ToasterToastin'

You too? I made it further than that, but I never finished the game because it just felt so slow. I don't even remember the "story" or progression, and while I'm usually great about game maps I remember absolutely nothing. I can draw Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn from memory easily. Sinnoh? No clue. I think there was a giant mountain in the middle? HG/SS was the best game in the generation and it was a damn remake. Eevee/Pikachu looks pretty. Not sure how thrilled I am about the PoGo mechanics, or the wisdom of going full-nostalgia with the first 151. Also, I wonder if they're gonna go with actual cries instead of the chipset sounds for the first time, since Eevee has a voice (and the PokeBall+ is gonna make noises). Probably going to finally convince me to buy a Switch though, so that's something.

Nah, Todd Howard's just announcing Skyrim for the Sega Saturn.

I wonder what the ratio of water to fish pee is in a lake/river/ocean. Also, chances are that the water you drink was once in someone's bladder. Maybe it's someone you know. Maybe it's your mom's.

This whole city is a money laundering conspiracy theory (actually for real though) so they fit right in. I'm from Pittsburgh so I've always supported the Penguins, so having Fleury (ex-Pen goaltender) face off against the Caps (Pens rivals) is goddamn poetry.

In local Sportsball news, the Vegas Golden Knights have made it to the Stanley Cup finals, and I was somehow not on the schedule to work today, so I actually got a chance to go down to the arena to hang out in the front plaza (no, I didn't have tickets for in-arena seats, seeing as they were going for ~$1000 upper level). What a rush. The game was back-and-forth the whole time, which was great and awful at the same time, but the amount of energy was just intense. Last time I was able to attend a sporting event like this was in '08, when the Penguins (my original home team) streamed an away game from inside their stadium. This game was 10x that.

Are children small? Or just far away?

Plus you can't really bang a wide variety of vidya babes in a linear experience. I feel like this is as good a place as any for me to beat my personal favorite Valve-centric dead horse and bring up the Portal 2 store.

My roommate just had the same issue with the latest Windows 10 update, only it managed to brick his computer into a gray screen of death. Eventually figured out that it was a corrupted video driver, so it's fixed now, but it took 2 days of digging and it still isn't super functional. Heck, even the automatic repair option Windows 10 provides was of absolutely no help (gave up halfway through checking to see how to fix it with no resolution) and it doesn't look like this is an isolated event. Welcome to the era of "Beta testers? Our customers are our beta testers."

My listlessness has made me play Black Mesa again, even though I've gone through Mesa/HL so many times. Sometimes it's nice to just run through a linear experience.

Yeah, the cloth was certainly a test. It started more elastic but stretched during the day, and it's missing a brace underneath it, but it hid the wrist when posed so it did the job. And the glove part is my first true 3D print, and I'm shocked the paint actually came out as well as it did. And, honestly, same. I was expecting Castiel or something, but everyone who noticed pointed out the bandage and the pencil as the specific reasons.

So! Finally got around to branching out on cosplays this last weekend at LvlUp Expo in Las Vegas. While I like my Kyle Katarn, it's starting to show some age and, on top of that, it's a little too obscure for a general anime/pop culture convention - it was originally made for a Star Wars con, though I still ended up with a bit of recognition, so I guess it wasn't horribly obscure. My chronic procrastination and 40-hour work week(s) gave me very little time to work on anything but I managed to turn around a brand-new costume in about 2 weeks and... well, it shows in the paint and some construction quality. It was definitely 15-feet-rule worthy and gave me a good bit of insight into how to operate both my 3D printer and EVA foam - my first ever actually completed - so I'm still considering it a win, but it's no museum piece. Then, on Sunday, I put together a low-impact costume of Dick Gumshoe (since I've always wanted to represent Ace Attorney in cosplay somehow) so I could walk around still referential to a franchise I like but one that I could use my hands in and not have to worry about parts falling off randomly. It was certainly obscure, even compared to my Katarn, but it was still just within the wheelhouse of the con crowd to be instantly recognized by those In The Know. I think that feeling is the best for me when it comes to a costume: everyone can point out an Iron Man, or a Goku, or any other number of con staples, but to have people recognize the less-known character is great. Plus, the people who can point out your obscure costume are absolutely thrilled when they see your lesser-known character actually present. Hell, I got more requests to get a picture taken with me in my Dick Gumshoe than I did in my Tony Stark (which was a primarily single-subject shot, when people asked). Overall, the con was great. Lots of stuff to see, even if it's a bit lower-key than I'm used to - two Star Wars Celebration cons have spoiled my sense of scale. Definitely inspired to do more costumes, with greater variety, and go to as many cons as I can (My next project: Freeman's HEV suit, mainly so I don't have to cut the beard). And, apparently, I need to use social media, or at least get a blog/page set up to document stuff, because people were asking who I was working for all con - even with my shoddy arm work. Also, I need to develop arc reactor kits for distribution because a lot of people wanted to buy that damn thing off of me. Fun aside: There are still a lot of Homestucks around, apparently.

