Team Fortress 2 Mayhem

On a recommendation from a friend, I decided to download Team Fortress 2.  This is a Multi-player shooter, where a player can choose from a multitude of servers ranging from Minecraft style arenas to Shopping malls with wrestling rinks in the middle to battle out objectives or just death match till you cry for a power failure to stop the madness.  There is also a spread of characters for the choosing ranging from Pyro, who sprays enemies with a lethal plume of fiery goodness, to the Medic, who will keep his companions alive with Uber charged healing.

If you choose to watch the 20 minute video above it is pretty entertaining, personally favorites are the Pyro intro, and the Black Scottish Demolition man, who recognizes his own rarity, lol.  The video above goes through all the character classes that are available in the game. The game play is very fast, and un-rewarding for beginners, for me at least, in the first 15 minutes I was ready to uninstall.  But that is mostly because I hate to lose, and I was losing a lot, after switching to medic I started to find my groove, if I cant be a killer ill be a healer. 

You really have to give this game a bit of time to get acclimated to the explosions and death surrounding you. I liked the game, after I found my niche and started playing with a friend,  Cool game but will not have a permanent home on my hard drive.

Coin Wallet, I don't even know what I've Backed now

So just got a message that My Coin, the device that promised to replace all the plastic in my wallet with one simple device, is not going to be scheduled until Fall of 2015, buh.

 This is the first push back of the release date that I know of, and isn't that bad, but the thing I don't understand know is that when my wife sent $50 bucks to the Kickstarter campaign, I was looking for a finished device, but from my understanding that now only for the BETA version of the device, and I was going to have to buy the actual finished product at full price? Now since the ship dates have been blown, i get this apology email, which is all fine and dandy.

 Updated* Now if you opt into the BETA program you will get the finished product at no cost to you, when it finally ships which is God knows when, and this small article isn't just bitching about COIN, though it seems that after some backlash, they decided to actually do the right thing and pucker up for what will be the longest ass kissing any of them has ever had to endure; but more so of a cautionary tell of Backer, crowd funding, etc. 

Look at any type of backing of a company as a donation, if you are not comfortable giving your cash to these start ups,then please don't.  "This shit" as a friend told me "Is the Wild West, we are entering a new age of how companies get funded, and it is bringing some power back to the people."  Backing a project is fun and exciting, more and more people are going to Kickstarter, crowd funding, etc to get their ideas off the ground, but just be weary, there are more people that would be just interested in taking your money and running.

Ducky Diapers Would you Back this Project?

Beta Brigade: Zombie Monster Robots

New game is coming out, its called Zombie Monster Robots, I have been playing the Closed Beta for a couple of days now and here are some thoughts.

First of all this game is an FPS, the controls are very simple following the traditional WASD for movement, Mouse for Aim, 1234 to change weapons, space bar for duck/cover application as well as dash, jump from cover.  E is used to use an item, and F for Grenade.  This game can be played in two styles PvP or PvE.  You can group up with random people or bring your clan to the battle in either PvP or PvE.  Match lobbies are numerous and if you are soloing you can always find a place to go, or just simply create your own match and wait for folks to join in.

HIDE/SHOW

Matches
The matches are fun, seriously fun.  I really have been enjoying this game.  Don't get me wrong there are some downsides, and Ill get to those in a bit; but being able to log in grab a match and pound out your enemies in 20-30 minutes matches is something that fits into my lifestyle perfectly. The maps all look good, plenty of natural obstructions to hide behind use for cover etc.

Baddies
The enemies in PvE can be tough, and once you played a time or two you start to recognize which baddies require a sense of urgency (Warmonger) and which you can just mow down.  Now with this being said, I have played one Hard mode in PvE and while I am sure my skill have improved since then, but I got owned by the baddies rather quickly.  An in-experienced group in Normal mode will still get wiped from time to time, so this game will challenge you in your FPS skills.  Speaking of being wiped you can revive falling comrades by moving to their location and holding space bar, if you actually die, you or teammates can revive you by using 1up tokens earned through the reward system.

