Prepare for COVID-19

I'm sure the Coronavirus COVID-19 global pandemic is on everyone's minds, & having a spouse working in the frontlines of the medical field helps me sort through the good/bad info. Snopes.com is a good fact checker, & check out the CDC safety tips such as practicing good hygiene, cancelling non-essential travel, & avoiding large crowds on the PDF linked at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html‬

Additional info from reputable sources:

• World Health Organization https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
• Information is beautiful charts (uses sources such as CDC/WHO)  https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/
• Flatten the curve https://www.cbsnews.com/news/flattening-the-curve-coronavirus-graph-social-distancing-self-quarantine-no-large-events-covid-19/

I hope all my colleagues, family, & friends are taking the appropriate measures to stay safe & stock up on supplies. Feel free to share this & reach out for any questions. Thank you

Master Instruments like Piano with Technology

Ever since I was a kid I enjoyed playing music. I remember memorizing keys to play basic songs on a keyboard recorder that could then play back what I recorded it to play. I enjoyed many styles of music, but specifically melodic music from video games and movies I would connect with the most. If I hear a portion of a song, I can usually remember what it is from. 

The only formal class I remember was taking 1 semester of guitar class in high school. I ended up searching online for guitar tablature so I could learn sections of classic songs like "Stairway to Heaven." 

My daughters are taking piano lessons and usually learning songs that they want to play, but they sometimes get bored playing a specific song repeatedly. 

Luckily there is software to help us out. Programs like Synthesia allow you to load up any song that has been saved to a MIDI song file, and will show you visually how to play a specific instrument from that song. It is easy to find free MIDI files online legally as well.

I have a PC with a touch screen, and could use the computer keyboard to play the songs. But for the best experience I recommend a USB MIDI keyboard. There are advanced models out there, but even an inexpensive model with 32-keys like one from midiplus is something that can give many hours of fun while learning to master your favorite songs. 

What song and instrument are you planning to learn next? Let us know in the comments 

Control Your Classic Gaming Experience

I played a lot of video games over the years. It has had a great history. 

And for me it started young at the arcades with games like Pac Man and Street Fighter 2. I remember saving up for my first console system the Atari 2600. Nintendo I was hooked on shortly after with games like Super Mario Brothers, Mega Man 3, and Punch Out. Then in 1989 I spent hours with my first portable video game system with games like Tetris on the Gameboy. 

Young in school I would finish my work early so I could play games like Oregon Trail and Lemonade Stand on the class Mac computer. Then in high school I got into PC DOS computer games like Doom, Lemmings, & SimCity when I got my first computer.  My goal was to finish assignments in programming classes so  we play each other in games like Duke Nukem 3D & Worms. With the Internet becoming popular that also gave us a chance to play each other in PC Windows games like Warcraft, Starcraft, & Quake 2: Capture The Flag. 

Games continued to evolve over the years, especially with the growth of mobile devices. I do play a couple of games on my phone like chess and scrabble, but find many of them push in-game purchases. 

Our family is putting together an "edutainment room" with old computers running Linux, and have found free versions of games such as Hedgewars. You can also find many free classic games such as at Archive.Org's Software Collection. 

For now I'll start them by using simple controllers like the inexpensive SNES 2 pack USB controllers that work on PC/Mac/Linux. Some may prefer something more advanced like an N64 controller, or even build their own arcade gaming machine with 1000 of games by using controllers parts from a Full DIY 4 player set 

What are your favorite systems and games? Let us know in the comments

Big Kid Sharing Childhood Fun

Having 2 kids, my wife and I joke regularly that our calendar has two phases – BK (before kids) and AK (after kids). When our kids were young, we found little time for the fun we used to have. But as our kids grow up we have a chance to share the great things from our childhoods. Our new TV connect devices, playing 80s movies & classic games I've collected, classic gaming, music, and more. 

I remember saving up for my first video game system Atari 2600, and the many hours playing other games on systems - Nintendo, PC, xbox, and more. I watched a lot of movies and shows – some good and some bad. And I've learn a lot along the way

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For Sale

Domain for sale - visit the Afternic link below to make an offer:
https://www.afternic.com/search?k=gamerwarrior&tld=com

Auction Coming Soon

Our web domain name GamerWarrior.com will be available for sale starting 8/1 through silent auction! If interested e-mail agamerwarrior@gmail.com with your contact info. We'll notify you if you are the highest bidder. Good luck :-)