Zero-G Kittie

How would a cat act in zero gravity? Thanks to my stumbling, I now know:

A Nod To Futurama

Though some swear up and down on the brilliance of the Simpsons, I personally have never found much interest in their bland adventures and weak humor (in a sense, it has gone the way of Garfield). In contrast, I have long been a fan of Futurama, the, in my opinion, far more clever series created by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen.

Unfortunately, it was canceled due to apparent low ratings/interest. However, that has not stopped the creation of an upcoming movie, Bender's Big Score. I'm simply praying that it doesn't turn out to be what the Simpsons Movie was (was I the only one who didn't like it?).



Regardless of how it goes, I will always regard Futurama as the better of Matt Groening's creations.

Mannequin Hand Towels

Courtesy of this website, I have stumbled across the hilarious video embedded below. It's amusing that the guys always went for the woman's chest, and I think that the final driers out of both the males and females (the guy who offers a kiss of farewell and the girl who isn't shy to grab) would get along well together.

The "Talking" Cats

The below two videos are taken from an Amazing Planet article that I stumbled across. Amusing AND cute. Beat that.



Translation:

Mathemagics

Nearly as stunning as The Boy With the Incredible Brain is the "lightening calculations" of Arthur Benjamin, so-called Mathemagician.

The Chimp Challenge

Apparently, chimpanzees have a photographic memory of sorts. Once a chimpanzee was taught to touch numbers on a screen in ascending order, they were able to recall the locations of numbers momentarily flashed with far more accuracy than humans. You just try to perform on par with the chimp in the video embedded below.



Frankly, it's somewhat embarrassing. Oh, well. Let's see a chimp write a Blogger article. Ha!

Read more.

The Rise of Hackers

Embedded below is a fun and fascinating documentary on the origins of hacking, from phone phreaks, to computer mod-hacking, and finally to cyber-hacking.



Note: No rich individuals' profits were harmed in the posting of this video.

Out-Inventing Ourselves

I recently have come across a superb documentary on Google Video (really the only thing I use that somewhat drab service for) discussing the potential of artificial intelligence, both in enhancing humans, and in replacing them (see it embedded below).

This documentary, entitled "Horizon - Human Version 2.0" by BBC discusses the eventual "singularity", or point at which our understanding of the human brain and capabilities of computer processing power will converge to allow us to "download" ourselves, that is, our brains, into computers. It is a truly fascinating documentary and I highly recommend watching it.



Read more.

I've long been fascinated by this concept--could computers gain sentience, and if they could, should we allow them to? The documentary suggests that it is inevitable; if something can be created, it will be. Perhaps this is so, and perhaps not, but regardless of which direction the future takes it, I would personally love to see sentient computers. Why? Well, aside from the "cool" factor, I believe that it could go a long ways towards making life better for humanity. Imagine--a computer sentience that ruled humanity, giving perfect laws and directions and flawless judgment to those who deserve such. The world could be one of absolute peace.

Basically, the same thing that was discussed in I, Robot (the movie), but taken from the angle of a digital ruler being a good thing, rather than a bad one. Of course, there is always the question of whether or not we will be seen as pests and disgusting embarrassments to this creature, or perhaps adorable animals to be protected, as we often see dogs and cats. One cannot truly say which direction the future will take, but as I see it, we will either be destroyed by either one another or time, anyway. Why not make the gamble of creating something that could live beyond we, ourselves?

Though I wouldn't mind living in a virtual world where things just went my way. That would be something to die for, in a very literal manner.

Typing on Typography

Why is it that it seems I am always the last to be privy to various new (and old) creations of quality and value? Only just today, while glancing through the related links on YouTube for Abbot and Costello's Who's On First, I came across a related video of "Who's on First? Typography" (see below).



I was stunned. This animated digital typography is genius--artistic and amusing. Recently, I completed a design class in the college I attend, and one of those projects consisted of a typography project. I understood the basics of such, but these kinds of videos take it to a whole new level. I never fully understood the artistic value until now, and combined with something already hilarious, such as Who's on First, or Tenacious D's Inward Singing (below), the result is not only comedic stimulation for the ears, but also for the eyes. Absolute genius.



See here for more.

On an unrelated note, expect more updates as college is now out for the remainder of the year (that is, until January 15th).

Life Over Lucre

I'm reminded of how previous work of mine has been lost through the tests of time, so I decided that I will intermittently post some old work that I feel is worth remembering. My latest website, created for a project in college, is called Life Over Lucre. It's not a real organization, but it is devoted to the lobbying for free universal healthcare in South Dakota (my home state). I'm quite proud of how the design turned out, and I think the name is just downright clever.

Olympus!

For those savvy in the areas of Internet forum technology, phpBB is probably no stranger to you. For the rest, phpBB is a free, open-source forum software that is my personal favorite to use. It is flexible and boasts many features, yet has no price attached, while many rivals, such as vBulletin, require a great deal of money in order to purchase a "license." On the other hand, vBulletin, among others, have more features than phpBB. Thankfully, there are clever "hackers" that allow bits of code to add new features to phpBB, bringing it more or less on par with its rivals, if not beyond.

But I digress. The point is, as of today, the long-awaited phpBB 3 "Olympus" has been released. This means advanced features and security are now fully-supported and ready to be modified by the users, as opposed to the prior release candidates, which would change so often that one didn't really have a chance to play with the code.

I applaud phpBB's hard-working build team and look forward to more innovations from them.

Why Does It--What's the Word?--Burn?

