Author: Karel Kerezman

  • Space Ninjas… Again

    Early last year we finished up our long-running family game session of Satisfactory, and as a follow-up we decided to give Warframe a try. Out of the three of us, Spud (my son) is the top-tier expert with all the goodies and lore and know-how. Nyx (my daughter) was a dabbler who had played the game a bit but didn’t have a lot of equipment, let alone much of the star chart (playable locations) unlocked.

    Me? I was somewhere in the middle. I’ve played the game off and on for years, giving up a few years ago when I realized I was never going to have the kind of skill at navigating 3D space in a looter-shooter game that it takes to really tackle serious challenges. But… given a dedicated team to run with, maybe I could manage to at least pull my weight more often than not? I agreed to try it out.

    And now, here we are, months later.

    Warframe video game screenshot: The "Xaku" frame painted in bright, clashing colors and sporting big feathery wings for no particularly good reason other than "it looks kind of neat."

    I admit, the game’s grown on me… with certain provisos.

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  • A Domain In Search Of A Project

    This morning I shut down and deleted the virtual server which was running the Matrix server I set up for family chats. (Think “Discord, but not run by a corporate entity.”) Nobody was using it, and if I hadn’t directly pinged the last two family members besides myself who had even looked at it I bet they wouldn’t have noticed for a while.

    I had the perfect domain name for it and everything. Now I just need to come up with another project to attach that name to… much the same as with several other domains that I’m absolutely not relinquishing which I want to do things with in the future.

    I’m better at building things than I am at building things people actually like, apparently.

  • Winter Anime 2025 (So Far)

    Kind of went a while without posting, didn’t I? Sailor V1, I suppose.

    I’m passing the time much as usual, with games (various mobile, plus Warframe and Satisfactory) and music and work and chores, but also this season I’m keeping up with more anime series than usual. (The usual is “one or two,” for the record.)

    Would you like some recommendations? Here’s what I’m enjoying so far.

    Still image from the anime series "From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated!" featuring the lead character, Grace, and the lead character, Kenzaburo. (It'll make sense if you watch the show.)
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  • Table This For Now

    It’s been a whole lot of years since I last owned a dining table.

    I should explain.

    When I moved out of the house, all those years ago, I moved into a townhouse with someone who already had a dining table, so I didn’t need to buy one. Then, when Vyx and I moved into the apartment nearly nine years ago, there wasn’t enough room to justify the wasted space when there was a perfectly functional “bar counter” setup that we could just sit a couple of barstools in front of. Which is what we did!

    And then we moved. After nearly a year in this house, which has a similar “bar counter” but without the convenient overhang to make barstool sitting practical, it was time to procure a solution.

    A bar-style dining table flanked by barstools. On its surface are the assembly instructions, a pair of reading glasses, and a screwdriver.
    How it’s going.

    And so, here we are.

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  • Satisfactory: Logistics Floors Rock

    It’s been an entire month since my last Satisfactory post, hasn’t it? Not that I haven’t been playing, it’s just that I haven’t done anything particularly noteworthy. I haven’t picked up any more strange bomb-shaped gifts, don’t worry! I’ve just been chugging away, making progress toward nuclear power.

    (What’s that, you ask? What about the Turbofuel plant? Have I maxed that out yet? Of course I haven’t. Never mind, though! It’s time for the new and the shiny!)

    To that end, I needed a factory that can churn out a sufficient quantity of something called an Electromagnetic Control Rod. Today I completed that factory… and actually put a roof and some walls & windows on it, even.

    Satisfactory video game screenshot: Atop a coastal bluff sits a factory, several floors high, wrapped in concrete and glass. Along the water runs a dual-carriageway train line.

    The details of the factory itself aren’t that interesting. What I want to highlight is the use of logistics floors.

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  • Magician: Choose Your Fighter

    I’m through the back half (or second installment, if you prefer) of Raymond E Feist’s Magician and boy, do I have thoughts. Some of these thoughts are holdovers from the first half that were too much entwined with what I knew was yet to come, so they’re getting added to the pile.

    Let’s get into it. And, fair warning before you proceed: While I’m going to do my best not to give away the whole story in case you decide to pick this up to read later, I can’t discuss some of the high points (and pain points) without revealing a few things in the process. Sorry.

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