WildWeazel

15 Minutes of Fame

2010-02-24T00:13:00.000-05:00

I don't "crosspost" from my friends' blogs often, but this is worth sharing. My good friend Amber is a very talented craftswoman and a huge fan of Star Wars. Put those together, and what do you get? Awesome homemade character dolls. Observe:

The cuddliest six-limbed death robot you'll see all day.

Yes, she made that with her bare hands. She has been working on these for months, and this is her third complete doll. I'm not really into Star Wars- or crocheting, for that matter- but I recognize talent when I see it. Apparently I'm not the only one who was impressed. The post got shared, Buzzed, Tweeted, re-blogged, word spread, and soon someone at Lucasfilm took notice. The editor of StarWars.com contacted her for an email interview to be posted on the website. Needless to say, she's like a kid in a.... Star Wars convention.

This is what the blogosphere is all about- sharing things that matter to us, hoping that someone takes an interest. For many, that's a small group of friends. For a few, it's a chance at a brief flash of Internet fame. It looks like Amber will get her 15 minutes.

Top 10: Names for my purely hypothetical bands

2010-02-14T01:04:00.000-05:00

Not that I'd ever start a band. I have all the musical talent of a baboon in a tool shed, and my lifelong aspiration of learning to play the guitar would probably be a lesson in self-humiliation. However, were it ever to happen, I wouldn't have to worry about choosing a name. Props if you can find the joke or reference behind each name.

10. Autotune (pop/electronic)

9. Wrong Foot Forward (dance)

8. Creative Uncommons (parody)

7. WildWeazel and the Cool Dudes (retro)

6. Tossing Tiaras (CCM)

5. Steel City (alternative)

4. Unending Saga (hardcore)

3. Going Nowhere (punk)

2. Shredded Cheddar (metal)

1. De Oppresso Liber (hard rock)

SNOW'd

2010-02-08T00:50:00.001-05:00

In case you've been preoccupied with other things like sportsball games: it snowed. A lot.

In the aftermath of what is being called "the worst blizzard since '93", "one of the biggest winter storms on record", and "a crap ton of snow", Pittsburgh is kind of a mess. A very cold, very white mess.

My department was planning to go skiing (read: snowboarding) Saturday, but it got postponed by a day after a foot of snow was predicted in the mountains and the bus company got cold feet.

On Friday night several of us went to a restaurant across the street for a birthday party. A few inches of snow had just fallen suddenly, so the road and sidewalk were already a mess. The temperature had dropped well below freezing so the falling snow was like tiny ice crystals. We watched it come down hard for the next few hours, until at 11:00 the employees kicked us out so they could go home before it got any worse. We all went out into the deserted street and had a snowball fight before parting ways. At this point there was nearly 6 inches on the ground and it was still falling. Bus and shuttle service has been suspended, so a few opted to hold out in the "Cave" while the rest of us marched home Bear Grylls style.

I woke up late Saturday morning to find over a foot of snow outside. Cars were buried, trees were down, and streets were barely recognizable. Assuming that we would still be skiing the next day, I didn't bother going out in it. It wasn't going anywhere soon. Then the trip was postponed again, until next weekend, because all of the surrounding counties had declared a state of emergency and so the buses could not operate.

Today I ventured out and walked to the only church I thought I could get to. By my best estimate, we have about 12-16 inches. None of the roads have been cleared, and most sidewalks have only narrow stomped paths. The temperature has been well below freezing so the snow is perfectly preserved. There is very little traffic on the roads but plenty of people are out walking and many businesses are open.

That doesn't include Carnegie Mellon. Due to the still dangerous road conditions, city officials urged universities to cancel classes tomorrow. CMU complied, after having initially issued an announcement that we would be returning to normal operation. That makes this a surprise 3-day weekend, and my first ever college snow day! So while you're all trudging through "Super Bowl Monday", I'll be wading through Schenley Park.

By the way, the weather forecast claims sub-freezing temperatures all week, accompanied by snow, snow, and snow on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, respectively.

Top 10: Screwed Up Ideas From Legion

2010-01-20T19:08:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard about the upcoming "sci-fi" horror movie Legion, consider yourself fortunate. Hollywood has long had a fascination with twisting the image of Christ and Christianity, but this one takes the distortion to a whole new level. Just from the trailer and a short plot summary on Wikipedia, I can infer the following "doctrines" behind the movie:

10. The final judgment will be a physical extermination by angels (Revelation 20:12)
9. Angels can be destroyed by humans (2 Kings 19:35)
8. Christ's second coming will be another physical birth (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
7. Christ's return is not guaranteed (Revelation 22:12-13)
6. God is not omnipotent or fully sovereign (Jeremiah 32:27)
5. God and Christ can be in conflict (John 6:38)
4. God changes and may break his promises (Hebrews 6:16-18)
3. God is evil, or at least not wholly good (Deuteronomy 32:4)
2. God's love is not eternal or unconditional (Isaiah 54:10)
1. Paul Bettany is capable of portraying the archangel Michael (Revelation 12:7-8)

Negligent Blogocide

2010-01-18T22:47:00.001-05:00

HOLY CRAPS, it's 2010! Still waiting for that flying car.

A new year, a new decade, a new semester, finally a new post. This may be a non-blogging record for me.

It has recently come to my attention that I have not posted anything to my blog for quite a long span of time (in Internet reckoning) or indeed given my few anxious readers any indication that I am in fact still alive. 'Alive' is an ambiguous term, which I here use in the biological sense, in that my body is in fact metabolizing.

