New Year Resolution

Do better. Know better. Be better.

Happy New Year.

The Problem with Gaming...

I took a gaming break in college. I played unfinished games on my PS2 from time to time without completing them. Towards the end of college, I got into Maplestory. It was crazy addicting. It wasn't until I graduated in 2008 that I started getting back into gaming again. My dad bought the PS3 around this time.

I started with a decent collection of PS3 games. Soul Calibur IV and Tekken 6 for fighting games, a First-Person Shooter with Unreal Tournament III, a basketball and tennis game and that Motorstorm racing game that came with the PS3. None of these were serious games that I invest my time on. Most of those games were still a year or so away. I was still playing better games on the PS2 and my current Maplestory addiction. My ex also bought Rock Band 2 for me and my siblings, even though I told her it's a waste. It's a nice party game, but it's not a game I seriously invest my time on or the fact that I don't really host parties lol.

It was about 6 months or so after (2009) when all the good games were released. Over the next two years, not in any particular order, I got Fallout 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Dante's Inferno, Heavy Rain, Brutal Legend, Final Fantasy XIII, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mirror's Edge, L.A. Noire, Nier and God of War 3.



Fast forward to now:

• I reached level 200 in Maplestory in late 2012. I'm probably the only one among my friends in college to ever reach this achievement (no cheating or private servers). I stopped playing shortly in early 2013.
• I haven't beaten Silent Hill: Homecoming. I also bought a copy of Silent Hill: Downpour. I haven't played it yet.
• I haven't beaten Fallout 3. I actually traded my copy of it. At first I thought about buying the Game of the Year edition of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, but I felt it was too much Elder Scroll mechanics for me.
• I did beat Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I also got copies of their direct sequels, Modern Warfare 2 and 3. Also beat them.
• Metal Gear Solid 4, Dante's Inferno and Mirror's Edge were the only serious game I invested my time on in 2009-2010.
• When I started playing Final Fantasy XIII on my fat PS3, it actually broke the system. The lens was fried and could no longer play any disks, Blu-Ray or DVD. The system is still operational for downloaded games and is now sitting in the basement. I bought the Killzone 3 bundle of the slim PS3. I beat Killzone 3 (didn't really care about multiplayer).
• I started playing Nier, Brutal Legend, Heavy Rain, God of War 3 and L.A. Noire around 2010. I beat God of War 3 and Nier in 2011. I just beat the other three games earlier this year.
• Sony had problems with the PSN in 2011 and closed it for a while. As their "Welcome Back" package, they gave away a few PS3 games for download and a trial of PlayStation Plus. I got inFAMOUS and Wipeout. Wipeout was meh. I beat inFAMOUS earlier this year and downloaded a free copy of inFAMOUS 2 as a PlayStation Plus member. Still have yet to beat it.
• E3 in 2012 showcased a trailer for Assassin's Creed III. That got my so hyped up that I bought the previous Assassin's Creed games (1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations) and beat them in the 3 months leading up to the release of AC3 in October 2012. I bought Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag on release date. I beat it about 3 weeks after.
• I acquired a bunch of PSN games. flOw, Flower, Journey, Datura, Machinarium, etc. Already beat them.
• I got The Walking Dead: A Tell-Tale Game and the 400 Days DLC. Still waiting for Season 2.
• I acquired Ni no Kuni and Bioshock: Infinite from Amazon. Bioshock: Infinite includes a free copy of the first Bioshock. I'm actually playing that one first. I started playing Ni no Kuni. It's a fun J-RPG.
• I got Beyond: Two Souls. Many people were turned off by this game, but it's a definite improvement as the spiritual-successor to Heavy Rain. It had better dialogue, acting, pacing and story.
• Because of PlayStation Plus, I've had my pick on the litter on free games. I got Uncharted 3 for free. Rather than play this game first, I bought the Uncharted 1 and 2 bundle at Best Buy and beat the first game.
• I started playing Final Fantasy XIII again. I'm almost done with the game. I bought Final Fantasy XIII-2 last year for $15 at Target. The final sequel, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII comes out next year.

The problem with gaming is that there are too many games distracting you from playing and completing previous games. I literally have games lying around enough to last me for another year, provided I don't purchase anymore. With PS4 already out, it's only a matter of time before I make the switch.

I'm done.

TL;DR Movie Reviews October-December 2013

1. Ender's Game - Where other movies end after humans beat an alien invasion, this book adaptation explores what the world did to prepare for future attacks. Harrison Ford says "GET OFF MY PLANET!!!"
2. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa - An actual movie with a plot. Involves people as extras, unaware that they are filmed. Less crude than Borat. Heartfelt movie.
3. Thor: The Dark World - The banter between Thor, Loki, Natalie Portman and one of Two Broke Girls actress were much more interesting than the villain: some platinum blond space-pirate alien elf race. Another tease of Marvel's "Phase 3" in movies.
4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Didn't read the book, so I'm glad when readers told me that it's as close as a perfect adaptation of the book. More drama and plot development. Still hungry.
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Don't care if Benedict Cumberbatch voiced Smaug. The script for this sequel is probably longer than the entire The Hobbit novel.
6. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - Daydreamer wakes up and goes on an adventure. One of the reasons why I don't read critic reviews is because I would have skipped this wonderful, uplifting movie. I recommend.

Not sure if I'll be watching any other movies before the end of the year. Until next time.

I'm done.

Sad Christmas Songs

My mom and dad left for Denver Thursday afternoon. They were visiting my aunt, who's on the last stage of in her fight with cancer (MDS). She passed away Thursday afternoon. They planned on heading back this Saturday, but they're staying an extra day for memorial services.

During leftover dinner Thursday night, my sister mused that yesterday just felt a little off and sad. She asked me if I'm sad. I told her that I try not to think about it... that I'd probably be sadder if I was with the family over at Denver. Truth is, I already cried a few days/week ago, dreading the thought of this day. My aunt was still going through chemotherapy over the last few months. One of my uncles, who's a doctor, said her prognosis was bad. In between chemo, she had a lung infection. Her immune system was just shot from all the therapy. My aunt decided to end her daily blood transfusions last week. I cried for my dad. I cried for my cousins and my aunts and uncles.

My aunt is survived by her siblings and her loving children, who were able to see her in the last two months. My dad was able to see her and took his turn to watch over her last month and two weeks ago. It would be her birthday on the December 28th. My friend said it's good she was surrounded by loving family on her last few days.

I always found these songs, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," to be a little sadder than most songs. They always get me. More so now than before.

