Sunday, July 18, 2004

A beginning and an end. Well, it's about a week until I'm due to go back to school, for the spring semester. I haven't even received a timetable for the second semester, though. It's kind of scary, because the Dean of Studies actually had to go on leave just before the first semester ended. Apparently she had some sort of mental breakdown. It comes as little surprise though; she definitely seemed to be on edge for several weeks. I hope that she recovers soon (and that she returns to her old job), because the new Dean of Studies really isn't suited for the job, in my humble opinion. He's only been at the school for a very short period of time and he's thrown a few things into disarray (like making sudden major changes to our schedules, with very little notice). Although I am looking forward to my second semester, I feel a little apprehensive about this course at the moment. And I've been thinking about changing course/school. It's a big decision to make, but I am increasingly getting the sense that my current selection just isn't getting me where I feel I should be. I don't know. One of the things I dislike most is uncertainty, at least as far as my own feelings go. Right now I have absolutely no idea what I want to do if I go elsewhere -- and I don't even know where I'd go or what I'd do. But I do feel slightly uneasy/unsatisfied with what I'm doing now. And I don't like that thought nagging at the back of my mind. Anyway, it's not the end of the world. I'll probably reach a decision about it at some point. On an unrelated note, I am finally starting back at my local gym this week. That'll be great. I had avoided it for a few months, because I really felt like I didn't want to pile something else on top of my already-bloated schedule. But I think the time has come to go that extra mile. I feel bad for not going for so long, considering that regular exercise was always a part of my own routine. It will be great to get back into it. The added benefit is that my sister is planning to join me. She's never been to a gym at all, but she seems very keen to give it a try. And the support of having someone there with you always helps. Even my mum is considering it (she used to go to a training circuit, but she hasn't been in several years). So that'd be great. Accomplishing something together is always better than doing it yourself. ~_^ I am also hoping that in amongst all this, I can actually start working on my new site. This new thing with N-Sider has kind of brought that into question to some degree. But really, no matter what I do, new projects and demands will always be coming up. I think I just have to make time for myself for a change. Not to say that I would turn down work for others -- especially something as significant as a redesign -- but in this regard, I am always putting others first. I feel that I need to make some time to work on my own web project (well, something in addition to OtakuBoards). I hope that I can talk about the details of this new site at some point soon.

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Saturday, July 17, 2004

"Nobody robs restaurants." Well, my copy of Pulp Fiction finally arrived. Actually, I now recognize that I had seen the "collector's edition" when I rented it. However, I hadn't looked at the Deleted Scenes bit, or the Featurette bit. Nonetheless, the cast interviews suck. You literally see about thirty seconds with each actor. Bleh. Anyway, things have been as busy as usual, I suppose. For one thing, I had been planning some minor design revisions over at N-Sider, to make the site easier to nagivate. But now, Cory (the Site Manager), wants to totally redevelop the whole thing. It's kind of sudden, but when we began discussing it, it made sense. In particular, Cory wants to make the site totally different...as in, make it not look like a site, but more like an online magazine. You know, something very artistic and interactive. I think that there is huge potential with that; Cory is the best programmer I know. I mean, I think he comes close to being a complete prodigy or something. And that's saying a lot, considering that I know several amazing programmers. This is very exciting for me, because it means that there are less limitations on me as the designer. Other than that, I have a new article up over at IGN. Well, partly new. Essentially, nobody had anything to submit this week, which is a big shame. This week, everyone is still busy with N-S only stuff (like a big new RE4 impressions piece that we have planned). So I offered to take my Iwata profile and jazz it up for IGN. Truth be told, it was okay for IGN as-is...but, I wrote it about a year ago. And a lot has happened in a year. Plus, there are other things to discuss about Iwata. I wish that I'd had more time to work on it (another two hours would have made all the difference), but that's what you get when you're called upon at the last minute. ~_^ Also, it may seem a bit early to be talking about it, but I have a really cool RPG on the way. Yes, another one. I don't know when to actually start it, but I have finally worked out some specifics that had caused problems for me earlier. In any case, I am confident that it will be much cooler than Kill Adam. Of course, I am really looking forward to starting Volume 2 in earnest. I've been preparing my first post and it's almost ready to go up. Should be good, I hope. ^_^; Oh and, I think I'm going to have to write another post to go over current RPGs, because there are so many that deserve a mention right now. But there are so many, that it'll take some time to cover 'em. Still, it's worthwhile. It's a shame that there isn't some kind of regular RPG review or something like that. Some of the smaller ones really, really deserve attention. Edit: Apart from RPGs and the usual online stuff, what should I talk about in my next post? Edit 2: Woo! Random style change!