I have not delved into the world of PvP as of yet, but for the sake of experiencing what the game is like I postponed being called a newb, and having my face peeled Back by automatic gun fire.

Loadouts and Extras
There are all kinds of Guns, Side Arms, Bats, knives that you can outfit onto your char.  You can purchase additional space on your char so that additional can be carried, as well as opening more locker space (Bank) to hold more personal inventory.  This can be done in one or another, by using in game gold earned during matches or by purchasing EMP with actual money.  One of the things I dislike is the purchasing system you can buy guns, mods etc with in game gold for 1-day, 3-day, 7-day increments.  After the days are up you have to re purchase the item.  This is annoying.  There are some items that can be purchased permanently but you have to spend actually money on these items, this seems to fit into the Micro-Transactions the gaming industry has grown so fond of, I understand these folks have to make money but by god, in ZMR the shop menu is almost overwhelming, with all the different ways you can purchase items, VIP cards, blue cards, and a ton of other options.

All and all the game is pretty fun, I would see playing this game for an extended amount of time being hard if you don't group up with friends or join a clan, maps get a little repetitious, I am sure they will expand on this after the BETA. The game is worth a download.

Phil is probably right

Currently there is a rather dumb debate about what Phil Fish said about YouTubers and others streaming, recording games in their entirety, and how some a large amount of royalties made from these recordings should be given to the developers.

First in this conversation I know that not everyone will not buy a particular game because they saw it in it's entirety on Youtube etc, They might say "Wow that looks awesome I gotta have it!"  At the same time the other side of that is true as well, If a streamer unfolds the entire story to you, some people will be just satisfied knowing what happens in a series, and they will not buy the game, or they decide the game is horrible and not buy the game.

No matter how you look at it whether you say it is free PR, or your user experience playing the game cannot be copyrighted, trying to warn gamers of a bad game, or whatever stupid reason you may have defending streaming games in their entirety, its crap, the announcements that this game is awesome and is a must have, can be done with a regular review, with gameplay segments, screenshots, etc, and guess what it is Federally protected under Fair Use!

And guess what, dumb asses that say, "Well My stream, had commentary! Its protected by Fair Use." No no its not idiot,

Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, search engines, criticism, parody, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. It provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test.

The key word being Limited here, There are Four test that this argument must pass.  Purpose and character, Nature of the Copied Work, Amount and substantiality, and Effect upon works Value.

Please Gamers stop being idiots, understand laws and how they work, you wouldn't want someone scabbing your work don't do it to developers.

New Amazon Fire Phone

The new Amazon Fire Phone is set to release July 25, 2014, you can pre-order it now HERE.  With a qualifying new line of service with AT&T you can make it yours for $199.99.  The phone features Dynamic Perspective for the lock screen and the map application, this makes it look somewhat 3D when you tilt the phone in different directions.  Other features include the Fire Fly app that allows you to take a picture of book, magazine, or product and Amazon will find the same item within their site show the price etc, so you can do comparative shopping. It will also pick out phone numbers, email address if you take a photo of something that has that info on the page.  If you pre-order the phone you get a year membership of Prime, which is pretty cool.

But honestly, I am completely not excited about any new phone that is released, I looked at this phone and actually thought, "I do not want this."  That feeling has actually extended into almost every new phone I see come out.  Maybe I am desensitized because there is a new phone every six months, it is like I do not even see these phones as new technology, I am completely uninterested.

The last time i got excited about a phone, I was watching the Matrix and when Neo's phone slid open, I immediately bought the horrible reproduction of this mod and snapped it onto my Motorola .  Wish I could be excited maybe someday I will.

STEM Job Shortage?

