So, I'm a Broke-Ass Chump. :P

Here is a button. The button does cool things. (Explanation forth-coming. I did this on spur-of-the moment because a friend expressed interest.)
Explanation, copy-pasta'd cause I'm lazy. :P
Hey guys, just wanted to post a quick update, and apologize for the lack in content, lately. I hope to get episode 7 of Drew's SMP Adventures recorded in the near future.
On a slightly-serious note. I'm considering my current PC, and how outdated it is, and find myself longing for something slightly more powerful. I already have a spare computer sitting around, that would serve as a nice temporary replacement, with a few parts. Estimated cost to get it running would be about $100, which includes a new motherboard, and some RAM. Given my current situation, finding that much extra money would be difficult.
Current:
Intel Pentium 4 2.6GHz w/ HyperThreading
2GB DDR 400 RAM
GeForce 6200 w/ 512MB VRAM
Upgrade:
AMD Athlon X2 2.2GHz Dual-Core
4GB DDR 400 RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4350 w/ 1GB VRAM
I have all the parts, aside from the 4GB of RAM, and the motherboard has several bulged capacitors, which cause the entire system to hard shut down at random. I've priced the replacement board at roughly $50 USD, plus another $50 for the RAM. If anyone could consider donating, it would help me to continue producing my LP, and perhaps start a couple other projects.

UPDATE: Success! My good friend "MagickEh" just donated the e-bucks I needed for the motherboard. Now, the only (somewhat optional) component left is the 4GB RAM. Between my current PC, and spare modules I have scattered around, I can probably load it up to 3GB, so this doesn't have to happen any time soon. I'll leave all the info here, however, and be sure to mention it in my next LP, with special thanks.

Hnggh!

So.... Yeah... A whopping 4 months has passed since I last took ten minutes to put something in here. In that time, things have changes, but also stayed pretty much the same. I'm still working at previously mentioned job, and things on that end are going well. I'm also working on some of the same hobbies I have previously. On that note:

Shameless Plug #1: New YouTube Channel

Some stuff happened, and I had a momentary herpdy derp moment, wherein I decided it was a good idea to delete my entire YouTube channel. Yeah... I have nothing good to say about that. Nothing at all. However, I've started back from square one, and have a new channel. Things are still a bit bare, right now, but I can assure you that content will start to appear in due time.

A lot of the focus for this channel is going to be Minecraft SMP, now that Better Than Wolves mod is compatible in a multiplayer environment. I play a great deal on the Edolas server, which is whitelisted, and fairly strict in terms of who gets in. I have no control over the whitelist. </disclaimer>

Shameless Plug #2: I wrote some stuff

Another time-sink I've been investing myself in from time-to-time has been a peice of fanfiction, based on the Harry Potter Universe. The story, Harry Potter and the Concept of Freedom, is a direct continuation from the end of Deathly Hallows, wherein Harry must now come to grips with life beyond saving the world, while still being asked to save the world. I won't spoil anything. Read it, if you're into that sort of thing, and be sure to leave a review and follow the story for updates. I have a pretty detailed plot laid out in my brain, and I'm estimating that it could be upwards of 40(!!) chapters long before all is said and done. Once it is done, I'll likely publish a full-quality, free PDF, with some added stuff, here and there.

So, yeah, that's all I have for today. Here's hoping I don't forget to post again before the next 4 months goes by. If not, see you around next January.

Breaking the Silence

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I'm absolutely terrible at keeping things like this blog up-to-date. Youtube subscribers will also notice that I haven't uploaded a video for several weeks, as well. There are reasons for this sudden abscense, one of which is a much-needed relief to myself.

As of April 13th, I was informed that I had been offered a temp-to-hire position as an IT Consultant with a growing company in my area. The pay is excellent, and the company has a great atmosphere. I'm glad to finally have the opportunity to do something that I enjoy, and make an honest living in the process. I won't go into further details of what it is that I do, as I have always been very careful about revealing personal information to the internet.

However, with my new-found employment, my spare time is greatly diminished. Hence, I've been forced to temporarily place Drew's Empire Resurrection on hold, until I can save up to rent an apartment slightly closer to my office. Once that is taken care of, I'll see if I can resume the series for Season 3. Better Than Buildcraft, now in the hands of Better Than Wolves forum member Gilberrke, is now updated to version 3.26, for Minecraft 1.2.5, and while compatibility with some of the addons I had previously used (such as Additional Pipes) is no longer available, I'm looking forward to finding an opportunity to play around with the new release.

I've also been playing a few other games. I just purchased Oblivion on Steam for under $13, complete with expansions. My first exposure to The Elder Scrolls was with Morrowind, and it seems that Oblivion is equally, if not moreso, expansive and daunting in the amount there is to do. I've only just gotten started, so I may fire up FRAPS and record a chunk of footage for the hell of it.

Another interesting thing to note. I had recorded some Minecraft footage to explain everything that I've just put into this post, but it seems that YouTube is being uncooperative. Uploading the footage, I am told that the video is too long, which is rather strange, as my account has been approved for over-15-minute videos for some time now. I have double-checked my videos, and have no outstanding copyright violations, not that I expected I would. Very curious. I'll have to look into it.

In any case, that's all I have to say at this point.

Drew

I really do suck at maintaining a blog...

YouTube subscribers who watch my videos regularly would know that I have already finished up Season 1 of Drew's Empire Resurrection, and have released Episode 1 of Season 2. I'm approaching this season with a more laid-back approach, and a bit more emphasis on just having fun, rather than trying to rush through the tech like a mad-man.

