Cerebral Divinity

A Breakthrough!

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 23:12:39 GMT

I finally found the error in my tower defense game that would not make the towers properly lead the projectiles to hit the enemies. This probably means virtually nothing to you, but for me, it was the cause of many sleepless nights and sheets of equations. I mean really... I was only using the Law of Cosines and Quadratic Formula... But I had a typo... And I am likely boring you now. The point is, I am able to advance in the development of my game, further contributing to the entertainment of those who play my games (all three of you). Ciao.

5 Centimeters Per Second

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:34:38 GMT

5 Centimeters per Second is by far one of the best movies I have seen in my entire, relatively short an unimportant existence. If you have eyes, I'm telling you right now, you are missing something. I don't care if you don't like anime. If you have a reasonable interest in all things good in this universe, you will check this out. I feel as though by saying anything, I might be spoiling the movie, so I'll just say this: It's definitely pretty emotional, so if you're looking for something exciting, then this is not for you. It's not an action movie. At all. No explosions. None.

In light of this, it's truly amazing. It's high quality animation, which isn't something everyone appreciates, but it had a profound effect on me, who watches many hours of the stuff monthly. In order to completely contradict myself before, you might not like the movie. You might think of it as a waste of time. But at very least, you owe it to me, to Japan, to at least give it a try.

It Sucks to be Epileptic in Japan

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:25:49 GMT

How is it even possible to make music videos this... drug-induced?

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:03:25 GMT

For Christmas, I got FFT:TWotL, and was very excited to play it. I greatly enjoyed Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the GBA, and was delighted when I first heard that this new one would be released. Since Christmas, I've been totally addicted to the game. I enjoy getting all of the skills and stuff of each character in this kind of game, and I did grind for Job Experience for many an hour. Now, I'm nearly at the end of the game, thanks to the crazy combination of skills each of my characters have.

Let me make it simple for those of you who are unfamiliar with the game. I have a permanent skill set on each of my characters that allows them to strike twice whenever they perform a physical attack. I set all of my characters to be monks, who have the highest unarmed attack rates (It would cost too much of the game's currency for them to each have really good weapons equip'd twice). Last, I have a skill that makes it so whenever one of my characters is attacked, they get to preemptively attack the enemy. What all of this means is, if one of my characters is attacked, they pretty much pwn all heck out of whatever attacked them, and do not sustain any damage at all.

I'm not pretty close to finished with the story end of the game, so I'll soon be moving on to other games.

It's out!

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:31:27 GMT

*Explicatives here* My post got deleted due to some database error, so instead of supplying you, the reader, with the content you were supposed to get, I'm going to be brief and try and fix the problem. Moving on.

The Pillows's new single, "Tokyo Bambi," was supposed to be released on the 30th, but apparently, that's just when you can buy the CD. Thanks to a friend of mine, and the power of YouTube, we can view it (the PV) now. Here it goes:

My immediate reaction was "WTF, Trumpet?" I'm not sure if I like the new sound, but I guess he song is pretty decent. However, The Pillows also released another song in their single, which is apparently called "Go! Go! Jupiter." Here you go:

Personally, I like this song better than "Tokyo Bambi," but "Ladybird Girl" beats both of them. I['ve got a lot to do, but if you want to share your opinion, leave a comment.

Oh. My. Jesuses.

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 00:27:43 GMT

The Pillows... the best band in existence... New single... Must have. Go look on their site right now. I want to hear it so much. It's entitled "Tokyo Bambi," and the thing has an anamorphic deer monster thing. I'm tired. My Birthday is Sunday. I go play Starcraft now.

Why is All of My Music Emo?

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:58:19 GMT

I found MUCC randomly one day, and downloaded an album. They seemed like a normal, non-emo band. Little did I know... that they were in fact ABS level emo. Look at their latest single!

Stupid music.

Halfway on the Internet

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:47:59 GMT

That's right folks. At this very time, I am not completely on the internet. Nor am I not on the internet. I am somewhere in the void in between.

Remember in the third Matrix movie when Neo is stuck between the Matrix and the real world in that terminal with that little girl and hobo? That's like me, right now, except significantly less exciting. And no hobo. You have no idea how much I could go for a hobo right now.

But, you ask, Where does this intersect with reality and rational thought? It's simple. I am currently in a hotel with my family in Chicago, and I purchased twenty-four hours of Wifi internet service for my laptop so I could access the internet and... you know... chill. Unfortunately, somewhere in the computer system of the hotel is a deep hatred for either myself or my laptop that causes my connection to die randomly every three to five minutes.

You have no idea how much I want to grab a cable and run through the building looking for a router I can plug my computer into. It's so aggravating. It's a good thing that I have no intention of downloading anything.

Happy Foodening!

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 22:46:30 GMT

This is my official Thanksgiving post. I'm not sure what to write....

I am visiting relatives in Wisconsin again. It's not the most enjoyable thing ever, but it certainly is time consuming. Today, I went to visit my relatives on my dad's side of the family. It was only somewhat the most annoying thing ever. But The Packers won their game today! Isn't that great?

It's true; everyone in Wisconsin loves the Packers. I can distinctly remember the teachers teaching that The Packers were wonderful. It was like Reading, Writing, 'Rithmatic, and Packers in Preschool. I don't even like football. I've never liked football. But something inside me makes me know that the Packers represent all that is good in the universe. It's a feeling instilled deep within my Wisconsin-born soul.

Regardless, there have been times when I wanted to pull my hair out. Being confined to the same house(s) with my siblings is annoying, to say the least. All of the free time has given me the opportunity to work on my game, which is coming along pretty well. I'm not being coherent today.

There is cheese to be eaten. May your belly be filled, and your thoughts more coherent than mine! Farewell!

Intelligent Defense

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:16:29 GMT

I actually forgot to mention this, but I've started and finished a new game. Actually, "finish" is misleading, as everything I write is in constant beta. Anyways, you can check it out at the Mechanica site. Please let me know how it is. Again, it may lack functionality and documentation... but.... it's something.

It's Back.

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:19:20 GMT

Yep, that's right folks. Mechanica. The Mechanica... is up again. But it's under Beta. It's always been under beta, but now it's officially really really beta. Check it out, sign up, etc. Mechanica, in all of it's new glory!

Farewell, GGKTHX.

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 07:17:27 GMT

Ggkthx, my favorite fansub group of all time, is closing down forever. Apparently, the person that did basically everything has disappeared. It is a sad day in the world of fansubing.

Anime Update Explosion

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:44:20 GMT

No time to explain title. Must review anime.

Okay, let's see what we have for this season's Fall anime viewing pleasure!

