Review: Old Man's War, John Scalzi

Besides being a geek, the ProfeXor moonlights as a writer. While looking for some specific writing advice today, I stumbled upon the blog of author John Scalzi. After absorbing the information I sought, I examined the books that he had written. The blurb about his novel, Old Man's War, sounded interesting and I'm always desperate for fresh authors. So, after work I headed to the local Barnes and Noble to search for a copy.

Luck was with the ProfeXor and I was forty-some pages deep before I happily left the store, novel in hand. Several hours and a box of Golden Grahams later I have turned the last page, here's my review of John Scalzi's Old Man's War...

John Scalzi writes snappy, often-comedic dialogue that made me smile frequently and even laugh out loud a time or two (a very rare accomplishment unless you're Bill Watterson). Serious moments are carefully distributed for well-balanced contrast and flow. I could appreciate the subtlety with which Scalzi emphasized the feeling characters had for one another - it was understated and thereby more poignant. I hate it when authors beat you over the head with flowery descriptions of character relationship and Scalzi doesn't fall into this trap.

Scalzi also avoided ProfeXorGeek's all-time, number-one Pet Peeve (with capital Ps). It's some kind of sick capitalist fad for sci-fi/fantasy authors to write a series of 700 page novels. I hate that. I don't want to wait for book number seven or thirty-four to come out to continue the long and boring story. I think authors should write a solid story with options to expand their world. Authors should not presume to force you to read the next or previous book to understand the characters. Though this is only the first book, John wraps it up very nicely. I don't have to read any more because it was a tidy novel with characters and a conflict that were evolved and resolved by the last page. That being said, he leaves plenty of room for expansion so that I can't wait to read more from the world he's spun. It appears that his next book is a standalone that will be enriched if you have read this one. Perfect as far as I'm concerned.

Scalzi writes a story that any sci-fi fan can appreciate. The concepts are fascinating and well-executed. Suspension of disbelief was easy and natural. Overall I would rate this book as required reading for any geek or fan of the genre.

Tempting the Cyberhoards

You know what? I hate eBay. I've never even purchased anything on eBay and I hate it. There are so many scams and so much junk that I never shop there. The main things I shop for online are electronics, gadgets, electronics, computer peripherals and gadgets. So many online companies have an established reputation, why would I ever shop on eBay? I don't care about obscure stuff that I couldn't find at a retail outlet.

I'm tired of seeing eBay's irrelevant crap on every freakin' google SERP I encounter. I know people that have purchased cars on eBay. Are you kidding? The kinda garbage I find when I try to search on eBay is so discouraging that I don't even want to purchase a optical mouse, let alone a car. I don't mind paying a few extra bucks at a place I can trust.

-The ProfeXor reserves the right to retract this opinion if he is proved wrong or if eBay send the Cyberhoards after him.

DRM and the freedom-haters

What ^, gentle reader? Thanks for tuning in to another post from the ProfeXor. Today I want to talk about DRM. For those who live in a cave that TLA (Three-letter acronym) stands for Digital Rights Management.

DRM is general term for the panicked efforts of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), and other "digital property" owners to control the distribution of their product.

A fairly well known example of DRM is the regional encoding and protection found in DVDs. This was an attempt by the DVD Consortium to keep DVDs from being copied. As most people know, this encryption system was cracked shortly after it was released. Since then many freedom-hating sadists have tried various methods of protecting their "property". Sony recently released a CD with hidden DRM (functional details here) that left serious security holes.

Sony's attempt at hijacking buyers' computers was a metaphor for all that's wrong with DRM. Now if I rent/purchase a DVD I have to watch an ad about how downloading music is stealing. It says "You wouldn't steal a car, you wouldn't steal this, you wouldn't steal that....blah blah blah...don't steal music." They are correct...I wouldn't steal a car, or a DVD or anything else. However, you can be darn sure that if I could make an exact duplicate of a Lamborghini for my driving amusement I would in a heartbeat!

I'm not saying that I pirate software (being a Geek, I'm more focused on software than music here). If I want a game and I know it's good I'll purchase it. I bought Joint Operations, the expansion pack, Unreal 2k4, BF2 and several other games over the last year. My gripe is that DRM doesn't affect pirates, it affects consumers.

I read an article about how new DVD technology will have a revolving encrpytion system that may quickly render DVD players obsolete. So If I purchase DVDs, I may have 10 different types of encryption that I have to worry about figuring out. Does this affect pirates? No. Did Sony's blunder affect pirates? No. It all affects consumers. When you download a movie/game/music the protection has already been stripped.

DRM is a knee-jerk reaction by that is far too little too late. Future efforts at copy protection will frustrate and alienate cash-carrying consumers while a 14 year old Russian kid is distributes clean versions online. When that day comes (maybe it's already here) who will want to pay money for a crappy, privacy-invading product? Maybe the lusers but never ProfeXorGeek.

