Why are we inviting you to this early edition? Because our players are our most important critics and our biggest cheerleaders. You get us! You embrace our wacky weirdness and you love our games as much as we do. Because of that, we’re committed to providing you and the PvZ community with the highest quality experience we can.
Keep in mind, PvZ: Battle for Neighborville’s modes and features are already final. By giving our biggest fans a chance to come in now, we’ll be polishing performance as you play to ensure our scaled experience is running at peak levels for launch and beyond, making the PvZ: Battle for Neighborville experience the best it can be. Thanks, neighbor!
Here’s what you’ll get with the Founder’s Edition:
Exclusive Founder’s rewards for the first four weeks when you log in each week
A special Founder’s price of $29.99
A dedicated Discord channel where Founding Neighbors can share thoughts with our development team
Updates on new weekly gameplay experiences through News from Neighborville posts and our weekly PvZ developer livestream Live from Neighborville
The progress you make in the Founder’s Edition will roll over at launch
Here’s how you can get involved:
Get the digital-only Founder’s Edition – only available for purchase until September 30, 2019
Play through six weeks of content as new parts of the game go live, including new multiplayer modes, free-roam regions, and more from September 4 – October 17.
On October 18, enjoy all the same content as the $39.99** Standard Edition product at no additional cost
Wendy and I went out to Phoenix, Arizona for the Grove Family reunion on the weekend of June 7th. After the weekend of fun family activities, we drove to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. Here are some of the pictures from that excursion.
Question: How did “The Big Bang Theory,” which had two pilots and an inauspicious start, connect with viewers?
Chuck Lorre: We stumbled out of the gate pretty hard in the beginning, and it took a while to find the voice of the show. Remarkably, we came along at a time when the audience wanted to see a show about characters that were outliers. Despite the fact that they were Caltech scientists, these were people who weren’t fitting in. And that sense of estrangement is something I think people identified with. You don’t have to be a prodigy to feel left out.
Q: What allowed “Big Bang” to remain so popular for so long?
Lorre: It begins with this remarkable cast. Each one of these characters as played by the actors is so endearing and remarkable and specific in their own way. The relationships changed, and I think that breathes a lot of life into it. … Turning the show over to (executive producers) Steve Molaro and Steve Holland expanded it greatly because their sensibilities were different than mine, and that was really good. The Steves had the creative freedom to move the show in different directions that kept it fresh.
Q: What stands out about your “Big Bang” experience?
Lorre: For 12 years, there was no drama. It was people coming to work every day, having a good time and looking out for each other. It was wonderful. I looked forward to going to table reads, rehearsals and shoot nights and I think everyone involved felt the same way. We were lucky. It was a gift to be part of something like that for so long and to enjoy it and feel grateful the whole time. It just doesn’t happen very often in his business.
Q: Did you want the show to continue past this season?
Lorre: I would have supported it had it gone either way. At a certain point, I kind of felt that decision was not mine to make.
Q: How significant was Jim Parsons’ decision not to go beyond this season?
Lorre: When Jim announced this would be his last year – that’s an obvious decision as an artist, to try other things, play other characters – then we had to make a decision: Do we want to do the show without him? The real thing is: Do we want to do the show without any of the principal characters? I was of the mind that the ensemble was perfect the way it was, and I didn’t want to continue with a major absence.
Q: Would you have been happy to continue a couple more seasons?
Lorre: Absolutely. We’re still having a good time, and I’m really proud of the work. And a lot of people had gainful employment. … There are many reasons to keep it going, so when you ask: Am I OK with it ending? No. I’m grief-stricken that it ended, but at the same time, I’m proud of what we did. I’m grateful that we get to do it.
Q: Is there any chance of a spin-off featuring “Big Bang” characters?
Lorre: There was lots of talk about it. CBS and (producing studio) Warner Bros. were very vocal about wanting to find a way. I wasn’t against the idea, and I’m not against it, but it has to be because it’s creatively an exciting idea, not because it’s economically important. … At the moment, we’re not discussing anything going forward, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that I cannot see the big picture. I don’t know what’s coming next.
Q: How important is the show’s connection to fans?
Lorre: When you go to Comic-Con and people respond to seeing the cast, you go, “Oh, this means something. This is not a frivolous exercise.” When I was growing up, there were shows that were deeply important to me, like “Star Trek,” “The Smothers Brothers,” “Laugh-In” and “Get Smart.” To be involved in a show that means something to people, it’s special. It’s a rare thing.
AMD SenseMI Technology
Socket AM4
Max Turbo Frequency 3.6 GHz
16MB L3 Cache
3MB L2 Cache
DDR4 Support
Unlocked Processor
Thermal Design Power 65W
AMD Wraith Spire 95W Cooler Included
Motherboard: MSI B450M Bazooka
Supports AMD® Ryzen 1st and 2nd Generation/ Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Vega Graphics/ Athlon™ with Radeon™ Vega Graphics Processors for Socket AM4
Supports DDR4 Memory, up to 3466+(OC) MHz
Lightning Fast Game experience: 1x TURBO M.2, Store MI technology
Core Boost: With premium layout optimized power design to support more cores and provide better performance.
