Funny title comming soon.

It's been a little while since the last post. Things have been rolling along. I got some updates made to the main page. I got a couple more Asimov books read in the "Foundation" series. Right now I'm on the last of the 3 books that were part of foundation, but by different authors after his death. They are all great books but I'm excited to get back into the books that Asimov wrote.

I'm getting pretty close to getting a new computer. It's not going to be anything super crazy, but it will be quite an improvement over my old computer. This poor thing has 512 meg ram. This computer is long overdue for a replacement. I can't wait to get back to pc gaming. I usually play quite a bit of pc games but I haven't been playing many lately just because I don't really have the specs to play many of the newer games. Eve online has been calling me back, I can't wait to get back out into the asteroid belts and start mixing it up. A lot has changed since I left, you can mine planets now apparently and you can finally get out of your ship and walk around. I had no idea my character even had a torso. I kinda liked the idea of being a floating head zooming around space, hehe. I plan on mining until I can't take anymore so I can scrounge up some money then it will be back into my stealth bomber. I like scouting around doing recon and picking off the odd soft target. I hope to talk a couple friends into rejoining so we can set up our WW2 U-Boat tactics again. The plan was to get a few cloaked stealth bombers and fly deep into enemy space. Then we'd look for easy targets and cause some havoc. It's not the greatest way to lay down damage but it's great fun. Not many people use stealth ships so it's always fun to shock some miner, half asleep, by popping in out of nowhere with rockets already on the way. It also diverts quite a few ships to come watch over them and look around for you. I miss the openness of Eve. It has that "Wild West" feel I like in a MMO. It has an unscripted, new feel. For me Eve has that feeling that you get from a brand new MMO. There is no "Best" way to do anything. People are forging their own paths, not following guides or going with the established ways of doing things. All the games philosophies help to support this feeling. From the deep combat system that ensures that there is no one setup to dominate combat, to the player driven events and economy. One of the things I love about Eve is that it lets the players loose and lets them do as they please. If you want to set up a fake bank and scam people out of money they won't stop you. The makers won't punish you in any way. If you came up with a a way to make money, so be it, it's your business how you make it. It really adds to the wild west/outlaw feel. It's a tough game that reflects both the harsh coldness of space and the pioneering spirit. It's a real "buyer beware" environment, but they do a great job of keeping it fair and fun. So if you are on Eve hit me up (Kisarazu), I'll be looking for a new corp. I've also been playing some other games while I wait on my new pc. Transformice is a great free online game for killing some time. It's hilarious. I'd sum it up but the video is perfect. It reminds me of the design philosophy of the tabletop game "Paranoia".

In other random news, they brought back Futurama. Everyone must watch now so they don't get canceled again. I'm really glad they brought it back, it was one of my favorite shows. I was a little worried about the new shows, but they are great. I also got glasses, I was tired of contacts and needed some new backup glasses anyway if I do decide to get more contacts. Oh, and I updated my resume and made it all 8 bit. I think it turned out really well (its the pdf on the main page).

Tron ARG news

It looks like the Tron ARG is still going. I got a really cool "neutral state bit" in the mail recently. It's that small bit in Tron that follows Flynn around and says "yes" or "no". It was very exciting, I was really hoping that the ARG wasn't over. We also got a new lead to a website with a countdown timer. It had been a little while since there had been any new leads. It also looks like there will be something going on in Salt Lake. I should know more in a couple days (when the countdown timer goes off) but it lists Salt Lake in a list of cities. I'll try and get some pics up of the bit soon. Other than that I got the prototype of the AR card project up online at my site (www.rosssewell.com). I also prototyped a user interface for a flash project but I'm not sure if I'll put that online or not. My cousin came down and we played through "Bubble Bobble Plus" for the Wii. We have the original "Bubble Bobble" for the NES memorized so it was a lot of fun to play some new challenging levels/modes. I've been pretty swamped lately with different things but it looks like I'll have some more time to work on the ARG. Oh and some other great news, it looks like a friend of mine will be moving to Salt Lake. We've been friends since before I can remember so I'm really looking forward to that.

