Recap The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 6: Secrets

Sorry for the delay but I finally was able to watch episode 6 and will be watching episode 7. So here is the recap and my thoughts for episode 6: Secrets. There are spoilers for those who haven't watched it yet.

Sunday nights 9 pm EST on AMC!

The episode begins with Patricia breaking legs of live chickens. We see that she is feeding the zombies in the barn. It seems that the zombies are attracted to live bait such as when Shane shot Patricia's husband Otis in the leg and leaving him for dead.

Maggie tries to convince Glen keep the secret of the barn to himself. Unfortunately, Glen is a bad liar and he eventually reveals to Dale that there are walkers in the barn and that Lori is pregnant. Dale decided to confront Hershel about the matter and does not convince Hershel that the walkers are dangerous. Hershel instead still views them as people will a horrible illness and he does not want to "kill" his wife and step son who are in the barn. It's clear that Hershel and the rest of the people on the farm have been sheltered from the gruesome reality that the others have faced. These walkers are not really people anymore.

Carl wants to learn how to shoot. He goes out of his way to steal a hand gun and tries to talk to Shane about  learning how to shoot. Lori, for obvious reasons, does not want her son around guns especially after being shot quite recently. Rick decides its the best course of action just in case there is an emergency and Carl should not be afraid of guns. Fast forward to shooting practice. We see Andrea excelling during practice. I have no idea how she got so good in a short time span. She is given an advanced private lesson from Shane. This, however, does not go well. Shane keeps yelling at her because she cannot hit a moving target. She has to turn off all thinking and emotion. He crosses the line when he brings Andrea's dead sister Amy who was killed by a walker in the first season. He apologizes to her. He tells her that they have a lead on Sophia and he could use her as backup.

Back at the camp Dale tells Lori that he knows about her pregnancy. She is heart broken because she realizes that her son Carl and the baby will have a life filled with misery. Dale tries to reassure her.
Lori once again asks Glen to go to the pharmacy in town. Although Maggie is pissed off with Glen, she accompanies him back to the town. She is not truly convinced that the walkers are a huge threat until she gets attacked. Glen saves her life. This is also the zombie killing highlight for this episode!
 

Glen comes swinging with a store shelf.

The walker is still "alive"

I'm not sure what tool this is...

Melee headshot!

This zombie got f'ed up!!!

 Shane and Andrea finally get to their destination which looks like a nice suburban area. Time to check out all the houses. They stumble upon a garage where they see corpses. There is no sign of Sophia but there are signs of a lot of zombies.

At first Andrea loses her focus and cannot shoot any of the zombies coming her way. Shane tells her to relax and focus. She ends up learning how to kill the zombies.

She has something on her mind...

Gratuitous crotch grab...

 After their daring escape, Andrea has sex with Shane in the car. Back at camp, Dale is suspicious of Shane and his motives. I'm sure that there will be more conflict between these two characters in the near future. Is Shane really that big of a douche? Or is his actions justified in the context of their new reality of a zombie apocalypse?

Lori first decides to ingest a handful of emergency birth control pills and immediately regrets her decision and throws them up. Rick finds the birth control pill packaging and confronts Lori. She reveals to Rick that she is pregnant and that she slept with Shane after she thought that Rick had died.

Finally secrets are being revealed. We have to see what happens in the next episode, which is the mid-season finale. I'll be working on the next post as I get the chance to watch episode 7.

Scheduling Made Easy: Tungle.me

I'm just writing a quick post about a great application that allows you to share your availability with others whether it's for personal or business reasons. The name of this app is tungle.me. This app was created back in 2009 as a start up venture in Montreal, Canada. As of April 2011, they have been acquired by Research in Motion (RIM), the makers of Blackberry phones and tablets. In my opinion this is a great web application!

I first learned of this app when I was trying to schedule a recent job interview. The hiring manager sent me a public link to his tungle profile to show when he was available to meet. I just had to propose a meeting time. This was synced up with my blackberry calendar and also I was sent an email to remind me of the date and time of the interview. Below is an example of the public profile.

