D.R. Page's Corner

Mega Man Eternal II Robot Master Trailer

2015-05-29T23:29:00.001-07:00

Mega Man Released December 16-17, 2014

2014-12-17T21:44:00.001-08:00

The game is finally out! I hope you enjoy my game. The game captures my childhood memories of playing NES and Mega Man, and the quirky, creative things I enjoyed as a child when playing them with a touch of my own design on top. With well-designed stages, lots of enemies, and content to explore, it is full of tributes and homages to celebrate the 27th anniversary of Mega Man. It includes even fan made enemies, and some of the best 8-bit Mega Man music you'll ever hear from some of the best out there. If you are a Mega Man fan that isn't a nitpicking douchebag that expects this to be like every other Mega Man game, you'll likely enjoy it! This was a labour of love and something I am proud of. This project has been a part of my life since 2003, and I am happy that when I started it again in 2008, and got it finally released that others can share in that imagination that got me into the love of making games (which I have been doing most of my life from a very young age).

Mega Man Eternal website

2014-11-22T16:33:00.002-08:00

You can check it out here!
http://mme.pagewizardgames.com/

Mega Man Eternal: Wily Stronghold 1

2014-07-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

Brief Review of Mega Man 42

2013-10-31T12:43:00.001-07:00

You can get it here servadacsgamedev.blogspot.ca (his most recent post at the time of this).

As always I try to give some positive points and negative points about the project:

Pros:

-Custom controls (even if I can't get them to work properly for some reason)

-Some of the music is good but a lot of it sounds like it would fit better in Mega Man DOS.

Cons:

-Slow as heck. Some levels moved at a snails pace. This is mainly due to the mechanics of the levels. Zombie Man's level is a great example of this.

-Default controls: No idea why would they be laid out in that manner.

-Some parts totally make no sense. If I shoot something you'd expect it to fly the direction away from the shot if I destroyed it, not directly at you. Another example is in Zombie Man's level with the Zombie bots. I got killed by one when I shot it and it for some nonsensical reason flew right at me instead of away like the rest of the zombies.

-Lackluster in design. I didn't feel anything 'Mega Man' like from this game except for the later tracks of the game.

Overall I felt it was a good attempt at a fan game but it seemed to lack a lot of things. Overall I would recommend giving it a try and maybe you would enjoy it yet its Mega Man DOS like feeling.

I have finally unsubscribed AlphaOmegaSin

2013-10-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

This video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojoVA5QY5F8

I found this to be the last straw in misleading videos as I get very frustrated when information is mispresented and the "unthinkers" spread that false information around causing damage to businesses and products. He talks about content that is a bonus and is even more free stuff for those who pre-order like people are paying money for it. People buy (at least should) games for the game itself and his rant about DLC seems completely pointless. Sonic Lost World was anyways planned to have an extra stage for those who pre-order it, so how exactly is this a bad thing? He is talking like these features are all locked away on the disc when most Downloadable content is actually downloadable on the Wii U via the shop. The extra stage was originally intended to be bonus content because it wouldn't make sense to put that stage in the game alongside the actual plot. The last additional bonuses are clearly deals made by Sega with companies which is fine as they serve as bonuses to people who want the game and pre-order it. In these days and ages preordering doesn't even need to be done at a store location so I don't quite follow why this is a bad thing. I know my game is preordered via a website store, and I am more than excited to get extra free stuff because Sega decided to put that together for its fans!

Do these people not realize that games take time to make, which means for a company this costs money? I personally find AlphaOmegaSin's videos to be very hit or miss (they used to be all hits, but it just seems now that he makes videos only to exploit news items he doesn't know much about), and this one was the last straw in my opinion for myself. A great example is his rant about region locking localization by Nintendo yet not even knowing that is done to benefit the consumer and is not just a magic software switch on the console and passes it off as that in his video. Now a lot of people on the Internet think this is the case yet it is clearly not as Nintendo typically listens to its base (with few exceptions) and they usually want to make money on things. It annoys me when people make misleading videos and then spread information as if it were true when it is not.

This is why I have unsubscribed him. His videos have lost credibility in my opinion as somebody who cares about reliable information being presented to the public.

A laughably embarrassing experience at RockmanPM

2013-07-24T07:10:00.001-07:00

So I thought I'd take a step back onto RockmanPM to make a post to expose Mega Man Eternal to those who have not encountered it yet, and almost all the threads were all complaining about "fan game" posters advertising their projects. I felt very discouraged to even go there as the last time I went on there I was immediately insulted by somebody who clearly needed to get a life that I didn't even know.

