Clean that keyboard!

Because nobody wants ‘Qwerty Tummy’

As the end of the year approaches and you’re still eating the leftovers, it’s a good idea to bring the New Year with a fresh approach. So how about that computer you’re using? It’s a busy machine that labours and toils for you all year round. It needs some TLC every now and then, so how about you treat your computer (and yourself in the process) by giving it bit of a clean?

In particular, let’s have a look at your keyboard. Studies in Britain found that office keyboards were “dirtier than toilet seats”. Our home keyboards certainty shouldn’t be getting that bad and some of us do clean ours regularly. A simple wipe over with some disinfectant once a month at least is more than enough for a home computer, but that just cleans the surface. Even if you’re not one to eat at your desk, your keyboard will slowly fill with all manner of nasty things including hair and dead skin. Pets make it worse with the abundance of pet hair that might float around your house. Last weekend I pulled my keyboard apart to clean the guts well and truly. I’ve had this keyboard a little over a year now, so this is a years worth of build up.

Pretty rank, right? It was also a big job and took about three hours to clean completely, but in the end it’s worth it. Not only is your keyboard much more hygienic, but you may even get a little bit of performance out of it. All that debris can often cause stuck or ‘mushy’ keys, especially in mechanical keyboards. Before we get into cleaning, you need to check the best way to clean yours. Most keyboards allow you to simply pop the keys off with a knife or screwdriver, but I have had keyboards that require full dismantling to clean effectively. Either way, you’re going to need to know how your keyboard comes apart.

To give my keyboard a decent clean, I used the following:

- Alcohol hand sanitiser or disinfectant wipes

- Cotton buds

- Large hard bristle paintbrush

- Small bristle paintbrush

- Clean, lint-free wash cloth

- Flat-head screwdriver or butterknife

I don’t recommend using tissues as these leave particles. I also don’t like air compressors as I’ve found they don’t work that well and may even blow the debris deeper into the keyboard.

First of all, you’re going to want to pry all those keys off to get to the guts of your keyboard. I wiped every key all over with the cloth as I took them out and put them aside. It’s a good idea to put them in the order you took them off in so you can remember where each one went. With the larger keys, they’ll have bars to stabilise them and you need to clean these well and remove the sticky residue that often coats them.

Tip up your keyboard and use the hard bristle brush to clear out all the debris. I keep the brush in by desk at all times to periodically brush hair off my keyboard throughout the year. Use the soft brush to get into the corners and use the cotton tips dipped in alcohol sanitiser to clean anything that’s stuck there. Don’t forget to wipe the body of your keyboard while you’re at it. Then replace the keys, giving them a quick wipe of alcohol sanitiser before you put them back.

It’s really an easy job and it can take some time, but the feeling of having a fresh clean keyboard is worth the effort and you only really need to do it once a year. Just remember to periodically wipe over your keyboard with some disinfectant at least once a month or use cotton buds to clean between keys if you want a deeper clean. Knowing it’s not going to make you sick any time soon is a reward in itself.

Breachers VS Kickers (VS Game Review)

“Peace is not my profession, it’s yours. War is my profession. Should you fail at my job, I will not fail at mine.”

There are now two games that are filling the same category of tactical strategy in similar yet very different ways. Breach & Clear and Door Kickers both offer deep tactical gameplay in a very decent package. While there are other games that also offer similar gameplay, these two I consider more viable candidates for a face-off due to their similarities yet completely different approaches. Keep in mind that although Door Kickers has left Early Access on Steam, it is still being actively updated by the developers while Breach & Clear has been fully released and its developers are focusing on their next game Deadline. As such, both are being judged as-is and there will be no hanky-panky nonsense! FIGHT!

Door Kickers brings us a SWAT style approach, with units being various classes of the local police force. Your platoon of ten units starts at the humble pistol wielding Pointman, an effective agent in close quarters. As your squad levels up, you’ll unlock the Assaulter, Breacher, Stealth and Shield classes. Your troops level up separately from your squad as you use them and as they perform actions in missions which increase their stats.  Each class provides tactical choice, as you can change each as you please. The various missions will provide different challenges and environments ranging from large open areas to tight hallways. Your squad choice and formation can have serious ramifications on the outcome. There is a large and dynamic array of equipment to unlock by earning stars on missions, with each class having different sets of weapons. You’ll also need to unlock the dynamic hammer and the bolt cutters to get through those pesky locked doors faster. Door Kickers gives you a significant amount of freedom and customisation, allowing you to adjust your squad mission to mission.

