Can a man’s love for the command line blossom like a rose or age like good wine? I do believe the answer to my rhetorical question is a resounding YES! Recently I’ve found myself choosing gnome-terminal to execute things rather than clicking in a series of menus on my desktop. Don’t get me wrong; a GUI is nice thing to have, but the efficency of the CLI is unmatched. Through a series of unfortunate events I’ve setup my Linux environment for Android development (aka how trying to fix a bricked phone). I’m working with a fresh install from Fedora 16 Live. What that means is A LOT of packages/libraries are not installed. Just the bare minimum to get me going.

Here’s a general overview of the process I took:

1. Download and extracted the Android Software Development Kit.
2. Installed the Eclipse IDE (roughly 68 packages).
3. Installed ADT plugins for Eclipse.
4. Ran ./android command from SDK “tools” directory.
5. It started the “Android SDK Manager”. I then installed:
   1. Android SDK Platform-tools
   2. The covented “Android 4.0″ platform
   3. 3.2, 2.3.3, and 2.2 platforms (just to show that I can be verstile)

WGET the Android SDK

I’m really enjoy the simplicity of the WGET command. While viewing the SDK page in Firefox I simply copied the link for the SDK file and pasted it into the terminal:

$ wget http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r15-linux.tgz

Yummy, Eclipse

I then used YUM to grab the Eclipse IDE and all its relevant components. Again; since this OS installation was pretty light I ended up installing 68 packages, such as: Eclipse, Java, etc.

# yum install eclipse

Once that was done I then installed the ADT plugin.

1. I opened the Eclipse IDE.
2. Clicked on Help > Install Software.
3. Added the following repository: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
4. Clicked “Select All” and went to town! It was odd, but I noticed I had to try a couple times. It was claiming to have dependency issues. So; I started clicking one-by-one. Eventually I was able to get all 4 packages installed.

Running Android

This following set is unnecessary since you can access the Android SDK Manager from within Eclipse (thanks to the ADT plugin). Originally;  skipped the ADT plugin step.

Now that Java is installed I can run the “android” command. It’s located in the “tools” directory of your freshly extracted tarball file “android-sdk_r15-linux.tgz”.

$ ./android

SDK Managment

The Android SDK Manager popped up with some packages to install. I chose what I thought were appropriate and wrote this blog post while I waited for the files to be downloaded and installed.

So; that’s pretty much it. At this point you’re ready to jump into the wonderment, which is Android development. Enjoy!

References

1. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Howto:_Install_the_Android_SDK
2. http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html

Well; not really kick start, but keep it going. The e-book series titled Fergyville is on its third installment. Support my wife’s project as she budgets for a kick-ass editor for this well-received series. You can find out more on the kickstarter web site.

I learned something about myself today. I’m not sure what the full meaning of this revelation is, but on one hand it makes me look like a cool up-on-the-tech tech-guy. On the other hand it makes me look like a delusional technological nerf herder unable to interface with something the general public refers to as “common sense.” What is this discovery that I’ve made? I’ve learned how to communicate with my children through the process of toying with a voice-recognition software. :-/

Hardware

The voice-recognition software I’m referring to, purposefully miscategoriezed as “hardware” to fit my title, is an Android application called Speaktoit Assistant. I heard about it while driving home from work listening to TWiT’s All About Android podcast. The hosts fail whaled a demo of the Assistant application. Even though it bombed I was intrigued enough to install and try it for myself. At first I didn’t know  exactly what I was I supposed to be asking this piece of software. I pushed the voice input button and kind of gave my phone a blank stare. After gathering my thoughts I then tried some simple commands, after all, I didn’t expect this thing to really interface with me like I’ve seen in the movies. So; I said “Hi” and a mono-computerized female voice replied, “Hi there, friend!” I thought, “Oh really!? This is the first time we’re communicating and I’m already your friend.” I remembered in the demo that Assistant called the user by name so I asked, “What’s your name?” It replied, “My name is Sam.”

