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*Promises to blog more

Saturday, February 16th, 2013 at 2:16 am

11 days since my last post. I think that’s the longest I haven’t blogged…ever in the last 3 years.
Don’t really have a “good” excuse. I generally blog every 3-5 days. Last blog was on the 5th and on Sunday, the 9th, it was probably around when I’d usually blog. BUT I started playing Candy Crush Saga, a Facebook game. And sh!t got real (competitive).

Like Tiny Tower, which I played almost exactly a year ago, I’ve been in a competitive battle with Sophia. I think she was around level…88? I could be wrong. And I was at 1. But I made it my “mission” to beat her. She’s now at 110 and I’m at 115. Averaging 23 levels/day for me. 4 levels/day for her. Seriously, I’m ultra competitive….sometimes. It’s scary and bad – I “ruin the fun” out of the game. Just like I did with FarmVille (created a spreadsheet to optimize and efficiently handle growth). Beat all my friends, and quit.

Same with Tiny Tower – Beat all my friends, and quit.

Same with Candy Crush Saga – Beat all my friends, and quit (though I haven’t quit just yet).

So anyways, in the last 5 full days (120 hours), I’ve probably played about 12 hours a day, every day. That includes time at work (probably 80% of my day), in which I spent most of this week playing this game. It was very bad and I won’t do that next week. I’ll work hard next week, I promise! Have missed deadlines to meet lol…my addictive personality is not a good trait. That’s why I try not to get sucked into these things easily. Once I start, I PWN IT. So it’s best not to start….

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It’s Friday. Long weekend! Have some errands and get togethers tomorrow but Sunday and Monday is pure Photography/Development time!

Alright, time to sleep! Tomorrow’s a busy day.

Posted in All Posts, Daily Randomness, Games, My Life | No Comments »

…in three years…

Monday, January 7th, 2013 at 1:01 am

Today is a special day for me. It’s the 3rd year anniversary since I quit World of Warcraft. Ironically, I was playing casually last month but that whole phase seems to have gone. I’m not sick anymore and back to doing/working on things that “matter”. I wrote a similar post last year and the year before.

What I’ve done in the last year

worldofwarren.com
2012: 164 posts between Jan 7, 2012 and Jan 7, 2013. On average, roughly 13.7 posts/month. As with last year, falling in line with my hope of 150-200 posts.
2011: 187 posts between Jan 7, 2011 and Jan 7, 2012
2010: 308 posts between Jan 26, 2010 and Jan 7, 2011

warrenshea.com
Completed! Even though one year ago, I was saying this was almost done…but I only finished in May 2012. Anyways, finishing this was a great feat and led me to my next project

kotobishoujo.com
45 – retroactive blog posts
55 – pages including statues
3 – other pages (checklist, faq, contact)

Twitter
2012: 594 (totalling 3425 since Jan 10, 2010)
2011: 1486 (totalling 2831 since Jan 10, 2010)
2010: 1345

Improved development skills

  • Improved quite a bit in jQuery, HTML5, CSS3, AJAX this year mostly due to warrenshea.com
  • Improved a lot in PHP due to the Facebook work project I had including learning the JavaScript/PHP SDK, Facebook App Creation, Like Gates, and Facebook and Twitter Share Dialogs
  • Installed/learned WAMP and Media Wiki

Note: Keep in mind that for 95% of these movies/shows/cartoons, I’m not technically just watching them. They’re just ON while I do other stuff, like dev or photography.
Movies