I had my 2 cents for these individuals, but hopefully some on RockmanPM will be able to learn more about this project and get on the wagon for the release. Last time I checked a forum is a place where people can discuss topics and present new topics. Clearly MME had not been discussed there at all (I searched it) so I wanted to get some people who had not left the RockmanPM bubble to notice a longstanding project that they may not have seen before. On a thread about a fan game which should be discussing the game it was almost 95% comprised of people complaining about fan game makers posting in the fan game section their fan game (you know there is such a thing as Logical statements, and you tell me if that didn't seem sensible lol). It was an obvious case of jealousy by some, while others defended the post (which I commend) but such shouldn't be happening on a forum. That's the job of a moderator. As somebody who has run numerous forums in the past, I found the way posters who had been there for a while reacted to be very condescending and quite rude to new visitors to that forum. Also, I found it quite illogical to be focusing on bantering about a fan game post in the fan game section instead of discussing the game which one actually did, while the others just either trolled it or complained about something irrelevant.

You may see why I think RockmanPM is ridiculous, and why I normally don't traverse forums and stick to my blog (here), journals, or making YouTube videos. That was easily the most embarrassing experience on the part of a forum I have ever seen.

If you want to take a look at the ridiculousness (forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?... ), and my response to these people where I effectively "put them in their place".

Have a beautiful day!

On a better note: I finished writing my lectures for my teaching Saturday evening, I think it is on the order of about 200 pages of notes. So if anybody would like me to make videos on analysis of algorithms (topics in this), I would be more than happy to do so.

DR Page

Mega Man Unlimited Review

2013-07-14T15:56:00.001-07:00

Good Afternoon!

The following is a brief explanation of my thoughts on this game.

PROS

-Great design. I really liked the levels in terms of their visual look and some of the enemies.

-Robot Masters: Pretty cool designs, but sadly I was only able to actually get to one Robot Master Battle so I cannot say much about that.

-Music was fun.

-It was clear they were trying to replicate the NES experience which I think they did a good job with.

CONS

-No charge blaster (always a negative if its taking place after MM4 in the series). That is all.

-Level design: I felt the levels had a continuous pattern of having a 'hickup' right before the mid point of the levels which makes it very discouraging to continue playing. I would have fun playing them all the sudden some random gimmick of the level would throw off the flow of the level and cause me to die immediately. A great example of this is either in Trinitro Man's stage where you have the platforms which fly up when in the liquid into the spikes making it very hard to get across (I never could). Another good example is Tank Man's stage with the treadmills on the ceiling (I didn't even notice them until it happened and I died). It was too many times where I would be telling my girlfriend "This level is great, I think it runs smoothly" then all the sudden something just changes completely and I die quite quickly.

-Suffers from MMX6 syndrome: Too many spikes. Putting spikes everywhere shouldn't be an excuse for making cleverly difficult levels.

-Suffers from Mega Man 2 like gameplay: This is related to the first point. It feels like the levels throw cheap shots at you that you could never prepare for. A great example is Rainbow Man's stage. In the first room you fall into it gives you the indication that these channel flippers can be moved to change their directions, but then the very next room uses it in a way that doesn't allow you to take your time like in the previous room, forcing you to die "Quick Man"--like. Now, some may enjoy this, but I do not.

-Robot Master Battles: Now like I said I cannot say much as I tried my hardest but the level design was too cheap to get further. I fought Tank Man and he really has this one attack that makes it seem like he will ride across the chamber, but he doesn't sometimes which throws your expectations off. Now it seemed they were trying to go for a more predictive RM fight, but then it is not. Its kind of like getting a chocolate cake then getting it shoved in your face for no reason. I did enjoy the work that went into what I have seen whether it be the mid boss fights or the robot masters from what I saw.

OVERALL: I think it is a great addition to the fan games in the community. It's too "cheap" (in terms of deaths) for my tastes but some may say that about my work so it may be just a matter of taste of "how" it is done. I would highly recommend it to everybody to try it! It's not my kind of fan game as it is like MM2 and MM9 (which I do not like) but it definitely shows the hard work put in.

Wrestling

2013-04-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share some of the older event "music videos" from the past few years (2009-2011). It saddens me I likely won't do another event (it would be great if I could (mainly need more wrestlers)). If you have not lingered around my YouTube channel enough to check these out, I encourage you to! I started doing this kind of stuff back in 2004, and there are more events that do exist by me.

