PAX 2010 and Guild Wars 2

For those redirected here from Google interested about the Guild Wars 2 demo, let it be known that I normally don't write about games, nor do I usually write to a general audience. That being said, in this post I talk about my impression of both the playable demo and the new 3D graphics I got to play with. Hopefully you glean something from them.  =)

As one who has been actively checking the Guild Wars 2 website daily for updates, and as a thrice-over-nerd who's been dying for an excuse to start going to conventions, I was very excited that the second Guild Wars 2 playable demo in the world would be right here in Seattle. After quickly convincing two other Guild Wars fans and dragging in a few other people into it we bought our passes a little over a month ago and the waiting began.

Thankfully time passed fairly painlessly and we came to today, the first day of the Penny Arcade Expo! PAX is the biggest gaming conference in the Northwest, and one of the bigger ones in the US. But on with it!

Travel went amazingly well for labor day weekend traffic, or any day's traffic in Seattle for that matter, and we arrived an hour and a half early. After picking up a couple late passes we grabbed our packets containing info and the first of the day's many free offers and items, including a couple decks of trading cards. The wait in line wasn't that bad as there were games and such for the audience to participate in up on two jumbo screens (as well as the first few rounds of free stuff) while the first swarm of people arrived. 

We lucked out and got placed at the start of one of the first three lines that was let in, so we rushed right to our main attraction: The Guild Wars 2 booth! We first got in line to grab our free t-shirt passes, but even after that we managed to be some of the first to get to play the demo. Out of the people there, the three of us were of the first 50 people to get to play the game in the US. Yup, a game at least 6 million people are dying to play, and we got to be three of the first handful to try it. That's one of the factors that made this trip unbelievably worthwhile.

***beginning of GW2 Demo impressions***

But hey, I'm sure I'm going to get hits from Google from people who want to hear about the actual demo, yeah? Here's some of my initial impressions of it. Two of us got to play at one of the stations that had 3D graphics, so we got the unique experience of playing in the snazzy new 3D gaming tech. This ended up actually being one of the bigger influences on our experience with the demo. I was the only one who could stomach it for more than a few minutes, as the others were experiencing headaches and disorientation while playing, which a handful of other people seemed to be experiencing as well. This points out that the whole 3D gaming thing just might not be for everyone. Also, even though I said I was fine with the 3D, I found myself having a hard time grasping the new combat system as well as being confused by what were some simple tasks, and I often lost track of where my mouse was at. As a pretty seasoned gamer, I blame these on the 3D effects having a major impact on my senses and ability to play. Yeah, sound like a cheap cop-out, but it was just different. This is unfortunate, and I kinda wish I had gotten a normal computer screen so I could have enjoyed the game more.

The demo itself both excited me about the game and raised a few concerns I didn't have until I got my hands dirty playing. One highly unusual fact is that apparently in GW2 there is no auto attack. None. All skills. Only skills. This is different, and comes across as a mix between high maintenance and highly interactive, bittersweet overall. Another odd fact was the movement controls were entirely WASD, without the ability to click on a character or on the ground for movement. As we played we found the only times we actually used the mouse was for camera panning and talking to a few quest-important NPC's. The interesting effect resulting from these two combined factors was that it made combat a very dynamic experience. For instance, as a warrior when I used a sword skill it would actually slice into the air in front of me, whether or not there was an enemy in front of me. The same went for when I used a bow skill, if there was no enemy in front of me it would shoot into the hillside, but if there was it would automatically target any foes towards the middle of my vision. This sounds like a pain, and for most of my 40 minutes of play time it was, but I actually saw a lot of potential in this. For instance, say you're attacking a monster, but suddenly need to attack or heal someone else. Instead of changing targets, all you have to do is simply change your camera view and start using skills on your new target.

Beyond that I didn't get too far out of the starting zones as that wasn't really my goal, but my initial impressions were definitely positive overall. 

***end of GW2 Demo impressions***

Conventions are great for free stuff. You can easily get your money back.