DDR4 Boost: Advanced technology to deliver pure data signals for the best gaming performance and stability.
Audio Boost: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for the most immersive audio experience
PCI-E Steel Armor: Protecting VGA cards against bending and EMI
X-Boost: Software that auto-detects and allows you to boost the performance of any storage, Optane or USB device
EZ Debug LED: Easiest way to troubleshoot.
HyperX® FURY DDR4 can handle even the toughest battle. It recognizes its host platform and overclocks to the highest frequency published (up to 2666MHz*) — so you can wreak havoc. FURY DDR4 runs at 1.2V, even at 2666MHz, so it stays cooler while you play. You don’t need to alter the voltage to reach higher speeds, which means there’s more power for other hardware in the system. FURY’s sleek, asymmetrical black heat spreader provides enhanced thermal dissipation to help keep your cool and help you stand out from the crowd.
Automatic overclocking — up to 2666MHz
Low power consumption at 1.2V
Optimized for X99 series motherboards
Stylish low profile heat spreader in black
Storage: (2) X Kingston – A400 240 GB 2.5″ Solid State Drive
Kingston’s A400 solid-state drive dramatically improves the responsiveness of your existing system with incredible boot, loading and transfer times compared to mechanical hard drives. Powered by a latest gen controller for read and write speeds up to 500MB/s and 450MB/s1, this SSD is 10x faster than a traditional hard drive1 for higher performance, ultra-responsive multi-tasking and an overall faster system. Also more reliable and durable than a hard drive, A400 is available in multiple capacities from 120GB–960GB2.
Fast start-up, loading and file transfers
More reliable and durable than a hard drive
Multiple capacities with space for applications or a hard drive replacement
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB is a great graphics card for gamers seeking serious performance and features at a price that won’t bust the wallet. Based on the state-of-the-art Pascal architecture, the GeForce GTX 1060 is built using 16nm FinFET technology and equipped with 1280 CUDA processors that operate at unprecedented high clock speed. Coupled with high-bandwidth GDDR5 memory, the GeForce GTX 1060 delivers brilliant performance to take on the latest high-definition games. It also delivers innovative new gaming technologies and breakthrough VR experiences, making it the ideal choice for your gaming machine.
This ZOTAC ZT-P10620A-10M GeForce GTX 1060 6GB comes with dual large fans for efficient yet quiet cooling, and is built with superb components ensuring stability, reliability and durability you can count on in extreme gaming.
Case: ROSEWILL ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
Classic and Professional Design: ROSEWILL CHALLENGER S is a typical mid tower pc computer case with a gaming look to leverage the gaming practice and a solid gaming computer case comes with a blue LED case fan at the front for excellent gaming systems.
All-Around Airflow: With 2x front blue LED 120mm and 1x rear 120mm computer case fans pre-installed, the gaming case (CHALLENGER S) aims to create the best airflow for any gaming system. ROSEWILL CHALLENGER S can not only give the excellent ventilation but also the easy access I/O ports at the front.
Spacious Internal: The ATX case pre-installs 2x front blue LED 120mm and 1x rear 120mm and support another 2x 120mm gaming case fans (optional). Easy to customize interior components with screw-less design for 5.25″ external drive bays and 3.5″ HDD.
Hassle-free Installation: The ATX mid tower case offers tool-less installation of the 2.5″ drives and 3.5″ drives for a hassle-free build. Plus, the case has a bottom-mounted dust filter that protects the power supply from the threat of dust.
Great Expandability: With up to five internal 3.5” drive bays and two external 3.5” drive bays, the Rosewill CHALLENGER gives DIY builders ultimate flexibility in personalizing their PC. It’s also furnished with three 5.25″ external drive bays. Additionally, up to seven expansion slots let you better take advantage of your motherboard’s expandability.
Power Supply: EVGA 600 W 80+ Certified ATX
When building on a budget, the EVGA 600W 80 PLUS is a great choice at a low cost. Supporting 49 A on a single +12 V rail provides more options without having to reduce your component requirements. Save space with the 600W’s compact design, well-placed power switch and fully sleeved cables. The 600 W offers the connections and protections needed for basic system builds.
I will read more books in 2019. That is my resolution! Reading is Fundamental…to life.
To start with, I am going to read the 5 books that Bill Gatesloved in 2018. You can’t go wrong with recommendations from a “bazillionare”.
The first will be 21 Lessons for the 21st Centuryby Yuval Noah Harari. Here is what Bill has to say about the book: “I’m a big fan of everything Harari has written, and his latest is no exception. While Sapiens and Homo Deus covered the past and future respectively, this one is all about the present. If 2018 has left you overwhelmed by the state of the world, 21 Lessons offers a helpful framework for processing the news and thinking about the challenges we face”.
