Technology Tuesday - Aura Kingdom (Lolicom Paradise)

Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday; the day of the week where I explain what a lolicom is, and why this game is mostly only for them.

Now Loading: Grindquest with cuteness sprinkles.

You ever played an MMORPG that was more or less exactly the same as all the others? Aura Kingdom is kind've like that, except it tries to win hearts with it's cuteness and lolicom attraction. I played this game for aproximately 2 days before wanting to facedesk repeatedly out of boredom. Lets talk about why.

Ironically, before I start, I should point out that if I continue to talk about games every Tuesday, I'm going to have to rename the segment. In any case, Aura Kingdom is essentially like every other MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), except in aesthetics. Made by Aeria Games, I discovered Aura Kingdom from a Steam friend who was continually playing this game each day.

Under the advisement that the game was good if you liked "Anime and RPG's", and was a game version of the Anime "Sword Art Online", I took it that it might be fairly good. This was further aided by my wish to play a an MMORPG as the last one I had played had been Shaiya, another game by Aeria games. (I had grown tired of that after several months as well.)

In any case, I downloaded them game, started it up and was met with cute lolli's and Unicorn pets. (The game is almost worth playing for the unicorn, as I showed on last friday's header image, but not quite.) Before I continue, I should probably explain what a lollicom is. Lollicom is essentially the concatenation of lolli and com. Com is short for complex as in something you're obsesses about, and a lolli is a term for an anime character which looks very young, (like a little girl typically), despite their age in terms of the story. So somebody who is a lollicom... is probably a despicable human being. (Generally, there are always exceptions.)

In any case, most of the characters in the game look like little girls who struggle to shop for large enough bra's, and the men look effeminate enough that it's not surprising most of their costumes involve heeled shoes. The cuteness aspect was quite funny, and to it's credit, perhaps the most unique thing Aura Kingdom does.

Too bad that doesn't redeem how boring it is. Aura Kingdom does an impeccable job of doing the same as more or less every other MMORPG out there, with an endless supply of fetch quests, kill X creatures, and craft this item. It tries to pretend it's better with a completely unvoiced story with tons of text that has a fairly interesting premise, but I found by the end of the tutorial I was already pretty much skipping through the dialogue with the freely given "skip" button; simply to get to what would hopefully be more interesting gameplay.

Tell you what though, if you like staring at a bar, pressing buttons as their timers finish repeatedly, then maybe this will be fun for you. Too bad playing one MMO like this for a few months was my lifetime fill of such gameplay, so the combat was as dull as the story. Even better is that you can simply click the text of each objective in the journal, and your character will automatically make their way to the location of the quest objective. Never again will you be bored by having to find your own way to a place. (*facedesk*)

It is in bad light, when the best things you have to say about a game are that it looks pretty, it's cute, it has unicorns and it's funny using the "kiss" emoticon against walls/donkeys/monsters/anything/anyone. As a final verdict, I'd have to say that this is only worth playing if you're a lollicom, have never played an MMORPG, or are desperately bored. (It might not help with that last one too much though.)

In any case, I hope that you have found this interesting/entertaining, and perhaps found something new to play/not play. If you think I should have stomached the game longer for some reason or other, or maybe just have a difference of opinion on how good it is, make sure to let me know in the comments below. Also, make sure to share this with any friends you know that are looking for something new to play, so they know what to avoid. And of course, if you would like to see more game reviews like this, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the right so that you can get the latest posts as I put them up. And finally, regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this article, hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again tomorrow.

Walk in peace my friends.

Technology Tuesday - Vocaloids (Hatsune Miku And Others)

Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday; the day of the week where I talk about computers that sing, and computer generated pop idols from Japan.

That drawing is a screenshot of www.crypton.co.jp and is thus, obviously, their property.

Ever had a computer sing to you? Yes? Well, technically that's impossible, but, suspending the technicalities of electrical currents and speakers; it's still mostly unlikely. Unless you're from Japan, or are among the strange few who have time to waste on the internet. Today, I'm talking about Vocaloids.