For those of who don't know STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Match. For a good number of years now, CEO's like Zuckerberg, Gates, have been perpetuating the myth that he does not have enough Native workers to fulfill their growing businesses. They have actually requested that H1-B Visas be dismantled to allow an unlimited number of foreign workers to come to the US and work for them; they ask for this while 1/3 of STEM graduates cannot find employment.  Read more about the study

Whats even better companies such as IBM have found a way to use H1-B Visas for direct outsourcing to other countries, so the employees aren't even here! They also had to settle a suit with the US Govt, because  IBM included a preference for H1-B and F-1 visa holders over US citizens in the job posting! Read full story here .  This is absolutely disgusting.

 Why is this in a blog about gaming, software, tech etc; because those very industries are the ones trying to stick it to the American people. These CEO's want to get thousands of underpaid Engineers stick them in petri dish houses in Silicon valley, bus them to work, work their ass off and dispose of them. ( I realize not every foreign worker is underpaid but it happens more time than not.) If there is such a shortage for these jobs why then have wages not increased accordingly, it really hasn't changed since the 90's.

These companies should just really be honest and say "We don't have enough employees we can underpay and treat like shit."  I myself have a Trade Skill that I like to think it would be terribly hard to outsource because of its onsite requirements, and I pray that will protect me long enough to support my family.  But I have a real fear for my son, who I plan on pushing towards technology career.

But a word for these CEO's, when you have suppressed wages so badly that no one can afford your bullshit Limited Edition Halo Box sets, and Candy Crush micro transaction purchases, who will you sell too?

Ouya and Playcast Media Team up to Stream AAA game titles

I had heard a few weeks ago that Playcast Media was going to do their Beta Testing on the Ouya game console, yesterday I received an email reporting that Playcast Media was going to hold a Free BETA testing of it's cloud based service on the Ouya.  Below is the press release and I am really excited, my wonderful wife just ordered me an Ouya and it will be here Saturday, I plan on doing a full review of the Ouya as well as the taking a look at the Beta for Playcast.

HIDE/SHOW

Playcast Media Launches Beta Trials on OUYA

Playcast Media Has Launched a Free Global Beta Program to Stream Video Games through OUYA Boxes 

Palo Alto, Calif. - April 30, 2014 – Playcast Media, the cloud gaming market leader, is ramping up its US and global footprint by announcing a new beta program that will stream video game titles through OUYA boxes. The Playcast beta trial, which leverages the powerful Amazon AWS infrastructure, is available immediately free of charge to OUYA owners around the world.

“Playcast bridges the visual computation and content gap between Ouya and the consoles,” said Guy de Beer, CEO of Playcast Media. “In this beta, we will be employing for the first time the power of a public cloud system, and a set of technologies that is set to overcome the limitations of streaming over the open Internet. Initial results have been very encouraging, and we hope to expand the program soon.”

Playcast Media’s will begin its trial with a small set of games, and will expand it to the company’s full library of AAA titles in the coming weeks. OUYA owners will be able to access the beta through an app that will appear on their TV, and will be able to play the titles with their OUYA controllers. A launch date and price for the final service has not yet been set.

Playcast Media is the world’s first cloud gaming service for cable and IPTV operators. The company’s service features the world’s major video game brands and packages them in a set of affordable sales models, including monthly subscriptions and various rental models. The game streaming service is offered to users through devices such as set top boxes, microconsoles and other video-enabled connected devices. Playcast’s system has been in commercial operation since 2011, serving hundreds of thousands of TV subscribers in France, Portugal and Korea. The Ouya trial is the first time the company’s service is available for gamers in North America.

Playcast video game partners include renowned publishers such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Konami, Warner Bros, 2K, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, Capcom, Codemasters, Disney, Sega, Atari, THQ, and a long list of indie studios.