The Google AIY Voice Kit lets you build your own natural language processor and connect it to the Google Assistant. All of this fits in a handy little cardboard cube, powered by a Raspberry Pi. More information
While on vacation, I am going to build this and I’ll report back my findings.
UPDATE
I successfully built the kit and tested the example python code. I am looking for new features to add and will report back on what I find.
Growing up, the free toys on the covers of magazines were made of plastic. They were cheap, and cheerful. Yet the last thirty years has reduced the price of computing to the point where cheap and cheerful plastic toys have been replaced by other things. Around this time last year Google and Raspberry Pi did something rather intriguing. Together they packaged machine learning — the ability for your Raspberry Pi to think and reason — as a kit, and made it available free on the cover of a magazine. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the print run of the magazine sold out in hours. To be fair, it wasn’t exactly on the cover. They had to put it, and the magazine, into a box. But I guess it’s thought that counts..?
Based around the a Raspberry Pi HAT the kit enabled you to add voice interaction to your Raspberry Pi. Later in the year, Google made the same kit available through retail channels. Google called it AIY Projects, that would be AIY for “artificial intelligence it yourself.” The kit came with almost all the bits and pieces you’d need to build a Google Home style Voice Assistant using a Raspberry Pi. There was even a cardboard case for the project build which, after Google Cardboard, has become almost synonymous with Google’s in-house prototyping efforts.
Second AIY Projects Kit
Then, towards the end of last year they announced the second AIY Projects Kit. This time it was a Vision rather than a Voice Kit. The contents looked familiar to anyone that’s played with the original Voice Kit. But this time, the kit was based around a Raspberry Pi pHAT — better known as a Pi Bonnet . Designed to work with the lower powered Raspberry Pi Zero instead of relying on the horse power of the Raspberry Pi’s 3 faster processor — the new kit moved a lot of the processing power it needs onto the Vision board itself, and the Intel Movidius chip on top hints at the biggest departure from the original Voice Kit. Unlike the Voice Kit, the Vision Kit is designed to run the all the machine learning locally — on the device — rather than talk to the cloud.
Only a very limited quantity—around 2,000 units—of the Vision Kit made it onto shelves before Christmas, and then things went ominously quiet. That is, until just three weeks ago, when Google launched updated versions of both the Voice and Vision Kits.
New Kits have everything
This time the kits really did have everything, including a Raspberry Pi Zero W with pre-soldered headers, and an SD card with a pre-burned image. All you needed to add was a USB power supply. Unlike the original Voice Kit, the latest releases are built around a Raspberry Pi Bonnet, and both the Voice and Vision Kits now use the Raspberry Pi Bonnet form factor. The new Voice Bonnet has a few less pin outs than the original Voice HAT so if you’re really interested in hacking around with the kits and attaching them to external hardware — rather than just building them — you might want to think about picking up one of the original Voice HAT based kits while they’re still on shelves. You can still find them if you look.
The NFL saved the best for last for Pittsburgh. The Steelers schedule has a relatively harmless early stretch punctuated by a Week 7 bye, but close with three of their final five games against future Hall of Fame quarterbacks — Philip Rivers’ Chargers, Tom Brady’s Patriots, Drew Brees’ Saints. The league’s late-night darlings from 2017, Pittsburgh is slated to play in eight nationally televised games this time around; that’s half of its season in prime time.
Thanks to a random but significant quirk, the Steelers could have the AFC North wrapped up by midseason. How? They play five of their six division games between Week 1 (Cleveland Browns) and Week 9 (Baltimore Ravens), and only one more over their final eight games. If the Steelers perform well in those games — and, overall, they have the NFL’s easiest first half of the season based on opponents’ 2017 winning percentage — they could bury the Browns, Ravens and perhaps the Cincinnati Bengals early and provide all three little chance to make up ground. Pittsburgh’s final division game will come in Week 17, at home against the Bengals.
Steelers Toughest Test
You know the drill by now. There will be a lot on the line in the Steelers’ home game against the Patriots, and Pittsburgh has lost the last five meetings to New England since 2013. Last year’s controversial finish aside, this has been the toughest test for most of the decade. A trip to New Orleans will be a battle of Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees, and a trip to the Black Hole to face Jon Gruden and the Raiders could rekindle that classic rivalry.
Biggest breaks
The Chargers have to make a cross-country trip to play the Steelers. As for the Chiefs, they haven’t beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh since Dec. 21, 1986.
Bottom line
The road game against Jacksonville should be interesting. That’s the team that beat the Steelers twice last year and upset the pecking order in the AFC. Something else to watch: Pittsburgh has lost just three AFC North games in the last three seasons It shouldn’t see much of a slide in 2018.