No matter what religion or creed you follow or not, I always thought of Christmas season as the time of the year to spend with your love ones. Love and cherish those moments.

I'm done.

Ignorant Asshole on Facebook

The people I have to deal with on my friend list.

This one particular guy posted an article about Noah's ark that it's been found or whatever. One of his friends opined a valid counter that it's impossible. Hilarity ensues (it's sad, really). I'm the red. The girl is the gray. He's the asshole.

I'm done.

My Desk Table Area

It's been a while since I've written something relatively personal. Here goes.

This is my setup. This picture was taken in 2008. A few things have changed:

1. I don't use that laptop anymore. It's still functional, but it's relatively slower than my current laptop.
2. That printer is gone.
3. That poster is gone.
4. The part of the wall filled with CDs is already covered up.
5. The boombox radio/CD player is gone. I moved it in the basement and made room for other things.
6. The DVD rack was moved into another part of my room. That desk was moved leftmost away from the window. The window side was replaced with a taller, sturdier CD/DVD steel tower rack.
7. I boarded up the lower window with black construction cardboard. I got mad at my youngest sister's uninvited friends (whom she invited making a lot of noise outside in front of our house while she was in high school. I punched the window. It broke.
8. I now have an extra HD monitor for extended display.

Normally, this is where I do most of my browsing. For the past year or so, I've been using my laptop on my bed on the other side of the room. When I'm playing an online game like Maplestory, our wi-fi is not as strong on this spot. I've been using my desk table for my work laptop.

Today marks the first time in almost two years that I've used my personal laptop sitting on my chair facing the table. As comfortable as it is having my laptop on my bed while watching TV or surfing before calling it a night, I miss my desk table.

(Click on "Then" and "Now" images below for full image of each)

I'm done.

Leave Her Johnny, Leave Her

This is one of the shanties that your pirate crew sing while scouring the seas of the West Indies in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. This Golden Age of Piracy sequel to the not-so-popular American Revolution setting of Assassin's Creed 3 (AC3) is actually a prequel, story-wise. You play as Edward Kenway, grandfather of Ratonhnhaké:ton (Connor Kenway), the main protagonist of the past in the last game. When they announced this game earlier this year, they compared it to Connor's adventures, that, while his story was about a triumphant revolution, Edward's story is about a revolution that failed. Numerous previews and trailers showed Edward chumming it up with the likes of Blackbeard, Charles Vane and Benjamin Hornigold, among a few famous pirates from the 18th century. With that cast lineup and the setting, I knew going in this would be a sad and somber affair, but it was great seeing how everything unfolded. On with the review.

Blackbeard with Edward Kenway

Edward Kenway is less righteous compared to Connor or his ancestors (Ezio and Altair). Born to a farming family, he wanted more out of life. He left home and made a name for himself as a pirate as well as meeting up with the Assassin Order bureau in the West Indies. He was more concerned about getting rich than help out the assassins. If this weren't an Assassin's Creed game, this would be the best pirate game out there.

Dinosaurs Forgot About Dre w/ Guns

I saw this anime music video at Otakon 2013. It was one of the finalists for the action category. The Cyberoptix remix to "Dinosaurs with Guns" sounded a lot like the beat hook to "Forgot About Dre." It would be cool if someone remixed the songs together. I looked online and couldn't find one. I've never done any professional-like audio mixing, but this had to be done.

It took a while to find the vocals only track to Forgot about Dre. I was looking for the instrumental version of Dinosaurs with Guns Cyberoptix remix, but I couldn't find it. I tried isolating the music only, but the vocal track is too synthesized for my software to remove it. I think it worked out okay leaving that song as it is.

I did the remix. It's a rough cut, but it's what I needed. Hopefully you EDM DJs out there can make a better version of this mix.



I'm done.

The Journey, Beyond Two Souls

How you like that mash-up?

I recently completed Beyond: Two Souls. Last month, I also beat the game Journey. I wanted to do separate reviews, but the themes in these game couldn't be more fitting.

Journey was developed by the same team that created flOw and Flower. The game starts out with what appears to be a shooting star (or a meteor) racing across the sky. The scene pans across the screen overlooking a desert landscape. It cuts to a red-overall, shrouded character, the unnamed protagonist you play, with a red scarf with gold-embroidered designs. There is no dialog in the game. All you have are subtle onscreen prompts on how to control your character.

You encounter these cloth-like materials all over the environment. They seem to be made from the same material as your character's cloak. You can "call" these things with your character's quipping noise that sounds like random staccato-ed cello notes. They gather around your character and allow it to move faster and hover about for a few seconds depending on how long your scarf has gotten.

Halloween Pumpkins

This photo was floating around earlier this year (maybe last year, too). One of my friends posted it on Facebook. Halloween is just around the corner. So I said to myself, "why not?"

Finding the right pumpkin was daunting. It would have to be small and the perfect size. White pumpkins are slightly rarer than regular orange ones. I went looking for the orange pumpkins, first. Most grocery stores sell the bigger kind and have one set price for any size. It's also harder to find the typical pumpkin look. Most of those were already taken. I found one small orange pumpkin (which had a face drawing at first I removed) and two mini white pumpkins.

LEGO Architecture 2013

Something I put together last month. It's the Seattle Space Needle and the Burj Khalifa from the LEGO Architecture series.



I'm done.

Of Supes and Spidey

Metallo: I ran Superman's face through a facial recognition scan. I found out his identity. He's Clark Kent! He works at the Daily Planet.

Lex Luthor: Yeah Metallo, we all know. Keep it to yourself.

Metallo: What? If everyone knows why isn't it public?

Lex Luthor: Because if we make him keep his job it's 8 hours less in the day he's trying to stop us.

Metallo: But we could attack him when he least suspects it!

Lex Luthor: Why, you think he's less bulletproof when he's at home in his pajamas?

-----------------------------------------

Spider-Man

Eddie Brock: JAMESON! YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME! PETER PARKER IS SPIDER-MAN

J. Jonah Jameson: Yeah, I know...

... What, you thought I didn't know? Kid walks in, baggy clothes and a bunch of posing shots he couldn't have possibly taken of anyone but himself? Of course it's him, But I'm not gonna tell him.

Men this day and age don't have the initiative and drive they used to. Girls break their heart, and what do they do? Post about it on their facespaces or mytwits, or whatever. And in walks a kid trying to make a difference, and some change, and you think I'm just going to pat the kid on the back? Hell no. Men crave competition, and and adversarial force to chase them on. I give the kid the works so he gives the city results. You tell a kid he's doing well, and he gets bored. A Spider-Man can't get BORED.

