Little Inferno

Welcome to the first attempt of creating a video review! This does have some issues, however, it works well enough to review the game Little Inferno.

Little inferno is a very strange fireplace simulation game that is more about being a pyro than anything else.  It has a very dark sense of humor.  At the same time, it also is a good game to relieve stress.  Especially for those of us who liked to burn stuff up in the fireplace as a kid.

The game will set you back $10. If you enjoy weird games and burning stuff up I highly recommend it. The below video is perhaps the best description I can give it.

Has it aged well? Monster Bash

Who doesn't like an intro with a green Zombie?

Compared to my last review Monster Bash is a plat-former that has stood the test of time quite well.  Unlike Jazz Jackrabbit this game is more about solving puzzles than speed.  While the first three levels are quite easy, level 4 takes the difficulty level up a couple of notches.

For this review, I only looked at the shareware version of this game.  This version includes part 1 of 3. 

For those who have not played this game before, the main point of this game is to free all the captured dogs and cats throughout the level.  In some cases the animals are hidden, while in other cases they are in plain sight.

Overall this game is still fun to play and includes many challenges to keep both adults and children entertained.  I recommend you download the game today from 3D  Realms and play it for Halloween 9/10 Skeleton Hamsters.

In order to play this game you will need an MS-DOS emulator such as DOS box.

Has it aged well? Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare

What is that red flying thing? An angel? or an Angel daemon.

As a kit who grew up only playing PC games, Jazz Jackrabbit was perhaps one of the best DOS games there was besides Hocus Pocus and Raptors: Call of the Shadows.  I remember playing the shareware versions of all of these games over and over again.  As a kid these were really fun games.

I have replayed a few of these games as I have gotten older, some games such as Hocus Pocus are alright, however Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare really has not aged all that well.  Looking at the screenshot above you can see that the graphics are alright.  However, the controls are what really makes this game loose its playability.  You move way to fast and you are bound to run into multiple bad guys before the end of the level. 

I really have nothing against a green rabbit with a gun, or the artistic style.  Considering the time this game looks quite good.  But if you try and play this game even on easy, you will die.  Not because the game is hard but because the screen does not give you enough space to see ahead. 

Overall as this game looks alright but hasn't aged well I give it 6/10 tomatillos.

Banks vs. Credit Unions

Banks are not all that bad but let’s face it; there is a difference between non-profit organizations and for-profit organizations.  So when it comes to credit unions vs. banks I am not an expert however, I can tell you about my experience going to a credit union.

After moving recently and becoming employed by an organization that supports a credit union I have decided to give it a try.  After going to a local bank here that we really haven’t used in a long time and getting our money withdrawn we went down to the local credit union.  While all financial institutions are different the experience was fast and very convenient.

The thing that surprised me the most is the fact that the credit union printed out our debit cards right there on the spot.  So Instead of having to wait for weeks on end before we are able to access our account we have our Debit cards right away and have access to our money.

Along with this for all of my life I have used local banks.  I really enjoy the great customer service I have received at these banks.  It was always nice to go into the bank and have one of the tellers ask how my parents in Guam were doing.  However, when we moved it became next to impossible to use a local bank as we have no way to deposit checks.

This problem is solved with a credit union.  With connections nationwide no matter where we go we will be able to use free ATMs and also deposit checks.  This makes life easier.

Overall you have to ask yourself where do I want to place my money?  Banks do have some advantages but as recent media coverage has shown us, in the end many banks care more about making money than they do about good customer service.  Every financial institution is different as such a non-profit organization like a credit union may work best for you.

If you want a good comparison check out this infograph

First Contact with Owd Bob

The Warp drive was invented
by a Sheep Herder

I’ll be honest.  I am not someone who regularly watches family themed moves however, when I saw that two characters from Star Trek were the starts of Owd Bob it got my attention.  Owd Bob is the story of a grandfather (played by Zefram Cochrane) and his grandson.  The Grandfather is a sheep herder on the Isle of Man.  Basically he is a really angry old man.  After his parents die David, the grandson comes to live with his grandfather.  Throughout the movie David is befriended by his grandfather’s neighbor (played Miles O’Brein) and his daughter.  I am not really sure what the plot of this movie is but there is a dog named Zach and another dog named Owd Bob.  Owd Bob really doesn’t come into this movie much but I guess it is a cool name and caught people’s attention.