  • Karate Kid [Rewatch]
  • Catch Me If You Can [Rewatch]
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes [Rewatch]
  • The Terminal [Rewatch]
  • The Prestige [Rewatch]
  • Karate Kid (2010) [Rewatch]
  • Tremors [Rewatch]
  • Training Day [Rewatch]
  • Superman Returns [Rewatch]
  • Gattaca [Rewatch]
  • Kick-Ass [Rewatch]
  • Back to the Future [Rewatch]
  • Wall-E [Rewatch]
  • Avengers [Rewatch]
  • Star Trek [Rewatch]
  • Men In Black [Rewatch]
  • The Rise of the Planet of the Apes [Rewatch]
  • Memento [Rewatch]
  • Jurassic Park [Rewatch]
  • The Lost World [Rewatch]
  • Jurassic Park III [Rewatch]
  • Good Will Hunting [Rewatch]
  • Gone in 60 Seconds [Rewatch]
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 [Rewatch]
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze [Rewatch]
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 [Rewatch]
  • TMNT [Rewatch]
  • Turtles Forever [Rewatch]
  • Casino Royale [Rewatch]
  • Quantum of Solace [Rewatch]
  • Skyfall
  • Independence Day [Rewatch]
  • Jurassic Park [Rewatch]
  • Catch Me If You Can [Rewatch]
  • The King’s Speech [Rewatch]
  • Pursuit of Happyness [Rewatch]
  • Star Wars IV: A New Hope [Rewatch]
  • Iron Man [Rewatch]
  • City of God
  • The Butterfly Effect
  • Indie Game The Movie
  • The Goonies
  • The Illusionist
  • The Prestige
  • Anchorman
  • Avengers [Rewatch]
  • Amazing Spider-man
  • Brave
  • Dark Knight Rises
  • Spider-Man [Rewatch]
  • Spider-Man 2 [Rewatch]
  • Spider-Man 3 [Rewatch]
  • Jiro Dream of Sushi
  • Avengers
  • Titanic 3D
  • Titanic [Rewatch]
  • Scott Pilgrim [Rewatch]
  • Battle Royale [Rewatch]
  • Up in the Air
  • The Godfather Part III

    • Show

    • House S1-S7 [Rewatch], S8
    • The Walking Dead S1-S3
    • Gilmore Girls S1-S7
    • Glee S1-S2 [Rewatch], S3
    • Pushing Daisies S1-S2
    • Hell’s Kitchen S9 [Rewatch]
    • Breaking Bad S1-S5 [Rewatch]
    • MasterChef S3 [Rewtach]
    • Dawson’s Creek S1-S6
    • Big Bang Theory S5 [Rewatch]
    • Mistfits S3
    • One Tree Hill S1-S4 [Rewatch]
    • Glee S1-S2 [Rewatch]
    • The Glee Project S1

    Cartoon

    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) S1-S9
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) S1
    • Samurai Pizza Cats E1-E13
    • Spectacular Spider-Man S1-S2 [Rewatch]
    • Batman The Animated Series [Rewatch]
    • Justice League: Doom

    Anime

    • Tekkaman Blade II
    • Tekkaman Blade
    • Steins;Gate
    • X-Men Anime
    • Persona
    • Spirited Away

    Reading

    • The Art of Racing in the Rain [Novel]
    • Ultimate Spider-Man 1-89 [Comic]
    • Amazing Spider-Man 654-700 [Comic]
    • Prince of Tennis Vol. 1-42 [Manga]
    • Hikaru no Go Vol. 1-23 [Manga]
    • Neon Genesis Vol. 13 [Manga]

    Gaming

    • Super Mario Bros. Wii U [Wii U]
    • Contra III: Alien Wars [SNES][Replay]
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time – Normal Mode [SNES][Replay]
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time – Hard Mode [SNES][Replay]
    • Kirby: Return to Dreamland [Wii]
    • New Super Mario Bros [DS]
    • Super Mario 3D Land [3DS]
    • Zelda: A Link to the Past [SNES][Replay]
    • Braid [PS3]
    • Kirby: Return to Dreamland [Wii] [Replay]
    • The New Super Mario Bros 2 [3DS]
    • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword [3DS]
    • World of Warcraft – 80-85 – Annataz
    • World of Warcraft – 80-83 – Aldino
    • World of Warcraft – 80-83 – Sheaman
    • World of Warcraft – 80-82 – Blackcanary
    • World of Warcraft – 80-81 – Sudoku
    • World of Warcraft – 80-81 – Grimlock
    • Tiny Tower – 161 Floors
    • Diablo 3 – Level 43-52 (Monk) – Normal mode, Nightmare done, Hell mode Act 1
    • Diablo 3 – Level 1-20 (Demon Hunter) – Normal mode

    Art
    None

    Photography

    • Kotobishoujo: Scarlet Witch
    • Kotobishoujo: Phoenix
    • Kotobishoujo: Dark Phoenix
    • Kotobishoujo: Batgirl Black Costume
    • Kotobishoujo: Poison Ivy
    • Kotobishoujo: X-23 X-Force
    • Kotobishoujo: Christie Monteiro
    • Kotobishoujo: Catwoman
    • Kotobishoujo: Liara T’soni
    • Kotobishoujo: Supergirl
    • Kotobishoujo: Evil Supergirl
    • Kotobishoujo: Wonder Woman
    • Kotobishoujo: Batgirl Black Costume
    • Kotobishoujo: Supergirl
    • Canon Rebel T3i – new DSLR camera!

