Categories
Video Games

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Paper Mario: Sticker StarEvery Christmas I usually end up playing some video game as a last resort means of escape from holiday craziness and such. This year I went with Paper Mario: Sticker Star on the 3DS since it’s Mario and who doesn’t like Mario and being on the 3DS it gave me more options to retreat with it as holiday craziness escalates.

I’ve enjoyed the previous Paper Mario games over the years, so I had some high expectations for this sticker fun. Once again I thoroughly enjoyed this Paper Mario fun. It was good stuff.

I thought the whole sticker system was pretty cool and a creative idea. Everything was pretty much sticker based, battles, secrets, etc.

However, my only complaint was that some parts were just difficult to figure out at times. Like when to use certain stickers to unlock things and collecting the Wobbler parts was kinda tough to figure out. Luckily the internet exists and got me through these few tough spots after numerous tries. Or maybe it isn’t hard to figure out, but I’m just too old for these games anymore.

Categories
Development

WordPress 3.5 Add Media button fix

I recently upgraded to WordPress 3.5 and just noticed that the Add Media button was no longer working with my Posts. This isn’t very cool, so I began to look into how to possibly fix and or work around this one.

First I disabled all my plugins, and still the issue was there.

Trusty Google did help me find some people with similar issues.

It seems that my host and how the javascript files are being delivered could be the culprit in this one.

So if you’re hosting your site with Dreamhost and are running WordPress 3.5 and your Add Media button is no longer working you may want to try the following:

Add

define(‘CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS’, false );

in my wp-config.php file just before

require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’);

That did the trick for me.

Categories
Books

The Passage

The PassageI was about to walk out with another random book when the really cool librarian just randomly suggested The Passage. She went on to describe it, but realistically any suggestion was a good one to me. Plus she’s a librarian, so she’s a pro and I’d trust any suggestion.

I was very glad to find out that the all powerful librarian was indeed correct, I really enjoyed this book.

While there’s been a lot of post apocalyptic, vampire or zombie material out recently, I thoroughly enjoyed this take on it.

The early government stuff that leads to the whole epidemic was pretty cool. Then the transition to about 100 years later and how much the world has changed as a result made for some fine reading.

Very good stuff and eager to read the sequel, The Twelve.

Categories
Adventure

2012 Honey Badger Holiday Party

Ugly SweatersThe Honey Badgers franchise had their first every Holiday Party this year. As all things Honey Badger, this would surely have to be a fun event.

First things first, an official committee of planning experts was formed. Ginny, Caitlin and myself answered the call and had several rounds on intense meetings and debates to plan the perfect holiday party. Input from all sides was great, and before we knew it we had a plan in place!

Not only were current Honey Badgers invited, but many past Honey Badgers were invited as well. It was truly an amazing roster.

The group was broken up into teams and we had some intense Honey Badger Trivia. I combed old stats, emails, and blog posts to gather up some amazing Honey Badger history through the years. It was pretty cool, to go back and be reminded of all the fun it’s been the past 2 years. I also printed out big letters for the teams to hold up to show their answers. It was pretty great.

We also had an ugly sweater contest, because that seems to be the thing to do now and who doesn’t like dressing up like a fool from time to time. The participation was pretty solid with Dustin and myself getting the majority of the votes. Dustin edged me out for first with his sweater that had bells on it. The melody of the bells when rung was truly enchanting. We both got some amazing ribbon pins (I think I kinda came out better with the funnier 2nd place ribbon). Turtle necks are not only ugly, but I can now attest they are uncomfortable as well.

A white elephant style gift exchange took place too. Participation was again very solid. Everyone seemed pretty much familiar with the concept and there were some pretty amazing and creative gifts on display. The mini foosball table was highly sought after and swapped several hands throughout the event. I ultimately ended up with some honey and a badge with a taped r on it (get it, honey badger) and a $10 Target gift card. Not too shabby.

All in all a very successful night. Despite having a rather random gathering of teammates over the years, everyone really gets along really well and all events are always a lot of fun. It really amazes me how we end up with such a great bunch. Many of these people were just randomly assigned to our team over the years and I’m very glad that they were.

I would rate this a resounding success and this will truly have to be a tradition for many years to come!

Categories
Books

Red Rain

Red RainLooking through the new arrivals section, I noticed a book by R.L. Stein. I knew his name for the Goosebumps books and show from when I was a younger lad. So why not, let’s give the guy a shot and see how his grown up books might be like.

Turns out it wasn’t too bad. While I can’t say I was too surprised at any point, I did find myself reading through it pretty quickly and that’s always a positive sign.

Evil little kids are always a fine idea for scary stuff. There’s just something eerie about evil kids, especially twins.

I also did like that they had some ridiculous evil powers too. The murders were a bit on the gross side and I did find myself rooting for a few of the victims to get away, but sadly few did.

Rule the school.

 

Categories
Video Games

Halo 4

Halo 4Just finished up Halo 4, and while I’m not sure exactly whom I was shooting since I hadn’t played the previous 3 I do know that I did somehow save humanity. So I feel kinda good about that (in a fake video game way).

The campaign was mighty impressive, and I know I’ve stated this many times but am in awe of the amount of production value that goes into a major video game these days. The sound, story, voice acting, etc. are all as good if  not better then a blockbuster Hollywood film. Very impressive amount of work and polish on display.

I think I was most impressed by the sound and graphics. The music was pretty awesome, and does an amazing job of getting you into the game whether you intended to or not. Some very dramatic stuff.

The pacing of the campaign was really impressive too. I’m not the type to sit down for hours and play in one sitting. The auto-save made it easy to play and little here and a little there and pick right up where I left off.

I also was genuinely bummed at the end when you lose a friend. While it wasn’t quite as sad as Marley and Me, I do tip my hat at a game that could make me care for the characters involved.

This was a pretty amazing game. Well done 343 Studios.