BOOK REVIEW – NOT ALL FAIRY TALES HAVE HAPPY ENDINGS: THE RISE AND FALL OF SIERRA ON-LINE BY KEN WILLIAMS

January 30, 2021 KillerRoboticsBook, Book review, Ken Williams, Sierra OnlineLeave a comment

Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings, published in 2020, is the memoir written by Ken Williams. He and his wife, Roberta Williams, founded a computer games company in the late 70s that would eventually become Sierra Online, which was for many years one of the largest and best-renowned computer game companies in the world.

The book covers the early years of Ken’s life, including how he met and married Roberta and how she became interested (and some would even say slightly obsessed) with designing computer games. From their first game, Mystery House, that was designed by Roberta and programmed by Ken, to later establishing well-known game series like the King’s Quest, Space Quest, Quest for Glory, and Leisure Suit Larry games, the book provides an insightful and thoroughly entertaining telling of the journey, especially for someone like myself who grew up playing many of these games. The book also has many stories about these games’ now-iconic designers, like Al Lowe (Game designer of, amongst other things, the Leisure Suit Larry games) and Jane Jensen (the person behind the Gabriel Knight series).

Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings tells the story of Sierra Online from creation, through its rise to glory, to its eventual acquisition by CUC International, ultimately leading to its demise.

This book is a must-read for anyone who experienced and enjoyed Sierra games in the 80s and 90s. It is a fantastic read and provides a peek behind the curtain of a company that created games that left a lasting impression on so many. I highly recommended Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings.

REVIEW – AMAZON KINDLE 2019 MODEL (10TH GENERATION)

November 14, 2020November 14, 2020 KillerRoboticsAmazon, Book, E-book, KindleLeave a comment

The main improvement offered by the 10^th generation base model Kindle over its predecessors, is the inclusion of an integrated light, which was previously only a feature of the more expensive Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis, and this is a game-changer. The inclusion of the light vastly increases the ease by which you can read the Kindle in various conditions and dramatically improves screen visibility.

While on the topic of the screen, it is Amazon’s 6″ e-Ink glare-free display, with a PPI of 167 pixels per inch and offers a 16-level grayscale color palette, meaning even comic books and graphic novels are easily readable and details do not get lost.

The Kindle 2019 model offers a comfortable read, with text size easily resizable to user taste and allows for much quicker reading.

The Kindle supports books, comics books\graphic novels, magazines, and audiobooks across the following file formats: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PMP through conversion; Audible audio format (AAX). Amazon has also vastly improved PDF support, and reading PDFs is now far less painful than in the past.

The Kindle model reviewed here comes with 8GB of non-expandable storage, enough to hold ample books and comics. However, heavy audiobook listeners might want to look at the 32GB version of the Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Oasis instead.

A Bluetooth audio device is required (Headphone, Speaker, etc.) to listen to audiobooks, and the Kindle does allow the user to switch between reading and listening rather seamlessly.

The Kindle is entirely Wi-Fi enabled, and once online, it seamlessly integrates into the Amazon ecosystem.

Amazon claims a battery life of up to 4-weeks, obviously depending on usage and light brightness selected. I found the Kindle needed to be charged once every ten days or so with moderate usage (1-2 hours a day), and the light turned up to roughly 80% brightness.

The Kindle weighs in at 174g without a cover, making it shockingly light for its size, definitely contributing to its reading comfort.

The Kindle 2019 model retails on Amazon for $89.99 with the special offer enabled (ads show on the device lock screen) and $109.99 without the special offer. I find the special offer unintrusive, especially if you use a cover that obstructs the screen when not in use.

Amazon’s Kindle e-book readers are pretty much the de facto standard for e-book readers, with Amazon controlling over 80% of the e-book reader market, and it is easy to see why. From the ease of use to simple convenience, Amazons Kindle Devices and Ecosystems are hard to beat.

BOOK REVIEW – ZERO TO MAKER: LEARN (JUST ENOUGH) TO MAKE (JUST ABOUT) ANYTHING BY DAVID LANG

November 7, 2020 KillerRoboticsBook, Book review, MAKER, Maker MovementLeave a comment

Zero to Maker (originally published in 2013) chronicles David Lang’s journey into the Maker movement and documents the learnings and many of the experiences he had along his journey.

David Lang is one of the founders of OpenROV, a low-cost remote-controlled underwater robot, and his journey of becoming a maker is tightly intertwined with this project.

As part of his journey, he visits numerous maker spaces such as Haxlr8r, Maker Faire, Noisebridge, TechSoup, and FabLabs, and explores the topic of gaining access to tools and skills through these spaces.

The book also covers a wide variety of other topics, from the new world of collaborative making and Do-It-Together to Digital Fabrication Techniques such as CAD, 3D Printing, and Laser Cutting. Another interesting subject covered is turning maker projects into businesses and the numerous challenges faced during that process. Possible ways of overcoming these challenges, such as funding your undertaking using a crowdfunding platform such as Kickstarter to how to handle larger batch manufacturing by leveraging maker spaces and their community of makers, are also examined.