Other than that, what have I been up to since my last real post 5 months ago? Well, a lot. As I pointed out then, I was about to undertake a brutal academic gauntlet of courses, projects, and gnashing of teeth. I managed to survive the first semester, rumored to be the worst- except for the other two which are just as bad.

I'll save you the gory details, but let's just say that it was an intense 4 months. While most grad students take a course load of about 8 credits, we take the equivalent of 17 (51 "units"). That's more than I ever took as an undergraduate, plus I have a (very) part-time research assistantship with CMU's CyLab and the Software Engineering Institute to help with financial things like feeding myself. It was all fairly interesting stuff, but 70 hours per week is more than I care to spend on academics. My courses included 3 of the core MSE courses: Managing Software Development, Methods: Deciding What to Design, and Formal Models of Software Systems. I also took an elective Usable Privacy and Security, and a lamentably required technical communications course (being the only native English speaker in my branch of the program) which amounted to little more than English Grammar Quirks, Editing Tips, and Tangential Etymology.Thus was my demise. Somehow I managed to pull it all off with a 3.5 term GPA and a bit of income.

In the meantime I also grew a beard in recognition of No Shave November, an event which is unique in that it actually takes less time and effort to participate than not. It all started on Halloween, when on a sudden impulse I decided to become Chuck Bartowski. I shaved my entire face for the first time in 4 years, just before November 1- the perfect setup for an entire month of unregulated beardage. Why, you ask? Because it's manly. And to top it all off, I removed it in stages to produce several varieties of beard in the process, then shaved my head as well. (It grew back already.)

This was soon followed by Christmas break, wherein I retrained myself to sleep and be lethargic. I even got in a couple games of Civ3 and some serious Mount&Blade action. It actually worked all too well, despite my initial difficulty in reminding myself that I had nothing in particular to do. "Nothing to do" actually sums up the whole vacation quite well, as it was one of the most uneventful 3 weeks in recent memory. In fact I could probably describe everything I did in a single 140-character tweet:

eat, sleep, gaming, Avatar, movie marathon, friend's wedding in TN, visit friend in hosp, buy Xmas gifts 12/23, stock up on food, return 1/9

Yep, that just about does it. The wedding in Tennessee and surrounding road trip was by far the most noteworthy event of it all, but I will not go into detail. As indicated, I came back to the Pittsburgh last weekend just in time for classes to resume.

And that brings us to 2010 and the second-worst semester of them all. I'm starting to wonder if the only real difference is that this time around we have the confidence of knowing that we've already survived it once. If I can manage, I'll follow up with a brief rundown of this semester's torments and maybe some other posts that don't remind me of my unfortunate plight.

If it doesn't kill you, it will only kill your blog.

OBTW HAI GUYS IZ ME

2009-11-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

I'm using Chrome as my primary browser now, and it uses my other Google account by default, which I use for school. I've migrated or shared most of my information to that account so I can browse seamlessly. That means that when I visit Blogger blogs, I'm already signed in to that account. All of this is simply to say that if Travis Christian leaves a comment on your blog as if he's expected company, it's just me being lazy.

Also, an explanation of my absence is forthcoming.

This is called foreshadowing

2009-08-24T01:10:00.000-04:00

Ok, so in case you are still unaware, there is a little detail of my life that has changed recently: I'm in Pittsburgh! I've been here for just under a week now. The fall semester, and the MSIT program, starts tomorrow. According to all survivors, it's a brutal 12 months. As they say, the first semester is the worst and then the next one is just as bad. That being said, my blogging activity- irregular as it is already- may drop off sharply for quite some time. I already have a lot to say about Pittsburgh and CMU, but I may not have the time to put any of it into coherent sentences. Meanwhile, Twitter will likely be a much more regular and informative account of what I'm up to and whether I'm still alive. I've been taking some pictures of interesting sights around Pittsburgh which I'll try to post at some point. Until then, remember your favorite grad student. Morituri te salutant!

Unveiling

2009-08-07T01:45:00.002-04:00

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION UNSUITABLE FOR THE TECHNICALLY IMPAIRED

Two weeks ago now I got my birthday/graduation/grad-school/next-3-Christmases-in-advance/don't-ask-for-a-loan-anytime-soon heavily subsidized present, a new laptop. I'm required to have one at CMU and the old Compaq just wasn't fit for service anymore.

Since I had a reasonably good desktop already I started out small, considering decent low-end "home and office" machines and even some of the more powerful netbooks. I decided that if I was getting a new computer I might as well get something that's going to last and is worth keeping around for a while. Also, my parents had offered to pay for most of it as a combination birthday and graduation present, so I wasn't limited by the amount of money I was personally willing to shell out. At that point I started seriously comparing good mid-range models from Newegg, dealnews, and Staples. I had narrowed my choices down to a few similar models, and decided to take a look at the display models at Staples before making a decision.

To make a long story short, in the end I threw budget out the window and acquired a very nice HP via Staples, after some advice and inspiration from the extremely helpful managers. The HDX 16t Premium is one of HP's multimedia entertainment lines. This machine is a beast. My particular loadout, the 1370US, features the following:

Core 2 Duo P7750 2.26GHz CPU
4GB DDR2 RAM
16" BrightView Infinity display (1366x768)
NVIDIA GT 130M 1Gb dedicated card
500Gb 7200RPM ProtectSmart HDD
DVD Super-multi drive with Lightscribe
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP1

And that's not all. It includes lots of little goodies like an integrated webcam, bass speaker, soft-touch media controls, fingerprint scanner, full keyboard, Windows Media Center remote control, Wireless-N and Bluetooth, e-SATA and card reader, bundled media software (polished HP products, with minimum third-party bloatware) and a stylish scratch-resistant surface. This machine makes my previous laptop, a solid mid-range in its day, seem absolutely primitive.

