Other


Concerning the future


Koholint is in for a change. The picture you see with this article is the embryonic stage of these changes. This summer, Koholint will cease to exist as you currently know it. In its place shall be BossKey, a community and blog built specifically to encourage thoughtful conversation and a friendly atmosphere. That description indeed sounds familiar; it’s essentially what Koholint has been all along. However, there are two words you should notice: built and thoughtful.

BossKey will be built to our needs as a community. In my endless search for the perfect CMS (content management system - the software that runs the site), I have discovered there is no such thing as “perfect” in any freely available package. We will instead build our own software using a coding package called Zend Framework. This project is possible thanks to my dear college friend Suzanne who has graciously offered her time. You’ll want to remember her name, since she will be an important part of the new site as well. Thanks to her dedication and expertise, BossKey will be exactly the site our community needs.

Koholint’s goal has been to bring interesting news and opinions to the community. BossKey will provide the same, but its articles will be written in a way unlike the places from which Koholint regurgitated news. Suppose I want to tell members about LA Noire. On Koholint, I would write about its amazing facial animations and how they allow you as a player to experience a game somewhere between Phoenix Wright and Grand Theft Auto. On BossKey, I would specifically detail the newly developed technology that allows for those facial animations and extrapolate on what it means for the future of games, or I might discuss the potential new genre birthed by this game and its amazing faces. Later, there might be a separate article reviewing LA Noire, informed by thorough analysis of the game and research into the development process and film noir. Without trying to sound too pretentious, I have rededicated myself to the pursuit of writing. Quality reigns over quantity.

There's far more to read on the full page!

The future of Koholint

On August 22, I will be leaving for Japan, and I will not return for at least 7 months. I’m working for the Heart School, which is based primarily in the Kanto region (which includes Tokyo). I currently do not know where I will be staying or teaching, but I do know where and when orientation is, at least. My goal in Japan is to become completely fluent in Japanese, and ultimately pass a standardized test called the JLPT2.

The extent to which Japan will affect my involvement with this site is still unclear, as I do not know my daily schedule. I do know that my hours will be flipped, and I may have more regular contact with European friends than American. Come October, FFXIV will have been released, and this site will take on the role of organizational forum for whatever community we build there. If I have a lot of downtime, I would like to start learning advanced CSS and PHP practices, which will help me fix all those little problems with the site.

I’d also like to take a moment to officially welcome the survivors of the Vegapunk forums. I know a lot of you had already found your way here, and I appreciate that. Please feel free to invite any of the other regulars here, as they’re more than welcome. I say that not only wanting to draw new visitors, but because I miss them!

A small list of what’s in store for the site in the near future is after the jump.

Graduated

Hey everyone. It's been a while, if I haven't spoken to you recently. If I have, then I guess it hasn't been a while. Sorry to lie like that, then.

I just graduated. From college. I am really proud of myself. I have come to realize that this is an extremely important year in my life, and the things I do now will shape the entire direction of my life. And so far, I've been wasting time at my mom's apartment, doing absolutely nothing worthwhile. Before I continue, those nothing things are:

"Doctor Who" - Season 5 started a little while ago, and it's been interesting, at least. The new companion is the best of the series, and the new Doctor is pretty fun, just not entirely the Doctor I'd like. Some shit just went down that has my mind blown still.

"Big Bang Theory" - Just had its 3rd season finale. This show actually came to my attention before I graduated, and I watched all of it then. It is also dumb, but still amusing. Worth a shot. It's rare that a show has so many good characters. Now, if only the plot was as good...

"My Name is Earl" - All four seasons of this show are on Netflix Instant Watch. It is not particularly spectacular, but it is amusing. The first two seasons are the best. I'm a little surprised it got canceled, as I've seen worse shows go longer.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Bought this the other day, wanting to play a game, but not wanting to approach Mass Effect again for the hundredth time (I'll get back to it later). Once I complete the game, I'll post a review, but I can say now that it has been amazing. People say that it's really just Galaxy again, as though Galaxy were made into a longer game. It's kind of true, in a way, except you would also need to imagine that Galaxy never existed, then this game came out. Of course, it did, so every little problem is smoothed over, and made awesome. I'm not actually in love with the game. But, with Mario games, I get in this mood to collect every little item, and can't stop until I do, and this game is making that quite fun. Better than the first one, for sure.

"Invader Zim" - The first season is on Netflix. It's not as funny as I remember.

"The World's Fastest Indian" - Just watched this movie last night on Instant Watch, and I absolutely loved it. Anthony Hopkins is one of the greats, but it seems like his skill is put to waste so often (Bad Company, Zorro, etc.). In this surprisingly low-budget indie film, you see him at his best. The story is uplifting, and provides many moments for our dear actor to pull you through a full spectrum of emotions. There is tangible fear for the man's safety and true happiness for his success. So good.

Scott Pilgrim - There's a movie coming this August starring Michael Cera called "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World." For me, the trailer was out of nowhere, shown before Iron Man 2 (which was also quite good), and seemed like another stupid Michael Cera as Michael Cera movie. The friend I saw Iron Man 2 with quickly informed me that the movie was based on a recent comic series. On his recommendation, I just started reading it, and boy, is it awesome. I read through the first volume dubiously after being hooked by just the preview on the site, then ordered every volume in the series from Amazon. I'll probably give it a full article sometime soon - once I read the rest.

So that's the random media I've been enjoying. Read on for more about my -life-.