2024 Hindsight

It's kind of fun to look back at the year and see how close or far off any predictions were. Foresight is cloudy and hindsight is clear. My aim at the outset of 2024 was No New Tech. Surprise — there was new tech. And as for the upcoming year, there will likely be new tech again — no surprise.

Sailing Away From Sea of Stars

Last week, I finished Sea of Stars, rolling the looooong credits and finally realizing (about half-way through) that you can fast-forward them. It was an overall very good RPG. Now that I’m done, I can focus on enjoying more of Tears of the Kingdom. I might also start my next RPG and juggle between games.

Finishing The Year With Pika

Once in a while, you find something that just clicks; maybe it’s meant to be. That’s what Pika seems like since I started using it March 1st. I’ve really enjoyed the past nine months of blogging on Pika.

Sonic 3 Family Fun

Just before Christmas, I got to treat my wife and kids to a movie at the theater: Sonic the Hedgehog 3. What a fun film! I think it’s one of the best video game cinematic experiences there is. And apparently two Jim Carrey’s are better than one.

The Reason For The Season

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’” Luke 2:10-11

“‘She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’” Matthew 1:21

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17

Impressive Curved Gaming Monitor

My wife was out shopping late last week and happened upon a nice sale: a 32” curved gaming monitor for just $150. I wasn’t sure if it would make a good Christmas gift for my teens…turns out, it made a great early Christmas gift from my wife to me!

Much Cash For Little Gain With iPhone Upgrade

At his Bear blog, Herman Martinus wrote about being forced to upgrade his seven year old iPhone to the latest one. He felt the switching cost was unnecessary and expensive for basically the same Apple phone despite the huge jump. I had similar feelings when I recently looked to upgrade my four year old iPhone 12 mini.

Between A Chrome Rock And A Windows Hard Place

Lately I’ve been a hockey puck, getting smacked across the ice towards one goal and then another. On one end, a Chromebook. The other end, a Windows PC. Then I was hit with the possibility of Parallels to run Windows 11 on my MacBook — a franken-laptop! Isn’t it good to have options?

Moto Razr In Dreams Come True Orange

After using my new Razr for over six weeks, it’s still the most awesome colorway ever. When I first saw the 2024 Moto Razr, I was smitten by its eye-catching orange design. In a previous post I said,

Asus TUF Laptop Totally Lives Up To Its Name

A budget gaming laptop bought at Walmart and used daily by several kids has performed excellently for over three years. My family’s Asus TUF Gaming F15 (2021) is holding up well. Coming from an M1 MacBook Air to game on a PC, the Asus TUF is an interesting piece of tech hardware.

Almost A Thousand Windows Weekly

Almost 1,000 weeks ago, I started listening to one of my first podcasts. Circa mid-2006, when Apple’s iPod was rocketing in popularity, I was 100% a Microsoft dude. So when news that Windows XP would be followed by an ambitious new OS — dubbed Longhorn — this tech geek was eager to learn more. Enter: Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott.

Very Glad In Tiny Glade

Happy to say I bought Tiny Glade and began having fun. It’s a steal at $15 on Steam; I’m ready to buy future DLC that might get released. The cozy diorama builder already absorbed a couple hours of my time, which flew by. The fun spilled onto my wife too. She created a Steam account just to buy the game and has played it longer than I have.

Tiny Glade And A Big Gaming Rig

About a week ago, the YouTube algo seemed to randomly shove a Tiny Glade video into my home feed. I’d never heard of it before. After watching, I had to try it. Demo time! But the Steam game isn’t available on my MacBook Air. So…Windows maybe?

YouTube Music Fails Podcasts

I tried. I really did. But using YouTube Music for podcasts pales in comparison to a dedicated app like PocketCasts. I wanted it to work, but YouTube Music is not called YouTube Casts for a reason.

Retiring A Video Game Or Admitting Defeat

Time: the limited resource. And JRPGs: my favorite video game genre, known for lengthy playtimes. I don’t finish, beat, or complete every game I play, sad to say. Reasons vary. Maybe the game is too long. Or maybe it’s too hard. But it seems that time is a big factor; there’s a whole gaming website called, “HowLongToBeat.”

Bluesky Is A Social Media Thing

Ah, social media, for better or worse. My usage of it waxes and wanes; moderation is good. Since Twitter died, other platforms have stepped in: Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky. The latter isn’t new, but it recently surged, so I’ve been trying it again.

From MacBook To A Laptop Not By Apple

My MacBook Air M1 is truly an excellent laptop. But lately I’ve been thinking about switching to a non-Apple machine. In fact, I have a post in draft about moving back to a Chromebook, but now I’m thinking I’ll rejoin the Windows PC world. If my Mac works well, then why fuss with a flip-flop to something else?