Sometimes, just staying up late and browsing the Internet can bring a few jewels to the surface, such as the below-embedded parody--hilarious, superbly-done, and not safe for work.



Similarly, see the below Mac vs PC parody: Wii vs PS3.

On... On... Nose Cream!

This is just something I happened to run across while trying to find references for the post on jazz. It made me laugh, so I thought I'd share it.

Ahh, Jazz, Swing It

Moreso over the past few months than ever before have I realized how much I adore jazz, swing, blues, and classical musicals. This adoration has led me to various projects (which I will discuss later), as well as to join the local jazz band at my university. Now, unfortunately, my band program while in High School was less than spectacular, and as a result I never managed to fully learn my chords, nor how to read notes or recognize pitches. Therefore, I ended up playing third trumpet.

The concert went quite well. I didn't make any big mistakes, thankfully, and I believe the audience enjoyed our performance. The below is NOT our band, but it is the same arrangement of one of my favorite songs we played: The Children of Sanchez by Chuck Mangione (alternate version), written for the movie of the same name.



In addition, I adore many songs of the late 30s to early 60s, which I personally consider to be the "golden age" of American culture. Amongst my favorite artists are those of the songs used by the Fallout series, including Louie Armstrong (A Kiss to Build a Dream On) and The Ink Spots (I Don't Want to Set the World On Fire). Oh, and, of course, Judy Garland (The Trolley Song). Note that with the linked-to songs, it's not the visuals that are important, but the music.

Of course, Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals (particularly the later movie renditions thereof) also hold a special place in my heart. The great music is nearly endless, one of my favorites being "My Favorite Things", sung by Julie Andrews.

A couple more songs from The Sound of Music:

Edelweiss


The Lonely Goatherd
(Not embedded because it is hosted by morons, seeing as how it will auto-play without a feature to not do so. Click here to view.)

Note: I couldn't believe how difficult it was to get actual footage of the Lonely Goatherd song from the movie. All I could find was a bunch of people filming themselves singing it, or a dubbed-over version. I don't have a problem with creativity with music, but I should never have to search for fifteen full minutes to find original footage for something as big as the Sound of Music. There's such a thing as too much user-created content when you can't find quality amongst the bogged-down rubbish and parodies.

Augment Me, Deus Ex 3

Apparently I haven't been paying enough attention, because the announcement of Deux Ex 3's release completely slipped by me. Now, I adore the original Deus Ex, and even liked Invisible War, even though it was nothing as good as the first (just like how Thief: Deadly Shadows was nothing as good as the first two--just some examples of how improving the graphics can be a bad thing). Now, personally, I also rather enjoyed Bioshock, though I understand a lot of the complaints of it being nothing like System Shock 2 and instead more like Half Life 2 (which I also liked).

Anyway, the point is that I hope they try for something a bit more like the original, as opposed to the second (basically, less action, more story). It has been awhile since I played either game, but I recall enough to say that I enjoyed the augmentation system of Deus Ex far more than the system of Deus Ex 2. Why? Because it makes your character seem more special, while in the sequel, everyone and their dog is augmented (it smacks of Bioshock's blissful use of plasmids). Perhaps even worse is their attempts to force old characters into the sequel, especially considering that one could choose the ending of the first game (see the potential--and awesome--endings for deus ex below).



What's the only worse thing than a sequel in which the beginning is based off of an assumed ending for the prior game (Fallout and Half Life excluded)? Why, a prequel where, regardless of what choices you may have, you already know how it will all turn out. It has not been officially claimed to be a prequel as of yet, but as those of this forum would point out, there are a few suggestions of such in the (in my opinion, poor) trailer.



Basically, I just hope that it doesn't discredit a beloved game, as so many new games, especially sequels, do.

I could go on a tangent about Bioshock, Deus Ex, etc., but I think I will save them for their own episodes of Walk Down Memory Lane, as I should have for Portal.

Through The Portal

I love Portal. No, I simply adore it. A simple game, perhaps. A short game, yes. A great game, without a doubt! Since I haven't posted in quite some time, I guess I'll have to do a compendium of all my favorite Portal resources on this single posting. Shipped in the Orange Box, it expertly keeps up Valve's high quality gameplay (as Zero Punctuation, a hilarious and fascinating find of mine, notes below).



The basic idea of Portal is you are a test subject for Aperture Science, a stereotypical high-tech company that is developing technology that allows one to create two portals that interconnect space regardless of the distance these portals are from one another. It is a genius twisting of physics, and is made even better by the clever storyline. Based off the Half-Life universe, it is amazing how much plot is jammed into just a little bit of dialog and occasional hints. Overall, complete genius.

Now you may find some spoilers below, so beware:

I found the ending song to be as satisfying as the story itself, and yet another credit to the amazing game. You can see the ending screen below. Another version is available here, expertly animated by Scott from VG Cats.



The game itself is based on the freeware game Narbacular Drop (download), which I had, around the release of Half-Life 2, played. It is certainly a clever concept from the start, but Valve takes it to a whole new level. In a way, Valve has taken advantage of my natural affinity for all things AI with their use of GLaDOS, who is just a downright amusing and lovable character (as are the turrets), and, of course, the companion cube.


On a final note, I just received the t-shirt from VG Cats with companion cube and Portal catch-phrase today. I cannot wait to wear it around campus and see what reactions I get!

Late Update

Alas, I have finally fallen into the spiraling downwards vortex that is Myspace. With my time quite open, I'm going to try to focus a bit more on the updating of my blog(s) and roleplaying, though tonight is going to be taken up with contemplating over the Democratic Youtube debate.