First, there's Majin Tantei N?gami Neuro. Put simply, a demon that really likes to solve/"eat (?)" puzzles comes to the realm of humans (in the form of a human) looking for the ultimate puzzle. He "persuades" our main character, a high school detective named Yako Katsuragi, to let him follow her around and help her with detectiving. She takes the credit for the mysteries solved, and Mr. Demon (His actual name is Neuro Nougami). I watched the first episode, and it is certainly promising. It reminds me a bit of Case Closed, which is classic. I'd give a screenshot, but I have not yet found a good torrent.

Proceeding, we have Myself; Yourself. Sana is a boy who moved away from his hometown when he was 11, leaving extremely adorable friends behind. Now, he has returned for some reason (It's romance anime! The exposition doesn't [or hardly] matter[s]!). Upon arrival, he encounters one of his very moe friends (See below).

It seems pretty generic, but we'll see how it progresses. Supposedly, it's going to be different, because there are two male characters and multiple of the female character, but I'm skeptical. Nevertheless, I guess I'll watch it.

I'm pretty much a newcomer to the "Magical Girl" genre of anime, but I'm also watching Shugo Chara, because Hotaru really likes it and I'm torrenting it for her anyways. I'm not even sure how to explain this one, so I'll try and be as incoherant as possible in hopes that I fail. Eggs+Girl+TV Psychic+"Gaurdian Spirit" = Super Powers? I guess... the main character... Wants to act more like herself instead of this "cool punk" (The word "spicy" comes up a lot) image that she accidentally imposed on herself. She wishes to show her real self after watching some random fugly TV Psychic, and then these eggs show up. And things just get girlier from there. Here's some screenshots!

Wait... What???

This is so girly...

Why am I watching this??? Oh. right. Girlfriend.

Expect an update on the site soon!

Guess What?

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 18:20:15 GMT

My uncle, now my favorite relative ever, decided to give me an old server from his work that was no longer being used. Sweetsauce. It's a Dell PowerEdge 1650 Rack Server, not that that means much to anyone. It's upgradable to 4 Gigs of RAM, and has two Socket 370 Processors. Not too shabby, actually. I'm not sure what to do with it, except slap Linux onto it (Ubuntu FTW), and use it as a test server. Oh and I named it "blinky" after what it does to distract me from sleeping at night. Oh! It's black, which nicely matches my own desktop computer. And it sounds like a jet when it's running. It's lound, and may keep me up all night, but I love it. It's shiny.

Version 2.0... Soon!

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:03:08 GMT

I promised Miss Hotaru an update on this posting system, as it has not been working well for some reason. I also might as well do some more work on the site while I'm at it. So... Here's what I have in store for CerebralDivinity 2.0:

1. Autotagging: Certain keywords will automatically by tagged and link to certain other content. This will save me time (I don't need to put little links on stuff manually) and it will make it easier for you to decipher what I'm talking about (Like when I go on a computer rant...).
2. Working Comment System: Sometimes, the comment system dies. I have no idea why. I'll figure it out.
3. Flash Version: I've kinda been working on this for a while, but a Flash version of the blog fixes compatibility issues across the board. It also might be very shiny. It would be optional; I'm not about to throw away all of this system.

Now here's where you, the valued reader somes in. If you have any suggestions not listed above, go ahead and post them (Or email them to me). I'll consider anything. I hope to have this up by the end of the month, but I might get pwned by school. I'll do my best!

Where's Waldo?

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:49:13 GMT

I have no idea! Stop asking me!

I apologize for not making any sense whatsoever. Now let's get down to business. School and band occupy too much of my time, and hanging out with my girlfriend doesn't occupy enough of it... So here's something "worthwhile" to read. I have to write English journals, which are basically whatever I want to write. I was inspired today by socks. So here's a short compilation for your retinas to absorb!

I found a pair of socks today under my couch. I'm not sure how long they were under, and neither were they. Their time away from their friends and family must have caused great grief. And what of Right Sock's career as a sock puppet? That dream is now unfulfillable. In the dusty, decrepit state the pair of socks was in, surely they would be outcast by society. Perhaps they would rather not be returned. But the washing machine was their salvation; the socks sparkled (or came as close to sparkling as possible for socks) after their treatment. I returned them to the drawer, and they were received with joy.

I'm not sure why the socks inspired that, but they did. I apologize for both the loss in time and brain cells.

Highlights of Driver's Ed

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:31:59 GMT

I have to take the silly Segment II part of my Driver's Ed class this week, which is really annoying with my current workload. I shouldn't even be writing this! I need to do my English! But that's... beyond the point. Today in class, our teacher, who is kinda scary and amusing, asked "What's the first thing you should do when getting this handout?" One of the brilliant children in the class answered "Signal!" Needless to say, he is a noob. Then, our teacher explained that anus is "a technical term for a$$hole" and recalled in far too much detail his prostate examination. Good times.

I Wish I Could See This

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:40:51 GMT

Robo Rock: I have no idea what it's about, except that it has a robot. The trailer looks amusing. Click the little hovery thing to watch it. I'd post more, but I'm lazy and have homework.

Oh, I guess I have something else! Here's a Very very informative Wikipedia article I came accross when looking up "Euphemisms" for English. Normally, I'd ignore something as stupid and immature as that, but it made me laugh. "5 digit disco"... Hehe...

Pigeon

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:36:36 GMT

Oh noes! All of my friends use different IM clients! I am forced to run Windows Messenger, Yahoo, IRQ, Gtalk, and AIM! So many windows! What will I ever do?

You know what? You'll download Pigeon. Not just because it supports the good modern clients and has a customizable interface, but because I told you to. Now go install it.

Kilts FTW!

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:22:55 GMT

I am a fan of Darker Than Black, a fairly recent anime (It was liscensed, so I didn't get to finish it (curse you, Bandai)), and the first opening is by a group called Abingdon Boys School. Thay're named, incidently, after an all boy's school in England. Anyways, here's the opening that they did for Darker Than Black, entitled "HOWLING".

They also did an opening for the extremely popular anime, D. Gray-Man. I don't really feel like commenting on it, but here it is:

Now, the main feature: their most recent single. I must forewarn you... this is kinda visual kei-ish.

I kinda like the song, but I think that "HOWLING" is better. And the promotional video is just... "Wow... kilts..." Maybe the PV makes more sense if you understand the language. I am still confused by the skeletonish things, and those random rock pieces. ABS seems like a promising yet emo group, and if nothing else, they wore kilts.

Nodame Cantabile

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:01:23 GMT

With school and lots of other obligations (by that, I mean band), I have not had much time for anime. My downloaded, yet unwatched anime list has grown significantly. Fear not, for today, I was able to watch some stuff.