Wetware

I continued to speak commands at this program to see what the results would be. A nice thing about the interface is the visual feedback. In the lower-left corner you’ll see what the program thought you said after analysing the input. It wasn’t too accurate, but understandable; I was in my car so it’s probably picking up background noise. I played with it some more, each time adjusting my output to guarantee a more accurate input. I made a mental note that I couldn’t flat-out have a dialogue with Sam. I had to give her short commands. I recalled from the podcast that in their demo Sam updated the user’s Facebook status. So; I tried it. “Update Facebook status.” She then prompted with “What should I change your Facebook status to?” I paused, not knowing what to really have this program post for me. My mouth stumbled out some words, but it wasn’t recognizable enough for her to make any real sense of it. Sam confirmed if I wanted that poorly constructed message to be posted. I quickly said, “No, no.”

I tried it again; this time with more clarity and purpose. Success; Sam changed my Facebook status. In a small way — that  accomplished task — felt exhilarating. I was able to communicate outside of my car without typing anything. I know, this isn’t super rare, but my brain made a big deal about it. I then tried another popular service, Twitter. Again; successful post. I was really warming up to this concept of having a digital personal assistant.

Interface

I got into the house and laid down on the couch. My son finished his dinner and saw me playing with the phone. Not just touching the screen, but speaking directly to it. He kept starting his queries with “Hi…” or “Hey…” I told him that it would keep saying “Hi” back. I instructed him to make direct commands. He eventually adjusted, but it was very interesting for me to see my six-year-old son interface with Sam. It sparked something inside me. I’m not certain what’s going on, but I like the change in the wind.

I then had to convince my four-year old to finish eating her food and my two-year old to stop playing and eat her food. I noticed that I wasn’t my Oscar-the-grouchy self. I spoke in a calm fashion, being deliberate with my commands and not distorting my request by expressing my frustration. As I continued to communicate with my daughters I realized that they were actually doing what I wanted them to. It wasn’t a smooth process by any stretch of the imagination, but the progress was certainly more tangible than any of my previous attempts.

Before this experiment of testing the Speaktoit Assistant application I was very sceptical to voice-recognition software on a smart phone. I didn’t see the purpose. I occasionally use the voice-to-text function of my Android phone to post a status update or IM while in my car, but that was the peak of my interest. With this connection I’ve made, my interest in this type of technology is really taking root. I can imagine talking to my phone in order to hear what my schedule is, what tasks I have to accomplish and updating my social media platforms. Assistant certainly has a long way to go, but I like what I’ve experienced in its beta form. Check out Speaktoit‘s web site. They are doing a Kickstarter in order to gain more capital. I wish them success and you count on me evangelising their efforts.

This post was originally intended to be my transformation story of a guy 5’11″ weighing 240 lbs to slimming down to the low 200′s. NOPE! “No soup for you!” This post has now been repurposed into showing you just how hard and how committed you really need to be in order to complete the P90X workout system. The main challenge is that this system requires you to switch gears and work out every day for 90 days. I don’t know about you, but going from the status of not active sitting on my butt playing Xbox to training for a triathlon is insane.

Besides the workout system (which is damn good), the nutritional portion of this system is well laid out, but hard to follow if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands. I’m running a struggling business, I have three kids, a wife, and a full-time job. I’m grateful that they put so much thought into the nutritional manual, but a lot of those required you to make sauces and supplemental things from scratch. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about things from scratch, but I nor my wife had the time to prepare them.

What that means is that when I do start it up again; I’ll need to really put a game plan together for eating properly. I noticed that if I eat every three hours and drink lots of water then my body is regulated. Changing your mindset to eat the right portion size is a killer as well, but we that diet know about all this stuff. Read my failed attempt below. One thing you’ll notice is the gap in days as I continue through the program.

Day 1

Monday, March 28, 2011 – Since this was my second attempt at the P90X system I knew what was in store. It felt nice being able to do most of the moves, but I was still far from doing them with the same intensity. My plan at this point is to simply learn the form and pace myself. I’m guessing that as I continue to get my body back into the routine of being active I can then keep up with the workouts. Just like many folks we didn’t fully prepare for the system. With that said; my diet has changed a little. I did have an eight egg white omelet for breakfast. Wow; I didn’t realize that egg whites could make a decent omelet. I normally have about two or four egg whites and I’m laughing at how dismal it looks, but eight was MORE than enough.

Day 2

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 – The workout went pretty well. Some of the moves that we did yesterday weren’t as hard to execute this time. I did feel some strain in my lower back when doing the Banana. The Wife and I were a little cautious of the time, at first, and was thoroughly relieved when we saw that we only had three minutes left.