A Vocaloid is a "singing voice synthesizer", as they call it; and involves the pre-recording of numerous aspects of a language in order to realistically recreate a singing voice without actually singing the words. This allows for words and sentences to be created digitally without the strange stop/start effect that is the usual result of cutting and pasting words from various sentences which is itself a result of the changing in pronunciation based on preceding and succeeding sounds. (Try saying "What are you up to." and then saying it while emphasizing the word "you". The emphasis usually forces you to change the pronunciation of the word "up".)

 You may be wondering what on earth they would need such a thing for. You've got proper singers in the world already who do things fairly well, auto-tune or not. To be technical, you would be right, they are mostly unnecessary. However, most things that are considered "art" are. (To be fair, someone made art out of cans that he had "allegedly" defecated into.)

Interestingly enough, for something that sounds so pointless, (at least when I describe it like that), Vocaloids are something that have gathered immense fame in the world, (Well, the eastern world, as it is referred to, at any rate.) There are some cases of their use in the west, but nowhere near as widespread as Japan, considering a few things; Firstly, their radio stations play Vocaloid music fairly often, or so I understand from  friends I know who have been there. Secondly, they have concerts where people actually go to listen to the music of these computer generated voices, often accompanied by a computer generated avatar as a face to the voice representation. Most notably is that of Hatsune Miku, (The blue haired anime girl in the header image), who is attributed as the character that made the Crypton Future Media INC developed Vocaloid software famous. 

Before you start thinking this is another joke article that belongs on a Madness Monday, I would suggest watching this video of a live concert that people actually PAID to go watch, in which the holographic Hatsune Miku performs. Art is weird. So are people. Still, if music is good, can you complain? If you take the time to browse the suggested video's alongside that one, you're likely to come across some of the other popular Vocaloid characters as well such as Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len, and Megurine Luka. 

If you're wondering why there seems to be a lack of popular English Vocaloids, there is an interesting bit of linguistic science behind how they get these programs to synthesize the human voice that explains it. Here's a quote from Wikipedia since I'm not smart enough to explain it myself.

Each Vocaloid license develops the Singer Library, or a database of vocal fragments sampled from real people.[3] The database must have all possible combinations of phonemes of the target language,[3] including diphones (a chain of two different phonemes) and sustained vowels, as well as polyphones with more than two phonemes if necessary.[3] For example, the voice corresponding to the word "sing" ([sIN]) can be synthesized by concatenating the sequence of diphones "#-s, s-I, I-N, N-#" (# indicating a voiceless phoneme) with the sustained vowel ī.[13] The Vocaloid system changes the pitch of these fragments so that it fits the melody. In order to get more natural sounds, three or four different pitch ranges are required to be stored into the library.[15][16] Japanese requires 500 diphones per pitch, whereas English requires 2,500.[13] Japanese has fewer diphones because it has fewer phonemes and most syllabic sounds are open syllables ending in a vowel. In Japanese, there are basically three patterns of diphones containing a consonant: voiceless-consonant, vowel-consonant, and consonant-vowel. On the other hand, English has many closed syllables ending in a consonant, and consonant-consonant and consonant-voiceless diphones as well. Thus, more diphones need to be recorded into an English library than into a Japanese one. Due to this linguistic difference, a Japanese library is not suitable for singing in English.

(One moment while I hang myself for quoting Wikipedia.) In any case, that basically means it was harder to get a functioning English Vocaloid, and so has been a thing in the western world for less time. For a bit of hilarity though, just listen to what it sounds like when a Japanese library is used to sing an English song.

Still, it's interesting to think that not only do we have computers running complex computations and administrating factories for us, but now they're making our art as well. I can hear conspiracy theorists screaming "skynet" already... well, not really, but I'm sure they are somewhere while they dig their underground bunkers. If you think they might be right, make sure to let me know in the comments below. Or you can say they aren't there too. Either works. Also, don't forget to share this with any Japanese oriented friends of yours, perhaps you've got some Anime fan buddies, (like my brother), who would absolutely love the idea of anime characters singing to them. And finally, if you found this interesting or funny; and would like to read more posts like it, make sure to like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter using the associated buttons to the right. That way you can get the newest posts as they come, and let me know what you would like to hear about. Regardless of what you do though, I thank you for taking the time to read this, and hope you have/had and absolutely FANTASTIC day; and I will see you tomorrow.

Sayonara watashinotomodachi.