The interface is easy to use. Once you have set up a profile you can choose to sync it with other calendar applications such as google calendar, ical, microsoft outlook, blackberry calendar, facebook, and others. Once all calendars are synced up you can see your events and appointments on the tungle.me calendar. The good thing is that when you share your tungle.me calendar with someone else they can't see your events but only see that you are not available or busy at that time. Another great thing is that this prevents double booking. Also the person who wants to propose a meeting does not have to sign up for an account to propose meeting times.

This is definitely a great application to increase productivity. It is a great way to minimize the time and sometimes confusion of scheduling meetings with each other. It is free to sign up for an account. There are also the app versions that you can download for your mobile phone. So far blackberry and iphones are supported. There is no word on an android app on their website but I am sure one will be on its way.

I suggest you check it out and see for yourself if this app can be useful in your life. I think that it will be!
Here is the link again: tungle.me.

Recap of The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 5: Chupacabra

Here we go Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 5: Chupacabra. If you haven't seen the episode from last Sunday there are going to be spoilers here.

Sunday 9pm EST on AMC!

Episode Recap:

The episode begins with a flashback. We see events at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. We learn that the government has dropped bombs destroying the city much to the horror of the people waiting on the highway.

The group is planning out a search party for Sophia. Shane and Rick have differing opinions about what should have been done regarding searching for Sophia. Shane believes that there should not have been a search party because it uses up resources and makes the survivors susceptible to danger. Rick is stricken with guilt over how he could not protect Sophia and lost her. He still believes that Sophia is alive and that they will find her. Rick begins to doubt his decisions. We find out later we find out that Shane's top priority is to keep Lori and Carl safe. No one else really matters. Lori has not told Rick (or Shane) that she is pregnant. I'm thinking that this might be Shane's baby but not sure of the timeline of events thus far.

Daryl's missing brother Merle from Season 1. Is he still alive?

Darryl goes off on his own after borrowing a horse without asking. He finds a doll possibly owned by Sophia down by a lake. However, before he can make further progress he is thrown off by a horse down the side of a short cliff. Unfortunately, one of his arrows has pierced his side. He attempts to climb up the cliff to get back to safety. He slips and falls again. He has visions of his brother Merle who keeps goading him and tells him that he is not liked nor respected by the other survivors. He finds the strength to climb back to the path but not before making a necklace out of the ears of the zombies he just killed.

Zombie Killing Highlights: Darryl fights off two zombies.

• Zombie A gets owned by a large walking stick to the head. 

Well place walking stick to the head.

• Zombie B is killed with a well placed arrow to the head.

Headshot!

Andrea wants to keep the camp safe by keeping lookout. She spots a zombie who is really Daryl covered in dirt and blood. She can't properly identify who it is because of the sunlight. She takes a shot which just grazes Daryl's head. 

Zombie or just crazy Daryl covered in dirt and wearing a zombie ear necklace? Andrea take a look...

...what Andrea sees through her binoculars.

Andrea's shot just grazes Daryl's head.

Glen confides in Dale about having sex with Maggie. Dale is not impressed and mortified by the whole situation because he knows that Hershel is going to be pissed off if he ever finds out.

Ever done it in a hayloft? Funny story there was this one time...

Creepy barn alert. There better not be any zombies in there...

The big reveal comes at the very end of this episode. Glen wants to meet Maggie at the barn hayloft after dinner. He makes a shocking discovery that Hershel has kept living zombies locked up in the barn. Maggie tells Glen that he was not supposed to see this.

WTF! There are zombies in the barn! 

How will Hershel explain this secret to the survivors? Will this drive a wedge between Team Rick vs. Team Hershel. Will Lori reveal her pregnancy?  We will see what happens next episode!

