TERA - wait for it - BYTES...

Remember back in "the day" when those of the nerdy persuasion used to get excited about the mere possibility of the possibility of terabytes of data storage in a home system? Gigabytes? Megabytes?

I do.

I remember the days when four or five of my friends and I would tremble in awe of the thought that among us, we had over 1 TB of space including our thumb drives, zip discs, and blank burnables!

I remember using my family's first 'computer' (the beloved Apple IIGS), with something like 1 MB of storage (Oregon Trail, anyone?), whose primary method for loading software was by booting from a 5 1/4" floppy disc (sorry kids, one of these).

I remember upgrading to our family's first non-disc reliant machine, also an Apple (Performa 5200 LC, my first introduction to 'windows' no, not Windows™; windows as a method for human-computer interaction), with 500 MB of storage.

Then came the Apple Performa 6400 with 1.6 GB of storage, and after the performa was a long-lived love-hate with the hunchback of Macintoshery, the iMac G3 (in original BondiBlue), featuring a curve-following 4GB drive.

Moving past the massive hand-cramp that was the many years of using the circle mouse, I decided to start my career as a computer owner and bought an iMac G4, with an internal HD whose capacity was 40GB (what a whopper!). The G4 is still running upstairs, relegated to use as a recipe-browser when I'm trying something new in the kitchen.

What a jump with the [already outdated but surprisingly relevant core 2 duo] intel iMac I'm typing on, with total internal storage capacity of 750GB and two external HD's totaling more than 2 TB.

Why am I musing on storage today? I'm currently moving data from one PS3 to another, the amount of which is over 180GB, after having just installed a 500GB drive into the new PS3. I've got media stored on several 1 and 2 TB drives around the room; in fact, in this room alone, I believe I can boast over 5TB of combined storage.

And to think; even connected via ethernet, it still takes just about 2 hours to transfer only 180GB! What the heck. Why haven't transfer speeds and cable specs kept up with storage capacity?

I want to use the new PS3 already! :P Time for Light Peak already!

50% and [slowly] counting!

Stay nerdy folks,

Chris

I remember..

Today I remember a man who smelled of diesel, salt, fish, sweat, and Minard's Liniment.

I remember a man whose smile would imbue you with an immovable happiness, regardless of your mood.

I remember a great story teller, a man who could paint images with words and elicit laughter from even the most hardened soul.

I remember a man who fought not for glory or out of anger, but to protect his family and his country.

I remember a man loved and respected by all those whose lives he touched.

I remember a man who survived the war, and fostered a vibrant and strong rooted family.

I remember a man who stirred an entire community to remember those who did not.

I remember a man unafraid to wear silly hats and to play with his grandchildren, to sing songs, to dance, and to enjoy life to it's fullest.

I remember a man who even in his worst health was kind, gentle, and strong.

I remember a man buried with the poppies of his Legion brothers and sisters, whose funeral and wake were attended by entire communities, and drew people from near and far.

Today I remember Leland Charles Williams.

Today I remember my Grandfather.

Things I've learned from Scribblenauts...

So - I did it. I went and bought the games mentioned in the previous post, found here if you're lazy

So I can't eat things like meat or vegetables for the next little while. So what.

Anyhow, I've only unwrapped Scribblenauts and have had a fair deal of fun trying to 'outwit the game'. So far, so good.

Important life lessons I've learned from Scribblenauts so far:

1. The best two things to carry with you at all times are:

a) A toaster.

b) A jetpack.

Using those two items, you can do almost anything. The toaster, an unassuming piece of household food-makery, is great for clearing any sized body of water of all sharks, barracudas, and other angry or aggressive fishes. I'm certain it would work on Ninjas as well, but honestly, when have YOU seen a ninja in the water? Never, or else you'd be dead. And wet.

The jetpack is pretty self explanatory.

2. God has no power over Death. Not death the phenomenon, but Death the reaper. Just don't put them in the same room, or you may be found responsible for Theocide. Also, player + chainsaw > God. Go figure.

Mobile/Portable/Online games - the electronic portion control?