A some of my dear friends (Basically, Max and Ellen) suggested that I check out Nodame Cantabile, a romantic comedy/drama about musical... stuff. So here are my thoughts: Opening is catchy, it has lots of "adorable situation" potential, and it is indeed funny. The main character is going to school with hopes of becoming a conductor, but ends up having to play duets with a strange and very disorganized girl.. who falls in love with him... and then amusingness ensues. I'd like to say more, but I'm taking the opportunity to watch more anime as I don't have any homework today!

It's Been a While!

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 01:11:46 GMT

Sorry to my loyal fans (all three of you) for slacking off in my lack of recent posts. Anyways, here we are, at the end of summer, and I still have a significant amount of summer reading to do for my stupid advanced placement classes. And we have the looming marching band season waiting to completely consume my spare time. I think we need to lengthen summer (and the weather that comes with it) by like two months. If any of you reading this are capable of that, then I' really appreciate it. I also thought I was going to accomplish something this summer programming-wise, but I guess that failed miserably.

On a happier note, summer was a fun, cookie-baking filled time of delight, except when the cookies failed miserably (that's another story for another day). I got to do a lot of hanging out with fun people, and spent nearly every day with my dear girlfriend. Oh, and there was much Starcraft, which is always fun. I bought a new fancy computer, which I am still unable to use until I finish doing work for my dad (He let me assemble it... and install Windows... and update it.... but I'm not allowed to use it until I finish his site. Why??).

My updates will possibly be more randomly paced, but I guess that will make things more fun. Or I'm just saying words because it's late. Goodnight.

Supercar is Amazing

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:17:41 GMT

One of the most prominently wonderful things about Eureka Seven is its music. "Storywriter" by Supercar is an insert song in many of the episodes, and if you have not yet listened to it, you can thank my friend Imeem.

The first 20-30 seconds aren't very interesting, but the rest is extremely catchy and delicious. Supercar has a great mix of instrument, vocal, and electronic noises. They've been around for quite a while, and they were somewhat influential during the '90s in Japan (a time of lots of modern musical development). They experimented with a mix of rock and electronica, and I think that it sounds quite awesome.

Seeing as I am in Wisconsin and don't have a lot to do, I decided to torrent some of their music, and I am very impressed. It's all very good, so far. The technoey-ness can be a bit... eccentric and almost awkwardly-placed in some songs, but overall, they have excellent music. Here's "Strobolights," which is very technoey, but delicious.

It's not my favorite song, but Imeem doesn't have a lot of their older music. I like the song more as it progresses. The addition of the stronger bass-techno-beaty-things stabilizes it towards the end. There's also no guitar at all in the song, which is kind of unusual for them. In contrast, here's another of their more popular songs "Baby Once More," which is more typical of them.

This is technoey, but it has the guitar and actual instruments. And I really enjoy Imeem. I should probably stop now though, before I re-index their entire site on this post. If you like what you hear, I encourage you to visit Imeem and do some searching, or buy it via your favorite Japanese import company (I hear Yesasia.com is good). Happy musicing.

Another Interesting Pilgrimage to the Land of Cheese

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:31:35 GMT

As some of you might possibly be aware, I am currently in Wisconsin. I left on Wednesday at around 9:00 with my father to visit relatives and vacation in the Wisconsin Dells (Home of very little for me to do). Originally, I was supposed to do some driving to practice so I can get my license, (I am a slacker) but it had rained, so that seemed like a bad idea. On the way there, the rain started up again. And then got significantly worse, and progressed towards being horizontal. It was quite frightening. Visibility was only about a foot in front of the car, and that tends to be disadvantageous when driving at 50 miles per hour on a wet road. Luckily, I didn't die.

We reached an overpass, and it started to hail.... horizontally. A tornado was near, or something. It was the scariest experience in a car I have ever had. The hail was pretty large, too. It was approximately the size of a dime. My dad thought that the car was going to get dented, but it wasn't, surprisingly. I guess the lesson is... Actually... I don't really know. Overpasses are my friend though.

Oh, and I added another background. I was playing with Fireworks (the Macromedia [I don't believe in Adobe] graphics program).

Ladybird Girl

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:32:59 GMT

I finally found the Promotional Video for The Pillow's new single- "Ladybird Girl," which is officially released tomorrow. It's pretty good, as expected from The Pillows.

Catchy, fun, and by the The Pillows. The video isn't all that exciting, but it certainly has a degree of class to it. Simple, but kind of elegant. The style is similar to a lot of their songs, but not too similar. Anyways, what do you think? While I'm at it, here's their previous single, "Wake Up Dodo."

I like the video... It's very bizarre. I'm not as fond of this song as I am of "Ladybird Girl," but it has a more interesting promotional video. If I had money, I really would order some more of The Pillow's stuff. I need a job >_<.

Curse you, VH1

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 01:01:58 GMT

Due to my animelessness (I am still waiting for Lucky Star 17 and 18 to torrent), I ended up watching VH1 today. I feel bad, because I was actually kind of amused. I must say that as a channel, VH1 is infinitely better than MTV. I lost much fewer brain cells. I watched a few different shows, while doing some cleaning and other random things, and it was decent as a source of entertainment. There was this "Top 40 Moments in Reality Shows" thing, and that was kind of amusing. I watched that with the infamous Miss Hotaru. Later, she left, and there was this show about teaching these worthless human males to interact properly with females. It was funny, but pathetic. Then I watched that Hulk Hogan show. They gave him a makeover. It was really strange.

After that, I basically stopped paying attention to the television, as I was listening to music. The "music refuge" on my internal laptop hard drive basically has The Pillows, and a bunch of anime OSTs (Original Soundtracks). I chose to listen to the anime, as I have been going at The Pillows for several days in anticipation for their new single. Unfortunately, this had the unintended side-effect of making me want to watch anime, none of which I had. I despise YouTube for the stupidity of the comments, so I basically need to torrent my anime. Sadly, I can no longer do so.

Lucky Star is almost done, so my sojourn in the world of television is basically over. But, if I need to watch something, and nothing better is on, at least I now know that VH1 usually has decent entertainment.

Guess What? New Computer.