I've also decided to set a regular schedule for new episodes. This is likely to be every Wednesday and Friday for my Minecraft Let's Play, and perhaps a couple other shows for other days in the week. We shall see.

I constantly forget to update, so I won't go posting all of the videos I haven't added already. Here's Season 2, Episode 1:

Drew's Empire Resurrection - Episodes 7, 8 & 9

My Let's Play series continues on in smashing fashion. Here are the latest episodes:

Before I record and upload Episode 10, let me share a sad story. After finishing up Episode 9, I decided to go for a lovely stroll to explore a bit of my world, and decided to take Lucky, my Doggy Talents dog, with me for the company. I made my way quite far from home, and before long, it became dark. I decided I would use my trusty Aperture Handheld Portal Device to make the return trip simple. At first, it seemed like it didn't want to work properly, so I saved, quit, and restarted Minecraft. The reload worked, and my portals let me pass through. However, Lucky tried to follow me, and something odd happened. I got the Saving Chunks crash. Because I use I custom batch file to run Minecraft, I quickly Alt+Tabbed into the Command Prompt window to read the exception data. Something bugged out with respect to DT mod, when I reloaded my world, Lucky was no where to be found. I was upset to some extent, but decided that it was for the best that I abandon DT mod as part of my collection. This is nothing against RaustBlackDragon, who has made a rather nice mod for those who love their canine companions, but as we had discussed previously, I have realized that that mod doesn't really fit my particular play-style. So, there you have it. As of Episode 10, I'll be going it alone in this cruel world of my own making.

Drew's Empire Resurrection - Ep 5 + 6

Drew's Empire Resurrection continues to move along rather nicely, and I've been getting some great feedback from viewers I happen to know in passing from the Better Than Wolves forum. Many of them have stated that I deserve far more viewers than I currently have, which I am pleased to hear, but I'm not really out for a popularity contest, at this point. I just enjoy playing Minecraft, and building interesting contraptions. I started making videos after being inspired by the likes of Coestar and AvidyaZen, and while I never expect to be as extraordinarily popular as they are, I take a great deal of pleasure in finding that there are those out there who truly enjoy my videos.

With that said, here's Episode 5 of Drew's Empire Resurrection. Episode 6 is currently encoding, and will be uploaded before I go to bed, tonight. I'll add it to this post when it's done uploading.

Getting Political

As much as I'd hate to get into topics that are rather dry, bland, or otherwise upsetting, there is a situation in the US that I feel strongly about. This week, Congress is reconvening after their winter break, and one of the first items on it's agenda is PIPA/SOPA. The PROTECT IP Act, and Stopping Online Piracy Act are two pieces of legislation that would allow the United States Government the ability to block websites at the DNS level, essentially removing them from the Internet. The language used in the bill is vague enough to allow legitimate websites to be removed, simply because they have the potential to be used to circumvent copyright. There is nothing wrong with trying to prevent piracy, but using wide, sweeping legislation, that can be abused, is certainly a bad way to go about things. For a much better explanation, let me hand things over to one of my Internet idols, TotalBiscuit:

So, with yourself educated, here's what you can do: contact your elected Representatives and Senators, and urge them to oppose these bills. By all means, maintain courtesy, but make it known that you will not be inclined to re-elect those Congressmen that support legislation that could drastically alter the Internet.

Today was a good day...

Those of you following this blog, as well as my YouTube channel, would know that over the past month, I've had some minor technical difficulties. My video card starting giving me grief, forcing me to downgrade to a model that didn't give me nearly the performance I would have preferred. I had been considering the options available to me, and kept my eyes open for any bargains I could find. My observance paid off, as well has having good friends who have my back. :)

A friend and colleague of mine has recently been establishing himself as a stake-holder in a national computer repair franchise, and, as such, has been allowing me to take on some of his clients to help with the workload. Today, I received a phone call asking me to help one particular client with some trouble he had been having. I went to the job-site, helped the customer through his problem, and returned back to my friend's shop to let him know that things had gone smoothly. While I was there, I spied something that really caught my interest. A GeForce 6200 graphics card, compatible with the AGP interface of my motherboard. This card was identical to my original card, down to the manufacturer: XFX. In fact, it actually has double the video memory of that previous card (512MB, as opposed to 256MB). After talking to my friend for a few moments, he noticed my interest, and we worked out a deal that was satisfying for both of us. In lieu of full cash payment for my services, he would let me have the card, and would pay me the remaining balance when he had the cash on him. This was more than acceptable to me, as I was certainly looking forward to the idea of recording my next Minecraft video with a better performing PC.

I've done some tests, and the card works quite nicely, keeping stable framerates both recording and "off-camera". I would record Episode 5 of my Let's Play tonight, but everyone else has gone to bed. So, since I haven't posted either Episode 3 or 4 on this page, I'll do so now. Expect to see me post new episodes on here about as frequently as I can. However, if you really want to keep up with my Minecraft adventures, be sure to check out my channel, and subscribe, so you can be notified as soon as I upload new content.

That's all for now, guys. Expect more in the near future!

-Drew aka reDrew89

Drew's Empire Resurrection - Ep 1 + 2

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it seems that while I have not yet acquired an upgrade to my graphics, I am able to make at least fairly decent videos. Oddly, it seems that the level of performance I have been getting with this older card is actually more consistent in it's performance than my GeForce 6200. This leads me to believe that the failure it experienced was actually a long time coming. Well, in any case, I suppose I can just make do with what I have available to me. And those who follow my YouTube channel would know that I have indeed gotten back into the swing of producing Minecraft videos in true form. Catch the last two episodes (Three, if you count the two-part premiere as two distinct episodes) after the break: