I will Miss you Always Mom

This is something I never wanted to write so I’m going to keep it brief. On Monday after work, I found out my mom Judy Blake-Krickovich had passed. Even writing those words now I still don’t believe it but it is true. This is a blow to my heart that I will never truly recover from. I talked to a friend earlier today who said something that made sense to me “It'll come in waves at random times, and it never fully heals, but eventually it's like a scar. It's crazy how similar it is to a wound but I do think it's evident of the love that was there.” That was my experience when my grandparents died, that is now like a scar. But Mom is a fresh wound that will take longer before it's a scar. 

Here is her Obituary:

“Judith A. Blake-Krickovich, 63 of Auburn passed away unexpectedly September 23,2024 at Geneva General Hospital.
 She was born in Utica and lived most of her life in the Auburn area. Judy was an Auburn High School graduate, Class of 1979. She previously worked as an LPN for various local nursing homes and hospitals, retiring from the V.A. Hospital in Syracuse. She also worked for Hospice and loved to care and help others that were sick. Together with her best friend and husband Durland, they enjoyed everything. Whether it was camping, boating, watching re-runs of the Wizard of Oz or It’s a Wonderful Life, taking in the beautiful sunsets or attending a concert, they loved each other’s company. She will be greatly missed and forever held closely in the hearts of those who loved her.
 She is is survived by her loving husband Durland Krickovich, sons Michael and Stephen Blake, bonus son Joshua Krickovich and bonus daughter Jamie Bastedo, several grandchildren, in-laws Dianne and Edward Krickovich, siblings, Robert, Chris, Mary Ann, Suzann, a beloved aunt Dawn David as well as several nieces, nephews, cousins, brother and sisters- in- law.
 She was predeceased by her parents, William and Charlotte Blake and an Uncle Earl David.
 There are no services at this time.”

I love you Mom and I will always miss you.

Mom and I at the New York State Fair 2023

Discovering Owasco Lake from Emerson Park on Sale Now

Today I’m happy to announce I have self-published a photo book on Amazon. It is called Discovering Owasco Lake from Emerson Park. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while. This is very much a learning process for me. I wanted to know what the process was like to self-publish on Amazon. With this being a book of just pictures it wasn’t too hard and I only had to make a few revisions to get things the way I wanted them to be. 

The book has 25 images of Owasco Lake, most of which I haven’t posted anywhere. You can get the soft cover on Amazon for $15 or you can also get a Kindle version for $5. I will note that the Kindle version can only be viewed from a phone, tablet, or any device with a Kindle app.

I think of this book as a coffee table book just something to have around for decoration to look at now and then. I would like to do more of these books in the future and I already have a subject in mind. I would also like better take advantage of the pages. 

If anyone buys the book, I thank you and hope you enjoy the images. Here is the description of the book and links to buy the book.

“Nestled at the northern tip of Owasco Lake, Emerson Park offers a serene escape into nature’s beauty. This photo book captures the essence of this picturesque location, showcasing the tranquil waters, lush greenery, and vibrant sunsets that define the park’s charm. Each image tells a story of peace and natural splendor. Whether it’s the soft pastels of dusk, these photographs invite you to experience the timeless beauty of Owasco Lake from the heart of Emerson Park.”

Paper Back

Kindle

Sadie

This morning I got a call from my mom to tell me Sadie (Our dog) had a tumor and that the vet told her the only humane thing they could do is put Sadie down. She has had what looked like swelling on the right side of her face for a few weeks now, it was to the point she couldn't open her right eye. We thought it was just an eye infection, which has happened before.

The vet thought so too and gave my mom pain pills and an antibiotic. They also did a blood test just to rule anything else out. Well, the blood work came back today, and that’s when they found out it was a tumor. Now we have until tomorrow morning to say our goodbyes to Sadie. For me to say goodbye to a family member and best friend and for my mom to say goodbye to basically her 3rd child.

Sunflower Field

Took some photos at Strawberry Fields Hydroponic Farm today.

 

Carole and Tuesday review

I wrote this as part of Gibis weeb Wensday group. I didn’t need to write something so long but I did.

