Anyone currently looking into new hobbies? I love learning new skills and subjects. It’s one of my favorite things to do. Currently I am looking into...wait for it...echolocation. Yes, and not with bats. With people.

I probably posted about this many years ago but humans can actually get pretty good with echolocation. You can even see texture and what not. The idea of getting good enough to see in the complete dark is really interesting to me. I can also see some interesting possibilities in terms of modifying the technique to make it better. But first things first. I have to learn how not to run into a wall.

The other thing I’m planning on learning is braille. Braille is really cool because I love the idea of being able to take in detailed written information through touch. It’s a really cool concept. Yea, both of these things have to do with visual impairment but both are cool in and of themselves.

Anyways, what are some interesting topics you are looking into these days?

   Good stuff, Morphy.  For the first time in like twenty five years I'm planting a vegetable garden.  Almost all of the seedlings are sprouted and doing well.  I've battled the patch of ground... it's nothing but roots.  I've got it pretty much tilled.  The fencing is up so tomorrow I lay down the weed cloth and plant. 
    Whether or not I do this again next year depends very much on how much of my crop I actually get to eat and how much goes to the wild critters.  As many of you know I live right on a lake so there is always a lot of wildlife here.  We'll see how it goes. 

fps gaming
I played in the past but stopped to do more productive things...
I started playing again after watching a documentary that claimed it increases neuroplasticity.
I'm playing Apex Legends with a couple of friends. The movement is crazy! and it is a nice way to get a dose of adrenaline.

In the past I wanted to try lucid dreaming and echolocation but I guess I wasn't interested enough to put the effort in.

man with 3 kids now gaming happens about once a week. I highly recommend Bioshock 1 and 2 (and the DLC from infinite) these are FPS survival horror. I also recommend  Tomb Raider 2013 (combo puzzler and survival horror FPS).

I'm learning basic brush lettering, it's a pseudo calligraphy with less equipment, I'm learning because my 6 year old wants to learn it.

RM- I need to start a garden now that im moved. Gardens are good for your mind, body and soul.  :D ive had some wonderful gardens in the past. I used to love going out there in the warm sun and work on my big garden barefoot. Theres something very grounding  ::) about being connected to the Earth in such a way.

Sarosh- I can definitely see them helping neuroplasticity. I think just learning in general, different things, keeps the brain sharp longer. FPS might seem trite to some but they can actually be incredibly complex especially playing with a team. When I played Quake the amount of complexity in what was actually going on during a typical 5v5 versus what a person unfamiliar with the game was a pretty huge divide. We have I think at this point moved into the age where these games are seen as more than just kids messing around. As someone who loves Chess, FPS games are just a faster paced version of that. Especially at pro levels where the depth of strategy between teams is pretty mindblowing.

PS- Bio Shock is awesome man. I downloaded 1, 2 and the third...Infinite maybe? On my Switch. Good price too. I had already beaten the first but havent played the other two yet. These older games are cheap and have good graphics and game play. I love older 10-30 year old games because they have a lot of character and can be just as fun as newer ones. Often times more so.

okay morphy, this has been puzzling me for a while.

you've got a job, you're married with a daughter.
Where the hell do you find time to post round here - let alone all the other stuff you do ?

Let us into the secret - sometimes I could really do with a 36 hour day :-)

As far as new skills - dunno if I have actual 'hobbies' any more.
Well I just did a crash course in 'hobby' cnc machines to help a chap out in the states who's making weedtrays for potheads out of marble slabs.
yeah - who knew lol

I guess the 3d printing is an ever ongoing learning process and the more you learn the more things you can design and make.
Openscad is a constant learning curve.

Always looking for decent games for my switch-lite.
Kinda bogged down with fenyx rising. Just two levels that are proving too bloody tedious and repetitive and the plot has pretty much ground to  ahalt beause of it..
The puzzle difficulty in that game is just off the scale and not in a good way.
As the gyro aiming doesn't work on the switch-lite - so far only BOTW has fully functional gyro - some of the puzzles are just not doable. 
And I still have no clue what the big harps are for or how you work them.

