My New Domain Name

After about a year of using the name James as my online alias in chat-rooms, I have realized that it works much better than my Hebrew name. I never liked my previous name, but I could never figure out what to replace it with.

Now, James happened by chance. Any random name would do, and it was simple and accessible, and just uncommon enough in the chat.

I use their domain services, which are working fine.

So, with a more western name in tow, I have moved to this new domain!   JamesKoss.com

All previous links should still work. Everything should work the same, really. And all pages should redirect to the new domain. Eventually, the old domain will die-off, so make sure you bookmark the new domain, instead!

FIX: Google Chrome Stops Rendering Pages

By chance, I have discovered a quick-fix to the notorious Chrome (Web Browser) issue with some computers, where it simply stops rendering pages, and usually displays blank/white backgrounds without any visible content.

Techno Art!

The Fix:

Simply press F12 to open the DevTools menu. This appears to refresh the browser's renderer, and thus restores everything to right. No restart necessary or any crashes happening.

Anyways, it works well for me, so I hope others can enjoy the benefit! Comment and share, if this works for you, too!

Stop Copying WoW!

 It sickens me, the way developers copy WoW.

I like scripted effects.
I just don't like how they're being used.

The golden text in titles. The cartoonish looking characters that feel as if somebody just copy-pasted the same colors into their own models from WoW. To aim for the same style of items in-game with similar sets of gear. Making a game world without much sense of history or originality. Looking like WoW and giving off the same feel it has (or had, as WoW is already pretty aged, now.)

Seriously, people. Having another game as a reference, and even as a muse, is a great thing. But, simply copying what you like from another game is crap! And the results are crap, too!

I find this amusing... Image from IHateMMORPGs.com

Without a unique and well-thought of world and an original style of art, a game can not call itself a production. Without those, it would merely be a sort of practice in game making, or a bad mod, at most.

MMORPG #4 Moods

Eventually, I arrived at the idea of sorting out gameplay by the player's mood. Moods can change and shift, and so there is not doubt that any gameplay system that cares for the players' moods, will take care to make available different styles of playing without much bother. Especially, without the need to change your character entirely or make a new one!

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Obviously, this line of thought is very limited. Never the less, I feel it is something to remember and take notice about. A game that expects you to behave in a very specific way the entire time is a game that lacks depth. While people can obviously tolerate that, it seems that such tolerance is only temporary!

MMORPG #3 Life Cycles

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For a fantasy themed game, it seems quite sensible to use Death as a living realm in itself. It does sound contradictory, though. In a more sensible game, Death could be ignored and the logic may be sorted with life cycles, instead. That is, that Life cycles and recycles, and while the soul (player) remains the same, the body (character) changes. It may be reborn, shape shift or even die and restore as a new individual completely.

I feel that most games would rather ignore this topic and issue. Simply, make the character restore back to life with a penalty, or even die completely only to remake an all too similar character once more.

I do find the idea of never dying and only losing consciousness, to be reawakened, a comfortable and kind method of practice. It's better to remove Death from the equation if it's going to be treated like a bother instead of an opportunity! :-D

MMORPG #2

Naturally, I was inclined to continue exploring these ideas, further.

An attempt at moving a step forward...
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As you may or may not see, attacking this issue from different angles is required. Natural games, such as sports or board games, have a natural flow to them - due to their instancy, while online computer games require a timing mechanism.

The timing depends on the feeling aimed at by the developers. A game can be fast-paced low-latency action, or it can be a slow-paced latency-tolerant turn-based adventure. It can be a bunch of other things, as well. :-)

I decided to conclude these ideas in a single quick and short diagram:

Just think about it. Then, do it!
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MMORPG #1

Recently, I've been giving shape to some ideas that I had regarding computer games. This is specifically about the hot-topic genre of online role-playing, or in another word, MMORPGs.

I often use Paint to quickly draw my ideas. I feel that text is generally inadequate to really show someone else what I am thinking about. Colorful boxes and lines on the other hand, with titles, sure do seem more fun! When I tried to collaborate on an idea with a friend, and even though she did not join up eventually, a website caught my attention.

Creately.com

Here is my first flowchart. It starts rather big. Then, I move onto smaller and more precise flowcharts. I should really call it a Block Diagram.

