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Following the exciting news that there are actually people out there with the foresight to plan to mine asteroids at some point in the future, there’s the news that a ship has just sailed around the planet using no oil whatsoever, in fact entirely powered by solar energy. The former means we can start to boost our natural resources with those found out in the solar system. The latter means starting to shift our reliance from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is looking more and more realistic.
All in all, I’m feeling quite optimistic about the future of this planet, which is nice given how often I’m inclined to feel the opposite.
The future is officially here.
For those who hadn’t picked up on it yet, I’m a bit of a nerd. I play a lot of video games, I read a lot of science fiction, whatever. So the announcement that came last week of Planetary Resources Corporation, a group of scientists and million/billionaires who plan to mine near-Earth asteroids for their water and precious metals, got me pretty excited.
If you have any friends who – like me – have read a lot of classic science fiction, you’ll probably be hearing a lot about this in future, but I’ll quickly explain anyway. The Planetary Resources Corporation is basically a group of space nerds (including Mr. and Mr. Google, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, as investors and explorer/film producer/director James Cameron in the slightly more proactive post of ‘advisor’) who want to put a whole lot of money into making relatively cheap spacecraft to send forth to near-Earth asteroids for exploration and eventually mining purposes.
With a lot of our worldwide problems revolving around resources and their finite state, the ability to bring in things like water and precious metals from the massive space out there is a necessary step for the future of mankind. Like the packs of cavemen who upped and moved when their feeding grounds ran dry, we are extending our reach to the next frontier.
I’m especially excited to see Sara Seager getting involved, the only woman currently on the team, but a bloody good choice. Ms Seager has contributed so much to research into exoplanets that it would have been questionable for them to have left her out of this exploration of our current spatial boundaries.
If you click the ‘opportunities’ tab on their website, you can also sign up to receive updates via email, or – if you’ve got a little more money or expertise than I do – to contribute in some way. You can even apply to do some actual work with them, if you know anything about spacecraft development, integration, or operation. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting some serious regrets with regards to my choice of degree right now.
Check out their site at planetaryresources.com to find out more.
I recently spent a week in a rather remote area of Scotland, staying at the luxury Bed and Breakfast run by my boyfriend’s parents. The prospect of the ten hour train journey prompted me to visit the library beforehand and borrow a few books. One week and four books later, my love of reading has swept back into my life, and it’s as if it never left.
Around the same time, I noticed Scott Lynch, the author of one of my favourite books, The Lies of Locke Lamora, tweeting about a website called Goodreads. Intrigued, I checked it out. The first thing that appealed to me was what seems to be the main purpose of the site, the ability to list books you’ve read. I’m a list-making sort of a person, and there’s a sense of achievement to be gained from looking at a long list of things you’ve done, films you’ve watched, books you’ve read, etc. I signed up, and started to eagerly add the books I could remember having read, enjoying the way my brain led me off on tangents, taking me back through periods of my life, like the summer before I started university, when I decided to read a load of ‘classics’.
Goodreads is good at making these links too, providing another way of reminding me what other books I’ve read, similar to those I’d already added to my list. The site is reasonably good at splitting books into genres, and it even gives recommendations based on them. So if you feel like reading another crime novel, you can just click on ‘crime’, and a list of prospective candidates along a similar vein to those you’ve admitted having read in the past will appear. It’ll even narrow down the suggestions it makes to you by looking at how much you’ve rated the crime novels you’ve read before, say, by giving preferential treatment to an author you’ve consistently rated with four out of five stars. I’ve used this feature to help with that most difficult of tasks: choosing which books to read next. I just look through the recommendations by the genre for which I’m in the mood, add a few of the selection to my ‘to read’ list, and check if the local library has any of them in stock.
Other features include the ability to read and write reviews of books, helpful when you’re deciding which to read next (and probably more of a valuable indicator than Amazon’s review system, since these are all written by dedicated readers), and to add friends and compare your lists and ratings with them. It was a pleasant surprise when an old friend from college added me, and his list of read books betrayed a very similar taste in fiction to my own. You can also follow authors on Goodreads, who have their own sorts of profiles, like my schoolfriend Katie Wood.
There are even more things that Goodreads offers, like quizzes, giveaways, and reading groups, but you should probably go check it out for yourself. I’m just going to go and finish my book.
So I found out today (okay… yesterday) that Disney are making a film of that century-old science-fiction series John Carter of Mars and I’m totally, totally psyched. As I wrote a few months ago, I’ve read the John Carter of Mars books on my Kindle, since they’re available for free (they’re out of copyright) on Project Gutenberg. Though with such descriptive writing in the books, the film is bound to disappoint me in some areas, the trailer looks stunning. As long as they stick to the story fairly closely, and there’s lots of glorious Burroughsian Martian scenery, I’ll be happy.