You, on the other hand, are what happens when everyone tells you you're gonna be great, and then it doesn't pan out. You had nowhere to go but down. And down you did. Is that thing even sanitary? You gave up after one case and got freaky with space goo? What sort of fabrege ego did you have?

I don't have to tell Parker I believe in him to get him to be a hero. You needed approval to keep yourself from going insane. Who's the real man of integrity and valor?

Now get the hell out of my office. I have tomorrow's headline to pick, and you were fired eight years ago.

I'm done.

TL;DR Movie Reviews for Winter, Spring, Summer, Some of Fall 2013

1. Hansel & Gretel - A good start for a potentially-new franchise when you cross a Grimms' fairy tale with Steampunk and dark comedy.
2. Warm Bodies - Definitely a better love story than Twilight.
3. Identity Theft - Jason Bateman in another supporting role with NOT Will Smith (ahem *Hancock*) as the lead role.
4. A Good Day to Die Hard (Die Hard 5) - It's like the "Ernie Goes To" series, except it's Bruce Willis as John McClane and he goes to Russia. Instead of hilarity ensuing, it's killing and blowing stuff up.
5. Oz: The Great and Powerful - A prequel to the Wizard of Oz with James Franco and a talking monkey.
6. The Croods - The Flinstones 3D.
7. Oblivion - Tom Cruise Promoting Scientology Part 4? 5?
8. Iron Man 3 - Marvel milk's franchise... news at 11.
9. The Great Gatsby - Leonardo DiCaprio continues being the most underrated actor ever.
10. Star Trek: Into Darkness - Benedict Cumberbatch, Klingons, Time-travelling old Spock and more lens flares.
11. Fast & Furious 6 - It's no longer about living life a quarter mile at a time. Heck, they got a tank.
12. The Hangover III - It stopped being a comedy and turned into a real kidnapping/hostage movie.
13. Now You See Me - It's like The Avengers, except with magicians... and Morgan Freeman.
14. The Internship - A great movie about Google back in 2005. A tamer version of Wedding Crashers... also in 2005.
15. Man of Steel - If Superman was done the right way with Dragonball Z fighting and the Chris Nolan/David Snyder moral-dilemma treatment.
16. This Is the End - Actually a very funny well-written comedy movie.
17. World War Z - jump-starting the shuffling/dragging vs running zombies once again.
18. Despicable Me 2 - More cuteness overload with the Minions.
19. Pacific Rim - A giant mech/robot/monster movie done well. Looks like a new franchise is born.
20. The Conjuring - You will shit your pants and have the hair on your arms standing up.
21. The Wolverine - If Wolverine was given the Christopher Nolan down-to-earth treatment and lost his powers. That's how boring this movie was. The only saving grace is the teaser for next year's X-Men movie, uniting the cast of First Class and who would come back from The Last Stand.
22. Elysium - from the director that brought you District 9. Stars MAAAAATT DAAAAAMON!!! And Jodie Foster.
23. Jobs - Ashton Kutcher has portrayed Steve Jobs pretty well. Could have used slightly better writing, though.
24. Instructions not INCLUDED - Tear jerker of a comedy drama.
25. Insidious 2 - Bigger budget and scarier than the first.
26. Gravity - Who would have thought that two people floating in space would be so intense and thought provoking?

I'm done.

Of Life's Main Quest

I timed my jumps within milliseconds after the flash of light brightened the area. A bolt of lightning hit the ground shortly, followed by the deafening sound of thunder. That was my 100th consecutive time dodging lightning. I found the perfect area between two iron rods jutting out of the ground to the constant storm in the sky. I could get between 8-10 lightning strikes to the ground before I've dodged myself out safely under one of those iron rods. It takes less than a second before lightning strike follows the flash of light. I needed to do this 100 more times in row without getting hit by lightning in the Thunder Plains. Otherwise, I start over again. Getting 200 lightning dodges in a row unlocks the Venus Sigil, which can be used with the Venus Crest to fully upgrade Lulu's Onion Knight doll and have Break Damage Limit, Triple Overdrive, Magic Booster and One MP Cost.

I never got around to fully upgrading the Onion Knight doll. I only managed to get the Venus Crest, which allowed Shiva, one of Yuna's Aeons, to break the damage limit. There were 7 Celestial weapons for each character in Final Fantasy X. It's been more than a decade since I played this game, but I probably only fully upgraded 5 of them. I put most of my effort to completing other side quests for powerful Overdrives, abilities, accessories and other items to prepare myself for the end game. This also includes collecting more gil, the currency in most Final Fantasy games, and grinding my characters to exhaustive random battles to get them as close, if they were not already, at max level.

This was, or is, the tactic I used since I played my first role-playing game with Final Fantasy VII. I'm sure many other gamers did the same, with or without strategy guides. I always felt that I was getting my money's worth if I did most, if not all, of what the game has to offer. Mind you, this was before they rewarded gamers with XBox achievements and PlayStation trophies. I took these as personal goals. Getting to know the background stories of the characters in the game through side quests was a good bonus as well. I wish I could say the same for me in real life.

I saw a Facebook post with a link to what I think was a picture or just a comic, comparing life to a game. Basically, we do side quests and other unimportant things because we don't want to do the main quest. This hit too close for me. In most of my games, there is a point where I would know most of the story. Before moving on to the next area, I'm given an option to explore. I knew I could go ahead and end the game, but I chose to do side quests. Yes, I'm preparing for the final battle. More often than not, though, I'm always over-prepared.

Take Final Fantasy VII as an example. I didn't need the Knights of the Round summon to defeat Sephiroth for the final battle. I didn't need to get my characters up to level 99. Were the side quests worth it? Of course they were. Spending 30+ hours grinding all my characters close to max level inside the Crashed Gelnika was not worth it. That includes me accidentally overwriting the save file with 30+ hours worth of leveling. I knew I could handle the last battle. That's the difference between these games and real life.

Right now, I'm at the point where I'll have to take the next step. So far, going to work is a chore for me. I don't see myself getting promoted any time soon since I'm only a contractor. I chose to isolate myself from most co-workers. I have nothing in common with them. They're older, married and have kids. The office setting at work just doesn't lend itself to lots of socializing. It's a much different environment from when I worked at my first job. It's been almost a year working for my company and not even once did we do some sort of community service or an end of the year company gathering. Even my mom's job, which is much smaller than my company, have a company outing and retreat every year. It's not like I need it or anything. At least something to keep myself invested.

