Updates and YouTube Info

By Ben Wochinski on September 27, 2012

I have been very busy over the past two months! It was about that long ago that I decided to relaunch my YouTube channel as a place for my “Let’s Play” gaming videos. I’ve worked hard to bulk up the channel since then and now I really need to give things a cohesive feel.

You can take a look at the sidebar to the right to see what I have planned for my YouTube upload schedule. You can see my gaming, and so my channel, tends to focus on Minecraft and other indie games of that sort. I don’t plan on following that trend exclusively but I’m sure that will be the central theme. There are a number of things that I’d like to do missing from that schedule, but as I get more efficient at producing videos I’m sure I’ll be able to squeeze in more.

A game that I need to get back into the schedule as soon as possible is FTL: Faster Than Light. I had an absolute blast playing that game for the first time and I promise that getting more video of it up has been on my mind ever since!

Finally I want to mention that I wont be “spamming” this blog with every video upload I make anymore. I’ve added a new page which will show the latest videos on my channel, it’s up on the menu bar, you can check what’s new there. The only videos which I will post here are any vlogs that I do, as I hope to begin using those instead of posts here. They’ll focus on giving channel updates and announcements, along with personal bits about myself as I see fit.

I appreciate everyone who’s been watching and subscribing, and especially thank you to those who have taken the time to comment on my videos. I love comments! So until I see you from my first vlog, happy gaming!

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Talking to a Blue Yeti

By Ben Wochinski on September 7, 2012

Since getting the ball rolling on my Let’s Plays in the last month I’ve really been working to make the highest quality videos that I can. Recently I purchased a number of things that should help greatly to that end, but here I wanted to talk about my new favorite.

Blue Yeti

The Blue Yeti

The main piece of equipment that I’m excited about is my new microphone, the Blue Yeti. I picked this mic out after reading a good number of reviews, but more importantly after listening to a lot of  comparisons on YouTube of different microphones. The fact that it’s USB is also important, as I didn’t need to purchase or learn how to use any additional equipment outside of my computer.

After using this mic for one extra-long recording session I have a few initial thoughts. First, I love the sound this mic captures. It’s strange to me, having used headsets for so long, to have the mic out of my way and simultaneously getting amazingly improved sound, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it easily.

Second, the zero-latency headphone jack on the mic, which I thought I would hate and never use, I actually like a lot. It lets me hear the balance of my voice mixed with other sound coming from my computer, and is also useful for just straightforward keeping track of whether I’m accidentally talking into a muted mic.

Lastly, the Yeti can be extremely sensitive. Depending on the setup, and in my case, this might be a downside. I discovered during my first real session using this mic that because it was sitting next to my laptop every single keystroke I made was captured as a moderate “thump”. This happened as the vibration from my moderately vigorous typing was transmitted through the desk and mic stand (as pictured). So fair warning to take precautions as the included stand offers almost no isolation from vibrations.

So there is my informal review of the Blue Yeti. In the end I really love this mic and will be using it for the foreseeable future. The first Let’s Play episode I recorded using this mic will be up later today, Episode #08 of Bricks ‘n Sticks with Maqt. Keep an eye on my YouTube channel, or here on my blog for when that episode goes up! Thanks and Happy Gaming!

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Spring is Here!

By Ben Wochinski on March 17, 2012

I know it’s not officially spring yet, but the weather here the past week has been amazing, with unusual highs above 70°F. Certainly no one reading this cares about the weather though.

I celebrated a birthday since I posted last, am just shy of 30 years old. That feels a bit strange to think about, but not any more so than to think my daughter is 2 1/2 now! It’s been a ton of fun to be able to play outside with her now, and oh man does she ask questions! “Why?” is one of the big ones of course, but she’s also asking us “How do you know?” too! I can already see it’s going to take a lot to keep up with her mind, but I’m looking forward to every second!

On the programming front… we’re still working on it! The game continues to take shape and we are still pushing to get a demo out ASAP. I don’t have much of anything to update on where general progress is concerned, but I very much am wanting to do a write-up on the coding miracle that is Spatial Hashing. Essentially it’s a remarkably simple system that allows for incredibly efficient collision detection in a game. I’m excited.

Overall I’d say I’m doing fairly well. Except for gas prices. but I can’t see anyone being alright on that front. I’m gonna go ahead and leave that kind of thing alone. Or maybe just for a separate post.

I’m still going to promise more frequent updates, though I know you’ve heard that one before. But I’ll try! Until next I write, happy gaming!

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A Holiday, E3, and Happy Birthday to Notch!

By Ben Wochinski on June 1, 2011

Notch File Photo

Here’s sending out very happy birthday wishes to Notch, the fantastic creator of Minecraft! We all hope you are able to have a great day and do some things you enjoy.

Aside from celebrating his birthday, Notch has made it known that this Thursday is a national holiday in Sweden. After doing a bit of checking I see that it is Ascension Day. I hope everyone over in Sweden enjoys the holiday.

The third item which is coming up is of course E3! Several of the Mojang crew are going to be in attendance, specifically for a full unveiling of the Minecraft Pocket Edition that we had seen a sneak peek of. I can’t wait to see how it’s coming, as well as what the release plans are for non-android devices. All of this excitement is going to keep Notch away from the office for some time, but he’s promised to keep his laptop nearby in case he has downtime to work on the Minecraft adventure update.

I’ll be skimming the E3 coverage over the next week, so if anything Minecraft related comes up I’ll be sure to post about it! So please keep an eye here, and Happy Crafting!

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The Blog Move is Complete!

By Ben Wochinski on May 29, 2011

Over the past few days I’ve seen a healthy increase in readership on my blog. So much so that I decided I wanted to invest a bit more time in working on putting out blog posts and improving the blog in general.  The main obstacle to all this was being stuck on the wordpress.com free blog hosting. Their services are excellent, but real customization just isn’t possible there.

So I snapped up a domain name and migrated things out to a self-hosted WordPress site. And here we all are on the new Ben’s Blog at bwochinski.com! Now I understand that the decision to put ads on a site is never a popular one, but moving to a more versatile setup does bring additional cost. I’m sure they won’t be a bother, as I wouldn’t tolerate them long myself if any ads were to become obnoxious.

Coming up in the near future I have several ideas for more extended Minecraft content. I’ll be getting back to some posts that are of the construction-log type that I first started out with, plus adding in some tours of things others on my server have built. There are some amazing builds there that I’d love to cover. I am also tossing around the idea of moving into the occasional video, as not everything about Minecraft is properly experienced through a blog post.

Lastly I just want to say a big thanks to everyone who’s been reading, I appreciate it so very much. I’ve blogged on and off for years, but just never found that perfect subject that excited me until now. So please, take a look around here on the “new” blog, and be sure to let me know of any errors or broken links. The migration went well, but it may not be perfect yet.

Keep an eye out for more and more Minecraft news and Construction content, and Happy Crafting!

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