2011, the year of rebirth, and so much more...

It's that time of the year. The time when you look back at the last 12 month and assess what you've accomplished, what you weren't able to do, and weigh all of that. Looking back, 2010 wasn't as bad as I imagined it. I was happily surprised that I had actually written more posst in 2010 than I had the previous year.
Nevertheless, its a far cry from what I had done in 2008, the year where I created the EVE Blogroll, the Blog Pack and the Blog Banter. I guess that's what having a full time job and kids does to you! I could go on and tell you about the number of posts I did, or the comments that they generated. I could also look at the total number of pageviews, or visitors that the blog had, but that's not the purpose of this post.

What I want to focus on right now, is the future. The future of this blog, as well as the future of my gameplay. Blogwise, I want to refocus this blog on EVE Online, with more guides, more updates on what I'm doing in-game, more focus on what the conversation is in the EVE Blogsphere, or the TweetFleet. I probably will continue posting non-EVE related material, but I want enough EVE-focused posts that it will seem more like an "EVE Blog", rather than a "Geek Blog"! See what I did here! :p.

Of course the EVE Blog Banters will continue, and I'll certainly try to give you a better heads-up, as well as participate more so than I have recently done. The New Eden Chronicles podcast with @MaeveTrinity, @Ardwulf and @Memoocan_NEC will continue as well (on a side note, we're still waiting for Apple to get its act together and list the podcast on iTunes). So please let us know your thoughts and requests!

I also want to put more focus on my gameplay and relate to you what I'm currently doing in-game. That's something I used to do years ago, but had stopped to put more focus on the EVE Community. I'd like to share that with you again.

I still have a bit of catch-up to do on my emails. So if you've written to me about getting added to the EVE Blog Pack, or for some specific request, do not despair. I WILL REPLY to you!

So here's to 2011, year of rebirth, year of focus! And thanks for sticking around for so long. Your company has been a treasure of inspiration!

Fly safe!

Going planetside for a short while...

As I write this, all are asleep in the CK household. In less then 4 hours we'll be heading for the airport, leaving for a region of our blue dot where the sun shines and the air is humid. And for the next 7 days, I will have no access to the hassle and bustle of the Intertubes.
Unfortunately, the things I had planned to do before leaving are left unfinished. The winners of the Women of EVE have yet to be chosen, the next Blog Banter, which I wanted to do for EVE's 7th anniversary, is left in limbo. So much to do, so little time to do it in!

But do not despair, I shall return to New Eden, to its hyperactive Community and shall finish what was started, continue what needs to be worked on, and put in motions what has yet to see the day.

See you shortly my friends!

The end is the beginning of something new...

I have played. I have blogged. I have podcasted. I have done all those things and more. I have lived through the day and seen the shadow of night set its blanket over the horizon. But I have seen the light. I know that a new dawn lies ahead of the darkness of night. And it will rise again.

He who has never fallen, will never know the meaning of standing.

Okay, cut the romantic prose, and get to the point you may be asking. What the hell is he talking about?

I'm talking about this blog. About the game. And mostly about continuity.

I've been blogging about gaming and EVE Online for over 4 years now. At first it was a minimal; a post a month. Then I got more into it. Then it became a habit. Then a passion.

But when you pour your heart and soul into something you eventually run the risk of forgetting what it is you were doing in the first place, and why you were doing it. And the it all comes crashing down.

Then they start to point the finger at you. They start to say that you're a quitter. That it's the beginning of the end.

Then you say the hell with'em! You raise a knee and push your self back up, and dust your self up. You look around. See what you've accomplished and get back on the train.

You may think I'm writing this to explain myself. To justify my absence. I'm not. I'm simply standing back up, dusting myself, and getting back on the train.

Life's not planned. It throws curved balls at you. Some you're able to avoid, some not. But you go on. You persevere.

Blogging is similar.

The end is the beginning of something new... ...it's good to be back!

