Frozen Synapse: An Obscure Gem
Enjoy strategy games? Do yourself a favor and check out Frozen Synapse by Mode7 Games!
Saying Hello: Who Are Blog Authors?
Just who are blog authors? Why do they write? What do they want? Say hello!
Responsibility
The virtual worlds we zoom around in are no different than the physical world we reside in when looking at the concepts above. In both there are external forces beyond our control, individual choices we make that affect the world at large, and the creation of an identity based on each of those factors.
Featured Posts:
Secrets: The Beginning
Note: For the index of all posts in this series look here: Table of Contents Two years ago… Synil loved spending time at the falls. The cool, refreshing water flowing over her as she lay on the sun-baked stone was the perfect mixture of temperatures to make her skin tingle. She closed her eyes and listened to the deathly roar of the waterfall; the sounds of nature’s most wondrous element... [Read more]
The Topic of Gender
Windsoar wrote an interesting piece about gender (link) yesterday that I started to comment on, and then realized my comment became much more of a full post quite quickly. I recommend reading the original post and comments, and then coming back to read this one. For those who would rather read a couple of highlights to get an idea of what the discussion explores the first two sections below are an... [Read more]
Frozen Synapse: An Obscure Gem
Every so often a developer comes along and surprises you with an excellently designed concept for a game. Mode7 Games (website) has certainly done that with Frozen Synapse, which is a wonderful blend of real time and turn based strategy in a tactical “shooter.” I highly encourage anyone who enjoys strategy games to take a look. Even in its current beta stage the game is quite polished and... [Read more]
Recent Posts:
Ethnicity, Gender, and Privilege
Apparently there is a “hot topic” in the blogosphere relating to gender issues, specifically in World of Warcraft. While I have not seen the articles specifically (what can I say, I’ve been busy enough I haven’t even looked at my feed reader in a couple of weeks), I’ve noticed a few comments that prompted the decision to write this post. Note that I have not read the other posts, so there is a chance that a lot of what I state here has been stated already. The purpose of this post, though, is to highlight one of the most common fallacies we commit as a society with... [Read more]
Posted by Byaghro on Thursday, August 19, 2010
Synergistic Workflow
I’ve been spending some time streamlining my workflow, trying out different things to both make my life easier and to create a much more synergistic experience between my “desktop” and “mobile” computing. I decided to share some insight into what I use, how I use it, and why I have chosen Apple for my preferred platform. In addition, I’m hoping that some of you may have ideas on ways to improve things even more, or perhaps make some recommendations for things that I may not know about or haven’t seen that could enhance the experience. This post is broken... [Read more]
Posted by Byaghro on Monday, August 16, 2010
It’s Been A Good Run…
Ever get the feeling that you’re completely overwhelmed, really should get some posts written, and lack any inspiration for writing? Yeah… multiply that by ten and you’d get how I currently feel. I’m sure this doesn’t surprise most of you, since there really hasn’t been much in the way of WoW-related posts here in a while anyway, but my account has been cancelled for a while and the remaining game time expired a couple of weeks ago. I’m just not interested in the game like I used to be. I’m not excited about Cataclysm, and I really don’t... [Read more]
Posted by Byaghro on Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The iPhone 4
While people will always latch onto statements that tend to support their view on a product, a lot of information that has been disseminated throughout the web is based upon here-say, a dislike for a particular product or brand, or simply from the standpoint of being accustomed to a particular product or brand and applying the workflow and capabilities of that device to another. This post is, quite simply, an attempt at explaining why I choose Apple products (in particular the iPhone) over most others as a way of trying to provide some understanding of why a lot of the “issues”... [Read more]
Posted by Byaghro on Monday, July 26, 2010
Quick Notes and a Request
Wow… almost a post a day recently. Has hell frozen over to allow me some extra time to actually focus on things again? Oh yeah, that’s right, midterms are this week and I just happen to have a little spare time as a result. Oh well, I was kind of hoping… First, I would like to solicit some guest posts to include over the next few weeks. One of the things I want to do is to create a new segment here on Diabolical Minds where I feature another author on a regular basis. Any topic is perfectly acceptable, and if you are interested please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. Whether... [Read more]
Posted by Byaghro on Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Secrets: The Beginning
Note: For the index of all posts in this series look here: Table of Contents Two years ago… Synil loved spending time at the falls. The cool, refreshing water flowing over her as she lay on the sun-baked stone was the perfect mixture of temperatures to make her skin tingle. She closed her eyes and listened to the deathly roar of the waterfall; the sounds of nature’s most wondrous element helped her focus her mind in preparation for meditation. The gentle beating of wings could be heard, growing louder as the beast softly landed on the nearby bank. Synil let a small smile cross her... [Read more]
Posted by Byaghro on Monday, July 12, 2010
From the Depths
The abyss. No one, no thing, not the most powerful of sorcerers or the strongest of flying creatures, had ever survived even being close to the swirling energy storms that constantly lashed out at the ridge. Moving closer to the edge is suicidal, but making it to that point and falling over into the abyss was certain death. Until now… A scarred hand grasped the ledge, struggling to maintain a hold on the sharp rock as bolt after bolt of arcane energy blasted almost every square inch of the ridge line. Straining from exhaustion, Synil pulled her bloodied body onto the rock and gasped for air,... [Read more]
Posted by Byaghro on Saturday, July 10, 2010
To The Nay-Sayers
As is often the case, many have made comments regarding the “overreaction of the community” to a highly controversial planned change. While I’ll get to why that is a bit of a folly in logic in a moment, I want to also emphasize that the change was, in fact, rescinded. In a post on the official forums, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime stated: Hello everyone, I’d like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We’ve been constantly monitoring the feedback you’ve given us, as well as... [Read more]
Posted by Byaghro on Friday, July 9, 2010