More Indie Games Available with the Indie Royale Bundle

Here we go another bundle of great indie games brought to you by Indie Royale. This is a joint effort between video game editorial site IndieGames.com and Desura. For the next few days (at the time of writing this post) you can get some great games at lower prices. There is a difference between the system used here versus the recent humble bundle. The price for this bundle fluctuates depending on how much money is paid. You always have to pay the minimum price for the bundle. However, if you spend more for the bundle then the bundle becomes cheaper for the next people who buy it. If people just pay the minimum average price then the price will slowly increase over time. So this is not really a pay-what-you-want but pay-the-minimum-price. The great thing is that this bundle will spotlight indie game developers and bring some revenue to them so that they can create more games.

This particular bundle that they are selling at the moment is called the "Difficult 2nd Bundle".

Not really sure why it's called the Difficult 2nd Bundle.

Here is what you get with this bundle according to the previews on the website:

1. NightSky
Nominated as a IGF Seamus McNally Finalist, NightSky is an ambient action-puzzle game that offers a gameplay experience unlike any other, as cerebral challenges fill uniquely designed picturesque worlds. The player must maneuver a sphere by using realistic physics to advance; each of these worlds is broken into different areas. The original soundtrack by experimental jazz musician Chris Schlarb will further heighten the surreal experience. IndieGames.com says: "NightSky does things with balls that you never thought possible, and is stunning in motion."


2. Fate of the World
Fate of the World is a strategy game that simulates the real social and environmental impact of global climate change over the next 200 years. The science, the politics, the destruction - it’s all real, and it’s scary. Your mission: Solve the crisis. But, like life, it won’t be easy. You’ll have to work through natural disasters, foreign diplomacy, clandestine operations, technological breakthroughs, and somehow satisfy the food and energy needs of a growing world population. Will you help the planet or become an agent of destruction? IndieGames.com says: "A superbly addictive management game about the future of the Earth, in which no-one is ever damn happy."


3. Scoregasm
Scoregasm is an incredible, variety rich shooter with a non-linear, branching paths style galaxy to explore. It's pretty, accessible, fun and really rather good! Blast your way through the galaxy's many varied levels! Use your skills to change your route, find new levels, new enemies, unlock bonus challenge stages and fight the bosses to discover multiple endings! Linux users: Scoregasm is a 32bit app, so you'll need the appropriate 32bit libraries installed to run the game on a 64bit system. IndieGames.com says: "Scoregasmic! One of the best space shooters of 2011 by a good light year or two."


4. Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please!
Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please! are a couple of rip-roaring point-and-click adventure games . With tongue firmly in cheek, sit back, relax, and put your mind to work solving puzzles, and reading some very funny dialogue. It's like a book, only good! From an horrific and untimely death in deep, dark Peru, via preposterous-and-suspect alien invasions, to whipping back-and-forth in time to stop Hitler and his army of robot Nazi dinosaur clones, this is one set of adventures you're unlikely to forget. IndieGames.com says: "Nazi dinosaurs. Need we say more?"

It looks like there will be more bundles coming in the coming weeks.

I look forward to stocking up on some great games and helping out developers along the way.

Quick Thoughts on The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode: Cherokee Rose

Here we are another post about the most recent airing of The Walking Dead! There are spoilers below!

The episode begins with the other survivors reaching Hershel's home. There is a funeral service for Otis where Shane remembers his actions and speaks about Otis' final moments. Shane lies about the events and makes Otis into a hero who saved Shane and Carl.

The survivors decide to set up camp and to form a search party for Sophia. Maggie decides to go into town for a pharmacy run and Rick sends Glen to help her. Darryl decides to go off on his own to find Sophia. Dale and T-Dog goes over to the nearby well to pump some water. There is a problem though: There is a zombie in the well!


So the great idea that the group comes up with is to lower Glen into the well as live bait so he can rope the zombie. They can then pull the zombie out so that the water in the well won't be contaminated. Of course things go horribly wrong. Glen almost dies in the well but gets the job done. Things go horribly wrong once again when the zombie's body separates with the lower half falling into the well thereby contaminating the water in the well. This is also the Zombie Killing Highlight for this episode.

