bigger, badder, be-all/end-all of Dukes was coming out.  It would be called, "Duke Nukem Forever" and the buzz was everywhere.  And then, it was nowhere.  Duke Nukem has got to be one of the longest-running pieces of vaporware known to gamerkind.  The game was coming, then it wasn't.  Then it was back on, then off again, then revamped, then scrapped, then back again then tossed into the bowels of 3d Realms.  It was an emotional roller coaster that only those who grew up in a world PRE-3D games, through "BattleZone," "Wolf3d," "Doom," and "Duke 3d" would ever truly come to appreciate.

Duke 3d was the first 3d game that I am aware of (or that I really cared to play, really) that featured a blend between linear and not-quite linear gameplay.  You had to walk through the various levels, but you could generally get where you needed to go under your own terms.  And, it featured a jetpack.  Oh sure, you could win the game without using it, mostly, but where was the fun in that?  We were no longer glued to the ground ala Doom (though you could "fall" in Doom).  We could jump, jetpack, you name it.  All the while, the smart-alec comments from the main character spat out the things you were THINKING ("Your face, your (butt)? What's the difference?").  It also had a wonderful interactive world.  Tell me one person who played the game that never once went up to the urinal and pressed the spacebar.  Of COURSE you did it!  And when word got around of other fun things to try, gamers fired up ol' Duke just to find those hidden gems.

Of course, for me, the real prize was getting into the editor!  Oh yes, we could make our own levels and play against our friends over the local network!  I know that sounds trite by today's standards, but back in that day, this was HUGE.  The guys I worked with would spend many lunch hours downloading the modified levels we could find online at the time, blasting each other silly as we ate.  Once I had the editor in hand, I was making all kinds of goofy levels (one designed around a not-to-scale replica of my house).  I learned how to make exploding walls, moving trams, deep pits that would leave you with one hit point (if you fell fully healed to begin with) only to be blessed with every kind of weapon in the game. 

Duke 3d was the game everyone upgraded their systems over: more memory, better video cards, enhanced sound cards.  We mucked around in config.sys and autoexec.bat to eke out as much memory as possible while getting the IPX networking right for our LAN parties.  Okay, that's a stretch.  In truth, DOOM is what started all of that, but Duke 3d is what MADE you want to follow through.  Er, well, made *me* want to, anyway.

So now, all these years later, Gearbox announces (and actually shows off) Duke Nukem Forever really is coming in 2011.  And much like the first go-round, I want to know the requirements.  I want to make sure my machine is ready for the smart-mouthed, cigar-chomping, muscle-bound alien killer.  "Forever" is the first game in a LONG time that I have been so genuinely excited to see coming to fruition.  It is so top-secret that PC Gamer had to hire a courtroom artist to sketch pictures of the gameplay.  Oh, I know. You're thinking, "That is ridiculous."  Yes. It is.  And those of us waiting, are eating up every single morsel.

NaNoWriMo - SLOW start...

The site is down.  My user account shows up as an invalid user with a php error on the site.  Things are off to a slow start in the world of NaNoWriMo this year.  To top it off, I gave up writing after just 350 words this evening - the first night.

Where is my motivation?  What is going on with me this go-round?  Is it the World Series?  Is it the knowing how some of the story will go?  Is it the weather?  I have no answers.  I just know that I've got a long road ahead if I am going to reach that 50,000 word goal.

Like the little train that has graduated from children's story to cliche', I know I can do it.  Once I find my rhythm, things will flow from my fingertips.  Right now, I have nearly written more words for this blog post than I have for my next novel.  It should come easier than this.  After all, I know the characters.  I know the setting.  I know some of the plot elements.  It is lying in wait, bubbling just below the surface.  I can feel the words coursing through my veins, my capillaries, my arteries.  I feel the ebb and flow of story movement, and like a flood of water behind a dam, once the crack is forged, things will come fast and hard, leaving certain death and destruction in its path.

"Lost Summer" may start out as a trickle, but soon, it will rush through, over and around the folks of Appleton!  What will remain in its wake?