Breach & Clear: 3D goodness with a more reliable control interface.

Breach & Clear offers a more militaristic style, allowing you to design your four man hit-squad. You’ll designate the classes of your squad when you first create them, selecting from one of the six classes including medic, leader and breacher. Once you set these however, you can’t change them. I found this gave my squad much more personality, each member of your squad had their role and you gave them orders based on their role. Weapons must be bought with cash that you earn by completing missions. Unlike Door Kickers, every class can use every weapon, but you have to outfit each soldier individually. If you want them all to wear heavy armour, you need to buy four sets. You can also customise weapons right down to the parts by purchasing different triggers, gas chambers and attachments like scopes and stocks. Missions offer the same diversity, ranging from tight buildings to wide open fields. As you play, squad members will gain experience and level up. You’ll get points each time they level up to assign to stats as you please and when they reach milestones, new abilities unlock. Breach & Clear is a much more rigid system, but allows you to personalise your squad to your liking, because you’re in it for the long haul.

Breach & Clear goes for a three dimensional design, allowing you navigate the map by rotating, zooming or looking down into rooms. It works well, but I left it in overhead view all the time to be able to look down into rooms easier. Door Kickers opts for a more animated look, with the map locked in a top-down perspective and only allowing you to zoom and move. Visually, Door Kickers looks nicer, but the more realistic look in Breach & Clear has its appeal.

Both games offer fundamentally the same experience, but they operate in very different ways. Breach & Clear lets you give orders in a grid-like system, allowing you to order your squad to specific grid spaces. This system is useful as it allows you to see exactly where your men can and can’t go. You can set orders along the path as well, such as which direction they should face or throwing a grenade when they reach that grid square. Door Kickers has a more liberal approach, allowing you to freehand draw paths and actions. It also lets you adjust orders on paths, giving instructions just the same, but it also features a synchronisation system where units do not proceed until the order is given. This allows you to make a unit wait until the others catch up before moving together into the next area. Breach & Clear operates on five second intervals, where the game runs for five seconds before letting you adjust or issue new orders. When you're ready, the game runs for another five seconds and this continues until mission end. Door Kickers lets you play and pause at will, even allowing you to control and order units in real-time. My biggest complaint with Door Kicker’s system is that is gets messy very quickly. When several paths overlap, it gets difficult to adjust specific orders and you can’t change the position of the path without completely erasing the entire path following the move. Breach & Clear does allow you to do this, but its waypoint system can be a bit temperamental at times. Breach & Clear’s grid system, although much more restrictive in movement, allows units to more effectively employ the terrain. Door Kicker’s cover system is difficult to utilise and not everything provides cover. Breach & Clear allows units to sit next to a doorway and fire around it, something that is not available in Door Kickers. It also clearly shows what your units can see by highlighting grid positions that are both visible to your unit and within maximum firing range. Door Kickers does many things well, but in terms of functionality, Breach and Clear is much more robust in my opinion.

Door Kickers: Pleasing aesthetics in a simpler and better designed system.

Both games offer a large selection of missions and mission types, though Door Kickers does have the larger selection including the map editor and the random generator. Breach & Clear also has a difficulty setting for each level, allowing you to replay each one and earn more stars. Unfortunately, it also has some bad design choices for menu interaction and the odd glitch here and there. Likewise, Door Kickers suffers from the occasional case of units not following orders.

In the end it’s a difficult fight between the two. Door Kickers is more approachable, better looking and easier to use, while Breach & Clear is a more sophisticated game that requires a bit more tolerance to get used to. Personally, I love Breach & Clear a little more, but my recommendation goes to Door Kickers, providing a better, well-rounded experience. Still, there’s no reason you can’t have both right?

And the mobile version of Breach & Clear runs like a potato in mud. Just pointing that out.