Anyway, after we all finished our 40 minutes of demo play, we got some free GW2 Bandannas and special trading cards available only at PAX. The idea was that when you wore the bandanna around the conference, wandering GW2 staff would give out more of these trading cards as the day went on. Unfortunately, we only got a few cards this way, and as the day stretched on we noticed less and less people wearing the bandannas until almost no one else was wearing them at 5:30 when we left. Fun to get the bandannas and cards anyway. We then moved on to visiting the other booths and collecting items and punches around the conference in order to grab even more free stuff, of course. Some interesting items we passed by were Lego Universe (a Lego MMO), two floors of floorspace covered in beanbag chairs for socializing, and a service called OnLive that allows you to play games without downloading or installing them. This is particularly interesting because it allows people with crappy computers but a good internet connection to play all the games they couldn't before, even netbook users I'd imagine. I'll have to try the free month of membership I got to see how it works.

There was a lot more that happened I could write about, but at this point I'm feeling a little too tired from the day to continue writing. Oh! If you're ever at the convention center try the Brazilian grill a few blocks away. Delicious all-you-can-eat of what was probably the best cuts of steak I have eaten in my entire life. $17 lunch $40 dinner.

Today's (classic game) songs are:

"Hyrule Field" (from Twilight Princess, I believe) by Nintendo

&&

the "Mario Theme Music" by Nintendo

Brilliant Parking Scheme in Budapest - Üdvözli a jövőt!

Coolest parking system EVER! No really! There's no controls to pause or rewind the video, so make sure you have 5-6 minutes to kill uninterrupted before you click the link.

http://www.woehr.de/en/projekte/budapest_m730/index.htm

Boy's Play & Summer Sun

I write this in the shade of our backyard as the house is quite hot. My room read 80F as I left it a few minutes ago! Six months into the year and we're experiencing the start of our third full week of sun, with most of the before being broken random days. I love Western Washington's climate most of the year, but since the only places with AC around here are our supermarkets and about half of our many coffee shops, the first few days of heat really kill. 

Today is Jonny's 12th birthday, and to celebrate he had five of his friends over. I won't bore you with a full account of the days events, but I particularly wish to zone in on a particular stretch towards the end of the party. You see, I allowed Jonny and his friends to play with

Oh! A hummingbird just flew by! Err, right...

I allowed Jonny and his friends to play with my big tote of Legos (Lego?). Initially everything started out peacefully, then houses turned to forts, planes to gunships, and cars to artillery. The arms race had begun. You see, boys don't do so hot on imaginative competitions, and everything quickly devolved. Alliances were soon formed, and what I call the "chain of invulnerability" began quickly after the arms race did. You see, the other alliance started building a military force and declared they would soon be advancing on us. Two of the three of the nations on my side of the line were reluctantly drawn away from being peaceful economic nations and forced to build war machines merely for our own survival. The enemy responded by building warheads, and a nuclear arms race began. I cleverly sat off to the sideline and developed my anti-missile defense stations with more than enough munitions to fend them off. As things escalated and my defenses neared completion, the enemy ranks moved out into space, hopping from the moon to Mars. Their warheads launched, and ours were not fully ready! But Aha! I revealed my secret defenses and stopped two of their three warheads before they considered it wiser to devise a new scheme. As they debated and tinkered, I launched my secret plans that only an extra few years of life could devise. I launched an inter-spacial battle ship with a few envoys armed with missile defenses and my master plan... Yes, along with my small fleet came a very large missile. But this was no ordinary missile, oh no, I was too clever for that! It was a scud, you see. A scud! To their dismay, as they fired their cannonade at it it merely broke into smaller and smaller pieces, before all the little warheads came exploding down upon their base! Aha!

RESET!

What?! The losing side quickly revealed to me that this had all been the dream of some Lego figure, and that the real war hadn't actually began. Oh.

In this fresh canvas the same alliances existed, but the enemy team had now changed locations to none other than the surface of Sol himself. The sun! Apparently these peoples live on an ice patch they created on the cold top of our very own sun. Fascinating. My team, in equal maturity, changed our location to the CENTER of Canis Majoris, the largest star currently known to man (something along the lines that if our Sol was the size of a pea, Canis Majoris is about the size of an Olympic swimming pool). Seeing they had been outdone, the others then changed locations to the center of a black hole. Soon after, I moved to a different part of the house which was much cooler, and overheard evidence that the boys had tired of the stalemate they had reached, and decided to instead revert back to swords and guns. At least I was able to maintain a totally mature and non-escalating manner. Yup.

Looking back on the day, I don't understand how girls can have fun with toys that don't kill each other.