Carole and Tuesday, I can't say I was looking forward to watching it. As soon as I saw the animation style I hated it until I started watching the show. Sometimes I loved the animation and I kept having this love-hate relationship with it until the end of part one. Until I thought to my self that it reminded me of the boondocks which brought me peace and I didn't think much of it during part 2. 

I loved the first episode of the show but I felt like it got old fast with how are we going to get famous today episodes. Then we get to the talent show, which I felt is where the show got direction and I finally started to enjoy the show. They finally had an achievable goal other than becoming a famous music artist. I thought the tie like the status of the talent show was a nice touch but we all know the Mermaid Sisters should have been the winners.

I also liked how the show, showed the side of their rival. I liked how they showed the differences of fame. Carole and Tuesday starting with basically nothing but there music rising in fame. While Angela already had an audience from being a child actor and having every advantage could ever need to succeed in the music industry.

Part 1 was great but I fell in love with the show in part 2. Like the first part, the second has great music. I feel like they touched on heavier subjects, like losing fame and dealing with fame. I also like how the tackled immigration which was the focus of the show in part 2. 

My favorite would have to be the live aid type concerned they did to try and lift the spirits of the people of Mars. It just gave me all the feels and damn it someone is chopping onions again just as I'm thinking of it again. 

This anime took me on an emotional ride. I would recommend it to anyone who likes anime or even music lovers just on the soundtrack alone. On that note, you can listen to the soundtrack on Apple Music and Spotify. If I had to rate the show from 1 to 5, 1 being terrible and 5 being perfect. I would give Carole and Tuesday a 4 out of 5.

Overwatch League Screen Shots NYXL

Overwatch came out with the Overwatch League replay viewer today. I was playing around with it and thought it would be fun to take some screen shots. This all from the June 6th NYXL vs Spitfire match. If you would like the full images I have a iCloud link to them here.

March 2019 Channel Update

February went quick. I know it's the shortest month but, it really felt short. Did February even happen? We did get something done in that short month so let's look at that.

I continued Playing life is strange 2 and although technically we didn’t finish it in February, we will be finishing it this Friday. Well, we are finishing Episode 1 this week. We also were playing Kingdom Hearts 3 on stream. Technically we didn’t finish it in February but we did finish it on Friday. The end was great but, it left a lot of questions. Though they are going to be coming out with DLC to answer some of the questions I have.

The next let's play after Life is Strange 2 Episode 1 will be Spyro 2 from the Reignited Trilogy. As far as stream I’ll be going back to my normal schedule of Overwatch and WoW. The channel will chug on. Have a happy March and follow me on social media for updates.

February 2019 Channel Update

Hi, it's been awhile since Ive done a channel update. Some of that has been life, and some of it has been I forgot. It just kept piling up until I kind of gave up. Well Im going to try and get back to doing monthly updates again. 

January I had so much planned for the new year and then life put a screw in all my plans for the year. I wont go into it here but I will link you to post that explains what happen last month. But despite that I did get some things done. We finished up Spyro 1 form the reignited trilogy. We started Life is Strange episode 1, we even had a new PTR form World of Warcraft to look at. Despite getting kind of a late start in the month we started the new year pretty strong. Now we are into February, and we need to keep this momentum going. 

Lets Plays:

Yeah so when Spyro came out in December I decided to bring back lets plays to the channels. Like before the new episodes of lets plays will be on Fridays. Right now we are working on Life is Strange 2 Episode 1. The first part of this lets play went live today. I will say so far I do miss being the person with the powers, but I haven't finished yet and we will see if it gets better. If you want to see it for yourself, the first part is embedded below.

The other lets Play I'm doing is on stream. Kingdom Hearts 3 came out a few days ago and I decided I would stream it. Ive been waiting for kingdom Hearts 3 for like what 13 years? It's time and I was not going to wait for Life is Strange 2 to be done before I moved on. Kingdom Hearts 3 has been worth the wait. All the feelings and weirdness of having Final Fantasy styled characters along side Disney characters. It shouldn't work but it dose in the best way possible. You can catch me playing Kingdom Hearts 3 Monday, Thursdays, and Fridays at 8 PM EST (hey its Friday today). I will also leave a VOD below you want to see the past streams.