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Thursday, July 15, 2004

*sticks a gold star on your forehead* Finally, I got all of the critiques for Kill Adam done. And now they're posted. So if you haven't seen them, you can visit the thread to check 'em out. Basically, like I mentioned in the thread, all of the sign-ups were amazing. This made my decision that much more difficult. In the end, it was the small things that confirmed the decisions for me, because there simply weren't any "bad" sign-ups. They were all outstanding. I want to thank everyone who signed-up, too. Simply by signing-up, you're showing your support/interest in my RPG, which is great. I expect that Volume 2 will kick off in earnest pretty soon. So that's all for this update. Oh, but please, make sure that you visit Desbreko's awesome site, which he's just uploaded. This is another site being hosted by Tony - you should definitely visit Slow Nerve Action if you haven't already. Good hosting is insanely hard to come by and Tony's been pretty generous in offering it to various members. Not only that, but his sites are all worth visiting anyway, if you want to see examples of truly good web design.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2004

The Bride is watching... I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but a few weeks ago I was at my local video store and I came across an enormous cardboard cut-out of The Bride from Kill Bill. It's sort of like one of those displays you see at cinemas. It would have to be 7ft tall or more - it's Uma (from the cover of KB v1) and she's got the logo underneath her feet. The actual picture of Uma is probably life-size. It is huge. So anyway, I mentioned to my mother at the time that it I thought it was pretty cool. I think I said something like "it'd be great if they sold those, so I could buy one." So what happens? My mother, being the person she is, went and asked if the store would give it to us when they're finished. So what happens? We get a call tonight - "Yeah, you can come and pick up Uma now." So here I am, writing this post, with a life-size Bride standing in the corner. Crazy, huh? It's insanely cool. I figure that it could be very collectable in the future too; it's in great quality. I'm going to take a photo of it if I can, to show you what it looks like. ~_^ If I wasn't a certified Kill Bill nut before, then I surely am now. o_O; In other news, I am really pleased with the response that Jason and I have received from our recent IGN feature (Jason being a colleague from N-Sider). We recently wrote an article together, which discusses Nintendo's next-gen game console. The fact that our stuff is now being displayed on IGN means that more people are reading our work. And that in turn has resulted in some interesting feedback from readers. I've seen overwhelmingly positive comments about it, so I'm happy with that. It's the sort of thing that encourages you to continue with what you're doing. Before you go, please visit The White Butterfly. This is Alan's site, which Tony has kindly offered to host for him. Alan's web skills have increased significantly since he first appeared in our community and he should be proud of the site he has there at the moment. I'm sure we'll see great things from him in the future. Oh and, if you're still bored, check out Revolution Realized, which is the article that I mentioned in this post.

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Monday, July 12, 2004

My arms have returned! As you may remember, I mentioned in my last post that I'd formatted my computer very recently. And although everything was running well (despite the video card issue), there was one major problem; I couldn't find Paint Shop Pro! Despite the fact that I am incredibly anal about storing important programs, I simply couldn't find my copy of PSP anywhere. For a whole day, I didn't have it. So instead, I installed Photoshop (which I recently bought, with school in mind). Unfortunately, I'm just not as comfortable with PS as I am with PSP. Not yet, anyway. But moreover, some of the critical design work that I've been doing (with theOtaku in particular) is all saved in PSP format. Photoshop, being the snooty program that it is, will not read PSP files. Anyway, I finally found the packet with the disc in it earlier on tonight. And I tell you, it really feels like I'm whole again. I never really considered how frequently I use PSP; even for small things, like resizing images, mocking up layouts and making article-related graphics. In any case, it's full steam ahead now. If Adam is reading this (and I know he is, because he loves me), it's worth knowing that I'll be submitting a final layout for theOtaku this week. I was freaking out for a moment there, at the prospect of not being able to work on my PSP files for quite a while. Phew. I'm also thinking about grabbing some other new software for my PC here. Some things would be very useful for school, in particular. The big problem, of course, is cost. But with a student discount, it's possible to get some good deals. In any case, I'm hoping to make the transition from PSP8 to Photoshop CS after I'm done with all this new layout work. Photoshop is ultimately the superior program, but if you are not comfortable with it, it takes time to get used to. At least, that's been my experience. It just does so many things differently from PSP. Sometimes, I find that it adds needless steps, where PSP is more "what you see is what you get". Anyway, I'll let you know how that goes. I'm not quite game to start doing all my layouts in Photoshop yet, while I'm in mid-development. That's a bit too much of a risk, I think. ~_^