Working on AR for ARG. I think the "reality" groups are someday going to spell out Argonaut.

Got back from vacation recently. Had a good Christmas/New Years. I went back to Kansas for awhile to see family. It was nice to see everyone for awhile. My brother and I played a lot of Magic and Final Fantasy Tactics (psp). I got a really interesting book about augmented reality (AR) that I just started. I'll talk about it more once I dig into it. I finished "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. I'd reccomend it. It was the first book of his I had read. He has a nice writing style, simple but not oversimplified. It works well for the story. I also got Little Big Planet for the psp. Once I finish the story mode I'll start uploading some levels. I got a webcam, so pretty soon I will start working on some AR elements for the ARG. I already have some software so it shouldn't take long.

Inflatable toast bed invented, dream I didn't know I had comes true.

Seriously...I need one.

I'm excited. It looks like we may have a sequel coming for the DS game "Contact". Contact is one of my top 10 favorite games. It isn't quite clear yet if it will be a sequel or not, but the contact designer is working on a new DS game so eitherway it should be good. In other good news "Kids in the Hall" will be doing a miniseries.

I've been researching augmented reality. I've been looking into it for the ARG I'm working on. It has a lot of potential and I'm really looking forward into intigrating it into a game. It has a lot of interesting aspects, one thing I'm looking at now is using some of the free software available using webcams to create a 3d image on a monitor over a card. It's pretty simple, the webcam recognizes high contrast images and tracks them. On the monitor you can call a image up over the card. "Eye of Judgement" for the PS3 does similar things. I'm looking to really push into some new areas with augmented reality. The images displayed over cards is just a small aspect of what is possible.

Well I got the watercolor study done. I need to punch up the colors and I think I'm going to add hand done pixel art instead of using a filter but it came out ok. My scanner blows, it really washes out the detail and color, but I'll mess with it more on the finished work. Here's a couple of different versions of the study.

I spend way to much time creating "funny" titles

Just finished a series called Gurren Lagann (available to watch on Hulu). I really enjoyed it. It seems like it has been awhile since I have really just enjoyed something. It seems like I'm always over analyzing and trying to learn or get something out of everything. It is a bit difficult to put into words. Point is, I guess, that I'm always thinking. Thinking of how I would do things or worrying that characters or events won't turn out how I want. It's more than that, but back to the point. There was just something about Gurren Lagann. It was great, start to finish. Enjoyable in every aspect. That doesn't mean that there weren't interesting things to think about and reflect on. It wasn't just mindless fun, it was just presented in a way that kept me from ruining the fun. So thanks to the Gurren Lagann staff for creating something that I needed right now.

I finished Marvel-Civil War. Towards the end it seemed like work trying to keep reading. I think part of it was that it was a bit heavy handed for my liking. It also seemed to hit a single note for way to long. I enjoyed most of it though. I think I was just trying to get through it too fast, so I didn't take time to enjoy it. I should have waited until I was in a better mood to read it, instead of forcing my way through. I think that part of the reason I was so eager to continue is that I have so much to catch up on. The world is just so massive, it can be daunting to jump in and read it at a normal pace. It's a bit like Dr. Who, there is just so much content out there, where do you start and how much time do you put into trying to learn everything? Looking at this text kind of gives the impression that I didn't like Civil War. I did enjoy it, it's flaws are few and mostly exaggerated by my overcritical brain. It was a fun read and I'm glad I gave American comics a fair shot. As I explained earlier as far as American comics go, I never really got into them much. I read some Spawn and X-Men etc. but never really gave them a fair shake....where does "fair shake" come from anyway, what a weird phrase. Anyway I'm looking forward to catching up more on Marvel. I'm thinking of following Iron Man, Wolverine, and whatever multiple man is part of, I just forgot what team he is on...anyway it was really well drawn, oh and Deadpool is always fun.

On that same note I started reading "The Maxx". Another series I always meant to get around to. It shouldn't take to long to finish. It only ran to like 35 so I'm halfway done. More on the pointy fingered purple one after I finish.