The rest is a preview about an upcoming post. To those that it would interest, I've been thinking about things to include in a post with reviews on various Facebook games and applications. I'm not exactly a full-time addict, but over the years I've played quite a few different games, and I figured it would be useful to create a list of the good, the bad, and the ugly in Facebook games, some of the hidden gems addicts and casual players alike might want to check out, and some pitfalls to watch out for when first trying any app. Since Myspace applications evolved so much slower than Facebook ones I never really got into them, so I apologize but there will be nothing about them in the post.

Today's song finally showed up on Project Playlist, I had been waiting a long time for it. It doesn't fit in perfectly with today's post, but it's close enough and is the only thing I can currently think of. As one of my favorite songs of all time, Dandelions compares a mother's love to God's love, "seeing flowers in these weeds".

"Dandelions"

by Five Iron Frenzy

Not Much Ado about Too much Adieu

I actually wrote this in the 13th but never got back to it. Suppose I should get it out there, eh?

As the seasons go, the weather becomes more mild, so does it seem that life does too. Summer is approaching, here for some and still far for me. Summer has always meant relaxation, endless free time, hanging out in the park, fresh veggies and fish, earning a little money here and there, catching up on books I've meant to read, and relaxing in the sun - because no one has AC in Washington so it's worthless to be inside anyway. And yet, I look forward to it as bittersweet. Over the last year or so I've found that I no longer enjoy those great amounts of free time, and enjoy life much more if I'm being kept at least fairly busy. In the time I do have I've fallen into the habit of finding something constructive to do, or to "better" myself somehow. I've started doing nearly daily workouts at home for much longer periods than I used to without equipment... I enjoy pushing myself to where my senses used to scream at me to stop, but then find I have a point of endurance just after that where it becomes much easier. I'd like to start running, and I kinda wish we still lived next to the bike trail, although I like this house better. I'm also finding more time for bible reading at random times in the day, although still not as much as I'd like.

Several of my friends are now back from "away" college now, although we still have about a month to go. It feels like we've waited so long that it kinda feels weird now to be so close to being done and move into the working world. Everyone's deciding what they want to do and I feel a little left behind in this, because I can't decide what I want to do. It kills - people ask what I plan on majoring in, what I plan to do as a career, and when I tell them I haven't decided yet I swear I see in their faces some disappointment as though I lack motivation or some other character. As of now though I plan on taking a class over the summer and work through next year before going back to a four year college somewhere, depending on what I decide I want to do (I'm already a year ahead in college anyway). This course of action seems to appease most people now, and to me it seems the best choice of path for now. Although, as I said about not liking to sit still anymore, I feel myself becoming ready to move on into the working world. That would mean no more summer mentality unfortunately, but I'm curious to see what that's like.

And hey, a lady would be nice. Any nice ladies out there? Figured I'd ask.

Today's song is:
"Yesterday" by the Beatles.

Earth Day is Bad For the Environment

So this week at the college is Environmental Week, and today they're giving away those snazzy free saplings people tend to give away on Earth Day. But then I started thinking about it, and I saw a flaw in this whole process. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but here in Washington when people are handing out free tree seeds or saplings, it's almost always pines you get. For those who don't know, pines are very much forest trees, and are designed as such. Pines don't fair as well when left alone or in small groups, and when they get big, they tend to topple when a big storm comes though. Dozens of houses and businesses get squished every year from the same thing happening over and over - either developers thin the trees out too much, or people/businesses plant them in rows or standing alone because they look nice. You can now figure out what happens then. Anyway, my point to this is, that people who get a free tree will tend to plant them close to their house - creating more freestanding pines. Then, the damage caused by the trees when they fall needs to be fixed by more trees, thus causing the one tree they planted to lead to several more trees being cut down.

See? See? Earth Day is bad for the environment! I'm gonna go burn some tires...


The song for today is
"Revolution" by Worth Dying For

In All Seriousness...

I'm afraid I might have fooled too many people with my elaborate April 1st guise. Sorry! Hopefully I caused some laughs, and hopefully I'm not posting this too soon and spoiling the fun for those who haven't seen yesterday's post yet. The National Guard, lip ring, and car crash all haven't happened. Yet. I have mildly thought about the Coast Guard, recently the National Guard, and possibly the Navy or Air Force, but these thoughts are very infantile and probably will never come to fruition. I will be leaving the lip ring photo up on Facebook though - I know there's a great deal of people who don't read this, and I'm hoping to get some laughs within the next few weeks from it.

As for a REAL update, school is going very well. Last quarter I ended with a GPA of 3.93, my best yet! That means President's List, and the quarter before that I got Dean's List. I'm on a roll! God has been good to me in helping me through school, as well as providing me certain other inspirations this year. Good ones, of course.