Take a look at that graphics chip again. With a model number ending in -30, I assumed it was a fairly low-end card and was puzzled by the fact that it comes with a full gigabyte of dedicated memory. Imagine my surprise and joy when I discovered that the GT 130M is actually a slightly overclocked 9650M GT, one of the most powerful mobile cards on the market. This thing plays Oblivion completely maxed out, although I've been using my cooling pad while doing so. I never would have thought my new laptop would beat out my desktop in every regard, but even my 9500GT is no match for this thing. I'm debating whether to even haul my desktop to school with me, since by the time I transfer my files there won't be any benefit to using it over the laptop.

Of course, as fantastic as this machine was out of the box, I'm not one to leave anything in its original state. I spent the first week leeching free wi-fi where I could get it, downloading all of my favorite free software and tweaking just about every setting I could manage to find the in labyrinth of Vista. It's now triple-booting Vista, the Windows 7 RC, and Kubuntu Linux 9.04, all 64-bit editions. I've installed various apps, tools, IDEs, and plugins ranging from FireFox to Eclipse to Trillian Astra, and those only in the Windows partitions. I haven't managed to get Linux online yet, as I'm still a newbie with regards to hardware configuration and don't know how to connect to a wireless network without downloading an application to do so (as they say, you need Internet to get Internet). That may have to wait until I get back to the civilized world and can plug into Ethernet.

By the way, I can't get online with it at all at home, because it doesn't have a dialup modem. Such technologies no longer exist out there in the real world. Aside from that, my only complaint thus far is that it doesn't seem to have adequate cooling for such a powerful video card- as I mentioned, I keep it on an external fan while running games, and it still gets very warm to the touch.

All in all, I'm very happy with this laptop. When I carried it to a friend's house for the initial boot-up and configuration we were like kids in a candy shop. It may be overkill for a second college computer, but it's going to last me a good long time. And for $850, it was a good deal even on such an advanced model.

On the Virtues of Civilization, Part 3

2009-07-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

In Part 2 I described my introduction to the Civilization series. At this point, I've been playing Civ1 for a few years and have a serious case of "(Just) One More Turn Syndrome".

Since I didn't start playing Civ until around the time Civilization II was released, I missed the sequel. Instead, my next Civilization game was Civilization: Call to Power, a spin-off by Activision. In 7th grade I received CtP as a reward for making it to the oral rounds of the regional spelling bee. This time I got the whole product, including the large tech tree and statistics poster, and the official strategy guide, both of which were put to good use. CtP immediately became my new favorite game, and although I occasionally went back to Civ for the sake of nostalgia I enjoyed CtP much more.

Call to Power introduced many new concepts, especially to a Civ1 player. Public works improvements, unconventional warfare including slavery and propaganda, undersea and space cities and improvements, and combined arms combat all added depth to the game. A wide variety of civilizations, units, and buildings rounded out the options, ensuring that no two games could ever be the same.

I only vividly remember one game, playing as Germany on a large and populated map. I had built Berlin into the greatest city in the world, probably to the detriment of the rest of my nation. I owned a large portion of a major continent, but was locked into a stalemate with Canada on a peninsula to my southeast. For some reason I never rebuilt a major invasion force after my initial land grab, but resorted to extended stealth-bombing and ground skirmishes. Meanwhile, Brazil owned most or all of another continent in the north, and after establishing itself as a world power had continued to strengthen until none dared oppose it. It seemed content to peacefully enjoy an exponential increase in power, until I finally got frustrated at the near-impossibility of actually winning the game and decided to attack. I built several nukes and launched them adjacent to several Brazilian cities (to avoid being intercepted by the overpowered War Walkers who automatically shot down incoming air units), only to be put into my place a few turns later as hordes of Hovertanks skimmed across the ocean onto my lawn.

Speaking of War Walkers and Hovertanks, CtP had some crazy mixed in with its ingenuity. I was all for the extended future eras and expanded gameplay, but units like Eco Rangers and Televangelists were a bit on the eccentric side, and the deep-future technologies felt tack-ed on just for the cool value. Overall though, it was a well-designed and attractive product. It easily kept me entertained and addicted for the next year and a half, until the best game ever made was released.

Reading List

2009-07-14T15:40:00.002-04:00

In the past several months I've started reading books again, something I haven't been doing much since being in college. I've gotten through a few already, but there are many more. Here is a current list of what I've recently read, what I'm reading now, and what is yet to be read:

Completed:
The Noticer by Andy Andrews
Holding Fast by Karen James
Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe, and Life, The Universe, And Everything by Douglas Adams

In Progress/Incomplete:
The Old Testament
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
The Reason For God by Timothy Keller
So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish by Douglas Adams
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (re-reading)
The Children of Hurin by JRR Tolkien

To Read:
Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (last 2? books)
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien
Dune series by Frank Herbert (minus Dune, which I've read)
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R R Martin
The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
Shannara series by Terry Brooks
Redwall series by Brian Jacques (most recent books)
Dies the Fire series by SM Stirling
Common Sense by Glenn Beck
1984 by George Orwell
Freedom Under Siege by Ron Paul
Essential Church? by Thom and Sam Rainer
The Seven Sleepers series by Gilbert Morris
American Savior by Roland Merullo
The Rapture and Kingdom Come by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Darwin's Black Box by Michael J Behe
The Language of God by Francis Collins
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel

My list seems to be dominated by sci-fi/fantasy series, which tend to involve many thousands of pages. This should keep me busy for a couple of years, at least. If you have any suggestions to add- or even remove- please comment.