That has got to hurt!

Now what do we do?

T-Dog comes up with the solution. Smash the Zombie's face!

Hershel tries to convince Rick about the possibility of God. Rick is not convinced. Later Rick tries to convince Hershel to reconsider and to let them stay on the farm. Hershel doesn't make any promises but is willing to think it over.

Maggie and Glen reach the town pharmacy and Glen gets the secret item that Lori discreetly requested. In an embarrassing moment Maggie catches Glen holding a box of condoms. Maggie being lonely decides to have sex with Glen. Although it seems that Maggie was not satisfied telling Glen that what happened between them was a one time event.

The big reveal comes at the end of this episode. We find out what Lori had asked Glen to get at the pharmacy. It's a pregnancy test which we find out that it's positive! A question that arises is who is the father?

This was a great episode and cannot wait for the next episode this Sunday on AMC.

What the Heck is Voxatron and How Do You Get It?

Today I want to talk about a great indie game that has come out recently. It is called Voxatron.

 This game is a part of the Humble Bundle which allows people to pay what they want for amazing indie games. The games are all DRM free, and will work cross platform. Another great thing is that you can support charities such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and the Child's Play Charity.
 Once you have figured out how much you want to pay, you can distribute the money between the game developers, the charities, and the people who run the Humble Bundle.

As of writing this there have been almost $670,000 raised for this bundle. Although it doesn't give a breakdown of how much money was distributed to the developers, or charities.
Some statistical breakdown can be seen below:











Also these bundles are a limited time offer. As of writing this there are about 8 days left. So I'll describe the three games included in this particular bundle (if you paid over the average amount).

Voxatron Screenshot of Stage 1

Voxatron is kind of an old school game + 3d platforming mixed in. The game looks different because it uses voxels which look like tiny cubes that are stacked and combined together to make a 3d model. So the point of this game is to get from point A to point B by destroy different types of monsters, grabbing keys to get to the next area, and platforming. Once you tire of the main adventure and arcade mode. You can design your own levels with the included level editor and can share them with others. So there seems to be a lot of replayability with this indie game. This is only in alpha right now and new updates are being released. These updates are also included once you purchase the game.

Voxatron's Level Editor

The other games that come with the bundle (if you pay more than the average) are Blocks That Matter and The Binding of Isaac. I haven't been able to try these games out yet. I don't know to much about them.

So from the Steam website:

Blocks That Matter: When indie game developers Alexey and Markus are in trouble, their only hope comes from their creation.You are the Tetrobot: a tiny robot that can drill blocks of matter one by one, collect them, and recycle them into new pieces of 4 blocks. You also have the possibility to destroy lines of 8+ blocks in a very «retro russian» game style. Sand, wood, stone, obsidian, iron, diamond: each matter has its specific behaviour you'll have to use wisely and take advantage of them. So get ready to use your brain and combine your platforming and puzzle-solving skills in this incredible mashup!

The Binding of Isaac: When Isaac’s mother starts hearing the voice of God demanding a sacrifice be made to prove her faith, Isaac escapes into the basement facing droves of deranged enemies, lost brothers and sisters, his fears, and eventually his mother. The Binding of Isaac is a randomly generated action RPG shooter with heavy Rogue-like elements. Following Isaac on his journey players will find bizarre treasures that change Isaac’s form giving him super human abilities and enabling him to fight off droves of mysterious creatures, discover secrets and fight his way to safety.

Both games retail on steam for $4.99 USD each. If you buy the humble bundle and pay more for the average you could save some money, support the developers/charities, and get some fantastic games!

Sign up for the humble bundle newsletter or follow them on twitter to get future updates of new bundles. You could get great games for a fraction of the cost!