EVE Blog Banter #4: The Game with the Thousand Faces

Welcome to the fourth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by yours truly. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!
This month's EVE Blog Banter comes to us from Manasi of A Mule in EvE. Manasi asks "How do we, EVE bloggers, adapt to changes as they are thrust upon us (speed changes, no more ghost training, all the Dev blogs, etc), or as our lives make playing the game different (more time, less time)?"

Here's my attempt to answer question.

Life, ever changing, always in evolution. And so it is with gaming. Even more so with EVE.

I've been playing EVE Online for almost 5 years now, and over the years so many changes were incorporated into the game that it would most likely feel completely alien if we were to jump back into the game as it was in 2003-2004. And I'm not talking about the content like new ships, new modules, new missions and what not. No, even the way we play the game has changed. Any of you old timers remember the dozens of bookmarks we had per system in order to jump at 0 km near a gate or station.

The list could go on and on and on.

You still with me here?

As with many EVE Bloggers the end of the year has seen me very busy with RL (and work). I'm writing this during my lunch break, while at work. Over the last few days, I've managed to get a few hours in EVE, but at the price of not making last Friday's EVE Speedlinking post. A guy can have some fun n'est-ce pas?
No worries though, as I've decided to post the last speedlinking post of the year this week, on the last day of 2008.

Looking back at my posts over the last year, I've decided to focus a bit more on my game play over the coming year. I'll try to get back to a more personal point of view with EVE as I really enjoyed the feedback I got. Of course, I will continue maintaining the EVE Blogroll, Blog Pack and Blog Banter, as well as get back to a regular schedule for my podcasts.

Expect to see more daily posts over the next few weeks!

See you in space!

Some much needed rest

I haven't posted much since my return from Fanfest so I wanted to give you a bit of an update as to what I currently working on.
Those who already follow me on Twitter know that over the last few weeks I've been busy with job interviews. I'm happy to report that I've accepted a position as a MediaVantage Sales Specialist for CNW Group, where I'll be starting in December. A lot of my time right up to Fanfest had been dedicated to finding employment. It's now a done deal!

On the gaming and blogging side of things, I've got lots of things planned in the near future. YoMma and I will be recording the next (4th) episode of MicroWarpCast later tonight, and Crovan and I are scheduled to record the 17th episode of The Drone Bay next Sunday night. So look for those shows soon.

I'm also getting ready to send an email for the next EVE Blog Banter which I'd like to get published by end of next week. Additionally, I've missed the last 2 week-end's EVE Blog Pack Member profile posts and well have to remedy that as well.

As for my gameplay, I've spent some time playing Mass Effect and other games since my return from Iceland, but really spent most of my free time wasting it in front of the TV. I've been really tired the last 2 weeks and need some time-off.

Now that I'm well rested, expect a lot in the coming days!

Fly safe!

Under the weather...

Sorry for the lack of posts folks, but with a one year-old going to day care, we get our share of bugs at home.

Last week-end my wife was sick with what seemed like gastroenteritis. This week-end was my daughters turn, and now, having spent the day at home to take care of her until she can return to daycare, I'm now feeling under the weather myself.

Hopefully, a good night rest, vitamins and some good old orange juice, I should be back shortly.

Till then check these old posts and let me know what you think!

• 21 EVE Online acronyms for newbies
• My extensive EVE Online wish list
• My best EVE Online screenshots
• 12 sites for every new EVE Online Player
• EON Magazine - Table of Content
• Time enough to fly!
  

Fly safe!

Week-end Wrap-Up

Well, tonight ends a 4-day week-end for me. Officially I was working from home on Friday and took the day off today since our little one's daycare was closed. What actually ended-up happening was me working part time on both days!

Game wise, I did some missions on two of the last 4 nights, having returned to Khanid Prime late last week. Not much else. Otherwise the guys and I have just recorded episode 4 of The Drone Bay podcast (the 5th one) and it should be out by end of week.

On that, I still have a few things to do for work, so this will short and sweet.

Fly safe!

How I survived a month without EVE Online & lived to tell about it!

No, I'm not dead!