Normally I'm not one to buy into things that end in Lite 1, or come in portions smaller than at least two of my fists. I particularly don't like things that I can take with me anywhere, that are particularly convenient, or that have small enough form factors that they can fit in a pocket (food OR electronics).

Lately, however, there are a few portable games coming to the Nintendo DS(lite1) that look particularly scintillating. I find myself fascinated with them, pondering on pre-ordering and/or queueing up on the release date just to ensure a copy, despite finding myself in the food vs shelter debate more often than not these past few months.

I noticed something earlier this week, when a friend and co-worker brought an aged and sentimental novelty mug to work. He explained that the mug is nearly 15 years old, and we both marveled at the sub-starbuckian volume it was capable of holding. The mug looked as if it were meant for someone with a much smaller hand, and a much smaller caffeine addiction than today's average working stiff.

Again, cooking dinner, I marveled at how small any of my room-mates collection of ancient misfit hand-me-down dinner settings were compared to my sleek and modern 'average' sized plates. Something is amiss here, folks.

Subsequently, I've come to the conclusion that we have come to expect much larger portions over the years. This is nothing new, not a breakthrough, by any means. Many studies have come to show that larger plates = larger portions = larger people. I get it.

What I hadn't really connected was the fact that the size of the plate vs the amount of food on the plate was also quite important. It makes sense, really. Our eyes are great at tricking our brains based on context2. The same amount of food will satisfy hunger more on a smaller plate because it seems a larger portion, based on the context that the plate provides.

Still reading? There's a point to all of this, I promise.

Back to portable video games.

Much like our appetites and portions of food, the scope and plot complexity of the media we consume has also grown disproportionately along with our waistlines over the years.

Currently, I'm 'playing' at least 20 games across 3-5 consoles that each require a rather sizable 40 hour + minimum gameplay commitment. Needless to say, many of them haven't seen a new save or any actual play in years, one or two in decades, even. When faced with the burden of such a time commitment and the challenge of synthesizing such large portions of plot and open-world possibility, I often find myself craving a more contained, more surmountable helping of gameage. After finishing one of these behemoth games, I am often 'bloated' and left wholly unsatisfied by the experience of 'finishing the game'. I usually feel guilty for having sunk the amount of time into something for which the 'juice wasn't worth the squeeze'.

This is where portion control can play a much needed balancing role in any gamer's diet.

I recently had the pleasure of playing and completing the game 'Professor Layton and the Curious Village' for the DS. It was a completely satisfying experience. Due to it's small scope/context (provided by the concise nature of the story telling and the limited but well rounded gameplay mechanic [ both related to the nature of the hardware it was delivered upon]) but it's seemingly large portion of excitement and fun (balanced, rewarding, and intriguing gameplay, plot, replay value, etc.), the game served as a perfectly healthy 15 hour portion spread over a week or two of play.

The game was readily consumed in a manageable timeframe, with short play periods, and with no period of plot plateau or lost interest due to prolonged exposure. It was a perfectly balanced meal with just the right amount of seasoning that all of the components stood out but played off of one another, served on a plate that made the portion seem huge, yet when consumed left no bloating or other ailments, and had me excited to see what was next.

And so - I find myself desiring to purchase the new Professor Layton game, as well as several other portables that have piqued my interest, and consume them guilt-free. Among these snack sized delectables are: 'Mario & Luigi - Bowser's Inside Story', 'Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box', and 'Scribblenauts', each promising a new and hopefully satisfying experience, in an easily digested package.

Look at me being all re-considery and such.

Let's just hope I can afford all three and food+shelter this month, or my portions might be quite controlled for the next while.

How's that for a bag-full?

1. Aversion to products ending in Lite. I find them PARTICULARLY wretched when the ingredients that don't make the cut are G and H, and the additive for flavor is a measly little e.
2. Context sensitive perception of scale. See:

Hint: The two central dots are the same size. Don't believe me? Go ahead and measure. :P

PS

Will be doing a custom design for this bag soon.

Not that you care.

It's official. I have a blog.

So. What to write about?

No ideas yet.

Things that interest me and probably not you, I think.

New post soon.