Day 3

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 – I started out very sore, but it wasn’t as bad as yesterday trying to get out of bed. We were rushing to get out of the house so I couldn’t make a protein-filled breakfast. I ate some raisin brand cereal with 2% milk. It got bad when I got to work, I was really hungry and ended up eating a Hershey’s bar someone gave me the day before.

The Workout

So; the Wife and I haven’t done much research, which means minutes before we workout we read what type of workout we’re going to do. To our surprise Day 3 called for two workouts. When we put in the first DVD our mouths dropped to the floor when we saw that it was roughly 50 minutes long. We thought, “How long is the other one then!?” In the end; we had a great time. Some of the moves were easier to do than the first day, the Ab video was only 15 minutes, but very intense.

Day 4

Thursday, March 31, 2011 – I ended up going to bed around 1:30 AM, which doesn’t help me when I have to wake up for 5:00 AM.

Day 5 – Yoga X

Friday, April 1, 2011 – OMG; the Wife and I nearly died doing yoga. Who would have thought!? I think we did the first 20 or 30 minutes of the hour and a half minute routine. I was simply amazed with how long they were holding the positions. We both opt’d out.

Day 6 – Kenpo

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 – Unfortunately; we took a couple days off from the workout routine. Yoga nearly killed us and life was a little rough over the weekend and Monday. So; it was nice to get a break and let our bodies heal, but it was a little scary to know that we might not be ready for the next video.

The Diet

At this point I’ve decided that I’m probably not going to be able to follow the diet plan as instructed so I’ll try to eat more protein and less carbs and only snack twice a day. That roughly means that I’ll eat every three hours or so.

The Workout

We normally start the workout around 20:30. Lucky for us the kids went to bed on time so I was able to play a little Full House Poker on my Xbox while dinner settled. Around 20:30 it was time to put down the games and get into the workout routine. I looked at the P90X manual and saw “Kenpo”. My mind immediately flashed back to one of the previous videos I didn’t like. I thought to myself that this wasn’t going to be fun. To my surprise I really enjoyed it. It was certainly fast-paced and I worked up a good amount of sweat.

I was truly happy to see the results. I was able to bounce around without feeling so heavy and in the middle of the workout I was able to sort of play with the kenpo moves jokingly. THAT was extra energy I didn’t know I had. I’m very excited.

Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

Sunday, April 10, 2011 – I was pretty determined to get back on the P90X wagon. I felt like crap all weekend and I was really upset with myself for skipping so many days. It’s the same cycle, you feel tired because of a busy day and you don’t want to do the exercise. Yet keeping your body active helps to give you energy. It’s a “chicken or the egg” kind of thing and I keep roasting the chicken and boiling the eggs.

Day 8 – Core Synergenics

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 – Yes; this is getting ridiculous. I ate too much that day because I was hungry and didn’t care about the results. Yet again I realized that food is a comfort mechanism for me and I have to get it under control. We did the workout, but I barely finished or did it with as much intensity as the first time. The food was gurgling in my throat and I could feel that I was over exerting myself. So; I stopped.

Day 9 -

[I don't remember what happened on this day.]

Day 10 – Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X

Monday, April 25, 2011 – Again; this is not how the program is supposed to be followed. There were a couple of times where I tried to get going, but I was beat down by the day or my neck and shoulders hurt. Whenever my neck and shoulders hurt a throbbing pain in my temple is sure to follow. Ironically; working out (or being active) is what my body needs so that my shoulders aren’t so stiff yet I was having a hard time “being active.” After days of failed attempts to start up the P90X routine I finally dug deep and knocked one out.

I’m not sure why it surprises me each time, but the workout wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. This particular video the music was dubbed much louder than Tony’s microphone so I did the routine without music. To be honest I liked it a lot better. It felt more like a private session than a workout video. I was able to stay focused because I was a little more familiar with the routine so that helped a lot. I still don’t have any weights or resistance bands so I’m still working on form.

Even without using weights I could feel the skin wrapped around my arms tighten and my shoulders were indeed worked out, but my form felt loose. I had a great time and I look forward to tonight’s session. I had a great night sleep and it felt good to wake up at 5:15 AM instead of crawling out of bed after 6:30 AM.

