Well, a fair bit has been going on over the last few months. Some I have talked about, but most I have tried to deal with in the background. The bottom line – my time is quickly becoming more and more limited, and it’s not going to stop any time soon.
Work is busy as always, but getting sick earlier in March put a huge strain on my schedule. Putting time aside hasn’t been easy, and thanks to some great personal news I have even less time to catch up.
When I get one of those golden periods where I can sit and enjoy a game, I feel I have something else to do which puts a crimp in my gaming enjoyment.
So for a few weeks, I am going to put the site on hold. I need time to catch up with everything, then actually slow down and relax – something I haven’t had time to do lately!
So yeah, no new updates for a little bit. I am sorry about the late notice. Trying to push through and get things ‘back to normal’ has put me further behind, so need to take that proverbial deep breath!
I hope you are taking care of yourself and doing all the things that bring you joy!
Until next time,
JohnHQLD
Don’t forget to find me on Facebook or @JohnHQLD me on Twitter and Instagram! And don’t forget you can get random gaming and pet pics on Instagram as well. 🙂
Sorry, I have been away longer than expected. My break continues, but it has bene going well overall. I have been able to do a few things in this time. I finally started playing Breath of the Wild for example! I have also had time to make an extension to help with blocking traffic from zip domains.
Lately, there have been a few issues with the new zip and mov domains. People have been getting tricked with links that look like microsoft.com/example.zip, but actually say microsoft.com/@example.zip.
Why is this a problem? Well with the @ symbol, the actual domain you are going to is example.zip, NOT microsoft.com. This is how people are being hit with phishing (e.g. fake password screens) or malware downloads.
This is where my extension comes in to help block zip domains. The Zip and Mov Domain Blocker does exactly what it says on the tin – blocks traffic from zip and move domains. So even if you miss the @ symbol in a URL, this will stop your browser from downloading anything from these domains.
You can’t download anything bad with traffic blocked!
Why do I need to block zip domains?
You personally might not need to. But I am sure many of you are the resident tech support for family members and the like. That’s the situation I wrote this block zip domain extension for – an easy and safe way to protect the link clickers you know!
If they are using Chrome as their default browser, blocking zip domains will help make your life easier in the long run!
Hi everyone. It’s been a while, and I have missed writing anything for the site. Some bad news though – I can’t see myself coming back any time soon. It’s taken me almost two weeks to finish writing this – I still have a long way to go before coming back regularly.
First things first – life has put a lot on my plate, most of which are really positive. There isn’t anything bad happening – just a lot of things at once that take a lot out of me. Too much of a good thing takes as much of a toll as a run of bad things.
The down side though is I don’t really see an end to this before 2025. Yep – another yearof being flat out and just trying to recover on weekends is in my future.
So I have been thinking long and hard what I want to do.
So you are closing the site down?
Nope. I just won’t be updating it for quite some time, then it will probably go into construction mode again, then eventually come back in a new form.
I won’t be trying to do anything to a specific content wise, nor stick to a set schedule. I keep falling into the trap of treating the hobby site as a budding business – that’s never been the intention of the site.
So I am going to split the site into multiple sites most likely, and update the various sections as they need it. Games will be separate, and then maybe some coding and other projects I have in the back of my mind.
What sort of things are you looking at doing?
So many things! I have been considering writing some walkthroughs recently. I have some ideas for games I finally want to make. I just finished watching Twisted Metal, and I have some thoughts on that.
These are all different things that would fit on a site of their own. The downside is when I do it will take some time away from other projects. Hence nothing will have it’s own timeline – it’s what I am doing at the time.
Putting everything together into some cohesive ideas
For years, I have been going to finish a board game collection app. It’s time to actually sit down and write it. There are quite a few different ways this can be done, so maybe a coding blog for a couple of different things would work as well?
I would still talk about games I am playing, but I don’t need to keep to a weekly schedule. This would let me play a game for a while and give all my thoughts on the game, so more review focused again. I could keep the gameplay diary portion though, there are a few different ways this would work. Another project for the coding blog?
So your way of slowing down is to spread yourself out? How does that help?
Basically. Flitting from job to job is how I have always been, so this is a pretty John move. And to keep myself to the ‘when I do it’ timeline, I am going to delete the Facebook page.
It might seem counter-intuitive to build a site and then take down visibility for a lot of people, but I have never really liked the way I set up Facebook years ago. For a start, it’s set up as a business page. The headaches this has caused aren’t massive, but it’s enough that I just don’t want to deal with it any more.
On top of that, I can split out things like coding, thoughts, games etc. into individual areas. This way you can see the areas that interest you, while not getting spammed with things you would rather not now about.
Sorry Facebook, it’s been an interesting few years at least
This will mean that my instagram can be ‘my’ instagram again, and a few other similar benefits as well. Twitter/X? Goodbye. I will keep the account, but I am not going to keep twisting myself to try and update a service for readers for those platforms to monetize!
Nope, write a bunch of stuff as and when I want, and if you find it in a search and it helps – perfect. Other than that, I can keep doing what I enjoy on my timeframe.
So when does all this happen?
About then? I don’t know for sure. The site will always be here in some form, but there will be a final post on Facebook a week before I delete the page.
So once again, I thank you for coming with me on this journey. I do apologise for hitting the brakes and changing direction suddenly, but I am hoping the new direction(s?) will be of interest to you as well.
It will be fun building this up over the next few months, and I look forward to chatting again to you soon!