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Design Update #2

Today, celebrating our reaching beyond a thousand (1,000) viewers to my blog, I have decided to update - change really - its' design. Hooray! :)

The result is in front of you. I hope no bugs occur. I used a simple Blogger template, and spent the day editing and tweaking; aiming for something clean, clear, simple & pretty. I did my best on the title. Photoshoppin' is hard! Even if I use GIMP2.0. :P

Cheers!~

A Five Step Politician

A representative of the public, also known as a politician, is a person who requires a certain degree of experience and knowledge in the practice of sympathy.

“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.” - John Maxwell

Interests.
A contending or chosen social representative must never have any conflicting interests. There must be no profit or benefit to him or anyone in his personal circle. This requires all financial information and historical records to be publicly accessible.

Education.
A certain curriculum is expected of the politician. It is not enough to have general knowledge. The most critical contemporary topics must be well researched. In addition, topics of social conduct and historical failures and successes must be versed. A politician not only represents his public, but they also lead their public.

Experience.
Only through experiencing the hard facts of life, and learning how to cope with them realistically, can a representative be expected to be wise about their choices for the public. Each representative must pass a test of courage, wherein they will live for a month in the most poverty stricken conditions their public suffers voluntarily.

Profession.
Each representative has their own specialty. The social issues are always diverse, and for that there must be enough professional politicians to adequately solve those technical problems that arise. It is only expected that a political office that represents the natural environment, which puts emphasis on the welfare of the local animals and plants, should be led and populated by those with specific experience and knowledge.

Liability.
The life and well-being of the public is not a matter of play. If a selected representative is shown to be a failure, even though all requirements have been accounted for, then they must be replaced; for even a great expert can make great mistakes. The public must not let a politician have the interest of protecting their own status. Instead, those who already have an interest to replace the elected person - the contenders, must take responsibility over mistakes, and be elected whenever they identify a problem and offer a solution that the former politician could not handle.

The Myth of Commonality & Public Interest

Today, I would like to discuss with you a myth that is the cause of war on our public freedom. This is the idea that the public has a common interest, at all.

Barack Hussein Obama II

I will repeat. The public never had, and never will have, a common interest. There for, no person or group of people will ever be able to represent the public under any commonality.

Just as a group of wealthy executives, who spend their days in offices, are unable to represent poverty stricken communities; so are the poverty stricken community of any town or neighborhood, unable to represent those of wealth and status.

The analogy that best exemplifies this case, is the one where an engineer is replaced by ten popular citizens. Without the hard gained skills and knowledge necessary to bring about results, those ten cannot achieve what the individual engineer achieves every day.

George W. Bush

Social representatives are professionals. They are not, on the other hand, magicians. Those who claim to answer the needs of all are liars. Those who claim to improve on the issues at hand, without first proving that no personal interest will conflict with these issues, are frauds and cheats.

Modern-day politicians have no choice, but to be frauds. Finance remains their sole interest, and as long there is any interest in finance and power for a politician, then there is no hope for freedom.

Ralph Nader

Reversely, if the only interest of the social representatives is freedom, then there is no doubt that the result will be public freedom.

A politician that is both aware of, and learned in, the lives of all people, will without a doubt be obliged to keep freedom above all. It is only an unlearned and unaware politician that brings forth the demise and destruction we see raging at the beginning of the third millennium A.D.

Queen of England
Elizabeth II

On both accounts must a politician be tested and proven, and must they be created and shaped. How could we expect a politician to do our bidding, when they are unaware of the misery of people during their work? It is as if a blind architect was chosen to build our cities. How could we expect a politician to succeed in doing the right thing, when they are unlearned in the things most important to us? They are learned only in conquest and power. It is as if we were to expect an infantry soldier to take upon himself the role of a strategist. Indeed, it leads to bloodshed and misery.

Tomorrow, I will post on my first attempt at describing the requirements we must all bid necessary, for a social representative to fulfill, before gaining the creed of office. I am certain that all true leaders and social activist will take much interest in having such a practice activated, for the benefit of all.

First Earth: Uncompromising Ecological Architecture (2009)

Click here to watch the
Documentary Film on Youtube!