Day 11 – Yoga X

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 – I hate yoga, I hate it I hate it I simply hate it! Why do I hate it!? It’s because of its sloth-like speed and difficulty. When we were teens my brother showed me that if I do a very slow push-up that it’s a lot harder than the regular super fast push-ups we were doing. In disbelief I tried it and I only did a quarter of my normal reps. Ever since then I knew slower was better, but a lot harder.

April 27, 2011 I stopped working out. I tried again a month or so later. I tried to adjust it to my schedule which was three times a week. I got through the first two videos and didn’t go back. It’s now July 2011 and I’m inspired to try this again. For pete’s sake I did buy this product, I need to use it. I’ll need to setup my eating pattern to support this change in activity. We’ll see how it goes.

I will say that when I was active, I felt a big difference in my body. I could sleep in my bed without having shoulder problems. My legs wouldn’t be so stiff and achy while sitting at my desk at work, and I had far less headaches than normal. This knowledge is very important to me. I got a glimpse of what it is like to be healthy again. It’s pretty sweet and this knowledge is what’s motivating me to keep trying until I get it right.

I know I’m not the only one that’s crashed and burned the P90X system. Add a comment so we can all have a big laugh… or comfort one another, which ever floats your boat!

Recently due to abnormally high winter activities in Georgia, I was “snowed in” for the majority of that week. Luckily for me I can remote into my office and continue working (maybe not so lucky, eh). I didn’t like working from home, but I could never really put my finger on why. Well; after experiencing the same routine at my home office, for roughly 4 days, I soon realized what the problems were.

Ergonomics

At work, I have a pretty sweet setup. Dual 19″ monitors, a very expensive ergonomic chair, and proper lighting. At home I have a 22″ wide monitor, a cheap Wal-Mart chair (executive class, my arse), and decent lighting. Without knowing why I gradually found myself not spending a lot of time at my desktop. I’m pretty much on the go — either downstairs monitoring the children, playing Xbox, or at work. So; my lifestyle accommodates for hand-held devices and netbooks. I’m becoming more and more casual with my desktop.

After spending a couple days at home due to the 2011 Great Winter Storm of Georgia, I’ve come to the understanding that my setup at home really sucks. Pulling myself out of that “executive” chair only to feel drained of life has opened my eyes a bit. Now; I have to make sure I get up every 25 minutes or so to stretch, drink lots of water, and turn on as many lights as I can — even though it’s the middle of the day!?

Family Life

Not that I’m blaming the children, but the fact is they were stuck in the house as well. Since the schools were closed they had no choice but to continue their child-like routines throughout the day. So; while I’m trying to concentrate on composing an epic email explain why Item A couldn’t fit into Item B and why Item C is no longer compatible — I had to filter out the rowdy cheers and increasing noise levels that seeped through my closed bedroom door. Obviously; I do not have to deal with that kind of distraction while at work, but THAT was another component that helped me realize, “I don’t like working from home.”

Solution!?

I don’t have a solution to this problem. I just wanted to get it off my chest. I tend to notice that when I am doing something I’m really into: like watching YouTube videos or coding on a very intriguing web project — I can be in that executive chair for hours and it not bother me.  When I’m doing my day job stuff, I have to get up every 25 minutes to stretch out my body and mind. Maybe that’s telling me something about my career? So; how’s your ergonomic situation at home or work? Which one rocks and which one sucks big ol’ Rancor bawls!?

Wow!!! I’m blown away with this EPIC BATTLE RAPS OF HISTORY series. I love the beats and these guys have some solid lyrics. These videos can be found on Nice Peter’s YouTube Channel. He’s collaborating with Lloyd Ahlquist and many others to bring these rap battles to life. I stumbled upon Peter, I think from Kassem G, and immediately subscribed to his channel. It has pretty cool music and good entertainment.

As Seen on YouTube!

Since I can’t get the CAPTION to link the URL’s, I’m going to list them below.