EWF Clash (2009): [link]
EWF Breakout 2010 (2010): [link]
EWF Rite of the Ring 2011 (2011): [link]

Enjoy!

Daniel

One postulated problem with the future of CS research these days

2013-04-01T14:19:00.002-07:00

Good Afternoon Everybody!

Today I thought I would share one of my urks of amateur researchers that don't grasp the purpose of science. Some people just don't grasp that science isn't about if there is an application for a result. Today I was giving a pretty solid presentation on a new result in the area of Graph Drawing and somebody insisted on asking me:

"Are there any applications for this?"

Now I don't blame the person if this wasn't A THEORY course. Do you know what that means? We do real Computer Science, none of this programming mumbo-jumbo. Real computer scientists don't solve problems just for applications in my honest opinion. A great scientist doesn't consider applications in their research. They consider solving the problem, and verifying the claims being made. Applications are best set by engineers, or people who work on applications (say industry). I humbly believe this is one of the major problems with the direction CS research is going. People think application, applications and more applications instead of what we could show 20-30 years down the road to continue the path set by the foundations of CS. In science we shouldn't be thinking "we solve problems for NOW". We should be developing and solving problems for NOW and the future.

Everybody have a beautiful day!

D R Page

A challenge to http://juicyjacqulyn.tumblr.com, a lecture for you

2013-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

Hello

All I need to say is you need to grow a spine, and read what you write a little more carefully. As a former fan of yours, you are nothing more than an immature illogical bantering pig now. Beauty dies with your insecurity, and lack of intelligence to distinguish common language from offense. You have shown you do not using basic reasoning in your points. You flip out on people giving you very reasonable things, and demand sympathy from people who don't even read the entirety of your posts. Also, may I add you cherry pick your own words to insult others. This is a trivial informal fallacy to commit. For instance, I recently read your post about confessionsofafeedee and they truly disgust me as you are entirely playing your audience like idiots. You didn't even address the very fact she was addressing the sexist points you made about the fellow who actually complimented you!

Now, when I say this I do not have a problem with you thoughts of what words insult you, you just need to grow a basic backbone. You conduct business on the internet, and post publicly. You need a backbone when you do this or you can take a serious toll on your psyche. I know this because I am a YouTube partner and a public figure who deals with all walks of fans and dismisses from people. What that person did to you was a complete natural reaction for some psychopath flipping out on him. The fact you have shown your sexist side is something I sympathize for you about as you can really segregate your entire audience if you continue your delusional escapades. As a person who conducts himself as a mentor, educator of science, and businessman, I have been evaluating your posts as such, and offer this as a reply to you as a whole.

Grow a backbone, you live in a country where females and males have equal rights. This is coming from a fellow Canadian who has been oppressed by women who have abused him. I love how feminists deny the existence of people like me. I'm the counter-example to everything modern feminists claim don't happen to men. I've been raped, abused, and treated unequally in the work place for being a man. Don't commit misandry or people who are obviously brighter than you will call you on such. To throw such labels at people who cared to even compliment you even. All I know as a person with a sane brain, the guy who you attacked on your blog was complimenting you and maybe wanted to get to know you a little (hard to say how much).

If you do employ any feminist type of argument (i.e., all of them from rape apologist, to sexist, , all such have the consequence of committing the slippery slope fallacy. Those are not valid arguments. And I do not accept such as well formed valid sentences even the most basic form of logic. Now, these are not to be confused with egalitarian arguments, which are positive arguments for the equal rights of people within the specific scopes of ones' culture.

With that out of the way. I have a simple challenge for you JuicyJackie, or to any feminist. Prove mathematically with second-order predicate calculus or a Turing Machine-complete language that your claims are valid and no such invalid statement exists in your dogmatic thinking or feelings. I conjecture such is impossible to do (I will tell you ahead of time that this is trivial to prove) as it would immediately infer that women are more important than men, which is immediately invalid as it would contradict the premise that both sexes are equally as important. So you know that axiom is out of your arsenal, which almost all feminist or sexist points (on either side) always use. Any rational person would want some justification for their beliefs. If not, you must be delusional. This goes to any feminist (i.e., people who think exclusively feminism is the way to go, instead of egalitarianism (as logically these are not the same (trivial to show using set theory))).