Here is a little bit of an extra to add to your awareness. This documentary film shows footage from different countries around the globe, while discussing and reviewing the current state of mud houses.

MUD HOUSES! That's awesome.

No doubt, the film goes through the different techniques and shows examples, all the while interviewing those people and communities involved in the action. The examples are amazing. Yemen, England, Canada, Israel, Ghana, New Mexico, Thailand, and many more. Highly recommended.

Yours truly. Hippie activist 2013. :=D

Amazonian Adventures #2

Today, I found out that my eBooks were hoarding serious technical bugs. >< Obviously, something that my audience would feel to be amateurish. Immediately, I turned and fixed those bugs!

Complaint #1
Amazon's file conversion system blows. I use the most simple and technically-correct Word 2010 documents, and still Amazon insist on bugging up my eBooks. Bad spaces - Wrong bookmarks - Inability to handle Unicode. *sigh*

Love trolls.

Complaint #2
Every time an author updates their book's files, it can take plenty of time for Amazon to update. In the meanwhile, if a mistake was made, there is no option to cancel submission - and upload a new file. No, I must wait these twenty-four (24) hours or more, until I can upload my books again, and then only a day later will those updates be available. Better be careful with that submission button.

Update: Flame On!

It

Burns!

This is an update to my previous Olive Oil Lamp post. On your left you will see a simple photograph (webcam) of me holding one of my DIY olive oil glass jar lamps. :=D Daddy is so proud!

Basically, I use a rather wide thick-glass jar, cut some white cotton sock for a wick, and bend some steel wire to hold that wick in place above the oil. Beautiful. Utsukushii. I have this smaller one for my room - a lovely hand warmer and atmosphere setter, and another bigger one for my outdoors camp. The lid is used to kill the flame, while it also keeps the smoke inside as it dies.

Categories For Blog Posts

After considering the organisational methods of my blog, and seeing that navigating around this bundle of text may not be so easy, I have decided to categorize posts.

This means that every post will be tagged according to its' categories. This is rather flexible, and to my own division, so it is not expected to be purely logical. I have added a cute Tag Cloud on the <<-- left for your enjoyment. ;-)

This is the entire list of categories as of today:
review, opinion, thoughts, reflections, update, memoir, book, ebook, publish, zen, wilderness, lifestyle, inspiration, motivation, poetry, writing, author, blog, forum, media, help, action, fantasy, epic, drama, novel, series, anime, manga, comic, tv, life, advice, how to, howto, health, diet, nutrition, tech, technical, game, garden, gardening, plants, trees, herbs, diy, do it yourself, guide, experiment, finance, money, amazon, programming, coding.

TortoiseSVN - Software Version Control

Lovely interface & functionality.

In relation to the flash game project I'm working on (as mentioned in a previous post), I feel that TortoiseSVN deserves some credit.

TortoiseSVN is an interface that connects and sits in the OS's shell (Windows/Linux/Mac), and allows the user to manage the source code and files of a software project. It features useful functions, such as sharing the same files online with other team members. Also, it offers a revisioning system, that makes sure all files have rollbacks. In other words, every change and update is managed and stored automatically for you.

It runs quickly and neatly. Some websites offer hosting services that work with the SVN infrastructure for free or for a cheap price, thus completing the requirements of a manageable project environment for a team.

Gaming A Make

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Fighting monsters in abandoned halls. 
The Dungeon Blitz Website

Getting inspiration from the small project of Dungeon Blitz, both I and a good friend decided to make an old dream come true - and make an Online Multiplayer Roleplay Action Game (OMRAG? lol).

Making a simple Flash scroller with cartoon graphics and animations seems like the most reasonable choice for a team of two. We are both without funding, but we try to make up for that with (part time jobs) enthusiasm and dedication! He is more the artist type, and I am definitely a programmer and technical person. While we are both doing Flash tutorials, I am attempting to put into action a simple server and client.

There seems to be a variety of options to choose from for such a project these days; something that makes this easier and quicker. Flash Professional has become a powerful tool, and I only need to tweak a sample server, and insert the client code into my own project. I intend to have a basic version to show this upcoming week, and you can definitely expect to see it here. ;-)