After an Inexcusable Hiatus…

Please forgive the recent dearth of posts. I’ve got a ton of reasons as to why nothing has been posted, but unfortunately none of them are truly good reasons. There weren’t any deaths in the family, both my computers are functioning quite nicely, and while I’ve been busy with writing for class recently, it hasn’t been to the extent that would merit ignoring my blog.

All that being said, I’ve got some interesting thoughts on the subject Fallout 3, which has consumed my gaming life for the past two weeks or so. I put in 18 hours last weekend; it was one of those things where you don’t even realize how long you’ve been playing until you look at a clock and let out an involuntary squawk when you realize how many meals you just skipped.

The Big One

This piece was first published on Blogcritics. You can see my original article here.

Californians — particularly those living in the southern half of that state — are living on borrowed time. Scientists have predicted with near certainty that the San Andreas Fault will produce an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6.7 and likely higher than that.

Earthquakes, of course, are nothing new to Californians. Their state is riddled with fault lines, and minor earthquakes occur all the time. During the week of November 5 – November 12, the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) recorded over four hundred minor earthquakes in California. Granted, only three of these registered above a 3.0 on the Richter scale, but the vast quantity of seismic activity cannot be ignored.

A Call for Community Service

This piece was first published at Blogcritics. To see my original article click here.

According to USA Today, TIME, and a plethora of other news sources, Generation Y (to which I belong) is all about community service. We believe in doing food drives, donating blood, reading to children, participating in street cleanups, raising money for charities, and just about anything else you care to think of. We prefer working for companies that actively engage in community service,TIME says. Even more, a survey included inUSA Today states that, “61% of 13 to 25-year-olds feel personally responsible for making a difference in the world.”

It has also been suggested that Generation Y naturally tends toward community service — it supposedly correlates perfectly with our learned tendency toward working as a team, developed through years of sports, group projects at school, and socializing. Working for the good of society comes as naturally to us as multi-tasking (which, incidentally, isn’t nearly as effective as everyone thinks).

Left 4 Dead, Twenty Minutes In

I haven’t been able to get in much time playing the Left 4 Dead demo, which is a shame (considering that when the game goes live tomorrow, the demo goes dead). Regardless, in the brief amount of time I’ve spent in-game so far, I’ve managed to come away with a solid feel for how this game plays out.

First, I absolutely love the multi-player aspect of the game.

XKCD waxes Philosophical, then Humorous

It’s been a long time since I’ve thrown up a good webcomic link, so here’s the latest XKCD. Enjoy!

A Bunch of Rocks

Star Trek Trailer

Check out this bootleg official trailer for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek prequel. Not sure how long before it’ll be taken down, so watch it while you can The bootleg was taken down, but now the legit copy is available, and in HD!

I’ve been of the opinion that this movie won’t be that great, but that was just from seeing movie posters and cast pics. This gives it an entirely new feel, and I’m actually looking forward to it.

Left 4 Dead Demo Available

The Left 4 Dead demo is now available on Steam! Check it out here.

Left 4 Dead

Of course, if you’ve already pre-ordered the game, you’ve probably been playing the demo for a week. I’ve been consumed by Fallout 3 as of late, so I didn’t get it. I will however, be downloading and checking out the demo later this week (read: after finishing papers for school).

My Macbook Impressions: Two Weeks In

I’m typing this on my still relatively-new Macbook. As the title suggests, I’ve been in possession of this notebook for a grand total of two weeks, and below are some thoughts as to my experience so far. Keep in mind that before this, my use of Macs / OS-X has been minimal. Things that Mac users don’t necessarily notice stick out for me. I’m directly comparing the usability of this system to that of my main PC, in regard to both hardware and software.

Ballad of Black Mesa

Apparently this video was posted *almost* two years ago. I just came across it, so I’m going to treat the thing like it’s brand new. Watch and enjoy, they put some serious effort into this.

Music Review: In The Ever

This piece was first published on Blogcritics. You can find my original article here.