Now if you dismiss this point as nothing, then you must not care much about science. Rational people use rational reasons to justify their beliefs or what they say. To deny something scientific is to just simply flat out deny the whole process as they were all demonstrated or even mathematically proven in the same manner. One cannot simply cherry pick around such a trivial logical result. To do so is anti-scientific. As a scientist, I find this is not genuine to do, and that person should stop using anything validated by the same process if they dismiss something because it conflicts with their beliefs (yet being true). Seeing as my heroes, predecessors and contemporaries even made it possible to say such things and have access to the Internet, or even construct the mathematical marvel of computation.

My simple lesson: Treat people as people, not by their sex. Don't make assumptions unless you know they have been demonstrated to be true in the first place. For instance, I know you do not have the scientific training I do, so I have a high suspicion on first instinct of reading this you will just dismiss me as something I am not at all. I'm a non-judgmental person whom would not even harm a single person and even I had to stand up and say this. Educate yourself about the universe, and you may find yourself more enlightened about even your own culture or location on the planet.

Have a beautiful day!

D R Page
Scientist

Mega Man Eternal: Wily Stronghold Stage 4

2013-01-19T09:05:00.001-08:00

Mega Man Eternal: Tune Woman Battle

2012-12-23T20:23:00.002-08:00

Mega Man Eternal: Illusion Man Battle

2012-12-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

Mega Man Eternal: Primal Man Battle

2012-12-20T14:29:00.001-08:00

Answers on common questions about MME delays

2012-12-20T09:47:00.004-08:00

Hello everybody!

It has been a while since I have posted an entry. I thought I would clarify my new intent for release date of MME. Now I am sure some have noticed that my original goal was to hit the 25th anniversary date (as it being an original take on a homage of the classic series). My goal with Mega Man Eternal is to release it next year about this same time (if not, sooner).

On a brighter note, I finished my software that can be used to retrograde images/sheets/etc... I will be likely posting a download to such on my website drpage.pagewizardgames.com in the near future. One note is that the resize feature provides only 256x224 (like MME), and not the conventional 256x240. It can filter palettes to NES, GB, SMS, TG-16, and SNES. I use it to verify my palettes (lately), and it does give me the huge idea of releasing another version of MME in GB style after MME.

Question: Why is more time required?
Answer: I just need more time or else the game will be of poor quality. I have not been able to work on MME between September till about a few days ago. It is not that I was putting it off or anything, I have been dying to get my hands on it and work on it more. I have learnt from the past even if I touch my other projects I do not get as much done with my graduate school work which consumes most of my time outside of teaching/work. Need my A's and A+'s to get into a good Ph.D. program after my Masters degree.

What are these promised updates you are going to be providing:
Answer: This holiday expect to see videos showing:
-The last of the Robot Master battles revealed (Primal Man, Tune Woman, and Illusion Man (improved from his old battle))
-Wily Stronghold Stage 4 (the ultimate homage retro stage) - THE ENTIRE THING (Man this level is long, but epic)
-Jaspervalentine is releasing the final remake track for Wily Stronghold Stage 4.

Question: What do you have left after these updates?
Answer: What I have left:
-Jolt Man's level (all of it except Jolt Man)
-Clamp Man (enemy placement)
-Primal man's level (half of it)
-Tune Woman's level (I have the design laid out, just need to program enemies, and the level itself)
-Enker's Level
-Wily Stage 1 (got the outline, need to program the level and boss)
-Wily Stage 2 (got the alternate boss, need to program the boss and level)
-Wily Stage 3 (everything)
-Wily Stage 5 (bits of the last parts of the level)
-Ending (passed the cinematic)
-Some engine accommodations (to all of these components of course, but that is not much at all).

Question: Why so many things left, I thought you finished some of these before?
Answer: I did, but they pretty much need to be redone because of changing the resolution to 256x224 of the view instead of 320x240. You have to essentially throw out an entire level if such is done because the rooms will not match the camera.

I hope this answers all of your questions.
Have a beautiful day!

D.R. Page

Done Graduate Projects for the term!

2012-12-15T20:24:00.002-08:00

Projects are done for the term. Expect a blog entry in the near future!

I hope everybody is having a beautiful day!

Daniel

Heads up of possible inactivity for the next month

2012-11-04T17:56:00.001-08:00

Good Evening Everybody!

I just wanted to ensure everybody knows if you do not see any posts from me for the next month, just assume I am occupied with graduate school projects. On a positive note I figured out another interesting result in constructions using integer compositions and loop-less algorithms. I normally am good at pacing myself, but you may see a post from me in the near future.

Have a beautiful evening!

D R Page

If I had a Level in a Game

2012-11-03T20:49:00.004-07:00

Good Evening!