The 4 most unbelievable rip off games consoles

Games consoles are big business and like a lot of high end gear they run the risk of being cloned into unlicensed, rip off variants that consumers can be fooled into buying. These fake consoles are designed to look like the real thing from everything down to the logo to the shape of the machine and some claim they’re intended to be an affordable alternative. These consoles cannot play the games of the real thing and more often than not they only play low quality imitation games that are already built into the console. Here I’ve showcased the four worst, and funniest, rip off games consoles that you wouldn’t believe even exist
.

4. PX 3600
There’s no mistaking that thick green X that’s been plastered onto the top of this unfortunate creature. This cross bred PS3 and original Xbox’s only real advertised feature is that the (extremely unresponsive) controllers vibrate. Before you celebrate you should know that only one controller actually vibrates, not due to a manufacturing error but as an entirely intentional feature. I guess you’ll just have to share the faint rumbles between you both if you’re trying to play something in multiplayer. You’re unlikely to get a great deal of entertainment out of this thing however as it can only play pre-installed games that are somewhere around the quality of a NES game. But there’s a disk drive, you may claim and yes, on first appearance there does appear to be a disk drive. The only problem is, it’s just for show. Why Dr Frankenstein decided to score a round line in the top of this console and allow it to hang pointlessly open is beyond me. Maybe he was aware of how inferior it was to actual disk-playing consoles and wanted to give it a fighting chance. I guess its only positive feature is that there are quite a few games, approximately 60, but why you’d opt to play them on this piece of rubbish is completely beyond me. If this console is actually appealing to you you’ll probably be disappointed knowing that they’re only available to be bought wholesale; in quantities of 1000 or more. There are however, plenty of disappointed teens putting these things on Ebay around January time so you can always grab a PX 3600 from there, if you must.
HIDE/SHOW

3. Neo Double
Anybody gazing at this hunk of plastic is sure to be reminded of a Nintendo DS. After all, it’s basically it’s slightly more malformed brother with the duel screens, horizontal positioning, fold up screen... button placement, ok so everything is the same. The differences between them, other than this one being made of excruciatingly cheap and flimsy plastic, is that the bottom screen is fake. It’s basically a glued on sheet of black plastic. If that’s not bad enough for you; some of those buttons are useless. It’s not that they’re broken, it’s just that they’re not actually buttons they’re more… pseudo buttons so you believe this thing is more complex than it is, or maybe they’re just there to make it more like a Nintendo DS.. Hmm. Oh yes, and by the way the hinge at the top doesn’t actually work. To get the Neo Double to stay open you have to hold it there with your finger or maybe lean it so far back that gravity takes over. So now that we’ve figured out which bits of the console works and how to position ourselves hanging over the back of the sofa, what delights do we get to play? Not a lot, you may be surprised to hear. The LCD screen, the real one, has horribly broken pixels and a backlight so strong you can’t really see what’s going on so I’m afraid you’re probably going to miss out on all those built in 8-bit games that the Neo Double ships. What a shame.

2. Chintendo Vii
Aside from the absolutely hilarious name that sounds like something Seth MacFarlane made up the Chintendo vii otherwise looks like a pretty serious console. The Chintendo (from China, get it?) even has its own adverts on televisions and in glossy magazines which, considering that it looks basically identical to the Nintendo Wii, is a pretty bold move. What’s even bolder is that they have dared to advertise this console’s existence as it’s such a shoddy piece of equipment I’m surprised they didn’t smash it with a hammer the moment they realised what they had actually created. The motion sensing features on the Chintendo vii are actually bordering on offensive, in order to have the controller even recognize you’re moving it you need to quite literally pull several muscles from furiously paddling through the air. It’s only after you’re tired and sore that you look up to see that the ping pong ball in the rip off Wii Sports cover hasn’t even picked up on your furious swipes and has instead, bounced off somewhere else. All of the games are very similar to the Wii Sports titles and includes activities like bowling, Catch Fish, Come On and Fry Egg. I’ll leave your imagination to decide what those last couple of titles actually involve doing but I imagine it’s not going to anything exhilarating or enjoyable.