Far from it!

I'm completely healthy as a matter of fact.

But I haven't played EVE since the Xmas holidays (and haven't blogged since the 5th). Well except to change skills that is; but that doesn't count as playing in my book. That's just a necessary evil. But I never planned to stop for a month. It just happened. I got busy with getting ready for CES - which was a worked related attendance (not to say that I didn't the gadgets and all). Then, I was trying to get back to speed with everything that waited for me at work when I got back. Then the usual follow-up. I even put aside my EON issue when I got it, and will actually go through it for the first time this week-end.

Next thing you know, a month had gone by, and friends started getting worried.

But, I'm back. Back to my regular game play. Back to posting on a regular basis.

Back to New Eden! Home, sweet Home...

Here are some of the idea for articles that I'll be exploring over the next few weeks:

• Review of "The Art of EVE", as promised way back when...
• EON #10 Table of Content
• Review of my character's 33 million skill points allocation
• Revisit of my EVE wish list
• Review of the last year (posts, traffic, highlights, etc.)
• New polls

And many more.

Glad to be back!

Time enough to fly

The last few weeks have been so busy that I've barely had time to spend playing EVE. A while back I had a poll on the number of hours one spends playing EVE in a week. The poll is still up there (on the top right). The idea had come after reading a great article from Robin Torres over at Massively entitled "Gamer Interrupted: You can be a great parent, spouse and gamer".
As a new dad, I'm currently struggling to find the right schedule for me. One where I'm able to dedicate as much of my time to my daughter, to my wife, to work, while finding time to play EVE and enjoy my other hobbies. It hasn't been easy and I'm still working on that schedule. As a result, EVE time has been going down lately. Before becoming a dad, I used to play EVE a good 20-30 hours a week with relative ease. These day it's more like 5-10, and the last two weeks even less. True that it's the end of the year, and I'm swamped at work. So I'm hopeful things should calm down soon and I should be able to get back to a more normal pace.

As for EVE, and the new Trinity upgrade, I took these shots last night, after finally being able to sit a few hours and enjoy the new graphics. There should be more of these soon, as well as an update on the Rags to Richies contest. I owe you one Drew!

The Post-a-Day EVE Online challenge!

I here by declare the month of August challenge open. For the next 31 days, I, CrazyKinux, of sound mind and body, promise to write one EVE Online related post everyday. And whom ever is crazy enough to follow me in this path of utter creative behavior is more then welcome to do so - this goes out to you The Ancient Gaming Noob, /random, Random Battle, One Tired EvE Pilot, Morphisat, Kill Ten Rats, Just a Girl and Her Thorax, Hardcore Casual and EVE-Pirate!

Summer time is often a difficult time for me to blog on a regular basis. The weather here in Montreal, Canada, is quite nice and I try to spend as much time as possible outside, which is not conducive to gaming and neither to blogging. So in order to kick start August, I've given myself the goal to write 31 posts over the next month.

Now these posts will be of various length, some long, some short and some even shorter! But in the end I want to see at least 31 posts, and one everyday would be ideal.

Over the course of the month, I will need help, from you the reader. I would find it very motivating if everyone would comment as much as possible. So there lies your part in this challenge. Try to keep me motivated with your comments.

Let's see where this gets us!

I'm back!!!

After a long break from EVE and gaming, I'm back. I should start posting again on a regular basis now that my schedule is under control. Having a child does that to you.

Long live the gamer in me!!

What you never knew about...

Me! In response to Ethic's recent post over at Kill Ten Rats, here's a list of five items you probably never knew about me.