With friends, it comes and goes. I don't hang out with friends in college as much as I used to. I don't have that many close friends near me. I feel more close to the friends I met online. I have friends from the mall I met through playing Pump it Up over the years. It's a different kind of friendship. They are just as important.

Love life is non-existent. I don't really consider casual flings a love life, but I've been in numerous "flings" just this year alone. The no strings attached arrangement and not seeing each other after is nice, but not what I'd consider always doing in the long run. I want something more concrete. But I've overly digressed.

The point is, unlike a game, I don't know what the next step is. There is no official strategy guide for what I'm about to face. Heck, as a contractor I don't even know if I'll still have a job in two months. I don't know if I'll meet the woman of my life any time soon. I don't know if I'll be reunited with old friends, lose friends or gain new friends. That's why I'm stuck doing side quests. I don't know if I'm overly prepared or just not ready.

The main quest is a scary beast. Conan said it best: "Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you are kind, amazing things will happen." We don't really know what the future has in store for us. Things just happen. The best thing you can do (and something I'll do) is to live life to the fullest and being okay with the uncertainty. Also, "the best course of action is to tread lightly."

I'm done.

Instructions not INCLUDED

There's something about off-beat, non-mainstream movies that draws you in. Movie theaters nowadays are saturated with superhero films, stoner flicks and bestselling-book adaptations. It's not about the human element anymore. It's mostly special effects and which famous actor is in it.

I decided on seeing Instructions not INCLUDED for lack of any other movie out. There's also the fact that non-mainstream movies don't attract obnoxious moviegoers who constantly have their phones illuminating the the dark or talk during the movie. Prior to watching, I viewed the trailer on YouTube. The story drew me in:

Valentín is Acapulco's resident playboy, until a former fling leaves a baby on his doorstep and takes off without a trace. Leaving Mexico for Los Angeles to find the baby's mother, Valentín ends up finding a new home for himself and his newfound daughter, Maggie. An unlikely father figure, Valentín raises Maggie for six years, while also establishing himself as one of Hollywood's top stuntmen to pay the bills, with Maggie acting as his on-set coach. As Valentín raises Maggie, she forces him to grow up too. But their unique and offbeat family is threatened when Maggie's birth mother shows up out of the blue, and Valentín realizes he's in danger of losing his daughter - and his best friend.~source

It's a Spanish/English movie. It's part comedy, part drama. There's really nothing much I can say without spoiling the movie other than YOU SHOULD WATCH IT!!! I don't follow Mexican cinema, so I didn't know who the actors and actresses were. That makes this movie even better. No expectations. Pure wonderment.

I've never laughed and cried so much in a movie since Bridge to Terabithia (though there was no reason to laugh in that movie... just cry). I'm planning on watching the movie again with my parents (if they have time) and my sister (if they have time). This could go down as one of the most underrated films this year.

I'm done.

A Day at the Park (by Kostas Kiriakakis)

Original strip by Kostas Kiriakakis: http://kiriakakis.net/comics/mused/a-day-at-the-park

I'm done.

When It's Difficult

Otakon ended 6 weeks ago. It was my fifth consecutive time going and seventh overall. I already booked my hotel for next year in advance, so I think I'm going. Maybe. Depends if I have other plans.

2009-2010 were my most depressing years. After the convention ended, I didn't feel like doing anything. Physically, Otakon was exhausting. I wanted it to keep going. Many con-goers call it "post con depression." I just wanted to keep my mind stimulated with all the fun stuff I was getting into at the Otakon. I didn't want to face reality... put my mind back into sadness.

I've moved on from that mindset. I guess you could say I toughened up, having grown multiple layers of defense mechanisms to combat the daily stresses of life. This has its merits, but I don't think it's necessarily a good thing. For one, I catch myself being cynical. I saw this more on the healing stages three years back. Overall, I've grown to be more accepting and forgiving. I fight my battles when it's necessary and ignore the rest.

I've always been particularly observant. I've toned it down a notch in my college years. Last month at Otakon, I noticed at least 5 people with cutting scars on their limbs, their shoulders, upper leg or the side of their abdomen. I reasoned in my head that maybe those were accidental scars, but I was being too polite. Those cuts were deliberate and lined up. I'm not a cutter, but I'd be ashamed and cover up those scars. Then I realized where I was.

It's Otakon. Many of us there have our own stories. Everyone has their own demons. We fight our battles as best as we could. We're all drawn to this convention for different reasons. For me, I wanted to escape my thoughts. People dressed up as fictional characters in anime, videogames and all of "otakudom." Some bought their costumes. Others worked tirelessly to complete them. Others lost sleep finishing up their anime music videos or choreographed skits for the Masquerade event. I didn't want to be me for the entire weekend. I embraced praise from strangers united under the same likes and dislikes, free from judgment and empty pitying words of biased friends and families.

I need something like that most of the time. I can only stomach the loneliness as much as possible before I'm drowned in my own thoughts. It doesn't have to be grandiose. When it's difficult to bring myself to wake up in the morning, to shower, get dressed up and walk out that door, we need our own little Otakon.

http://www.depressioncomix.com/posts/011/

I'm done.

Aggressively Chicken Dances Towards You

It's one of those days. I'm at home doing nothing. A college friend invited me last month to Renn Fest today. I wasn't sure about my schedule, so I didn't commit to 'going' or 'maybe' through the Facebook event page. I have the pager this month when things go poop at work. It's been relatively quiet today. I should have gone.

There are no good movies out that I want to see. Summer just ended and movie studios are pushing films near October 'till the end of the year. Besides Otakon 2013, I've been in hermit mode since mid-June. I haven't seen friends on the weekends. I go out alone most nights. I have my family close, yet, somehow, I feel detached. I had my 10-year high school reunion last month. It was nice seeing familiar faces. The attendance was lackluster, but it was expected. Such is the reality

Maybe there's point past sadness and depression. I don't feel either emotions, but I can't help imagining a muffled tiny voice echoing through the quiet recesses of the back of my mind, crying for help, saying "I'M BORED AS FUCK. DO SOMETHING!!!"

What I picture my mind is doing to me.

I'm going to step out for a bit. Probably bring my camera... or not (I'm bored enough as it is. I can't be lugging around that thing). Maybe it will change my mood.

I'm done.