I thought I would throw a random blog entry at you for once. This is one I recommend trying yourself, but it is quite simple:

Image if you were a boss in a video game. What would be the music to your level? What would be the boss theme of you?

Now when you imagine this, it doesn't have to be you exactly, but the point here I want you to use your creative caps to ponder about this. Do not pick very stereotypical choices from popular games, have reasons for them. Describe what kind of level it would be (if you are not sure, just give it, and proceed without description). Make your level music suitable for the boss theme, and vice-versa. Also you cannot be a final boss.

Level theme: Wonder Panorama (Mega Man ZX)

The reason I selected this tune is due to its beautiful but eloquent construction. It could depict an arctic night time level in a beautifully star-lit sky with a futuristic-like city.

Boss theme: Diablon (Shadow the Hedgehog)

Everybody have a beautiful day!

D R Page

Skinny Bitch book endorsed by PETA attacks Milk consumption (upon more...)

2012-10-15T06:11:00.001-07:00

Quite recently I was referred to by one of my subscribers to a book called "Skinny Bitch" where it claims milk is dangerous. This is a very ridiculous claim.

The first falsehood the book provides is that the chemicals injected into the bovines to increase milk production get passed 'onto you' and can do harm to you. This is not true at all. The whole point of the class of hormones they inject into cattle are to not pass onto the people who drink or consume the byproducts of these animals. The whole point of the type of hormones bovines are given is that they cannot cause any harm upon you. If people were literally injecting materials such as these hormones directly into your blood stream, yes it would, but these hormones are lost mostly through the pasteurization process, and even then get digested (like if it were nothing).

In my region we have the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and they openly will call this claim nonsense, and that Milk is just fine to drink. http://www.wrha.mb.ca/features/nutrition/myth-15.php .

Some people can be incredibly behind on their facts, there was an extensive study done by the FDA on this very subject... in 1993. As men's health notes on hormones in milk if it is healthy (http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/dairy_products/Do_Hormones_Make_Milk_Unhealthy.php#ixzz29N9ql9IE ) :

Not unless you're injecting the milk. Here's the full story: In 1993 the FDA approved the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in cattle. This practice resulted in greater milk production at less cost to the dairy farmer, a savings that has been passed on to you at your local supermarket. But it has also sparked much controversy, because rBGH boosts milk's concentration of insulin-like growth factor (IGF), a hormone that's been linked to cancer.
Unlike steroid hormones, which can be taken orally, rBGH and IGF must be injected to have any effect. That's because the process of digestion destroys these "protein" hormones. So drinking milk from hormone-treated cows doesn't transfer the active form of these chemicals to your body. However, there is one ethical downside to consider: It's not good for the cows. Canadian researchers discovered that cows given hormones are more likely to contract an udder infection called mastitis.

Just as a point I wanted to point out:
This book is endorsed by the cult that is purely anti-scientific cult PETA.

Reviewer of the book "Skinny Bitch", who has a biology background with a focus on nutrition
Kelly A. Mchale, notes:

As a person who has a biology degree with a focus on nutrition, an advanced biology teacher, vegetarian, and a marathoner/triathlete, I was interested to read a book that may give me strategies to use myself and to interest my students in eating better. This book started well and then changed courses quickly. The scientific evidence in this book is just WRONG. It is riddled with inconsistencies and hypocrisies including that you shouldn't eat meat because it is rotting flesh and vegetables are living when you eat them. Unless you are eating them off of the plant, vegetables are also dead and decaying (look what happens to fruits and vegetables when they are not eaten in a timely fashion). They also say that you shouldn't eat processed foods, which I totally agree with, but then go on to advocate for veggie/vegan products that taste like meat which are incredibly processed but according to them are still good because they are vegan. With a statement of " A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!" you would have thought it would be all about good things to eat and how to exercise to lose weight. Not so, this is just a manifesto on how bad the meat industry is and how bad the government is. This book actually made me angry because I didn't buy this book to be inundated with these two women's opinions about the government and their dislike of all meat products. This book is not worth the money or time unless you want to read two women's rants about how everyone should be vegan.

With this in mind I cannot recommend this book, since its entire message is "you can't be healthy unless you are vegan". If you want reliable information, go study some science, or grab your information from a reliable source not some author or cult who you cannot trust. There are more misinformed facts about how milk is processed out there. What we must remember about Milk is it is an animal byproduct. You must expect biological matter to be present from a biological source. It is pretty ignorant to expect purely synthetic expectations when it comes to products made by animals. You don't go buying an apple expecting it won't have seeds from being a crop... same here. It is a fallacy to apply such standards for food products produced in a lab to something farmed. Do you not think the same can be found in milk produced by our own species? It is ridiculous.