While this Blogger account will focus on my , findings, writings, articles, etc., the Myspace blog, being a bit more intertwined into such an expansive community, will instead host my thoughts and opinions on more personal matters, such as interests, real life matters, etc., as a sort of diary, as this will be more of a journal [of Internet usage] with, of course, my frequent links to various articles of interest. In particular, I have planned to use the Myspace system as an ongoing means of gauging my attempts of self-improvement, from weight loss, to stretch mark repair, and beyond, though more personal matters will also be discussed fairly frequently, as is the case with the previously-mentioned article on roleplaying.

As for now, let us see what the Democratic Party has to offer for the 2008 election.

Robot Chicken Star Wars Special

Since Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and Klay World (by Knox), I have been a fan of stop-motion animation. This fanhood now feasts upon the delicious hilarity of the stop-motion animation comedy show entitled Robot Chicken, a show consisting of a series of short parodies of movies, television shows, games, pop culture, and simply ironic and humorous events. Recently, Robot Chicken ran a double-length episode (since most are around 10 minutes), and I found such on YouTube, split into three parts, embedded below from first to last.





UPDATE: As the above videos have been removed from Youtube, you can instead watch the full Robot Chicken Star Wars Special for free (with optional commentary videos by its creators) here.

Hardest Mario

A good friend of mine recently drew my attention to this hilarious video in which a gamer attempts to play a very difficult fan-made Mario game (commentary included). I have not laughed as hard as I have laughed at this in a long, long time. Parts one and two are embedded below, respectively. It makes me want to fish out my old SNES. WARNING: Contains explicit language.

Stumbled: Don't Eat It

I never saw it coming. I figured that, perhaps, I would StumbleUpon some kind of game, art, or article, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this hilarious blog called The Sneeze. In particular, I found the section entitled "Steve, Don't Eat It!" to be a stupendous comedic compilation. Though it contains very severe language, I could not help but burst into laughter at frequent intervals. I would highly recommend this website to anyone who likes slightly disturbing humor.

Stumbled: Comics

Through my time of stumbling, I have come across many wonderful comics, my favorites of which I will now mention.

Goblins: A weekly comic that shows the life of a Dungeons and Dragons goblin, from their perspective. Funny at times, this comic excels in storyplot, boasting wonderful artwork (more info).


DrowTales: This is a gorgeous comic with much history and a stupendous story, set in a fantasy setting inhabited by Drow, a Dungeons and Dragons sub-race, though the comic itself is not directly Dungeons and Dragons-oriented, and there is much originality in the interpretation. The story, and particularly are, are simply fantastic, and I highly recommend this comic to any who enjoy true quality of art; both written, and drawn (more info).


Earthsong: Simply beautiful. From the eyes, to the faces, to the poses, the art in this comic could not be better. The balance between detail and practicality is sweet, and the storyline is intriguing and clever. Updates grace the homepage every Wednesday. There are some silly (read: amusing) occurances, but they are not at the expense of the characters, and rather a situation made of the characters (more info).


The Order of the Stick: Thrice-weekly comic following a party of stick figures through their adventures. As another Dungeons and Dragons based comic, it, like many others, frequently makes joking references to the actual workings of the game. The comic itself focuses primarily on story (and a great one at that), though comedy is common, often in sardonic quips by the characters, and there is surprising detail in the art form, despite its simplicity (more info).


Cyanide and Happiness: Daily comics of amusing encounters. Humor has precedence over graphic realism, but I don't think that hurts this particular comic (more info).


Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: Despite its name, this comic is a daily dose of delicious comedy, its themes often cynical or ironic situations of relationships, dire circumstances, or common clichés (more info).

Stumbled: Rube Goldberg Machines

Found: "Best Rube Goldberg Ever"


Coincidentally, my father was speaking to me just today of Rube Goldberg, and finding this video by chance encouraged me to do a bit of digging. Rube Goldberg was famous for his machines, which used overly complicated means to perform simple actions, later parodied by the shorts of Wallace & Gromit (case in point).

See more Rube Goldberg machines here, and the entries to a Rube Goldberg machine contest here.

Another article of interest may be the wild machines of cartoonist and illustrator Heath Robinson.

Apparently Not.

Well, Steorn has pulled their demo from the scene, claiming that technical difficulties are to blame, specifically damage done by the heat of camera lights (more).

I must say that I am quite disappointed in the way that this turned out. I had actually been believing what Steorn was claiming, despite its unbelievability. I guess this proves my gullibility. Now, our "best bet" for free energy would probably be merely "free" research organizations (though, after this disappointment, I'll be slow to put much stock in any of this sort of thing).

Watch Steorn's Sean make an ass of himself, trying to explain the failure.



Read more.

Was Physics Denied?

Normally, I do updates in the form of an UPDATE notice at the end of a supporting article, but since this is kind of "breaking" news, I felt that it deserved its own post.

As mentioned in a previous article, Steon has claimed to have created a perpetual motion device that allows them to create "free" energy using permanent magnets, without ever requiring fuel. However, there were some technical difficulties setting up their demonstration at the reported time, and, as of the writing of this article, it appears, at least from camera 1, that the device is stopped, though, according to this quickly-made website, it was apparently running at one point. I must wonder; why, if it runs on its own and creates energy indefinitely, would it ever be turned off (and how would they accomplish that)? In any case, I will monitor it when I get the chance, to hopefully see the thing in action. It is, after all, long past the bedtime of the London scientists at the time I am writing this.