I'm pretty much treading water until BOTW 2 comes out.
Although I have never played skyward sword - but that's currently way too expensive for a re-hashed wii game.

So you reckon bioshock's decent eh ?
I was thinking maybe the witcher as i like open world games.   

Don't bother with mortal kombat. Utter shite.
Why there isn't a tekken game for the switch - I do not know.
But I've got a few versions I play on emulators on my phone :-)
And even my little old athlon 3000g will let me emulate up to playstation 2 on the computer. So thousands of free to download games there.

The echolocation stuff for people goes back a long way.
Willie garvin made a set of echo location glasses in one of the modesty blasie books.

Anyway I'm rambling :-)

But time management morphy - how does you do it ?

First off, you really cant go wrong with Bioshock. Excellent storyline, replayability etc. The witchers are great as well. Shoot I have it and although Ive never beat it, its a huge game with tons of things to do and a really crazy indepth storyline right up there with an actual book. I actually need to start over because its so indepth and yes at the time I may have been drunk Witcher. And drunk witcher is awesome with a sword but a little poor in the old comprehension department .

I can say this though. There were swords, monsters, occasionally naked women and bad people. So ya I may have missed a few things.

As for the time thing as a medic I work few days but crazy hours. I am laying here typing on my bed at the moment after working a 48 hr shift. I only work about 9 days a month to reach full time. Yesterday was an extra 24 because as shift supervisor it falls on me to find someone to come in for someones call in and ya...no one wanted easy money.

So i made the difficult choice to lay around for another 24 hours at the station, occasionally pick pieces up of people from roadways, hope women dont deliver in my ambulance (ill take random body parts any day) and what not but mostly watch movies and lay in my dorm playing a gnome illusionist on NeverWinter Nights all while getting paid.

I work a few days from now and then have another 3 days off. Then a day and 3 more days off. All the days off are genuine torture but I soldier on somehow.

If you are wondering where the weird sense of humor comes from just be aware when I am posting on here I may have just been cleaning brain matter off my foot or dropping a tube in someone's lungs 20 minutes prior and now I am eating a bagel and thinking of the most ridiculous things I can say on here without getting banned. You cant be normal with that schedule but i fake it the best I can.

Hope that clears things up.  :)

I'll put in that bioshock 2 is as perfect a sequel as you could ask. Between them they show you the different ends of a continuum and leave you to decide where in the middle we ought to be. I didn't like bioshock infinite, while the others had bone chilling philosophies it had....milquetoast bovine scat masquerading as thought. The 2 DLCs though act as a nice little bow on the duology and are fun.

If you find a free Witcher online avoid it. No telling what mods have been added.


https://i.imgur.com/6vuy0XX.jpg

I haven't played through the second witcher yet. I did the first one and my take was while it was interesting it was a bit TOO open world. I found it easy to do things out of order, accidentally lock off sidequests etc. The voice acting is sub par too. I enjoyed it, some novel gameplay and a wonderful universe but not amazing. I hear Witcher III is amazing though.

I've been getting into audio editing. For a... thing.

I think witcher 3 is the one on the switch.
certainly looks good on youtube videos.

have to admit I prefer the games where you CAN do things out of sequence.
I've just ground to a halt in fenyx rising.
Two vaults i just can't work out how to do and what i think you are supposed to do is going to be so bloody fiddly and repetitive that I just lose the will to live every time i go and look at it.

With BOTW there is always somewhere else you can go and something relse you can do to push the plot forward a bit.

I prefer that over a more linear plot progression system.

And while I still occasionally enjoy original doom 1 & 2 - I've had a play of doom eternal and it just leaves me cold.

Looks pretty sure - but just chaotic and designed for multiplayer - which i hate lol
other humans can ruin any video game. 
I just don't have that team instinct.