1. Epic Rap Battles of History #1 – John Lennon vs. Bill O’Reilly
2. Epic Rap Battles of History #2 – Darth Vader vs. Adolph Hitler
3. Epic Rap Battles of History #3 – Abe Lincoln vs. Chuck Norris
4. Epic Rap Battles of History #4 – Sarah Palin vs. Lady Gaga
5. Epic Rap Battles of History #5 – Hulk Hogan vs. Kim Jong-il
6. Epic Rap Battles of History #6 – Justin Bieber vs. Beethoven
7. … and so many more. I can’t keep you. You’ll have to visit Nice Peter’s YouTube profile to see the rest.

My Vote

Everyone has their own opinion, but here are my thoughts on the battles. I thought Bill O’Reilly had a solid run the entire track, Adolph started out strong, but Vader showed him who has the Force, and Abe started strong, but we all know who the master is… it’s the Chuck! I didn’t even pay attention to what Lady Gaga said, Lisa Nova is too sweet on the eyes. Hulk Hogan had a good run, but the mystery guest simply killed it! I won’t give away the surprise. Justin was week, Beethoven ushered him right out of the battle!

Submit Your Epic Rap Battle Duel

I saw on Nice Peter’s latest installment of Epic Rap Battles of History that he’s taking suggestions via Twitter. So; send him all your deranged combinations of history’s well known figures to battle against one another. I’d like to start a hash tag for this meme, so try and use #erboh when you tweet Peter, please. Click here to send Nice Peter your #erboh suggestion.

I’ve been meaning to get this analogy off my chest. That feeling has become more apparent when I try to explain this concept to my friends. My very first experience of the Internet was through American Online. I must have been 15 years old, living in my parents house, and not having very much money. My brother and I would spend hours on AOL surfing the web and playing mechwarrior within the safe restraints of the AOL application. “You Got Mail” would ring ever-so-often and we’d chat it up with our other cellmates in various child-predator-rooms chatrooms. It wasn’t until a coworker at Walgreens started referring to AOL as “the Play-play Internet” that I realized that I may have been in a Matrix and didn’t know it.

After some weeks of getting hackled about being on AOL, I started to ask him questions on what his internet experience was like. He told me that he connected to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP), opened Internet Explorer and went to town. I thought to myself, “That’s it!?” I tackled with the concept of using an email client, instant messengers, IRC chatrooms, and other things that didn’t come in some sort of bundled package. Well; I had enough knowledge to realize that AOL was NOT the route for me and convinced my dad to switch to Bellsouth. Till this day I’m not sure how I was able to convince him. Some little teenager whining about the restrictions of AOL verses the freedom of a real ISP.

How Does This Relate to Facebook

I’m glad you asked that question… I started out my social media adventure through Twitter, Identica, MySpace, etc. When Facebook finally opened up to the rest of the world I joined in, but didn’t really do anything with it. When Facebook picked up more interest from the world I noticed an increase in friend requests from my old high school friends. I began to chat with them and fell into the cycle of having one or two intense conversation and then the rest of the time just glancing at their latest status update and gaming spam.

Later on as my activity in Facebook diminished, I noticed that my news feed became more of a sermon from Sunday Chapel as more of my friends that found religion felt it to be their civic responsibility to encourage their followers with words of encouragement using the Word of God. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not an active or lazy (agnostic) atheist, but after a while I got real burned out with skipping those posts.

Seriously! How Does This Relate to Facebook!?

The more I’d start cross-posting from the various social media platforms I’m apart of (Ping, Seesmic, etc) I noticed that the replies I got from my Facebook friends could be categorized as social media noobs. Then I started seeing people putting hash tags in their posts and other twitter-related things. I found it cute.

I then noticed that if I wanted to get a comment or response on something I posted, I’d have better luck posting it on Facebook since most of the people in my friend’s list actually know me, compared to Twitter which consists of more Internet Friends. From those experiences I drew the conclusion that Facebook is a box, a social media Matrix of sorts. It’s safe and simple enough for grandma to join the social media revolution and it gives the user the impression that they are up-to-snuff on what’s hip and trendy in the vast, ever-changing world of social media (wow! that was a run-on sentence).

In the end; I don’t think I’m a social media expert by any means. Obviously; if I was truly THAT important then I’d have no problems getting my followers on Twitter or other micro-blogging platforms to interact with me on every single post I submit. Facebook is good for what it does. This is primarily my conclusion to an observation. My interest in Facebook fluctuates every quarter; that’s because I’m a fickle man.