    Video

    • Converted 22 VHS Tapes to Digital
    • Converted 12 Camcorder Tapes to Digital

    What I hope to accomplish this year

    worldofwarren.com
    I hope to consistently update my achievements section.
    I also hope to do a few figure reviews. I have a lot of toys that don’t get much spotlight and I’d like to give them some.
    If this blog stays as is – a journal of my life – I plan to leave it as it. If I change the direction of this blog, I would hope to create a Facebook page for this.

    warrenshea.com
    This is done and I haven’t been updating/needed to update it much. At some point, I’ll have to gather any projects worth showing from May 2012 to now and add them to the Porfolio section. Otherwise, I’m pretty content with this.

    kotobishoujo.com
    I purchased the domain for this last year, in Oct 2011 but only started doing stuff with it in May 2012. It’s been about 7 months and while I’ve done a lot, there’s still much to do. My hope is to definitely finish this thing this year. And then I can start with other stuff…

    Blogging
    I’m content with my blogging. It’s not as much as I’d like but I don’t have the content to fill…so it all works out :)

    Reading, Art
    Don’t really care about these two things anymore…

    Gaming
    Here’s my Gaming TO DO list:
    The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time [Replay] – In progress already
    The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
    The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword [Replay]
    Mega Man 1 – 5
    Mega Man Zero
    Super Mario Galaxy
    Super Mario Galaxy 2 (maybe)
    Final Fantasy III (VI)
    If I stick to this list, I should be able to get it down fairly easily.

    Photography
    Learn more about Photography !
    Improve on my macro shots including finishing my Kotobishoujo.com pics and adding some figures to my Figure Review section
    Purchase a 50mm (details pending) lens for everyday shots.

    Improving development skills
    Learn MVC and apply it to warrenshea.com (via backbone.js)
    Improve my OOP.
    ASP.NET MVC?
    Become Microsoft Certified in something? SQL?
    There’s a lot I could put here, but technology is always changing…it’s hard to predict what I’ll want to know in the year.

    How I’ve changed professionally this last year

    It’s been a critical year professionally for me. I’ve been looking at posts from the last 3 years and 2 years ago, I had a crushing experience – not getting the senior developer role despite both applying and feeling qualified for it. Oddly enough, I got the role, unofficially a few months after. And I had that role, title and responsibility, but not the pay for a year+.

    After doing the role but not getting paid for it (for a year~) my work ethic changed. It got worse – I’d come in late, and I’d leave early. In a way, justifying my job and low(er) pay by working less hours, to increase my pay ratio I guess.

    And 1/2 way through last year, I finally got my promotion + salary increase. But unfortunately, my work ethic stayed around the same – poor. It only becomes great when I work on an interesting project. And that’s more for personal gain/motivation than professional (well, I guess it’s both).

    So basically, I’m enjoying my life now. I got my senior developer title. I got my senior developer pay. But I don’t work that hard. And I choose the jobs I want…cuz I’m a diva. Though I tend to also take shitty projects. Funny thing is, I actually downgraded my title (but not my pay) to Intermediate Developer, so I that can still develop and do less project management/overseeing. I’d still rather develop than be in meetings and talk/consult. There’s still much to gain from being in the front-lines. I got very good at being confident with my voice and critical thinking/situations – making the right call/judgement in a critical situation. It’s a skill I think will help throughout my life. To weigh my options and determine what’s best.

    How I hope to change professionally this year

    I’ve been casually interviewing. Talking with headhunters. I’m finding that a lot of people find me on LinkedIn, but once they go to warrenshea.com, they’re sold. They want to talk to me about job…cuz my website is so awesome :D Unfortunately, in these scenarios, most of the jobs they offer suck. Not interested in being the only developer on a site/in a company. Sigh…stop offering me that crap.

    Not sure where I want to go professionally actually…but I want to improve my development skills personally and professionally. Again, I don’t always know where I’m headed but as long as I’m pointed in the right direction.

    …in three years…

    I’ve done a lot since I quit WoW, three years ago today. It’s funny, WoW’s not even a part of my life anymore, it seems odd to pay some kind of tribute to not playing it when I barely think about it nowadays. But I guess I must always remember the 5 years, 400 days of playtime I wasted to that game. I must always remember to keep busy to make up for that time.

