Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The infuriating trend of requiring a constant online connection to play even single-player game modes desperately needs to go away.
Few games have been as hyped as Diablo III. A dozen years had passed since Blizzard Entertainment released Diablo II, and fans lined up on May 15 for midnight game sales, or to download the title online from home; Amazon.com saw the highest ever pre-order sales of a videogame, as well. And what happened? Did Diablo 3 offer tons of amazing gaming? Not so much. Instead, fans spewed vitriolic anger across gaming forums, Twitter, and Facebook over not being able to play the long-awaited game. Blizzard’s servers were overwhelmed, and that hampered all play. Even people who just wanted the single-player campaign were stymied in their attempts to play, because players are required to be connected to Blizzard’s servers at all times. That meant …
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Meet the "Ethel" to our Lucy, Michele Buono.
I saw this on Facebook: A friend is someone who’ll raise bail money to get you out of jail. A best friend will be sitting next to you in the cell. From my experience, men can go for years without venturing from their homes for anything other than beer or a football game. If it can be brought into their homes via post, dropped from a helicopter or delivered on horseback, they’ll live happily in their caves. Women, on the other hand, need outside contact. More than that, we crave friends. But nothing in this world beats a best friend. A best friend knows you for all your charms and warts and pretends you have more charm than warts. I’ve been fortunate to have many friends. I’ve also been blessed to have a best friend. In fact, people call my…
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Bright, low maintenance annual plants will give your garden a color boost from summer until frost. Annuals are the icing on your garden "cake."
Each year I resolve to plant fewer annuals and save time—and then something happens. The weather warms up and I crave color. But I like to plant annuals I can plant and fuggedabout. Perennials add fabulous texture, color and variety to the garden, but they bloom for a short period each year. A backbone of trees, shrubs and perennials comprise the best-planned gardens, with some colorful annuals added for punctuation. Annuals brighten up a bare patch of ground. Want an instant focal point? Pot up some annuals in interesting pots and you're done. Group containers together for your own unique design and color variations. For a low-maintenance approach, re-use self-watering containers year after year. You'll find them at garden centers and …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The role-playing adventure for Xbox 360 and PS3 was inspired by author George R. R. Martin's bestselling "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy series.
George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series is one of the hottest media properties out there. With five books (plus a sixth being written and a seventh planned) and the white hot Emmy-winning HBO adaptation Game of Thrones in its second season, its popularity shows little sign of waning. With a superb setting, great characters, and lots of fantasy tropes to borrow from, adapting Martin's worlds and unique storytelling style to a role-playing video game seems like a no-brainer. Teaming with both Japanese game publisher Atlus and Martin himself to do so makes that decision even smarter. Atlus brings a wealth of RPG experience to the table; Martin ensures that the game retains the feel of his books and makes sure everything …
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Sunday, May 13, 2012
Lucy shares her journey with breast cancer.
“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.” Robert Munsch Mother’s Day is today, and I’d like to say a very sincere “Happy Mother’s Day” to all the moms out there. Our job is sometimes tough, yet rewarding. And as Munsch pointed out in his much loved book, “Love You Forever,” no matter how big they get, they’re always our babies. But sometimes, Mother’s Day isn’t about us entirely, it’s about the children that we’ve raised. For me, this Mother’s Day is a tribute to my children Aubrie, Elyse and Dakota and the three years that they’ve taken care of me. You see, in October of 2009, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My doctor, Dr. Roderick Quiros, gave me the news. I took to calling it “When …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The long-awaited return of Max Payne highlights May’s new videogame offerings.
After almost a decade between releases, Max Payne returns to our consoles, and he’s joined by Mario and a brief cameo by Balki Bartokomous. Jeff is currently playing The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass; follow him on Twitter at JKLugar.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Lucy scours the web and finds some interesting Mother's Day gifts.
Like all things in life, change is inevitable, no matter how much we resist. Mother’s Day is no different. When the kids were little, I got the cutest gifts. Macaroni pictures on paper plates, homemade cards, or a gift certificate book that promised things like “I’ll clean my room,” or “good for 10 hugs.” All were produced with huge smiles and anxious faces. They watched my face to be sure I loved it; boy, did I. Now that they’re older, I think I’d be a little concerned if they presented me with a necklace made of buttons. Not totally surprised, but a little nervous about what type of human I’d unleashed on an unsuspecting world. After hearing that according to the National Retail Federation, Americans spend just shy of $19 billion (yes…
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Last month the Makefield Elementary School Learning Garden received the 2011 Environmental Stewardship Award from Lower Makefield Township. Last fall, the garden received the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Community Greening Award.
There is an extra-special place in Lower Makefield Township—a place where students, teachers and community members gather to celebrate life—both plant life and life in general. "What if we created a school garden?" Last year, this was the thought of Tom Guest, a third-grade teacher at Makefield Elementary School. Mr. Guest has always loved gardening, and wanted to share his passion with his students and fellow teachers. In stepped Susan Mazzitelli, parent of two Makefield students, and cheerleader of all things environmental. She also champions the recycling efforts at the school. Mazzitelli and Guest, together with the support of teachers Roberta Stafford and Jim Parsons and Principal Donna McCormick-Miller, encouraged this idea and …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Township Manager Joe Golden responds to residents concerns regarding trash collection.
Effective May 1, trash, recycling, and bulk waste collection is on Fridays; yard waste collection is on Mondays. Switching to once a week trash collection was done for two primary purposes: reduce the trash fee and to encourage recycling. The trash fee was reduced from $345 per year to $310 per effective this year, and the fee is expected to remain at that rate for four years. This is suprising considering trash collection is labor and vehicle/gas consumption intensive. Last year, the Township switched to single stream recycling and expanded the types of materials which can be recycled. I refer you to the township website and the brochure delivered to each resident for a list of materials to recycle. The list expands from time to time. For…
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Norwegian spree killer Anders Behring Breivik unfortunately brings the violence and videogames link to the world’s attention again.
Anders Behring Breivik’s horrific July 2011 attack, which left over 75 people dead, brought the world’s attention to Norway. And immediately everyone sought answers to why and how this could ever happen. In a court proceeding earlier this month, Breivik revealed part of his training regimen was utilizing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He claims he used it to hone his aiming skills. Even in a printed manifesto he made mention that “I see MW2 more as a part of my training-simulation than anything else.” Well, that was just great. It had been quite a while since a horrific news story and violent videogames had been linked together, and this may have been the biggest story of all. Of course, the supposed link between new mass media and …
earndoggy
12:34 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
LOL @ Michele! That story was too funny! I'm blessed to have more than one best friend like that.... finishing each other sentences, going on road trips on a whim, picking the direction out of a hat! That was in the days before smart phones, Garmins, anything like that... we actually used that strange looking piece of paper with lines and curves on it... I think it's called a map. And did we ever… more ›