A New Year, A New Look, and New Endings and Beginnings

Everything seems to be changing so fast these days and perhaps some of this sensation is coming from some semblances of truths.

With the blink of an eye now being measurable down to the number of nanoseconds between blinks and the Pluto Planetary Status Debate dwarfed in the shadows of the most current universally-driven debate dealing with the odds of something from outside of this atmosphere coming in (since Earth must still be recorded as round [no proof otherwise yet] and Pluto no longer measuring up to established criteria as a planet in our solar system), could it really be that with the flip of a calendar date, we somehow were given another chance to scream out “It’s over!  Do you hear me?  It’s over!” and not be looked up as crazy for injecting such conclusion to such a subjective statement at best.

But that’s exactly what so many of us at least brush past in contemplation, whether its promising to never promise again on that date again (an ending) or the converse of setting in mental stone a promise that is not to be broken no matter what the cost (a beginning).  Either way, it is but a percentage of the population that has a calendar that designates such a date to be reflective of a new year, and I for one have typically practiced New Year’s protocols on my birthday, assuming my sense of logic can still stand on the idea that a true new year is first be recorded one year to the moment of birth and then every subsequent year after that. Once that’s been established, then all of these other New Year’s get thrown into the mix…and yes, this blog has a new look on New Year’s Day!

I think the proper term would be “paradox” when it comes to how I tend to view these seemingly opposite concepts.  With a start and a finish, then you have a clear beginning and an ending, but even at the end of a race, immediately it is the beginning of yet another part of the future making its way into the present so that it can be shuffled into the past…

Beginnings and endings (unlike starts and finishes) sends me a message that they are symbiotic in that it is a perpetual state of both or none.  The transference of labels can certainly be quibbled in all directions,  but keeping them both in a constant state of existence seems to capture the essence of our right to choose at least some of what we want to label as an ending or a beginning while adapting and adjusting to the beginnings and endings we ultimately have no direct and measurable influence over.

It remains quite an eye-opening experience to have lived through so many years of sometimes large quantities fiction being converted to fact and previously relevant facts being relegted to recorded fiction and these experiences will continue on whether I choose to continue to so commonly celebrate a moment in time as a clear beginning while clearly closing the book on what just happened over the days and months that just recently passed until the time period constitutes the period of a year.

Thanks to everyone who has supported my Internet entertainment efforts over the years and here’s to another new beginning that is already long gone…

May there become a peace-filled 2010 for one and all who seek it!

Valerie

Filed under: Caera Kirsch News, Giving Thanks, Melody Overhall

The Paradigm of What To Do With An Original

Ahhh…the original versus the copied. The unique versus the duplicated. Playing a song like the record or doing it just for the jamming potential.

And with the recent release of the Windows 7 Operating system, the latest jab at the operating system is the idea of promises of improvement over the years through the statement, “…won’t have any of the problems (insert various versions here) had.” Now I might be off by a word or two used in the commercial being played as recently as today, but these needs for significant improvement have been no laughing matter for Microsoft over the years.

So, with all of the different operating systems available for personal computers, the shedding of these various skins poses a gradiating risk factor for each version and as each version ages, what of the previous versions, let alone the original notes that went into the first official release of said programming.

Open source programming principles offer potential for continued interest to be brought forth in connection to providing such a core element to computing, which is the operating system. It’s what helps the hardware make the jump from visible capacitors, resistors and other chips being attached to a motherboard into something able to play videos, record phone conversations, and yup…even posting to a blog.

Certainly, the longer a software program has been available, the greater the chances for an all or nothing circumstance in which the end result is incalculable in any direction. The more weaknesses/flexibility(?) identified, the longer the exploitation menu becomes, despite the relative nature of the interpretation of whether or not an alteration of original programming is a positive or negative. In some ways, an upgrade by the original designers is a financial exploitation of flexibility previously identified and classified as a format the designers find to be unacceptable.

Whereas Mac continues to exploit such frequent updating needs compared to Windows in their commercials, the Unix platforms and who knows what else is out there continues to exploit the popularity of the top two operating systems by either trying to stand out as highly unique and niche or more of a system for mass installation.

Since “exploitation” is a relative term, not all has been lost with each of these upgrades, especially when there is clear improvement from the first few rounds of updates…I’ve been thinking I’m too old to go switching my operating system mid-life and since I am stuck being a PC-based tech chick, I guess I’ll just chalk it up to having something to do with being 39 years old, still thinking 80’s music is totally awesome and having no major issues using Microsoft 2000 relative to what I use the computer for!

Filed under: 101 Reference Desk, Giving Thanks, One Value Of A Click Or A Quack, Software Programs , each version, mac, macintosh operating system, no laughing matter, open source programming, operating system, risk factors, unix, windows 7

“Restaurant World” via Facebook + A Trip Down Memory Lane

Content creatures like myself who view themselves as individuals who are better off producing original materials rather than being a hard-core consumer of such materials frequently find ourselves overwhelmed with the variety of conduits and containers available to carry forth our own contributions to the virtual community.