1. Mini Polystation 3
The shape, the colour and the logo are all unmistakably ripped off from the PlayStation 3 and, to make it worse, this is the third PolyStation out there. PolyStation has gone overboard in this fake console market and for every new version of PlayStation, since the first one, PolyStation has been right on its heels producing their version. PlayStation is under no threat from their persistent ‘competitor’ as the PolyStation is made from extremely flimsy, cheap plastic, cannot play disks and cannot be connected to televisions. The games are pre-installed onto the console, like the rest of these rip offs, and instead of being displayed on a television you instead have to squint at the tiny, broken LCD screen that pulls out from the side of the console as though it were the disk drive. This isn’t even a smooth process and to get the screen out you basically have to wrench it free and risk shattering the thin plastic casing of the machine. You control the game on an extremely tiny little PlayStation controller that, instead of analog sticks, has two round buttons and, rather than the classic buttons of X, Square, Triangle and O you just get one big one plonked in the middle. In in all, I think that the best part of this console though is that it requires AA batteries to run, the PolyStation series really are rip off games consoles at their finest.


Thanks Rambling Fox Reviews!

Origin Game Vault Offers Selection of Free Games

Saw a Tweet that led me to the EA games Origin site

@Boogie2988 Hey Boogie, Dead Space is free on Origin until May 9 :) https://t.co/VSY2GC9QyL
— Leo (@LeoCryptic) March 28, 2014

So I downloaded the Client, downloaded 7gigs worth of game, and WALA, I know have the Orginal title Dead Space.  Just thought that this was really a cool thing.  So I decided to see what other games might be free on here.

HIDE/SHOW

These are some of the other titles that they are currently offering for free.  Now some of these titles like SWTOR it is a free client anyways, but some of these others may be worth a free download.  If you try to game on a budget like I do, and you are not able to pick these titles up when they were hot off the presses and more popular, this is really a good deal.

I am not sure if the stock is rotated out, but I would imagine so. But if it is going to save you some cash, and entertain you for a while, its a good deal then.

Amazon Prime Rates going up to $99/yr

I have been a prime member for less than a year now, and I was a little shocked about the price going up so dramatically.  So lets break it down and see what you get for all that loot.

• Stream the latest Movies for additional rental cost
• Buy movies to add to your digital collection
• Stream TV shows and Movies for free *selection will vary
• Watch the latest episode of shows for cost per episode
• "Free" two day shipping (more to come on this)
• Share Prime benefits with up to four additional people that live in home
• Borrow books from other Kindle Prime members

For the most part this is a pretty good damn deal, but unfortunately for myself and family my first efforts are to try and find the bad side to a good situation.

Here is one thing I don't like about the Free 2-day shipping.  You can find a really good deal sometimes, I personally abused the free shipping for graphic tees, I was trying to get some new shirts because friends told me that White under shirts were not a one shirt for every event kind of thing, here is an example of an awesome deal.

I am wearing this shirt right now as I blog!

HIDE/SHOW

Basically $8 dollar shirt sent to my house on Amazon.  Other times you will find that the Prime product is $5-15 dollars more than any other sellers item one the site, so its like the shipping is built into the price of the product.  But I have had more positive scenarios with prime than negative, but I really looked for a deal as well.

(There is actually a Lawsuit about to come through about the pricing practices involving the free 2-day shipping, you can read about it here. Reports have also surfaced that Amazon is using SurePost for delivery service where FedEx or UPS would hand the shipment over to the USPS, where 2-Day deliveries are not guaranteed.)

Free TV shows, this might sound a little conspiracy theorist but, I have had TV series that I started watching that were free, suddenly start charging in the middle of the season I am watching.  This Phenomenon has happened to my Wife as well.  The explanation from Amazon Prime is that shows are frequently rotated this way...Well I am sorry, I will not be paying $1.99 for each episode of "Murder She Wrote".

