Category: Musings

Random thoughts and posts

Monolith, gone but not forgotten

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The closing of Monolith Productions has saddened me.

I only played one of their games, F.E.A.R., briefly.
What I most remember them for is how they interacted with me back in the late 90s.

Back in middle school, in Home Ec. II, we were tasked with writing letters to a company we liked to ask them a question. I chose Microsoft.

I had inquired about a rumor about “Windows 97” and they responded they were working on a new version of Windows code-named Memphis, which would later be know as Windows 98.

They also included a CD with game demos, aptly named “Game for Windows 95”.

This demo disk used a 3D space station that you could explore and interact with to launch game demos and videos. I loved it.
It was like nothing I’d seen before and given my age and limited game exposure, it blew my mind.
It exposed me to other franchises I hadn’t known, and the station was so fun.

So, I wrote to the developers, Monolith.

Brian Goble answered my emails, which in hindsight I wish I could’ve kept. I was using AOL at the time and exporting was not an option.
Anyway, he wrote back and sent me the Monolith demo disc, along with the sequel demo disc “Games for Windows 95 2”.
I remember for the audio tracks on their demo disc, whenever they mentioned Brian Goble I got excited, “I know that guy!”.

I wrote Mr. Goble back and forth a few times and trailed off as my youthful attention pushed me to the next distraction. I treasured each message though. To think someone as cool as them took the time to respond to me was so uplifting.

I loved all 3 discs very much and poured through them over and over.

While they were lost to my childhood, I’ve thankfully gotten them back via the internet archive.
I still fire them up in a VM every now and then to relive some good memories.

When I heard the studio was closed my heart sank.
They have been making games for so long, and to see them shuttered so casually by WB, it was like a little bit of my core was shrunk and made cold.
They didn’t close up shop because of bad decisions on their part, or wind down to retire. They were just a line item in a budget to be axed.

I’m hoping they can all go on to lead happy lives, maybe even re-form under a new name should they be so inclined.

Mr. Goble, if you’re out there and read this, I wish you and your friends the best.
1, by 4, by 9.

Can’t upgrade to Windows 11 because your PC is too old?

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I meant to post this a while ago shortly after the Windows 11 release and never did. I still feel the same after all this time.

If you don’t remember the pains for the free and forced upgrade to Windows 10, please pause for a moment and read this through.
Yeah, it may seem like a hot take, but I promise I have a valid point.

Back when Windows 10 was released it was shoved down everyone’s throat. Nearly every PC that was alive got the upgrade, and this included PCs that barely met the requirements. We’re talking systems with ancient onboard graphics and 2GB of RAM.
It was generous to offer it way back to people with Windows 7, a decent attempt at an apology for Windows 8.

They, ran, awful. We were flooded with calls about terrible performance, broken drivers, and massive instability. Best answers were to roll back or get a new PC. Yeah Windows 8 wasn’t the best, but 10 was great (after a year….

Now with Windows 11 they have what many people consider high requirements. I call shenanigans. The specs they ask for cover any mid range PC made in the last few years. The only odd item is the TPM chip, but if it means PCs are more secure well then so be it.

I see countless people and business running PCs well past their useful lifespan and are the ones that I feel complain the most and tend to get compromised more often.

So we’re finally at a point where a line is drawn in the sand. It’s time to finally upgrade your stuff to something nice, and the best part is it will end up saving money in the long run.

I’ve seen many clients shave $50 off a pc to have half the ram, a painfully slow hard drive, or a terrible CPU. But they don’t think about how the $50 causes employees to have drastically reduced productivity. Start putting that math together. Those savings drops off immediately.

So please, if your system can’t take Windows 11, it’s time to rethink how you handle your tech.

Kids and their gaming of today and tomorrow

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My video game journey started on the Atari 2600. Almost unplayable by today’s standards, but it was all we had.

As I progressed through the various generations, each one blew me away.

The graphics, sounds and music, more complex game play mechanics. Then came the extensive replay factor turning a game you could play for hours into games that can be fun for weeks, month, even years later!

I wonder now what will blow the minds of the generation growing up on the Switch/Xbox series X/PS5 era.

I’m really hoping the developers are allowed to create wild and revolutionary experiences. I’m worried there’s too much concern about investors and not about the audience.

They deserve to feel that same sense of joy and wonder I had when the next line of consoles came out.

Dealing with conspiracies then and now

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There’ a disturbing amount of conspiracies racing around the internet but there’s almost always a common reaction to challenging them, and it’s the equivalent of a child plugging their ears and screaming.
Here’s a story of my encounter many years ago with one of those.