Star Trek Tribute

For no particular reason, I feel like posting the intros of all the Star Trek series from YouTube. I don't care what anyone says; I love every Star Trek, EXCEPT the original (looking back now, it's just too cheesy and humor-oriented). But, I have adored every later series, including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager (my favorite), and Enterprise, and every episode has been a treat (aside from episodes where they seem determined to shove Native American culture in your face and put them in the limelight as superior humans, and no, I'm not racist, but I know better than to see them for their politically correct side, having lived on the reservation most of my life). It is a shame that Enterprise never got to finish, I say. The Star Trek shows knew how to have great intros, with fantastic music, alluring visuals, and simply an awesome design, just like the episodes themselves.

The Original Series


The Next Generation


Deep Space Nine


Voyager


Enterprise


On the other hand, in comparison to the television series, I have hated the films, since, as many films do, they seem unable to stick with the source material, opening up plot holes and flashing various discrepancies, which simply bugs me to no end.

Physics Denied: Tonight!

Steorn, the Irish company that has made a claim to have found a way to create free, unending energy with an efficiency exceeding 100% (something that some of the basic laws of physics tells us is impossible) will be displaying their creation starting at 6 PM EST tonight (July 4th) on streaming video from their website. If you miss it, be sure to look around for some kind of recorded copy; I know that I will be recording it, if I can.

The technology itself uses momentum and magnets in some combination not yet fully explained (a panel of 22 scientists are doing experiments on Steorn's technology in a challenge to validate their claims) and, according to Steorn, can be scaled to power something as large as a car to something as small as a cell phone. Hopefully after tonight, they will be releasing more detailed answers to fight back the onslaught of questions that are sure to arise. See the below video for more information on the project.



Why is it such a difficulty? Well, the basic idea is that, through using a series of permanent magnets, one is able to create an "energy spike" that seems to come from nowhere when turning a magnet in this assembly, stopping and starting at the same point. The problem with this is that it violates on of the most fundamental scientific principles; the Law of Conservation of Energy, which states that energy can be neither created, nor destroyed, also known as the First Law of Thermodynamics.

Therefore, in essence, Steorn is claiming something as seemingly preposterous as suggesting that humans can flap their arms and fly, or that running at a certain speed can send you back in time. However, science is just the accumulation of data from experimentation, and it only takes a single experiment to prove something false, so we will see. Perhaps we had it wrong all long, or perhaps Steorn is just a big hoax (or simply a very expensive mistake).

Read more.

UPDATE: Due to technical difficulties, the stream will be shown at the start of July 5th in London. One can stream the live video, once it is up, from one of the following four cameras:

Microwave It (Please)

This is a simply amazing website, consisting of a graphics project/experiment in which various items were microwaved. There are 21 different microwaved items, each with a flash-embedded video showing their eventual meltdown. I recommend the eggs, christmas lights, and ketchup packets most highly.

Duke Nukem

Next, I began playing Duke Nukem, a fun game whose story I never really understood during childhood, due primarily to my limited ability to read the words on the screen. For a game of its time, it is pretty impressive, with certain items being affected by laser gun blasts, ceilings one can cling to, walls that can be shattered, etc. Although I never truly played any of the later games (save for in passing), I know that I loved Duke Nukem, the original. Particularly, I had a fondness for the machines, liking how they would smoke when near destruction, and how the choppers would come crashing down when fully damaged. From what I recall, it was a relatively easy game, but still one that I can enjoy even today.

System requirements:

• XT Computer (286Khz or higher recommended)
• 520k of conventional memory
• 1.2 meg of Hard Drive Space (for shareware)
• 3.6 meg of Hard Drive Space (for registered)

If you think your computer can run it (unless you've been hibernating for the past twenty years, it can) can download it (306Kb) for free here (more).

Goodbye Galaxy: Secret of the Oracle

As far as I recall, Commander Keen's Goodbye Galaxy: Secret of the Oracle was the second game that I ever played, though I would later play others of the same series.

The game itself was loads of fun, and I am sure that I have beaten it at least a dozen times during my childhood. At its core, the game is a typical side-scrolling shooter; you see something move, you shoot it (though not everything is dangerous). The goal is to find and save the oracles (that is, old guys with long beards and red robes) so that they may join together and set you off on the second part of your quest. I actually found a bug in the game that allows one to beat a level without actually finding the oracle if one dies far enough to the edge of the level that Commander Keen bounces off the right side of the screen, though this means that one cannot collect the oracle and thus is unable to beat the game, thereafter.

Secret of the Oracle (the fourth Commander Keen game) also introduced the Dopefish, which has become a bit of a video game in-joke. Personally, I despised him, because he made for many, many hours of frustrations as a child as I tried to outrun his insatiably hungering jaws.

System requirements are as follows:

• XT Computer (286Khz or higher recommended)
• 565k of conventional memory
• 1 meg of Hard Drive Space (for shareware)
• 3 meg of Hard Drive Space (for registered)

The game is freeware and is only 593 kb. Go get it here.

Download other Commander Keen games here, and learn more from this website.

Midnight Rescue!

Ah, yes; the first game I ever recall playing. Midnight Rescue! was a fun game (at the time), though I had a tendency to become frustrated with its gameplay, seeing as I was too young to read at the time (about three to four years old). The game itself consists of matching up "clues" read in various rooms to pictures taken by using film on the robots that try to attack one within the Shady Glen school. It's relatively simple, and I would sometimes get lucky enough to actually beat it simply buy guessing. The game itself was made by The Learning Company, and I later played some other games of the Super Solvers series.