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 22:36:55 GMT

That's right, folks. I have ordered myself a new computer. Even better news: It's the roxxorz. And Tiger Direct is my friend. I ordered parts individually, so I'll have to assemble it when it arrives. Lets look at the parts list:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad (I'm too good for a mere dual core processor. And although software doesn't yet fully use this type of processor, I'm always multitasking, so it will still be helpful)
Motherboard: Intel DP35DPM (I wanted something with multiple graphics card support, but realistically, I don't want to pay foe another $70 graphics card and two $150 display anytime soon)
Case: Ultra Gladiator Black ATX Mid-Tower Case (It looks nice and sturdy. It's pricier than what I originally intended to spend, but I don't want anything flimsy after reading some reviews of cheaper cases. I don't ever want to have to replace the case)
Power Supply: 500 Watt (It's included with the case, and should be more than enough)
RAM: 1 Gig of DDR2 generic stuff (I don't care too much about who makes my RAM, so long as it doesn't burst into flames and actually works. I've never used more than a gig of RAM on a home computer. My laptop usually only uses a fourth of that. Even so, I can easily upgrade to up to 4 gigs if I feel the need)
Graphics Card: HIS Radeon X1550 (Finally: a graphics card of decency. I despise my Laptop's integrated graphics. Oh, and it has special video decoding powers, so high definition anime is no problem anymore)
Hard Drive: 200 Gigs of genericness (I wish I could afford one of those really fast fancy 10000 RPM hard drives... But that also goes on the "when I have money I could upgrade this" list)
CD/DVD Drive: Generic, again (I have an external USB DVD Burner, so I didn't see the need to put one into this machine)Display: This old random CRT monitor that my dad has had for a while, and hasn't been using, so I just kinda took it and have been using it externally with my laptop.... That was lengthy... (I'll upgrade and add an LCD screen when I have money as well. I'd like to have a moderately transportable display for LAN parties)
OS: Windows XP x64 Edition (120 day trial. I'll buy Vista when I have money)
Total Cost was about $700.

Not bad, right? Who am I kidding? No one who reads this stuff is going to really know what I'm talking about. But I guess that's okay. Just know that I am excited for my new computer.

Computational Mysteries, and My Decisions on Life

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:47:26 GMT

I used the term "life" loosely. A more accurate phrase is "Vista and 64-bit crap." Oh, and I got Lazy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you go to Wikipedia and look it up. I don't feel like hyperlinking every other word.

Oh, I also decided between Dual and Quad Core! I'm going to compromise, as my buddy Sam suggested, and go with... A Triple Core! (No, that doesn't actually exist) I've been reading reviews, and Intel Core 2 Quad setup goes one of two ways: absurdly easy, or absurdly hard. Same with finding 64-bit Vista drivers for hardware: impossible, or child's play. I'm just going to assume that the people who were having trouble are all stupid, and didn't do enough research.

I intend to make sure that all of my hardware has drivers AND is Vista compatible. What you say? Vista? Yep. We're all going to end up getting it at some point, once XP is useless, so I'd rather not buy soon-to-be-obsolete software, especially at the cost of anything made by Windows.

Above all, the internet exists. If I have trouble with my new computer, I'm sure I can find help. Before that, even, I'm going to prepare myself with as much knowledge about what I want to buy as possible.

Oh, and I somehow managed to fix the codecs on my computer. I was having some strange errors, so while half-conscious, I did some uninstalling and registry editing, and somehow miraculously fixed everything. It's beyond me how any of it worked, but it did. New troubleshooting strategy: try to fizx it while not fully awake. Hopefully, that will work on Vista too, so I can fix problems on my new computer (when I get it... I'm very close to being able to buy it).

Regarding Those Large Sums of Candy....

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:35:54 GMT

After running out of cookies, I resorted back to eating out of my candy bucket, and wondered "Where did this bucket originate from?" My mother gave it to me randomly one day, but other than that, its existence is an enigma. Half of the candy seems to be from Mexico (I's good candy, mind you. Not the pickle-flavored variety). This is just a theory, but maybe my parents are hiding an illegal immigrant in exchange for candy? I'm not sure, but that would explain the candy. I'm going to go do some investigating, after I finish this candy. My teeth are going to rot, but consequences are for lamers.

My Bowl of Cookies is Empty...

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:01:47 GMT

...But that has nothing at all whatsoever to do with this post. On Sunday, I went over to the Welchling's house, along with Pennington, Hotaru, and Adam, and we played some Starcraft. It was a lot of fun, and it makes me understand why those Koreans like it so much. If you've never played Starcraft before, then first off, shame on you. It's a great game. Second, you might as well skip the rest of this post, because it's not going to make sense to you. I'm really looking forward to more fun times when Starcraft II is released. Anyways, here are the highlights!

I was playing on a team with Hotaru and a computer player, and at the last minute I changed my race selection from Zerg to Protoss, without anyone knowing. The computer was set to be a random race, and it somehow ended up being Zerg. Welchling and Pennington went the entire round thinking that I was the Zerg player, while I massed Carriers and won with them. It was really amusing to hear "Holy crap! That Protoss computer is so smart!"

The other amusing occurrence was when Pennington failed his SCV rush on me. He only sent in 5 SCVs a few minutes into the game, and my Photon cannons owned him. I lost later in the game though, thanks to Welch spamming Battle Cruisers and destroying my fleet of Carriers. Which reminds me... the Protoss really are the easiest race to play. All you have to do is turtle with Photon Cannons, and then spam carriers in the late game. You might need some Dragoons and Zealots in there too, but spammed Carriers are 1337.

Oh, and I did get to see Code Geass subbed the other day. It made me happy inside, even though my hard drive is fried.

Is That Hard Drive I Smell Burning?

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 23:45:43 GMT

Well, after my hard drive failure last year, the hard drive fairies payed me another visit. Stupid freaking fairies. My external hard drive normally makes a happy purring noise when it gets plugged in, but that didn't happen when I plugged it in tonight! It gave me this "I'm dead! ^_^" look. And it smelled like... BBQ Hard Drive (I'm hungry...). I opened it up, and I guess the case that the hard drive was in is okay. I have no clue how the hard drive is right now. I'm going to plug the hard drive back in tomorrow, see if that works, otherwise I'm going to stick it into one of my computers, and see if that works. Plan C is look up hard drive necromancy. After that, I'll stop being delusional, and end up buying a new one off eBay... eventually. I might not actually need it, because I bought a DVD burner. I also will be getting a new computer soon anyways, so I'll have plenty of space. Until then, I'll be looking for the Techronomicon.

ZOMG, Geass!

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:28:46 GMT

I finally got to watch Code Geass Stage 24/25 today, after much anticipation. I've been looking forward to the new episode immensely, and it certainly didn't disappoint. I ended up watching it in Japanese, since subtitled versions were not out yet (lazy fansubbers...), but my little amount of Japanese skill pulled through for me, with some help from the universal language of giant fighting mechs. I will end up rewatching the two new episodes as soon as they are subbed. And I am totally excited for the next season, which will start in October, supposedly. Oh, and the new Code Geass opening (by Access) was also very good, compared to the last one! You can listen here:

On a side note, I also watched Lucky Star 16, and found it to be very amusing. It had Geass references, which made me happy. Oh, and I've not been updated regularly due to my search for the new Geass episodes, but now that my thirst for Geass has been quenched, I will continue to update more regularly.

Only Two Days...