Wow! I am a changed man forever! It’s a bit of an overstatement, but that’s generally how I feel about this fantasy table-top game. I’ve tasted the sweet nectar of Dungeons & Dragons and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same. A couple weekends ago I met up with some D&D players in Marietta, GA and played for about four hours. Within those four hours, to my surprise, all the D&D stereotypes were confirmed. It was an epic experience for me and I certainly look forward to more encounters as I level up in real life.

Be warned that I am going to make fun of EVERYTHING! It’s all in good fun, though. I had a great time and I have enlisted with my new Band of Brothers- my Campaign Desperadoes- into the mysterious world of D&D players.

Getting There

This reoccurring meetup “Return to Raven’s Nest” is held every first Saturday of the month at… you guessed it… The Raven’s Nest. It’s a comic-book store in Marietta, GA. Since I’m in Fairburn, south of the airport, I figured it would take me about an hour to get there. If only I left the house when I wanted. I basically left 20 minutes later than expected. Something to do with bathing (darn those natural urges), feeding the children, whatever. Well; I raced down the highway (more like raced up since I was traveling on I-286 North). I got around to the I-75 intersection and my wife called. I pulled over and talked to her for about 10 minutes. I had to tell her that, “I wasn’t there yet so let me go.” I got off the exit and soon realized that the main road Google Maps was telling me to follow was blocked due to that city doing a 4th of July parade! So; traffic was thick and I had to find an alternate route. It was 12:30 PM when I finally pulled up at the comic-book store. With my heart pacing a bit, I collected myself and checked-in via Foursquare…

First Impressions

I try not to be nervous about these kind of things, but everything was so new. If you can imagine, I’ve heard about D&D my entire life, but never played. I haven’t been to a comic-book store since middle school (and I’m at the ripe ol’ age of thirty-one). I walked through the door and saw a couple racks of comic books on the left and about four tables to the right. People were already playing and I tried to acquire the attention of a Dungeon Master (DM). I asked were table #1 was and someone asked if I was looking for the 4th edition table.

After finding a place to sit the DM Mike asked me if I had a character. I proudly answered, “No I don’t, this is my first time playing D&D.” I felt kind of stupid after saying it like that. I was then given a half orc ranger to play. I normally like to play elves as rangers (WoW equivalent to Elf Hunters) but I went along with the set I was given. After playing for about an hour or so I really warmed up to the idea of playing as a half orc. I think it was mainly because of the stock image provided. The half orc didn’t look as horrid as I thought it would. Now this half orc has sentimental value to me. He embodies my idea of being a deadly warrior (strength, accuracy, distance, and cunningness). Funny that I now see elves as silky pansy vegans. Odd, I know.

After a while I started to notice the stereotypes popping up as I played. A morbidly obese fella, a quiet middle-aged guy, young nerds that fight over stats and side chatter way too much, greasy-faced players, non-athletic women, etc. The list goes on. I’m no different. I’m just calling out the stereotypes. I could really care less who showed up to this momentous event! 

Momentous because it was my first D&D session. I don’t think I’ve embellished that theme enough in this post.

Continuing with stereotypes, I was surely the “token black guy.” Someone else could have easily mark me as an overweight African American nerd playing D&D. I was getting a little annoyed with the young-lings playing though. The DM kept trying to move the story along and they continually bickered back and forth about every little thing the DM said. In D&D, it’s OK to ask questions about the environment or the situation in order to grasp a better picture of what’s going on, but these guys were over doing it. Or so I thought.

We all ate candy, chips and whatever else the comic store stocked. The group didn’t take a collective break, we would simply get up to stretch, use the bathroom, buy more junk food, as we ended our turn and waited for the rotation. You can see how this is a “healthy” way to play!

The Heat of Battle

This is my first encounter. We fought spider and dog-like creatures in a tower to rescue two soldiers.

We played a total of three encounters and it took roughly four hours. It felt like a much longer time though. The first encounter was our group traveling to a tower to save some guy and bring him back to camp. We ended up acquiring a hermit Mage that was hanging out by an apple tree. We fought spider-like monsters, some four-armed dog-like creatures with two sets of mouths and a group of rival adversaries trying to gain back our rescued soldier. Even though the encounter was told in words with visuals being on the board and miniatures… the real battle took place in our heads. I could clearly see the tower, the monsters, the prisoners, and my epic arrows flying cross my comrade’s golden hair, whizzing by him to strike our opponents. It was truly an experience I will soon not forget.

