Nintendo DS
So, I got a Nintendo DS (Lite) for Christmas, with a couple of games.
So far, I like it. I even like playing GBA games on it better than on a GBA.
The Nintendo DS completes my (minimalist) collection of every Nintendo game system:
- NES
- Gameboy
- Gameboy Color
- SNES
- Virtual Boy
- N64
- GBA
- Gamecube
- Nintendo DS
- Wii
I think that’s the whole list. Not included are thins like the GBA SP, Pokemon N64, and various handhelds/game’n'watches/color TV games, but every distinct US platform is represented in my collection.
One can download demos via the Wii to a DS. This sounds like a cool feature, but in practice its somewhat crippled. Unlike, say, the Xbox 360, you can download one demo at a time. Which would be an acceptable limitation for a portable system, except that the demo just sorta floats in RAM, I guess, so once the DS is turned off, the demo goes away.
So. Anyone else have one? Give me some game recommendations. And not the obvious ones–more obscure the better. So far I have a couple of bargain bin games (Spyro and Time Ace). They aren’t terrible, but they aren’t outstanding either.
What condiments am I allowed to steal?
Occasionally, when I am at Chipotle and I get a burrito ‘to go’, I will stuff a bottle of the Chipotle Tabasco sauce in my bag and abscond with it.
My esteemed colleague, Joe, has indicated to me that this is theft, and that I am a thief. And furthermore, he intends to “drop a dime” upon my backside and inform the authorities.
I retort that my action is akin to taking a bunch of ketchup packets, horsey sauce, etc from the condiment stand, and thus, is not theft!
So which is it? Submit your treatise of the subject below.
The Importance of Making Backups
“I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.” – The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 3
“Backups are like insurance: it’s a waste of money until you need it.” – Me, just now.
If you’ll recall, I extolled the virtues of using Mozy as a backup tool some time ago. Let me again emphasize how important backups are.
There is a lot of stuff on your computer right now. Stuff that you may not think is all that important, but if it were to go away, you’d soon realize how important it actually was.
For instance, you might have:
- Address lists
- Pictures
- Homework files
- Financial records
You could certainly survive without these things, but would you want to? A computer is like a wallet: if someone lifts it, or you lose it, you won’t die, but you will be severely inconvenienced.
Well, it’s hard to make a “backup” of your wallet, but it’s so easy to make a backup of the files on your computer, that’s it’s just silly not to.
1. If you have around a couple gig or less of “important stuff” to backup, then just use a DVD burner, dummy! This is a very common method, but note that fire, floods, and zombie attacks may destroy both your PC and your backup. Consider a fireproof safe if you use this method.
2. If you have more than a gig or two to backup, DVD backups can be a hassle. You can use a free Mozy account for 2 gigs or less, or unlimited for $5 a month. Five bucks. Think of all the DVD media you wouldn’t have to buy. Plus, you don’t have to sit there and wait for the disc to finish burning: you can set it to run overnight, on any interval. You don’t even have to think about it, or remember to do it.
3. You can also backup to a second hard drive, like on a network machine or a media server. If your house burns or floods, you still have a risk of losing data this way. Some hosting services, like Dreamhost offer a way for you to backup files to the storage you already buy from them.
Backing up is a very important thing to do. Don’t put it off until later, because who knows what could happen between now and then? You’ll kick yourself if you don’t, and you will be incredibly relieved when you do. If you are reading this, and you don’t have a backup that’s at least a month or less old, take care of it right now!
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