(Working Title) Titanic

So, I'm working up a new multi-player game, and I'm in need of help to come up with more meat on its bones.  So far, the idea is just a working demo for showing off at the Digital Fruit LAN parties, and if the game gets to completion soon, it will probably be given away as a prize for the victors at tournaments (of other games, of course).

Main premise so far, the Titans: Giant monolithic dragon deities aligned with the force of nature they control, or reek havoc on.  Your goal, ally yourself with your chosen deity and fight to bring about its will, or defend it's morals against assailants.  Includes as playable characters: monster races, barbarians, holy knights(Paladin and Templar), undead, and forest dwellers.  Also working on a race of nomadic drifters, but that may or may not make it in.

Any suggestions are welcome, criticism is not.  This project is already underway, and telling me it contrite and cliché will not change how it goes.  Thank you for participating.

Problems for Linux Numbers (But Not Really)

I was checking the statistics of this very blog yesterday through blogger, and I noticed something strange.  The number of Linux users that visits the blog has gone down.  Now, this only perplexed me for a moment, as the answer to the puzzle was also right in front of my eyes, but what do think was the cause?

Well, the cause is that Blogger's statistics are now counting Ubuntu as a seperate and distinct operating system.  And as I see it, this can only benefit the Linux community as a whole.  Yes, it does mean there might be some naming confusion, like how people think Android is different from Linux, but all in all, it means enough people are using a Linux product to set it apart from the nearly thousands of Linux distributions floating around out there.

Now mind you, this is mostly an opinion piece, but it is the opinion of someone who isn't a Linux user on principal, but because it actually does what I need it to better than the competition.  And Ubuntu is something that the more attention it gets, the better it gets.  So, as I said, I think this is a good sign for the Linux community that Ubuntu is getting recognized as a separate system.  Maybe it will get people over the stigma of "using Linux".

Small Business Seminar

Digital Fruit is working on setting up a small business seminar sometime in the near future.  The seminar will cover free or low cost technologies to help small businesses grow.  The admittance fee will be twenty dollars.

Digital Fruit Stands against SOPA & PIPA

Along with the blackout of Wikipedia, the blackout doodle on Google.com, and Mozilla's remarks on the Firefox homepage, I would like Digital Fruit to be counted with the rest of our internet allies in the fight against the horrible legislation standing before congress and the senate.  These two bills, SOPA & PIPA, strive to seg a legal standard that practically screams of George Orwell's 1984.  These bills aren't about copyright violations, they are about the control of ghe flow of information.  They establish a system where a select few get to decide what is and what isn't on the internet, without the consent of the people.  That is the kind of oppression this country was founded to prevent.  Don't just sit by and let it happen again.

So, I would prompt you, if you are a resident of Aberdeen, or anywhere in the United States, contact your state representative, and tell them to vote NO on both the SOPA and PIPA.

LAN Party Tomorrow

LAN party tomorrow, at 8:30pm.  Be there or be square.

Product Pick: QR Code Reader

So, I'm not going to waste a lot of time here, because there is definitely a lot of time to waste.  There are so many QR code readers out there, and all of them seem to think you need this amazing plethora of features you will never use.  That in mind, my pick automatically goes to Google Goggles.

This lightweight and easy to use QR reader is the fastest I've seen.  I tried it out against the Best Buy product reader app, and QR Droid, the two previous android readers I used, and neither could hold a candle to it.  Its just amazingly fast.  Which is great when you're trying to read a QR code on the fly.

Also, the Google Goggles app has an added feature that actually made my reader experience more secure.  From what I've read, there is only one other major market reader that has this feature, but Goggles actually previews what the web address is that you are being taken to, so you can actually check it out and make sure it isn't some seed place that will infect your phone with malware

So overall, the Google Goggles app gets a five fruit rating, because it was an amazing improvement over the garbage I had to suffer through before.

Working on Our Presence

So, this is a quick request to the people who visit here.  We at Digital Fruit are trying to increase our web presence, and could use the help of any of our readers.  I know its sneaky, but we are trying to up the number of hits we get on the Digital Fruit website, so if it isn't a nuisance, make http://www.digitalfruit.biz your homepage.  Thanks

Bad Signs

So, I've been paying attention and doing some research, and also some remembering.  I've been remembering two singular events in US history, that may have just been related.

Now, its hard to argue the point anymore that video games are the high point of entertainment, and that they are usually the first things cut when people can't afford something new.  That just sounds like common sense.

But what happens when people can't afford things like video games over the course of  a long period of time?  The industry sags.  And that is exactly what happened in the early eighties in the US.  I think its happening again.  There are a lot of symptoms that match up, so you might not even expect.  A resurgence in PC gaming for one.  And the seeming "health" of the current gaming industry, where just about anyone can be a developer.  All of these are similar to the gaming crash of 82.

New Year

So the new year has begun, and that means its time for resolutions.  And Digital Fruit has as a few of it's own this year, too.

For the year 2012, Digital Fruit plans to complete the Digital Fruit radio to version 1.0, and get it's first java-based game up on the video games page.  We will also get the shop up and running and get our first retail offerings up on the site.  So, look forward to it.