The Multiscreeniverse

One screen to rule them all, two screens to find them, three screens to bring them all and more than that is just crazy.

For most computer users, using multiple monitors on a desktop setup may seem like an unnecessary expense, but many would argue not. There have been many studies that claim having a second monitor can boost productivity of workers by up to 50%. Home users such as myself find that having that second screen opens up the work environment to allow better multitasking and efficiency. Even if it’s just for entertainment purposes it can be incredibly useful. I can run a livestream or video on one screen while working on other projects or playing a game on the other. Most people I know who use two monitors say they could never go back to using a single monitor on their personal computer. The opportunities are endless, but are you using that extra space as efficiently as you could be?

While operating systems and most video cards have native support for multiple monitors, I’ve often had minor teething trouble getting it set up correctly and there is little to no optimisation available. This is where third-party software fills the gap. There are many programs available and I certainly don’t insist on using any one in particular. It’s about finding one that suits your needs and budget. I use Displayfusion (available on their website and Steam) and will use it as an example to talk about features that are useful, and what to look for in a good program. A free version of Displayfusion is available, but you can also use Dual Monitor Tools (free), ActualMultiple Monitors (30 day trial) or any of the other available programs that can be found on the net.

A basic feature that should be found in any good program is wallpaper control. Wether you are using identical monitors or you’ve hooked up a monitor or TV to your laptop, being able to correctly apply your favourite wallpaper in the correct resolution is an aesthetic must-have. Window’s ability to apply wallpapers is shoddy at best, but most programs can apply wallpapers to each screen at its correct resolution. Better programs can use multi-monitor wallpapers that are designed to be displayed over multiple screens or apply different wallpapers to each monitor. I have Displayfusion set to change each monitor’s wallpaper every five minutes. In addition, it can intelligently fit any picture to the screen while maintaining the image aspect ratio, allowing you to not only use wallpapers that don’t match your screen size (example: 4:3 vs widescreen), but also photos and any other images. Displayfusion also offers some other features, such as adding system info to the screen or fine-tuning wallpaper settings, but unless you have some need to micromanage your wallpaper, then these will never be touched.

For those who need more monitor control, monitor configuration controls are where it’s at. Some programs feature more precise monitor control, such as setting individual resolutions and refresh rates, but most graphics drivers have software that does this as well. Both Nvidea and AMD have programs in the control panel to help you calibrate these settings and it is probably best to use those over anything else.

Finally, it is vital to have useful window management tools to help you organise your multiple desktops. Some programs add a taskbar to your additional monitors as well as handy keyboard shortcuts to move windows around your screens. Other options allow forcing a program to launch on a particular monitor, improved window snapping controls and better mouse controls when moving from one monitor to another.

While we’re talking about Displayfusion, I might as well discuss how good it is. It defiantly provides all the features you’d ever need and then some, but unless you like to micromanage your desktops then you won’t use half of the features. It’s for this reason that I think it is overpriced ($30 on Steam) and bloated with features I’ll never use. I picked it up for $10 in a sale, which is a much more acceptable price in my opinion. The free version is a stripped back version that doesn’t quite have all the features you will want and pales in comparison to the other free alternatives. Otherwise it’s a very well designed program that eventually just becomes part of the background and you never touch it again. You do get what you pay for, just hopefully not at the asking price. 

You don’t realise how much you need multiple monitors until you try it. These programs that I’ve mentioned will simply make your experience that much more enjoyable and useful. If you’re like me and you spend a decent amount of time on your computer, you really come to appreciate the both the aesthetic and functional improvements that they offer.

Tokyo Ghoul - Season One (Anime Review)

It’s violent, gory and cringe-inducing with a kickass story and animation to boot

(Suitable for Mature Audiences Only : Contains blood, gore, high-level violence, horror, adult themes, torture scenes)

I had a lot of trouble writing this, mostly because I love the anime so much that I don’t want to admit its weaknesses. I even had to watch it twice just to examine it a bit more closely, this time not caught up in the thrill of watching it. Unfortunately, Tokyo Ghoul blew up so big this year that it’s hard to not find pieces of it scattered across the social media cloud, but for good reason. This post only looks at season one and the first twelve episodes. Pretty big spoilers ahead, but as usual, I’ll try not to reveal big points.

