Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Book Review: Divergent

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On February 20, 2014

In Book Review

Divergent (Divergent, #1)Divergent by Veronica Roth

My rating:[rating=5]
(Click here to read this review on Goodreads)

I really liked this book, more then I thought I would. It’s not often that I read many books where the hero is female and that’s just a coincidence. The book takes place in the future again, it a dystopian Chicago (which is immediately a win for me). There is definitely a Hunger Games vibe to the book where society is broken into 5 factions and once you choose a faction (either your own or changing factions) you must remain a part of that faction and adhere to its ideals or become factionless.

However, there are anomalies that many consider to be a threat to that way of life. Divergents are among all the factions and perhaps they are the key to breaking down faction walls, but there are those in power that do not want to see that happen.

There is a heavy romance plot to the book as well which might help to appeal to a broader range of readers. I am now excited for the movie (and I hope its as good as the book). If you enjoyed Hunger Games then I would pick up a copy of this book, before its out in theaters.

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MMO Times: Respawned!

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On February 18, 2014

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

mmotimesheaderIIIssue 94: Hello Gamers! I know the MMO Times has been missing all year but that is mostly the result of the site relocation efforts that were taking place over the past couple of months. I hope you all are still interested to read about what new things are coming up in the MMO genre and that you haven’t developed any bad habits of looking the news up yourself! I hope there won’t be any more interruptions for a while so I can keep bringing you the latest MMO headlines! So on with the show!

The latest news entails mostly details about Blizzard titles, including two upcoming titles (Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm). Bioware has some news for SWTOR players that they hope will spark more interest. There is also a possible new MMO title coming. Also, if you hadn’t heard yet, the official release date for Elder Scrolls Online is set for April 4th and the game is still sending out beta invites. I have not participated but I would be interested in hearing what your impressions are if you are in the beta.

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New Domain, New Home

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On February 17, 2014

In General Cogitation, Technology

Greetings World!

It has been a while since I have posted anything but a couple of book reviews. The reason for that is I had to move my site to a new domain. Before I continue I need to pay some homage to my former site host. My good friend owns the www.fuzzydice.net domain and has been hosting my site for over a decade. It’s difficult to repay so many years of great service and I can’t thank him enough for doing it despite my occasional badgering when the server were to crash (or the time my site was compromised – damn spambots!). As things in life change and the cost to manage server space goes up, sometimes its easier, and cheaper, for everyone to move on to new homes and new domains.

Thanks Fuzzy!!

So here we are at our new home. I don’t know what to expect yet as far as stability and performance nor am I certain yet that this will be the permanent home but it will be sufficient for now. I’m also surprised how easy it was to actually move a WordPress site. I was honestly expecting it to be rather difficult but it actually took longer to backup and restore the site then it did to reconfigure WordPress (I found this post to be extremely helpful). If you happen to have my blog site bookmarked, you will want to update the link (or hit Ctrl+D and delete the old one).

At any rate, I will be getting back to my normal blog banter with the return of MMO Times and my other nerdy posts and rants.

/cheers

Book Review: Ready Player One

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On January 28, 2014

In Book Review, Geek Canon

Ready Player OneReady Player One by Ernest Cline

My Rating: [rating=5]
Click here to read the review on Goodreads.

The star ranking of “it was amazing” seems trite compared to how much I enjoyed this book. I knew within the first three chapters that this was going to be a top five book for me. The entire book was living my early childhood from the 80s. I grew up playing several of the games that were mentioned in the book. I still watch all of the movies that were mentioned in the book.

I am an avid gamer so the concept of the story had me completely immersed as if it were the OASIS itself. It’s also kind of humorous to think that I actually live fairly close to Middletown, Ohio. While I don’t think our MMO games will ever dominate our lives as the OASIS does, it’s still rather exciting to imagine the world Halliday created becoming real; although some of the concepts (i.e. attending school or performing a regular job in a virtual world) are not really that far fetched. In fact, in today’s world, I think it’s quite conceivable.

Ender’s Game is #1 on my list of non-classic literature. I haven’t decided if this book has dethroned Ender’s Game yet, I may have to read it again to decide; in the meantime, its definitely a tie.

If you are a product of the 80s and a gamer geek, this book is a priority 1 must-read.

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Book Review: Sherlock Holmes, Vol 1

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On January 14, 2014

In Book Review

The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume IThe Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I by Arthur Conan Doyle

My Rating: [rating=4]
Click here to read this review on Goodreads.

I love a good classic and the last time I read a classic was probably right around my senior year in high school. The popularity of Sherlock Holmes has grown immensely since the release of the movie starring Robert Downey Jr. Now we have two modern day interpretations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved character so I had to finally read the original stories so I could understand where the inspiration came from.

These stories are classic literature so if you’re not a fan of classic literature then I wouldn’t advise trying to read this book. There is a chapter early on that seems completely out of scope of the rest of the book; clearly it’s purpose is to give the reader some perspective on the details of the life of one of the criminals.

Every story is told from the perspective of Dr. Watson (except for the aforementioned chapter). Personally I don’t feel that I am violating any Conan Doyle Canon by saying that I can definitely see several plausible parallels between all three interpretations of Sherlock Holmes (i.e. RDJ, Johnny Lee Miller, Benedict Cumberbatch). I can also, quite easily, draw parallels between the other characters and themes of the book and television series/movies. Granted, nothing is ever as good as the original, but reading this book has greatly improved my enthusiasm for all three renditions of Sherlock Holmes.

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The MMO Times: Gobble, Gobble!

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On December 3, 2013

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

mmotimesheaderIIIssue 93: Greetings Gamers! I hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving (for those that were celebrating it). Hopefully all of you have recovered from your tryptophan-induced comas. It’s not uncommon for me to be a week late around the major holidays so my apologies for a delayed post but my RL schedule didn’t really allow much research time over the past week. Be that as it may, here are some headlines that you may, or may not have missed.

This issue has some shocking World of Warcraft news (which you may already know about if you follow any WoW news). A preview of the upcoming SWTOR expansion, a new hero in Marvel Heroes, what Trion meant by “Trove” and much more. So if you’re waiting for a realm restart or your MMO-of-choice is performing maintenance today, perhaps the following articles will help to pass the time. Gobble, Gobble Gamers!

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