PS3 Disc-Based Games Reviews (Summer 2013)

Originally I planned on having separate reviews for these games. With summer ending just around the corner, I'll make quick work and do short summaries of these PS3 disc-based games: Brutal Legend, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, The Walking Dead: 400 Days and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

Brutal Legend

I made an initial impression of this game 3 years ago. There were some minor set backs that prevented me from finishing the game in the form of other, newer games. Well, I finally did it.

As a mini summary, you play Eddie Riggs. The world's best roadie. His job is to make the world's worst rock band look good on stage without anyone noticing him. Such is the life of a roadie... when a stage set falls on top of him, instantly killing him. His blood trickles into his belt buckle, unbeknownst to him, is actually the amulet of the god Ormagöden. The stage transformed into Ormagöden, decapitating the world's worst rock band with his godly heavy metal scream. Ormagöden then takes Eddie's body to the Heavy Metal world. You adventure takes off from there.

I've always had this problem playing a game to get my money's worth. For Brutal Legend, that means collecting various paint-jobs for Eddie's vehicle and attachable weapons. There are collectible in-game items in the form of stone-trapped dragons that give you points when awakened; shackled ruins that give you power ups and new guitar riffs and solos to learn when risen above ground; befriending headbangers who bang their heads for you to enemies during real-time strategy segments; rocker girls that shoot bolts at enemies at the end of their guitars... to name a few of what you can do in Brutal Legend.

This is one huge game in the sandbox style game play popularized by Grand Theft Auto 3, with a forbidden heavy metal twist. The heavy metal soundtrack that plays inside your vehicle and various cut-scenes are the best of the best from great artists. There is a bit of a learning curve, which is not as bad on the easy settings. Going through the game, you unlock various artwork and behind the scenes info on the making of Brutal Legend. One of the most underrated titles in 2008. It still holds up to it's age.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

This is a long time coming. There have been many games and storylines in the Call of Duty games. The only one that I really enjoyed was the Modern Warfare franchise. The first of the series was called Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was the first game in the series to be set in modern times. Little did the developers know they have a bonafide hit.

To summarize the franchise, a warlord from the old Soviet-era started trouble in the Middle East. After the game's protagonists foiled their plans, an underling frames an American undercover soldier as part of a massacre at an airport. This sparks the Russian government to retaliate and invade the US. DC was taken over, forcing the core of the military and government infrastructure to go underground, keeping tabs on the protagonists to find the culprit and an off-the-grid ally who might be their only chance to cause a seize fire. The end of Modern Warfare 2 sets up the third game as the world is thrown into World War 3.

There's not much I can say when it comes to first-person shooters. Once you played one, you pretty much played them all, with different graphics, weapons and game play mechanics. The only thing I can really focus on is the story. Modern Warfare has an engaging story that makes you root for the good guys unlike any other first-person shooter out there. The only gripe I can really say is that I wish they would release a campaign only (story mode) version of the game. I don't care about multiplayer. On the other hand, I could just watch the game's story on YouTube if I wanted to. But that's no fun.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days

Technically, this wouldn't be a disc-based game. However, I bought the PS3 disc version of The Walking Dead. Even though I already reviewed the game, I will be talking about the 400 Days DLC.

This add-on bridges the gap between season 1 and 2 (the Tell-Tale Games, that is). It takes place in the same world and area. There are 5 playable characters. Each of them have a different background and story that unfolds within 400 Days of the first outbreak of the "walkers."

The game was noted for the storytelling. Not much as has changed. It's amazing how the developers were able to convey as much story and feeling for each character. You only get to play them for about 10-20 minutes each. This was enough to get you attached to their stories.

The actions and decisions you make for one character may affect certain scenes for other characters, depending on the order you play them. Besides that, you gain a bit of insight about the game world through stories and past encounters involving characters from season 1.

Nothing bad I can say about 400 days except that it was too short and kept me wanting more story and tidbits about the characters. Here's to hoping they show up in season 2.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I didn't think I was going to play this game. Earlier this summer, PSN Plus members were allowed to download the full Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception game for free. I didn't want to pass up the chance. I played the first two chapters. Turns out this is my kind of game. I was at Best Buy one day and they were selling a double-pack Uncharted 1 and 2 bundle. I bought it and started playing Uncharted.

Uncharted follows a treasure hunter named Nathan Drake. He's a descendant of Sir Francis Drake. The first game follows Nathan Drake following his ancestor's trail to El Dorado and the secrets and dangers that accompany his quest.

Uncharted is like the male version of Tomb Raider. Besides the platform jumping you find yourself in the jungle, you are faced with traps and puzzles to progress further. They're not too hard. I didn't have to look online for help. With bad guys after you, you also have access to various weapons throughout the game. It's your modern day Indiana Jones.

The trophies for this game are a little uninspired, to say the least. They basically have you breaking set records such as 50 head shots, blowing up 3 soldiers in a row, using the brutal combo five times in a row and many more. There's also a difficulty setting in the game. This game is crazy hard on the hardest difficulty. Aside from the bonus content (different costumes, infinite bullets, weapon select, etc), it's unnecessary to beat this game multiple times on the hardest difficulty. Like I said before, I'm a story person. Many games out right now don't have difficulty modifiers. The game design speaks for itself. There's one "school of thought" that still cling to beating games at the hardest difficulty. I don't have as much time as I did in middle and high school. There's no excuse to make games engaging and replayable with difficulty settings. Just no.

I'm done.

Ten-Year High School Reunion

I can't believe it's been that long. So many memories. I floated around in high school, never sticking to one group in particular. I could drop in and out of social contact from anybody. I had no problems with anybody. Life was simpler.

A few students in our graduating class formed a committee and planned this reunion as already as January this year. We passed around suggestions on where to hold the occasion. Many insisted that booze was not an option. Almost 100 said they were going (our graduating class was almost 400 students). With beer and liquor involved, we couldn't book our high school gymnasium.

How to Pitch Movies to The SyFy Channel

I'm done.

FUCK YOU, DICK!!!

 I wrote this post on Xanga back in June about an off-site co-worker with an attitude problem and chip on his shoulder. He also just seems unruly towards a female co-worker from the same off-site location in our project.

---

Attitude on a Co-Worker

[...] I do have a bone to pick with my co-worker from [redacted], though. It's the way he talks to another co-worker at where they work.

