Saturday, March 26, 2011

EURO 2012 Qualifiers: Malta 0-1 Greece (On Top!)

A last gasp score by Torossidis on the second minute of added time gave a very important win and the top spot of Group F to Greece. The Olympiakos F.C. attacking back had a couple of more good chances to score earlier in the game but better late than never! Combined with Croatia’s loss to Georgia, Greece climbed to to the top spot of their Group, one point clear of Croatia, at the midway point of the qualifying round.

The next game is a Greece home against Malta again on June 4th.

UEFA.com: Greece back on top thanks to Torossidis

GOAL.com: Malta 0 – 1 Greece: Last-Gasp Torosidis Saves Blue-White From Embarrassing Draw

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Tech Etymology: Animated GIF - The Atlantic

Tech Etymology: Animated GIF - The Atlantic

I knew it! I was right!! GIF is pronounced with the soft 'g'.

From the article:

In the '80s, before the Internet was commonplace, CompuServe released a graphics display bulletincalled CompuShow. In version 8.33 (fQ&A.DOC), the FAQ section on GIFs begins: "The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), pronounced 'JIF,' was designed by CompuServe and the official specification released in June of 1987." In their very own document, the GIF's creators indicate their preference for the soft-j.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Mass Effect 2

Very cool game! A space adventure with dark overtones and seemingly endless possibilities. And it is not a multi-player game either! I managed to finish it after 45 hrs.37min of gameplay over a span of 38 days. My John Shepard character survived the final escape jump from the Collectors station to the waiting Normandy. Good thing because I can use the same character in Mass Effect 3.

I played the game as a Sentinel which is supposed to be challenging, at least according to the IGN walkthrough which mentioned:

Because of their unique play-style, Sentinels should be left to those who have a lot of experience in the Mass Effect universe. Lacking any real ability to use firearms, Sentinels will need to depend on their dueling skillset, which includes both biotic and tech-based abilities. Good luck! Playing as a Sentinel isn't easy.

I did not really find that particular character very difficult in the normal (default) level of difficulty and I had no past experience with Mass Effect. It took me a while to figure out the ‘biotic’ powers but I could still fight. I finished the game as a level 27 character.

During the game:

  • I ‘romanced’ Tali.
  • Miranda died in action. She disliked me since I took the side of another female by the name Jack!
  • The female Jack is pissed off at me because I dumped her for Tali!
  • Morality-wise I was mostly a paragon. No surprise there.
  • Best weapon: The Collectors’ heavy weapon.
  • I saved the galaxy!

MASS_EFFECT_4MAss Effect 2_3

MASS eFFECT 2_2MassEffect2_1

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

First Blizzard of 2011

Started snowing early AM on Jan. 12 and did not stop until 8 PM the same day. It dumped over 15 inches (38 cm) of snow on top of the frozen snow from the December blizzard. Shoveling took about 8 hours (4 intervals of 2 hours each.) The first one was the difficult one but had heavy hardware for help. The other 3 were maintenance!!

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The early AM snowfall was very dense and blanketed everything very quickly with wet and heavy snow. By late afternoon I run out of places to dump it.

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Rotten Winter Wonderland…

Monday, December 27, 2010

Blizzard of 2010

The snow started falling around noon on 12/26 and by 8 AM on 12/27 they estimated that there were about 18 inches (46 cm) on the ground. The intense snowfall (at times it was dumping 1 inch/hour) was accompanied by high winds which were creating large snowdrifts and whiteout conditions.  The snow accumulation around my house was higher than 0.5 m at a lot of areas including the driveway.

The snowfall stopped around noon on on the 27th but the wind is still strong. Good thing my neighbors have snow-blowers which helped a lot when I went out to clear my driveway.

Currently the temperature is 17 degrees F (about –8 C) and with the wind it feels like it is –2 F (-19 C.) It is cold!

At least we expect a bit of decent weather for the next few days so quite a bit of the snow should melt.

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Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas 2010: Reading, MA

 

Merry Christmas!

XMAS 2010 003

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Mass Effect 3

 

Mass Effect 3 was officially announced today and it seems that Commander Shepard will be back sometime around 'Holiday 2011'. I am not a huge fan of the ME series (the story line moves forward a bit slowly) but the trailer looks awesome!