Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Empire (In Her Name: Redemption)

Book Review: Armada by Ernest Cline

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On February 9, 2016

In Book Review, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Armada by Ernest ClineArmada by Ernest Cline
My rating: [rating=5]
(Click here to see this review on Goodreads.)

Another great, nerd-filled classic by the Ohio native. As most fans of Ready Player One, I was very excited when I heard about Armada. He does succeed, again, in stirring those nostalgic nerdy memories from my childhood with various references to games and movies I played/watched growing up. I will admit, however, perhaps the references were a little too prolific, especially at the beginning of the book, but I could tell Ernest Cline was writing a book that was fulfilling a childhood fantasy. The same childhood fantasy all of us had playing video games in the 90s and watching Star Wars and The Last Starfighter.

Despite the abundant movie references, and the teasing at the end which lead me to believe there would be a sequel, I still gave this book 5 Stars. Ender’s Game is one of my all time favorite books and Armada felt like a combination of Ender’s Game and The Last Starfighter and turned out to be an excellent juxtaposition.

When Zack learns what he is destined to do, the book becomes impossible to put down. I found myself sneaking in a page or two when the toddler and the wife were distracted; or I went an extra minute on the stationary bike just to keep reading. In fact there were a couple of nights where I was reading until 1 in the morning, allotting me only 4 hours of sleep for the night. There are, literally, only a handful of books where that has happened to me in the past.

Thank you, Ernest Cline, for another epic nerd-themed book. Thank you for taking me back, once again, to my childhood days and the games and movies of the 80’s and 90’s, and I’m looking forward to the next great novel!

View all my reviews

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

The Lenten Experiment

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On February 8, 2016

In Fitness

The Lenten ExperimentThis Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and that means Lent is here (already!). The past two years I have been a little lenient on my Lenten sacrifice but I’m going back to giving up soda as part of my Lenten experiment. It’s been a while since I have gone 40 days without a pop so I’m expecting this Lent to be a little more challenging. I know of several people who have given up pop, for various reasons, and it has been a significant contribution to their weight loss. I think my weight loss has plateaued recently so I am going to take the opportunity this Lent to push myself a little harder. Perhaps the combination of the extra effort and no pop will help push me over that plateau.

I’m sure I’m going to have many moments where I will slip; in fact I am going to allow it. One of the most important things to remember when working out is to listen to your body. If it hurts enough that you have to take pain medication, then you are a) doing something wrong or b) you need to take a break and let your body repair. The point of the experiment isn’t to see how close I can get to incapacitating myself but to observe the effects of a more intense workout coupled with the reduced consumption of soda. I think what intimidates me the most is that I may try to start getting up early on the weekends to use the treadmill for a half hour. I may also try to increase my daily step average which means I will have to find a way to get additional steps each day as most days I am barely hitting my 11k.

Wish me luck because this will be a difficult challenge but I can’t think of a better time for self-improvement, self-reflection and renewal than Lent.

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!
Home Network

Introducing Biggs Lab

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On February 5, 2016

In Biggs' Labs, Technology

Biggs' LabsI have been adding more projects lately, other than my online projects (i.e. vleaminck.com is technically my sandbox for new web technology). I have been branching out into more hardware based projects. I have talked to a few folks about what I’m working on and I’ve posted a few comments and pictures about it on Twitter and Facebook. In every conversation I’ve had people have asked me to keep them in the loop as to how the project is going and how it turns out. I decided I would create a new category of blog posts because as I complete each project I will write a blog post about how it went and any tips that I have for anyone that wants to try it out. I often refer to my projects in the context of “my lab” and thus the new category is “Biggs Lab”.

Here are a few projects I have going on and what is on deck:

In Home Network (almost complete)

MythTV – Plex – FreeNAS DVR and Media system (started)

Home Automation (up next)

Home Automation – Raspberry Pi integration (on deck)

These are just the projects I know I will be getting to in the near future. Depending on the success or failure of these projects could inspire new projects. I’m also always looking for ideas. If you have worked with any of the technologies or architecture that I’m using, I’d like to know what you did and/or some of the resources you used to help you succeed. I particularly interested in any Raspberry Pi projects. So check back to see what I have cooking up in my lab next.

