It's another Monday here on Shacknews, the 7th of January 2013, along with Late Night Computing.

Everyone has resolutions for the New Year, and each of us have issues with staying true to them. I managed to keep my resolution last year, losing nearly 65 pounds, so obviously I want to carry that streak into 2013 and maybe even add another. So my goal in 2013 is to finally get off my butt and teach myself to code, while keeping the weight off.

I've always had an interest in coding, excelling at C++ in college, yet never continued my studies beyond that. It was simply too late in my college career to switch majors. In comes Codeacademy. After a week of their Code Year program, I highly recommend you give it a try if you enjoy self-directed teaching. Best of all? It's free!

News bits:

• The third portion of the five act Blue Planet: War in Heaven fan-made campaign for FreeSpace 2 is released, featuring new weapons, ships, graphics, planets, and...well, just go download it. [via Hard-Light]

• Fresh from the GDC Vault is Telltale's discussion on The Walking Dead, and why "the episodic model can still work for games." [via Gamasutra]

• Microsoft files patents to turn your living room into a 'holodeck.' How long until a fistful of data roams your walls? [via NBC News]

• A surprising article on the pitfalls of online dating, and why having such easy access is not necessarily a good thing. [via The Atlantic]

Chatty posts of the moment:

Make sure you log-in and check your filters if you can't see the following:

• "Have we put together a list of the amazing 2012 posts yet? I did a quick search and couldn't find any. Therefore, I'll put forth a nomination for Shacker of the year, and throw up some other highlights of the year." [by Grumbeld]

• "What are you playing?

  I've been playing quite a bit of Diablo 3. I took a bit of time today to play a couple of games in my library I'd never played much of. I started with Magica and Binding of Isaac. Magica was fun and I'll probably play more. Isaac, it turns out is Robotron with a [screwed] up theme. Thumbs up on both games." [by capt tripps]

Nightly file:

• Age of Fear 2: The Chaos Lord free demo 1.0. "Age of Fear 2: The Chaos Lord is the sequel of the award-winning fantasy turn-based strategy Age of Fear: The Undead King. The game features a novel battle system, two campaigns with solid fantasy stories, and very flexible multi-player and skirmish modes. The story takes place in an untamed fantasy land, where four forces—the Human Kingdom, the Greenskins' Horde, the Undead Legion, and the Chaos Demons—are fighting for domination and survival. You're about to encounter quick skirmishes, where your unit's cooperation is essential. You will visit distant lands, either as a twisted succubus or an evil orcish warlord. And you will conquer cities, destroy demonic invaders, and discover ancient secrets. At least, you'll do all of that if you can survive!" Download the free demo for Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Media:

Dead Space 3 Kinect voice commands trailer:

Join Steve Papoutsis and Visceral for an exclusive look at the cooperative voice commands players can expect when playing Dead Space 3 with a friend and Kinect.