Poor guy who won the blind auction, though. You expect, like, cobwebs and mold, not hazmat teams. I wonder who's on the hook for the bill.

Are you even a real Virtual Youtuber if you don't get your own figure?

Finding adhesives for PLA plastic is surprisingly difficult. I've been checking for acrylic glue (the stuff used to weld plexiglass together) and no one has it. Hobby stores, home improvement stores, barely even Amazon for that matter.

Running through the very basics on Blender currently, mostly because the models I want to work with are high-detail FBX models that require posing and stuff. It's a gradual knowledge build, though - I'm sure I could kludge together some workable model through sheer will and trial and error but that seems... risky. I anticipate doing a lot of pregame before actually tackling anything substantial. As for testing, I've been limiting myself to a bunch of 20-30 minute miniature but detailed models just to get a feel. So far I've been satisfied with the quick stuff, so that's a positive. The included software is pretty weak (though I've been running stuff through Slic3r first to do some manual chopping, but I haven't managed to find a config for my printer yet), so I'll look into Repetier. I just wish I had time. Work isn't conducive to my experience.

I'm so excited. My 3D printer finally came in the mail, and it looks rad as hell. I'm gonna print so much stuff and I'm never going to buy a model/figure again. ...now to learn how to use Blender/conversion software. And the 3D printer software, of course. On that note, does anyone know where to find good Blender tutorials? I've used Sketchup in the past, and Hammer, and other assorted 3D modelling resources, but the few times I've tried Blender (and 3DSMax) I've never actually gotten anywhere thanks to the learning curve and lack of direction.

I tend to leave projects on my computer up overnight (folders, notepad stuff, little notes and organizational stuff, mostly), so I've had updates disabled for a long time since the update-o-matic completely kills those types of projects. It's saved me from the forced Windows 10 upgrade (7 works very well TYVM). Although, last week it restarted my computer out of the blue. I don't recall re-enabling it.

Finally cracked into Civ VI and... well, it's good and bad. There's a lot of gameplay adjustments, streamlined elements, and QOL enhancements I like and have now gotten used to (like Districts, Wonder placement, Builder charges, and the whole rework of the Great Person system), so I'm finding it hard to convince myself to jump back to V - I had the same issue on the IV to V switch - but the AI is just plain bad, and all I ever do in Civ is AI matches. I understand that there's a lot going on under the hood, and that can be hard to balance, but a lot of it feels incomplete. The denouncements happen quickly and harshly, I don't even bother building a damn army half the time until a perfectly agreeable neighbor gets all pissy over Great Person recruitment and send a random army from the asscrack of nowhere to siege just long enough for me to buy an army and destroy them, trade is a joke, poor AI city placement emphasizing screwing me over smart resource management, outright cheating at higher difficulties... there's a lot to drag me out of the experience. And, as always, late game turns are hella long to process. Didn't keep me from playing 8 hours straight and still not finishing, but the experience isn't as fulfilling as some of my marathon sessions in Civ IV or V. Still worth the price I paid, though. All that said... I don't think I can make it back to V simply because the modding scene is so large. The amount of available mods - not just Leaders and Civs, though those populate plenty of slots in my list - that add the QOL enhancements I'd like is daunting, and that's assuming I find them at all. The terrible in-game UI (and, for that matter, the terrible layout of subscribed entries on the Workshop) doesn't help matters.

Yay, crazy bacon legs is back! Also, bizarre timing for an update. And completely unexpected to boot. Still has that good ol' Valve polish, too.

Is this a "new hero so everyone wants a turn" phenomenon or the typical "new hero is broken and OP and Blizz doesn't care about powercreep" phenomenon? I haven't actually attempted to play her in public yet, but I'm assuming it's the second.

I'm a fan of the yellow Red Bull. It leans away from the taste you normally associate with Red Bull, instead tasting like pineapple. Feels mostly like a placebo though. The red and green are also half-decent, for energy drinks.