It's amusing to recall that, at the time, I was playing the game on an old Windows 3.1 computer, and I cannot help but grin upon going over the system requirements of this game:

• Windows® 3.1
  
• 486DX/66 MHz processor (or faster)
  
• 2 MB free hard disk space
  
• 4 MB RAM
  
• 2x CD-ROM drive or faster
  
• SVGA display and 256 colors
  
• Windows®-compatible sound card

Note, though, that the above are the system requirements for the CD version (released later). The floppy version, which is what I played, only requires a maximum of 512 Kb of RAM (640 Kb on a Tandy 1000).

Plans for the Future

I have been lacking any content for this blog as of late, so I have decided to try a few new things. First of all, I will daily try to find a few interesting things via StumbleUpon (official website), definitely the greatest Mozilla Firefox add-on ever created, and a so-called "walk through memory lane", where I will recall various events to the best of my ability, from childhood leading up to the present in as close to chronological order as I can muster. On top of that, I'll make comments about various thoughts that I have, as has been mostly what the content of this blog has consisted of thus far.

On Update Delays

For those who are keeping track, it has been over two weeks since I last posted an update. Primarily, this is due to a sudden onset of gameritus that came on thick, leaving me on the edge of my seat for hours on end, playing games ranging from Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars to Neverwinter Nights 2.

Though the latter of these two I have not yet finished playing (making it join the ever-growing list of (great) games that I have recently started anew and not completed, including Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Starcraft, Fallout 2, and Planescape: Torment), Command and Conquer 3 has vastly impressed me with its lovely graphics, great storyline, and, like its predecessors, live action cut scenes (and, unlike its predecessors, good acting in said cut scenes).

Though I played Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn but in passing, and Command and Conquer : Tiberian Sun and its expansion, Firestorm, not at all, running through their respective Wikipedia articles and cut scenes (available via Youtube) left me none too impressed, allowing me to say, with quite some certainty, that Tiberium Wars is the best of the Command and Conquer Tiberian series.

Specifically, I was never left disappointed with the cut scenes, which made up a large portion of the game (for me, since I play games for the story far more than the gameplay itself), which was a big improvement upon the previous games, whose cut scenes either were drab, included poor acting/special effects, contained odd or disbelievable plots, or simply used the rather annoying style in which you (the player) is played by an actor in the cut scenes (works in some games, but not Tiberian Sun, in which it was used). In contrast, Tiberium Wars never left me feeling like a cut scene did less than its intent; debrief, link, and brief. That is, show me what my efforts brought, connect the current mission to the next, and finally explain what is yet to come. And, of course, it had the same wonderful actor playing Kane, leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, as always.

So, I found the graphics to be quite lovely (best use of a 3D engine in a strategy game I have yet seen), the plot to be fascinating and at least entertainingly clever, the cut scenes to be a real treat to watch, and the gameplay itself challenging (I played most levels on Normal, having to switch occasionally to Easy on particularly tough missions) and fulfilling. In a nutshell, it's a fantastic game, and one I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys RTS games.

On Female Gaming and Segregation

NOTE: This article contains satire and is not to be taken seriously.

I recently came upon an article by a female gamer named Sapphire. She rants at length on how this gaming female talks in this blog article about how gaming females are "segregated" against, and that forming female gaming clans is only an attention-whoring attempt, etc. Sapphire apparently disagrees, thinking that such groups are good in order to show female gaming abilities and prove that female gamers aren't there to be sluts, and so forth.

Personally? I think that acknowledging segregation provokes more of it. For example, if I was gay, but I didn't want people to look at me as a gay person, but just as a person, I would keep my mouth shut. They don't have to know. It's much easier that way than trying to educate the masses on why discrimination is bad, because the masses aren't too keen on learning fairness. In this case, I think that female gamers shouldn't even acknowledge their gender. Who cares, anyway? Joining female-only clans (in this case, PMS, for Pandora's Mighty Soldiers; an acronym that was obviously made before the actual name) will only scream the fact that one is a female gamer, enforcing whatever rift there is between the genders. Kind of like boys-only and girls-only clubs in second grade. Once the barriers, whether barriers of pride or dislike, disappear, the two opposites can mingle, eventually leading to a point where any segregation is simply impossible, due to how intermingled the two are.

There are, in my mind, two kinds of segregation; auto-segregation, and self-segregation. In other words, there is segregation when you are pushed away from the group for being different, and segregation where you push the crowd away for not taking enough note of you being different. Both are bad, and here's why; as long as one suggests they are better than another, whether it is due to sex, race, sexual orientation, or location, will bring about the same amounts of hatred as one would receive if others told them that they were lessers. This also applies to when one over-amplifies their individuality. If I had green skin, I would try to lower my head and fit in as best I could. Why can't those who feel that they have something stupendous do the same? In this case, those of different genders should just go along and do their gaming, since gender makes no difference. In the real world, those who are homosexual should just get along with others without trying to press their habits. It's a free country, in the United States of America, and one has the right to express themselves, but sometimes they just try to get attention by being as different as possible, and then they wonder why people dislike, discriminate, etc.

If you're different, be different, just don't wave around banners and shout that you are different, or else, unsurprisingly, you will be treated differently.

FCC Gets F'ed in the A.

NOTE: This article contains satire and is not to be taken seriously.