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

And the Geeks Have Inherited the Earth!

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On January 26, 2016

In General Cogitation, Technology

the geeks have inherited the EarthRemember us; from 20 years ago? I know you do. We were the daily mugging. It was never about the lunch money or the dress shirts. We were bullied because we were smarter than you, because we could thrive without trying, because you felt threatened by us. We warned you to be kind to us because you should feel threatened. We had many mantras.

“Be nice to geeks, you’ll probably end up working for one”

“Geeks, will one day, inherit the Earth.”

“Geeks rule the World”

Well now the geeks have inherited the Earth, and we remember! Our minds are steel traps. We haven’t forgotten who bullied and tortured us. Your misplaced machismo may have brought us down on the outside, but it steeled our willpower and drove our ambitions. Now we are the timid tormentors. We are the kings of passive retribution. There are now more of us than there are of you. We may hide behind our monitors and tablets, but that is to disguise our numbers. We may dress like Jedi, Nintendo princesses, hobbits and wizards but that doesn’t mean our resolve has been weakened. We dress as creatures of power because we are creatures of power!

Now we pray on your insecurities and inadequacies. While you sleep, we are building empires but now as CEO, CTO, CIO and even as actors and actresses. Now we control your fate as yours employer and your superiors. Most of us do it as presidents and board members; or we enter your homes through your televisions and Blu-ray players; but there are those of us that do it … “anonymously”, from afar. We know your secrets because we have silently infiltrated your life. Our manifesto from the ’80’s still applies today. You live in our world now! You cannot hide from us; we are smarter than you, remember?

We are abundant.

We are everywhere.

We are watching you.

And we tried to warn you – now go empty the trash!

Stormwind in Warcraft Movie

Newest Warcraft Movie TV Spot

By

On January 25, 2016

In Gaming, Movies

I’ll admit the Warcraft movie looks pretty good. I hope it changes the stigma of pretty much all games-made-into-movies from the past. I doubt this will be as good as The Force Awakens, but that’s probably because I’m a much bigger fan of Star Wars than I am of Warcraft (and I seriously doubt it will make $900 million). If you haven’t seen the latest TV spot (during Tom Brady’s satisfying loss) you can click play below. Enjoy.

Netflix Wins Again with Jessica Jones

By

On January 22, 2016

In Geek Canon

Netflix Wins Again with Jessica JonesI just finished watching the first season of Jessica Jones. It’s the newest Marvel series Netflix has produced starring Krysten Ritter (from “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23“). Jessica Jones has a scarred and tortured past. She’s a private investigator in Hell’s Kitchen with  superhuman strength and has a penchant for drowning her pain in whiskey. This is the first Marvel series produced since its success with Daredevil, and Netflix wins again with Jessica Jones.

I will admit that the first episode doesn’t really pull you in as quickly as the episodes that follow. Once you start learning more about Killgrave (brilliantly portrayed by David Tennant) and his sordid obsession with Jessica, you will binge on this show. By the end of the series you will see Krysten Ritter in a whole new light. She proved to me that she is an amazing drama actress. You will also meet Luke Cage, another series Netflix is working on, and the future husband (based on the comics) of Jessica Jones. He’s the man with unbreakable skin.

The first season naturally focuses on character development using Killgrave as the main antagonist to introduce us to part of Jessica’s past and her abilities. It also sets up the presumed relationship between Jessica and Luke. By the end of the season there is even a subtle hint of a potential Daredevil-Jessica Jones crossover? After all, both series take place in Hell’s Kitchen.

Jessica Jones has been renewed for a second season. I would check it out but with the caveat that this show is definitely not safe for children (there is lewd language and sexual situations). Season 2 of Daredevil will start on March 18th so if you haven’t checked out Season 1, you still have time.

/cheers

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

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