Kaneki is the protagonist; an 18 year old university freshman who has a crush on a girl who frequents a local coffee shop that he goes to. After a date, Keneki walks Rize home and down an alley, it’s here that she reveals her true identity. She is a ghoul. More accurately, she is a binge-eater, a ghoul with a sadistic urge to kill and eat unnecessarily. Kaneki is no match for Rize and is close to death before falling construction materials crush Rize. Taken to hospital, Kaneki receives transplanted organs from Rize and, upon release from hospital, realises he has become a half-ghoul with only one affected eye.

Season one focuses on Kaneki and his struggle with being half human and half ghoul. He fights his ghoul side and tries to remain as human as possible. No longer able to eat human food, he must adapt to eating human flesh or be consumed by the insatiable urge to kill and eat people. He is ‘adopted’ by the local ghoul population in his district and he goes to work in a coffee shop which also serves as their headquarters. They teach him how to live peacefully and not kill to eat. Ultimately, the series concludes when he accepts the ghoul within him and embraces it to become strong enough to fight back.

Even I have to admit, most of the first season features a very whiny and miserable Kaneki. Every episode throws him in new and horrible situations; fighting with his urges to eat, learning the grisly nature of ghoul life or finding himself in the hands of the most bizarre and unpleasant characters imaginable. The story was very well written and despite the censoring (was censored for TV, DVD release will probably not be) the animation was excellent and enthralling yet would still easily make most people cringe with its gory scenes. The best thing I can praise it for is the character development, which most of the episodes focus on. Characters are deep and interesting, even making you sympathetic for initially hated characters. All the main characters are strong yet flawed and have more than just good voice acting, they have actual character. I find that this is a trait that is sorely missed in much of today’s media.

Aside from also having one of my favourite opening themes of all time, Tokyo Ghoul is a fantastic anime starting from episode three. Personally, the first two are slow compared to the rest and feature too much of the wingy side of Kaneki; you just wish he’d get over it. Fortunately, even the other characters agree and berate him for acting so. I am eagerly awaiting the season two release, due early next year, and hoping it remains consistently as good as has been so far. 

Just a Quickie - Floating Point

Between shooting people in Counter-Strike and crawling your way through the nightmare that is Binding of Issac, sometimes you just need something to bring the nerves back to earth. Floating Point gives you a dot and a grapple and the goal of collecting as many points as possible.

Half the level is above the water and half below, switching physics on each side. Get points by hitting the red bars with as much speed as possible and avoid hitting the blocks. Once you've collected enough, you can progress to the next level, each becoming busier than the last.

Floating Point can be picked up and dropped in seconds, making it the perfect game when you've got a few minutes to kill. It’s simple and it becomes a skill to play in itself. I've clocked up a bit of time in it already, but that comes from many two minute sessions. It’s also free, so why aren't you downloading it already?

11eyes (Anime Review)

Because nothing says 'I hate you' more than a razorblade in their tea.

(Suitable for Mature Audiences Only : Contains blood, violence, supernatural themes, adult themes, sexual references, mild sex scene)

11eyes a twelve episode, single volume anime based off the visual novel ‘11eyes: Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shōjo’ (11eyes: Sin, Damnation, and the Atonement Girl). It has a relatively complex story that is difficult to talk about without spoilers, so read ahead at your own risk.

The hero of the story is Kakeru, a high school boy who wears an eyepatch for a reason that was never explained. He spends most of his time with his romantically entwined friend Yuka, and the two of them happily enjoy their high school days. Until one afternoon, they are suddenly and mysteriously plunged into a dimension called the Red Night. A mirror dimension of the world, the Red Night is virtually the same as the world above, except that it is inhabited by monsters. In the centre of this dimension is a temple where a witch lies trapped within a crystal, guarded by six warriors known as the Black Knights. Repeatedly and daily thrust into this alternate dimension, Kakeru and the other students who also are dragged into the Red Night must discover why this is happening and why the Black Knights are so eager to kill them.