Yep, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission, which regulates television, radio, and other media censorship) has been bitchslapped by a new court ruling that says that the FCC has been overly hard with their rulings against the use of profanity and vulgarity, as well as having used their power to break the First Amendment by limiting free speech. They say that the words "fuck" and "shit" are have more than literal (sexual and excremental, respectively) meanings, and so would thus be classified similarly to other "foul" language. Apparently, the worry is that primetime television will be given a "virtual free pass" by allowing cursing of that sort, as long as it does not break the "fleeting, one-time expletives" rule. In other words, you can say what you want, as long as you don't use more than one "serious" curse word per sentence. Apparently, the court ruling also took note of the fact that President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have used such words as well, saying "get Syria to stop Hezbollah to stop doing this shit" and "fuck yourself", respectively.

It seems to me that, as pointed out by some commenters on the above linked-to article, that children will be exposed to things such as the "banned" words sooner or later, and the sooner they are, the sooner they will become used to them and stop thinking that, because they are banned, they are "cool" to spout out like a broken record. Aside from that, some "family" networks will get demand by the majority of their fundamentalist viewers to not include programming that takes advantage of this new court decision, and that means that there will still be "child-safe" content, for those who are unwilling, or unable, to regulate what their kids watch. If nothing else, they can get rid of their television access. I know that I grew up without cable, and I think that others can do just as well without the mind-numbing effects of all-day couch warming. Besides, if it supports the First Amendment, who am I to argue?

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Fallout-Boy is Coming to Town

Today rocked billions (count may be inaccurate) of Fallout fans as Bethesda Softworks, the company famous for its Elder Scrolls series, released a video (embedded below) displaying some of the art style that will be used in the game (apparently, the game itself is real-time, meaning that it is not rendered in a 3D program, like the Starcraft 2 trailer that I discussed in a previous post was, which is why it lacks detail in comparison). According to the Wikipedia page on Fallout 3, the game is being made under the Gamebyro graphics engine, which was also used to make The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (which, coincidentally, is the game I happen to be playing through at the moment, having become stuck in the more difficult Protoss levels of the original Starcraft game), allowing the game to be simultaneously released on the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. As with Blizzard on Starcraft 2, this long-awaited sequel is being finally announced nearly a decade after its original game was released (in this case, Fallout, released September 30, 1997), though it is actually planned to be released Fall of 2008 (my guess being September 30, 1998, which is exactly 10 years after Fallout 2 was released).



Since this is a trailer made by recording in-game footage, it seems that Fallout 3 will be taken into a first person realm, rather than recycling the old isometric view that was classic with the first two (as well as Tactics). Now, I would normally say that a first person perspective would ruin a classic idea, but I think that I am willing to give it a try, seeing how wonderfully Bethesda pulled off Oblivion (and how superb Deux Ex was, despite being a primarily first-person RPG). Most likely this is simply to allow for the re-emergence of the classical "talking heads", while still lending an impressive upgrade in eye candy, for the "new generation." I only hope that they stay true to the style of Fallout; the grungy, Cold War-era (late 40s to early 60s) technology, music, atmosphere, etc., as well as the dark, looming plots and humor that Fallout is so famous for. So far, it looks like they at least have the first part going right, and they even end with the famous "war never changes" line heard in the openings of the first two games.

Now I have yet another game to add to my list of interesting stuff coming out in 2008. Strangely, every US presidential election year seems to be the busiest in gaming. Maybe it's all calculated to keep our spirits up in spite of political turmoil. Long live the games!

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Our Right to Death

As of June 1, Doctor Jack Kevorkian, the controversial pathologist who believe in the right of the patient to die via assisted suicide, should they request such (over 130 having been assisted by him), has been released on parole from his imprisonment after being found to be in terminal condition and expected to live less than another year, due to his Hepatitis C, which he contracted while on duty in Vietnam. As of the writing of this, there are over 12 hundred articles on Google concerning this subject, so it is quite obviously a rather touchy issue.



Many call him a mass-murderer, and perhaps he is. Perhaps he simply uses the excuse of assisted suicide to get his kicks in knocking off patients, but even if that is so, I think that he has a good point. If one is in a mental condition in which they would be able to make proper decisions, and, due to a terminal, painful illness that they were inflicted with to which there was no cure, and possibly not even any way to numb the pain of, I would think that such a person would have every right to welcome a quick and painless death, rather than a long, torturous one. Hell, we're so dedicated to that concept in this country that we actually sterilize lethal injection needles, because, apparently, it is possible of the convict to die of some painful illness within the couple minutes it takes for the poisons to work. If people are worried about those who are convicted murderers, rapists, etc. dying with even a hint of pain during the short time between needle-prick and lethal injection, why don't they give the same options to those innocents who are on their deathbed, but kept alive by doctors, only to endure more agony (and toll up a larger bill for their relations once the monitor flat lines)?

I heard a quite good discussion on this subject by the hosts of the Susan Show today (I will put up a clip later, if I am able), and later chatted the point with a very close friend of mine. To paraphrase, the point is that those who are unable to escape pain or death should be given a chance to face it, rather than cower in the corner as it comes charging at them. For those who are simply depressed and want to die for stupid reasons, however, suicide is a coward's way out (specifically, on the show they said that those who admit that they want to commit suicide just want attention and don't really want to kill themselves anyway, so the best method of dealing with them is either to ignore them, or even go so far as to encourage them to do so, to make them prove to themselves that they really don't want it).

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A Peeping Tom Named Google

NOTE: This article contains satire and is not to be taken seriously.

Google has updated their Google Maps with a new feature that allows one to see various metropolitan areas, along certain streets, in a ground-level, 360 degree shot. This new feature has been named Google Maps Street View. Some are claiming that this is a way for people to "spy" on others, despite the fact that shots are not live. There have been reports of one being able to see into some open windows and observe (old) snapshots of certain personal acts.

