Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Walk to Mordor: Arrived at Rauros

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On September 10, 2015

In General Cogitation

falls_of_rauros_ii_by_reneaignerI have officially reached Rauros in my Walk to Mordor Nerd Fitness challenge. That means I have walked over 1300 miles so far this year.

Many folks don’t really know what, in Middle Earth, Rauros is. If you do a Google search you will immediately recognize the location, or you can look at the image at the top, which is the Falls of Rauros.

Argonath

The Pillars of Kings

If that still doesn’t ring a bell from the movies, perhaps this image will help. Just prior to the falls, one would pass through the Gates of Argonath (aka The Pillars of Kings). The Falls of Rauros are also the falls that served as Boromir’s burial site.

Rauros is the final milestone in the Walk to Mordor before Mount Doom. I reached that milestone yesterday, which means I have a little over 400 miles left to complete the challenge. As long as I keep my current pace, statistically, I should have no problem completing the challenge by the end of the year.

I have been tracking my progress using my own tool and my Fitbit dashboard.

/cheers

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

The MMO Times: BB-8 Is Awesome!

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On September 9, 2015

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

bb8-tfaIssue 130: Greetings Gamers! BB-8, the new endearing droid from The Force Awakens trailer, captured the Internet’s heart this week as an app-controlled toy was unveiled. It’s a bit pricey ($150) but its so damn cool that it might be worth it. Hopefully there will still be some available around Christmas (*hint-hint*). Be that as it may, let’s get back to talking about games/gaming. We just had a 3-day weekend which means an extra day to game. What did you play for your extra day of indulgence?

The Labor Day weekend made for a pretty meager list of noteworthy headlines. Some upsetting news for those interested in the Pathfinder Online title; WildStar’s Free-2-Play version has some new updates. I even threw something in here about The Witcher 3. I found some news about a couple of titles we haven’t heard from in a while, and there’s more of course. So while your BB-8 is charging, check these out. KCGO.

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Star Wars Expanded Universe Rebooted?

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On September 3, 2015

In Geek Canon, General Cogitation, Star Wars

han-chewie-episode-7I must have missed the part where Disney said the Expanded Universe is now obsolete and they are starting over with a clean slate. I didn’t realize this until yesterday when it was announced that the first post-ROTJ book of the “new expanded universe” will be released September 4th (titled Star Wars: Aftermath). So that means in this “new timeline” there will be no Grand Admiral Thrawn (big bummer!), no “New Jedi Order” (at least not in the same sense), no moon’s killing lovable sidekicks. It’s all going to be … just. Like. Star Trek.

I have mixed feelings, to be honest. The three books Timothy Zahn wrote were amazing (hence the bummer about no Thrawn). I have quite a few other books on the reading list I plan to get to that are part of the “old expanded universe”, including the New Jedi Order series. I guess this explains the rumored death of a character in The Force Awakens (that I previously talked about); and it also explains all the nerd rage that followed the Disney acquisition.

bb-8-droidI tend to keep a pretty open mind when it comes to Star Wars; after all I am in the minority of people that don’t speak of the prequels with seething and disdain. There are so many books in the “old” Expanded Universe I still want to read that I will never be caught up. I guess this is an opportunity for me to try to keep up with the new Expanded Universe. It will be interesting to see how things progress from here. Will authors like James Luceno, Troy Denning, and Timothy Zahn continue to write books in the old “Expanded Universe” or is that world now off limits?

Personally I am going to try to keep the two timelines separate. Obviously I currently favor the existing expanded universe. J. J. Abrams and future authors could change that depending on how well written the new stories will be, so I am going to continue to keep an open mind. Besides, its not like I can force (haha, “force”) Disney to change their mind, even if I change my Facebook profile picture!

/MTFBWY

The MMO Times: The DayStar Returns!

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On September 2, 2015

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Daystar Burns Us!

Issue 129: The DAYSTAR Burns Us!! Just when you started to get a taste for mild temperatures, the DAYSTAR brings back the heat! (Well, that’s the case at my location, at least). Be that as it may, hot and muggy temperatures makes for great conditions to stay indoors and game! There isn’t to much going on. PAX Prime just ended and DragonCon is up next (starting on September 4th) down in Atlanta. 

