Gaming, Reading, Movies, Star Wars and other Geek Culture

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

On December 21, 2016

Before things get really crazy, with Christmas only a few days away, I wanted to take the time to bid everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas. I hope the conclusion of your year is peaceful and bright! Please have a safe, and responsible, Happy New Year!

This year was another election year, and it was probably one of the most tumultuous years we have had in a long time. Over the past several months we have all been awfully cruel to one another because we all believe different things. We are all entitled to those beliefs and I applaud everyone with the conviction to stick to what they believe despite how ugly people can be. Christmas is a time to let go of those ugly feelings and focus on family, friends and how lucky we are. We should look to our fellow man for comfort and support. Sing Christmas carols (even if you don’t like Christmas music); it will make you feel better about yourself.

Sit beside a warm fire and watch a “feel-good” movie with your family and friends; something like “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Miracle on 34th Street”. If you want something with a little more humor but with a feel-good ending, then perhaps “Scrooged” or “Four Christmases” will be more your speed. Whatever you watch or whatever you do to enjoy the season, just don’t spend it berating people on Facebook or Twitter. We all need to chill out (no pun intended) and focus on the things that are more important.

I hope 2017 will be a friendlier year.

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do
– Steve Jobs

TBT: One Year Ago, The Force Awakened

By Biggs

On December 15, 2016

In Movies, Star Wars, TBT

It was actually December 18th, 2015 when The Force Awakened but it’s Throwback Thursday and the 18th is Sunday. As I sit on the cusp of the premiere of another Star Wars movie I love thinking about the success of The Force Awakens. I’m really happy how well it was received not only by Star Wars fans, but the majority of movie goers. Here are a few ^*numbers I found:

It earned $935 million domestic, thus making it the biggest-grossing movie of all time in America
It was the first movie to earn $750m on an initial release and the first to earn $800m, $850m, and $900m.
By the end of the tenth day, it had earned $540 million domestic
It ended up selling more tickets than all but maybe ten other movies in all of cinematic history.

The Force Awakens wasn’t everyone’s cup-of-tea but you can’t deny the amazing success the movie has had. I still remember the feeling I had as I was sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start. The same feelings I had for several hours after the movie was over. The Force awakened the child in all of us because we all felt 10 years old again that day. Any reservations and skepticism we felt because Disney now runs the franchise were also blown to pieces.

Rogue One has a Tough Act to Follow

Tonight the first of the Star Wars spin-off movies premiers to the public. Rogue One: A Star Wars story will have a tough act to follow. I’ll be honest, I’m not setting my expectations very high because I think this movie is going to have a different appeal. We already know it will not have the iconic opening crawl and the score is not composed by John Williams (but fear not, Michael Giacchino is no slacker). So far the preliminary reviews are fairly positive with an 83% on the “Tomatometer“. I really don’t expect this movie to be as extraordinary as TFA but I do hope it will be loved by all the real Star Wars fans.

The movie does have all the right ingredients to be successful. As long as the acting is solid, the music is great and everyone understands how the story fits in; I think it will do well in the theaters. I am excited to see Rogue One but probably not as eager as I was to see TFA. There was a certain amount of mystery in The Force Awakens that Rogue One will not have, obviously. Even though Rogue One will not be quite as inscrutable, I still think our inner child will still be waiting with bated breath. A feeling that Star Wars has always inspired and that which Disney has fully restored.

^{* Numbers come from this Forbes article}

The Force. It calls to you. Just let it in.

The Era of the Wearable has Plateaued

By Biggs

On December 13, 2016

In Biggs On, Technology

This coming January will mark four years since I started using FitBit’s fitness devices. During that time we have seen the rise (and fall, in some cases) of other wearable tech devices; Apple Watch, Pebble, Microsoft Band (**snicker**), Garmin. While FitBit wasn’t the first company to create a wearable they certainly figured out how to be a catalyst. A couple of weeks ago one of my co-workers told me FitBit wasn’t doing as well. Today I noticed their stock has been steadily declining. Perhaps the era of the wearable has plateaued.

It isn’t a surprise that the wearable tech fad is starting to wane. FitBit did a brilliant job marketing the device and by creating such a successful brand, Apple joined the market. Unfortunately when a corporation like Apple joins the party, they take it to another level. A level FitBit didn’t seem prepared for. The Apple Watch took a fitness device and made it much more functional, however even Apple saw mediocre adoption. Everyone either had a FitBit or a Garmin, or people didn’t want to pay the premium price for a watch. The slow adoption in-and-of-itself is unfortunate because I’ve talked about how much I enjoy my Apple Watch (while still using a FitBit).

What’s Next for Wearable Tech?

I know plenty of people who still use their FitBit but half the people on my friends list have been inactive for quite a while. FitBit’s recent acquisition of Pebble leads me to believe that they are not out of the game yet. My hunch is they will use the Pebble software and design a new FitBit to compete with Garmin and the Apple Watch. In fact I foresee all of the fitness tech companies researching the next modernization in wearable tech. It seems the wearable has plateaued just as your weight-loss can plateau. If you want to keep losing weight you have to make a change (more reps, reduce calories, etc). We have barely tapped the surface of biometrics and biotechnology, so there has to be something new that can be implemented into a wearable.