The last chapter focuses on educating future generations on the skills and mindset involved in making as well as the numerous benefits associated therewith. Many great initiatives currently underway at numerous schools and other institutions teaching children how to make is covered, and it is a very inspiring read.

The book is a fascinating read that gives some good insight into the maker movement at a high level. However, It does not provide detailed instructions on any of the skills explored, and if that is your expectation coming in, you will leave disappointed. I recommend Zero to Maker as a light, informative read and found it a pleasant way of spending a few afternoons.

BOOK REVIEW – EVERY TOOL’S A HAMMER: LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT BY ADAM SAVAGE

August 31, 2019 KillerRoboticsAdam Savage, Book, Book review, MAKER, Maker MovementLeave a comment

every_tool_cover

Every tool’s a hammer is an amazing and slightly strange book, being a part how-to guide, part biography, and part philosophical. In short, it is a book about the journey Adam Savage undertook to become a maker.

The story starts with Adam’s first creations as a child, then continues through his time as a theater set builder to working for Industrial Lights and Magic, to Mythbusters and eventually becoming one of the worlds best-known celebrity Makers.

Throughout this illustrious career, Adam’s philosophies of learning and gaining additional skills is very apparent, showing the true value of being a polymath, something I also strive for personally. Except for collecting skills, Adam is also a collector of things, these things range vastly in category and type, from film props to Curta calculators, he has a genuine love for these objects and the stories they carry with them.

The book also has various how-to sections, covering things like different kinds of glues and their uses, to tools, to workshop setup and different crafting materials.

I found Every tool’s a hammer to be an inspiring book that fueled my creative flame and filled me with the need to start making something new. This book is a must-read for any fans of Adam Savage and Makers of any kind.

BOOK REVIEW – EFFECTIVE PROGRAMMING MORE THAN WRITING CODE BY JEFF ATWOOD

April 27, 2019 KillerRoboticsBook, Book review, Programming1 Comment

coverofJeffAtwood

Jeff Atwood is somewhat of a celebrity in software development and programming circles, he along with Joel Spolsky are the founders of StackOverflow.com, a question and answer website all programmers and software engineers must be familiar with.

The book, initially published in 2012, is constructed from posts on Jeff Atwood’s blog, CodingHorror.com. The posts are sorted into different sections based on an overall theme, for example, hiring programmers, workspace setup, code testing, etc. Thus, making for a coherent and flowing reading experience. This is where the value of this book opposed to reading all these posts on his blog for free comes in, a more convenient reading experience.

Effective Programming More than Writing Code is one of the best and one of my favorite books on the topic of software development, it is a must-read for anyone who is a professional software developer, and personally, I have read through it numerous times over the years. The book is an easy, quick read and a vast amount of great ideas and concepts are communicated that will keep you thinking long after you have stopped reading.

There are however a few problems with this book, firstly in the print version there are quite a few printing errors where the top line of the page is cut off, this is present on 2 pages in my copy. This is not a problem in the electronic version available on the Kindle store.

Secondly, as this book was constructed from blog posts, numerous hyperlinks and embedded videos are present, which obviously do not work in a printed format. This is, however, more of an annoyance than a problem as this does not hinder the concept being communicated.

Even given these problems, I would still highly recommend this book. So, if you work in or are interested in software development, pick it up.

BOOK REVIEW – EXPLORE/CREATE MY LIFE IN PURSUIT OF NEW FRONTIERS, HIDDEN WORLDS, AND THE CREATIVE SPARK BY RICHARD GARRIOTT WITH DAVID FISHER

November 3, 2018November 3, 2018 KillerRoboticsBook, Book review, Richard Garriott, Ultima1 Comment

Explore/Create is the memoirs of Richard Garriott, it tells the story of his life, from being the creator of the Ultima Games and starting Origin Systems with his brother, to his adventures in the arctic, visiting shipwrecks under the sea, and even his trip to space when he visited the International Space Station.

I am a huge fan of the Ultima games, a series of truly revolutionary PC role-playing games that were released between the early 1980s to the late 1990s. Each iteration in the Ultima series bought about something brand new, not only to the series but quite often to electronic gaming as a whole, for example the concept of morals and consequence that was introduced in Ultima 4, and to my knowledge this was the first time these kinds of topics had every really been addressed in a video game. Or Ultima 7 that had the most realistic and immersive game world at the time, it is the first game I had ever seen where you could pick wheat in a field, grind it in a mill, then add water and bake a bread.

The Book also covers Richard’s many adventures, going places like the arctic, the amazon and even visiting the wreck of the Titanic. And how he eventually followed in his father’s footsteps, astronaut Owen K. Garriott, when he traveled into space as a private astronaut with Roscosmos, becoming the second second-generation astronaut in history.