End Screen Music:

I want to give some credit to my end screen music. People always say how they like the music I pick for my videos and I just want to give credit to the people who do the songs. I try and switch up my end screen music monthly. I get all my music from epidemicsound.com and this months end screen music is Concrete (Daxten Remix). You can check out Daxtens other remixes on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/1uwGIdDsv9rhyzuqgYhOuS .

Thats All Folks:

Thats about it for this update. Being the first one in months we had lots to talk about, but next months should be shorter and to the point. If anything comes up during the month I will keep you posted here or on social media. Which you can find everything you can follow me on at the bottom of this site. So for now good bye and happy February everyone.

End of a Chapter

Today around 4AM my grandmother passed away. She had been bedridden ridden for a few years now and at the beginning of the year she took a turn for the worst. She did fight for longer than we thought she would, though grandma had always been a fighter her whole life.

Now both my grandparents are gone and at the time I’m writing this I’m not sure if it has hit me yet. No more running dinner up to her at night, no more stories about how Auburn use to be, and no more going home a few nights a week. Mom and I moved out of the other the side of the house when I was in 7th grade. But no matter where I am if I have a dream where I say "I'm going home”. I go to my grandparents home and of course they are booth there.

But now I say goodbye to grandma and grandpa and to my home where I grew up. I'll probably understand how grandma felt when we drove past her family home and saw it now, the sadness she had seeing her home. I will feel seeing my home in the coming years.

Until the last few weeks I won't lie most days I felt like the rest of us would be gone well before grandma left us, of course that wasn’t realistic. Now is the end of one chapter in my life, and the rest of my family’s lives. I lost a grandmother but they lost a mother today.

I wrote this to let everyone know what is going on right now, and why maybe I have been a bit more quiet. Also why I might be even more in the coming weeks. Know yes I am sad to lose my grandmother, but I am happy for her that she is no longer in pain, not just physically but emotionally as well. From the lost of grandpa a few years ago. Thank you to everyone for understanding, and for those friends that have been there for me the last few weeks. I’m probably going to need you guys even more in the coming days.

Grandma and Grandpa (Willam E Blake and Charlotte T Blake) at their 40th wedding Anniversary.

July 2018 Channel Update

June was fun and July wants to kill me. It’s going to be in the 90s all week. So to start off I will not be streaming this week. I will have reruns for this week on twitch. YouTube we will be having more BFA content and overwatch videos hear and there.

Battle for Azeroth Prepatch should be hitting live really soon so you know I will be doing videos about that. Also with Prepatch hitting soon beta will be more locked in and I will be doing videos about things going on in BFA beta. I’m sure we will have other updates from other blizzard games as well.

So that will be July I will also be doing videos about iOS 12 when things are added or changed in the public beta. We are just like 6 weeks away from Battle for Azeroth. So I’m supper pumped about that and just counting down the days. See you guys next time.

June 2018 Channel Update

June is here it’s time for fun in the sun and more youtube videos. I’m making a few notable changes this month. You might have noticed at least one of them right now, while the other you will see next week.

Since I started doing YouTube under cybermikeb gaming and then when I changed it to life, I’ve always done let’s plays. Whether I wanted to or not I’ve done let’s plays over the last few years and even though it’s easy content to make, I’m not always completely into it. So I’ve decided to stop doing lets plays on this channel. I’m not saying I’ll never do them again but if I do I’ll probably do them on my twitch channel.

Now that I have a few days open I’m going to change my upload schedule. I’ve been doing 5 days a week for the last few months. Now I’m going to be uploading 3 days a week to allow some breathing room for each video. I will have videos Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Finally I just want to say that I connected my instagram account to my facebook page. You can follow me on instagram im cybermikeb. Also I figured out how to change my page from being cybermikeb gaming to now its cybermikeb life. 

So that is about it for June. I will have a lighter upload schedule, no more lets plays on youtube, and follow my on instagram. If you all wanted a TLDR. As always look forward to WoW, Overwatch, HoTs, and a little of hearthstone content coming this month. So until next time bye!

April 2018 Channel Update

It’s April which means it’s time to go over what will be happening this month. We will be finishing up Rime this week and we will be starting up a new let’s play at the end of the week. We will be playing the bonus episode of Life is Strange Before the Storm. We will also have a new hearthstone expansion coming out this month so look forward to a pack unpacking video. 

