Oops, too many ideas!

I've got so many cool things I can write about . . . but which one?

January 7th, 2021

I've been away a while. After making that Halloween game prototype, I focused all my efforts on schoolwork and studying, right up until December 12th, the last day of this semester.
However, that's not the main reason I haven't written much up to this point. You're probably expecting some kind of horror story or sob adventure about how hard it is studying for a Physics degree or whatever.
This video by ScarnonCunce explains fairly well why I was gone for so long.

However, I've been thinking of writing an article for at least several days. There's an issue, though.

There's too many good ideas!

Damn, where do I start? I started playing one game, or brewing one idea in my head, and was like "Hey, I should write about this on my website!", and I made a mental note of it and never came back to it until I had another idea, because I can crank these things out every 5 minutes without wanting to. People often wander if an online content creator is "Running out of ideas" if they focus on one topic too long. I can't speak for them because I have the opposite issue; I don't know which idea to write about first! I have a huge amount of topics I would like to cover, but I like them all so much I'm not sure which order to tackle them in. Then, just when I might get closer to deciding, I have another great idea that I just throw into the pot instead of running with.
Well, I think I've had one more good idea that caused an integer overflow of them in my brain, and here I am, writing an article summarising what's been on my mind for potential articles lately instead of just picking one.
Expect more individual articles on these topics later, and expect some articles not even described here, but for now, I hope you enjoy a snapshot of some of what's to come.

Videogames

I've played quite a few videogames over the holidays. I've played some by myself, I've played some with some friends, I've played some classics, I've played some new games, I've played some indie games, I've played some bigger games, and I've played everything in between. They're all good games that I've played up to this point, and I would like to write an article on all of them, but I can only write an article on one of them first. Damn, which one?

Planet X3 is a neat little DOS game that is surprisingly entertaining and strategic despite the technical limitations, and I really enjoy playing it and coming up with new strategies to get through the various levels.
Payday 2 is a multiplayer coop FPS about robbing banks and committing crimes with your buddies. It's action-packed, it's over the top, and it's currently one of my favorite multiplayer games.
Arma: Cold War Assault (people older and more cultured than me might recognize it by it's former name of Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis) is a realistic military simulation game from the early 2000's. I played some of it a few years back because I didn't have a powerful computer or a huge Steam library at the time, but I was prompted to revisit it after playing some Arma 3 with a few friends of mine and googling how to get it working on Linux, only to discover they made a full Linux port, and the community for it is alive and well.
Uplink is a game about hollywood-style early-2000's flashy fictional computer hacking. You can rob banks, steal or destroy important research data, destroy vital company mainframes, frame other people for your crimes, erase the evidence, and participate in a plot involving the production of a computer virus so dangerous that it could destroy the whole internet.
This game is so good, I'm not just going to write one review about it. I might even write a review, and then a follow up detailing my misadventures as the infamous computer hacker known as 4Chan.
HROT is an indie game reminiscant of retro FPSes. A free demo for it released on Steam not too long ago, and the first few levels will release for purhcase soon too. It's Quake, except it takes place in 1986 Czechoslovakia. It's got the brown color palette, the mysterious and monstrous enemies, and even the oppressive atmosphere. It even has the Ogre from Quake with his fat burly figure, his grenade launcher, and his chainsaw. However, here, the atmosphere and elements of Quake are used to portray soviet communist oppression and the atmosphere thereof, rather than an vague fantasy setting with sparse lore, so I'm really excited for it. That, and the game does have it's own unique features and options, such as unique weapons and the strange setting and enemies inspired by eastern folklore and culture.
I've been playing some Brutal Doom lately. If you don't know, it's a mod for Doom that adds new weapons, new monster behaviors, new gore, new sound effects, new functions and abilities and attacks and stuff, etc. It's great.
I've also been playing Hideous Destructor, too. It's a mod for Doom that makes it way more like a milsim game like Arma, with ironsights, viewbob, slower player move speed, a squishier player and a more complex health system, etc.

Linux, retro software, UNIX software, minimalist software, and free software, as well as software freedom and digital rights and all that jazz

I'll keep politics off this site in general, especially the stuff specific to my views on US politics. However, I won't be silent on things that really matter to me a lot. One thing that I wish I could express to more people is my concern about software freedom and how we're being manipulated by big tech companies. Things like basic software freedom, data privacy, how social media warps your perception of the world and people around you by design, etc, etc. Further more, I don't just want to go over the bad in the world, I want to go over how you can steer over to the good if you want to make a change in your life instead of just dwelling in the darkness. I want to go over not just how I use Linux or other free and open source software, but why I do, and why I'll even give up some conveniences in order to do so while still being able to get work done and enjoy myself too. I want to go over why I don't have a Facebook or Twitter account and why I don't intend to make either one (or, if I do, I'll do so with very different intentions or usage habits of the average, standard user). Furthermore, I'll go over why I'm OK with some social media platforms or websites or communities, and why I feel they abstain from the slimy gross stuff out there enough that I'll actually touch them with a ten foot pole (for example, Neocities). I'm interested in writing about not just digital censorship or privacy, but the very subtleties of how these big tech companies design things to steer your mind one way or the other, and how you can learn to recognize how these big corporations present strings of information to you in an attempt to influence your thinking. While I don't expect you to live in a wooden shack in the woods after reading what I write on these subjects, and while I admit I'm not perfect at this stuff myself, I hope I can prove useful to someone trying to understand how technology can be a drain or a negative influence on one's life, or how technology can get in the way of ones freedoms, as well as how to avoid that scenario.
As cool as freedom is, though, this technology interest isn't just a freedom-fest interest of mine. I'm also interested in using various strange or old pieces of technology in day to day life and documenting the process, results, advantages, and disadvantages, or simply what it's like. Can I browse the internet on an old Windows 95 laptop with a Pentium 1? What about programming, or writing articles for this site? What is it like trying to use an old netbook from 2010 as a day to day computer for various purposes? Can one experience the thrills and freedoms of PC gaming on such a machine? What about either of the same sort of question, but with a single board ARM computer such as the Raspberry Pi? What is it like using Linux as an OS for basic daily usage without a GUI or window manager/desktop environment? Is it too late to experience the thrills of IRC chatting a la the 90's and 2000's in current year? What about accessing a BBS system from a modern computer? Is there a unique point to either of these options compared to more modern standards like web forums and Discord?
I've already tried some of these, and I'm ready to collect information and screenshots on such endeavors for publishing in an article, while others I have yet to try. Either way, between how cool the Lynx web browser looks in a Linux terminal and how much said Linux terminal respects my freedom and autonomy as a computer user in comparison to MacOS and Windows, I'll likely never run out of stuff to talk about on the subject of technology, and there'll probably be something in there for everyone.

More?

I'm into programming some personal projects. I'm playing around with Raylib and Enet for C. One's a game library, and the other is a networking library. I might make a little multiplayer game or something, just to stretch my programming muscles.
I have a life outside of computers, too. I'm studying Physics in college. I research stuff sometimes, I'm learning to perform experiments. I might even pick up a research internship. I might write more about myself and turn a section of this website into more of a professional area to express my findings or to present a resume to future employers. Don't worry about the games or reviews or more casual stuff, though. I'll find a way that those can stay.
I'm also interested in composing my own music. I already made and shared a simple and short piece for my halloween game. I definitely want to do more to learn that stuff better, though. I already know how to read, write, and play music on my violin, but I want to learn more about the basics of Music Theory, as well as how to set up the hardware and software I need to compose a wide variety of song genres on Linux.
For now, I'll just get cracking on more articles. Until then, farewell.