Minecraft 1.12 was released on June 7. The announcement on minecraftforum.net describes this update as 'World of Color' because of changes to the game's colour palette. Here are some highlights for the new version:

• Added Glazed Terracotta blocks
• Renamed Hardened Clay to Terracotta
• Added Concrete Powder blocks
• Added Concrete blocks
• Updated base color palette
• Added advancements
• Added recipe book
• Added Knowledge Book item
• Added Parrots
• Added functionality to save toolbars in creative mode
• Added text-to-speech narrator
• Added new sounds for the Note blocks
• Added commands relating to recipes and advancements
• Many minor fixes and changes

Minecraft 1.12 is the first version of the game to require Java 8. If you only run the game client, you don't need to worry about this, because the game includes the required version of Java. If you run a Minecraft server, however, you'll need to upgrade to Java 8 if you're not running it already.

Before I can upgrade the JDRGaming Minecraft server to version 1.12, I have to upgrade the server's Java installation. That's proving to be more complicated than it should be, so the server upgrade is likely to be delayed a few days. You can still play on the JDRGaming server, but you'll need to configure your Minecraft client to run the previous version (1.11.2) to do that. Stay tuned.

At about 3am PST today (2017Jun01), my Internet Service Provider (Shaw) changed my WAN IP address. Again. This happens from time to time because of the type of service I use. I'm now considering switching to a service that provides a static IP address.

The IP address for all JDRGaming game servers is now 24.80.59.72. Server lists will gradually update, but you can usually hurry things along by clicking an 'update' or 'refresh' button in game clients.

I'll update the alerts at the top of the home page to show the new IP address.

If you have any trouble connecting, please use the 'report a problem' link below the TPU Status box.

Nintendo just can't stop shooting itself in the foot. In 2015, the company successfully prevented a fan from distributing a game he created (originally known as Zelda Maker) in response to Nintendo ruling out creating such a game itself. Unperturbed, that fan remade the game, staying clear of Nintendo's branding, and is now successfully selling that game as Legend Maker. Of course, everyone knows it's really Zelda Maker. Congratulations, Nintendo: your clumsy efforts to crush the spirit of one of your biggest fans has backfired, as usual.

Denuvo ain't dead yet. The company keeps fighting to stay relevant in the world of software copy protection, but it's a losing battle.

A few weeks ago, a new version of Denuvo -- created to combat recent progress by DRM crackers -- was used to 'protect' the new game 2Dark. Within a month, that game's DRM was defeated. This victory was especially sweet for DRM opponents, because 2Dark's developer had earlier stated that the game would not use any form of DRM.

Keep fighting, Denuvo. This is entertaining.

For those of you still convinced that video games somehow cause aggressive behaviour in players, here's yet another study that refutes those claims.

This particular study shows no connection between video gaming and loss of empathy.

Please stop repeating BS claims about video games causing violent behaviour in kids. It's just not true. Aggressive and violent behaviour in kids has a lot of causes, with the main one being bad parenting. Which is of course why (bad) parents are quick to blame anything other than themselves.

It seems like only yesterday that Denuvo's DRM (copy protection) technology was unbeatable. The best software cracking teams in the world seemed ready to throw in the towel.

But Denuvo's glory didn't last long, and games 'protected' by Denuvo are being cracked increasingly quickly. Recently, Resident Evil 7 was cracked within five days of its release.

So Denuvo has joined the ranks of all other copy protection software, in that it: a) doesn't prevent 'protected' games from being copied; b) causes a lot of problems for people who purchase 'protected' games legitimately; and c) costs game developers a lot of time and money, both for the Denuvo technology and for related technical support.

Denuvo responded to the Resident Evil 7 cracking news by saying that five days of protection is better than nothing. But a simple cost-benefit analysis shows that using Denuvo (or any other DRM technology) to protect a game is always going to cost more than can possibly be saved.

Adding to Denuvo's misery is the news that their corporate servers were recently breached, and private email archives published. It must be fun to work at Denuvo these days.

Update 2017Feb22: Techdirt points out that the alternative to using annoying, counter-productive DRM is to make games that are actually good, and make them moddable, like Quake, which still earns money for ID Software, twenty years after its release.

As of January 25, 2017, traffic to and from this web site is encrypted by default. That means there is no longer any possibility that someone can see your password in plain text as you enter it.

At about 2am PST today (2017Jan16), my Internet Service Provider (Shaw) changed my WAN IP address. This happens from time to time because of the type of service I use.

The IP address for all JDRGaming game servers is now 24.80.14.52. Server lists will gradually update, but you can usually hurry things along by clicking an 'update' or 'refresh' button in game clients.

I've updated the alerts at the top of the home page to show the new IP address.

If you have any trouble connecting, please use the 'report a problem' link below the TPU Status box.

It's a new year, so the stats for the TPU BF1942 server have been reset. Stats for 2016 are now available by clicking the appropriate link from the list in the sidebar: 'Statistics' links to the current year's stats, '2016' links to 2016's stats, and so on.

Sisko won the points race again in 2016, but Wingslinger wasn't far behind.

Nintendo has formally apologized for all of its anti-customer activity and vows to do better in the future.

Just kidding. No, Nintendo must have realized that it hadn't recently reminded us all just how much it hates us (the people who keep them in business - for now). Their latest move is to go after people who modify Nintendo ROMs to add new content.

I think there are just too many lawyers around. They are desperate to find work, or simply justify their high salaries, and convince dim-witted and ignorant executives to pursue these counter-productive and sad initiatives.

Atta boy, Nintendo. Figure out who loves you the best, and then break their hearts.