Wednesday 5 June 2002

Pic of the day: When it comes to incredibly detailed graphics and ripple effects, you still can't beat real life.

Antsy arm

(Yes, it's a pun on "army ants". Explanation follows.)

I returned to full work on Monday. That, and I have written longer entries and e-mails again. This may have been a little early: My hand is no longer improving and indeed feels a bit worse again. I guess I shall have to restrain myself more.

Today my left hand prickled. It was the "anthill inside" feeling you may have after accidentally lying on your arm. But it did not fade over a few minutes. Instead it spread to my arm, which prickled quite distractingly from around 11 to a bit past 12 noon. It receded, but the hand still crawls with invisible ants in the afternoon. Usually this feeling comes when blood returns to the limb, but clearly this is not the case here. Is it some kind of neurological condition? Or just the tension crawling over to a new area? Or just me running all over Morrowind? (Movement keys are on left hand.)

***

Yes, I have continued playing Morrowind, even if not all day, much less all night. As I read my way through the improbably long list of rave reviews, I realize that I must be one of a few people who like Morrowind but doesn't worship it. It could be mainly that I have a GeForce 2 card for 3D graphics, while all self-respecting reviewers (and other true fans) have GeForce 4. I find the graphics in Morrowind impressive, but not stunning, awesome, 100% and so on. In fact, while DAoC graphics may be less detailed, they are certainly prettier and mostly more realistic too; especially the characters. Maybe some day I'll have a GeForce 4 card and will get to see the pixel shaded water ripple effect that has people captivated.

Then again, I have a river running by the foot of the hill here, and the seashore within walking distance. And let me tell those who haven't seen it: Reality has the best graphics you've ever seen; incredibly detailed, moving in real time, no lag, and it doesn't lock up every few hours either. And you can't beat reality for sheer immersion and the feeling of "being there".

I was on the verge of saying that reality doesn't crash you to the desktop either, but that pretty much happened this evening, though I did wake up and stumble to bed. (Well, for small values of "wake up". So I'm finishing this at 4 in the morning. That's sooo going to help my day rhythms. Heh. Perhaps I should show up at work early, scaring the natives ...