We will also have GG Blizz and byte size news this month as well. I probably should also talk about my move to TWiTCH. Once again Ive switched from youtube gaming to TWiTCH, mostly it was because I like the tools like reruns on TWiTCH. Ive been enjoying the switch and I think this will be my streaming home for while. Thats about all for April, as always I will let you know if anything major happens during the month, here and on social media.

March 2018 Channel Update

February is now in the books and we had a pretty good month. I launched to new shows GG Blizz and Byte size news. These shows are on the channel every other Monday from each other. I also just finished up my Bear With Me lets play.

Bear with me was such a good game, it was a lot better than I thought it would be just being some indie game on steam. This game made me cry twice, (though that seems to be a running theme lately). I would highly recommend anyone to play threw it, or you can watch my play threw conveniently in a playlist below.

Now that Bear With Me is done that means I need another game to play, I have decided on Rime. I don't know much about the game other than it is a action puzzle game. I normally try and find games I haven't herd too much about. The first episode should be out on Friday and this should take me threw March.

With that all out of the way I probably should touch on the monetization issue. As of Febuary 20th my channel and a lot of other channels lost their Youtube Partnership due to the new policy for becoming a youtube partner. I wont be making any money off ads and I'm no longer part of FullScreen. Though they are still letting channels that were effected still use some of their tools. Ive gone over this in depth more in another blog post.  Over all this wont really change anything on this channel I just wanted to give you all a update.

This month should be a good month filled with plenty of content grate gaming and plenty of tech news. As always if things change I will let you know here and on social media.

Byte Size News Joins the Line up

This week I’m launching yet another new show, this time it’s a tech news show called Byte Size News. I will be doing this show opposite of the blizzard show GG Blizz. Byte size news will go over some of the tech headlines of the past week and will be around 5 minutes or less. So enjoy this pilot episode.

GG Blizz

Today I’m announcing a new show on the channel called GG Blizz. This will be a bi weekly Blizzard news show. I will go over the past weeks Wow, heroes of the storm, hearthstone, Diablo, and Starcraft. Enjoy this weeks pilot episode.

Thank You Fullscreen

At the end of last month YouTube announced changes to their partner program, and as a result anyone with lass than 1,000 subs and 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months are losing monintization. This goes into effect February 20th. Also on that date my fullscreen contract will be terminated. 

With that being said, nothing is going to change on the channel. Being such a small channel I never have made much money. Over the 3 years or so I’ve been part of the partner program and fullscreen I’ve made $8 and that’s thanks to fullscreen. 

I also have to give fullscreen credit for how they have handled this whole thing, this really out of their hands and they have been nice enough to let me and others effected by this still have access to some of their tools. For me my most used tool is epidemic sound, which is were I get all the music I use in my videos. This has been a cost saver for me as a creator. For the views I normally get on a video the service would cost me around $15 a month. For fullscreen to continue to let creators who they will no longer make any money on after the 20th is extremely kind. 

Now this isn’t another YouTube the company is being terrible and here’s why post, I already did one of those and you can check that out here. This post is to thank say thank you to fullscreen. They have been a grate MCM and have always been helpful when I’ve had issues with YouTube or with some tool on their site. I’ve learned how to be a better creator thanks to their tips and community. My channel only had 10 subs when I joined I’m now 332 strong and growing thanks to the fullscreen community. I truly feel that is fullscreen’s best tool, their community. 

It was a post that Panser/ Tradechat made on her Facebook page now 3 years or so ago about fullscreen, so I have to thank her for that. I also want to thank pinsky for pretty much always being around in the community and being a face to a otherwise faceless company. 

This isn’t really the end of anything really I will still have access to some of the fullscreen tools and access to the community. I just wont have a contract with them until I meet the the new guild lines for the YouTube creator program and reapply with fullscreen, which I will do the second I can. I just wanted to take a moment to thank them and making the upside down topsy turvy world of YouTube just a little bit of a better place.

February 2018 Channel Update

January is already over and its now February, that means its time for me to update you all about what is going on. Last month we finished up 2 lets plays, Grim Fandango and Life is Strange Before the Storm. Both grate games. We also had a bit of news from beloved games such as World of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm. 

