Burzmali

Back in middle school, a friend and I rented Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and beat it in a weekend. We both had a blast. Then I learned that it's one of the most hated Final Fantasy games. I don't understand why people hate it so much.

I'll agree with the folks saying Unity. Even if you've forgotten most of your co-sci learning, you should be able to pick C# up pretty quickly. The fact that you can compile for pretty much any desired platform, and it's free for the basic usage, and it does both 2D and 3D make it a really good choice since you aren't limited in those ways.

Alternatively, you could try Gamesalad. It's all drag-and-drop object "coding" and you can whip simple games out incredibly quickly. It's also free for basic usage, and compiles to a lot of different platforms. Really, if you want to start making a game and have something basic in a couple of days, Gamesalad is where you might want to start. There was a game jam a while back where some group's coders dropped out 6 hours in or something. The rest of the team grabbed Gamesalad and had a respectable game done 40 or so hours later when the jam was over. It's super easy to understand and use. The downside is that you won't really learn anything that could translate to another development platform, though.

Frog in 5th grade, worm and pig in 8th, and a cat during senior year of high school. I thought they were all pretty neat experiences. I don't understand the folks who claim it is cruelty to animals. I'm pretty sure most of the animals that students dissect are the byproducts of something else. The cat I dissected was a stray that was put down as part of some effort to clean up a big city. The pig fetuses come from rendering plants, I think. I guess I don't know about the frogs. Expired stock from French restaurants?

@TyCobb: Yep, that's the one. Seriously. Awesome show. The over-arching story thing is sort of like X-Files, in that each episode is a single thing but there's a series-spanning story that is advanced each time, too. One tip: Make sure you see the mini-episode thing after the last episode of season one and before season two. Otherwise you'll be confused at the start of season two.

I'd go with the Nexus 7. I have an iPad. If I didn't need it for development, I'd have a Nexus 7 instead. Cheaper, more portable, and Android is better than iOS as far as flexibility is concerned. If you still don't want the Nexus, I'd really go with an iPad, though. The surface just doesn't look very good by comparison.

I agree with the Sherlock suggestion. That show is awesome. Watch the first season on Netflix and then buy the second off of iTunes (or whatever your cheaper source of choice is). I thought Breaking Bad was the best show ever, until I saw Sherlock. That is the best show ever.

It took me a couple of classes to "get it" when I was learning to program, too. I didn't even really enjoy it until it finally clicked for me. If you really think you'll enjoy programming once you do get it, then stick with it. Do you like solving puzzles? That's a good indication of whether you'll actually like programming once you get the hang of it. If the answer is "no," then you may want to get out now and avoid throwing good money after bad.

Network marketing is a pyramid scheme. Even the generally favorable ones admit to it, though they like to call it "multi-level marketing" instead because that's the form that is legal.

The Flop House is one of the funniest podcasts I've ever listened to. Three guys watch a bad movie and then talk about it. Before you think they're copying How Did This Get Made, they've been doing it since 2007 (iirc). The first dozen or so episodes don't have great audio quality, but they're all well worth listening to. Two of the guys write for the Daily Show and they often have other Daily Show people on when one of the main three is out. Just get all of them and start at the beginning. You won't be disappointed.

Other than that and the Bombcast, I personally listen to:

• This American Life - Stories about interesting people and things
• RadioLab - Awesome science stuff
• Stuff You Should Know - Two guys talk about one topic in a really entertaining way
• The Comedy Button - Already mentioned by others, old GFW guys
• The Geekbox - Ryan Scott from GFW, a guy who works for Natsume, a comic book store owner, and usually a woman of the games industry talk about geek-ish stuff
• The Bugle - John Oliver and some other British guy basically do an audio version of the Daily Show
• Good Job Brain - Trivia podcast
• Superego - Humor skits that often have some popular comedians
• The Moth - Stories told by celebs and non-celebs
• Doug Loves Movies - Doug Benson plays movie quiz-ish games with special guests
• We're Alive - Radio-drama-ish zombie podcast that's pretty well-done

I gave out glass beer mugs with the groomsmen's names engraved on them. I also got that same thing when I was in another friend's wedding, and I still use it. Flasks are good, too. When I got the mugs for my groomsmen they were $18 each, including the engraving, and I think I probably overpaid since it was at a kiosk in the mall.

Pocket knives are a good choice, too. They're useful and probably fit in your budget.