Great Website that can Teach You Some New Things

I want to mention a great site that I have found recently from watching a video on Youtube. I have recently been interested in start up companies. The one thing that I really didn't know about was how they actually get their funding. I found a video, well a series of videos, that taught me the key points in an easy to understand fashion. I learned quite a bit about the subject of angel investors, venture capitalists, Series funding, initial public offerings (IPO), etc. This led me to this website: www.khanacademy.org.

According to their website, Khan Academy is a not-for-profit that focuses on teaching people through free videos. There are many topics that are covered such as Calculus, Algebra, Biology, Organic Chemistry, Finance, and even Art History. I have only looked at some of the finance related videos but from what I can tell that they are well prepared and they are of high quality.


You can sign up for a free account at their website. They will keep track of some statistical information such as when you logged in, how much time you spent watching the videos,  and which videos you have watched. The website also introduces some game mechanics such as earning badges and energy points. It doesn't look like you can do anything really with these other than to show off to other people who also use the website. It's a good move to actually get people, especially the younger crowd, to use the site. Also it seems that people can volunteer their time to teach others. One can imagine the possibilities of being able to teach/learn something from another persopn who may be half way across the globe.

If you want to learn more about the founder Salman Khan who started this website here is a link:
Link to Salman Khan Talk at TED 2011

This looks like a great resource for students and for older people, such as myself, to learn new things or just as a refresher! Get ready to learn something new!

Quick Thoughts on The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 3: Save The Last One

I would have posted this sooner but I just watched this episode. If you haven't seen the episode yet know that there will be some spoilers here.

I thought this was a great episode with a shocking reveal/biggest asshole move(?) near the end. We have the emotional scenes with Rick and Lori discussing the fate of their dying son, Carl. Lori is convinced that they should end Carl's life because the world is now a zombie apocalypse. There is nothing good about the world. Everybody is either dying, hiding in fear, or running for their lives. Rick believes that there is a silver lining behind all this death and destruction. It can be found from the innocence of Carl, who after waking up, describes the beauty of the deer to his mother, rather than talking about getting shot or how the world is coming to an end.

Carl`s surgery was super successful.

Brief outline of what has happened to the rest of the characters because I want to talk about the ending of the episode. Dale apologizes to Andrea about making choices for her and gives her a gun as a sign of good faith. Only time will tell if Andrea truly forgives him. T-Dog and Glen have reached the Hershel home where T-Dog has his arm checked out. Glen has a talk with Maggie about God and faith. Shane has returned just in time with the medical supplies required to save Carl's life.

Zombie Killing highlights:

Darryl getting a head shot with an arrow. Darryl also receives the "Marksmanship Award".

Shane escapes death with a shot to the zombie`s head. 

Now comes the big reveal!
The zombies are chasing Shane and Otis. Both of them are running low on ammo and it looks like that they won`t make it out of this situation alive. Shane then shoots Otis in the leg and attempts to grab the supplies. There is a struggle where Otis manages to grab a bit of Shane`s hair. Which leads us to the reason why Shane is shaving his head. He is trying to get rid of the evidence.

The image below shows the sequence of events of how Otis dies.

Sequence of events showing how Shane survives. He shoots Otis in the leg leaving Otis left 4 dead.
Shane has received "Where's the Ammo" and the "Most Dishonorable`Award". 

So is Shane possibly becoming the bad guy? Was this an asshole move? He seems to have no qualms about shooting Otis and leaving him as live wounded bait so that he can escape. He does return back with the supplies though which allows Hershel to save Carl. We'll have to see what happens in the future.


On AMC's Talking Dead (a live talk show about the Walking Dead with Nerdist's Chris Hardwick and special guests) a poll about what you would do in Shane's position. These were the results. So most people would have stuck it out with Otis. I think I would have answered in the same way. Although my perspective might be different if the world was overrun by flesh eating zombies. What would you do?

Tomorrow is a new episode! I hope they can keep up the tension and suspense!