Archive for the 'Epinions' Category

I feel good

Marty September 16th, 2005

Months after leaving MBNA, I finally have started to work out again. I used to be able to work out daily for free there, and when that privilege ended (something about taking a severance cutting off my use of the gym … got me), I pretty much stopped working out. The first two months kept me busy around the house, but when I started working - and working long hours - the whole eating well and keeping fit thing started to fly out the window. I gained weight, I stopped sleeping well (although I’ll find out more about the sleeping thing next week) and I started to just not feel as well.

So, I joined a gym near where I work. Today was my first workout, although it was an abbreviated one considering my lack of cardio training all summer. I also discovered that while the Bally’s King of Prussia is a beautiful facility, they don’t supply towels. They might have mentioned that when I signed up. I used my clean t-shirt to dry off instead. Other than that, I like it … if first day impressions count for much. It’s got everything under the sun in terms of equipment, a pool, a track, aerobic and spinning classes, 2 racquetball courts - pretty nice. I think I’ll actually be motivated to haul my butt out of bed before work because it saves me time in my commute. And if I sleep better, so much the better.

In other news, we’re still waiting to hear about the damage down south due to Hurricane-Tropical Storm-Hurricane-ad infinitum Ophelia. My parent’s beachhouse is in N. Topsail Beach, which took a nearly direct hit. I’ve heard some scattered stuff but nothing concrete. Hopefully the house weathered it okay.

I forgot to mention this, but I actually got to read 3 books over vacation. I reviewed them, and would highly recommend picking up A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks. It’s a great book about the author’s assignment to write about the scientists studying these sharks off of the Farallon Islands, and how she gets much more involved. You can read my reviews below:

The Devil’s Teeth by Susan Casey
Deception Point by Dan Brown
Unusually Stupid Americans by Kathryn and Ross Petras

The 12 Beers of Xmas

Marty December 16th, 2004

Each Christmas, I get it into my head that I should stock up on beer. My relatives are finally getting into the game since they have realized that I am a true beer snob. My grandmother got me Chimay for my birthday, for chrissakes. Lately, though, my habit has resulted in some very nice purchases.

In October, it was my hunt for Pumpkin beers. I was really looking for Dogfish Head Punkin’ Ale, but couldn’t find it and had to settle for Post Road Pumpkin Ale (made by Brooklyn Brewery) and Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale (made by the dreaded Coors). Then I finally found the Dogfish Head and was happy. But with the Xmas season approaching, that meant holiday beers - or at least holiday gift packs. I picked a “Traditional Beers of Scotland” four-pack that looks interesting - beers made with heather, gooseberry, kelp and other exotic ingredients (it seems there was a law banning the use of hops in beers brewed in Scotland, so they found other substitutes).

But I also managed to pick up the Saranac Holiday Twelve-Pack, something that I discovered last year to my eternal gratitude. Although I got somewhat chinced by the fact that they left out my Season’s Best in place of two Roggen Bock’s I have to say that I really have enjoyed the half-case. You can read my reviews of their beers here:

In the end, I have a lot of beers to get through, and at least one question about a “Beer of the Month” club. So, I will hopefully have a lot more to enjoy in the near future. Of course, that means I’m going to have work harder to keep off the weight - but it’s worth it … right?

Of Beta Testing and Demos

Marty November 1st, 2004

I finally got some time this weekend to do some stuff on the side that I had been meaning to do. The first was trying out the new beta of a CSS-editor program. I’ve used the previous version, and enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to seeing the new version and seeing if I could help iron out some of the bugs that I had found/quirks that I hadn’t liked. This is my second beta-test of a program (first real one, though) and I have to say I’m hoping that it gets better.

The program I am working on is a complete mess - while the functionality is marginally better, it seems that they have spent more time on interface design than architecture. In fact, the processing of this program is so slow that the program is nary unusable. I have put my comments in, and hopefully will see some fixes in the near future. If not, this program is doomed…

The other was a demo of a game that I have loved in the past in both board game and PC versions - Axis & Allies. I have always liked the board game version, but can’t find anyone willing to spend the hours to play. The first PC version was a mess, but the Iron Blitz version was more playable and fun. Far from perfect, as the AI was nearly incomprehensibly stupid, but at least close to the flavor of the board game. So, when I heard that Atari was putting out a new version, I was excited.

Now, I’m very disappointed.The whole point of moving the board game to the PC was so that people like me whose friends think spending time with their kids is more important than playing games can still play some of their favorite games. It’s to take a relatively finite board game and jazz it up with moving graphics, new features and single-player playability. The old versions had this (well, mostly). The Atari version … well, it’s just a mess. First of all, it IS NOT Axis and Allies. This uses the name in an ostensible manner for what becomes a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game. Instead of creating units and using strategic oversight (as a general does), now you control individual units, supply chains, ammo dumps, and the minutiae of warfare in WWII. Using what seems like the old Age of Empires engine, you micromanage units as they go and try to achieve objectives handed to you by the generals. You decide what units you want to build and then deploy them in lengthy animations. Granted, this is a demo and my graphics card needs a serious update, but I found myself hating this.

What happened to simply making the game better? If I wanted a RTS, I’d pick up Battlefield: 1942, which is infinitely better than this game. I want Axis and Allies, albeit an improved version, and this is nothing of the sort. They’ve taken Monopoly and made you analyze construction contracts and real estate zoning regs. They’ve taken Life and now you have to add auto maintenance, stock portfolio management and local crime stats to how you play the game. It was a complete disappointment that the folks who have made such a fantastic board game have killed themselves with this PC version. Now, this might be a good game for what it is, I didn’t get that far. But it isn’t Axis and Allies, and THAT is what I was looking for.

Links »