The plot in 11eyes is not difficult to follow and is reasonably well written, but it has holes. Lots of holes. 11eyes started as a virtual novel for the PC, an interactive fiction game, and it has been rewritten for anime form. I have not played the game, but from my study, I do know that there are some major plot differences between the two medias. The anime’s hook is that the main characters do not know what is going on, slowly revealing shreds of truth to keep you watching. The characters discover that they have powers, Kakeru in particular has the greatest power, known as the Eye of Aeon, under his eyepatch. As they kill the Black Knights one by one, they slowly discover who the knights are and their purpose, but far too late.

I won’t go into the story much further as it starts getting complicated and the holes really start to show. The last four episodes is where all the explanation and conclusions begin, but they leave so much unexplained. Many times it simply told you a fact expecting you to swallow it whole without any gravy. What’s more, if the Black Knights had simply explained anything then things probably wouldn’t have gotten as bad as they did. The story has its good moments, and throws a twist or two in, but the sheer amount of inconsistencies left me feeling more frustrated than satisfied by the end.

The six Black Knights. Possibly more relatable than the main characters.

The anime really stands out with its soundtrack and is possibly one of the best sounding anime I have had the pleasure of listening to. It was immersive and was a stronger hook at times than the story was. The visual design was average, but there were some excellent scenes that stood out. Overall, the visuals complemented the story well and I couldn't complain. Also beware of some minor fanservice.

 

At the time of writing, I have not yet watched the OVA. However, it is not a continuation from the story and rather is a sexually explicit parody of the main characters (because why not). I enjoyed 11eyes despite its bad transition from game to anime and, thankfully, it is short enough to not wear out its welcome though it is mostly forgettable.

Remember Me (Game Review)

I’m just blowing your mind… in the most unpleasant way possible.

It’s a dystopian future set in Neo-Paris and memories have become a commodity. For a small price, you can enjoy the blissful recollection of someone else’s life. The memory economy has brought great wealth to some, but has left many in financial or mental ruin with its addictive effects. To some, memories are a means to an end; to allow the bending, substituting or complete erasing of a personality.

You play as Nilin, a memory hunter with the unique ability of not only being able to take people’s memories, but rewrite them. Your memories have been erased, leaving nothing but loose threads. Through the guidance of some morally uncertain characters, you’ll learn what is really happening behind the scenes of Neo-Paris’ façade.

There’s a lot to like in Remember Me. Despite being very linear, the game is heavily story driven and the writing is certainly above average. The story twists and turns and does throw a few curveballs, but many are predictable. Without spoilers, it does have a fairly satisfying end and may tug on a few heart strings. I actually found parts of the story very morally questionable, but the linearity meant you had to follow through, which left me frustrated with the story at times. The dystopian future is pulled off very well with some amazing level design with very few complaints. They even tried a bit of a puzzle element, which was completely out of place but a cute effort.

The rest of the game is where it starts to fall apart. The concept is interesting and pretty unique, with the idea of memory remixing very well designed and fun to use. These sequences allow you to review someone’s memory and tweak things to change the outcome. It might be something as simple as taking the safety off on a gun or moving an object. Sadly it was poorly utilised and was only featured a handful of times. At its core, it is a third person fighting/parkour game with shooting tacked on. The combat mechanics were average at best despite the pressens adding an interesting touch. Pressens are basically super-moves that you can utilise at the cost of focus which you build up by attacking enemies. You can design combos (to a point) to have moves that may deal extra damage, heal you or reduce the cooldown on your pressens. While the combos are specific combinations of punches and kicks, you can choose what each part of a combo will do. A kind of ‘memory gun’ is introduced early game which acts as both a weapon and a tool for later levels. Unfortunately, shooting is sloppy thanks to a rigid targeting system and doesn’t add much to the game.

Head-splosions!

I played this on PC, which suffered from a bad console port. The camera is sluggish and sometimes unresponsive and some mechanics were badly interpreted for a mouse/keyboard player. Despite this though, I got used to it and didn't end up grumbling too much in-game from control-related failures.

There's a lot to like to this one, but although I would recommend it, it still leaves much to be desired. It was fun to play and overall enjoyable, only brought down by its technical flaws and some poor design choices. I do recommend this game. It's not a 'must play', but it certainly is a 'should play'.

And 'remember you soon' is a tacky way to say goodbye, just saying.