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Saturday, July 10, 2004

Reformatting is Good Well, here I am, after reformatting this system for the first time. I managed to go for about a year without the desire to format the system...so that's pretty good, eh? In any case, it's half good, half bad. I was having problems with UT2K4, and when I reinstalled it after formatting, most of those problems disappeared. However, when I play Assault mode, I get this really weird skipping problem...it's nothing major, but it's annoying to the point where it renders the game unplayable in my opinion. I know that my system can handle this game and then some, even on the highest settings. Adjusting the settings down doesn't change anything, either. I mean, it doesn't make the problem go away. So...I think I'm now going to have to get someone from Dell to look at it. Oh well. Hopefully they'll put an entirely new card in, because this problem's been happening from pretty early on. Other than that, it's nice to have a fresh start in general. I like to have the least stuff on my computer as possible, so...even before, I wasn't using much space. But now it's even nicer. ~_^ Anyway, I'm now using Mozilla and I'm using the Olive colours on Windows XP. For some reason, using Olive is cool...it's kind of like the scheme that you never see anyone using. So I have an appropriately-themed nature picture on my desktop. XD Of course, that'll change fast, once I see some shiny new Kill Bill wallpaper somewhere. X_X Oh, and...if you have a sense of justice and decency, you'll visit BlueYoshi's myOtaku page.

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Friday, July 9, 2004

Go, Jackie! I watched Jackie Brown again tonight. I enjoyed it even more the second time. Could Pam Grier be any cooler? Hell no! :P I also did something that would make Eps proud (lol XD); I downloaded Mozilla Firefox just a moment ago. So far I've only played around with it for about five minutes; I'm actually planning to format my system soon, because it's getting silly. And it needs a clean-up anyway. But yeah, I'm definitely going to explore Mozilla a lot more once I get everything on here again. I really like the tabbed browsing concept. Simple, but cool. I would also like to optimize OtakuBoards for Mozilla, even though most people aren't using it. The key difference between myself and some others (you know who you are), is that I won't ignore the 95% of Internet users out there who are on IE. That's just silly. It should be about content and good delivery, not politics, right? ~_^ Anyway, I managed to get that article completed on time today. It was a close call though. I was kind of left to put everything together, even though it wasn't my article as such. I wrote about a third of it; so it was someone else's article that I was contributing to. Not that it's a huge problem or anything, but it's definitely not something I welcome. ~_^ There isn't much else going on at the moment, except to say that I was recently asked out by someone. Yes, someone else asking me to go out. It's kind of funny, considering that I've been so...proactive, when it comes to dating this year. I have to say though, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. My experiences this year have really kind of soured me on things. I mean, I haven't become so cynical that I won't ever get into a relationship or something -- it's nothing like that. But I've come to realize that after being with someone for four years, it's difficult to find something which even comes close to that. At least, it's made me realize how lucky I was to be in that situation. And now I'm at the stage where I'm just kind of floating around, with no real desire. Right now I don't have any idea what I want. The person who asked me out...I kind of like them. Kind of. But, somehow the whole thing feels like too much effort. In all honesty, my attitude lately has been that I'd much rather get some solid work done, instead of worrying about romance. Kinda sad, isn't it? But that's just the way I feel. Oh well. Since I feel completely indifferent about it at the moment, it's not really a good or bad thing for me. I guess it's just going to take the right person to shake me out of indifference. ~_^ Arcadia: Yeah, I'm still a Mozilla virgin, so I don't know if it's Mac compatible. You'd think it would be, though. Semji: I know you've mentioned Mozilla not working properly with OB, but I had also noticed a long time ago that the Mac version of IE and Safari also have OB problems. But I'm not a programmer, so that is nothing I can do but bug Justin. ~_^ HC: Yeah, absolutely. Right now it's just too much trouble for me. Maybe the right person will come along sometime though. Deb: Oh trust you. I'm too wary of your nad-kicking abilities though. Sorry. Sara: Yes, Arcadia rocks. And you call that a real comment? Lucky you're you...'cause you can get away with that type of stuff. ~_^ CrH: Oh I don't doubt that a half-chewed sandal is better than IE. But that's not the point, is it? As someone who is involved with web sites on a frequent basis, I have to recognize that most of my visitors are running on IE. So, IE will be getting the majority of my attention for the foreseeable future. Mimmi: I'm sure you have lovely toes, Mimmi-chan. ~_^ Baron: Yep, that's very true. It's not every day that a longterm relationship comes around. Juu: Hm, you know, I'm not really worried about the money side of it. I mean, if I spend money on someone and we break up...I don't really feel that I've "wasted my money". At the time I would have spent it so that we can enjoy ourselves, which is what it's all about. Bio: Hm, you know, I haven't come across that (in my five minutes of Mozilla-lovin'). I'll check it out though. One thing I love about Mozilla is that you can import all your stuff from IE...that's very nice.

