So I got back to blender

After 2-3 months of not touching it - I went back and re-did the lamp I built as a first posable prop back in the day. And since I had to re-learn a lot of things since I totally forgot how all of that worked, but it was a fun process.

Here are the results of weekends spent with the blender.

I’m a complete newbie and there are still a lot of issues with that model, but I think it turned out pretty great nonetheless!

Lack of stuff

So yeah, I’m currently going through a weird “period” (not the best word, but it works for this thing quite well) in my life, when I’m crazy obsessed with something.

I’ve played 37 hours of Warframe in the last 7 days and I’ve streamed the majority of that on twitch. That’s not something I usually do, but it happens every time I get hooked.

And this is both a good and a bad thing. On one hand - it works well when I’m trying to do a deep dive into some kind of a new field for me, be it a new tech stack, a piece of software, a game, or something completely unknown to me before, like 3D modeling or even real-world writing (with pen, paper and all that stuff).

So yeah, I’m going through this with Warframe right now. I think I have a couple days worth of this left in me if nothing changes drastically, and then I’ll be able to get back to the routine.

So just bear with me. I have some cool things to share in mind, so I hope anyone who finds this blog (lol) will get something useful out of it

Main reason for me posting so little lately

Got a bit hooked on streaming… again.

Was really enjoying playing warframe, so I apologize.

Meanwhile, just got some swag from @StdLibHQ guys! They even wrote a little letter (you know, that thing where you write letters on a piece of paper by hand(!!)).

No more VPN pain 👍

So, here’s the deal. The client we’re working with here uses Cisco’s AnyConnect as the VPN client, and my god I hate it. It doesn’t remember the password, slows down everything, and just generally not stable. It also dies when there is any other VPN connected at the same time.

I was looking around for the better solution, and I finally found it - Shimo! (#not sponsored).

Basically, it works just like any other VPN client (free Tunnel Bick, for example). But apart from OpenVPN protocol, it supports the old IPSEC/L2TP and Cisco’s AnyConnect!

What’s even better - it allows you to setup custom triggers, so when you open a particular website - it turns the specific connection on!

The above is especially important to me, since I use a lot of different streaming services, and most of them have content that is region-locked. Even when you’re paying for it, which is sad.

The only issue is - it’s pretty pricey. But! If you use SetApp like I do - it’s a part of their $5/mo subscription, which is way more manageable, considering how many other apps are there.

So yeah, definitely recommended https://www.shimovpn.com/

A Way Out impressions 🎯

So we just beat this one with a friend of mine, and I can say that it’s one of the best story-focused games I’ve played so far.

If you need a good reference point for this one - you can look at David Cage’s games (e.g., Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls). The core gameplay is mostly QTE and minigames, with some dialogue here and there and a couple of possible story branches. But since this game is aimed to be played together with a different person - that changes everything.

Every time you do something together - it feels incredible. In the Prison chapters especially.

All of those moments when one of you distracts a guard, while the other one does something sketchy - feel so good.

The game is also filled with different references and easter eggs from things like “Shawshank Redemption”, “Scarface” and many others. And they are not as blunt as “here, look, this is a reference”, but they all feel very natural and fit in the world quite well.

If you have someone to play this game with - you should pick it up 👌