Have a beautiful day! Don't forget to enjoy some milk!

D R Page

A discussion against mathematically ignorant Code Monkeys

2012-10-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!

You can consider the following my take on how people should consider programming, and its relation with Mathematics. Now a huge pet peeve of mine is when I am relaxing while reading some papers and I see that advertisement come on the television which says "You can make games without programming or maths", or when you hear this from some codemonkey (a term I will commonly use for programmers who come out of technical colleges (say Red River College as an example here in Manitoba) with no formal background in computing who only care about programming and not understanding what they really are doing nor the science behind such). Now when I elaborate this further, I need to emphasize the importance of mathematics in programming, since programming is merely an application of mathematics.

To understand this, we must understand what a program is, and what programming is. Programs are often sequences of bits we call "machine code" (if we assume the machine is a binary-base system). The way we set up the rules of a system is by defining a formal system under some architecture. The architecture can in most fundamental or advanced systems (such as in parallel computing) make a huge difference in how programs are interpreted. We write programs in programming languages which in themselves are axiomatic systems defined at times by primitives, classes, objects, and other mathematical constructions. We use these programming languages to make programs which a compiler (these days) will translate into machine code for that particular type of machine. One can notice there was a lot of detail there if you were to consider what a compiler does, or say how machine code is used. A code monkey will often jump over these details and insist that they can just proceed since the compiler will do such for them. Believe it or not, there is a lot of abstraction in the court to even allow programmers to have such nice systems at their disposal. Consider fields where compilers unlike GCC (for C programming) don't exist, and the responsibility is on the programmer to understand the architecture. Even understanding a basic notion of combinatorics and algorithms will help guide somebody to better understand the architecture, or the logical chain of steps at times needed to understand possible engineering tasks the hardware may be considering. In parallel computing, such is the case, and much of the hottest GPU, or CPU cluster optimization for video, or scientific crunching must be done on such (which makes it quite difficult if you lack the notion of even a digital circuit which comes from logic).

I haven't even hit on any core aspect of programming (as a formal system and a tool) yet, and as you may tell if you are a programmer who takes the naive stance "I don't need mathematics", you may find yourself running out of ideas by the end of this. Now, let's consider the notion of an algorithm. If you are an individual I may be addressing, you may say "algorithm" (what?) or if you do know what one is, what it has to do with mathematics. Algorithms are formal mathematical descriptions that are step-by-step. Algorithms have input, output, and some purpose. An algorithm can be thought of a procedure. To analyze even the most basic sequential algorithm, it requires a basic understanding of combinatorics or calculus. For instance, if you would like to consider worst case analysis, this is almost necessary if you want to write great programs that don't appeal to inefficient results. You cannot rely on just the computer to tell you following an execution if it works or not. Often times if you aren't even sure if the program will run, the algorithm you may be implementing should be checked for correctness. Proofs are very powerful tools that go unappreciated due mostly to a lack of understanding of how computing works. Even a basic university CS graduate will grasp proofs are important, but they may not see the relevance, so I hope you will not be these individuals either. Mathematics is at the heart of computing, and computing is at the heart of mathematics. In foundations, programs were once seen as automated proofs where if the 'program' were to reach the end, it would be proven. This is highly related to much of the work that brought on great works like Turing, with the decision problem. When we consider problems we often affiliate with daily life, these problems likely will appeal to some irregular problem say graph theoretic problems, or even scheduling are some examples. Just naively implementing a solution using basic algorithms may work in some circumstances, but when instances grow huge, this may not be possible. So understanding algorithms, and being literate of discrete mathematics are essential.

Another excuse I often find is "there's a library call for that, I don't need to really understand it, or know what it even is to solve the problem". Though in a naive sense, you could attempt to use such, but really imagine if you didn't have these libraries. A lot of the time, the hottest topics in problems today will have people producing very recent programs, that will not be found in some library call unless they beat you to the punch. If you don't understand what you are using even, or a basic sense of what is going on, or the strengths or efficiency of that algorithm you may use, why use it? I believe heavily the boost in speeds of CPUs have caused programmers to become lazy. I remember the days when people could program entire games in the space some would consider for just loading a lazily drawn sprite in a game. Efficiency is no less important due to this. Such things come rather important when we consider popular hardware like GPU, and CPU multi-cores.