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Thursday, July 8, 2004

"B*****x asked you a question." I'm pretty happy with the sign-ups for Kill Adam: Volume 2 so far. Considering that this RPG requires some kind of knowledge of Volume 1...it actually surprises me that more than two or three have attempted it. But it's good. The effort that has been invested is really something that will only help these members, whether they're selected or not. Stuff like this is what really helps to improve people's writing in general, I think. I am impressed by the number of high quality RPGs in Adventure Arena lately. It's a very good sign for the future -- and I hope it's a trend that continues. The big recent releases have really helped to generate more new RPGs as well. I notice that several cool ones have popped up within recent days. It's good stuff. In terms of other stuff, I've recently been spending a lot of time working on a new IGN article. In a sense it's kind of annoying, because this week we (N-Sider) hadn't prepared a backlog of work in advance. So to catch up, myself and another editor have had to put something together. Mind you, it's a cool piece. It basically involves a speculative discussion on Nintendo's next generation game console. It's kind of half talking about what we might see in the way of new technology, as well as the more crazy stuff that we just think would be cool. Nonetheless, it's required a significant amount of technical research. But that's not too bad...it's certainly a relatively small piece of work, compared to other stuff at the moment. I also have to get cracking and continue working on theOtaku.com's redesign. I have kind of taken it and edited the sizings of certain things...and as a result, I've almost been redesigning the whole thing from the ground up. I have to be careful and pace myself on that front. ~_^ Oh and, I finally got a really awesome Kill Bill poster (courtesy of my mum - who is a totally cool chick). In fact, she also bought Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown for me at the same time. That was kind of an unexpected splurge on her part. She's a generous person, but it's not every day that she'll just go out and buy stuff like that for me of her own accord. So, that was a very cool thing for her to do. I had earlier asked her to see if they sell Reservoir Dogs at the local HMV (because she was going there herself), so that I could go in and buy it later. When she came home with two DVDs and an enormous Volume 1 poster, I was very happily surprised. ~_^ But she also wanted to watch both movies right away. She's seen Jackie Brown, but not Reservoir Dogs. And...she really enjoyed Jackie Brown. She giggled when Samuel L. Jackson said "I can't believe you're living like this, girl. This is some repugnant shit." Hehe...she even quoted that line to me a couple of times later on. Yes, my mother, quoting Samuel L. Jackson. What a dork, huh? ~_^ John: Hm, you know, I think GameCube has restored (and in some ways, surpassed) their glory days. Just look at the GameCube lineup for the next year. Wow. Arcadia: Oh yes, you must "borrow" them. ~_^ Jackie Brown is a truly awesome movie and Kill Bill posters will forever be cool. ^_^; DDG: My room is also plastered with posters! But I'm going to take them all down and replace them with lovely new framed ones. Right now I have an enormous Matrix Revolutions movie poster (which I won) and the Kill Bill one...which is basically the same as the Volume 1 cover. I'm going to frame them both and put them up. ^_^ BlueYoshi: Well, my mother is 46 years old. I think she can handle Reservoir Dogs if I can. lol PT-sama: Yes, it's nice to have a parent who really can enjoy "new things". I mean, my mother takes a very active and genuine interest in my music as well. In many ways, she and I are very similar people. And yes, again, Jackie Brown is amazing. I'm glad that you like it. ^_^ Baron: Perhaps you can encourage her by revealing the coolness of Tarantino movies to her. ^_^; Jamal: Thanks for the comment, I don't think I've seen you on here before. I appreciate it. ^_^ Tonykins: For sure. I'm thinking that DS won't be much more expensive than GBA SP. Or at least, it'll sit somewhere between SP and PSP. Gah, so many acronyms! Karmi-chan: Heh, you don't need to have seen KB2 for KA2. The only requirement is to have seen KB1...and to have read most of KA1. But yeah, it's there for those who want to have a go. And yes...you should definitely add Jackie Brown to your list. ~_^