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:48:54 GMT

Just so you know, it's less than two days until the ending to the first season of Code Geass: LeLouche of the Rebellion, and I'm really excited. In somewhat related news, I may even be cosplaying with friends from characters of the anime at our next convention. I really would like to see the ending of Geass though....

I Would Really Like A New Computer

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:21:50 GMT

I'm supposed to redesign my dad's website for him, and in theory, I'll be getting paid a considerable amount. I have been looking at a new computer for a while now, but I guess I might actually get one. Presently, I've been reading about prices and stuff like that. Get ready for a bunch of terms and stuff that you don't know, as I am about to go into considerable detail.

The most important part of my new computer will be the CPU. My current one is really crappy, and doesn't decode some of my higher resolution anime properly. I'm really into Multi-core Processors as an emerging technology, so I initially wanted an AMD Dual-Core Processor. After looking into some stuff, and reading some stats, an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor seems like the way to go, as it out preformed the AMD processor I was looking at by threefold in rendering random stuff.

Another fascination of mine in recent hardware is multiple monitors. I direly want at least two monitors, and I think that it would be handy for development. Most video cards these days support that feature, but I'm cheap and don't plan on buying a new monitor. Most video cards that support this use DVI, which is only available on LCD screens, as far as I know. I guess I'll have to wait until I can buy new displays before I get my fancy multiple monitor thing, but I want my motherboard and chipset to support Dual PCI Express slots.

I've done a lot of reading as far as stuff like RAID and types of DDR RAM. It's pretty interesting stuff. The problem is that all of this stuff tends to be costly, and the lowest price I have managed for the parts to build a system like this is $700. I probably should focus more on getting money than what I plan to do with it, though. Otherwise, all of this is just wishful thinking.

I Almost Wish I Didn't Have This Much Time on My Hands

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 03:46:53 GMT

I have aspired to learning Japanese, as some of you (or just Hotaru) are/is (respectively) aware. As part of my learning, I decided to translate a song from Japanese to English. This is the first time I've ever done this, so there's a good chance that this is only kind of correct. Thanks to these sites for making it happen:
http://spencer.blackmarket.net/japanese_helper.asp
http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html
http://translate.google.com/translate_t?langpair=ja|en
And a special thanks to Hotaru for helping oodles along the way.

Monster C.C ~ The Pillows Origional Lyrics | Translation:
The heart doesn’t have an echoing voice.
The empty-handed king grieves.
Never on the white BENCH
can I sit.

God's gift of strength
Those with authority are frightened
This unbeatable gift
I want to trap
I want to take, I want to take
I want to take but I cannot take
I can’t take, I can’t take
I can’t take and I can’t float

An applauding and abusive wind
Like the monster's arm
Is pushing home, but
I can't sleep
I can't sleep, I cannot sleep
I can't sleep, but I want to dream
I want to dream, I want to dream
I want to dream like it's a dream

I want to sleep, I want to float
I want to sleep, I want to dream
I want to dream, I want to dream
I want to dream like it's a dream
What's my name?

The heart doesn't have an echoing voice
The empty-handed king grieves.
Someday, on that white BENCH
I would like to sit

There you go. I hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed cross-referencing several different sources and then asking Hotaru, and then reading for half an hour on Wikipedia-ing, and.... Yeah. "I want to sleep" is a lot like how I feel right now. Goodnight.

Random Anime Update

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:31:08 GMT

Today, I watched the second episode of Zombie Loan, among other things. The anime still seems promising, and the main character gets a haircut. It's all very exciting.

Lucky Star was amusing as always. Not surprisingly, it included another Haruhi reference. Lucky Channel says that next week, Akira-sama will get to sing on stage. I wonder if that will actually happen, but I kind of doubt it.

ggkthx also recently released Stage 4.3 (A drama track plus a picture book) of Code Geass, and I guess that was kind of interesting. It showed more about Suzaku's arrest in the beginning of the series. And it's only a week until the new episode. This time next Saturday, I will be a very happy person.

Then, I got to watch Murder Princess episode 3. It was a fairly eventful episode... and I'm pretty sure I head someone singing "Jump On It" in the background at one point durring the fight scene. It was really weird, but possibly just my imagination. Or was it? *Dun dun dun*

My 250 gigabyte hard drive is now down to having only 15 gigs left of space. That's a lot of anime. Luckily, I recently bought an external DVD burner, so when I start to get low on space, I can burn some of the less important stuff onto DVDs.

Regarding My Exile in the Mystical Land of Wisconsin...

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 02:05:48 GMT

I was dragged to Wisconsin, as many of you are aware, to visit relatives. I'm not really sure why this garners an update, but I guess it does.

If there's one thing I don't need to worry about while visiting in Wisconsin, it's food. My relatives are all very... food bearing... I am sitting in my aunt's house at her equivalent of an office and I have literally drawers filled with food. I'd take pictures if I wasn't so freaking lazy. Let's list the snacks, shall we? There's: Goldfish, Pretzels, Cheez-Its, Fritos, Doritos, Cookies, and random other stuff. I also get bombarded with food incessantly. I actually have to ask to stop being fed. I guess it's a nice gesture, but I'm prolly going to gain like five pounds while here.

The other prominent thing about Wisconsin is the vast amounts of boring. There's nothing to do around here. Until a year ago, I couldn't even get a WiFi connection anywhere (thankfully, my Aunt got an internet connection). I usually end up reading a lot, programming a lot, and/or watching way too much anime. It actually kind of makes me productive. During Christmas break last year I had to come back and visit, and I managed to watch all of RahXephon in like two days. It was crazy. I still have several hundred pages worth of summer reading to do, so maybe I'll do some more of that...

I'm looking forward to being back home already.

Another Design Update!

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 06:00:07 GMT

I added a random watermark feature. Currently, all I have is LeLouche. I am very very sleepy, but I can't sleep. I hope that this makes the site look better. *Collapses*

I'm Still Waiting...

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:04:28 GMT

With only 9 days (215 Hours, or 12,912 minutes, or 774720 seconds) left until the airing of Code Geass episodes 24 and 25, I need to find more things to do than count the seconds left until said airing of awesome anime. Unfortunately, trailers were released, and I watched them (That required me to do some haxxoring, as I needed to pretend to have a Japanese ISP)... And then I saw all of the stuff in the site store... and now I can't keep my mind off of the Geass-y goodness. I'm tempted to rewatch some of it, but that'd probably be bad for me.

As You Can Tell...

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:20:32 GMT

Yes, I changed the color scheme. Yes, I changed some of the usability areas of the site. I personally think that it looks a lot better. The main reason for doing so was... "encouragement" (?)... From Hotaru about the colorfulness. She helped me choose some stuff, but I didn't Know what to do at first, so I turned to the Color Scheme Generator. I found it with StumbleUpon, and I thought it would be useful at some point in time. Anyways, I really just need feedback on this (from someone other than Hotaru, because she was there while I did this). Thanks!

