Back in Gordon Freeman’s Suit!

I am playing PC game again!

It’s Half Life 2 Episode 1!

I know you’re rolling your eyes thinking ‘How 2004 are you? That’s an old game!”.  I know, but I haven’t been around gaming  for a long time. I think I somewhat grew bored of it as I got involved other responsibilities in my personal life.

When I recently got my hands on this game, I couldn’t resist the temptation to play the sequel to one of the best PC games of all time. I booted my PC, which I have been neglecting since the new Macbook Pro came in, installed the game from the DVD, fired it up and started another journey through Half-life’s universe.

There are some cultural changes I have noticed so far. Instead of the legendary crowbar, the game starts with the gravity gun as the first weapon at hand. The biggest change of all, is that Gordon Freeman isn’t alone this time, he has a friend! It’s Alyx Vance!  The ass-kicking chick from Half-life 2. The developers at Valve have designed a sophisticated buddy system, so Alyx is going to fight alongside Gordon throughout the whole game. AI programming in games has come a long way from Daikatana, where moronic activities of your AI controlled buddy(like coming in the line of fire, or firing at you!) made me want to chop that buddy into pieces!

I’m enjoying the game experience so far. And I’m quite glad that Alyx is with me. I’ve always felt a sense of desperation and fear, as I went through Half Life’s cinematic thrilling environment. That’s why it’s really good that I have Alyx by my side!

Update Finished playing Episode 1 few nights back. It was shorter than I expected but satisfying. Just started to play Episode Two!

Google Chrome OS – Lets try to be positive

Google’s announcement of stepping into the OS market with Google Chrome has generated quite a stir in the Net. While many have welcomed Google’s new venture, others have been busy with making absurd predictions. Some are talking about what current operating system it’s going to kill? Some saying they don’t need a new OS because they already have one they like. This fellow got more creative and ranted about ‘features’ of the OS before it’s even released! It’s like blaming an unborn baby for being bad in sports?

Personally, I don’t understand the motive behind this kind of negative thinking. Why not think about what new things Chomre might offer, rather than which popular OS it’s going to kill? Let Bill worry about possible market threat of Windows, we should worry about how to use Chrome. You already have the perfect desktop? May be that’s what you think and may be you are right. But should that stop others from trying to innovate, seek answers to problems you never realized you had? Google’s new browser introduced radical concepts in terms  of usability, may be the OS will do the same.

As developers we should be more open minded towards innovations, and throw away this die hard slash fanboy culture.  Technology isn’t religion, you won’t be denied entry to heaven for switching to a newOS/programming language. If nothing else, competition is good. It brings the best out of people. Let’s hope it’ll force Microsoft to make a more secure Windows, or inspire Linux people to create much user friendly desktop systems.

Here lies Michael Jackson(1958-2009), King of Pop

I was surprised to see Michael Jakcson’s name appear in the Twitter trending topics this morning. I hardly suspected death to be the reason for this sudden attention to the legendary artist.

As someone who was born and brought up in the 80’s, Michael Jackson holds a special place in my heart. There was no MTV while I was a child, and no Internet to download mp3’s. Yet Michael Jackson was a household name in this corner of the planet. You couldn’t find a kid who never heard of “break dancing” or “moon walking”.

Thriller got us thrilled, Beat it had us excited, Black or White mesmerized us with its impressive CGI,  They don’t really care about us made us stomp our feet or bang our fists on the table !

His personal life reeked of controversies. But that doesn’t make him any less of an artist in my eyes. I don’t know Michael Jackson the person, I only know Michael Jackson the singer.

Mark my words kiddo. He doesn’t belong to that group of suger-coated ‘pop stars’ your Ipod generation idolizes. He’s above them. The king has surpassed. And the throne remains unclaimed.

A farewell note

This week I said good bye to a couple of things.

The first was my old job at Evoknow Inc. It was my first job. I joined as a trainee developer right after my graduation. I was eventually promoted to a full-time developer, and then to team leader within a year.  I had a really great time there. My teammates were the friendliest and whackiest people on earth. I learned a lot from them, and I tried to contribute as much as possible.

My new job is just a stone’s throw from the old one.  While the actual distance is small, in terms of technical demands it is a giant leap. From a seasoned PHP developer I have become a Python newbie. From a Linux/Windows user, I have turned into a Mac user+admirer. I hope to learn some really great stuff from here.

The second goodbye was to our trusty old Toyota Starlet 1996. We traded it for a brand new Toyota Corolla G 2004.  We had so many memories in it. It had been through some serious accidents. But it gave us a happy ride. I hope its new owner would be nice to it.

I am enjoying the smooth ride on the new car though!