On any coop game I've played in the distant past my very first actuion is always to shoot my teammates in the back of the head - or equivalent.
yeah.....:whistle:

so the upshot is -I'll suck it up, buy the witcher 3 and keep an eye on skyward sword for an online offer.
All the time waiting with bated breath for BOTW 2 to be released.
cheers :-)

perpetualstudent wrote on Apr 29^th, 2021 at 10:53am:

I haven't played through the second witcher yet. I did the first one and my take was while it was interesting it was a bit TOO open world. I found it easy to do things out of order, accidentally lock off sidequests etc. The voice acting is sub par too. I enjoyed it, some novel gameplay and a wonderful universe but not amazing. I hear Witcher III is amazing though.

See im like CA. I hate a story that locks me into a linear quest line from beginning to end. In fact thats one of the biggest things I look at before buying a game. If it does that, like say, Uncharted, I am NOT interested. I just dont like pressing a button when Im told to as I watch my character go through a set storyline. Not to say you do but someone is buying those games and I just dont get it.


I played Skyrim for years and have yet to beat the damn game because its just so fun to get lost in all the big and small quests.

Ive only played Witcher 3 and that on my Switch. It is pretty much the same as Skyrim
although the main story is a bit more prevalent you can still get hopelessly lost in that world and damn is it fun. Its a gem of a game. I need to play it again at some point.

I have started skyrim years ago but never finished it. The last couple years i just did not find the time.  Oblivion though i managed to get through. A great game although the final daedra attack part i found a bit dull.

A current project revolves around GUI design and programming for braiding applications. A "dual use" project as I need to brush these skills up for a current project at work.

Other than that I would like to get into metal casting. Silver in particular.  But I haven't yet found the time to start that.

I continue my archeological search.
On topographic maps of my region, I'm looking for places where may be unknown hillforts. Then I go on the spot to see if there are signs of old fortifications. If so, I make a small file that I send to an archeologist.
I discoved  so 3 unknown hillforts.
The necessary qualities are patience ( more than 9 times out of 10, there is nothing) and the "meaning" of the the landscape (after 2 or 4 thousand years, the ruins are really in ruins).
But I like this treasure hunt.  :)

TOMBELAINE wrote on May 2^nd, 2021 at 8:57am:

I continue my archeological search. On topographic maps of my region, I'm looking for places where may be unknown hillforts. Then I go on the spot to see if there are signs of old fortifications. If so, I make a small file that I send to an archeologist. I discoved  so 3 unknown hillforts. The necessary qualities are patience ( more than 9 times out of 10, there is nothing) and the "meaning" of the the landscape (after 2 or 4 thousand years, the ruins are really in ruins). But I like this treasure hunt.  :)

Wow that is awesome! I had no idea you did that Tombe!

Oh yeah talking of video games, I still love Minecraft. I don't care what anyone says, Minecraft is a fantastic game. My latest, most interesting world is entirely desert biome. It adds a little bit of extra challenge as there are literally no trees. Trees don't exist in the world. There are dead bushes for sticks but the only other source of wood is from mine shafts. There are a few other things that are in short supply that just really force you to think about what you want to do. Damn it's fun.

Kick wrote on May 4^th, 2021 at 8:23am:

Oh yeah talking of video games, I still love Minecraft. I don't care what anyone says, Minecraft is a fantastic game. My latest, most interesting world is entirely desert biome. It adds a little bit of extra challenge as there are literally no trees. Trees don't exist in the world. There are dead bushes for sticks but the only other source of wood is from mine shafts. There are a few other things that are in short supply that just really force you to think about what you want to do. Damn it's fun.

Ive always loved that game. Terraria is another fun one. I wish Minecraft would put more complicated machines in there like gears and what not but you can make some pretty interesting stuff as is. The fully functioning computers in game people have made are pretty amazing. That is a great game. Right now I play it on the Switch occasionally but I’ve been tinkering with it for many years. I always come back to it at some point.

Also the battle mode is an absolute blast lol. My daughter and I used to play that every day and we got pretty damn good at it.