Technology Tuesday - League of Legends (Anger. Frustration. Fun!)

Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday; that day of the week where I tell you about the online phenomenon that is League of Legends, and then mention why you will probably love and hate it.

You probably won't see that specific message as often as the alternative. It's like Christmas whenever I do.

Do you like getting angry and frustrated? Probably not. You do probably enjoy the jubilation of overcoming a significant challenge, especially when done with friends. In which case, League of Legends may be something you could enjoy; if only in occasional spurts.

Last Saturday I did a post about a Blizzard card game called Hearthstone in which I spoke about what made the game fun and how it worked. Considering we live in a time where gaming is very much mainstream, I don't think I should have been surprised at how well received that post was. As such, I figured I'd talk about other games I enjoy playing more often. So without further ado:

This obviously doesn't belong to me. Logo is property of Riot Games.

Yes, League of Legends. You've probably heard of it. (If not, concepts such as "The Bro Army", "Twitch Streaming" and "The Internet" are likely somewhat alien to you. Only because it seems funny, I'm going to presume that, in that case, you are an extraterrestrial alien. Let me know what your planet is like in the comments below.) Assuming you have heard of it though, then you'll likely have heard of this game being the trendsetting online MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) that is responsible for making things like e-sports visa's and college scholarships for e-sports a thing.

So what makes this game fun? Well, as a League of Legends veteran who started playing about 3 years ago, I can say that I played LoL before it was cool. (One moment while I go hang myself for that statement.) As such, I've found that my reasons for playing the game have changed as time as gone by. Originally, I began playing League of Legends back in 2011 to see what it was all about, having seen some articles about it on the web back then. Between being called a noob and being told to uninstall the game, I found the game rather entertaining for the novelty, having been the first MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) style game I had ever played.

5 players on either side trying to destroy the enemy nexus. If nothing else, it's never a dull game.
(The urge to make a flappy bird joke with this picture was fairly huge.)

Shortly after that, I realized that there were two things that kept me playing a game that was as notorious for it's toxic community as EVE online is for it's amazing 1000 spaceship battles and scheming players. Those two things were the completionist in me wanting to hit level 30 in the persistent profile leveling which provides access to all mastery points and Ranked Games, and my friends who I had slowly recruited into playing with me over time. (To be technical, having been level 30 for a long time now, they're the only reason I still play in most cases.)

I'm not very good at this game.

League of Legends is, by definition, a competitive game, and it of course makes sense that they would have a ranking system in which players would compete on ladders for both solo and team games, to try and reach the Championship ranks. I can't speak much for them I've always been so terrible at this game that I remain unranked in the solo ladder and Bronze 5 in the 3v3 team ladder. (Or as it's known among my friends, Potato 5. Teehee) However, considering the massive success that is the the League of Legends World Championships, I would reckon that they're probably popular. But you know, I could be wrong. 8.5 million concurrent viewers isn't very much.

To be brief, gameplay largely consists of picking a champion with a unique set of abilities, and then fighting the enemy so that you can earn gold and experience, with which you improve the champion with improved skills and equipment, until one side destroys the enemies nexus. The challenge, largely comes from knowing what items to buy and how and when to use your champions abilities. (Something that can take a long time to learn, bearing in mind that I am really terrible at this game even after 3 years.)

So why do I not play more and try to get better at the game? Because, despite endless attempts by Riot Games to try and improve the community, you will always end up playing with the scum of the internet eventually. No other game has had me want to physically damage my computer like the way some of these people behave. So, in the interests of my sanity, (and the health of my computer/fists), I decided to keep my playing to a minimum, and to only do it with friends over a Skype call, as the often humorous conversations often improve the quality of the game. (If you think I'm overstating just how bad people can act in this game, I implore to you just watch this video and slowly lose your faith in humanity as a result. *facedesk*)

Final Verdict: League of Legends is actually a fairly fun game. Largely successful, it also stands as the paragon of the Free-To-Play business model that has become popular for many online games. For the level of service and polish of the game, the fact that you need never pay a single cent to play is a massive incentive, provided you are willing to put up with some of the most uncivilized people you could possibly find on the internet. I enjoyed League of Legends for several years and, to be fair, still usually have a fair deal of fun on the infrequent occasion that I decide to play. I'd suggest you give it a try, as long as you are ready to deal with some terrible people. Not to say they're always there, but I don't think it's possible for League of Legends to ever be truly rid of them either.

