storm in the Twin Cities

The Twin Cities experienced a sudden, brief, and powerful storm on Friday night a few minutes before 8pm.  We lost power at the house for nearly a full day.

During the wind gusts and downpour, my landlords were driving around the city.  They took shelter in a bank parking garage and shot some video of the water rushing into the storm drains there.  I couldn't find a way to share the video, so I took this snapshot of it (pictured on the right).  You can see power flickering in the fluorescent light.

We still didn't have power in the morning, so I drove out to work to see if there were issues at any of our 5 sites.  I saw tree limbs everywhere, tree trunks snapped in half, and trees uprooted.  I had to stop and turn around where a stream had flooded the road (pictured on left).  I didn't want to risk messing up my "new" car.  I turned around and found another route to work.  I spent about 2 hours sorting through what issues were fixable until such time as electricity and internet were restored at all sites, then I returned home.

It's amazing how little people know about enduring time without electricity.  It seems that not many people keep candles around.  And far too many people treat "lighted" intersections without power as a free and unregulated road.  People were just speeding on through intersections as if they weren't there!  When I realized how dangerous the roads were (because of ignorant drivers), I kept my car safely in the back yard until power was restored.

Kudos to the staff of Taco Bell #2365 who manned the rare fast food restaurant on Friday night that still had electricity.  They were clearly unprepared for much of the city stopping in for food all at once.  They handled the stress like true professionals.  My one suggestion is that maybe they should have just shut down the drive-through to force everyone to stop and park.  With the drive-through operating, though, the line was long and slow, so in-house customers could not exit until the slow parade of cars made advancement.

And boo to the city of Fridley which had several "lighted" intersections without battery power, without temporary stop signs, and without any reflective material on the light posts so people could even see by their headlights that an intersection was supposed to be controlled. With so much of the metro without electricity, there just was not the usual glow of city life to illuminate anything.  Intersections were quite dark that night.

Nothing is ever so bad that it couldn't be worse, eh?  Fun times.

buy that spaceship now

Star Citizen is now officially the largest online crowdfunded project in human history. Its developer is Chris Roberts who created earlier games like Wing Commander, Privateer, and Freelancer. The previous crowdfunding leader was the Pebble watch at $10.2 million in pledge donations. Star Citizen currently stands at $10.6 million raised from individual donors. This weekend marks a major campaign for them, though, so they are sure to go much higher.  It also helps that they keep getting lots of good press coverage.

Take a look at this 2-minute video. It showcases actual game rendering of both people and starships. It is an advertisement produced by Origin, one of the in-game manufacturers of luxury starships. When real companies sell real starships, this video is what their commercials will look like. It's especially pretty in full-screen with HD resolution.

If you have any interest in joining the game, then you should definitely pledge money before July 6th. Any in-game ships that you purchase before that deadline will still be covered by "lifetime insurance". This feature offered great appeal during the crowdfunding last October. Many of us are a little disappointed that it is still being offered to newcomers so much later. But if it brings new donors to the project, then it's all in good fun. :)

The new RSI website goes live on Friday, although you can already see much of the artwork blended into the current display. The publication event will include a special 24-hour podcast. Afterwards, they're giving everyone a 1-week grace period to finalize their ship purchases. You can still buy stuff after July 6th, but lifetime insurance (still available until November) will not be included unless you buy your first ship before July 6th. You can see a few other ship design documents (pdf format) like the Constellation, Hornet, Bengal carrier, and alien fighter.

If you want to list me as a referral, you can use the following address.  I don't think I get anything from a referral.  That bonus passed back in 2012 November.

Yes, I keep mentioning this game again and again, but it really is making history, and for what I consider the right reasons. I'm terrible at these "twitch" games that require fast reaction times, but I'm convinced that funding this project will lead to beneficial changes in the game design industry.