Thinkpadius's blog

Computer technology has reshaped our lives, including how we learn. But have computer games been as equally transformative? The answer is a simple no, but educational gaming is on the rise and there is great potential in computer games to encourage social change, increase our knowledge and solve national and international problems. I want that to happen in our schools so that childhood education becomes a game.

Digital Media prices are on the rise. The progress that new technology has made in content delivery and price is being rolled back in part by a clever business model learned from facebook; limited competition; and subversion by the old media industry. We're going to lose the transformative power of the internet to protect the consumer.

Keeping a game in its original language solves lip-sync technical issues, adds perceived depth and immersion, is nice to listen to and saves us from horrible English versions of foreign accents.

We've been playing games made by developers from many parts of the world for a while now. Almost all of them make it to the English-speaking world with new voice acting. But is that necessary or worth it for the games we play? AAA titles that get translated with the help of well known actors are great. There's obviously added value there; However, I believe that *most* of them would be better with the original voice acting.

If you can find the MSI x340 for under $500 you should buy it. The machine is light, slim, and has a good user interface. The 13" screen is the right size for a portable work or entertainment computer. The x340 is what netbooks should have been; the keyboard/trackpad is optimal for real work, the battery will last long enough to watch two movies, and the screen size isn't a joke.

This is a guide to picking parts and building yourself an HTPC that will manage your entire entertainment experience and function as your household storage hub and file server. You won't be spending very much money on this Home Theater PC unless you want some extra bells and whistles, but once you get the basic idea of the functionality of the machine, you can tweak it to your desire. I've picked hardware that allows for expansion - you can add more RAM and Hard Drive space, but the form factor is still reasonably sized.