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A look back on my first home lab

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When I got my first real IT job I knew I wanted to learn more.
I was exposed to all sorts of new technologies and implementations I had never seen before.
However I quickly ran into a wall when I wanted to learn more; there wasn’t any real time for me to do so during work hours, and they weren’t keen on educating me (part of the reason I left).

After recycling gobs and gobs of old tech from clients I finally got my chance.

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I already have a backup, why do I need another?

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A common question, and I’m glad you’re aware you have backup and its importance!

With so many backup systems and options, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. So I’m going to break it down to the basics in order for you to make an informed decision!

The general rule of backups is to have at least 2 backups, one on-premise, and one offsite.
I won’t get into the details of best practices in this post, this more of a general understanding, we’ll dig in to the dirt later.

The main purpose of an on-premise backup system is for what is called a “rapid recovery”.
It’s cheap, relatively easy, and once the upfront costs are done, that’s it, no further investment, barring storage failure or upgrades.
These type of systems tend to store a lot of data, and can be very fast to restore a little, a lot, or all your data relatively quickly!
Relative to what? That will make sense shortly.

Now why wouldn’t you just want to go with the on-premise backup which is usually a “set it and forget it” type of system?
It’s the physical nature of it, it’s just as susceptible to risks mentioned below as your main systems.

The second kind of backup you’ll need is an off-site backup for the most dreaded type of restore, “disaster recovery”.
In the event of the worst happening to your equipment, let’s say a fire or natural disaster, your on-premise system went out along with it.
This has also helped out when the office is offline for an extended period, let’s say a week or more of power loss, but with just a little data you can keep afloat from home.

So why bother with on-premise, why not an off-site only option?
Sure it’ll cost more but now I don’t have to worry about losing my data anymore, right?
Eh, not exactly.
In the event of a large data loss that will require a lot of it to be restored, this can take a VERY long time depending on your setup.
Instead of the few hours an on-premise can have it done, it could take days to restore from off-site.

There’s also one other reason to have multiple backups.
No single solution is perfect.
Either system could experience a failure of some kind, or worse, become corrupted/infected.
Having different systems in place can negate that risk.

I’ll be creating posts in the future going over on-site and off-site backup systems, best practices, and other details.
Stay tuned!

Setting up a shared email account? Don’t build a house when you need a shed

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So my spam folder is flooded with a bunch of junk coming from various “info@whatever” email accounts.

Most likely, these are full blown email mailboxes set up for some kind of easy handling or processing, but not actively monitored or secured and were compromised.
If you’re looking to create an email address that’s just going to be used to re-direct messages, or for incoming only, don’t bother setting up a full blown account.

Services like Office 365 give you ability to create email addresses called “distribution lists”.
This email address will handle incoming mail and forward it to the appropriate persons in your organization.
You can also use a “shared mailbox” that can allow you to not only monitor it like a second account, but also store the emails, as a distribution list will only forward, not store.

There are some other features each can do, but the key is to restrict them.
If no one will be sending as “info@”, don’t give anyone the right to.
For shared mailboxes, disable their ability to sign in, since you’re not supposed to be signing in directly to it anyway.

Using those 2 types of email accounts gives you some incredible control and accountability.
Handling things like “info”, “sales”, etc., like this helps not only organize your communication flow, it helps keep your business secure.
The icing on the cake, those types of email accounts are free in Office 365!

Other emails services can offer similar features, some don’t offer anything except basic email accounts.
Talk to your IT provider/person or email provider and ask if they can help set those kinds of things up for you.

The silver lining of game piracy

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Before I start this article I want to make something very clear.
If a game is good, pay for it. Don’t just pirate it.


Good games aren’t made with magic that forms out of thin air.
It can some from a single person, or a massive team, but it all costs something. And whether they ask you up front, by donation, or paid DLC to a free game, considering putting a fair amount in to encourage more.

That being said, there is a good reason to pirate a game… preservation.

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Again?! I already explained this!

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A common procedure you’ll encounter when working with tech support is to show them whats going on.

Even though you already explained it to someone else; or went over it, sometimes in painstaking detail, in the ticket, they still want to see it again.

So annoying right?

Hear me out…

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From tone generators to an orchestra, video game music

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A video game can have amazing graphics, compelling story, and superb mechanics, but if the music falls flat, it can suck the life out of it.

My first exposure to games and the music within was on the Atari 2600.
It was incredibly short and simple, but they were still fun. As the years went on, it got more amazing.
The NES/Gameboy had tunes that I can still hear so fondly in my head.
During this whole time PC music was progressing from simple samples, to catchy MIDI compilations, and finally to the symphonies of today. Read More