Whenever we are in team meetings, our conversations are somewhat informal, yet respectful. For some reason, the male co-worker from [redacted] gives an attitude towards the female co-worker. When we're talking on the meeting and he's talking, sometimes our manager and another local co-worker would interject to clarify stuff. Whenever the female co-worker from [redacted] would interject, the male co-worker would say "can I finish?" He only does that to her. I'm not sure if he has a problem with women (our acting manager is a woman), but he did voice his concerns during the transition on the acting manager's knowledge with the applications we were supporting.

The female co-worker e-mailed me a few months ago about asking our acting manager if we could bring in our SME (subject matter expert) developer local co-worker  as a sort of project application lead or co-lead to help out in support duties. You see, the female co-worker and I were fairly new to the project. She had about 1 month's lead on me prior to joining. She barely knew anything about the application we were supporting as the male co-worker would always be busy or wouldn't respond to her e-mails. The female co-worker is aware of these snide remarks, but she just lets it slide, to a degree.

I'm done.

---

Yesterday, that female co-worker was told by her project manager at her job that they are reassigning her to another project effective immediately. She didn't say much in the e-mail, but they basically brought in this new person who just started working yesterday. He's supposed to replace her. I had a hunch who was behind this. I called her after work and she pretty much confirmed it. He caused the whole thing. WTF!!!

PSN Games Review (Summer 2013)

Finally I get to review the following games: Machinarium, flOw, Flower, Datura.

Machinarium

The first time I played this little gem was almost 4 years ago as a demo on the game's website. In June, the PlayStation Network offered the game for free to PSN Plus subscribers. I couldn't say no to a free game.

It's about a humanoid robot (a he) that found itself on a junkyard. He doesn't remember much about what happened, but he remembers another humanoid robot (a girl) when he's idle. You go throughout the game solving puzzles and finding out more about the world and our unlikely metal protagonist.

Machinarium is a point and click adventure game. You move around a cursor on the screen and click on various objects to interact with. Our hero is not much of a robot, but it can stretch and shrink it's body to a certain length and store objects by opening it's mouth/head like a trash can. With that in mind, you get a general idea of where interactive objects are located by his reach. Other than that, an indicator pops up next to the cursor showing that the object is interactive.

Otakon 2013 Recap

I totally forgot I didn't do a recap for Otakon last year. Anyway, here's the link to my photos. They're not much. Now on to Otakon 2013 Recap...


Pre-Registration (Thursday)

I worked from home on Thursday. Since I work in Virginia, it just makes sense. I worked extra on from Monday to Wednesday last week so I could take off early on Thursday. I already packed most of my stuff the night before. I just did some last minute checks and I was on my way to Baltimore.

I stayed at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel, about half a mile from the Baltimore Convention Center depending on where you walk. It's a nice hotel if you get lucky with the elevators and peak check-in/out time of the guests. They were also doing renovations, though it didn't really bother me. Probably some people. I parked my car on an outside garage just across the street. This was a good decision on my part which we'll find out later.

After I got comfortable with my room and put everything away, I went to get my badge. The line wasn't long. They just made everyone go the long way inside the convention in case it rained. Not long after I was inside, it rained.

My Russell Crowe Moment

In American Gangster, Russell Crowe plays a straight-laced cop. In one of their sting operations, him and his partner finds a car left by drug dealers. Inside the car trunk are stacks (actually, multiple paper bags full of unmarked bills). His character could have taken the money with his partner. Nobody knows where it came from and they were unmarked. Instead, his character ("a fucking Boy Scout"), turns over the millions in unmarked bills to the authorities. Cause it was the right thing.

I was at Target yesterday afternoon, buying multiple wash cloths and two active wear shorts. At the register, as the cashier was scanning my items, one of the supervisors called out to him to turn on the light to show the counter is open. This distracted him. He forgot to scan one of my shorts and promptly placed it in the bag. There was a moment of hesitation on my part. Should I tell him about this? I mean, stores lose inventory all the time. I just stood there, allowing this tiny oversight go on. 

As he rung up the total, I swiped my card and grabbed my receipt. Then I had my "Russell Crowe Moment." I gleaned over the receipt and, in my best performance on the spot, pretended I spotted an error in the receipt. I told the cashier he forgot to scan one of my items. So he scanned the unpaid-for clothing. I paid for it and just went about the rest of the day

In the movie, years after Russell Crowe's character reported the money, he was asked by a member of his task force on a separate operation on what he would have done different with the money. He told them he would have taken it.

I sometimes get freebies from stores by accident or with my full knowledge. Any other time, I would have let what happened yesterday play out without my intervention. I had a knee-jerk reaction to tell the truth. Part of me felt bad and didn't want to get the guy in trouble. A huge part didn't want a bad deed to come back to me. I'm logically against the notion of karma. I think things just happen... No reason whatsoever. I guess I'm still morally bound to superstitious beliefs.

And I'm fine with that :)

I'm done.

Passive & Aggressive Driving

Car in front of me at the stop light was one car length away from the ground sensors. The driver kept looking at her overhead mirror at herself. Luckily, another vehicle on the left side was on top of the sensors. Light turned green, it took more than five seconds before both vehicles started moving. Unbelievable. Before the next stop light, the driver in front of me must have noticed my hand gestures of disdain inside my car. She signaled and switched to the left lane. Thank you.

Traffic was more than great and unusually fast on the Capital Beltway. A pickup truck about 100 yards behind me was catching up. I was already above the speed limit on the leftmost lane. Why are most pickup truck drivers such assholes? Anywho, traffic was moving along nicely. I let this one slide and switched lanes temporarily.

Fifteen miles ahead, there was a clearing of about 20 car lengths before traffic got congested a tiny bit. Minding my own speed, car behind me switched lanes and tried overtaking. Not happening. I kicked my speed up a notch and cleared the distance of the clearing, leaving no room for the other car to overtake. One of two things happened afterwards: (1) Driver intended to switch lanes or (2) stayed to save face. I didn't linger on the thought. I had to get to work. Take that, biatch.

I'm done.

Internet Pet Peeve

If you've been on the Internet and found yourself into an online discussion, debate or argument, you most likely have encountered people who don't really contribute anything, yet praised or commended for their comments. I'm talking about people who ask rhetorical questions with no follow up or people who use a personal stance on an issue against the person who said them, coming off as if they did something smart.

On the former, an example would be a person who responds to the topic or to another person in that discussion, saying "what else is new?" or "tell us something we don't already know?" On the latter, a more commonly observed reaction from people are twisting the topic or a comment in any discussion in favor of their side. It's a great skill when done wisely. However, in this case, the person will most likely say "it's ironic people are complaining about complainers" or something similar to that.

