CatStop

http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=59764&cat=2,51555&ap=1



Hello again! First day I've had off since returning from the trip up North for Christmas with the family. A great time had by all, and it always feels too short.

This here, this is something that I absolutely had to have for my garden this year. We just moved into our house not that long ago so there's still a few kinks to work out. One of these is that the backyard (especially the part I want to put my garden in) has quite a few cats wandering around through it. I don't want to grow my food in cat poop, there's very good hygienic reasons for it. I'm sure a good chunk of them are neighbours' "outdoors cats" so live traps or anything that would hurt them is out of the question. I have thought of trapping them and relocating them to Scarborough but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be legal. Regardless I spent a bit of time doing research and settled on this option and laid it pretty thick on to my wife - so guess what showed up for Christmas!

It's close to $60 so it had better work. Essentially it has a heat sensor, an ultrasonic emitter and a 9 volt battery. If a critter comes too close it sends a sound out that's supposed to scare them off. Haven't tried it yet due to the snow and work... but when I saw this online I just had visions of me standing by the window drinking coffee cackling madly while watching these cats approach and then run in terror.

Will post on how it works later on!

Merry Christmas!!!

Holidays

Hello everyone! I'm partway through a visit to my parents' home for Christmas. The entire family is here, even my brother the doctor who is very very busy practicing in NY. I think it has been maybe a year and a half since I've seen him last... It is always a smidge awkward with him here since it starts off being pleasant usually and after a few days he starts getting restless and being harder to be around. I think it had something to do with wanting his space, but I'd never ask him since questions like that would start a fight.

Anyways it is a good happy time with everyone here. I'm just thankful everyone is doing well.

Happy holidays!

Atomic Creep Spawner

Here's another interesting one. Heroes invade your dungeon, you spawn enemies to combat the hero. Your points to spawn enemies goes up as the hero causes damage to the dungeon. More of an arcadey clicker than anything strategic.
Also not anything that's going to keep you involved for more than half an hour, but it is a neat diversion while it lasts.

http://deepnight.net/games/ld25-atomiccreepspawner/

(Tie One Woman to a Train Track and Suddenly) I'm the Badguy

I saw this one posted on a few games blogs that I follow and thought it looked promising. It plays exactly like it looks: You're the Snidely Whiplash looking green follow with a top hat who captures and ties up women to train tracks. Trains come regularly and squish the ladies. Occasionally heroes come and try to stop you and free the ladies. The game as a whole works very well in an old-school way and I really like the package. Recommended to try (especially since it's free!)!

http://www.sharkarmstudios.com/2012/12/tie-one-woman-to-train-track-and.html

A Large Day

I haven't had much to say over the past couple days partly due to my being stressed out beyond belief regarding the upcoming PEBC results being posted - then they went up and I passed! I feel a lot of relief, and even though I knew I probably passed (since I barely didn't last time and did better preparation this time around) there's so much riding on this it couldn't help but weigh heavily on me. What a relief! I was so stressed out that even now that I know there's nothing to stress about I still feel it.

My first action after making all the calls to family/friends and going for a jog? Replacing my windshield. I was driving on the 401 on my way to work two days ago and a fist sized stone got kicked up by a transport in front of me. It started off small but has since gotten to be about 5 inches long, if I'm going to be using this car again to get to work this needs to get fixed.

The de-stressing continues... I really need to get jogging

Penumbra Overture

After finishing Super Meat Boy (finally - well, finished relatively speaking... just the light world) I've been on the fence as to what to play next. I've had this one on my steam account for years now after finding the shareware release interesting back in the day and am just now getting to it. It's held up surprisingly well in my view. The graphics are good, but a bit dated now. I don`t mind so much but some would. The sound is really what draws me into it... especially since there are many audio cues you need to listen for regarding potential predators and threats. The level design is pretty good too, along with related puzzles. I`ve been challenged but not held back at all. Of note is that there aren`t a ton of enemies to fight so you do get lulled into a sense of safety. Your combat skills are limited, and the interface for that part of it could use some work. I can`t count the times so far where I`ve wanted to swing a hammer when a dog`s attacking me and the game just won`t let me. Meanwhile my character gets killed and I get to look at the game over screen listening to that dog munch on my corpse. Thankfully the combat isn`t a large part of the game but it is there for better or worse. The writing for the text given on certain loading screens is well done as well, and is reminiscent of Lovecraft`s writing.

I`m not finished it yet (please no spoilers) - just chipping away at it and hoping that the rest of the game holds up to the first portions of it that I`ve played through.