Buy "Home Alone" in HD? $12.99?!! Really someone should be fired.

We have not used the Lending Library on our 2nd Gen E-ink Kindle yet, so not much to say about that.

Sharing benefits is kind of cool but pointless, you can do it for up to four family members or if you purchase it for a small business you can share with co workers.  If you live with the people you could extend the benefits to them with or without the service, I could see how this would be handy if you had adult children, or whatever with multiple Amazon Accounts.

Prime Products are full filled by Amazon, so this makes it easier for the return process etc.  Well for $10 Bucks a month it is still a pretty good deal, I do not believe anyone that says Amazon is losing money on this deal though as it stands.  In the end Amazon Prime, bundled with our Netflix is still way cheaper than a cable contract, my family will probably be staying Prime members for the $99/yr change.

Next Gen MOBA: Strife

So I have played a few matches with this next gen MOBA and I am not hating it as much as I thought I would.  The beginning of the game you are giving pirate character in order for you to complete the tutorial.  At this point I was thinking that the game was a little kiddie for me.  The game was full of what I like to call "Round Graphics" simply meaning that there are details but they aren't sharp and as detailed as you would normally see with a PC game.  But I also understand that this is pretty typical for MOBA type games.

After Completing the tutorial with your abnormally busty friend, you will make a game run with the PC assisting that basically gives you the run down of how to play a match.  Things I like coming from this BETA

HIDE/SHOW

• The graphics are actually pleasant and easy on the eyes

• After the tutorial the kiddiness goes away

• Shop items can be bought in the field and delivered by mutant chipmunks

• You are given pets that can evolve and give you more abilities (No Pet Battles, lol)

• Gold is split between allies for kill assist

Strife Next Gen MOBA

Of course I believe that you can only be so original so if you look hard enough you are going to see similarities from past MOBA, I have already found myself saying, this char plays like Darius, or Jax.  I think this is too be expected with a genre that has to constantly try to reinvent itself.

There appears to be a lot of customization that they are planning on doing, you can craft Armour, weapons, and enchanting with the loot that you earn during the game. It also appears hat there will be in game purchases, so you can get that certain edge, if your willing to spend the money.  Accounts will be wiped periodically, but there will be some compensation promise developers.  Follow my link under the picture to secure your BETA.

Get out of my Dreams, and into my Turtle Van!

This might be a bit of an understatement...but when I was a young child I was a Fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  When I heard that the TMNT movie was coming out, I peed a little.  I'm talking I remember my sister taking me to the $1 theater to watch "TNMT Turtles in Time", HIDE/SHOW

I had the Motion Soundtrack with "Ninja Rap", I had "The Ooze" splattered on ceilings in every room of the house, I had the Live TMNT roadshow on VHS.  My sisters physically assaulted a kid in the neighborhood because he had taken my Turtle Van home.

Micheal Bay is a wish granting Unicorn, whom I will love forever love, Meagan Fox is in this movie playing April O'Neal which is very surprising I thought they had a tiff, and she wasn't going to do any of his movies, don't care.  Can't wait for this movie, I heard Lindsay Lohan is going to play either Bebop or Rock-steady.  After viewing the trailer looks like they are going to stay pretty close to the "Ooze" origin to a degree, and the turtles are not ALIENS!  Here is a cool video from Screen Junkies about the new movie.

Wal-Mart (Won't Stop) Vs Game Stop

Recently Walmart has announced that they will be purchasing slightly used video games from its patrons, and then offering them back to consumers at a discounted price.  This is a direct jab at the already floundering Gamestop which just announced that it will not be offering its cloud gaming service (Spawn Labs) and instead they will be focusing on selling stupid subscription cards for the PS4.