Nope, This Update Was Not Posted At a Reasonable Time

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:27:58 GMT

I've watched all of Lucky Stay thus far, and I've really enjoyed it. It's filled with humor, anime references, and advertisements for Haruhi. Currently, fourteen episodes have been subbed by a.f.k. (I like them...), and all of them are pretty good. The highlight of it so far was the Code Geass Reference in episode 13. I'm tired, because I'm up late again. I don't feel like describing the plot and such. If you're into anime (a lot...), you'll probably enjoy it. Otherwise, you might not. I'd give it a try though. Goodnight... *falls asleep at keyboard*

Eureka Seven Vol. 1: New Wave

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:28:27 GMT

I'm a huge fan of Eureka Seven, so when I saw the game, I immediately wanted it. But, before I rant about this game's greatness, I feel the need to rant about something else.

IGN (No, I will not give them the satisfaction of linking to them) under-rates things randomly, and the people who write for them are not too bright. I absolutely detest them. Most of the writers are presumptuous n00bs that just drool at the over-hyped games and dismiss anything else as "bad." If I were you, I would avoid them for everything except cheat codes and news (the news is often opinionated, so you could avoid that too, I guess...). Seriously. They gave this game like a 4 out of 10, and the average reader score was like 8 out of 10. The criticism didn't make any sense either.

Regardless, the game is much much better than I expected. I originally thought that the game wouldn't be very good, because it was on sale on for twenty dollars at Amazon. I had a gift certificate left over from my birthday that I hadn't finished up, so I decided to get it. It arrived very quickly, (props to Amazon) and I was actually pretty excited to play it. I expected it to be like this: "Random cut-scene! -> Immediately load robots and make me fight -> Repeat!" I was really surprised though.

The game immediately has much more depth then you'd think. The cut-scenes are well spaced between interactive parts of the game, and it really doesn't quickly get boring. There's also more to it than just "Let's go fight in robots!!!111"... There are portions of the game that require you to walk around on foot, or ride your "refboard." It's actually fairly amazing.

The game isn't too challenging, and if you are losing repetitively, you'll get extra aid. I actually think that is a nice feature. However, you get more points with which to buy upgrades, so it's not like you become un-motivated by the easiness. I'll actually retry battles to try to get a higher amount of points. Gameplay and controls aren't too bad either. Sometimes the on-foot segments are kind of annoying, but I don't mind them too much.

I don't want to ruin any of the plot, and describing it just seems like a waste of time; just read a summary or intro elsewhere. As for its relation to the anime, the game takes place before the anime, and revolves around other characters. You'll appreciate the game more if you have seen the anime. If you haven't, you may be inspired to by the game. Either way, it's really a fun game. I'd recommend it. I've seen it at stores for twenty dollars, so if you have the money, a PS2, and some free time, I'd look into it.

I Lied!

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:22:32 GMT

Today, I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with Hotaru, her sister, and my brother. Overall, it was pretty much what I expected. I wasn't really surprised, and it wasn't notably good. There were some pretty good angst-filled lines about Harry being angry though. I guess that was probably the highlight of it for me. I don't feel the need to elaborate. I'm sleepy.

For the Record...

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:40:14 GMT

Hotaru watched DearS. That's all I have for you today.

Zombie Loan

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:03:10 GMT

Peach-Pit has made some great stuff so far. Rozen Maiden was very interesting (I have yet to watch the prequel/sequel, but I plan to) and although it was extremely strange and perverted, I enjoyed DearS (although I think that it has somehow influenced Hotaru to call me "Master" recently... >_<). When Zombie Loan was announced, in went right onto my "To Watch" list.

Normally, I wouldn't comment on an opening unless it was really good, however, the opening blows. It has reached the level of "Second Opening to Code Geass" bad. It's some guy moaning Japanese off-key with instruments in the back. Disgusting. I will not let the opening dictate what I think of the anime though.

Moving on... I really like Peach-Pit's style. It's unique, and it makes the characters more adorable. I also noticed the random Mellonpan that they seem to be fond of. The story is basically... Kita, our female protagonist, meets Tachikana Shito and Akatsuki Chika, who are survivors of a train wreck that took place a while ago. Kita can see these lines around peoples necks that indicate when they will die, unless she is wearing her glasses. When her glasses fall off durring lunch at school, she sees the lines on the two boys necks, and according to the blackness of the lines, they both should die soon. And then... detachable hands... and weirdness.

I won't say too much more about plot, because it's always hard to describe exactly what the story is like. But, I must say that the anime certainly looks promising. Peach-Pit has never disappointed me.

Regarding That Canoe Trip:

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:34:22 GMT

If I had to summarize it in one word, I'd have to choose... actually... it's a hard decision... Let me think a minute...

Anyways, I did keep a journalish thing. Here's what I wrote:
Day 1
Captain's Log 7/9/07
We departed today from the Baldwin Space Mine after gathering the vespene gas and building a pylon. We headed to Gleeson's landing station. En route, we encountered a cosmic rift, which was brief, but it filled our... galactic vessel with... whatever the space equivalent of water in a canoe would be.

For some reason, I was compelled to write this in "Lots of StarCraft references" style. Then Adam, Henry, and Zach (three of my classmates) fought over who was "First Captain." It was very amusing. We then used the pen I brought to tattoo Adam... for reasons that I no longer remember. We probably should have had more supervision. In short, the first day of the trip, we traveled a few miles on canoe to our camp site, and on the way, it stormed a bit. When we got there, we set up camp, and then had dinner. It was actually kind of fun, as opposed to the second day.

Day 2
Okay, this isn't really that much fun anymore. Henry (he was my canoe partner) is no longer doing his share of the paddling, I have blisters on both of my hands, and I am quite dirty. Adam has started to become much more annoying, in addition to Little Ollis (This was one of the freshman students on the trip. He was really really annoying). I didn't sleep well on the ground, and everything smells disgusting. The prospect of having to do this for another day is troublesome. I'm sleepy. I'm going to take a nap...

All of that was in plain English, and requires no explanation. I didn't bother writing the third day. We basically just canoed and tried to flip freshman canoes for a few hours, and then drove home. After getting home, I showered, practiced driving with my father, and hung out with Hotaru for a few hours. I was really glad to be back from that trip. I think that it was worth it to go on the trip, but I never want to go camping for more than one day ever again.

Oh... one word. Right. I think I'd have to go with "tiring." Ima go watch anime now.