Now, I find this to be insanely stupid. First of all, either a Google employee or someone from a related company had to go out into the streets of New York (among others), set up a tripod on the sidewalk, mount their camera, and finely focus each shot as they went along. If someone had a problem with being caught in a photo shoot by the strange guy taking pictures along the streets, they should damn well have moved out of the way. As for those whose actions can be seen through their open windows, it seems to me that if they don't care about the throng of folks walking along the street who can see, why should they care that, with very careful searching and much eye-straining squinting, one may be able to make out something going on in the dark interior of their apartment? Even if the details were crisp and one could see the facial features, Google admits that the Street View is not completely accurate to their map, so it would be very hard, if not impossible, to locate said person (and for what reason?).



No, this is just another attempt by whiny people to poke a booming business (retort), in this case Google, with some kind of crime to make them the enemy. As for me, I adore most Google products (obviously Blogger being one), though I admit freely that Google Video is redundant compared to YouTube, and far less pleasant to use.

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Virtual Lovin'

NOTE: This article contains satire and is not to be taken seriously.

Most have probably heard of Second Life, a (stupid) game where (crazy) people can meet (online) and waste hours talking about their goth hobbies. Now, I'm all for multiplayer roleplaying games, and, I must admit, they are a great hobby of mine, but this 3D chatroom stuff just churns up the cauldron of stupidity to the point where it overflows onto the rest of us.

Case in point, some are concerned over the ability for those in games such as Second Life to "cyber" (that is, play out sexual acts) without restrictions. Apparently, some woman has been emotionally traumatized after her Second Life character was raped. There have also been problems with two adults, one with a child character and one with an adult character, performing virtual intercourse; something that is banned in many countries under anti-pedophilia laws. The way I see it, if someone is bothered by what happens online, they can damn well go away. That's what makes the virtual world so great; you can do whatever you want, because people don't have to be offended. For those who don't understand this concept, I took the liberty of making a quick diagram.



Now, if someone is bothered by what someone tries to push on them, they can tell them no, contact an administrator for harassment, or simply "teleport" away or close the game window. Ditto with any other application. Although I personally don't agree with things such as pedophilia, if these two guys want to play it out virtually, where no one is actually being harmed (that is, no emotional damage is being inflicted upon some child), I see no reason why they can't get their rocks off the same as if it was someone who had a fetish for screwing a talking daisy. To arrest people who let their fantasies fly free in cyberspace is just stupid, because it's difficult and pointless (on the other hand, things like To Catch a Predator are a good way to stop those who are brave enough to break the law in real life).

Furthermore, some are complaining about so-called "muggers", who, in World of Warcraft, form a virtual bandit gang that, through one form or another, steals items from other players, only to turn around and sell them, for real money, to others. Now, this is a more touchy subject, but I would say that, as a whole, what is in the game is safe, as long as it doesn't bring chaos to the real world. In this case, they're just playing a game that happens to allow them to steal items from other characters. Those characters who were stolen from could either contact a GM (Game Manager) and complain that they were griefed (that is, set upon by a griefer, or one who tips the game unfairly to their advantage without a care of spoiling the game's fun for others), and thus get said items returned (or so I assume). Even if such were not possible, it seems to me that such items as were stolen could always be collected anew, and if there was financial benefit to be had, well, those who were stolen from are simply chumps for not having tried to do so first.

If it remains in-game, leave it there. It's just a friggin' game!

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On the Loch Ness Monster

As many are aware, one Gordon Holmes has captured new video (a news report with said footage is embedded below) that allegedly yields new proof that the Loch Ness Monster really exists.



As with many, I will take the stance that the Loch Ness Monster does not really exist. Now, although there has been so-called video and photographic evidence (many of which, such as the Surgeon's Photo, have been proven to be hoaxes), and there is a great possibility that large creatures could exist in deep water where they would remain undiscovered, I find the odds of a creature that has some reason to surface (or nearly surface) once every few years (as far as can be told, although of course nocturnal surfacings are a possibility) is highly unlikely. That, and there is relatively little evidence to support such, as opposed to such things as ghosts (ghost pictures/videos) and extraterrestrials (ufo pictures/videos) (which are, by many, not believed in, either [ghosts/ufos]).

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The Grimm of American McGee's Work

Those who were big on gaming around the time of Halo's release will surely recall American McGee's Alice, a dark re-interpretation of the world of Wonderland created by author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (under the pen-name Lewis Carroll)in the books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. This twisted tale of Alice's return to Wonderland after the death of her parents; a Wonderland changed into a place of evil, a concept most attributed to the works of Tim Burton, though I personally find the connection to the movie Alice by Jan Švankmajer, mentioned in a previous article, to be an interesting way to look at it (though their stories are nothing alike). If you have not tried the game, but would like to, it can be purchased here. Also, for those who would like to reminisce over old classics, part one and part two of the game's speedrun can be found here and here, respectively, and the trailer is embedded below. On another note, the movie adaptation of the game (hopefully done right, as, unfortunately, few are), starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as Alice, is, according to the International Movie Database, to be released in July of 2008.



American McGee is once again twisting fairy tales into dark worlds with the newly-announced game, Grimm (mention of such on American McGee's blog). According to this article, the game itself will be based on various stories from the collection Grimm's Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm. To learn more about the game, developed by Spicy Horse, read this article by GamesRadar and keep your eye on American McGee's blog for related articles. A release date has not been announced.