This book is a truly enjoyable and inspiring read and shows the full and rich life of a true polymath. I cannot recommend this book enough, so do yourself a favour and pick it up.

BOOK REVIEW – BATMAN: THE COURT OF OWLS AND BATMAN: THE CITY OF OWLS

September 30, 2018 KillerRoboticsBatman, Book, Book review, Comic BookLeave a comment

The Court of Owls written by Scott Snyder and The City of Owls written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, formed part of the New 52 line and was originally published from 2011 to 2012.

The main story focuses on mysterious secret society, The Court of Owls, operating in Gotham city who attempt to assassinate various high-profile individuals, including Bruce Wayne, using a group of highly trained assassins called the Talons.

The story does a great job of building a sense of history, covering several members of past generations of the Wayne Family and even a story focused on Alfred’s father, who served as a butler to Thomas and Martha Wayne when Bruce was a small child.

Gotham City is also fleshed out more than any other Batman story, making it feel like an important character in the story, not just a location therein.

Without spoiling anything, the story progresses at an amazing pace, building tension and mystery at just the right amount, making it a very difficult book to put down.

This story arc was the start of the New 52 Batman reboot and is a classic Batman story with great art work that pulls the reader in. It is a great place to start for people new to the Batman comic books series and is a must read for any fan of the Batman comic.

BOOK REVIEW – BATMAN HUSH

September 15, 2018 KillerRoboticsBatman, Book, Book review, Comic Book, Graphic NovelLeave a comment

hush

Batman Hush is a mainline Batman story arc that was originally published in the Batman Comic between 2002 to 2003, which has subsequently been published in this graphic novel. Hush is a great self-contained story which can easily be picked up by anyone looking for a starting point in the almost endless selection of Batman comics.

Batman Hush is one of the best usages of the Batman Villains’ gallery, featuring a large cast including, the Riddler, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and the Joker to name a few. The graphic novel tells a great story written by Jeph Loeb, full of twists and a few surprises along the way, it really is one of the classic must read story in the Batman comic series.

The story is beautifully bought to life by the artwork, which is some of my favorite in the long running Batman comic series. The art is the combined work of Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair, being responsible for pencil, ink and color respectively.

I can really recommend this graphic novel if you want to get started in the Batman comic series as it is a great jumping-off point and if you are already reading the series and have not read Hush, then you are really missing out.

BOOK REVIEW – LITTLE NIGHTMARES VOLUME 1 GRAPHIC NOVEL

September 8, 2018 KillerRoboticsBook, Book review, Comic Book, Graphic Novel, Little NightmaresLeave a comment

Needless to say, this graphic novel is based on the game Little Nightmares and contains the first 2 comic books in the series. The series was initially announced to consist of 4 comic books, however at the time of this post book 3 and 4 unfortunately appear to have been cancelled.

Anyone who has played Little Nightmares will know that the world of the game is a dark and mysterious place, with a lot of unanswered questions. This graphic novel builds on this world and provides some additional bits of information about the greater world that was not directly shown in the game.

I really like the ascetics and feel of Little Nightmares and part of its appeal is this sense of unknown, and the graphic novel does not spoil this, providing just enough information to get the reader more curious. For example, the comic books explain how the kids end up on The Maw, the fictional ship on which the game and its DLC takes place, but gives no additional details about the mysteries surrounding the Maw itself.

The graphic novel is beautifully illustrated with amazing artwork, in line with the graphic style of the game.

It is however important to mention that this graphic novel will not make sense to someone who has not played the game. It is very much a companion piece to the game and builds on the world that was established therein. But if you played Little Nightmares and loved the world it built then this will be a great read.

BOOK REVIEW – MASTERS OF DOOM BY DAVID KUSHNER

August 18, 2018August 18, 2018 KillerRoboticsBook, Book review, Doom, Game Development, ID Software, John Carmack, John Romero, Quake, Video Games, Wolfenstein 3D1 Comment

Masters of Doom tells the story of the formation of ID Software, one of the most influential companies in gaming. It focuses on the stories of the four founders, John Romero, John Carmack, Adrian Carmack and Tom Hall.

Covering everything from how and where they crew up, to how they got involved in game development, to how they met and started ID Software and eventually as most of them left ID Software, what came next for them.

The book covers everything from the early days when they worked at SoftDisk and started Ideas from the Deep (Later renamed to ID Software). Where they worked on Commander Keen and how they constantly evolved, creating revolutionary game after game, from Wolfenstein 3D to Doom to Quake, transforming the industry and what people thought possible along the way.

This book is by far my favourite video game related book, and I cautious writing any more regarding its contents out of fear of spoiling something. But if you are in any way interested in video games give this book a try. It is an amazing book and comes highly recommended.

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Adventures in Robotics, Development and Electronics.

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