Speaking of such inspiration, I've also been able to work out at home regularly, and I must say I'm becoming rather happy with the results. Usually I need to also go to the gym or be doing a lot of physical work in order to concrete my efforts, but through discipline and doing various exercises I've been feeling more fit and strong, and have been able to push myself further and further. I've also dropped off of videogames significantly, and there have been several weeks in the past few months that I didn't play any at all (outside of short Facebook games). There are times I still get discouraged, who doesn't? But I always find something from God to look to.

God is good.


Again no need for a new song, this one deserves some more face time. Speaking of which, I've had a couple complaints about the music playing automatically. As a bit of a self-proclaimed techie, I often overlook the fact that some people don't know how to adjust the volume on their computer, or don't know what a giant red pause button looks like. As much as I'd love to tease you still-unnamed souls here as a proper stinging blogger or radio host would do, I suppose I will keep such words to myself. In the meantime, I'll make a poll on the side of the screen so that people can give some feedback. If I get enough hate votes I'll switch it to manual.

A New Month, New Adventures. An Old Month, Adventures Past.

So, as promised here's the update about what I've been up to, and perhaps a little about what's to come. After such a long post on the concert the other day I'm not entirely sure where I want to begin.

I guess I'll start with the most exciting news, which will be big news indeed to almost everyone. As only some of my closest friends have known, I've been thinking about getting into the National Guard for some time now. I'm sorry I didn't tell more of you, but I wasn't really sure and didn't want to get everyone excited over nothing. I've been talking to a recruiter for a few months now, and it sounds like a pretty sweet deal. My college gets paid for, and I'll be able to get work in this way, which are two huge issues I've been troubled about on what to do in the down economy once I finish Running Start. Working for the National Guard I probably won't have to go abroad but will be able to stay here probably for as long as I stay enrolled. Better yet, they don't seem to move you around quite as much as other fields of the military. I've thought about it for a long time, balanced out the options, and it looks like the best path to take. Soooo, to the exciting news. I've been talking to my recruiter more seriously over the last two weeks, and it looks like I'm in! All I need to do is finish school this quarter and he says he can sign the final paperwork as soon as summer starts, although I'll probably take a couple weeks off just to enjoy a little free time before I head off to boot camp and start working life. Oh! Duh, I forgot to mention where I was planning to work. The National Guard has a lot of options, but I ended up deciding to go into being a vehicle mechanic. I've always liked to work with my hands, and you'd be surprised just how much I get to work with the electronics on-board the trucks and tanks. I think it's going to be a good, varied job until I decided what I want to do in the long run. Ha, who knows? I might stick with this.


Guess what?? I got a lip ring! I know, I know, it's a little out of character you say, right? Well actually, my sister Emily did the exact same thing when she was in college, and I thought it'd be a fun last rebellious thing to do before I join the Reserve in a couple months. At that time I'll let it heal back over. It actually wasn't that painful to do, as you'd expect. The woman who did it for me was very clean about it, and it was pretty quick. Can't wait to show everyone on Sunday! XD

Next up is kinda embarrassing, but I feel obliged to cover it anyway. I got in a car accident for the first time last week while driving home from school. It kinda sucks, but at least I'm ok. The car's still drivable, with most of the damage just being to the body. What happened was, while I was turning left into a parking lot off of Meridian, another car didn't see me and tried to pull out into the lane I was pulling out of. Both of us hit the breaks and thankfully avoided anything worse, but it still sucks.

Aaaand that's about it for today. At least, that's certainly enough excitement.

Today's song is...
"Running Down a Dream" by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
I find it to be a good song for driving home on sunny days.

TL;DR, an Epic on a Roadtrip and Concert

I'm in the mood to get a new post up, but I only really have a few vague ideas of what I want to cover. Plenty has happened in the last month, so I don't think either of us will be too disappointed.

I've also been updating my good 'ole journal again in the last few weeks, which in an odd way takes up the writing energy I'd usually spend here. I like to keep journals not as some hive of secrets, but more of a personal history for me to look back on, see what I've gone through, and to see where I've grown. I actually highly recommend keeping a journal to anyone, it really is interesting to look back through the sometimes daily but often sporadic entries I've written over the last decade, in different journals covering anywhere from six months to three years. (I've only ever actually filled out one... I get a little twitchy towards the end and end up starting a new journal.)

