Brian's Bits

Okay - if you've read my blog before, you know I'm a fan of gaming. I care less about shiny graphics but more about actual "fun" - shocking, isn't it? Some of my favorite games are low-fi including Uplink and Wesnoth for PC (both available natively on Windows Mac and Linux) and Darwinia available on Win and Linux.
I've been somewhat amused with some offerings by Sony and *shudder* Xbox, but no matter the cost and glammer, nothing has reached out to me as being "fun". I've always respected Nintedo for innovating, much as I've respected Opera in the same way.
So today we've announced the Opera Browser for the Nintendo DS. I've been holding off on buying one till the new DS Lite (or whatever it's called) is released. I really can't wait. There are already a bunch of really great games available and some that allow online network play.
Now I just have to wait for the Revolution.
You can read more about the DS release on the frontpage of My Opera, in Lawmune's good blog summary or in the forum.

Things within the community site seem to be going really well. I'm excited for some upcoming additions. There should be some subtle changes, and hopefully (eventually) some bigger changes. You'll have to wait and see what it's all about.
I've been trying to keep everything active, which consequently leaves my own blog a bit neglected. In any case, I'm hoping people are having fun with some of the contests and games we've set up. I've had a lot of great participation from the T-shirt a day contest and some enthusiasm for the new Times Square contest.

Outside of work, my life is pretty boring. I suppose it's a combination of things that have kept me from going out and doing exciting things. I blame my lack of a car and the temperature. In any case, I know they're just lame excuses. I usually stay in and mess around on my computer. I'd been playing around a fair bit trying to get some familiarity with PHP / MySQL. I've known the enough PHP to get around, and only vague familiarity with MySQL in the past. This has been a nice refresher, but fairly time consuming. In the end, I hope I'll have produced something worthwhile, so I can feel accomplished and again forget all knowledge I will have worked so hard to gain.

I guess I'm now at the point in my life where my typical activities are becoming mundane and boring (remember, I've only lived here for about 5 months). Perhaps I'll need to find a new, more "active" hobby to keep myself occupied. I'm happy that I'll be travelling back home - in the US - in another week and a half. Familiar food, faces, currency, language...have I mentioned food? Anyways, this post is long enough.

The other day, we got an email about two kittens that were found by Jonny, who works in the office just down the hall from me. These kittens are apparently orphaned. These little guys are really, really young, so they need to be hand fed for the next few weeks. They're going to be brought to work each day so they can be cared for properly.
If I lived closer, I'd be happy to help care for them, but I have a bit of a commute. For such young creatures, this transportation and cold might be a bit too much for the little guys (or gals?).
Now, maybe this is a bit too much to hope for, but ideally, we would be able to train these kittens (as there are two) to be some kind of kitten warriors. I mean, think about it. Two of these guys together could become the kitten war equivalent to specially trained assassin ninjas. I guess we'll have to see how that goes. For the time being, the focus is on making sure they're healthy and comfortable. They're also in need of homes once they're old enough (in a few weeks) and of course, names. Any ideas?
Update: It seems Vetler has had a blog post about this for a while (and even includes photos). Be sure to check it out. Thanks for the heads up, Dennis.