Spart's Book Blog Part 3!!! 2012 Edition!!!
Hey again, everybody! So, this is the third edition of my book blog! In these blogs, I review and rate (on a scale of 1-10) books I read. And let me tell you, I'm excited about the prospects for 2012! There's quite a few series that I've immersed myself in these past couple of years, and so many of them have new installments coming out this year! Let's see... first and foremost, a new Mass Effect book at the end of the month! Also, the next book in the Emberverse series (Lord of Mountains, ETA 4 September), the next book in the Temeraire series (Crucible of Gold, ETA 6 March), the next book in The Lost Fleet series (Beyond the Frontier: Invincible, ETA 1 May), the next book in the Unincorporated series (The Unincorporated Future, ETA 21 Au…
A Thanksgiving present from Raphael Sbarge
Check this out, folks! It's a Thanksgiving present from Raphael Sbarge, aka Kaidan Alenko. Pretty cool!
Edit: Oh yeah... also, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! :D
Spart's Fantasy Hockey Stuff Pt 2
So, the fantasy draft for the 2011-2012 NHL season was tonight, and in addition to being all kinds of fun, I think I made out pretty well! Astonishingly enough, Alexander Ovechkin didn't get picked till I selected him 3rd overall! For some reason, the first overall pick was... Roberto Luongo? And 2nd was Daniel Sedin? Really? I also didn't get everyone I wanted, and several people I really wanted were (frustratingly) picked literally the turn before I picked them! Still and all, here's the starting roster for "The Ralph Wiggums" this season!
In the interests of nerdiness, when possible, links to both The NHL and Wikipedia pages for players will be provided. An asterisk (*) denotes that the player was a draft pick.
- 1 Current Players
- 1.1 Forwards…
SCOTUS overturns CA Video Game Law
Well folks, it's official. The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling today in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (formerly Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association). In a 7-2 ruling, the court upheld previous rulings by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the District Court for the Northern District of California which declared California AB 1792 & 1793 to be unconstitutional. The bills would have made it a crime to sell "violent" video games to minors, punishable by law (and up to $1,000 in fines). They would also have required new labeling above and beyond what the ESRB requires, and they would have set up a new definition of "violent video game" based on the Miller Test. The state of California maintained tha…
Official XBox Magazine covers ME3
Ok, so I was thrilled today to see an article about Mass Effect 3 in the July 2011 issue of the Official XBox Magazine (Down to Earth, pgs 50-55). In it, some interesting details are learned. I'll post a few of them here.
- The city of Vancouver is apparently featured in the game - the intro describes "a futuristic Vancouver-like city burning in the background as Shepard and some krogan allies barrel through", and an image bears the caption "The gleaming white spires of future Vancouver."
- Customizable firearms - per the article, each firearm will have three slots for upgrades such as scopes and enlarged magazines. These will affect both the appearance and the performance of the weapons.
- Enemies are smarter, and will (among other things) attempt t…