HIDE/SHOW

Not that I am a big fan of the prices that Gamestop gives for most trade ins (Pennies on the dollar for used games), but I hate Walmart more!  I feel more comfortable going into a GS to talk shop, than talking about anything to anyone working at a WM.  I have found that people that work in whatever department in WM have no clue about what surrounds them.  At least at GS you can pretty much rest assured that the guy behind the counter has clocked more WOW time than a small village.

After recently seeing some deals that GS is offering with memberships, etc, it appears that they are really trying to make it a better deal for consumers, I really, really hope, and I think they will hold out against the monstrosity that is Wal Mart.

Nvidea Shield...why do I need this?

First I would like to say that I am a big proponent of remote gaming, I love the idea of sitting on my couch and playing games from my desktop in the back room comfortably, and I do not actually own a Nvidia Shield, nor will I ever.

Basically the Shield is a hand held controller that has a 5 in LCD touchscreen on it,
that you can play android games on and stream PC games on as well, and it has High Fidelity speakers designed to immerse you, you can do Netflix, Facebook, music etc it is a pretty cool device.

HIDE/SHOW

The initial price on this contraption was $299, If you show me someone that paid this, I would slap them, price cut down to $249, you bought this, I would cuss you in the street, now it is down to $199 you bought this I would awkwardly avoid your phone calls.  This is just not worth it! (Original price before release was $349)

Play android games with it, I do that already with my Samsung G3, stream PC games to it!! I do this with my laptop already, shoot I do it with my Nook! Netflix WOW!!!! I do this on my phone, nook, laptop, Desktop, heck you give me a potato, some yarn and a paperclip, and i'll have Netflix on it, in an hour.

If you are outside your home, when would someone decide "man....I would love to play some COD right now."  Did you just leave your house so you could sit at the bus stop and impress everyone with your streaming capabilities.  Maybe I am not the caliber of gamer that finds this awesome, but when I leave my home, I got junk to do! I am either at work or I am socializing with friends and family, whipping this brick out would never occur to me.

I mean maybe if you are not savvy enough to figure out how to do your PC games remotely, then yeah go right ahead and buy this, or if you have no other device to your name.  But this device makes me sad.

Winds of change are coming!

Found new sharpees at work that have broad and fine tip in one marker! No where but up from here!!

Hex: Shards of Fate will shatter expectations!

Hex: Shards of Fate had its humble beginnings as a Kickstarter from Cryptozoic Entertainment promising to change how people play MMO's  as well as TCG forever, by combining the two.  After a very successful Kickstarter fund raiser to the tune of $2.2 million, Alpha was released for play testing by its creators.
HIDE/SHOW

I personally missed the original Kickstarter buy in, but was able to get in on the Alpha access to the game by contributing as a Slacker Backer which includes the following:

• Alpha and Beta invite
• 1 starter deck in addition to your starter deck at account creation
• 25 set 1 booster pack
• 2 months of VIP which includes 1 pack a week and access to Tournaments and deck tools
• Princess Cory promo card
• Chest o Hex Promo Card
• Digital art book in PDF Form

(Also kiddies the Slacker Backer offer ends April 1, so get in while you can!)

So what can be said about the game, if you decks that are highly involved, and you enjoy games that make you employ strategies, this game is for you.  The deck creation is similar to other TCG of the past, Direct Damage, Bounce Decks, Spawner, etc; But everything has a fresh new look that is appealing to the eye.

Game play for me at least seems a little choppy, there are options that allow you to automatically pass on "Phases" of your turn that could ease the choppiness, but i fear using these because I would not want to pass on an opportunity.  You basically build a deck and you can battle AI or other players.

Now for the MMO aspect, there is nothing to say about this, it is not available and I think only Cory Jones (President and CCO) knows when this will become playable, but to me its expected, it's still Alpha.  Cryptozoic is promising Dungeons and raids just like some of your favorite MMO's of the past.  I will offer some advice though do not fall down the path of "Duke Nukem", get this product out there!