In any case, I hope that you have found this somewhat informal review of League of Legends informative, and perhaps maybe I'll see you on the fields of battle sometime. If we do, feel free to mention it down in the comments below, (Or just tell me to stop getting mad at a game. That's fine too.). If you've got some friends who aren't sure if they'd like to play League of Legends, consider sharing this with them so that they can get some insight into what it's like to be a "Summoner". Also, if you particularly liked this, or maybe just the way I write, don't forget to Like my Facebook page or Follow me on Twitter using the associated button on the sidebar to the right. Regardless of what you do, thank you very much for reading, and I hope you have/had an AWESOME day and I will see you tomorrow.

Till when next we meet, my friends.

Technology Tuesday - Five Fantastically Entertaining Indie Games

Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday, that day of the week where I tell you about some independent developed games I can't seem to stop playing, and then tell you why.

I would say I don't really have a comment for this picture.. but this is technically a comment.

Some people, such as myself, have found that sometimes, a game doesn't need sparkly, shiny graphics to be fun to play. People like those probably read this blog. I hope. If you do though, then I have got a list of five absolutely fantastic indie games that disregard the need for graphics and supplant it with great gameplay that you will likely love.

The games I'm about to list are some somewhat strange and occasionally fairly crazy games I've found over the years, much in thanks due to my near religious viewing of the YouTube Channels I mentioned here. These games, in almost all cases, look incredibly terrible, with one literally using ACSII as it's graphics believe it not. (To be honest, that's one case where the lack of graphics was a bit too much.) Thankfully, they are also some of the most fun games I have ever played, and for some strange reason, continue to play again and again, which is something I'm not entirely used to.

1. Dwarf Fortress

ASCII graphics never looked this good. Actually, scratch that, thank god for mods.

Dwarf Fortress. Infamously difficult, Infamously fun. Dwarf Fortress is the life's work of one man, Tarn Adams, with assistance from his brother Zach Adams. (Quite literally, the guy decided one day that he was done with day jobs and started working on this full time.) Dwarf Fortress is known for a couple things, largely it's insistence upon a motto that has become increasingly popular over the years. "Losing is fun." Boy is it, Dwarf Fortress is FREAKING difficult, and helped none by it's draconian interface. For a graphical representation of this, refer to the below:

Don't actually know who this belongs to :O If you do, let me know in the comments.

To be concise about it, Dwarf Fortress is unabashedly difficult, and for the most part unplayable without the aid of the Wiki. But keep at it, and you can have a TON of fun with the abomination. Though I might mention that I use the Lazy Newb Pack and Phoebus Graphics set to make it (slightly) easier to play. *Goes to go have fun while losing* It's worth mentioning that you can't actually "win" Dwarf Fortress, you just survive for as long as possible.

For a brilliant story that took place in what they call a "bloodline game" of Dwarf Fortress, I highly recommend you check out the tale of "Boatmurdered". PG18

2. Rimworld

The work of Tynaan Silvester and the Ludeon Studios team, Rimworld is fun little game that was at least in part inspired by... yup, you guessed it, Dwarf Fortress. Unwinable, (barring some of the recent updates), Rimworld places you in charge of a group of people on a planet after crashing from space; and tasks you with building a colony in which your people may survive on the inhospitable planet filled with denizens ranging from backwards tribal warriors to cybernetic, explosive lobbing robots, and old western type travelers in between. The setting is largely themed after an old and, somewhat sadly, short series called Firefly.

The Good: Rimworld is far simpler than Dwarf Fortress, The graphics are distinctly easier to read and the interface can actually be interfaced with.

The Bad: Rimworld is far simpler than Dwarf Fortress, The graphics are distinctly easier to read and the interface can actually be interfaced with.

I'm mostly kidding by the way. Compared to Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld feels like that little brother that just can't quite live up to the big brothers name, despite improving on some things. Except that's a bullshit, subjective way to look at it. Objectively, (As in, not comparing it to Dwarf Fortress like a prat), Rimworld is actually a very fun and interesting little indie game with a great potential to grow and become even better, and it's Firefly-esque charm makes it something that is hard to completely leave alone, especially since it is still seeing constant updating. Do keep in mind though, "Losing is fun."