    Reading last year’s post, I’m in a much better place happyness-wise. And isn’t that what it’s always about? Being happy? The answer is: yes.

    Posted in All Posts, Blogging, Daily Randomness, Games, Introspection, My Life, Past, Secret Project KB, Site Updates, warrenshea.com, Web Design, Web Developer, Web Development, Work, World of Warcraft, worldofwarren.com | No Comments »

    NES! The old is new again!

    Thursday, December 27th, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    Just beat The Legend of Zelda on the NES. Man, is that game hard.
    I had to kind of cheat through, using the 3DS’ save/load state ability. Pretty sure that thing is new, I don’t remember seeing it before. They must have realized that NES games aren’t THAT fun as they are cuz they’re so friggin hard.

    Zelda was tough but there are still some things I remember, as a child. The navigation took some getting used to as well, but I was able to play as I liked eventually.

    I just noticed that Mega Man was released on the 3DS virtual console on Dec 27. I might buy it…but what I really want to buy/play is Mega Man 2, which comes out Feb 7, 2013. I’m definitely buying that as I want/wanted to play that game.

    While I wait, I’ve started a new Ocarina of Time file. Last time I played it was June/July 2011.

    That Nintendo Power totally made me want to play all these games again, it’s been a lot of fun! :)

    Alright, off to get lunch and continue watching Back to the Future. And after eating, gonna play Zelda. Oh yeah, btw…this is at work :) I love the holiday season, get paid…for just chilling :D

    Posted in All Posts, Games, My Life | No Comments »

    It’s been a tough work week

    Saturday, December 22nd, 2012 at 5:15 pm

    I missed Monday, and went back to work after missing 9 out of 11 days of going to work cuz I was sick.

    Brought my Wii in on Tuesday…

    Played:
    Bomberman ’93
    Super Mario Kart
    Mario Kart 64
    Final Fight
    Super Smash Bros. Brawl
    throughout the time at work, between Tuesday and Wednesday.

    On Thursday and Friday though, we played the Wii U (one of my co-workers brought it in). Played Super Mario Bros. Wii U and after 2 days, beat the game.
    It doesn’t sound like a big feat, but to do it at work…and with 3 other players, some (not all) of whom kinda sucked, it was tough.
    One of the coolest things about the Wii U is the support role/controller. That roles plays on that Wii U pad, creating platforms for players and blocking enemies. I think playing that role is more fun than playing the game…and it’s funny to see who’s good support and who’s bad. And who wants to screw you over :)

    For next week, I think we’ll play a little more Mario Kart 64 and Bomberman ’93 :) That game is SO FUN! :D

    /wondering what else i can play that’s multiplayer and fun…

    Posted in All Posts, Daily Randomness, Games, My Life, Work | No Comments »

    Bye bye Nintendo Power :'(

    Saturday, December 22nd, 2012 at 5:04 pm

    Was pretty sad reading the last Nintendo Power. It lasted 24 years. I was there for 2 years of it, between the 2.5 year and the 4.5 year. 90-92ish. Making me around 8-10.
    I still have those magazines, even now (with the exception of one of them which I seem to have lost). And I would occasionally get a Nintendo Power just to read so I have some single issues here and there. It was a great magazine, I feel so sad to see it go.

    Just wanted to discuss its top 285 games. I’ve put some categories and notes on stuff I found interesting.

    Top 10
    10: Resident Evil 4 (GameCube, 2005)
    9: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)
    8: Super Metroid (SNES, 1994)
    7: Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1990)
    6: Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989)
    5: Super Mario World (SNES, 1991)
    4: Final Fantasy III (VI) (SNES, 1994)
    3: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007)
    2: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, 1992)
    1: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)

    This is the Zelda Order
    194: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS, 2007)
    177: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GameCube, 2004)
    170: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS, 2009)
    110: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GameBoy Color, 2001)
    109: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GameBoy Color, 2001)
    58: Zelda II: The Adventures of Link (NES, 1988)
    36: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA, 2005)
    34: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64, 2000)
    33: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii/GameCube, 2006)
    25: The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (GameBoy Color, 1998)
    12: The Legend of Zelda (NES, 1987)
    11: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii, 2011)
    9: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)
    2: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, 1992)
    1: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)
    It pleases me greatly to see Zelda: A Link to the Past as #2. That’s one of my favorite games ever and it’s great to see other people appreciate it too. I wish I could say Ocarina of Time was my fav but I grew up on a Link to the Past, only playing Ocarina of time a few years ago and only beating it two-three times. It makes me want to play Ocarina of Time again though, I think I might do that. Sadly, I’ve forgotten some things already :( It looks like Zelda hit its stride around/after my time. Just missed it.

