Scandalous for 13 points

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

The BBC has a news story today about the current protest against popular Facebook application Scrabulous. Now, who didn’t expect that one to happen?

I’m quite a fan of Scrabulous and it’s really the only reason why I spend time on Facebook. A much improved experience over my original online Scrabble place of choice over at the pixie pit.

I guess I’ll patiently have to wait until the copyright expires into public domain. But I won’t hold my breath. I suppose I could go play Wabble while I wait.

two sticks and an apple

Monday, January 14th, 2008

I’m Mac curious.

And while I’m not losing any sleep over how the hair on my head can be fuller with iTonic, which mammals will start flying first, or any other airy announcements likely to come tomorrow, I’m excited nonetheless. Not fan-blind giddy, but excited enough to add a couple extra feeds to my RSS reader.

You see, my first computer was an Apple //c, complete with green monitor, external hard disk drive, and mouse. That Apple was where I first started playing games like the Ultima series and to see it evolve from Ultima to Ultima V, all on the same hardware, was impressive indeed. A recent PC of mine which could play Baldur’s Gate was crippled in spades by it’s sequel. I couldn’t even cast magic missle without the game grinding to a halt. I couldn’t hope to cast something like Vas Flam. But I realise it’s unfair to compare the technological achievements within the Ultima series to the Baldur’s Gate series. Anyway, I digress.

Lately I’ve been hankering to give Macs a try. I’ll admit the main reason is because they look so nice but even the crappiest one is better than my current Vaio. I don’t have any illusion that a Mac will make me more creative, give me chunky framed glasses, or multiply the sweater vests in my wardrobe. In fact, if anything, I have no idea what would be gained by owning a Macbook other than receiving knowing looks in Starbucks.

But I still want one.

The End of Facebook Hype

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

Via Google Trends. It seems like the “Facebook Phenomenon” is where the “MySpace Phenomenon” was 2 years ago culturally. My prediction is that 1 year from now you won’t hear much about Facebook, it looks like the buzz is already flattening out, though it will take a little while for people to notice….trends.jpg

Geek no like….

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

Got my first Vista-installed laptop today…OMG!  Very bad.  Very, very, bad.  I haven’t had to deal with blue screens since pre-XP service pack days, but Vista has already been cranky…though I would admit that when it chokes it is elegant.  Why oh why can’t Microsoft hirer UI guys???

Substitue one brown geek for another….

Friday, January 11th, 2008

Hey all, just a heads up that I’ll be filling in as well while Aziz is out of the house. Just some info, I normally blog @ gnxp and @ gnxp.  I’m a nerd & a geek wrapped up in one package.  My geekiness tends to express itself in a nostalgia for Dr. Who and a contemporary interest in science fiction & high fantasy.  In the domains of nerdiness I’m into evolution, hard-core!

water the cat, feed the plants

Thursday, January 10th, 2008

I’ve been kindly asked to provide a few musings while the master of the house is away for a short spell. I’m slightly nervous, as the responsibility feels great. It’s like being asked by a neighbor to look after their home while they’re away by bringing in the mail and rummaging through their closets for that lived in look.

So a bit about myself.

I’m Dave Kim and have known Aziz since back in the day when climbing over fences was the standard transportation method. Although we haven’t lived in the same zip code in a long, long time, the magic of modern technology has kept us in touch, more or less, over the years. And since we were raised on the same fluorinated water, we have the same geeky tendencies. In fact, most of my sci-fi sensibilities are because of his influence.

These days I live in the UK, near Cambridge to be precise. I’ve been here now for the past six years but still get back to the States about once a year. Just enough for me to recharge my ‘Why is everything so expensive in the UK’ batteries.

I used to blog in a pseudo anonymous manner, since being Dave Kim on the internet is like being a needle in a needlestack, but haven’t in some time. But I’m sure it’s just like riding a bicycle and it will take me at least month before I start driving away readers like I used to.