3. Project Zomboid

Ever wanted to know what exactly it would be like to survive a Zombie Apocalypse? Project Zomboid is about as accurate and realistic portrayal as you're likely to get. Well made, well presented and still receiving updates, Project Zomboid is perhaps one of the most powerful games on this list. From the get go, it's made clear that "losing is fun". There is no way to win at Project Zomboid; you're only objective is to try and live for as long as possible while combating near everything you would expect to have to deal with in a true Zombie Apocalypse. Looting to survive, dealing with depression, escaping hordes of zombies and building a safe home for yourself for as long as possible. The depth of Project Zomboid is such that it can almost be called a simulation game, and yet, its somehow strangely interesting and fun to play.

It's hard to describe what it is about Project Zomboid that makes it "fun". It can be argued that it's not actually fun; a statement I could agree with if I consider my first playthrough. I didn't finish that playthrough. The enormity of being the sole survivor in a world full of vicious creatures that want to eat you, and trying to figure out how to survive such an occurrence is one that strangely sets in personally, despite it only being a game. I actually found myself becoming depressed at the prospect and closed the game. (How's that for an emotional experience.) For some strange reason, I went back and tried again, and for some reason, surviving and succeeding, even slightly, is an oddly rewarding experience in the dire world that IndieStone has created. Well worth taking a look at in my opinion.

4. Factorio

You know when you're watching a machine make things and you stand there for hours just watching it operate. (No? Hmm. Guess that's mostly just me.) If you do, then you are likely to find this lovely game of interest. Factorio is an interesting little indie game about building a factory. Sound boring? Some would say yes. (I might have as well if I didn't think it was so FREAKING AWESOME.) Here's the thing, you build a factory on an alien planet in order to automate the process of producing resources, researching new technologies and fighting off the native aliens which obviously don't like all the pollution your factory is causing. For people who enjoy thinking and coming up with creative ways to make an efficient design or solve problems, this game is GOLD. I've sunk well over 100+ hours into it, and I still go back to it frequently. If you're not sold on the idea, here is a YouTube 'Let's Play" by OfficialStuffPlus which I can near guarantee will sell you on this game. Unless you're... you know... sane...er... than some of us.

5. Xenonauts

Holy cow, a game that you can actually win... (Teehee) Made by Goldhawk Interactive, Xenonauts is a brilliant game about defending the world from an alien invasion. Sound familiar? Probably because Xenonauts is the "spiritual successor" of the original XCOM which was made in 1994. (The year before my birth *X-Files theme song starts playing*) The original XCOM gathered a cult following back then and spawned tons of sequels as well as various spiritual successors and unofficial remakes. XCOM was then rebooted with XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within, it's expansion pack, following which, Xenonauts came out. Why? Well, the reboot is a fantastic game in it's own right, definitely worth playing in my opinion, however, for many, including stupid people like me, XCOM was not a very difficult game, nor did it entirely take after the original XCOM. As such, those individuals such as myself wanted something that held closer to the original, far more difficult and intense experience that the original delivered, and thus spawned Xenonauts from a succesful Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign.

This game... is shit hard. Like seriously. Your men die a lot, your ships get shot down a lot, and I have not finished it once yet on normal. Being an XCOM: Enemy Within veteran, it's something like a slap awake as to just how easy games are made these days, but I still find the atmosphere of it absolutely thrilling, and look forward to many more hours of play.

In any case, hopefully you've found something of interest here, or maybe just found the way I write (type?) entertaining. Either way, consider leaving a comment in the section below and maybe even share this with some friends if they're bored. If you really liked it and would like to see more, perhaps consider following me on Twitter or Liking my Facebook page with the associated buttons on the sidebar to your right.

Regardless of what you do, I hope you have/had and AWESOME day, and I will see you tomorrow.

Goeie nag mense.

Technology Tuesday - Getting the most out an outdated computer

Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday. The day where I tell you about some nifty tricks to make the most of outdated computers all while expressing my frustration at their inadequacies.

Caution; computers tend to aggravate me on occasion.