I Want My Geass

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:42:08 GMT

Just so you know, it'sOnly about 17 days until the new episodes of Code Geass I've been waiting forever for those new episodes. Hopefully ggkthx will sub them quickly. In other news, I'm back from canoing. I'm update about that when I feel like it.

Evan Almighty

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:47:36 GMT

I went with Hotaru and my friend (who we shall refer to as "Pennington") to see Evan Almighty today. It was a pretty decent movie, and it was pretty funny. It seemed more geared towards families than Bruce Almighty, due to the toned-down humor. I don't really have a whole lot to say about the movie. It wasn't exceptional, but it also wasn't the best thing ever.

In unrelated news, I'll be gone until Wednesday this week on a canoe trip for my summer PE class. I'm going to jot down some thoughts as I go, so expect a more lengthy update on Wednesday!

ZOMG, Spoilers!

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 11:24:34 GMT

That's right, I now have a spoiler function. This is its first test, so it might not work! I spoiled my dinner with Jolly Ranchers, so don't go thinking that I won't spoil other things too? I don't know. Anyways, on to my review!

I started Sola only a few days ago, but it was only thirteen episodes, and I have to go on this canoe trip for summer PE in two days, so I wanted to finish it. Before I go on to the spoilers, let me say that it's a totally worthwhile anime to watch. And it reminded me of This Ugly Yet Beautiful World... A lot.

Spoiler

My eyes are pretty. <-- Hotaru added that.

The ending is very sad.

Spoiler

The main character, Yorito, finds out that he is actually paper-mache (I originally said something like "WTF? He's a paper Airplane?") .The two main characters basically die, and the bitchy, controlling sister gets her way. I really didn't like Aono much, although she was nice at some points.

Anyways, there's going to be an OVA this September, so I have more wonderful Sola-ness to look forward to.

Tales of Symphonia OVA 1

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:58:48 GMT

I was, and still am, a huge fan of Tales of Symphonia, an RPG for Gamecube released a few years ago. I started to play Tales of the Abyss PS2, which was made by the same people and utilizes the same style of gameplay, and it is also wonderful. When I heard of this OVA, I immediately added it t my list of things to watch. I have had to wait to watch it, due to my technical difficulties, but it was worthwhile. Now, on to my review...

Before we even get into the setting/plot, let me say this: the animation is truly impressive. Movements are fluid, characters show a good amount of expression, and everything is very well-drawn. The style is wonderful. Really.

For those of you who have played the game, you will already be familiar with the main characters. Lloyd, our suspender-wearing protagonist, is a boy who is in school in a small village. We also have Colette, who is "The Chosen"... she has to fulfill some crazy prophesy and save the world... from there, the plot and setting get kind of confusing, and there are a dozen plot twists. I?'m not even really going to attempt to try to explain things, because I have no idea where to start. The story revolves around Lloyd helping Colette on her "journey to regenerate the world."

Overall, I think that this was a great start to an OVA. It brought back a lot of good memories of me playing the game with friends (you can do co-op in battles... good times...). If you hav yet to play the game, then you might want to. It's really good, but lengthy. There are some puzzles, but they aren't too hard, and if you have trouble, you can consult the internet. I definitely think that those who have played the game with enjoy the anime more, but the anime is enjoyable for anyone.

Murder Princess

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:03:49 GMT

I came across this anime when ggkthx announced that they were subbing it. They are probably my favorite fan-sub group, so chances are, if they sub it, I'm going to watch it. I've had the first episode of Murder Princess for a while, and now that I'm able to watch anime again, I decided to finally watch it.

Basically, the story is about a princess who is escaping her castle as it is being overthrown by rebels (who have an adorable robotic girl that can fire her fists as weapons?). As she is escaping through a forest, a monster attacks her, and she runs into a bounty hunter. They both fall off a cliff, and switch souls. I don't want to spoil all of it, but it's pretty interesting. The fight scenes that ensue are pretty cool.

Only three of the episodes have been subbed for Murder Princess thus far, but I'll probably start following it pretty closely if it continues to amuse me. For now, I'd say that it is most likely worth watching.

Guess Who Can Watch Anime Again?

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 10:06:13 GMT

Thanks to the folks at CCCP, I can once again watch me some anime. Using their build of mplayer, I can now watch whatever I want without worrying about my codec problems. It also can be put onto a flash stick so you can easily watch any video file on any computer. It's about 5 megabytes, so it fits nicely onto a flash drive. I put it onto my external had drive, and I look forward to using it. The UI isn't the best in the world, but it is highly configurable. If you watch any form of encoded video, I'd suggest you take a look!

The Official Kitty Naming Thread!

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 22:53:43 GMT

Hotaru still needs a name for her new kitty. Its a brownish tabby-like kitty with a white belly and part of its paws are white too. It has brown eyes. This is the official suggestion thread. Come submit your suggestions!

Sola

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:49:56 GMT

By a friend's (Hotaru's...) recommendation, I've decided to watch Sola. Ideally, I would have already watched a lot more of it, but I have been having trouble with video playback on my computer. I took my external hard drive to my older computer, installed the codecs, and was able to watch Sola fine. So, here are my initial impressions:

The animation is very pretty, but at some points, it seems like the artists got kind of lazy, and stopped being as detailed. There's a scene in the hospital where from some of the angles drawn, the characters faces look a bit awkward. It wasn't a major flaw, but it was noticeable. Everything else was good, if not exceptionally done as far as art. It may not be a great idea to judge the art quite yet, as it may develop more throughout the anime.

The story and characters are interesting. Yorito Morimiya, the main character, has a strange fascination with the sky, and is constantly taking pictures of it. In this first episode, he is out on his bike in the morning trying to get a picture of a sunrise, when he meets a girl. She is trying to get some sort of... broth thing from a vending machine, but then quickly disappears. I don't want to spoil anything, but even the opening scene is intriguing.

I'll update again as soon as I get a few episodes into it, but for now, it seems like a worthwhile anime to watch.

A Struggle With Codecs

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 23:28:41 GMT

You know what isn't very fun? When you finally download that thing that you wanted to watch, and your video codecs stop working properly. I use and support CCCP, the Combined Community Codec Pack, for all of my video needs. It supports H.264, X-vid, and basically everything that you'd ever need to play video files on your computer. The problem I am having involves the video lagging behind the audio. It's very annoying to try to watch anything when the audio is misaligned with the video.

Anyways, I thought that I had solved the problem a while ago when I used Registry Washer to repair old registry crap.I was only running the trial, so I think that when it expired, it might have reset my registry. Regardless, I've having trouble getting this to work. I've uninstalled and reinstalled CCCP several times with no results, reset my computer, and tried many various types of registry tools.