(Ok, I changed my mind. I might consider writing about other stuff later, but this post is all about this weekend from this point on)

I went on a pretty exciting road trip this weekend, and covered nearly 300 miles in just two days! Gotta love spring break! Daniel and I were invited down to a concert in Portland by our good friends the Riddle girls, who live in in Vancouver. I got up, packed light, and met with Daniel at his house around 8am. Then began the long drive down to Vancouver, filled with good conversation, good traffic, and plenty of British rock as provided by a special weekend event on 102.5 KZOK, "Seattle's only Classic Rock Station". Things went well, and within a few hours we arrived at their house. It was good to see the lovely Lisa Dawn and Katy again, as well as the rest of the family. In fact, two of the older girls and their childerkins were visiting home and I got to meet them for the first time. The kids were very much rather adorable, although a little harder to understand than I ever remember my own nieces and nephews being. We headed out to Portland with one of the older girls, Clair, driving and being our chaperon of sorts, and Kelly joining in for the fun. On the way down we had some Taco Bell, which I don't think I've had since our last road trip! I love that stuff, at least more than other fast food. Here we ran into some trouble when we couldn't figure out where the concert was and got lost for a bit, but we found our way there in the end.

Once we arrived at the concert we got a spot in line provided by several of the boys from the Riddle's youth group - pleasant sorts of gentlemen. There were a lot of people waiting outside due to the fact that there was no pre-sale of concert tickets, something Daniel and I couldn't quite grasp. Some of the girls went off to use the restroom, and unfortunately met a line worse than ours. By the time the doors opened to the concert well over an hour later, the girls made it back just in time for us to go in and get our tickets. And by "tickets" I mean everyone dropped $10 in a bucket on the way in, which felt a little skeevy. It is to be noted that this all was budgeted to reach local people that otherwise couldn't make it, which also goes back to my thoughts on why there was no pre-sale. After about another hour of walking around and talking, the music started up!

The Sidewalk Prophets were the first up. They weren't bad, but not many seemed to know the songs and the music wasn't something you could just rock to.



Next up was Remedy Drive. Although this rising band is supposedly pretty big, I don't know if any of us had heard of them before this event. The others seemed more impressed than I was.

After that was Fee, another new band. This is where the party started. Good beat, good music, and people started getting into it, Fee made it start to feel like a concert!


After that was the very out-of-place Francesca Battistelli. True, she has a good voice and talent, but none of us were terribly excited that she got 4-5 songs in the lineup.


As if to shift us as violently as possible, Family Force 5 was next up, crazy uniforms and all. Quite to the surprise of us all, Lisa Dawn really liked this band. (There's some Family Force 5 as the second song for this post.) The only disappointment here was in that they had the base mellowed out a bit, which is very odd for such a hard band.

Second to the end, the David Crowder Band came in and rocked the house. Probably my favorite of the night (despite the pleasant surprise of Fee and the mad beat of FF5), I was quite exhausted from worshiping by the time MercyMe came on.


Although we had been looking forward to MercyMe as one of the familiar bands, they only played one song they actually wrote. Finished pretty well anyway.


Rather tired, we headed back up to Vancouver with some McDonald's for dinner on the way. With a sudden realization of a lack of foresight on the fact that we'd be home after midnight, we were graciously offered a spot on the floor to spend the night and some cereal in the morning to do us on our way. A funny thing about being young is that an exciting day ending with sleeping on the floor actually creates a strange sense of vigor in the morning, not ache and drowsiness. With slightly sad farewells we wished the Riddles goodbye as they went off to morning church and we homeward. As the strange phenomena is with home trips, we made it back in the record time of two hours. In even stranger phenomena, we once again saw a rainbow, although this time on the way home... this has happened on all but one of the times I've visited. The rest of the day after we got home was, of course, normal Sunday drabble not to be bored with here.

So yes, very fun times. But DANG. Anyone who read all of that deserves a medal. send me your name and I'll engrave it in a brick or something. For those interested in the meaning of the title, TL;DR is netspeak for "Too Long; Didn't Read," a term used for people who don't know when to shut up, much like me. I told you there would be no disappointment. ;) Hopefully I'll get another post up soon with pictures from the trip, but I didn't take any myself and am waiting for Katy to send me some. (*wink*nudge*)


Two songs for today! First up is...
"One of Those Days" by Joshua Radin.
I got it as an iTunes pick from Starbucks a few months ago. A little mellow, but one of my official favorite songs of 2010, of which there are currently only 11.