While rescuing the two prisoners, we were spared from the horrifying “cloud of destruction” that took over the land. We went back to camp to see that everyone was dead. The other ranger in our group was sorely upset that he didn’t have time to loot the corpse of the general that recruited him on this mission. He needed to be paid. Four years past since that encounter and our next scene led us to a city in the sky. The DM said that we gained about 500 gold pieces within those four years and we were now meeting up in this amazing floating city.

The 3rd encounter. We attended a ceremony four years later after the first encounter.

The DM staged a ceremony and I knew a fight would be brewing. As we positioned our miniatures I made sure mine stayed far back. As a ranger I’m most deadly from a distance. Sure enough as the ceremony commenced a shadowy figure began attacking and we sprung into action once more. It was this encounter that I tasted the victory of stacking attacks and multiple dice-roll damage. I used a daily power with an encounter power while querying my foe. It was quite satisfying adding up d8′s, d6′s, and d10′s all in one turn. Our group brought down fiery vengeance upon the attacker… and then it was over.

Wraping It Up

We ended that session and I stuck around just enough to peruse through some of the comics and chit chat with the DM and other Game Masters packing up their tables. I inquired about getting my own miniature and dice. I looked through some of the game manuals. I left and went home to tell my wife of my adventures. Since then I’ve been looking for Half Orc Ranger miniatures on the web, playing with the Character Builder and getting stats help from the Meetup group. Here’s my latest character sheet [PDF] on Gaaki, the Half Orc Ranger. I can’t wait until next time!

Oh man! I finally get my grubby little hands on a next-gen gaming console and NOW I can’t even find the time to play it! It’s kind of eating me up inside. I do have certain family-related responsibilities so it’s an eternal battle between good and evil, yin and yang, Vader and Luke! On the lighter side, the kids are getting great use out of it because of our Netflix subscription. They have an endless library of kiddie shows to consume. The wife and I can watch old movies and whatever else is available in my “instant queue”. On the darker side… I’m just not playing as much games as I’d like.

As of date, we have a couple decent games in our collection (my son and I):

• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Lego Batman
• Lego Star Wars: The Complete Collection
• Pure

My main motivation to get a next-gen system was to experience GTA IV. The irony of my purchase is I feel very outdated whenever I post a microblog or status update about it. So; all the fun I’m having with GTA, I have to keep it to myself. The Xbox came with Lego Batman and Pure. We presented those games as a present to my son, Alex, for his birthday (over the weekend). So; now we’re playing those games.

I’ve also tasted the sweet nector of “Game Demos” with such titles as:

• Mass Effect 2
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Just Cause 2
• Split Second
• Forza Motorsport 3
• Iron Man 2

I first tried Iron Man 2 with the thought that maybe this could be a good mini-game for Alex to play with. Wow; what a god awful game! I quickly removed it from my system. It actually felt nice cleansing my system of such a badly created game. My brother ranted on and on about how awesome Arkham Asylum and Just Cause 2 is. I can certainly agree. Arkham Asylum is a lot more fun that I thought it would be and the darkness of that world is very engaging.

Funny; while writing this post I realized that I actually have played a lot of games, but in my head… I want MORE!

Rub it in Why Dontcha’

To make my late purchase even worse, about two weeks after I finally bought an Xbox 360… the NEW Xbox 360 was announced at E3! It has 250 GB of hard drive space compared to my 120 GB AND it has built-in wifi. I paid $100 for that stupid wiki adapter I have plugged into my console! Damn I feel more and more outdated!  So; we’re going to see if we can give back the outdated Xbox to BestBuy and get the new console. It’s releasing this week.

Engaget has a good article explaining what’s new with this slim version of the console.

Virtual Storage-bin

For years, I’ve been using Gmail as a storage depot for mailing lists, emails from my other domains, etc.  I’m starting the slow process of removing the things I really don’t need.  The mailing lists are the easiest. As of June 1, 2010 I’m using about 2840 MB (38%) of 7461 MB storage Google set me up with.  Let’s see how long it takes me to get that number down.