I seriously could go on for pages upon pages giving countless examples. You cannot understand computing without a serious look at Computer Science, and what is this? A formal science and a metaphorical birth child of mathematics. Even if you teach yourself, there is a lot one cannot do unless they educate themselves more mathematics. Even solving problems mathematically can broaden ones ability to abstract and seek better answers, or use logical deduction or induction to consider solutions. We have too many code monkeys that colleges or simpler paths of some university programs produce, we need more computer scientists, and scientific thinkers in this domain.

The last point I need to make is about making games. As somebody who has taught himself a ton of mathematics through learning how to make computer games from a very young age, I will tell you that to make your own game is not piggy backing on some library. You should understand every part of your code if you want to utilize the hardware, and provide an excellent experience for your players. Basics, you cannot escape matrix operations in graphics if you want to even get near graphics, and you need a basic understanding of logic to even approach providing decision making for complicated games.

Now I say these things not to bash, but to enlighten. I have only selected a very few set of examples here, I could get into almost every department where the IT or software development industry is littered with mathematically ignorant workers who will keep making software no better than a high school student. I have literally seen solutions to problems I personally conduct scientific research in where somebody blindly created program which are only feasible for some instances and would crash the entire program in a rare chance (since they didn't even consider the mathematics of the problem, nor the concept of a decidability). This is not entirely on the programmers though, I would admit the whole software industry is not the same as it used to be where now great thinkers are not admired. In my personal opinion, only people who can spit out code with a very limited scope of knowledge to how to solve more advanced problems are valued more in industry (with exceptions of major companies since they compete with academia) since the higher up individuals want to keep their jobs by preying on ignorance.

In short: Whenever Mathematics or even a problem comes your way, take it!

Everybody have a beautiful day!

D R Page

My thoughts on the Wii U pricing

2012-09-13T21:27:00.001-07:00

I made a video about this:

Have a beautiful day!

D R Page

My recollections of a lunatic in my past who knows no morality

2012-09-12T15:11:00.002-07:00

Good Afternoon everybody!

WARNING: This is a lecture towards a really bad person, with entirely rational reasons to say such things for this topic on my part. I normally do not like writing in this style, but I believe somebody is stalking my blog entries, who likes to talk 'shit' about me outside of the internet, so I feel they need a message from somebody 'bigger' than them in terms of intelligence, physical appearance, mental sanity, and caring heart. You can really just think of this as no different than telling a kid not to walk across the street. That is the mood I was intending since I believe this person should not be talking in such ways about good hearted people who really did a lot more than they like to claim so that people in her present situation don't isolate or remove her. With this being the case, this is a personal entry, that intends to keep confidentiality.

I felt like writing about something a bit more personal this time, as more of a stance against the evils in the world, mainly people who come in fake glasses to our peers, which do have ignorance, intolerance, selfishness, and self-destruction in mind. In particular this is relating to a comment I have discussed in the past, but I feel I need to emphasize the following, and the value of life. For the sake of confidentiality and not destroying their entire reputation (I'm a good guy like that), I will not be mentioning names, but only speak the Truth. As a scientist I value truth over self-delusion, which this person employs to manipulate the people she cares about, even if she doesn't even consciously believe so.

So let me begin:

Listen, if you wish to post your own delusions, make it clear you aren't talking about real people. People who you address do infact catch your abusive paths, and I recommend stopping if you wish to continue your career path if you think this is a good tactic. Helping people doesn't imply manipulation. It will end up people who go to you will be helped by good people like me, and the good people in this world, which isn't a good incentive for you. Doesn't matter if it is me, or anybody else, you should respect what people GIVE you generously. You ever wonder why you have earned a reputation of being a psycho abusive girl who stalks, rapes, and mistreats men? It's because you don't value the golden rule. You have been given so much, the last thing you deserve is to assert truth about things you don't even comprehend about relationships. If he needs references, I can be a good one, and I am certain I can give you a couple of the people she claims are 'stalkers' or 'just friends' that you probably heard a twisted story about. She's nuts buddy, run for the hills (laughs)!
Comparing people is bogus if you make things up. You should tell your boyfriend the facts for example. He is nothing compared to me for in the modest of senses example, but I'm sure he's a decent human being who has normal human goals for self progress. It's not something arrogant to say, I maybe know only a small select people I can tell you are people I can respect as people who do the same caliber of work, charity, and good hearted care as me. I'm sure he'd love to hear how you cheated on me, and took advantage of me, and abused, stalked, and manipulated me. Just because you are a girl doesn't mean you aren't capable of these things. Don't lie, be honest, you should know these things. The last thing you need to do is abuse another guy because you told them nothing about your past or made up your past to cover your own faults. These things can come up and bite you hard (big time), which is why you have me personally writing this to you, since you are nothing even compared to me, and my accomplishments OR even as a human being you speck. Normal people like the people you even see on the streets have the same for themselves. You are driven by your own motives, not the care of others. Anything to make yourself look better is how you roll, you don't personally go out to go beyond people such as me to help others.
Making sacrifices is a big part of life, and you little missy have a lot to learn about this before you can claim nonsense about me.
You should really learn the value of life. To openly say you would rather see a person die and not care is probably one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard in my life, and it is not even by the fact it is about me. Read your words, and watch who you talk about. It can make you look foolish in the public square.
This is a public space. Keep your delusions and made up fairy tales to yourself unless you actually label it as such.

