I also enabled w3-total-cache which greatly speeds up pageload times and caching, as well as using S3 + cloudfront as a content delivery network (cdn) for delivering static content.

Look forward for another post with greater in-depth details on how I accomplished this.

One of the neat things about Terraria is the sheer scope in the size of the world maps.  Everything on the map can be modified and customized as you play.  You can dig and mine the ground and build building and castles and much more.

In Terraria, there are 3 map sizes, and to give you an idea of the difference in size between Small, Medium, and Large, here are 3 fresh maps I just generated. I warn you though, the image filesizes are pretty big!

Small World

Medium World

Large World

Since buying my Roku XD I have since become an Amazon Prime member to gain access to the unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows that Amazon Prime has to offer.  While the interface of the Amazon On Demand channel for Roku needs much improvement (their customer service dept was happy to hear my suggestions about creating a queue/playlist/subscription), it gets the job done, and it has a good selection of content to watch.  I’ve also puchased a couple season of TV shows to watch On Demand, and their HD movie rental rates are cheaper than what I get direct from Charter (my cable provider).

Moving on from their video services, I’ve been very impressed with their new cloud storage and MP3 cloud player service.  I’ve purchased several albums from Amazon that I would have previously purchased from iTunes because they were a few dollars cheaper.  And with the Cloud Player on my Android phone, it makes having my music with me wherever I go as simple as a click of a button. (I just wish there was a native cloud player app for my iPhone/iPad2).

I’m also an avid book reader and enthusiast, and the fact that the Amazon Kindle app works on my EVO, my iPhone, and my iPad2 means that I can take my whole library with me wherever I go.  Granted, I also have the Barnes & Noble Nook app on all 3 devices as well, but the Kindles whispersync is so much nicer to keep my books synced between devices.  With the Nook, it’s annoying to have to figure out where I was in the book when I want to read a quick chapter on my EVO after reading for a bit on my iPad2 before bed the previous night.

Amazon’s seller marketplace also makes it easy for me to convert my old collection of physical books into money, which in-turn helps me expand my Kindle library.  I’d love it if they had a book exchange program where you can send in physical books and receive discounts on the kindle versions of those same books.

All in all, I’m a very happy Amazon customer!

But yesterday, I was at Best Buy picking up some accessories for my iPad2, and I ended up buying a Roku XD.   I have a Hulu+ subscription which I enjoy with my iPad, and a co-worker clued me into Amazon’s instant on-demand videos which are actually cheaper than the Charter on Demand videos I get through my cable service, and since the Roku XD supports both of those, I thought I would give it a spin.

So far, I am very impressed.  With Hulu+ I have access to more TV shows than I could possibly watch, and a subscription to Amazon Prime will give me even more, including movies.  I was also pleasantly surprised with some other channels available on the Roku device, like Crackle.com which has free movies on demand.

The UI on the Roku is a little meh.  It’s functional and thats about it.  I really like the remote, and performance wise, while the menu changes are a bit sluggish, the video playback on my TV is excellent.

For a $79 device, the Roku XD gets my approval.  I actually am considering getting a 2nd Roku for another TV in the house, and I’ll play around with a server software called Chaneru which should let me play/stream my current media library off the network to the roku devices, eliminating the need for a 2nd XBMC/Boxee device for downloaded media.

As much as I love apple products, I cannot forsee or justify spending the prices Appple demands for media in iTunes.  Why buy a TV season for $36 in iTunes, when I can get the same thing from Amazon for $19?  Or included in a monthly subscription from Hulu+ or Amazon Prime?

While I was filling up my gas tank, there was a sign put up on the pump that said something along the lines of “BP stations are locally owned and operated, and contribute to the local communities. Thank you for your loyalty.”  It really made my blood boil as I read that, and heard the picketers across the street shouting at me for supporting a locally owned and operated gas station that happens to be a BP franchisor.

I’m not sure what I’m more angry, the fact that these people are just looking for a cause to “fight” for because they’re bleeding heart liberals and want to earn their “good for society” badge?  They really don’t care about the oil spill in the gulf, they really don’t care about the causes they wave flags for.  They just need a scapegoat and target for their activism, and BP is their current target.

Boycotting BP, especially in Northern Minnesota, isn’t going to do anything to help the gulf.  All it is doing is hurting local businesses and the local Minnesota economy.  BP isn’t going anywhere, they’re still going to be in business for years to come, and they’re going to continue making gobs of money.  Whether the oil spill in the gulf is their fault or not, instead of pointing fingers and playing the blame game, the bleeding heart liberals need to actually think of what is GOOD, and HELP the people in need.  There are organizations that you can donate money, and other items to, to actually help clean up the oil, because the government sat around and talked about what to do, instead of doing anything, and now there is a big mess on the gulf coast.

So far this seems like a pretty sweet app! I’m still not used to the Android/evo keyboard… I think the spacebar needs to be a bit bigger as I’m trying to type as fast as I do on my iPhone but my words blend together, so its either the auto spell correction or I’m missing the spacebar as I type.

All I can say is this thing is HUGE!  And when I turned it on, it’s got a nice, crisp, hi-res display and it looks fantastic.  I can’t wait to get it activated and start playing with it.  I primarily use my iPhone for personal, but I use the email / web features of it for work because it was so much better than the instinct.  I might actually start using my work phone for work (email/web) as well as personal.

Here is a picture of the phones side by side while I wait for the new phone to activate…

Over the holidays, I had the chance to play around and use my brother’s Kindle from Amazon, and I was impressed!  I liked that the Kindle had a bigger screen, and the e-ink was very nice to read, compared to reading the backlit ebooks on my iPhone.  However, I did not like the fact that the display was not touch-sensitive, and I had to use the physical buttons to turn the page.  The Kindle interface wasn’t very intuitive and it took me a while to get used to it and be able to quickly navigate the menus.

Also over the holidays, I was able to check out my Uncle’s Nook from Barnes and Noble. Feature wise, the Nook and Kindle are pretty evenly matched, but due to the fact that the Nook has a 2nd screen, and has built in Wi-Fi, I would probably buy the Nook over the Kindle, if I had to get one or the other.

BUT! (there is always a but)  I just read about the new enTourage eDGe which combines 2 displays, and the google android OS to make a hybrid ebook reader that functions also as a tablet pc/netbook.  Now this is more along the lines of something that I would buy.  I’ve been contemplating getting a netbook, and if I make the plunge into netbook ownership, I’m going to take a hard look at the eDGe.  I’m not that familiar with the droid OS, and if there was a version that would let me run the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, then it would be just right.

It would make me a happy camper, and it would be better for the environment to not have all those extra wrappers filling up my waste basket.