I’ve had quite a few real accounts for access to spaces on the address grid over the years, but not many with the illusionary proposition that such settings were that of a “social nature” and to be interpreted as such…regardless of the content.  I have typically been someone who prefers to interact more with gaming-type content being produced and Pogo.com is one of the first virtual video game arcades I joined and not for the chatting options.  Shockwave.com was the first virtual arcade I was able to find the version of Spy Hunter I used to play from time to time at a local convenience store and doses of Alice Greenfingers and Farm Frenzy via MostFun.com still help me stay sharp with all of the real life logistics I am responsible for accomplishing.

When I decided to join Facebook, I really had no idea what to expect other than ghostly images of a past experience with MySpace.com combined with other functional assumptions telling me how to work the interface so that I too, could have one of these accounts.

Conversational abilities and convenient quirks, what really drew my attention was that Facebook carries a whole list of virtual gaming options!  Go figure!    I can own a zoo, open restaurants, build roller coasters and even some time-restricted role playing games, such as Vampire Wars and Special Forces.

Therefore, I thought it appropo to once again liven up The House That Caera Built with a couple of gaming quirks I’ve already learned of:

In Restaurant World, there are three ways to clean a toilet.  Hire someone to do it, click on the toilet and wait 3 or 4 seconds, or click and drag the toilets to the inventory screen and then re-positioning them back inside of the restaurant.  Clicking on the toilet seems to be the fastest and most direct, but you also have to monitor the restaurant.  Some people do buy lots and lots of toilets, but unless you are still planning on revisiting every three or four hours (real time), it still gets messy and people still visit your establishment whether you are connected to the game or not. 

If you care about your rating, then keeping your toilets clean counts, especially since characters will still visit you just to use your rest room facilities.  These visits do not bring you any coins, but they can boost your overall rating through the additional rating opportunities relative to the number of toilets available for use.

There are even signs designating separate gender facilities that can be purchased, but shyness apparently is not a problem in the game and you don’t even need walls up for them to do their thing, but if you’re in it for the image points, then some form of privacy can influence whether or not you get a live rating, let alone what that rating ends up being.  Be careful if you purchase the tall walls because they can block your view of the icon that hangs over the facility when it needs attention.  This is definitely one of those personal preferences relative to the boundaries of the technology. 

Speaking of programming boundaries, you can turn the walls you purchase, as well as most of the other elements you purchase, but only into four different positions, so unless I’ve missed something, there is no way to click and drag the restaurant with 360 degree directional abilities, but it also doesn’t seem to impact the game except in circumstances such as with providing privacy to those using the bathroom facilities at your restaurant.

In remembering how fascinating it was when the first books on “game cheats” were published (I’m talking Snafu, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, After-Burner, Darkness Falls, Everquest, the urban legend about being able to drill holes into quarters, tie a thin string to it, and then just tug back and forth to get yourself infinite game credits…yeah…I’m “old”), it is with their pioneering spirit of authorship I thought to offer up these little tidbits I myself have noticed when it comes to the virtual game industry.

P.S.  Today’s video games are still fundamentally the same in their mathematical compositions.  With general fondness, I used to know how to play many of these games and each held benefit during my years as an administrative assistant with both macro and micro time management issues.  I also remeber how eventually existing fiction began to be translated into something for the gaming community.  How many will you remember?

After-Burner
3D Tanx
*Asteroids
Asylum
Avenger
Baby Pac-Man
Boulder Dash
*Burger Time
*Centipede
Chase the Chuck Wagon
City Connection
Cloak and Dagger
Codename MAT
Congo Bongo
*Darkness Falls
*Dig-Dug
*Donkey Kong
Dragon’s Lair
Dungeons & Dragons
Excalibur
F-15 Strike Eagle
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
*Frogger
*Galaga
Jumping Jack
Mail Order Monsters
Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man
*Millipede
Ms. Pac-Man
Mr. Do’s Castle
My Hero
Mystery House
*Pac-Man
Parachute
Penquin Land
*Pole Position
Potty Pigeon
President-Elect
Puzzle Panic
*Q*Bert
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Robot Tank
Sarge
Silent Service
Sir Lancelot
*Snack Attack
*Snafu
Solitaire (Windows)
SOS
Space Invaders
*Spy Hunter
*Spy vs. Spy
Star Trek
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Jedi Arena
Super Mario Bros.
Super Pac-Man
Swordquest
Tank Battalion
*Tempest
Tennis
The Dovetail Group
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy
Treasure Island
Tron
*Utopia
Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
Wizadry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn

Filed under: 101 Reference Desk, Caera's House Lists, Reviews of Facebook External Vendor Connections, The Legend behind Bass Players Rock & Roll , alice greenfingers, build roller coasters, buy toilets in quantity, clean a toilet, click and drag toilet, click the toilet, facebook, facebook account, farm frenzy, hire someone, image points, keeping toilets clean, mostfun.com, network, open a restaurant, original materials, own a zoo, pogo.com, practice, privacy can influence vote, real life time management, restaurant, restaurant world, separate gender facilities, shockwave.com, shyness not a problem in game, social, social network, social networking, special forces, spy hunter, time management, vampire wars, world