I've started a new short story that will have new artwork. I have the rough done of the story. I plan on breaking out the old water colors tonight for some studies. I'm exited about the artwork but I need to do a study to see if it will turn out ok. It will be something that I have never seen/tried before. I'm going to attempt to do scenes in water color and then add in some 8-bit art on top of it. It will hopefully make an interesting look, like I said I've never seen it before. I just hope it will mesh. Maybe that's why I haven't seen it before. Anyway that's what studies are for. Should have a decent idea of whether it will work or not tonight.

Ahab-1 Whale-0....or Grape Ape would be pleased

Short post today. To all of you that know me personally, you know of my maddening quest...well one of my insane quests anyway. The quest to find Grape Ice cream. Now my long and weary odyssey is over. http://www.farrsicecream.com/ makes a lime rickey ice cream. It is half grape and half lime. It isn't really mixed up, it is separated like in Neapolitan (at least it wasn't mixed in the one I got). I've been looking for grape ice cream since the late 80's. I've looked everywhere. I could find all kinds of other crap, honey, ginger, mango, you name it, but never grape. I even hassled a Baskin Robins guy that was working at a bridal show. He had no explanation and seemed tired of my relentless questioning. I told him that it would have to sell better than red bean ice cream...It's a basic flavor. I can get an apple that tastes like a grape. http://www.grapplefruits.com/. He didn't seem interested in my plight. Chunk even mentions grape ice cream in "Goonies". Anyway, they get an email from me stating that they are my personal heroes.

Oh yea, I was working at my temp job today and we had some down time. One of my co-workers was messing around on the computer and asked me how to open a new tab in the browser. I told her ALT+F4. She actually hit it, it made my day. It took me back to sitting in Battlenet and people asking how to get rid of lag. I'd say alt f4 and half the names would drop off the channel. It sure helped my lag.

Other than that I've been working on some Shadowrun stuff and kicking around a few ideas. The ARG is still rolling along and I plan to get a good chunk of work done this week.

I think I have created the most paranoid Shadowrun character ever.

Well I've been pretty swamped lately. I got a temp job working in a mail room. It's ok but I'm lifting boxes around all day so when I get home I'm a bit tired. Haven't had the time I'd like to work on projects. I did get a bit more done on the ARG. It's coming along pretty well but with only two people working on it I think it will take a while. I really like working on projects that take some effort. It's nice to have a project that lasts awhile. You can put a lot of effort into it and get something great out of it. I have also been working on a Shadowrun mission. Shadowrun is a tabletop rpg that I've played for probably over 6 years off and on. I haven't played recently but I am throwing together a mission for my players. Hopefully I can get everyone together for Christmas and play. Once I run the mission I might add it to the site. It should be pretty epic. I'm planning it to be good enough to be a fitting "last sendoff" in case we don't get to play anymore. The group is my brother (who lives in Topeka), my cousin (in Vegas), and my friend (in Pittsburgh Kansas) and I GM. So it can be pretty hard to get us all together. All this planning for the new mission has made me want to play Shadowrun again. I end up as GM most of the time whenever I do a tabletop. I miss playing, so if there is a game in Salt Lake shoot me a message. I just finished up one of my characters. I think it would be a fun character to play and want to test it out. I might post it up here soon. I want to finish fleshing out some of the contacts and back story.

I've also been reading Marvel Civil War. I know I'm quite a bit behind, I think it finished in 07, but I never really got into American comics. I followed a few here and there and keep up with most of the movies but for whatever reason never really got into it much. I'm enjoying the Civil War series though. I should go back and read House of M. I started it but never finished. I think I'm about half way through Civil War so once I finish it I think I will go back and finish House of M. If your looking for something fun for Halloween I'd say go read Marvel Zombies. It was a fun read.

I still need to finish Scribblenauts and put up a review. I was pretty close to finishing it, just need to sit down and beat a few more levels. There are so many good games comming up, I need to finish it before Little Big Planet comes out for PSP and I spend all my time making levels. I finished maxing out my Final Fantasy Tactics PSP save. I've got 5 chr all the way mastered so I'm ready to play my brother at Christmas. We have been waiting to square off since the original PS1 release. We would argue all the time who would win in a VS match. Now we can finally see, I've been looking forward to it for a long time.