House of Heroes, And More

2009-07-13T02:08:00.000-04:00

So, as you may or may not know, Friday was my 22nd birthday. For months I had been planning to go to SpiritSong at Kings Island to see Kutless (at least) in concert, but due to an unfortunate combination of poor planning and poor friends, it didn't work out. However, I heard about a House of Heroes concert at a church near where my sister lives so we planned to do that instead. Someone decided it would be a good idea for the whole family to go to the Columbus Zoo on the same day. I still couldn't get my friends to go along, but at least I was able to do something out of the ordinary on my birthday.

The concert was not exactly what I was expecting- it was better. There were only a couple hundred people there, which meant anyone who wanted to (which was most everyone) was able to stand within about 15 feet of the stage. One of the announcers from TVU promised us that the people at SpiritSong were the ones who were missing out. A band from Kentucky called Seabird opened with several songs. Then finally House of Heroes. They were quite a bit louder and more intense live than I would have thought from their recorded songs, which was fine with me. I joined the crowd at the stage, rocked out, and sang along with the songs I knew, mostly from The End Is Not The End.

At one point between songs they stopped to ask where people were from. It went something like this:
"Who here is from Johnstown proper?"
"As opposed to... improper."
*a few hands and yells*
"Anyone from New Albany?"
*several hands and scattered screaming*
"Anyone from regular Albany... also known as old Albany"
*me yelling*

Good times. The concert ended with "In The Valley Of The Dying Sun", which seemed to be a favorite.

Also, thanks to the Google homepage, I now know that I share a birthday with Nikola Telsa!

The Lord of the Rings: Recast

2009-07-08T23:31:00.000-04:00

The Lord of the Rings was a great movie* and all, but like many Tolkien fans I think it could have been done better. Unlike the rest of them, I think it could have used more superstardom and outlandish, over-the-top screenwriting. Therefore, I've re-cast LotR for a more unabashedly awesome remake:

Director Michael Bay
Because that mile-high explosion of Mount Doom and the subsequent geological collapse of an entire region just wasn't enough.

Chuck Norris as Aragorn
"Strider does not sleep. He waits." A duel with an enormous troll would be more believable.

Mort the lemur of Madagascar as Frodo
Because, just perhaps, he could convey the role of being a self-pitying wuss a little better.

The guy(s)(?) who voiced the other unicorns in "Charlie the Unicorn" as Sam
"Mr Frodo! Mr Frodo! Mr Frodo! We're going to Mount Doom, Mr Frodo!"

Mr T as Boromir
He pities the fool who simply walks into Mordor.

Kevin Bacon as Legolas
Got to keep the degrees of separation low.

John McCain as Theoden
Creepy, cranky old zombie of a guy as head of state? Check.

Samuel L Jackson as Eomer
"Enough is enough! I have had it with these mother-russian orcs on this mother-russian plain!"

Dwight Schrute as The Mouth of Sauron
Assistant ~~to the~~ Dark Lord

Russel Crowe as Saruman
Why not? You can't go wrong with Crowe.

Johnny Depp as Grima Wormtongue
Imagine the political advice: "No. You want you to not do this, because the not doing of this finds you incapacitorially finding and or locating in your discovering the detecting of a way to save your kingdom. Savvy?"

Keanu Reeves as Celeborn
Hey, at least he would have a bit more personality

The Black Knight of Monty Python and the Holy Grail as Lurz
Nobody else can lose limbs and keep acting.

Wilson of Home Improvement as Glorfindel the Strangely Absent
Because we never see him.

There are still roles available, so audition now!

*Like the book, I think of it as a single movie in 3 parts rather than a trilogy. It's a well-documented fact.

Book Review: The American Patriot's Bible

2009-07-06T00:40:00.001-04:00

I could not think of a better time to review this book, my third from Thomas Nelson. The American Patriot's Bible, edited by Dr Richard G. Lee, is a NKJV translation, filled with historical commentary and excerpts that highlight the influence of scripture in the shaping of America.

When I requested this Bible I was concerned that it may overreach in its pairing of Christian thought with the founding of America; that it might portray the USA as the new Israel or a wholly Christian establishment. As it turns out I was quite impressed. The additional content highlights the unmistakable Biblical foundations of American political and social philosophy, without asserting any inherent spiritual significance to this country or suggesting that the founding of America was a solely Christian endeavor. It does show many examples of how Christian values and godly people shaped the history of America. At a time when much of our culture and government is trying to deny and even erase these ideas, it has never been more important to remember this nation's origins and from where our liberty and justice are derived.

Most of the editorial content is in the form of essays on various political and social topics that point out the underlying Biblical philosophies of many American values. These essays, as well as collections of relevant quotes by famous Americans, are found in special full-color insert pages throughout the Bible, often tied in to the themes of the surrounding chapters. Short annotated quotes are found within the text, relating a specific verse or phrase to a piece of American history. One article, "The Seven Principles of the Judeo-Christian Ethic", seems somewhat contrived and a bit out of place, coming before even the introduction. It does however contain a statement that perhaps best sums up the reason for this edition: "Whether each of the Founding Fathers was a Christian is not the issue. Their writings, their statements, and their votes evidence the fact that the majority of them embraced these great principles as the basis for a civilized nation."

Note that this is not a study Bible as some are calling it, although it does include thorough book introductions and a decent concordance- as well as other additional features, such as maps and room for family records, that I was surprised to find.

Independence

2009-07-02T23:28:00.000-04:00

To commemorate this historic day- the 233rd anniversary of America's independence- I'd like to share an excerpt from Chuck Baldwin's column "Independence Now And Forever":

Regarding the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams said, "[Independence Day] will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore."