Owd Bob is based off a book which I haven’t read, however having not read the book this is a pretty good family movie.  In one way it reminds me of Old Yeller set on the Isle of Man.  In another way it reminds me of Babe although Babe never ate sheep.

Although this movie is not Star Trek, the fact that it has two characters that played is Star Trek was the reason why I watched it.  Even without this feature if you like a movie that is family friendly, about dogs that not only heard sheep but also kill them, has a somewhat confusing plot and you have a Netflix account this movie is worth watching.

ISP High Speed VS Good Customer Service What is More Important?

Internet Service providers are interesting.  In some areas there will be dozens of providers of high speed internet in others there will be next to none.  Growing up in a rural area we got cable internet when I was about 13 years old.  In those early days we had @home service through AT&T.  After a while @home went away and then ever since we have had Comcast internet service.  The nice thing about Comcast is that generally they have a stable connection and they also are able to give you 20MBPS versus 3MBPS with Century Link in the same rural area.  While most people do not need a connection faster than 3MBPS it is sometimes nice to have especially when one likes to design websites.

In most urban areas all ISP’s have similar connection speeds and various packages available however over time I have learned that customer service makes a drastic difference when choosing an internet service or any other service for that matter.

I have one experience working with customer service for Century Link while hooking up a network for a family friend.  Their service people are quick, reliable and were able to solve the connection problems very quickly.  I don’t know what they did but in a matter of minutes all problems were resolved.  I cannot say from ongoing experience how they are however I have had lots of experience with Comcast.

Comcast is a great dilemma to me, I enjoy the fact that their internet has higher speeds however, they make it easier to discontinue service than it is to get it set up.  After my parents left for Guam it was necessary to get their internet and phone service switched over to our names.  We already had the equipment however, for some reason Comcast would not allow us to just switch the service over, instead it was necessary to call them, go in and visit their store, and even get a different phone number than the one my family had used for the past 14 years.  After visiting the store, it took two days to get service up and running because for some reason I needed to have and FCC pin which I was not able to receive online.  Through this experience I found out two things.

    1. Comcast service over the phone for creating a new connection does little good.  They say they are busy and that if you do such and such they will call you back when are available.  They never called back.

     

2. Comcast IM service works really well however, throughout the process they will feed you advertisements and try and get you to buy services you do not really want.

Despite these setbacks my recent experience has been better than my previous mentioned learning experience.  Moving to Utah, I decided to have one of their service people come and set up our internet service.  Although I had the same experience as before with the IM service trying to sell me stuff I really didn’t want (which made it take about twice as long to get through the process) it was easy set up and worked out quite well.

One the flip side as part of moving we got rid of our phone service.  To do this I called Comcast.  What is interesting is that unlike setting up a new service it is extremely easy to get rid of service.  Not only is it easy but its quick and simple.

Overall I am not a fan of Comcast customer service however; they are reminder to me of why I need to provide good customer service.  The other issue is truly deciding what is important to me meaning a fast internet connection over poor customer service.

The Children of Hurin

J.R.R. Tolkien’s greatest known work is the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  While this work is know all around the world it is also probably one of my least favorite works by Tolkien.  Along with the Lord of the Rings the Hobbit and the Silmarillion Tolkien wrote many other shorter works and poems.  While most of these stories like the Children of Hurin were published after Tolkien’s death they also represent some of his greatest work.

Expanding on the story of Turin Turambar found in the Silmarillion; the Children of Hurin is the story of the adventures and misadventures of Turin. As the title suggests Turin is the son of Hurin, who was once a ruler of men in the first age of middle earth.  Hurin is captured in battle by Morgoth (for all practical purposes this is the devil of Tolkien’s fiction before Sauron) who curses Hurin and his family.

In a sense this story is very reminiscent of the tale of Oedipus Rex.  While the tale is a tragedy it is well written, and interesting.  Unlike the Lord of the Rings this tale is very fast moving and as the appendix states is probably the pinnacle of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work.  This work is not as light hearted as the Hobbit however for anyone interested in classic British literature or any fans of Tolkien’s mythology this is perhaps one of his best works.