These comments and comebacks are quite lazy, to be honest. Half of me find these comments as "haha" funny, but when you really look into it, these types of reactions are just cirkle-jerk Internet elitism that avoids the real issue and subsequent discussion.

I'm far from conflicted in this topic. I know where I stand. Do you?

I'm done.

Xanga 2.0 is a Go!

http://thexangateam.xanga.com/774812086/xanga-20-is-almost-here/

Here's a summary:

• John released a video showing what Xanga 2.0 looks like.
• All Xanga usernames have been migrated to Xanga 2.0.
• All blog content from current Lifetime/Premium Xangans have been fully migrated (that includes comments on people's pages).
• They are currently importing blogs of those who contributed to the fundraiser.
• They are also migrating every single photo that Xangans have uploaded to the new server.
• John is donating $10K to the fundraiser, therefore, lowering the goal to $50K.
• John convinced their network facilities to extend the lease.
• Fundraiser extended to end of August to allow more non-Premium/Lifetime Xangans to contribute and have their blog migrated.
• Fundraiser still needs to reach $50K by end of August.
• Current count as of 7:04AM Eastern Time today: $47,941. Needs $2059 to reach $50K.

https://xanga.crowdhoster.com/relaunch-xanga

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After John finally released that video of what Xanga 2.0 would be like and some more info on buying additional servers, everything clicked. Xanga 2.0 will not, I repeat, NOT have the same upgrade plans as WordPress.com.

Using the WordPress software, the XangaTeam (since they are not answering) may have enabled Multisite. WordPress.com, itself, is a WordPress Multisite. WordPress Multisite allows you to build your own blogging community. That’s where Xanga 2.0 comes in the picture. Building a new and improved Xanga software would have taken years. So they use the open-source alternative and beautify it. It’s cheaper and faster to build.

We get all the functionality that premium WordPress.com users get for half the price. And, since they are customizing the software for Xanga, they might as well add all the Xanga functions we’ve come to enjoy for years. This fundraiser is really for all the initial migration and start-up costs, upkeep and paying the web developers and network admins.

There are times when you get proven wrong and you slap yourself upside the head. This, for me, is one of those times. Then again, I can’t blame all the dissenters for the past two months. Maybe it’s the fact that I work in the same field that I’m starting to see the full picture, but the Xanga Team badly needed someone to properly convey this info from the get-go.

I’m done.

SHAAAAAUUUN!!! (A Heavy Rain Review)

Quantic Dream released two games prior to Heavy Rain. Their first title was an action-adventure game called Omikron: The Nomad Soul. Little did they know that the gameplay mechanics they explored for their second game, Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy), would be a commercial success. Dubbed "Interactive Drama" by game designer David Cage, Quantic Dream updated the winning formula for the company's third game and first outing for the PS3.

Heavy Rain is probably one of the most ambitious games to be released that blur the lines on what defines any medium as a game or an art. The game has a huge emphasis on story. It's not like the developers made the game and wrapped a pretty little story around it. The story itself is what drives the game.

"How far would you go to save someone you love?"

Tekken Revolution Review

Tekken Revolution? More like Tekkenville.

Tekken is a fighting game franchise created and developed by Namco (now Namco Bandai Games). It was one of the first 3D fighting games to compete with the Street Fighter series, Mortal Kombat, Art of Fighting and other 2D fighting game counterparts. Other 3D fighting games first on the scene were Virtual Fighter and Battle Arena Toshinden. The Tekken franchise has seen more success and continues to wow their fans with this new installment.

Namco Bandai Games released Tekken Revolution for PS3 and Xbox 360 earlier this June. It's a free version of a watered-down Tekken Tag Tournament 2 that allows you to play arcade mode or other players online and level up the available characters. So far there are six hidden players which you can unlock with the amount of gift points you have accumulated while playing. Two more characters will be unlocked at a later update.

Like most Facebook games, there's a counter that increments how many times you can play each mode in the game. For Tekken Revolution, One arcade coin is added after an hour with a maximum of two coins. One premium coin is added every thirty minutes with a maximum of five coins. If you don't want to wait for the counter, you can buy premium tickets and use them to play arcade mode or online mode (ranked and player matches).

Diary of a Gamer #10

I've been dreading to write this post only for the fact that I'll have to follow it up in the next few weeks with dedicated reviews and first impressions of all the games I've played over the last several months. One thing is for sure, though: I'm not making reviews for Candy Crush Saga and Bubble Witch Saga. I'll start with the basics of what's up in the gaming front.

I sold my Nintendo DS Lite along with all my DS games. I bought in college, back when it was on sale and many of my college friends were playing them. The last time I played any of my DS games were in 2011. I had 5 games unfinished. I was fine parting ways with it. I received a lot of store credit for the trade, which I used to reserve Beyond: Two Souls back in May. I wasn't sure if I wanted to play The Last of Us. It came out last month in June and many were blown away. I saw the first 20 minutes of game and that was not fun (read as sad). I'll probably get around to playing that game eventually. That and Beyond: Two Souls are the last exclusive PS3 games in 2013, if not ever.

E3 happened last month, as well. Words spoken. Shots fired. Internet exploded. Consoles ignored. Biggest backtracking in gaming history. Bigwig resigning.

Long version: Microsoft fully unveiled their plans for XBONE (Xbox One). Many reviled their DRM plans for physical copies of games and used games. Later that night, Sony fully unveiled their plans for PlayStation 4 and one-upped Microsoft's plans with a more delicious console and gaming infrastructure. The Internet goes wild. Fanboys caused so much mortar damage on gaming sites, some had to retool how they moderate site comments. Meanwhile, Nintendo's Wii U was wildly ignored. Ouya was left out and tried to crash E3. A week after that infamous slugfest, Microsoft backtracked their DRM and used games policies for XBONE. Around two weeks later, XBOX Chief resigns from Microsoft and becomes CEO of Xynga, of Farmville fame (Good to see two-weeks notice is still in practice). Both PS4 and XBONE are set to come out this holiday season. Competition is always good for innovation. Here's to gaming later this year and to the next.

I recently finished inFAMOUS. This brings me to all the games I've completed since my last major gaming post.

