Graduation…I’m not ready

Yo, this is CrazyAce. So…here’s the deal. I have one last dreadful final before Graduation. Gene Expression, yuck! >.<  I’ve got 24 hours until I take my last final as an undergrad, and then I’m all done. However, I can’t get myself to focus. There are so many better things to do than study, grrrr. The weather is wonderful, and there are lots of parties. How do I lock myself up in the library to study? Summer is SO close I can touch it!

Though the scary thing is not my last final. Oh no. It’s Graduation. I’m finally going to have a REAL degree. It seems surreal to  me . I always thought  this day was a long ways away, but I guess not.  I am continuing my education after this semester, but I will then be a graduate student. Scary! Oh well, I suppose I should stop procrastinating and start studying, so I can get through my final, and then share stories about all the wonderful parties I will be going to this weekend for Graduation. Until next time.

 

And Cthulhu breathed…

-blink- … -blink blink-…

Whoa. This last week has been utter hell.  I’ve not been sleeping well either.  Good news is, it’s my birthday.  Hooray for being able to drink alcohol in some official capacity, though that capacity usually corresponds to the title “light weight.”

In other news, it’s the end of the semester, I’m kinda broke, and I’m donating plasma like a fiend.  Oh, that and my cities on Travian are finally picking up.  I like the game a lot and I’m on US Server 5, if you’re interested in joining.

Now I’m gonna go study for my final… at 8:30 tomorrow morning.  Bleargh

 

Eco-Post: Solar-Thermal Power System

Hey everyone, this is BattlePope with an interesting little tidbit that just came off the news feeds. Apparently, we have a solution to our power problems and it is called the solar-thermal collector. Sure, it’s expensive, but the technology hasn’t really gotten any more expensive in the last twenty years, so perhaps it would be worthwhile for us to start investing in some solar collectors? The article from TreeHugger here has links to a few other articles on the viability of solar power as well as other energy sources.

What I really have to wonder about is this: (1) Why did we get rid of the electric car? (2) Why are we so heavily invested in oil-based power production? (3) Why does everyone seem to be of the mindset “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” and finally, (4) Why can’t anyone seem to see that by “going green” we end up saving ourselves a boat-load of money? I’d think that the especially greedy would readily move toward more eco-friendly solutions if only in an effort to build their own capital. [smirk] In any case, I’ve officially got the “green itch” and I’m looking at all sorts of ways to save myself money. I’ve already replaced all the lights in the apartment with compact fluorescents (saving the electric and a/c bill) and I’m looking at ways to stop driving around in my truck since gas is at around $3.50 a gallon out here.

Anyway, more simple ways to be green will be coming. Right now, I’ve got to get this sociology paper done!

 

Genetics? Rights to your own DNA?

I’m reading a book called “Next” by Michael Crichton. I’m not quite done with it yet, but an interesting dilemma has come about, that I think we will be seeing in the courts within the next several years. So here is the dilemma in the book. A guy has a genetic abnormality that essentially allows his body to fight cancer more efficiently than any pharmaceutical available. The said person is is asked by his doctor to keep coming in for blood work. He eventually finds out that his doctor has been selling his DNA to the highest paying Genetics research company. The research company has put a patten on this man’s DNA. So naturally, there is a big court case, because the man wants the rights to his own DNA. The judge rules that the man has no rights to his own DNA because it was deemed as bio-waste. The ruling is that all bio-related materials extracted from a person are excluded from their right to property, and therefore it is legal for the Genetic research company to patten the said man’s DNA.

I think this is something that is plausible for the future, and worth thinking about. Do we have rights to our own DNA if we have an abnormality that can be researched to benefit others? I tend to think that we do have rights to our own DNA. However, I would hope that if we did have a beneficial abnormality we would try to let others research it to help all. I’m curious know what other people think about this. Send me some feedback. =D

 

Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 4, Happiness in a Jar?

I finally managed to get ahold of a copy of Call of Duty 4 and Assassin’s Creed.  Needless to say, my first thoughts on these games were tainted by Yahtzee’s raving reviews (here and here.)  Despite the scathing reviews, they’re the two newest games out there that I’m even remotely interested when it comes to PC gaming (considering I do very little else.)

First, Call of Duty 4.  Wow.  Yahtzee wasn’t kidding when he said this went from being your average gun-whack to a fairly good gun-whack.  On my second play-through, I figured out that my run-and-gun strategy before wasn’t even the standard script and it was triggering the “oh-shit script” which consisted of bringing an entire army out on us instead of sneaking by in so many of the missions.  Needless to say, I enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy it.  If nothing else, it’s a wonderful stress reliever when you can see some poor sod’s head explode in a fountain of gore, turn, and do it again, for an entire twenty minutes.

As for Assassin’s Creed, I’ve only reached the second mission and, well, Yahtzee is right when he says the guards are just plain annoying.  They are enforcing some ridiculous medieval speed limit when I’m on a horse, not to mention when I’m trying to get into those damned towers for the map updates.  Once I’m in a city, ye gods, I love it.  People everywhere, guards to kill, walls to scale.  If this was what Prince of Persia was supposed to be, then I would have actually enjoyed the games instead of nearly breaking the controller in frustration.  From my other two roomies who’re near the end, it sounds like the guards turn out “stupid-hard”** though, which means I’ll likely end up getting frustrated and not quite finish the game until I have a spare three hours to swear at.  Despite that, I thoroughly enjoy how this game works and while the interface could use a little work, I’m sure that it operates wonderfully on a console system.  I just don’t want to break out my logitech controller to try.