Adams went on to say, "You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not."

Indeed, the signers of America's Declaration of Independence endured the sacrifice of both toil and blood. Pertaining to the lives of the signers, David Limbaugh writes, "Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his thirteen children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned."

Yes, America's Declaration of Independence, which is our nation's birth certificate, was purchased at a very high price. Rightly did its primary author, Thomas Jefferson, invoke God's name no less than four times in the Declaration. Without God, our struggle for independence and freedom would surely have failed.

Jefferson, along with the vast majority of America's founders, knew that freedom was, first, the gift of God, not the accomplishment of men. He further understood that man's law must be subordinate to the natural laws of God.

Therefore, with an appeal to Heaven for the "rectitude of [their] intentions," America's Founding Fathers courageously forged a document that would put their own lives at risk, but would also change the course of history.

Let us never forget the price- and the blessings- of liberty.

On the Virtues of Civilization, Part 2

2009-06-30T23:36:00.003-04:00

In the previous post I explained the reason for this topic and briefly described the Civilization franchise. Let's continue.

I started playing computer games not long after my family got our first computer, when I was about 6 or 7. First it was the simple Windows 3.1 games like Mosaic and Minesweeper, then commercial games. SimTower was the first game I (and by "I", I mean "my parents, on my behalf") bought, and I quickly became a fan of Will Wright's games.

When I bought SimCity a few years later, which by then had already been around for a while, it came packaged with another game, just a CD case laminated on the front of the box, which I had never heard of. I set this one aside, eager to play the venerable SimCity. To my dismay, I could not get the game to run despite my best efforts at playing around with different system and game settings (my hacking started early), so I reluctantly turned to this free copy of "Civilization" (Civ1 DOS, for those interested) to ease my frustration.

It worked, and I spent much of the following months forgetting that I ever wanted to play Sim City. I don't remember the details of my first game, but I have plenty of memories of learning how to play- deciding that I should build additional cities before being surrounded by rivals; experimenting with diplomacy, which was then done via Diplomat units; discovering that a Trireme is a boat, and that I could now explore other landmasses; my first victory as Russia on the Earth map in which I city-spammed my way to dominance and then conquered the world; and saving all of my progress on a growing stack of floppy disks. To this day, the (now extremely rare) sound of a floppy disk writing makes me think of Civilization.

And so it came to pass that I developed a serious case of what we civvers affectionately call "One More Turn Syndrome" at such a young age. The arrival of Civilization: Call to Power did little to ease my affliction.

Continued in Part 3

Camping

2009-06-17T23:54:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend I went camping with some friends (including a toddler and a dog) in Hocking Hills, a woodland state park nearby. It was typical American family camping, with a crowded campground on a paved road, campers, a bath house, a pool, and plenty of supplies; but two of us did at least sleep in a tent. We hiked a 2.5 mile path along the rim of a scenic cliff-walled valley, which for me was the highlight of the weekend. I would have liked to do more exploring, but we still had plenty of fun, even without a kayak. The weather was perfect after a cool rainy week that had us worried. We fished, cooked outside (managing to narrowly avoid disaster at least once), encountered a few snakes and other wildlife, and tried several of 24 interesting flavors of soft-serve ice cream at a camping store. While not the epic survival tale of man against nature that I prefer camping to be, it was really nice to get away from everything for a while and spend some time in (relative) isolation with some of my favorite people.

On the Virtues of Civilization, Part 1

2009-06-12T01:17:00.002-04:00

Yeah, it sounds like a lofty essay compilation on world history and anthropology. Don't worry, it's about the games.

I know I've casually mentioned "Civ" quite a few times, and even posted a few previews of stuff I'd been working on for mods. I even have a tag for the subject. But the whole ~~obsession~~ preoccupation with the game(s) has never been directly addressed. I shall fill this void in installments.

For the, ahem... uncivilized, I should at this point explain what exactly it is that I speak of. Civilization is a series of "4X" (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) turn-based strategy games that follow the course of recorded human history, from the stone age to the space age. The player assumes high-level control of a civilization and develops it through building cities, improving terrain, raising a military, researching technologies, and interacting with other civilizations. The original Civilization ("Civ1") was designed by the legendary Sid Meier and published in 1991 for MS-DOS. Sid's company Firaxis Games has since created 3 additional incarnations, expansions of each, and a number of spin-off titles. The franchise has sold over 8 million copies and is now one of the most popular names in strategy gaming.

My first encounter with Civ was an accident.

Continued in Part 2

Book Review: The Noticer by Andy Andrews

2009-05-03T16:39:00.000-04:00

I read this book in 2 days, something I haven't done for years. The Noticer by Andy Andrews is a compelling story about a mysterious but likable old man known as Jones (no "Mr.") who visited a small Gulf Coast town over many years, helping people address various problems in their lives by giving them a little "perspective".

One such person was a young Andy, who thanks to Jones turned his life around and went from an orphaned young man living under a pier to a successful motivational speaker and author. Jones helped him see his problems in a new light and gave him valuable advice to help him improve his circumstances. Jones always showed up at just the right time, wearing his jeans and white t-shirt and carrying his old brown leather suitcase, giving much needed advice and assistance to people in various situations, then disappearing as quickly as he came. He called himself a "noticer", claiming that his gift was simply to notice things about people that others seemed to miss. The old man's calm, casual demeanor and logical doses of perspective changed many lives in the small town over the years as he became a local legend. He never told anyone much about himself, but anyone who met him instantly felt a strange bond with the old man. Andy wrote this book to recognize Jones' influence in his own life and to encourage others to do the same.

