Some Quick Gaming News

Pretty sure I mentioned in an early post that one of things I would likely do with this blog is talk about games. Well, last week Borderlands 2 came out and I have been playing it, and playing it, and playing it, and I will likely keep playing it, and keep playing it, and keep playing it. Awesome game. Really enjoying it. Only issue really worth mentioning is that the balance for single player can be really bad, so play with a friend when you can. When you have that friend you have the benefit of enemy health not resetting, unless you both die at the same time somewhere. That means that you could actually have an easier time playing with an AFK partner than playing on your own. Like I said, the single player balance is not that great, but it isn't horrible. It can be done solo, it just can be much harder than I think it should be. (Of course, I am playing as the low-HP assassin, so I may be experiencing the worst of this too. Nah, if an AFK partner can make it easier than solo play, I'll say it's unbalanced. Not as bad as some games though, thanks to the awesome loot, but it isn't the best.)

Also Humble Indie Bundle 6 started last week and includes six games: Rochard, Shatter, S.P.A.Z., Torchlight, and Vessel. Dustforce is the 'Beat the Average' game. I have played Shatter and Torchlight before and can highly recommend Torchlight. You can buy the bundle just for that game and be happy. Shatter I've not played much of since I got it.

Also, all of these games are now available, or soon will be available, on Linux, and all but Vessel include their soundtracks in the bundle. By the way, there is a good chance that more games will be added soon, as typically more are added half way through the sale.

There are just about 8 days left, so hurry to help charities, independent game developers, and Humble Bundle itself!

This saddens me…

This is also going to show the kind of nerd I am.

Just read that there is now a plan for Japan to do away with nuclear power by the year 2030. However, this might not happen for odd political reasons. (When the plan may actually become law, there may be a new party in power, which could vote differently.) It still saddens me though because this decision, and similar decisions made in other countries, I believe are not in the best interest of the country but just what people are told they should think they want. Really it seems like everything to do with energy is like that, which probably isn't surprising. People don't care enough about where the electricity comes from, provided it comes every time they turn on their TV, computer, and microwave, so they don't actually understand what is involved, which makes them susceptible to propaganda that is not about energy, but about control.

Nuclear power is clean, it is safe, and the only time it isn't, it's because someone is not doing their job and fulfilling their responsibilities. But so long as the public excepts energy as a 'black-box', this won't change. (Black-box, for this situation, means you do not know what happens inside of it but just that it works when you give it the proper input.) Anyway, rant coming up, so read on, only if you dare!

I've Said It Before and I'll Say It Again

Science fact is more fantastical than science fiction. This is why I ever had the idea to write Sci-FU, so any time I see some science news concerning something I wrote about, I get particularly excited. In this case though, I actually haven't written it yet, but I've been planning to.

Quantum physics at a distance

Physicists at the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences have achieved quantum teleportation over a record distance of 143 km. The experiment is a major step towards satellite-based quantum communication.

One of the events in the sequel I've yet to start formally writing (I've been writing bits and pieces as I have ideas) for Sci-FU is the development and launching of a satellite network that uses quantum mechanical phenomena, like quantum teleportation, to communicate. Looks like we may have such satellites much sooner than the roughly 50 years Sci-FU is in the future. Read on to find my analogy for explaining quantum teleportation.

What's Been Happening

Not sure if there's anyone reading this that will actually care, but I've been a good kind of busy this past week. Had a new idea for something not too long ago, and just finished the harder half of the work involved. With that much taken care of, I can more easily juggle it with my writing (like Professional Witness), which is good. Can't share any information on this new idea though. Keeping it close to the vest. I will say I think it's good.

Next month will mark one year since I published Sci-FU. Not sure what I'm going to do about it. Might have another promo period, but honestly, at $3, I don't think it needs that. Sure, it'll get more interest, but the promo periods just get me good numbers for when the book is free, not for when you have to pay for it. Instead, I think I will try to get some of these other story ideas I've got ready and published in time. Not sure if I will succeed, but hey, it's a good goal.