And as promised,
"Earthquake" by Family Force 5.
You'd never guess they're a Christian band, but they're good. I suppose it's worth nothing this is also on my 2010 list. Perhaps I'll post up the lists of past years sometime.

Washington Humor

I've been slowly working on a post about why our state of Washington is so darned amazing, since so many people seem to take it for granted, or even distaste. This is not that post, however. Just a bit of humor I found on a Facebook group, enjoy!


God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.
He inquired of God. "Where have you been?"
God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction, and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."
Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?"
"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put Life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."
"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.
God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over there I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things,"
God continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."
The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and said, "What's that one?"
"Ah," said God "That's Washington State, the most glorious place on Earth. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, plains, and coulees. The people from Washington State are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats, and carriers of peace."
Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then proclaimed, "What about balance, God? You said there would be balance."
God smiled and said, "There is another Washington...wait until you see the idiots I put there."


Meh, no song. This is just a short tidbit.

I SLAM Ubuntu

Nah, I just can't resist using wordplay in the blog title. This post is about Ubuntu, SLAM, and myself however.

Before I lose the average PC user talking about Ubuntu, let's start off with SLAM, or, the Student Literary Arts Magazine of Pierce College. Sound familiar? I kinda hope so, seeing as this goes back to my second blog post in October. Well the truth is, I've been putting off submitting my photographs until now. I've finally got a short Bio typed up, the photos selected, and everything burned on to a dvd. In all hopes, I'm not too late for the 2010 issue and some of my works will be good enough for the magazine! I selected 13 of some of the very best pictures I have ever taken, so hopefully I'll make the cut. I have a good shot, I think. =)

Now onto Ubuntu. You may ask "What is this new devilry?!" I tell you, it is magic. Ubuntu is an OS, or Operating System - exactly like how you may use Windows XP, Vista, Win7, Linux (Ubuntu is a flavor of Linux), or a Mac. What's special about Ubuntu? For one, it's free, compiled by an assortment of experts (similar to Firefox's roots). Another bonus is that it's totally open-source, meaning I can modify nearly every program or process to suit my needs. It's also very lightweight and fast. When I'm at school I use it for most mundane things like browsing the internet since it starts up significantly faster than my Windows 7, which isn't really that bad to start with. There are also a lot of visual effects and other features not present in Windows. Another notable difference is that while in Windows and Mac you largely use a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to do almost everything, Ubuntu allows you to do everything and then some by command prompt. This basically means that if I open up a Terminal and enter something like "sudo gedit" it opens up the text editor without me having to find the icon on my computer. There's much more to it, but you get the basic idea.

I'm also proud to report that I've fixed up my old computer to the point it can run games at a very stable level. It is to be noted that a month ago the same computer couldn't even idle for more than 15 minutes without crashing. That's three functioning computers I have now! ...Well, the last one's an eMachine, so it doesn't really count. If you own an eMachine, get a new computer - trust me.

My current workspace. Sure it looks cluttered, and admittedly having two mice and keyboards can get confusing at times, but it's very efficient.

I couldn't really remember any of the many songs that must exist involving operating systems and art magazines, so I went with the ever-classic:
"I Think I Love You"
as by David Cassidy and The Partridge Family

The Information Surge

I've hit something I haven't felt since I first started working with computers at a young age. I've reacquired a hunger, a thirst for knowledge. In the words of Einstein, my history professor, Imam Shafi`e (a writer of the Qur’an), and most specifically Plato, "The more I study, the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know." The knowledge disease. Or, more aptly, a lust for more of it.

I've probably learned more things about my computers in the past few weeks than I have in the last several years combined. I've been poking, prodding, searching, seeking, adjusting, and tweaking areas of my computer that most people don't even know exist. I've developed a new understandings on how things work. I've even gotten my old computer up and running again in a single day from some problems that had been vexing me for the past two years. It's not uncommon for me now to have more than a dozen browser tabs up all on various topics, with several maintenance processes of some sort running in the background.

My source of inspiration came from a friend Travis, and his friends also. They were the ones who got me started, encouraged me when I couldn't figure out a frustrating problem, and equipped me with useful tools. I've also learned a lot from them about things you just don't learn any other way, like defensive hacking. Threats like packet sniffing? I never would have guessed! Now the importance of things like encryption in information transfer seem more sensible to me (instead of just protecting point A and B).