Andy's casual, intimate narratives make the reader feel like they know Jones by the end of the book. His advice, while not particularly profound, is practical and honest. He applies many of the same principles to different people- most explicitly in his final encounter with Andy, when they meet another young man in much the same situation and Jones gives him the same advice as he did to Andy decades earlier. Jones' no-nonsense perspective is something we could all use more of.

"The Noticer Project", founded by Andy along with the release of the book, is a movement to publicly "notice" the 5 most influential people in your life. By noticing others, you not only honor them, but gain a new perspective on your own life.

Top 10: Influential Albums

2009-04-28T17:15:00.001-04:00

I was tagged with "15 albums that made an impact on your life" just before I started the Top 10 topic. Since I'm lazy and 10 is conveniently less than 15 I've lopped off 33% of the workload. Also, I can't be bothered to actually arrange them by impact, so they are In No Particular Order. But because I'm just that cool, linkage is provided courtesy of Last.fm.

Live the Difference (Acquire The Fire)
My first personal CD, which I got while on a missions trip. It's when I really started listening to music.

The Heart of War (Jonah33)
One of the few CD's that I've actually bought. It's an unapologetically awesome mix of Christian "fight songs" and one of the best overall albums I've heard.

Kutless (Kutless)
The album that first got me into hard rock. "Your Touch" is to this day one of my favorite songs.

The Beautiful Letdown (Switchfoot)
One of the first albums that I really enjoyed, long before I owned it myself. Switchfoot was one of my early favorites and the first alternative rock band I listened to.

The Triptych (Demon Hunter)
The album that taught me to listen to metal(core). My library has never been quite the same.

Letters To The President (Hawk Nelson)
Another overall great album, and the one that kicked off my punk rock phase.

Spoken For (MercyMe)
Another very early album, and one of the few CCM artists that I listened to consistently.

Fireproof (Pillar)
Also pushed me into hard rock, and for quite a while was unquestionably my favorite album.

All The Right Reasons (Nickelback)
I had to throw a non-Christian band into the mix. "Savin' Me", "If Everyone Cared", "Photograph"... this album got me to start listening to mainstrean rock, and made me a Nickelback fan.

Unbreakable (Fireflight)
By mere coincidence, this is the album I was looking for when I found that Ruckus had been shut down, prompting me to save most of my music collection before it was too late.

Book Review: Holding Fast

2009-04-27T19:50:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned a while back, I joined Thomas Nelson's Book Review Bloggers program to review free books from the publisher. First the book was lost in the mail, then I put it down halfway through as the semester was catching up with me, so it's taken quite a while to get through my first book. Nonetheless, here is my review:

Holding Fast is the story of the three mountain climbers trapped on Mount Hood in December 2006 and those they left behind. When veteran mountaineers Kelly James, Brian Hall, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke went missing on Oregon's highest peak during the worst winter storm in a decade, the search caught national media attention. In Holding Fast, Kelly's wife Karen tells the moving personal story of her husband's life, the tragedy that claimed him and his climbing partners, and the search for answers and peace.

The book is an interesting read and an emotional rollercoaster. The first section of the book is devoted to Kelly's childhood and his marriage to Karen, setting the stage for the following chapters that describe the tragedy from Karen's personal perspective. She portrays Kelly as an incredible man of God, a loving father and husband, and a skilled and avid mountaineer.

When Kelly and his climbing partners go missing on Mount Hood, Karen and the families are there waiting for their return. After a grueling week of bad weather, dead ends, and failed rescue attempts, Kelly's body is discovered in a snow cave near the summit. Karen's life is torn apart in an instant, and she spends the next several months fighting the grief that threatens to consume her. But she depends on God for her strength and her faithful friends for support, and after a difficult journey she is able to find the answers that she needs, pick up the pieces, and move forward with peace and purpose.

I would recommend this book to anyone. The incredible account of these three men and their families was an encouragement to me. Holding Fast puts more than a face- a life- to the name Kelly James, and tells the untold story of faith, hope, and love behind the headline.

Also, I would recommend Book Review Bloggers to anyone who enjoys reading Christian books! I'm about to start on my second book, The Noticer by Andy Andrews. I was asked to post a review today for a special release day promotion, but since I just finished the first book I don't think that's going to happen.

That Last Week

2009-04-22T00:42:00.000-04:00

So it's the last week of the semester. That means it's time for a post about how insane my life is right now and how I shouldn't be taking the time to write a blog post.

Well, this is it. You may want to refer to my last semester rundown for context.

With classes only on Tuesday and Thursday the mayhem is relatively contained, but that just makes it all the worse on those days. Last week I spent untold hours on a group projet involving far more VB.NET programming than anyone should ever be subjected to, while trying to prepare for a presentation on my software quality assurance research.

The weekend was the calm before the storm, although it should have been the emergency preparation before the storm. Consequently I spent most of yesterday in various computer labs, culminating a VB ~~programming~~ hacking marathon.

I came home at 10pm to get started on the final installment of a simulation project that was due this morning. Around 5am I realized I was not going to make any more progress, so I put aside the barely mediocre report and tried to get some sleep. Fortunately my 8am class had been cancelled so I was able to sleep for most of 3 1/2 hours. It seemed a reasonable compromise until in class the professor offhandedly commented that we were welcome to wait until Thursday to turn in the report if we wanted to spend more time on it. My roommate and I stared at each other dumbfounded, trying to comprehend the meaning of this through our sleep-deprived semiconsciousness. Yeah, we just wasted an (almost) all-nighter.