This is all I have to say, but I honestly as a person who has taught you a lot, I'm ashamed you did all the terrible things you did to me in the past, but you never seem to comprehend your own faults. Humans develop, but if you expect others to develop around you, how will you? You should be ashamed to call yourself a human. Saying nonsense about people who really do make a difference in society because you have never done anything in your pitiful life? That is pathetic. Go do something unique that has never been done, and then you may have the intelligence to talk about people who have positively given you a lot in life correctly.

Have a beautiful day!

FYI Nobody you'll ever see will be ever as good as me as an individual. Never ever. Not a single one you idiotic bitch. It just isn't scientifically possible with a nutball self-destructive sanity, and man-like figure you own. No wonder why only guys would be with you for less than 2 weeks before me. You got better at hiding yourself. Just I recommend not deluding your peers when you are upset you threw away the best guy you could ever have ever obtained since he lowered his expectations to give you a chance. Why? Cause he is a good hearted guy, who listens, cares, and cares about truth, which you definitely do not.

D R Page

Updates, Research, Teaching

2012-09-11T21:33:00.001-07:00

Hello everybody!

Research Interests

It has been a little while since I have posted so I thought I would deliver the exciting news that I will be pursuing a pretty important problem in the fields of Approximation Algorithms, Combinatorial Optimization, and Computational Complexity Theory for my Master's thesis research. This problem is called Makespan. I cannot get into too many details at this time since I need to figure out some of the constraints I am considering and the much research and intuition ahead to devise new results in this difficult problem in any variation.

The importance of this problem:

Over computer systems over a long period, this can boost the speeds of CPU schedulers for systems.
Allow for quicker and more accurate solutions for job shop scheduling algorithms.
Offer more options in the literature, since this is a pretty important problem in the problem spans of Approximation Algorithms.
Complements parallel computing research currently done, and this is very popular right now and will have a huge influence probably in the next 10 years as parallelism is more common to the general public.
Many... many... many... applications (seriously, tons!)

If I am able to achieve this I will have algorithms in both discrete computation, and continuous computation scientific literature. My goal is to influence as many branches of theoretical computer science as possible. With new results in combinatorial generation, works in automata theory I have in the works, and if this is a success, I will be on a pretty good start to reaching this on my journey to attain my doctorate (following the steps of course) when that comes eventually.

Teaching

It seems teaching is going good so far. Apparently there is some positive buzz about me amongst the sections of the course I am teaching. I love teaching, and I hope my students are learning new, or interesting concepts in a creative way with lots of energy to help!

I believe to make a brighter future we don't need band-aids, we need solutions, and a good place to start is by inspiring young minds to solve new problems, and understanding the world around them.

Everybody have a beautiful evening!

D R Page

Another random 'division' problem using the Obelus

2012-09-01T22:33:00.002-07:00

I found this one in particular on Facebook:

Let me make this one clear very fast. This statement does not contain your conventional division sign in it. It contains an obelus in it. Let us do this following the rules of algebra, but not only this, show how this problem works out if you do this the correct way most are not taught, and the way they are interpreting it.

(1: the proper way if we assume obelus is a binary operator with two arguments, refer to my post about the obelus for more about this):
6-1x0+2(obelus)2, becomes 6-0+2 (obelus) 2, becomes 8 (obelus) 2, which is 4.

(2: the same method, except doing the proper substitution)
(6-1x0+2)/(2), becomes (8)/(2), which is 4.

(3: the way people do it when they interpret the obelus as the full blown division operator)
6-1x0+2/2, becomes after multiplication 6-0+2/2, becomes after division 6-0+1, becomes 6+1, which is 7.

Enjoy! Have a beautiful day!

D R Page