If you are one of those individuals who, like me, suffer from an unassailable level of frugality, you probably try to make things last as long as possible at as little cost as possible. No to be confused with being a miser, I'm happy to spend money on a good purchase, but if there is a way to save money or get a better deal, then on your life; you'll get that instead.

Frankenstein. That's this guys name.
 It's also what I call my computer.

How is this related to Technology Tuesday then? Well, a downside to this urge is that computers become very outdated, VERY quickly. And as I'm sure you can guess, technology doesn't wait around for you to catch up. Your computer can stay sitting with it's dinky little dual-core, but software requirements won't.

With that in mind, I've had to do some research on how to make the most of old tech just to get those last few bangs for those stingy bucks I paid all those years ago. While it can be guaranteed that you can't make any hunk of junk last forever, (Something's going to happen to it eventually. Or you're just going to get tired of waiting all your life for Photoshop to apply filters... I know that pain.), it is handy to know some tricks for making the time until your next upgrade more bearable; which is nice if you have more important things to spend the money on. Here's a couple tricks for optimizing parts different parts of your computer:

CPU

The CPU. Basically the brain of your computer, to be simple about it. Maintain this simple train of thought, (See what I did there?), you can say that the brain can only think about so much at a time. Well, Windows allows you to set 2 things with regards to processes, (Those are basically the things your CPU has to think about.), the priority and affinity of the process. Windows automatically assigns every process it runs a "normal" priority, which basically means that the CPU simply deals with processes it recieves on a first-come, first-served basis. By using the Task Manager, (Opened by pressing the Escape, Shift and Control keys simultaneously.), the user can set individual processes to a higher priority to have the CPU deal with it sooner than other things. Word of advice though. Be careful tinkering with the Task Manager as it's a good way to trash your computer if you play with it. Also, never set anything to more than "Above Normal" priority unless you want to starve system processes and cause a BSOD.

The task manager also allows those with multiple core CPU's, (Which is most of us these days, even frugal people like me.), to set the Affinity of processes to specific cores, thereby ensuring that only that/those cores deal with the process and allowing other cores to deal with more important tasks. Same warning as earlier applies though. Be careful.

For those who are less at home dealing with computers or would rather a more technical, as averse to my summarized, guide, as well as some ways to make the setting of these affinities and priorities more permanent, head over to this article here by techradar.com for walkthrough of these tricks. They were a huge help in getting things to run noticeably quicker for me. (A godsend for an impatient person like me. Also, they effectively saves me brain damage from repeated facedesking)

GPU

If the CPU is the brain of your computer, then the GPU is it's artistic wife. The GPU, which is situated on your graphics card, handles all the graphics calculations and displaying your computer does. (It's what's letting you read this, if you're not sure.) Of course, today's software and games such as the upcoming The Witcher 3 and Photoshop CC, do a lot of calculations, and for frugal people such as me, our older graphics cards tend to suffer under the strain a little. While to be technical, there's not much I can do for any fellow Photoshop artists since you're looking for quality obviously, gamers will find that with some clever manipulation of the settings in the associated Graphics Control Panels that go with the drivers of Graphics cards, they can get a far smoother performance in their games. This has been invaluable to me by allowing me to play games such as Assassins Creed 3 on a relatively puny Nvidia GT-610 card by forcing the use of minimal settings in the control panel instead of in game settings. 

For a blow by blow of the functionality in the Nvidia and AMD control panels and how precisely they can let you fine tune your use, I suggest checking out this article by pcworld.com. The information is laid out well and will surely have something for even some of the more experienced users. (And if not... well, I'm flattered that you would read through information you already know just because you like me.)

Glary Utilities

Hmmm. You may be wondering why I'm talking about a program instead of RAM in general. Quite simply, because Glary Utilities is a highly effective program for a multitude of reasons ranging from scheduled maintenance of various system components, the fixing of broken registry's which can often cause issues in your computers running, to the removal of temporary files accrued while surfing the web, (which can becoming gigabytes of wasted space), and the optimization of your computers boot-up sequence. It also has some other more unorthodox functions which I personally have never really needed to use, but may be useful to others. But the boot sequence optimization is easily one of the more handy faucets of this program, allowing you to stop irritating programs from starting up unless you want them to, and also allowing you to delay the start-up of specific programs so that your computer can get functional sooner. It even gives you a statistic on your relative boot speed compared to other users.