Is this game worth the investment, I would say that knowing what I know now I am still 50/50 on the matter.  I enjoy being a part of something new, but you have that worrying feeling of is this game going to come to fruition 

Looks promising the game is updated constantly, the forums are alive, I am optimistic to where this game can go.

Occulus Fans have collectively Crapped their pants

Just announced Facebook has bought the virtual headset maker Oculus Rift for 2 Billion Dollars!  Many had high hopes for this new hardware, but are suddenly seeing all their dreams crushed.  Here are some reactions.

Wow, it's like I can actually taste the candy. pic.twitter.com/fK5InliSA6
— Oliver Age 24 (@OliverAge24) March 25, 2014

HIDE/SHOW

BTW, for those of you that crowd funded the Oculus Rift. SORRY. pic.twitter.com/UG8qEGadvJ
— Boogie2988 (@Boogie2988) March 25, 2014

No one knows what this will mean for the Oculus hardware, for now disappointment rules the Twitter feed with this announcement.

Salted Nut Roll

Sooooo I know what your thinking......it's delicious.

Plex Media Server-Why haven't you done this yet?

Okay, so if you do not know what Plex Media Server is, unplug your internet, throw your computer out in the yard, become Amish and leave my presence. Well you can do that, but not in that order finish reading my post then give me a +1 and then do that stuff, lol.  Alright seriousness now!

Plex basically allows you to put all your media onto your computer and access it whenever and wherever you are like in apps web access etc.

HIDE/SHOW

Above shows one of the menus from where you access your TV shows, movies, music, pictures etc!  This has been one of the most flawless media servers I have had the pleasure of dealing with.  I have synced my iTunes with this app, home pictures and movies.  

If you pair this software up with lets say a ROKU HD...mind blown.  Also the control that I get through my phone is amazing, below is a screenshot of my menu from my Samsung G3.  the on the fly transcoding Plex is capable of is nothing less than blissful.  

Guys and gals if you are looking for a media server that will make all your streaming media dreams come true, this is it...I have not even mentioned the best part... ITS FREE!!  For months I used this service without paying a single red cent, I have spent a grand total of $4.99 for the App from the Play store after I decided I just loved it.  You can decide to subscribe for a monthly or yearly fee ($74.99 for lifetime).  This will get you access to new features and other completely awesome parts of Plex.  You can also share your library with other Plex users, by the way shoot me an email if you wanna become a Plex Buddy with me!  This is just hands down a must have!!

Amazon Mechanical Turk Review

So in my never ending search to find a way to make extra money online I stumbled across an Amazon service that I had found a few years ago, but rediscovered recently Amazon Mechanical Turk.  This is a website where you can create an account, verify Tax information and Bank info, and start making pennies on the dollar in hours, lol. 

Here is how it works, after you have created your account and done all the verification's, you will be able to accept HITS or Human Intelligence Tasks from Mechanical Turk Requesters.  These HITS can pay as much as $50 to as little as $0.  HITS also range from audio transcribing which seems to be where the money is, down to surveys that pay upwards to $2.00.

HIDE/SHOW

There are also qualifications that requesters may require of a MTurker (Someone who uses Amazon Mechanical Turk) ranging from regional qualifications to audio transcribing qualifications.  If you do not meet these requirements you will simply not be able to accept the hit, or your hit will be REJECTED!!

(FYI being rejected is apparently the number one insult to an MTurker, it affects which HITS you are able to work on and for whom, ii is exactly like  receiving bad review a work )

There are a bunch of Add-on scripts available through Firefox, and Chrome that allow Mturkers to rate requesters, block nuisance HITS, etc.  These can be found here at Mturk Scripts, once there you will have to download Tampermonkey which will allow you to install the scripts and run them. Turkopticon is the script that allows workers to review requesters on Amazon Mechanical Turk, this tool is invaluable.

Well it comes down to can you make money with Mturk?  Here is my total for less than a weeks worth of work, I am hoping to pay for my Amazon Prime account next year with my Earnings!