1. I'm French Canadian, and English is a second language to me. Even though you'd never guess with such a family name, English was something I learned at school, not at home. And yes, that means I speak French at home. I live in Quebec, Canada where French is the official language.
2. I learned English while living in Jamaica as a 10 year old. Yeah man! We only stayed for a year, then dad got transferred back to Montreal. And since then, I've been reading, speaking and writing in Shakespeare's tongue.
3. My first computer was an Apple IIe. Man did I love that machine, and almost had a heart attack when I learned that folks had thrown in the garbage a few years ago. I still dream about it.
4. I became a "real" gamer only 6 years ago. I used to have Macs before, and even though I used to work for Big Blue, I did not have a PC. Then, after buying my first PC, I installed Diablo II. The rest is history. Though I'm writing this on a PowerBook G4, my home PC runs XP (and soon Vista).
5. My wife and I are expecting our first child within the next few days! Hello fatherhood. They say Gamer Dads are the best!

Well there you have it. Now you know a bit more about moi! What about you? Let me know with a quick comment.

Happy New Year!

I wish you all of a very happy new year, lots of gaming fun, be it on the PC, or your respective console, be it in an FPS, RTS, MMORPG or other genre.

May this new year bring us better games, new genres or genre defining games, new and forward thinking initiatives from all publishers, big AND small.

Good luck to the new MMORPGs that will see the day this year, and here's to the current ones. Cheers cheers!! These last ones, may you see your subscriptions and revenues grow, may we see new players join the fun and fury - not just migrate from another game - and lets have more fun today than yesterday, and less than tomorrow!!

As for myself, I hope to find the time to play as much as I want to, knowing that this year will be full of surprises!! Indeed folks, this is the year that I shall become a father! And if I believe the press, I shouldn't worry at all about my parenting skills, au contraire!

In preparation for the grand arrival, I've started playing old and new games which I can stop at any given moment (blessed be the PAUSE): Halo 2, 1701 A.D. and Dungeon Siege II. Though I still plan to spend a good amount of time in EVE, sometimes PVP missions simply won't be possible for this big daddy.

I'll let you know how things go when the time comes. In the mean time, I would appreciate any advice. So if you're a gamer dad, or gamer mom, and can still balance your gaming need with your responsibility of parenthood, then please feel free to dispense your advice.

I'll be more than happy to listen!

Been busy lately...

Spring. Time of the year where life emerges from the dark and cold places it's been hiding all winter long. The time where terraces re-open on the sunny side of streets, where beer starts to flow more freely, and where people start to do stuff outside in the open for a change.

In these times, my PC, gaming buddy for the last few months, doesn't see as much action. It stays in standby mode longer then usual, its fan keep quiet for whole evenings at a time and it just doesn't get the respect it deserves.

But do not worry. Things will settle down and rain will cool this spring fever soon enough. Next thing you know, I'll be back to my ol'tricks, gettting a tan from my CRT.

See you soon!

Robots: amazing video of ASIMO running

I saw ASIMO 2 or 3 years ago, at a science center in the Old Port of Montreal. Let me tell you that seeing a human-like robot move around like a small child is very impressive. It feels bizarre, scary, and exciting all at the time. This clip will show you exactly what I mean.

Last I saw ASIMO, it did not run, but could walk, climb stairs, and do other balancing act. I'm sure Isaac Asimov would have been interested in ASIMO as well. Enjoy!

It's been a while...

Since I've been back from Vegas, things have been quite busy with RL and work, and though I have drafted a dozen or so article to complete, I haven't had the time to finish and post them. So expect the next few days to be quite busy in posting.

I've got a few posts on EVE Online, some on Vista and a few odd ones on gaming and other matters.

More posts coming up in the next few days...

Wow, how time flies!

Currently, that's the one thing I'm missing: TIME. With a fulltime job, a university class, planning a wedding and honeymoon (with my lovely fiance), I can barely find time to play EVE, let alone post. But that can't go on for too long!

School wise, things have quieted somewhat, so I'll be making updates, posts and all within the next few days. And boy, is there a lot of activity these days - GDC, Gaming conferences, new sites, news et al.

And I absolutely need to find time to play more. Since I've introduced a couple of friends to EVE a few months ago, they've been playing way more, and accumulating way more wealth and knowledge of the game. It's become our little joke - well their's anyway!

So stay tuned, watch for more links, more posts and more screenshots, in the next few days and from now on.

Cheers!