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Computing for Dummies (aka everyone)

Well, I'm sure that most everyone is oogling over the new Surface (go watch the videos on the official website) released by Microsoft. If you are not already aware, Surface is a top-secret project that has been developed over many years, and just now is being at last released to the public eye. As of now, it is a table with a 30-inch high-resolution display, 22 inches high, 21 inches "deep", and 42 inches wide, multi-touch interface, and more fancy features than you can shake a stick at, costing between $5,000 and $10,000. Below are a few embedded videos, showing off the primary features that Microsoft boasts of.

Virtual Painting


Virtual Photo Manipulation


Virtual Restaurant


Virtual Cashier (T-Mobile)


Now, although I'm tempted to go into a furious fit of excitement, seeing as this is so futuristic and all (at least by Minority Report standards), I must take a step back and look at the true potential of this technology. Now, a competing technology, embedded below, was unveiled in early 2006, showing off the abilities of the multi-touch interface. However, it didn't really show any useful application of the technology.



Now, as fun as fingerpainting and playing with virtual blobs may be, or pushing around digital photographs, I have a feeling that it is something that would quickly lose its shock value (though the movable video, on the other hand, may remain interesting a bit longer). I must say that I am quite impressed with Microsoft's creativity when it comes to application of their Surface technology. In this case, so that one may place a Zune, for example, upon the tabletop, purchase music with a jab of one's finger, and instantly transfer the music to their mobile device via Bluetooth. On the other hand, if the table requires infrared tags on the bottom of said devices, rather than recognition via more flexible means, that could spell some trouble, particularly for those who have older devices, or who have a preference for products sold by other companies who don't feel the need to add such tags to their devices (for example, Apple, Inc.). Specifically, of course, I speak of the iPod. If Microsoft doesn't have the wisdom to suck up their pride and offer expansive support (assuming that it is possible, since the technologies packed into players such as the iPod cannot be regulated by Microsoft, and so they can only expand as far as other products' hardware will allow), this will fail miserably. In any case, they should at least attempt to figure out some way to allow for as varied compatibility as possible with those devices that can support it, such as the iPhone.

As for the virtual restaurant, I'm not sure how well this will fly. Naturally, it will be an entertaining allure for fancy joints, but maintenance may be an issue, unless the Vista-based Surface is less crash-prone than its PC counterparts (and, of course, the tenancy for customers to not give a crap about expensive property). My guess is that this will, for quite some time, be seen only in large casinos and especially expensive, high-tech food joints (an example being some of the larger Starbucks coffeehouses). As for fast food places, I wouldn't expect to see this for quite some time (at least a decade, if not more, depending on how quickly the prices go down and how willing each company is to spend the extra cash for ease of use and eye-candy). Preferably, the technology should be expanded to detect the magnetic bars of credit cards, if such is feasible.

On the other hand, I think that T-Mobile's idea will really fly, as long as it is executed properly. Such on-the-fly comparisons, purchasing power, and ease of use would really impress customers at T-Mobile stores, particularly since they do, after all, specialize in electronics (portable electronics, in particular). If T-Mobile does it, odds are that competitors will scramble to catch up.

I don't think, however, that the PC will disappear before these new computers. Some of us enjoy the power that comes with a more detailed interface, and things such as detailed design, 3D gaming, even word processing, do not appear to be very compatible with this technology (since, unlike the technology showcased in 2006, the Surface does not seem to come with any kind of virtual keyboard). Virtual fingerpainting is fun, but since there is no obvious way to save one's work, detail given with programs such as Photoshop seems to be lacking, and the bump of an elbow could easily destroy hours of work, this most likely won't become popular with digital artists, let alone programmers, drafters, etc., from a more industrial point of view (not that I would expect one to be sitting in Starbucks, sipping a Frappuccino, and simultaneously drawing up virtual plans for a bridge on the Surface.

In conclusion, there are many options available for this new technology which have not been fully expanded upon, and, on the flip side, a lot of useless crap that will bog down and ultimately annoy users, but I would say that the potential outweighs the faults. Assuming Bill Gates isn't insane (a debatable point), this should be, as he predicts, a wonderful break-through in user-friendly interfacing technology.

Now, on to another new technology that has recently popped up; the Livescribe (about). Apparently, this technology packs some computing power into a fat pen, including the ability to record and play back voice, detect small printed dots on special paper (something that may make or break this pen, depending on printing costs/popularity), display some information on a "pixel-bar", and connect to a PC in order to expand upon what is done. For example, one may listen to a lecture while writing down notes. Should one want to review something that was said previously, one need only tap the pen upon a previously-written word, and the audio recording will back up to when that word was written and play from that point on.

The intent for the technology seems to be for journalists, writers, college students, and others who have a need for such flexibility, but I think that this less-than-$200-pen could also offer some useful aspects for designers, drafters, etc., if used correctly (meaning as long as the paper it requires is cheap enough, batteries last long enough, and whether or not the "hard copy" is able to be stored without creating too much clutter, though that last point really depends on who is using it). As for me, I know that I can type far faster than I can write notes, so I will stick with a keyboard for such things. This technology really hinges on whether or not it is marketed to the right people; it is for those with a true need of its uses, not the general public who busy themselves instead with cell phones, PDAs, iPods, and other such "new generation" equipment.

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UPDATE: The future of the Surface looks more promising than ever, particularly after Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Microsoft Executive Chairman Bill Gates got together in a friendly interview recently. By the sounds of it, they are not the enemies that one may guess, and so, it seems, the innovation of one will be snatched up by the other (hopefully meaning that, in the future, should the Surface really take off, Apple products should be made compatible, and the Surface should have the ability to recognize such non-Microsoft products).

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