Drumming

Talking on the phone

Inchworm

Elephants in Longue Bai

Gabonese Traditional Dancing

FiOS

So, the Verizon guys came over on Wednesday and hooked me up with FiOS. It rocks. I went from 768K/128K to 5M/2M. That's roughly 7 times my old download speed and 16 times my old upload speed and it's not shared like cable, so it's all mine. Muhuwahaha!

FF VII News

Well, those of you who aren't Final Fantasy nerds like me probably couldn't care less, but this is super exciting to me:

Outside of Crisis Core, Famitsu editors asked about new developments in the Compilation series, noting that players are hoping for a FFVII remake. Yes, questions about a remake of FFVII are required whenever interviewing Nomura and Kitase.

Tabata avoided the remake issue entirely, instead pointing out that Square Enix will be distributing a new episode of Before Crisis for mobile players simultaneously with the Crisis Core release. This episode features Reno as the main character.

A remake of FFVII is a question of timing, Imaizumi said, noting that Kitase, Nomura and Tabata are all busy with the Final Fantasy XIII series. He added that a new game of some form will be announced at the Tokyo Game Show. We're not sure if he's referring to a new game in the FFXIII series or a general new title from Kitase, Nomura and Tabata. Either way, we're already excited.

This new title appears to be separate from the new Kingdom Hearts project that Tetsuya Nomura has previously confirmed for a TGS unveiling. Asked about the announcement, Nomura simply asked readers to look forward to it.

Imaizumi closed off by confirming once again that there are currently no plans for a FFVII remake. However, he noted that this could change rather quick, alluding to Kitase's comment about how the decision to make Crisis Core took only two days.

Update:
Well, what do you know... It looks like it's going to happen:

FF VII Citadel

Next up is a possible confirmation of the current rumor to end all rumors. Apparently, if you beat Crisis Core twice, you'll be treated to a special movie that looks a lot like the PS3 tech demo. However, this movie ends with the words "to be continued in Final Fantasy VII". Not going to mention the "R" word here; just take from this what you will. In the meantime, read the whole story and see the screenshots at your choice of Kotaku, the NeoGAF forums, and/or Jeux France.

Bunny Moth?

Bunny Moth?, originally uploaded by Jefe Le Gran.

I'm assuming it's dead since it's been sitting on our front porch for the last 3 or 4 days, but I was surprised at how un-moth-like it was when I actually got a picture of it. It's face looks more like a rabbit or a bat than a moth.

Solar Powered Wi-Fi

A lot of times, solar is the only way to get reliable power in third world countries. In Gabon, generator power was really spotty since the gas infrastructure wasn't quite there. However, quite a few of the small villages had solar panels on the roofs of the buildings. Add a nice solar powered wi-fi router to that along with the super cheap linux laptops and the pre-existing cell networks we've been hearing about and you have a connected village.

Pax

OK - so I had a lame excuse and didn't go again this year and again I regret it. I just couldn't really justify leaving Nathan with Elissa for the whole day right when she's trying to get her new classroom up and running. Especially since I left her alone for three weeks while I galavanted around Africa.
In any case, the conference sounded great and judging from my buddy's account, I would had a thoroughly great time.

Fios

Woohoo! Verizon is hooking up my neighborhood for fiber as I write this. I talked to the installer this morning and he said that it should be ready to go for me in about a month. The slowest speed they have is 5MB down and 1MB up and it costs about the same as my current 768K down and 128K up DSL line. Sweet!

The one bummer that I found out, though, was that Verizon isn't allowed to offer their cable service in Washington yet. Stupid Comcast.

14 New Oz Movies

I was way into the Oz books when I was a kid. I think I read all the way up to #30 (and yeah there are more than that) So, when I saw this on slashdot today, I got pretty excited. When I also saw that Todd McFarlane is involved, I get even more excited.

Hippo butts

Hippo butts, originally uploaded by Jefe Le Gran.

Sorta goes without saying, but the hippos weren't too interested in socializing at the zoo on Saturday.