• Brutal Legend (PS3)
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 3 (PS3)
• Datura (PS3)
• Final Fantasy All the Bravest (iPhone/iPad)
• flOw (PS3)
• Flower (PS3)
• Heavy Rain (PS3)
• inFAMOUS (PS3)
• Machinarium (PS3)
• The Walking Dead: 400 Days (PS3)

Luckily, inFAMOUS 2 was available for free on PlayStation Network Plus. They offer highly-discounted games and full-games for free. I've downloaded Machinarium, Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey  LittleBigPlanet Karting, and inFAMOUS 2. Other than these, Namco released Tekken Revolution. It's a free version of a watered-down Tekken Tag Tournament 2. I'll get more into that in another review.

I think I'll get around to reviewing most of the games I've completed. As for the free games I recently downloaded I'm not sure if I have time to finish them. inFAMOUS 2 is a definite improvement over the last game, but I'm not that invested with the story of the entire series. It's the same deal with Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey. If the story is not captivating enough for me, gameplay mechanics better be great and worthwhile. inFAMOUS 2 is just the same as the first game. Munch's Odyssey is a cross between Pac-Man and a platformer: you're left collecting green eggs the entire game. The platformer side is not that good. Wonky game mechanics or bad camera angles left up to the player to maneuver is the bane of many games. This managed to have both. I'll probably just play it for the trophies.

I'm done.

Xangan Experiments with WordPress

Acclimation

I'm refreshing my memory with WordPress. I installed the WordPress application to our server at my former job last year to replace the temporary Wix site, which temporarily covered for the accidentally deleted site. There are too many features to be knee-deep in. As a blogging platform, WordPress is jacked. The application is robust enough to power any website at the corporate level. Not sure if it changes with the theme you have activated, but WordPress has most of the general posting formats covered:

• Standard - it's the default format (can be changed) for anyone to blog away. Same thing with Xanga, Blogger, Tumblr and Facebook Notes before everyone realized that people went to Facebook to stop blogging.
• Aside - It's similar to a Facebook status update. A Twitter update. Xanga Pulse.
• Image - Self-explanatory. I think Tumblr is more well-known for it, besides reblogs (which WordPress.com also have)
• Video - Uploaded into the site or from external sources (YouTube, Vimeo, etc).
• Quote - I always found this to be redundant and can be replicated using Standard format. Tumblr has the same format, but it's nice to have.
• Link - Self-explanatory.

You also get the Zemanta plugin, which scours all of WordPress sites that contains keywords from the content of your post. It serves two things: (1) Exposes you to other blogs and posts that you have the option of relating to the current post you are editing. (2) It exposes your blogs and posts to other readers and potential subscribers. You can also put your posts into categories. On Xanga, I had this custom module which I manually scripted to include links of specific posts I've done. With Categories, if you or a reader wanted to revisit or read an old post, they can just search through the categories. Of course, that's not going to stop you from creating a specific static page with any content of your choosing. That's where Pages come into play.

Pages can be assigned to the top menu of your blog. The feature I always wanted to mimic on Xanga were nested custom menus. Not that I have tons of content to begin with, but I could have used that feature. If I was really serious into doing a full-blown blog and possibly make money off of it (or not), I wouldn't mind paying for premium themes and customize it as much as possible. In the meantime, I'll stick to personal blogging... and comics.

Speaking of comics, I'm liking this Panel theme. I've always wanted to have a comic-based blog even on Xanga. If I had the right CSS template that could be seamlessly integrated to Xanga's new themes, it could have been doable. There's a limit to the width of the comic, but infinite length. The comic I uploaded right now is okay, but it's too large. I'll have to self-mandate a fixed length in future comics, or less (than the soon-to-be mandated fixed length).

In Comparison

There are many, many features to customize your blog with WordPress. This doesn't even include widgets/plugins and the locked functionality that comes with a fee. You can do private posts and invite as many people as you can (10 at a time). You could even add contact forms and polls for readers. Zemanta is a great tool for expanding your viewership. The Panel theme has built-in comic posting. Analytics in WordPress is more in-depth than the one used at Blogger. With all these free features available, I can see why many are turned-off by paying a required $48/yr fee for the purported WordPress powered Xanga 2.0.

On the downside, 3GB of storage is archaic. It's understandable for an open source community-driven site. It doesn't beat Facebook or Tumblr. Tumblr monitor's abuse, but as long as you post reasonable content, there's no limit. Blogger is linked to your Google account, so you get to enjoy the storage perks of that. You can buy different tier levels for additional storage for a yearly fee, though. Fully customizing free themes requires a $30/yr fee. "Because of the way WordPress.com’s technical infrastructure is designed," they are not able to support uploading of custom WordPress themes on their service.[1] That requires another fee. You could customize Blogger with your custom themes or customize the existing themes that they offer. Another downside is that the text editor is not in Rich-text format. I can see why it's not, because the themes themselves already defined the font-size. Still, I would have liked to have large or small letters for emphasis or lack thereof. Daylight Saving Time is not covered on WordPress. Many blogs have this feature built-in, even as to use your IP location to determine your date time. Sadly, you have to manually edit your time zone twice a year during the switch if you live in these time zones.

If I was serious about blogging as a hobby, either to make money or just to do networking and marketing myself to entertain people (i.e. YouTube, blogger, whatever), I can justify paying a premium for all these features and the locked-out functionality that comes with it. As a simple hobby, I have to question the Xanga higher-ups' motive and design for Xanga 2.0. $48 just can't be an arbitrary amount. At the moment, contributors of the fundraiser don't really know what they would be getting. Just looking at the upgrade packages on WordPress that match the features the Xanga Team has announced, I'm looking at no-ads and domain mapping and registration. That's $30 and $13, respectively, + $5 for domain registration. Exactly $48/yr, what the Xanga Team asked of the Xanga community.

When they said we have a choice of the available existing themes, did they mean the free themes? They also said no ads, so I'm guessing that $30 is covered with no exceptions. There's also the problem with importing all the content that contributing Xangans have amassed over the years. I don't think 3GB per person will cover Premium Xanga users with over 3GB of content. I'm sure they have a deal with WordPress on how this works. Maybe it's a combination of other upgrade packages and discounts, but I'm pretty sure you still have to pay for premium themes and the ability to fully customize free themes.

It's all speculation right now. We haven't seen any mock-ups and full-details of what we are getting. The Xanga Team did say that their vision is about simplicity, community and privacy. If the Xanga Team had posted something like this post, except more in-depth and at least up-selling their Xanga 2.0 vision, they might have a shot of pulling it off. As it stands now, they need $14K+ to reach $60K in 2 days. $48 is still a lot of money to consider if we don't know what WordPress upgrades we would be getting. I'll always have Blogger.

I'm done.