STG's

I recently switched from Google Play Music to YouTube Music. Given my previous experiences, I was already trying to figure out the best way to switch to Spotify. But to my surprise, it doesn't really suck. Don't get me wrong, except for looking a little better there is no advantage in the switch, but it is not bad enough that I'm willing to switch from it. Advantages: - Can finally see album art properly. - YouTube Premium is super cheap if you have YouTube Music - less than US$1 more here. This was available previously, but in a crazy move by one of the biggest companies in the world, you had to sign up for YouTube Premium, and then cancel GPM, and talk to support to get your money back. Bizarre. And obviously, this worried people that they might lose their music libraries, so I didn't do it. There isn't all that much to watch in YouTube Premium, but for that price even removing the ads is worth it. Disadvantages: - for whatever reason, scrolling through a playlist

Just got the new Blogger interface. Seems ok enough, although unless the new code is easier to debug, this doesn't seem much of an advance. Labels in particular seem a bit worse. What I'm really surprised by is that I still can't drag and drop files. Given that this was common like 10 years ago, seems crazy to update the UI and not touch that.

Bad North is an interesting tactical battle game. Basically you have a bunch of different units - which usually start as regular swordsmen, but have a bunch of possible paths/upgrades, such as shields, arrows or pikes. Meanwhile, a bunch of enemies try to invade your islands, such as swordsmen, archers, swordsmen with shields, etc, coming in boats. Obviously, there are many ways you can use different troops to defend, and this changes wildly with each different island. Graphics are very nice. Overall, strongly recommended to those that like tactical games.

GRIP - Battle Racing is a PC (you guessed it) battle racing game. I got it on Twitch Prime, otherwise it is doubtful if I would buy it. I like the premise and I have fond memories of many racing games with battle elements - particularly Death Track, from 1989. What I do like about GRIP is the graphics and the clever use of levels where you can ride around tubes and on ceilings. The weapons seem a bit too simple - maybe from the transition to controllers from keyboards? I remembering having a bunch of weapons on Death Track - including many that could attack cars behind you, such as mines, caltrops or oil slicks. Also, I'd like to be able to see behind and in front at the same time. Funnily enough, this was common back in the 90s, but I rarely see it anymore on racing games... As seems to be necessary for all racing games, it is best to use a controller. I haven't used a controller in years, but I had to connect one to play GRIP, as it feels much better using one.

The Magicians is a fantasy novel, by Lev Grossman. There is also a TV series based on the book series. Funnily enough, I finished the book in the same day that I finished the TV series. The book is basically a darker Harry Potter - which doesn't try to be cute and magic seems to have much more in the consequences area. They are somewhat close, but there are a few differences. I think the tone of the TV series (from what I remember, as the events in the book took place in the series several years ago) is actually better than the book, which is quite refreshing from all the series/movies that just don't work as well. Still, it was pretty good, and I plan to go through the whole book series, too.

Overload is basically Descent, the 90s game, with nicer graphics. It is even made by some of the same people. For those that didn't play it (which I imagine, by this point is pretty much everyone) it was SF shooter, where you took your ship and went into basically tunnels to shoot other ships, look for keys and then overload reactors. The biggest novelty was that you could move in every direction. If that is bad or good, that is up to you. At least for now, I have enjoyed it - there is something about the movement and dodging the ships that I really like (using the keyboard - and somehow I immediately remembered what the extra movement keys were, even 20 years after). Graphics are nice, although nothing fancy. But there is probably no need for it. The story so far is exquisitely boring, and much better skipped. There are also some secrets (just as in 90s games) and upgrade points. The helper from Descent 2 is back (this form in holo form, which makes more sense than the or