I hope FitBit pulls out of its downward spiral. I love my Apple Watch and all but I don’t want to lose all that fitness data I’ve accumulated over the past 4 years. These devices can already measure your activity level, your steps, your elevation, your heart rate, our sleep, etc so I imagine finding the next metric is going to be challenging. An article I spotted on CNET leads me to believe that wearable technology still has a future and where it goes next is going to be interesting.

/cheers

The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do
– Steve Jobs

Book Review: Star Wars Aftermath

By Biggs

On December 7, 2016

In Book Review, Science Fiction, Star Wars

Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
My rating: [rating=5]

I have been trying to get back into Star Wars books for a while now; I just kept finding other great books to read (*cough* Kubrick’s Game *cough*). Star Wars Aftermath is the first post-Return of the Jedi book that takes place within the new canon, therefore it’s pretty high on my list. I know some Star Wars fans are probably surprised that I would prioritize this book so high. Disney stepped on quite a few toes when they declared all other canon defunct (post-ROTJ). This is something I discuss in a separate post. Be that as it may, I’m one of those open-minded fans and I was willing to give this book a chance.

I try to avoid mentioning any spoilers; I prefer that people use my book reviews as an aid on deciding if it’s a book they would like to read. The point I am about to make isn’t really a spoiler but it is noteworthy. If you are expecting a book about where the Jedi go after the Emperor is destroyed, that isn’t what this book is about. In fact the Force has very little to do with any of the characters. The author takes us on a journey through the eyes of several different characters during the aftermath of the Battle of Endor.

TBT: Lamentations of a Former Tank [gone DPS]

By Biggs

On December 2, 2016

In Gaming, TBT, World of Warcraft

So I am going to take a different approach to this week’s Throwback Thursday post (which is late again). This comes on the cusp of experiencing a struggle I’ve only heard other folks repine. I used to tank; from 2005 through Mists of Pandaria I was the Paladin tank for our raid team. Then the server population began to dwindle; finding raiders to fill spots became a struggle; long story short we switched servers and joined new raid teams. I was no longer needed as a tank so I had to become a DPS. It’s the first time I am working on progression as a member of the DPS squad. This week’s TBT is my lamentations of a former tank – gone DPS.

DPS Like Me: The Struggle Is Real!

A couple of expansions ago I remember the raid leaders constantly emphasizing the point that damage dealers need to improve their damage. I always silently thought to myself that there must be something these folks are missing because it can’t be that difficult to figure out how to do that. I will pause for you to silently curse and berate me. After my paladin, playing a shadow priest was my second favorite class so that is the class I chose to play as [ranged] DPS.

We are roughly three months into the current raid content and 5/7 in Heroic Emerald Nightmare. My gear iLevel is 860 and, while a shadow priest is supposed to be at the top of the charts, I’m barely making the middle of the pack. I am experiencing everything they were fussing about; the struggle is real! I have read the forums, tweaked my gear and my rotation but I am still struggling to break that 200k mark. Granted there are a couple of stats that I could increase but there is only so much you can do until the right piece of gear comes along.

I guess its true what they say. Sometimes you have to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes to understand their trials and tribulations.

IMO, Tanking is Easier

I will never take my DPS team members for granted again. As a tank, remembering to taunt was paramount. If you messed up your rotation, it was rarely a big deal (unless it caused you to dramatically lose threat). The rotation for a DPS has very little room for error. The adage for DPS to “Always Be Casting” (also known as the ABCs of DPS) has a lot of credence. It not only requires you to constantly cast something but deviating from your rotation can have cascading effects on your damage output. The training dummies are good for building the muscle memory for your rotation. However, they are not a reliable method of measuring your damage because you never have to move, which isn’t an authentic raid scenario.

So, to that end, while I really enjoy playing my shadow priest, I do enjoy tanking more. I’m less frustrated, less often, with my performance as a tank after a night of raiding. Some nights I dread looking at the logs; I don’t want to see how far down the damage charts I am when I know I need to be near the top. I’m not sure what else to do but keep improving my stats, keep practicing that rotation and reading priest forums (like icy-veins.com or howtopriest.com).

Tips and recommendations are welcome.
/cheers

TBT is one of those crazy Facebook trends. It stands for “ThrowBack Thursday” and often times people post pictures. I know the old adage “A picture is worth 1,000 words” but most of the time the pictures I want to post have a great story behind them. In my traditional nerdy fashion, instead of just a picture I want to provide a blog post for my TBT moments to share those great stories. I will not share stories in which the context will embarrass or incriminate myself or my friends and family.

Biggs’ Labs: Smart Home Phase I [Complete]

By Biggs

On November 22, 2016

In Biggs' Labs, Technology

The summer presented some additional challenges which pushed back phase I of my smart home project. I am also adding another phase to the project. Every time we see some new appliance or module we immediately start to budget to add said module. Be that as it may, I have updated the project checklist:

~~In Home Network~~

~~MythTV, Plex and FreeNAS (DVR and Media server)~~

~~Home Automation Phase I~~

Home Automation Phase II – with Raspberry Pi integration (in progress)

Home Automation Phase III (in draft mode)

There are many flavors of home automation you can choose from and several factors you should consider before you choose one. How dirty do you want to get your hands? How user-friendly do you need the system to be? What other technology will you want to be able to integrate with (i.e. iPhone, Google, Echo, etc)? If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m not talking about professional installation of a home automation system; I’m talking about a Do-It-Yourself kind of project. When you are deciding on a product you should also be aware of which protocol it supports. The protocol is important when you are selecting additional modules and other peripherals.

Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!