Just one more block…

Posted by on March 11, 2012 No comments

So I haven’t updated in a while. Last post was December of 2011. It’s now March so I figured I should probably stop by and say what I’ve been up to.

For the most part, nothing much. I’ve been playing a few different games, such as Dungeon Defenders and Minecraft (modded, of course–BuildCraft [and related add-ons to it], IndustrialCraft² [and related add-ons], RedPower, and so on / also trying Tekkit). I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at a Let’s Play… but unsure if I’d be able to find someone to either play with and record with or have enough to talk about solo that my episodes have content.

As far as Old Republic goes, I kinda hit a dead point with it. I sorta capped out on level then lost interest. Hopefully during my visit to Reason Rally and then James & Ashley I’ll get back into it, but who knows?

I’ll be updating my blogroll once the new user gets around to posting.

Oh and my Mass Effect 3 copy was delayed shipping from Amazon and missed the release date shipping so I won’t get it until this Wednesday. USPS, why are you so slow?

The Old Republic

Posted by on December 22, 2011 1 comment

“Young Padawan, you do not yet know the ways of the force.”

“Perhaps then, I shall teach her. Of course, those lessons won’t be too useful since you’ll both be dead.”

“Ah, if it isn’t a Sith Lord. The Dark side muddles your use of the Force. Surrender and allow the Light to guide you to redemption.”

“I’d rather die.”

“So be it.”

Read more »

Structure

Posted by on November 15, 2011 1 comment

Structure. A pattern to behavior and design. A method. A function.

What are we? Results of a structure. We grow up (mostly) living in one. We follow one when we go about our day. We are simply parts of a structure.

What would we be without that structure? What would we do if we didn’t have some guiding line giving us a “what next”? Are we really that rigid?

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Google+

Posted by on November 8, 2011 No comments

Like the previous Facebook post, xfir Networks has also made a page on Google+.

A reminder to all that I am still offering to host blogs. If you’re interested, drop me a line and we’ll see about hooking you up.

Aside from that, not a whole lot is going on. Reason Rally is approaching (~136 days from this post) so perhaps we’ll see you there.

The Story of Words

Posted by on October 5, 2011 2 comments

I have an idea. I’m not entirely sure how it’ll play out or if I’ll gain enough motivation to work it, but the idea is still interesting.

I suppose it’s inspired by kinetic typography. The idea is to use words as the environment, like a twisted American McGee style universe. The words would form the environment, but the characters and required interact-able objects would be cell shaded.

I’m not sure my skills are yet up to par with what would be required for this project, but the idea is there. I think Ashley would like it and I’m tempted to ask James to use some of his twisted perspective to write for it. Of course that would also require him to ask Ashley to proof read it, since his current (and only) blog entry is appalling in terms of grammar and spelling.

Forums

Posted by on October 3, 2011 No comments

Quick blurb: Added forums on a trial basis to see how they pan out. Was thinking about having some for a while but didn’t want to have to deal with multiple logins & what not. So, I used one of the WordPress plugins.

Join us and if I like you enough, I might give you a blog. Yay for centralized access, too.

Also, added Google Analytics. So I can find out where you people come from. I’m thus far surprised at the variety of locations that have visited me (or the blog[s] via Google [Mostly just Ashley's movie reviews]).

That’s all for now.

The skies over Xion

Posted by on September 27, 2011 No comments

Perspective is important when determining whether something you believe is within the realm of your own world.

Vague sentences aside, this post aims to establish something concrete in the abstract mass of ethereal thoughts that exist within my mind. In a sense, I suppose I aim to nail something down in a sea which has no nails nor material to nail anything to. Hence, it may be rant-y, confusing, and/or presumptuous.

Baring that in mind, continue if you dare.

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Ions and Revelations

Posted by on September 19, 2011 No comments

I’ve been considering setting up an affiliate account with Amazon and/or Newegg in order to potentially generate some income from this site but then again I’m unsure I would generate enough referrals to actually sell anything. I suppose I could write various small reviews about some of the stuff I buy since I always seem to be getting something new. But that involves reviewing it. Bleh.

Amazon does have a lot of stuff though. Absurdly large amounts of stuff. I could even refer things such as MP3 albums. I’m not sure how much of a commission I could get from doing so, much less how many of my… 2 readers would actually follow the link and purchase.

But now that I said that, them doing so would potentially lead to “click fraud” sorts of issues. Especially since they, well, have hosted blogs on my site.

Speaking of the site, I was planning on redoing it in order to fit affiliate functionality into it better. I suppose I should probably get rid of the Draeblood skin as demon draenei boobies aren’t exactly PG material. And I’d assume that’d be something they would check on. I guess I’m not entirely too certain on that, though.

I had ads once. I used Google AdWords. Nice because they were text links and basically would pull analytical data about the subject on the page then match ads to them. The downside is I often would click the links myself. Which is entirely against the terms of use. I fried myself there by doing that. =/

I recently found another site that would track people you send to shopping sites. It’d essentially follow them all the way to check out–somehow. Then they’d give you a small commission based on if they complete a purchase or not. Gaining insight into the shopping habits of people, I suppose. Again, that requires me to link stuff.

Or I could just leave the site as is. I do kind of want to redo it again but lack the motivation to start. I had drawn up a rough draft of what I thought might look good, but couldn’t really get it to feel “complete.” It felt like it was lacking something.

I had the idea of playing off an idea I had floating around. I keep making scenarios regarding a society by the name of Xion. (Matrix blah blah blah) I would essentially play on that by making the logo similar to an atom with XN in the middle. Then by learning flash skills, make the links to the pages electrons that float around the XN as if it were an ion. Then hovering over would snap them into place and allow you to click. It’s an idea, at least.

Joy of Revision

Posted by on September 12, 2011 2 comments

As we develop technology and ideas, we occasionally go back to review what we’ve done. We make changes and learn a little more in doing so. Without this process, we wouldn’t have patches or content updates to programs. We’d have simple, buggy software.

But we don’t live in that world. We go back. We find mistakes. We learn. We make better. We release new products after we revise what we’ve learned and done.

This is a standard process. This is something we all do.

Read more »

Facebook

Posted by on August 31, 2011 2 comments

xfir Networks is now on Facebook. Yay. (Oh snap, ponies)

I’m offering hosting for blogs. If you’d like to have a blog, shoot me an email with your name, email address, what your blog would be about, and what you’d like as a username. (That determines the URL, like Ashley’s)

I’ve been meaning to update the site code and perhaps get involved in coding projects as well. But my general overabundance of laziness impedes that progress. Plus I need to be inspired.

With that, we conclude the month of August. Stay tuned, I may be posting more often on my blog until the appeal of it wears off and I find something else to distract me.. ooh shiny.