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Monday, July 5, 2004

Volume 2 Lives Well, Volume 2's sign-up thread is now live. Finally. I just hope that I haven't made things too complicated/difficult to understand. The basic idea behind it is actually really simple. I give you 25% of a character, you fill in the rest. Sometimes I am guilty of over-explaining though, to the point where it gets a bit too confusing. My general feeling is that things will be a lot easier to understand once the RPG gets moving. Right now, it's a lot to take in (especially if you haven't read Volume 1). But really, there isn't anything terribly complex about it. It's just the presentation that gives that impression, I believe. The only real concern I have at this point is the whole "I'm not good enough to get in" attitude from some people. I don't mean that this is necessarily something wrong with them (although throwing caution to the wind is sometimes a good idea), I think it's more the fact that I have somehow given the wrong impression with this RPG series. Yes, the presentation factor is higher than usual. And yes, it's true that I do want people who are going to have some pretty cool writing. But that's about it really. There are very few writers on OB in my view, who wouldn't be able to post in Kill Adam. Some of the most amazing writers on the boards (who could do some absolutely awesome dialogue in KA2) have already expressed doubt that they'll get in. Why? Until you post a sign-up, you never know. So with that said, I want to say that from my point of view...I encourage everyone who has an interest to give it a shot. There's nothing to lose. And above all else, it's just an RPG. There's no rocket science to it. You'll be fine. ~_^

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Saturday, July 3, 2004

On the Eve of Adam... Well, Kill Adam: Volume 2 is almost ready to launch. I've been working away at writing explanations on how to use the HTML in posts and so on. It should be pretty easy, but I really hope I'm explaining it clearly enough. When I actually tested everything out, I was impressed. I mean, I'd done image designs and everything, but when I actually tried everything out in a thread...it was nice to see that it came together just as I'd hoped. I really hope that everyone who participates actually uses the HTML. I think it'll really add to the experience. I also hope that the Jukebox isn't too difficult to use. Once everyone gets into the swing of it, it should be okay. It may require some further explanation, but people can always use the sign-up thread to ask about it. Also, at this point, I think I will only be adding two new characters to Kill Adam. So this means that only two spots will be open in the sign-up. I know that it might be a bit disappointing for those who sign-up, because it makes things just as restrictive (if not more so) than the original RPG. But bear in mind that I'd not originally planned to add any new characters in Volume 2 at all. My original intention was to do a second volume with all of the original cast and that's it. For those of you who do end up missing out on both Volume 1 and 2...I hope that you will be reassured when I say that Kill Adam is only the beginning. On the RPG front, there's so much more to expect from me, beyond Kill Adam itself. If Kill Adam is a testbed for some of these new ideas (Jukebox, Chapter System, Twin Column structure, etc), then my next big RPG will be the one that uses them to their fullest extent, hopefully. Anyway, I'm waiting for some info from Shy before I can finalize everything. But I hope I can get the sign-up thread live within the next couple of days.

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