On a side note: Registry software is totally useless, unless you pay for it. "Free Trial" means that it will scan your system, and then tell you that you should pay for the software and refuse to do anything about your problem. It's one of the most aggravating things ever. Registry Washer, as I mentioned earlier, is probably your best option. It works as the full version, but it's only good for 15 days. I'm currently trying some free software, like AusLogics Registry Defrag. So far, I have no clue how those are going to work. I started up AusLogics Registry Defrag, and it basically consumed all of my system resources, forcing me to stop it so I could continue doing things. It's one of those things that you have to just let it run overnight, or whatever, without interruption.

In the mean time, I have a question about it posted on CCCP's forums. If you know anything, you can check it out and try to help: http://www.cccp-project.net/smf/index.php?topic=1814.0
I'll post an update after I try all of this stuff. Until then, remember how fortunate you are to not have these kinds of problems... unless you too are plagued with bad codec configurations. If that's the case, then I know how you feel.

A New Kitty and Fireworks: No, I'm Not Talking About Animal Abuse

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:32:04 GMT

My god, it's late. I wish that I could post things the day that they happened. Anyways, today/yesterday (this happened on the 3rd of July, alright?) was a fairly good day. Hotaru got a new kitty, and I got to go see it for a few hours before her dentist appointment. It was incredibly small and adorable and he had this very high-pitched squeaky meow. Unfortunately, the cat also had fleas, which kind of attacked me and Hotaru. It was not very wonderful. I went home and I showered, but I'm still paranoid that I have tiny jumping insects all over me.

The second part of my day consisted of driving practice with my father, followed by selling glowsticks, foodstuffs, and random "patriotic" crap at my church with Hotaru to help raise money so that the youth group can go to Cedar Point. It really wasn't that much fun, and I still don't get why people would drive out to watch fireworks. They're kind of cool, and if you have children, it makes sense, but otherwise, they seem completely over-hyped. It bugs me that I'm going to have to do the whole firework thing all over again tomorrow/today (July 4th?).

It wasn't a very productive or exciting day, but I managed to have some fun. I would have liked to watch some anime, because I'm really behind. I have all of Sola torrented and ready to watch, but I've been having these crazy codec issues, and... Yeah. As soon as I watch some of that, I'll post an update. Expect more from me soon!

I Told You So!

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:05:32 GMT

As I previously stated, I am doing more work on this blog. There is now more navigation at the bottom of the "newest posts" page, and friends now have a system for putting links to their blogs in their comments. I'm working on an RSS feed right now, and that will be up shortly. I'm also planning to add a search function, but that is not really needed at the moment (I have six posts, so you should be able to find whatever you're looking for).

A Little Advice...

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:40:41 GMT

So I wanted to get some traffic here, so I submitted it to StumbleUpon. The mistake: Giving the URL for the Administrative Control Panel. On top of that, I had the Administrative password embedded in the URL. I'm really not very bright. I had to completely reset all of my own passwords and re-upload. One of the people that was able to post as me said "Booze can be fun and educational. You should probably finish your site before putting it up." Good advice... >_<... I'd like to thank the StumbleUpon people for their help and for not totally raping my site.

The 'Fun' Sectional

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 01:06:00 GMT

As you may or may not be aware, I'm a clarinetist in my school's marching and concert band. Since we are currently in marching season, we have these weekly practice sessions (or "sectionals") to practice the new show. Anyways, it is standard for there to be a sectional/pool party thing that is purely for entertainment purposes, although I usually just sit there quietly. That was earlier today (or yesterday, technically. It's really early in the morning. I should sleep...), and it was actually kind of fun.

I got a ride there with Miss Hotaru (who is my girlfriend, for those of you still unaware) and two other members of the section at around 2:00 today. We didn't want to get there early, so we ended up driving really ridiculously slowly once we got near our section leader's house. It was amusing. When we arrived, a good number of people were already there and in the pool. Hotaru and I basically went into the shade for most of the time, but evidently the other people in the section heard of my "Amazing DDR Skillz, LOL!," so we went inside and I played that for everyone's amusement. I did pretty good, regardless of a crappy pad. I usually use my own, which has a foam insert. It's the RedOctane 2.0 model, if that means anything to you.

Beyond the DDRing, I also got to sit and talk with some pretty amusing people. One girl told us that she had recently discovered that the Dominoes Pizza logo has a domino in it. Who would have thought? She also just recently learned why people say "say cheese" when taking pictures. It was pretty funny. The entire thing was actually enjoyable, and not the complete waste of time I originally thought it would be.

Transformers

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:45:57 GMT

I knew immediately when this movie was announced that I was going to have to see it. A good friend of mine (who we will refer to as the 'Welchling') is a huge fan of Transformers. I didn't think that it was going to be particularly wonderful, but it managed to do much better than expected. Most movies manage to do several things that annoy me, however Transformers avoided many of the common mistakes of modern films. There was surprisingly little 'technobabble,' and only a few preposterous computer-related things.

The only thing that prominently annoyed me was a scene where a computer monitor was used in conjunction with an old radio broadcast system to send Morse Code. I'm still confused as to why they needed a pretty UI it send "Beep Beeeeeep Beeep..." over a radio. I might have understood if they needed a few circuit parts, but the whole monitor? Why?

Other than that, I was fine with the rest of the fictional technological scenarios. Now, on to the good points of the movie:

The CGI and animation was very smooth and amazing. It was well-integrated, and almost realistic-looking. The only minor flaw was that sometimes after transforming, the volume of the robot seemed to change. A small car doesn't really seem like it could have transformed into a robot of that size and volume, but that really didn't deter much from the overall effect. Fight scenes were great, and not used to the extent that the entire movie was just one big stupid fight.

The plot also wasn't as completely predictable as I thought it would be. Additionally, it wasn't overly-complicated or too thought out (*couch cough* Pirates of The Carribean 3); it was straightforward, but not too much so. Oh, and the minimal amounts of lame, generic quotes was also a plu. It really irks me when movies do that. There actually was fairly good situational humor, and it was impressive.

I don't want to ruin too much of the movie for you, and I recommend it. It was clearly better than Pirates 3. I'd like to rate the movie on a ? out of ? kind of scale, but I don't feel qualified to; I don't see many movies, and that makes it hard to compare. It was an enjoyable experience, and worth the time. If you have $7.50 and the ability to get to a theater, I see no reason for you to not see it.

We're Up And Running!

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:27:12 GMT

The much anticipated Cerebral Divinity Blog is now complete (and by that, I mean you can expect constant revisions on it)! There are features that I intend to add, but the lack of content would deem them worthless. But anyways, I'm going to try to update this on kind-of-frequent semi-regular basis. I'll also make an RSS feed at some point, but I don't see the need for one at this point it time. And I'd really appreciate a comment every once in a while from those of you who are reading this, because feedback is nice. Expect an actual post sometime soon!