So what is their to look forward to in February? Well we have the current lets play of Bear with me which started this week. If you want to get caught up I'll leave the first episode at the bottom of this post. News is already poring out about World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth, I will be making videos on that stuff. Like always I will be streaming.

Thats about it for this month if something else happens I will as always let everyone know here and on my social media. So until next time bye!

My Thoughts on the Youtube Partner Program Changes

Late Tuesday night after I was done streaming, I started seeing things about changes to the Youtube Partner Program. Course this is never good and this was the worst change yet. The TLDR is in order to be a partner channel you will have to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watched minutes with in the last 12 months to be considered for the partner program and Im losing partner status sometime in February. 

Wow where do I start with this… Well lets start at the start of the year with Logan Pulls controversy and Youtube taking actions agents him and saying they would be making some changes. This already signaled to me that wasn't going to be good for anyone. Now we know what changes they made and they make no sense. Mostly these new rules just punish smaller channels that you know don’t film dead body’s and are just trying to make a living. 

Like I said before the new rules are 1,000 Subs and 4,000 watch minutes within 12 months. The second part of this is actually fine. On my channel im just shy of that watch minute requirement, but the 1,000 subs needed is just wrong. I think its a well known secret that youtube subscriptions mean nothing. I currently have about 330 subscribers to my channel and 86% of my views come from non subscribers and only 13% of my views come from subscribers. Now im just a very small channel but I watch a lot of big youtubers and I’ve herd similar things from them as well that most of their views also come from non subscribers.

I know why they put the subscriber numbers as a requirement, they need a way to let the advertisers know the audience size and its part of youtube algorithm. In reality though the number means nothing, watch minutes mean way more. 

For me it has nothing to do with the money I already wasn’t making money since the last changes, and even before that I didn’t make much a few cents here maybe a dollar there. What it really is about them opening the program to just about everyone and then because of a few big youtubers and poorly placed ads now the small youtubers have to pay the price and have the rules changed from underneath them.

I know life isn’t fair but if I agreed to one set of rules and Youtube changes the rules after I think youtube should be stuck with me unless I brake that agreement. I feel its wrong that they are changing the rules, I feel the channels in the partner program should be grandfathered in. I also think they should drop the the subscription portion of the rules and have it be just the 4,000 watch minutes maybe even up it a bit. Though lets face it Im talking into the void of the internet and youtube isn’t going to listen unless its coming from one of its advertisers.

New Year some new changes

Happy new year to everyone. Its 2018 now and its been months since I last did a channel update. A few things have changed since Auguest which I think was my last channel update. Ive been streaming more on youtube and have gotten lots more subs on the channel. I just want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who shows up to the streams and watches my videos. Be cause of this I did make a streaming schedule which I will link to here. Its always subject to change so keep an eye on it.

Now that I got that out of the way, lets talk about some little changes you will see this year. The first one you might have noticed shortly after Xmass I started using a new intro video. When I bought Final Cut Pro I also got motion. I learned basics on how to use it and ended up making this quick intro for my videos. I just felt it was time to have my own instead of using the Full Screen Arcade intro. Im still with Full Screen / Arcade im just not using their intro anymore.

On to games now which are pretty much the meat of this channel. I should be finishing Grim Fandango in the next week or so. Once that is over I will be getting back into Life is Strange: Before the Storm. That will be the last episode in that game, and I cant wait to see the end. Though we kind of already know coleys fate. As far as PTRs for blizzard games are censured we have 7.3.5 PTR for wow which maybe on live by the end of this month. We also have Heroes of the Storm PTR which has a new hero on it right now. Im sure as we get threw the month more stuff will be announced for other blizzard games.

Thats about all for now I just wanted to do updates again and will try to do them again every month. So until next time bye!

Streaming Schedule

So people have been asking if I could make a schedule for streaming. So here it is:

These times are always subject to change so follow me on twitter or like the Facebook page, I will always post any updates. If I need to change times or days around long term I will update that on this spread sheet: http://bit.ly/2BrvuWS . All times are EST since that is my time zone. I will also say most holidays I will probably not stream but once again look to twitter and Facebook for announcements. 

I hope this is useful for everyone.