Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

The MMO Times: I Can Haz Tauntaun??!

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On July 25, 2013

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

mmotimesheaderIIIssue 84: Yes, I want a Tauntaun! Gives me tauntaun, now! I mean, what better way to travel around any planet. Yea, I know they smell bad, but think of the versatility. You don’t have to pay for gas, they’ll probably just eat whatever they can find laying around, and if you find yourself freezing to death in the tundra, just cut them open and you’ve got yourself a nice, warm carcass!

Tauntaun disembowelment aside, we have a few headlines to read up on, including the inspiration for the title of this issue (and the rather grotesque introduction). We are between conferences right now as SDCC has ended and Gamescom is next week but there are still some tidbits popping up from both conferences. Aion has some new content to share, SWTOR (obviously!), news about the World of Warcraft movie, and more! So curl up inside your favorite tauntaun (or just buy one of these) and enjoy!

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Gone Before Her Time

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On July 25, 2013

In General Cogitation

Natalie Ungari 1978 - 2013

Natalie Ungari
1978 – 2013

Earlier this week my family and I had to lay to rest our sister-in-law, Natalie. She was 35 years old, married to my wife’s brother and they had two extraordinary daughters (ages 1 and 3). I cannot find the words to express the sorrow and grief all of us are feeling and I can’t even begin to comprehend what my brother-in-law is experiencing. All my prayers go out to him.

Nat always took such good care of herself. I always thought I got up early, but it never failed that before I even had my first cup of coffee she came walking in the door after completing an early morning run. I wish I had that kind of dexterity! I know that was the kind of lifestyle she was encouraging with her daughters as she only allowed treats on rare or special occasions, much to the chagrin of the grandparents 🙂

Nat was diagnosed with a very rare form of lymphoma (called Subcutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma). She’s had it for as long as I’ve known her but it was in remission until about a year ago (just before their second daughter was born). They tried several treatments but ultimately decided to do a bone marrow transplant and during the chemo treatments, to prepare for the transplant, she was taken into the ICU when the doctor’s found fungal pneumonia. She fought it gallantly but ultimately passed away from complications associated with the pneumonia.

When I was reading the beautiful obituary there was a section near the end where a foundation was mentioned called the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD – http://www.rarediseases.org/). This organization was formed to research “orphan” diseases to identify, treat and cure rare diseases. Donations in Natalie’s name can be made to NORD.

Just as these organizations are dedicated to finding treatments and cures, the family and friends of Natalie are dedicated to passing on to her daughters just how extraordinary and tremendous of a person she was. We will see to it that her influence on us will pass vicariously to her children.

We love you, Natalie!!
Rest in Peace.

The MMO Times: In Reverse Order

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On July 18, 2013

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

mmotimesheaderIIIssue 83: Greetings Gregarious Gamers!!! I’ve decided that the headlines are going to be listed from earliest to most recent. I’ve noticed in past issues that often times I’ve found a headline that is a follow up of a previous headline and it didn’t make sense chronologically to show the latter one before the former. Hopefully this makes the news flow a little more logically. SDCC also started this week, did anyone go?

There are a some headlines I included with some non-traditional news. Some of the manufacturers are expanding beyond their normal scope or introducing new concepts that we may not have expected. I’m not going to say too much, you need to check it out. Age of Wushu, Final Fantasy, SWTOR and even some more World of Warcraft news await you below (or after the break). I also found a couple headlines about some titles introduced at SDCC or titles that I haven’t mentioned before. Good hunting!

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Book Review: My Word Is My Bond

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On July 17, 2013

In Book Review

My Word is My BondMy Word is My Bond by Roger Moore

My [rating: 4]
Click here to read my review on Goodreads.

I don’t read many auto-biographies but when I heard that Roger Moore had written a book, for some reason I really wanted to read it. I’m glad I did! He has led an interesting life (and still leading one)! If you read this expecting him to talk about the Bond movies, that’s only a small part of his life. In fact, while Roger Moore loves movies, his true passion is UNICEF, which he talks about extensively in this book.

The chapters about making the Bond movies were interesting, in fact I’ve been motivated to watch all his Bond movies again. However, the times he spent making The Saint, The Persuaders and the countless other movies were also really interesting parts of his life.

If you enjoy autobiographies I would really recommend this book. He presents the interesting details of his life in an entertaining and intriguing manner.

View all my reviews

Biggs On: Is the Desktop PC Really Dying?

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On July 15, 2013

In Biggs On, Technology

geek-300x300Almost daily I read CNET, ZDnet and several other news feeds regarding technology trends. I do this so I can keep up with how the technology and the industry is changing. I’ve noticed that there have been several articles claiming that the PC is dying. These claims are based on the declining number of desktop sales. I do wonder though if these statistics are only taking into account mass-manufactured computers (i.e. HP, Dell, etc). Personally, I have never bought a premade computer, I’ve always built all my computers.

I don’t know if I could not have a desktop computer. I really like my peripherals and while the touch/gesture technology is incredible, I don’t think its something I could get used to doing all the time. I spend 90% of my day behind a computer whether its at work or extra curricular programming or gaming at home. The mouse and keyboard are too big of a staple to my computing experience for me to be able to switch to something less … tethered? Plus, I really like that I can build my own computer. Honestly its way I don’t really use laptops very often and why a laptop has never been my main computer at home. In my opinion, tablets (and perhaps even laptops, to some degree) are really only an extension of the desktop computer but definitely not a replacement.

I’m not saying that I’m hemmed into the desktop PC, forever. You never know; with the way technology is changing these days something may come along that will change my mind. I am curious, however, what others think about all this talk of the desktop computer becoming obsolete?

/cheers

The MMO Times: Final Fantasy Edition

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On July 12, 2013

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

mmotimesheaderIIIssue 82: Greetings gamers!! It was brought to my attention that I don’t talk about Final Fantasy enough and thus this issue is titled as such. Fear not, there are some headlines about FFXIV included in this issue, I didn’t skate around your feedback by merely titling this issue after the game 🙂 By the way, I encourage folks to make these kinds of suggestions. I don’t know what games folks like to read about so if there is a specific game that you would like for me to include, please let me know.

So, beyond some Final Fantasy XIV news, there is also a pretty cool video to check out from the Infinite Crisis beta testing. Some changes coming to those farming heroes in Marvel Heroes. There is talk of an in-game store with micro-transactions coming to Patch 5.4 of the current World of Warcraft expansion; and more beta news for Elder Scrolls Online. I also included a headline about Hearthstone. I know its not an MMO in the truest sense of the word, but if MMO sites are talking about it, I thought perhaps I should mention it as well.

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