Pewter Wars

Hello again readers and thanks for tuning in to another collection of random thoughts. This post is about Pewter Star Wars Figures so don't go away! You can find free software links and all kinds of helpful links, products, tips and opinions on geek culture. If you think you're a true Geek test yourself at the Geek University. Now on to the post:

Pewter stuff rocks. I like pewter because it's heavy and looks and feels like an antique. I have two pewter statues of a Viking man and wife on my compy at work that stand about 1" tall. I call them Garth and Helga. Recently I gave them a little pewter elephant as a pet.
Now I sorta want to collect more stuff. What's cooler than little pewter vikings? Admittedly not much, however I did find some neat pewter Star Wars figures. They are a bit pricey (that new Lucasfilm facility has a lot of overhead) but they're cool enough that I just might buy one if they are still in stock. Check out below:



There was also a general grevious, boba fett and a bunch of other pewter star wars figures and pewter star wars vehicles but it seems like a lot of it is out of stock.
Also, did anyone check out the last post and play LF2? It's a cool game and very easy to mod. I found an anakin add in character and was wondering if anyone could find a Darth Vader or other star wars figures. That would be ultra-L337. I might add that as a treasure hunt to the Geek University Quiz.

Little Fighters 2 Packs a Big Punch

Gaming started small with gaming companies emerging like garage bands. A couple talented programmers and artists could put together a pretty sweet game and offer it on the shareware market. Then, gaming went the way of Hollywood for a while. Giant entertainment endeavors became expensive productions, designed by professional studios with hundreds of employees. But lately the minigame market has blossomed like 64-bit color. With Flash, JAVA, JavaScript and other programming languages that can be easily ported and distributed the amateur developers market has been churning out higher and higher quality stuff. Enter my new favorite free game. Two guys who are apparently of Asian descent (judging by game style and language) have refined their original creation and developed Little Fighters 2. This little gem hearkens to the days of button-mashing combos and sweet 2D bloodshed. Play on one compy with 4 people or hook up with 8 friends online and Tiger-Punch the crap out of each other. There is a whole slew of game types including a Stage mode where you fight through stages of compy enemies. A 1v1, 2v2, tournament mode and more! I haven't had this much pixilated fun since MK3. ProfeXorGeek salutes Marti and Starsky Wong for bringing this excellent entertainment to the masses for free.

PS: Did anyone notice how clever my headline was? Meanings within meanings- I bet newspapers all over the world are clicking on the contact link right now.

ProfeXor Geek's Favorite Free Software!

I thought it appropriate to do my few and loyal readers a favor. I have compiled a list of all the great software utilities that I have found to be useful and FREE. The list below is comprised of helpful tools that are either freeware or shareware. These are all free but may request that you donate or purchase the full license version. If you like one of these tools it wouldn't hurt to contribute a little so they continue to be free! If you encounter a link that is broken, a tool that is not free or have a recommendation for this list please contact me. Please note that I am not affiliated with any of these tools, I do not profit from this recommendation nor do I provide tech support.

Internet and Security:
AVG - Free, effective anti-virus
ZoneAlarm - Solid, user-friendly firewall
SpyBot - Primary spyware scanner
Ad-Aware - Secondary spyware scanner
Firefox - The best browser out. Period.

Entertainment:
iTunes - I hate Macs but I converted on this one. I'm sorry.
VLC Media Player - If you have a video file, it will play it!

Utilities:
Daemon - Emulate CD/DVD drives
Xenu's Link Sleuth - Test your site's links, etc
WinRAR - Unzip the zipped
NetStumbler - Stumble your way into someone else's internet
TightVNC - control your computer from afar
TextPad - the best text editor I have ever encountered.
FileZilla - the ProfeXor's FTP client of choice

All Geared Up and Nowhere to Go...

So I bought a Sony VAIO Lappy VGN-FS760/W, which is similar to this laptop, last October. For the most part, it totally rocks. It has the mobile nVidia card which manages to handle Battlefield 2, MaxPayne2, Dawn of War, Joint Ops, UT2004 and pretty much any other game I play. The only problem I have with it is it will overheat and shut down if I don't have some exterior cooling going. The graphics card is a little too big for the case size. But, I wanted a lappy that was thin and portable yet powerful....it does okay.

Then, I bought a nice lappy bag from Sierra Trading Post for $20 (that one is sold out but I just noticed a $40 Timbuk2 bag and a bigger $60 Timbuk2 bag). Anyway, I'm all geared up for a good LAN party. I got a decent lappy, a good transport bag that carries almost everything I need (other than my joystick for some BF2 helicopter pilotry) and, of course, professional gaming skills ;)

Problem is I got nowhere to play. My friends now are married and having babies...or otherwise occupied with life and can't get together for an LAN session. Sure, I can play online, but that's got nothing on getting together with 10 people you know and having a good deathmatch while munching Papa John's and pounding Dew/Jamaican Blue Coffee. It's a different gaming experience with some cameraderie that you can't find in a normal multiplayer game.

I've even tried to get Wifey into gaming but she just can't hang when it comes to FPS. Plus she isn't that into it. She did kick some butt at Fate, the Wild Tangent RPG (that game might be the most fun I've had for $20). But Fate is single player only and Neverwinter Nights is a bit too complex for Wifey. I don't own any other RPGs except Nox, which was really good in it's time but it's a bit dated now.

I guess for now I'll stick to the standard multiplayer gaming and long for the days of the LAN. Can anyone feel me here? I can't be alone in this.
-The Geek