There is some expansion talk in this issue and, believe it or not, it isn’t about WoW’s expansion. Guild Wars 2 and Destiny have some details regarding their respective expansions. Also, don’t forget, for you WoW players, that patch 6.2.2 went live this week and flying should now be enabled in Draenor (for those that completed the Pathfinder achievement). A StarCraft 2 announcement about … an announcement? Star Wars Battlefront news, and a few other things. The gaming news is a little slow lately. I think all the major stuff is kind of out there already now that we have had so many big conferences recently. The build-up to BlizzCon is next 🙂
KCGO

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He Kind of Has A Point

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On September 1, 2015

In Gaming, General Cogitation

dr-evil-feelingsI know I troll social media a lot by posting meme’s and comments on hot topics to try to elicit cranial detonation, but this time I’m actually not trying to be a troll. Have you seen the video with Jimmy Kimmel criticizing YouTube latest “gaming” channel? He basically says that he doesn’t quite grasp the appeal of watching other people play video games, live. I have watched my fair share of live streams but I don’t need a whole product built on that concept.

In other words, I agree with Kimmel.

Most of you know that I am an avid gamer, but I watch a lot of sports on TV, especially during football season. I agree that watching someone play video games is not the same as watching live sporting events. If I could watch every football game on every Sunday, I would (and I kind of achieve that watching NFL Red Zone). I have tried watching some live streaming and its boring as hell (unless I actually know the people playing the games in the stream). My least favorite event at conferences like Gamescom and BlizzCon is the live stream raiding and/or pvp events. I have no interest, whatsoever, of Method’s attempt to be the best at the top level and most difficult raid. Someone please bludgeon me with a golf club.

I would rather smash a hole in the wall, with my face. Patch it. Watch the joint compound dry. Paint it. Watch the paint dry, than watch a live stream of some XBox or MMO raid/group event.

Apparently the video, on YouTube (ironically), recieved 60,000 dislikes and 5,000 likes. I should go make it 5,001 🙂

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

Biggs On: Laptops

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On August 28, 2015

In Biggs On, General Cogitation, Technology

broken-surface-2-appleI know, why would I write an opinion post on something that has been around for 40 years??! Since the birth of the iPad technology has been trending away from the nostalgic old desktop PC. Tablets and laptops (and other forms of mobile devices) are becoming more popular by the hour. The truth is, I’m not really a fan of laptops. Sure I use a laptop for work because it’s easier as a consultant to have your trusty computer with you when you need it, but work is the only occasion where I feel like having one is warranted.

My home PC is a custom built desktop. The key word there is custom. I like knowing exactly what is in my computer and I like that I am the person that put it there. I have never bought a mass manufactured desktop PC (emphasis on PC, because I do own a Mac-Mini). I have never needed a reason to buy a laptop to use as my primary computer. Granted, I do have a laptop that I take with me on extended vacations, but when I’m home I will only use my desktop; and to be honest I think I would be just fine without one while on vacation. I typically spend more time doing touristy stuff or reading books when I’m on vacation. If I want to look something up when I’m away from the computer, I reach for my iPad and thus have never wished it were a laptop.

The two primary functions of my home computer is for gaming and programming. Honestly I just think using a desktop is the best hardware for both of these functions. Granted a laptop can be used for software development (obviously since I use one for that purpose at work), but it needs to be a fairly well specced laptop, one I definitely couldn’t afford on my own (which is why I make sure I take very good care of the one provided to me from my employer). How people use laptops for gaming (especially MMOs) is almost beyond my capacity, unless they are plugging peripherals in. They almost have to be using an unattached keyboard and mouse, I just don’t see how any other configuration would be efficient and comfortable. In fact, when I am using a laptop, I always try to plug in a keyboard and mouse if its possible because I don’t like typing on most laptop keyboards and I loathe the touch pad.

I know people make it work somehow and that’s fine, as far as I’m concerned. My desktop is like a muscle car, I like to beef it up, make it glow. I want it to have presence <insert manly Tim Taylor grunts>. But to each their own.

/cheers

[P.S. The Surface Pro laptops look awful and make laptops even less endearing; I’d rather have an Etch-a-Sketch.]

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