2013: Still no flying cars but we do have a lot of other cool stuff!

I must start by first admitting, I'm creating this post on my Acer tablet.  Basically I'm trying out my new Bluetooth keyboard.  Because seriously folks,  on screen keyboards suck.  That's been one of my main pet peeves with tablets.  I have always leaned toward netbooks or Chromebooks.  They have a reasonable size, an attached keyboard and some serious battery life.  Tablets are nice for casual use but still not anything someone can use to replace a true PC.   I also must say, I still rely on my smartphone far more than the tablet.  (And hey, the bluetooth keyboard works with it too!)

Only twenty years ago, all of the items I just mentioned were akin to science fiction.  But thanks to a lot of very smart dreamers we have all the coolest toys to choose from.  And these are just the things available to the average citizen.  There are all sorts of  cool things in the pipeline,  some useful and some maybe not so much.  Just remember every nifty high tech dream item may not be so great when it becomes reality.  Think about that flying car.  Do you really want the people you do battle with on the interstate to have the ability to fly over your house?

The Coolest Game You're Not Playing

Yep, that's right.  There is a game out there I'll bet most of you have never heard of... The Mana World.  (Or TMW for short.)  Here's the kicker, it's fun and it's FREE!

Free because it's open source.  It's also available for mostly any platform out there...

Now, Skyrim it's not.  This unique game is rendered in 2D in reverence to the 'Mana' games produced by Nintendo many years ago.  While this may seem a bit 'old school' by today's standards it is actually quite refreshing.   It is also fully playable on even the most modest of machines.  

The control scheme of this MMORPG is very easy to learn and the open world nature encourages exploration and experimentation.  This makes it more relaxing than most of today's blockbuster games.  While you can spend hours running around killing monsters (mostly giant bugs) it's still casual enough to be relaxing.  Compared to twenty minutes of killing giant bugs in Gears Of War which can cause headaches, profuse sweating and stress exhaustion.  Well, maybe that's just me, but still. 

Character customization is there for the most part.  Kinda limited but still useful.  

You have the standard male/female, hair color, skin color, skills and physical attributes.  The lack of complexity actually makes the game more enjoyable and less like a statistician's nightmare.  You can also construct several different characters and build different skill sets.  Many other games discourage that.

There is still plenty of monster drops, trading and quest rewards to keep the digital horders happy.  And inventory management is pretty straight forward.  Resting your mouse over a newly acquired item tells you the basics of it's good for.  You can 'Activate', 'Equip' or 'Drop' items.  You can also buy and sell.

 Another nice feature is the 'Skill Points' system that allows you to control the distribution of your character's level increases.  

Also pictured above is the graphics customization panel.  It's nothing to elaborate but hey, it's there if you need it.

So The Mana World is a very fun game for anyone who enjoys a nice open world MMORPG or just want's to hang out online and kill some bugs with some friends.  So give it a whirl.  It's free.  And it just might surprise you.

A new year, A new Blog.

Yes, once again I have started a personal blog and made the annual commitment to maintaining it.  Actually, this one is slightly different.  Usually I try to create a Tech blog with how-tos, software decriptions and the standard open source advocate fare.

I'm not doing that here.  This is simply a random collection of the things that interest me and hopefully you too.  The range will be wide, including subjects such as model railroading, robotics, ebooks, general science fiction, archery, video games, home improvements and much, much more.

I hope to share some of the things I like and while I'm at it, maybe introduce others to something they may not know they were interested in.

 Like Steampunk...

Or Ghost in the Shell...

So stick around.  I could be fun.