Basically, this program does a lot for your computer, it does it easily, with almost no chance of wrecking anything, (unless you do a defrag of your system registries and the power goes out... that's happened to me.), and best of all, it does it for free. I highly suggest you go over to glarysoft.com and download it. (Or don't. I'm not forcing you to do anything. But it could help. Actually, it probably will help.)

Game Optimizers and other "Could help" programs

There are many programs out there that claim to be able to optimize computers during the playing of games or for other tasks to improve computer performance. They supposedly do this by disabling unnecessary background processes and other small tricks which are aimed at freeing up resources for whatever you're trying to do. While I cannot provide a definitive answer as to whether these programs are actually effective in their pursuits, it's worth noting that many an article, such as this one by howtogeek.com which discusses the effectiveness of the Razer Game Booster. To summarize what they say and give my opinion on the subject, Windows is a complicated operating system, and it's likely that these game boosters use more resources trying to stop parts of Windows from working than just letting them happen, not to mention the fact that it must use system resources to run itself. So in the case of computer users who run an effectively optimized computer, perhaps by using the aforementioned Glary Utilities, the effects of the game booster are negligible at best; though less experienced computer users with a lot of unnecessary background processes might find these programs to be of use.

Anyways, I hope that you've found something useful in this post which will be handy in squeezing out as much as you can from your hardware. Got a suggestion for something I missed or another useful trick, feel free to leave a comment below, and maybe even share this with a friend who's been complaining about his old computer. As always, I hope you have/had an AWESOME day.

Keep well mio compadre's.

Technology Tuesday - Why messaging makes your brain melt

Welcome to the first Technology Tuesday, the day where I talk about all things related to technology since that stuff is interesting...

Today's Topic: Why messaging does not actually make your brain melt, but does make you terrible at real life conversations. (I had no idea how to title this post.)

I dunno if you've heard, (just maybe... I mean, it's possible you missed it.), but a rather massive amount of people in the world do this thing where they press little buttons on a mobile device, (or more recently, just fondle the damned thing.), in order to send each other messages. Apparently this "messaging" is taking the world by storm. I personally don't believe it'll take off. Next you'll be telling me that we'll have metal boxes in our homes that show us stories or cars that drive themselves.

Anyways, that's not what I wanted to talk about today. (As cool as those things are.) My good friend Yestin Johnson (@yestinj) and I started talking about a rather interesting social issue that's been arising as a result of the messaging that's going on these days is that younger generations of people are beginning to lose touch with the finer nuances of actual face to face conversation. (Yes, that means if you're old, you are entirely safe. Your kids aren't though...)

Bearing in mind that the original article that brought this topic to my interest was actually brought to my attention in one of my final school exams (but so was Hatsune Miku ^_^), so you will have to excuse me for paraphrasing. As I remember it, the article spoke about how the younger generations that were growing up with this easily accessible technology and social media were developing in ways different to previous generations. They found that among other things, these younger generations were losing the ability to take note of social cue's such as vocal tone and body language and even emotional understanding. (basically, they're becoming robots. Just kidding.)

As I remember it, the article discussed the fact that these younger generations were losing the ability to differentiate the emotions of shock, anger, fear and excitement, due to their typically similar associated facial expressions. I dunno about you, but when I'm excited and someone asks why I'm angry, that's a bit confusing...

But it's not all doom and gloom. An article on the blog Nvate found here speaks about this subject in more depth, (and perhaps less humorously), than myself and makes note of the fact that the internet has become a great place for the development of social skills in the shy and those uncomfortable in public situations, provided that they do not spend all their time doing so online. The key, as I always say, is moderation.

So my advice is simple, be a good parent and take an active part in your kids life and, most importantly, help them to understand that, as cool as the internet is, real living happens in the real world. Here's a fun song from Rhett&Link to help get the message across.

As always, thank you for reading and I hope you have an AWESOME day. Got anything to add or suggest, do so in the comments, maybe I'll even talk about it in my next blog post.

Anyways, that's enough out of me. Adiós amigos.