Reminiscing of an older age of computer games

I was reminiscing the other day again about the "good old days". I still remember drooling when 16 color games came out. Heck, I was plenty happy with my Tandy Color Computer 3 - TRS 80 on my black and white TV :)

Back in 2008 I wrote a blog on my personal page talking about old adventure games that I favored back in the late 80's/early 90's. I thought I would copy that blog and bring it over here for discussion.

Games on the top of my list that come to mind are:

Kings Quest





















Space Quest




















Police Quest


















Hero's Quest / Quest for Glory series




















Leisure Suit Larry










Loom:




















Monkey Island:

There are so many games I used to play back in those days. I still play some games a little these days but I just never get the feel like I did back then. It seems to me looking back that about the time 16 color games came out was the time that I really was taking off with computer gaming.

Sometimes I feel that way about computers in general. It was a different time back then. A lot less people dabbling around in the IT field.

So what's your thoughts on games from this time period compared to the past? Any others that really ring a bell to you when you look back?

Otterbox MOT4-DROID Commuter Series Case

As stated in my prior blog I recently purchased the new Commuter Series case by Otterbox for my Motorola Droid.

So far my experience has been good. With the Commuter Series you get a descent level of protection while not giving me such a large case that I cannot fit my phone in my pocket.

Below are some pics I took once I received the case:

Below is a pic of the bottom part of the case showing its size compared to a pencil:

And the following is a pic of the top of the case:

I compared the Otterbox case to the case my wife got for hers from the Verizon store (I don't have the exact model in front of me) but the Otterbox was much thinner. When possible I will try to take a picture of the two phones next to each other to show the size difference.

My phone can still easily fit in my pockets of my jeans, shirt pocket, etc.

The case seems to give a good amount of protection from small drops or bumps but I still wouldn't want to hit on it to hard. It would be nice eventually for something like their Defender Series to come out for the Droid but with the slide out keyboard that may be difficult.

Below are a full list of specs:

Motorola Droid:

Weight: 6oz
Size: 2.4 x 4.6 x 5 in

Otterbox MOT4-Droid:

Weight: 1.06oz

Size: 4.77 x 2.63 x .75 in

Drop a line if you have further questions or any opinions on this case. There's not many reviews out on it yet and I'm sure many people will be interested in hearing what you've got to say. Otterbox has been my brand of choice when it comes to cases for cell phones, and other misc. cases for a couple years now.

Below are references where I obtained the specs:

Motorola Droid: http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Mobile-Phones/ci.Motorola-DROID-US-EN.alt

Otterbox: http://www.otterbox.com/motorola-cases/droid-by-motorola-cases/droid-by-motorola-commuter-series-case/

April 1st....how I love this day

In the IT/Telecom world I feel that sometimes things can get a little blaw... And when I need a little excitement I sometimes feel the need for a prank on fellow co-workers. Nothing to harmful...usually :) but just something to get a rise out of people to remind us that we are still alive.

I personally believe April 1st is a day that we all should celebrate in some small way.

For instance, I've got a co-worker who still has a tendency to look at his keys while typing. So a simple swap of the letter "M" and the letter "N" created some confusion this morning. The conversation went something like "Hey AJ what is wrong with this database, I keep typing in the password and it's not working. Looks like someone changed it". I responded "hmmm...let me try here. Nope working fine here, you must not know what you're doing". After some harder typing for a minute I laughed, advised what I'd done, and that was that.

Over the years I've pulled my share of pranks. That was a simpler one. What kind of pranks have you pulled? Maybe we should compile a list of pranks that we've all pulled throughout the years!

P.S. I told my wife last night that I was planning some pranks today for April fools...then of course I wake up completely forgetting April fools and she got me right off the bat with the classic "I'm pregnant". She had me good to. Though I advised she'd better watch out on that one, things have a way of coming back on you :)