    This is the Mega Man Order
    264: Mega Man Zero (GBA, 2002)
    234: Mega Man V (NES, 1994)
    153: Mega Man Zero 2 (GBA, 2003)
    123: Mega Man 9 (WiiWare, 2008)
    49: Mega Man (NES, 1987)
    47: Mega Man 3 (NES, 1990)
    39: Mega Man X (SNES, 1994)
    6: Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989)
    I think I need to play Mega Man 2 more. To be honest, I never beat it from scratch, I started playing Mega Man at Mega Man 3. But it’s great to see Mega Man X in spot 39 (though I wish it were higher). That’s also one of my favorite games of all time. Again, it looks like it hit its perfection just before my time. Just missed it.

    This is the Mario order
    267: New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS, 2012)
    261: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GameBoy 1992)
    206: New Super Mario Bros. (DS, 2006)
    183: Super Paper Mario (Wii, 2007)
    182: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii, 2009)
    139: Paper Mario (N64, 2001)
    128: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES, 1996)
    83: Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube, 2002)
    22: Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES, 1988)
    20: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GameCube, 2004)
    18: Super Mario 3D Land (3DS, 2011)
    16: Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)
    15: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010)
    14: Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996)
    7: Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1990)
    5: Super Mario World (SNES, 1991)
    3: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007)
    Again, Super Mario World was the game of my generation. It seems I grew up in the #2 generation of games. I have Super Mario Galaxy, I didn’t know it was that highly rated. I think I’m gonna try playing it, and maybe Galaxy 2 as well.

    This is the Mario Kart Order
    214: Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GameCube, 2003)
    193: Mario Kart DS (DS, 2005)
    174: Mario Kart Wii (Wii, 2008)
    167: Mario Kart 7 (3DS, 2011)
    161: Super Mario Kart (SNES, 1992)
    32: Mario Kart 64 (N64, 1997)
    Again, Super Mario Kart was the game of my generation. I definitely did play Mario Kart 64 during its prime and I can see why it was rated so high. It raised the bar from Super Mario Kart, which was already awesome. But it made 4-player battle mode ridiculously more fun.

    This is the Contra order
    263: Super C (NES, 1990)
    260: Contra 4 (DS, 2007)
    41: Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES, 1992)
    40: Contra (NES, 1988)
    …Again, Contra III was the game of my generation. Though I played/was good at Contra, I was exceptionally good at Contra 3. I was able to beat the Japanese Hard Mode (which is harder than hard mode on the English version) without using a continue. I can beat Contra as well…but only using the classic Konomi code (which has always been on my site btw ;) )

    Honourable mentions that have significance to me
    282: Nintendogs (DS, 2005)
    213: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game (NES, 1990)
    209: Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (3DS, 2011)
    204: Pokemon Red/Blue (GameBoy, 1998)
    168: Kirby’s Return to Dreamland (Wii, 2011)
    144: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii, 2010)
    114: Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (SNES, 1994)
    111: Super Smash Bros. Brawl ( Wii, 2008)
    106: Earthworm Jim (SNES, 1994)
    87: Tetris Attack (SNES, 1996)
    53: Tetris (GameBoy, 1989)
    45: Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube, 2001)
    43: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES, 1992)
    21: Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (SNES, 1993)
    4: Final Fantasy III (VI) (SNES, 1994)
    NO KIRBY’S AVALANCHE!? SADFACE. Turtles in Time still holds up well, I think I’m gonna play/beat it this weekend actually. I’ve been meaning to for a week.
    I started playing Final Fantasy III but never finished. I think I’m also going to play that…I want to finish it.

    So basically, reading the last Nintendo Power made me want to game more.

    TO REPLAY GAME LIST:
    43: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES, 1992)
    41: Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES, 1992)
    1: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)

    TO PLAY GAME LIST:
    34: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64, 2000)
    33: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii/GameCube, 2006)
    6: Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989)
    4: Final Fantasy III (VI) (SNES, 1994)
    3: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007)

    /will keep you updated on my progress!

    Posted in All Posts, Games, Games, My Life, Reviews | No Comments »

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