In brief.
The PlayStation Vita is the new handheld gaming console from Sony. It has a beautiful 966×544 5″ OLED screen, which makes any iteration of the PSP look seriously out-dated. It has 512mb of RAM, allowing for a smooth interface, easy switching between games and internet features, etc. It has a touch screen on the front, for iPhone-like menu control and occasional use in the games themselves, and one on the back, which seems to be the most gimmicky feature, and not one I can see anyone labelling a necessity. It has dual analog sticks – this is a portable console for the ‘serious gamer’.
It also seems to have what the PSP originally lacked, in this country at least: a broad range of games. While it looks a lot like Sony is relying on Uncharted: Golden Abyss to sell the Vita, as the Uncharted series has sold many a PS3, there is at least one game available at launch for most types of gamer. There are RPGs, arcadey fighting games, racing games, platformers, sports titles, and even a FPS. Besides Uncharted (undoubtedly the most-anticipated), the highest level of interest seems to be in Wipeout (beautiful classic futuristic racer), Rayman Origins (like the one already available for the home consoles), and Little Deviants (a cute, fun little game which seems to have been made to demonstrate the different features of the Vita).
My verdict? At the moment, I wouldn’t buy one. The Vita has a beautiful screen, is comfortable to hold, light-weight and intuitive, but it’s also expensive, and there have already been rumours of a slimmer version to be released in future. Unfortunately, my decision is also weighted somewhat by the fact that I’m not really a fan of Uncharted, so the library of games – while varied – doesn’t quite convince me that a purchase is necessary. However, if you – like many people I’ve spoken to – feel the same need to play each new Uncharted title as I do to play each new Assassin’s Creed, then the Vita, with all its additional features, is definitely worthwhile.
After all, at the end of the day, if they bring out a Ratchet and Clank game for it, I’m sold.
There was once an advert for a wholegrain breakfast cereal that said you should do one thing every day that scares you. As somebody who never exercises beyond walking to work, the idea that I can help my heart like this is appealing (though probably untrue). This morning, after having gotten up at 5:50 to have pancakes before the pancake-maker had to leave for work, I decided to play Skyrim. I haven’t touched it for weeks (something to do with being one step away from finishing the main quest – I may be a bit of a commitment-phobe), so I really put my all into it. I turned off the lights, plugged in my Turtle Beach headset, and – as a final decision – used the in-game options to turn off the music.
The music in games (and particularly in Skyrim) generally does a brilliant job of creating atmosphere, preparing you when you need to be prepared, warning you of approaching danger, alerting you when you’ve stumbled across something, etc., but without it I found myself immersed in Skyrim like I hadn’t been for ages. Instead of methodically making my way through a dungeon with the routine I’ve built up after many, many hours of gameplay, I found myself creeping along, listening to the (enhanced due to the lack of music) sound effects, the water dripping from the ceiling, doors creaking distantly, the cautious footsteps of my companion. I strained for the sound of enemies lurking around corners, and jumped at sudden noises, heart pounding.
Isn’t this what games are all about? Now that the graphics are becoming more and more realistic, and technology is stumbling clumsily towards some kind of virtual reality, it is easier and easier to become immersed in a game. As someone who’s experienced first-hand the mindlessness that can come from playing a game you’ve played for so long that you forget why you’re even playing it (Rockband, I’m looking at you), it is a real joy to have been reminded of this reason to go out and explore new games and the worlds they invite us into.
According to EGM Now, among others, Ubisoft has made an official announcement of the next main title in the Assassin’s Creed series. I go on about Assassin’s Creed way too much on this blog, but this is pretty big news, so I thought I’d share it anyway. It looks like Desmond’s story might well be rounded off in this one, and maybe it’ll even make sense! As for his next ancestor, well, your guess is as good as mine. Personally, I’d love to see a female main character, but that may well be just as much of a pipe dream as the hope that I’ll understand the back story by the end of this one.
Time for the guessing to begin. Who will we get to play as this time? What time period will they choose to set it in? Will there still be Romani? Your opinions in the comments, please.
In response to The First Games IGN Ever Beat, most participants of which (judging by their answers) are probably much older than I am, the first game I can remember beating is Spyro the Dragon, on the original PlayStation.
I’m talking properly beat, here, not just beat the final boss. This is the first game for which I got 100%, by collecting all of the treasure, and freeing all of the dragons. It’s especially reminiscent for me because there was one final dragon that was so elusive I had to use my (at the time) primitive Internet skills to find out how to get it, and because when I’d done it, my mother made me erase my save so that my little brother would never know he wasn’t the first to complete the game.