After that class I had an exit interview ("postmortem" as we call it in SE) with my department chair, my last chance to formally complain about things like hurricanes, fountain budgets, and the Ratio. It was a painless conversation as promised, and I offered a few suggestions on how to improve the program- specifically a C++ course, which he said everyone had been bringing up.
From there I immediately went to more fun-tastic HCI group work, and after a couple more hours of work we had finally completed the project. Sadly we have to present the thing to the class during our final exam time slot on Saturday, so I can't relegate it to the past just yet.

I managed to stay more or less conscious during senior design and even got a final small piece of documentation written. From there I came home, took a shower, and collapsed into bed for a couple hours. Now I'm just trying to get something useful accomplished before going back to bed for the night. I can sleep in tomorrow but at some point I have to study for tests in HCI and and, if I want a decent grade, redo my simulation report. Besides the 2 tests on Thursday we have our big fancy end of the year presentation on our senior design work for the faculty, administration, and various other VIPs.

After all of that, I'm almost done with my undergraduate career. From that point all I have to do prepare for the HCI presentation, take an open-note test on Saturday night, and spend a couple hours next Tuesday pretending to care what next year's seniors do with our EcoCAR system.

The end is in sight.

The Top 10: Cliché Blog Posts

2009-04-18T01:07:00.000-04:00

Introducing a new series: Top 10 lists, as determined by myself. This shall be the definitive list of the top 10 of such concepts as stated in the title.

10. This is what I did today, in excruciating detail:
9. I feel so random! Allow me to demonstrate:
8. Here's a bad picture of something I just saw:
7. Look at all of these photos of my kids/family/pet with no context:
6. Check out this news article with no commentary of my own:
5. I'm sorry I haven't posted lately. That is all.
4. Meh. I'm bored. I'll try blogging... umm, idk.
3. Bear with me as I pour out my innermost feelings on this personal topic. I hope the faceless masses of the Internet understand my angst.
2. Test Post: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...
1. Top 10 lists

The Last Time...

2009-04-09T21:12:00.000-04:00

Today I did something completely normal that I will probably never do again. I took a walk across campus to the Student Village for lunch. I needed to stay on campus during my "lunch break" for a team meeting, so I decided to eat at Einstein Bros, the deli shop in the bottom floor of the residence complex. My reasoning was at first almost subconscious, before I fully realized that it would probably be the last time I would do that before graduating. It was almost surreal, knowing that I would likely never again enter this building that for most of 3 years was my home.
It was the last time I would cross that pedestrian bridge into the second floor. The last time I would shuffle down that half-spiral stairway. I was a little disappointed that there was nobody playing the piano in the atrium. It was eerily quiet and empty.
It was the last time I would stuff my face with a Turkey Triple Decker (which I maintain is the pinnacle of deli achievement). I thought of all the meal's I've had there, how many hours I've spent standing in line to order that same sandwich. I finally spent the last of my "Riddle Bucks" that I've been accumulating- and, more recently, spending- over the past 4 years. As I ate I thought of the first time I walked into the building, that now seems so long ago.
It was the last time I'd notice the USMC pull-up bars along the way and think I should stop and crank out a few but walk on by anyway. The last time I'd come to that awkward intersection next to Doolittle Hall and wonder which way really is faster. Curiously, I was approached by a squirrel on the sidewalk, as if to remind me where I am and bid me farewell. This place was my life. Now that I live off campus- and especially now that I only have classes two days- I don't often really see the place. It was an odd paradox, everything so familiar yet suddenly so uncommon, and being so conscious of the fact that it's all about to be a part of my past.
It's not over just yet. I still have (a mere) 4 days of classes plus finals, with 26 days to graduation. There is plenty to be done in the meantime. But there was something oddly symbolic about going through my old daily routine one last time.

Fight The UNCRC - Stand Up For Family Rights

2009-04-03T22:11:00.002-04:00

There is a growing notion in America that our personal liberties are being systematically stripped from us as the government wields more and more power- power that is permitted by neither the Constitution nor the will of the people. Yet over the past few decades we have seen an unprecedented growth in the size and authority of the Federal government. It's enough to make a libertarian like myself sick, and I won't stand for it. I'd like to point out just one battle that is facing us right now, that could have a tremendous effect on future generations of Americans.

ParentalRights.org is a campaign to amend the US Constitution to protect the right of parents relating to the upbringing of their children. Specifically the site challenges the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC), a far-reaching international treaty that imposes extensive government supervision and regulation on the lives of children at the expense of family choices and privacy.

The UNCRC was put into effect in 1990 upon ratification by several UN member nations. As of now, all member nations except the United States and Somalia have ratified the convention. Far more than a simple declaration of children's rights, the treaty severely limits the rights of parents to reasonably direct the lives of their children, and even places enforceable mandates on governments that adopt it. Under the UNCRC, parents are not permitted to spank children, opt out of "sex education" for their children, or even do more than advise their children on religious matters which must ultimately be left up to the child. Instead, minors are granted legal rights including "leisure", to challenge any parental decision, and to have abortions without parental knowledge. Also, government is granted sweeping authority in personal matters, and is even required to spend at least as much on child welfare as on national defense. You can read a comprehensive breakdown of its effects at ParentalRights.org, or the full text courtesy of the UK government. In short, the UNCRC threatens the validity of the family, places dangerous power in the hands of the government, and at the same time restricts national sovereignty under international law.

Madeline Albright signed the UNCRC under President Clinton, but it has never been brought before the Senate for ratification. Now, Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California and sponsor of the FOCA among other liberal abortion bills, wants Hillary Clinton to recommend the UNCRC to the Senate for ratification. President Obama himself has said that it is "embarassing" that the US has not ratified the UNCRC. With a large liberal majority in Congress and strong support from the President, it will be perilously easy for this treaty to be enacted in the near future.