**Definition: “Stupid-Hard” — a case in video game design where guards and other NPCs gain supernatural powers and are able to kill you in ways they never could before.  e.g. in Crysis, near the end on the ship, where you must kill a lot of aliens.  I stopped playing that game and downloaded a trainer just so I could cheat my way to the end because the aliens were so unfairly overpowered.

In closing, I wholeheartedly recommend both of these games and I really think that this is a step in the right direction for gaming.  Free-form environments, player-driven events…  it feels like Deus Ex all over again and that brings warm fuzzies to my heart.  ^_^

 

State of the Blog Address

Well, here I am. Again. Posting because I can. Bleh.

I guess I’m just worn out with finals coming up, all these papers and readings and reviews due in less than two weeks now. I just want to be able to fast-forward and un-stress. On the flip side, I’m thoroughly enjoying The Vorkosigan Series. It’s pretty amazing and even though it’s categorized as “young adult” fiction, Bujold’s writing just sucks me in. Lovable characters, intense battles, and so many convoluted twists that my brain once took a full three minutes to comprehend two sentences. What can I say, I like it. It’s like my personal stash of crack.

Something else that’s bothering me is that the other two guys haven’t been posting here. They were all gung-ho about it before, but now they’re just sitting there, doing nothing. Maybe I should start inviting people to be contributors? That could turn out rather interesting. Maybe I should… and I think I know who to invite now. <Cackles with glee> Off to the races!

 

Chalmers needs a medal

Words cannot describe the sheer joy, fear, the emotions of last night and KU’s incredible win. I think I’ve started a trend too: “Sasha says NO!” (in faux russian accent.) Not only that, the play where everyone on KU’s end touched the ball and Kaun went for the basket… that was so pretty. I have never seen such a pretty play in my life…

In other news, there have been a few things learned from last night’s excursion. I have decided to dub them the Rules of NCAA Champion Celebration:

1. Everyone is obligated to scream / yell the motto of the school or the school’s name for the first twenty minutes of celebration. To not do so is sacrilege.
2. After said twenty minutes of celebration, only women or men in tight clothing or various states of undress can shout the motto or name and still receive attention. If you’re a guy, you’re just hilarious.  If you’re a woman, let’s just say hormones are quite frustrating. Everyone else is just annoying.
3. The SWAT team does not like nor want your high-fives.
4. Flag-pole climbing is not an Olympic sport.
5. Do not stand in the middle of the crowd — find the edges and you’ll have a better chance at catching flying beers. Also, a better chance at getting to the five-gallon keg those people just ran with into the crowd.
6. Though helicopters generally mean disaster or massive police action, they cannot hurt fifteen-thousand people on a mission to celebrate.
7. The Police want to celebrate too, they just happen to be rather prudish friends — just give them your beer and go find another. God knows there’s plenty more somewhere close by.
8. Bathrooms are rare. You won’t get arrested if you’re smart about it.

 

Youtube has talent?

So, I randomly came across the first video and couldn’t help but watch the second. Turn your speakers down if someone nearby might be offended by language. Better yet, put headphones in and turn ‘em up a bit.

 

Whaaaaat?

Okay, so spring break is over. Great. F@#$ing woot.

Some might ask “what have you been doing lately?” My response: playing Sins of a Solar Empire. Let me just say, it’s an awesome game. Never mind the fact that even while LANing the game you get serious lag (read: huge friggin’ fleets of ships,) it is hands-down one of the best space-based RTS games I’ve played.  The premise is pretty standard: 3 factions, explore the galaxy, own it all and destroy or ally with your neighbors.  What’s so amazing is that with as many ships as you produce (unless you play a capital-ship-only game) you don’t ever have to micromanage. Ever.  I apologize to you “true RTS” fans out there, you Starcrafters who had to do all that, but I felt like I would shoot myself every time I picked up a game like that.  Telling every single unit what to do, establishing patrol routes (if they had any,) setting up resource-gatherers… it’s enough to drive a man mad.  Sins takes care of that by letting resources collect passively and, even better, setting up the ship AI so that if you want you can leave your ships in orbit and they’ll attack anything that wanders in.  Funny enough, offensive moves are the same way: you send your fleet to Planet XYZ and just sit back. If you’d rather, you can manage parts of the battle, direct your forces more appropriately, but for the top-down tactician that I am this is a godsend.

In any case, not a lot has been going on otherwise.  I’ve got papers to write, a term paper due on my birthday of all days, and finding a job to do.  >_<  Life can be a real drag some times.

 

Priesty Power

As you might have guessed if you knew I played World of Warcraft, I play a priest. Specifically, I’m a dwarf priest, discipline spec. Just recently after devoting quite a few weeks to building up the arena points and honor points necessary, I purchased my new Merciless Gladiator’s Salvation (a really awesome healing mace) and the Vindicator’s Mooncloth Belt (one of the best healing belts available.) This also boosted my resilience to 298 and pushed me to upwards of 12k health, not to mention give me an extra 300 +healing.

So what about this merits a post? Well, It means I’m not so squishy anymore. For the last two years, I’ve been the stereotypical healing priest (read: Free Honor Kill) and now that they’ve given me focused will, pain suppression, and quite a few other nifty little gimmicks, I’m not so easy to kill anymore (with melee, that is. Mages and Warlocks still kinda eat me.)  This means I’m actually coming to enjoy playing WoW again instead of taking solace in the fact that I have awesome heals for PvE content.

As such, here’s a quote that should give you an idea as to why I chose “BattlePope” as my avatar…

“A Priest is a battle-scarred cigar-smoking battle-pope with pure testosterone in his veins taking your best shot and then punching his fist down your throat.” – Shaithara