I haven’t thought about it much since, though I imagine at the time I was furious (I probably outright refused to share my ill-gained knowledge on how to get that final dragon with any of my family members). Thinking back now, it probably gave me a little nudge down the path towards some sort of complex about my right to game, to sometimes even be good at gaming, without having to hide it from the world.
More interesting than my own personality defects, however, is this concept of completing games, of getting through every challenge they offer. Way back in 1998 I completed games (or tried to) for the feeling of satisfaction that comes from practising and trying and repeating something until you manage it successfully (and a little bit for the reassurance that I was better than my brother), but nowadays more and more people talk to me about the games they’re currently playing and how they’re having to practically force themselves to finish them. In some cases, it’s probably OCD. Some people will want to get the most for their money, whether they’re really enjoying the product or not. I suspect, too, that a lot of people on the PS3 or 360 are striving to build up their trophy collection or gamer score.
At this stage in my life, I’ve become quite ruthless with games. If I don’t like it (and usually I have to like it within the first few minutes), I don’t have the spare time to waste on it. With games that really grab me, however, I’ll play them for hours longer than I really need to. I’ll drag them out by doing pointless little side quests to prolong the ‘ending’. The Assassin’s Creed games have this effect on me.
What about you? Do you complete games for the same reason you finish books, because once you’re half-way through you feel like you really ought to just get to the end? Do you do it for the story? Or is it purely for bragging rights? Let me know in the comments :)
A couple of weeks into 2012 find me (still) working in a shop to pay the rent, (still) writing for Blokely, and (still) hoping that one day the writing and the paying of the rent will get along, instead of constantly fighting for my attention.
However, there are also new things going on already in this new year. I am working through the training process for a transcription job for Take Note, which is, I suppose, a rather forced way of getting the writing and the paying of the rent to spend some time together. I am also – with the help of the most helpful computer scientist I know – slowly (I’m talking 100-year-old giant turtle’s pace) taking small steps towards my desire to run my own website, a proper website (i.e., not a rambling blog) with regular game reviews and everything. Watch this space.
This could be the year I get everything I want, or it could be the year my life comes crumbling down around me. As somebody for whom miniature instances of the latter seem to happen fairly regularly, I’m perhaps not as worried by this as I should be. Or maybe I’m just in a really good mood because I have a day off today and I’ve already written an article AND a blog post.
Oh, and I’ve got a new laptop:
A lot of people are superstitious, whether they’ll admit to it or not. I know of atheists who object to religious belief on logical grounds but still fall prey to illogical beliefs such as the idea that one can ‘jinx’ a wish into not coming true by speaking it aloud. We can argue away following superstitions such as not walking under ladders (which, after all, could be quite dangerous) and not putting shoes on tabletops (quite obviously unhygienic), but there are others – such as this concept of ‘jinxing’ things – that seem to just be a result of our peculiar human brains.
My own superstition becomes so prevalent at times that it almost takes on a physical form in my imagination. It’s sort of like ‘jinxing’, in that it if you break it down it seems to be a worry about some supernatural being/force coming to know my hopes and fears and acting to make them come true or not. Psychologically speaking, I imagine my half-belief has derived from the human tendency to form patterns from previous experience: the first time I dread an event and it is cancelled, it’s just luck, but the second and third time it happens I begin – subconsciously – to suspect something more.
Today is my first day off of my only set of two days off in a row I have left until Christmas. I foresaw today as my day for ‘sorting my life out’ (most likely with the help of David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’), and I woke up with one of those headaches I get about once a month which leave me feeling dizzy and sick and quite unable to do anything productive. Initially, I scolded my subconscious mind for providing me with such painful procrastination, drank some water, had some breakfast, and swallowed some ibuprofen.
However, it soon transpired that my malevolent demon is more persistent than I had thought. In a vague headachey haze I tried to grasp things on my expanding to-do list that seemed simple enough to get me started, to ease my way in so to speak, but I was thwarted at every turn. I needed to book some train tickets, but my mother was not available for the necessary discussion of which tickets to book. I needed to check whether an online shop had taken money from my bank account for a gift that never arrived, but the website through which I take care of my online banking was down for maintenance. When I was able to check my balance, the phone number on the online shop’s contact page just rang out.
Am I sounding crazy to you? Is it just my subconscious making up for my laziness by providing me with excuses for why I’m not getting anything done today? Could I have found another way to contact my mother, or did I just not want to? Whatever you might think, answer me this: can you honestly say you’ve never thought to yourself that you were having ‘one of those days’?