However, there is a chance to stop this madness. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, introduced the Parental Rights Amendment to Congress just days ago. The proposed amendment, currently known as H.J.Res 42, simply affirms the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children and prohibits this right from being superseded by any law, domestic or international. If ratified as a Constitutional Amendment, this law would permanently protect American families from international mandates such as the UNCRC.

Amending the Constitution is an enormous task. Only 33 amendments have ever been approved by Congress, and of those only 27 ratified by the states. This bill needs all the support it can get, and it needs it quickly. That means you. You can learn more about the campaign, sign the petition to support the amendment, become an active representative, or contact your Congressional representative and tell them to support the bill.

If the US Government ratifies the UNCRC, much of the personal freedoms and national sovereignty we enjoy as Americans- and often take for granted- will be endangered. An international UN council will decide what is best for America's children and America's future. Please join the fight against the encroaching authoritarianism that threatens to undermine the principles of personal liberty upon which this great nation was founded. Contact your representatives in Washington and tell them how their employers feel. This is the time for the voices of Americans to be heard before it is too late. This is where true change begins: We the People.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
- C. S. Lewis

ParentalRights.org

AWoL 3.28.09

2009-03-28T01:15:00.001-04:00

As the acronym becomes increasingly appropriate, the meaning behind it is less so. Thus henceforth, AWOL shall stand for "Assorted Worthwhile Linkage."

This will be a big one because (a) I haven't done it for quite a while and (b) I recently sorted and reorganized all of my myriad bookmarks into a nice minimalist FireFox toolbar, finding in the process many old ones that had been lost in the archaic menu/folder setup.

H'okay, Here we go!

Ever seen the TV show Firefly? No? Ever heard of it? Didn't think so. It's one of FOX's infamous scheduled-to-death series that is little known outside of the nerd community. The show features a combination of sci-fi and classic western content ("space western") along with plenty of action and comedy. The entire series, a single season of 14 episodes, is available on hulu.
Free Rice is an online trivia game with a purpose: for every question answered correctly, the organization donates 10 grains of rice through the UN Food Program*. That may not sound like much, but with thousands of people playing every day they have been able to donate over 60 billion grains of rice, feeding millions in places like Cambodia, Uganda, and Myanmar.
A buddy of mine runs his own forum and news site for historical and fantasy game mods at Mod Realms. I'm the unofficial CivFanatics liason, posting news stories for Civilization mods. The site also covers mods for the Total War series, Oblivion, Half-Life 2, Mount & Blade, and other popular titles.
For those who enjoy running- or jogging- or walking- WalkJogRun is a simple web app that lets you create and share running routes using Google Maps.
A very well-spoken 12-year-old girl delivers a speech on abortion (no pun intended) for her 7th grade class. The response from the opposition was so disgusting that the video comments had to be deleted and disabled.
Now that we have robots that make sandwiches on demand, do we even need women anymore? Bonus points if you know why it's named Sudo. Extra bonus points if you know why that's funny.
Yes, this is a real product. The 21st century has finally arrived!
The Xenophile Historian is a website by semi-professional historian Charles Kimball. He writes essays on world history from a Christian perspective, including papers on various parts of the world, the history of Christianity, his interpretation of world history, and more.
Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron (of Growing Pains fame) have created a tag-team program to promote Biblical evangelism with a technique they call The Way of the Master, referring to the way Jesus addressed the lost.
Gamedesign.jp is just another website that features creative Flash games. It's also one of the greatest productivity sinks in my life. Warning: losing Dice Wars repeatedly may drive you mad.
Cyber Nations is a free browser-based MMO geo-political simulation that allows players to create and manage their own countries, trade with others, and declare war. It's no Civilization, but it's fun.
The Mars Society is running a live simulation of a Mars habitat at a desert research station. Would-be astronaut crews stay for 2 weeks at a time, preparing for a real manned mission to the red planet.
If you're interested in space travel but would prefer something more exciting, NASA is offering free zero-G flights on the Vomit Comet for anyone with a viable proposal for advances in space technology. Presumably the flight itself must be part of the research.
Also on space: I'm not sure what to think of this one. NASA is developing an MMO on the Unreal 3 engine that allows players to explore a planetary habitation and perform associated astronaut duties. Level 70 gnome mages need not apply.
The F-22 Raptor is a sexy and powerful machine. If USAF doesn't want more of them, then our friends down under will happily take more. Ok, I'll admit it. I bookmarked this article because of its awesome title.
Unfortunately, even the Raptor is not a perfect aircraft. A Lockheed Martin test pilot was killed in the second F-22 crash to date.
In a surprisingly bold move, bazillionaire Bill Gates released a small swarm of mosquitos at a tech conference full of VIPs, explaining "There is no reason only poor people should be infected." Judging by the lack of subsequent lawsuits, I'm assuming the bugs didn't actually carry malaria.
Leave it to Woot! to post the most ridiculous stories on the Internet.
More Woot!: the epoch count reached 1234567890 on February 13 at 23:31:24 UTC. For the non-nerds, that means 1,234,567,890 seconds since midnight on January 1, 1970, when the universe began.
Medieval combat RPG Mount & Blade, which I've discussed in more than one post, was named Best Indie Game of 2008 by modding website ModDB. Now go play it already.
WORLD Magazine, a conservative Christian news journal, reports on an interesting Slate column that compares the stem stell research dispute to the controversy surrounding torture as an intelligence tool.
Ending on a light note as always: Behold, Google H4x0r.

*and that's probably the first and last time you'll see me endorse the UN