I've gained a significantly greater understanding of how things work, and each new thing I learn sends me on to five or six new topics! I've found going to sleep a rather painful thing, and I've even begun to work while we watch our nighttime tv.

Now if only someone would pay me to do stuff like this...

Today's song (actually edited in on the 26th...):
"Nerd Alert" by The Aquabats.
A former ska band, they never really lost the sense of goofiness.

Par-tay-licious Times in Vancouver

Yes! Celebrating historical figures means government buildings close down, and government buildings closing down means schools are closed, schools being closed means days off, and what else could that mean?

R~o~a~d t~r~i~p!!

Yes, in celebration of good ‘ol Martin Luther King Jr, we decided to take a trip down to Vancouver to see the Riddles. Well, Daniel said he just wanted to see Katy and needed someone to keep him awake, but we all know he really wanted us along. ;)

After a couple hours of driving we arrived safely, and when we all eventually settled down we played a game of Settlers. I have a strong aversion to a similar game called Carcassonne and I was told I would hate it, but it turned out that Settlers was much more to my preference. Soon after we finished the game a veritable FEAST of Taco Bell was graciously brought back by Mrs. Riddle, such the likes of which I had never seen and probably will not see again for a good few years to come. Needless to say we had enough left over to feed another person or two.

Not much specifically worth mentioning after that… There was a healthy amount of talking, a bunch of pizza for dinner, “we” messed up Lisa Dawn’s bed as tradition has apparently stated, and we watched American Pickers somewhere at the end. Daniel got a slick lightsaber that is actually durable enough to fight with (a gift from Katy, I believe?) I might get one myself, but they cost about as much as any other sparring sword, which is more than your average low end decorative sword. Still, it lights up and you can hit people with it. How cool is that?

Attendees were Daniel, Anna, April, Jesse and I, for those interested. Matt couldn’t make it. D=

The most exciting couple since 1930.

The stars of today’s show, the inspiration for the trip, Lisa Dawn and Katy (respectively).

Plenty of snacks to go around.

As if the twenty pounds of burritos wasn’t enough. We couldn’t figure out why there were so many cups!

I was amused.

Koos Koos The Foos Moose is on the Loose! (formally known as Herschel)

Katy rolled up in the bed.

Herschel rolled up in the bed.

Scandal rolled up in the bed.

I absolutely love this sink. It’s legit.

There are actually two songs for this week as they’re fairly short.

-Gitchi Gitci Goo from Phineas and Ferb

-Busted from Phineas and Ferb

Phineas and Ferb songs hold a special place in the gang’s heart, so it was only proper.

People Always Reply to my Blogs via Facebook

Well you do. Stoppit!  =P  Blogger has a perfectly capable comment system, and you don’t need an account to comment on my blog if I remember properly.

I’m posting this at school via the Windows Live Writer. I noticed it came with MSN While I was installing it after upgrading to Windows 7. It actually seems pretty nice, and as I type it’s all in the same format and style it will look as when I post this.

 

Anyway, a break-down of school. Feel free to skim it if you’re not really interested, I don’t say anything terribly witty. I’ve got a less than orthodox class schedule this quarter: I wake up at six, leave home at 6:30, and my first class (a continuation of US History) starts at 7am. At 8am I get out and have a break until 1pm. During this time I get all of my homework done (What else?), hang around with my classmate Eric or sometimes April, and eat whatever “breakfast” I brought – usually poptarts or a muffin. I usually try and hide off in a hotspot (place with wireless internet) alone and Facebook or play Perfect World during this time, however. Makes the time pass faster and easier.

From 1-2:05 I have an American Literature class with one of my old English teachers from last year. She’s a little rough but she’s also one of the most worthwhile of the teachers I’ve had. This is definitely easier than the English class was though. This is where my short days end, Mondays and Wednesdays. However on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have yet another class from 5:30-7:40. I eat dinner (a Nissin microwave noodle bowl) during this free time, and hang out with Daniel for the last hour before class. This class is Introduction to Weather and I’m taking it with good ‘ol Daniel. Unlike the other two, this one is kind of an interest elective. I don’t really need it, but I’m actually pretty excited for some of the things we’ll be learning later. The professor says by the end of the quarter we’ll be able to predict weather more accurately than the news people on TV, guaranteed. Sweet.

After that I go home, watch some TV with the family, and go to bed between 9-11pm. On Fridays I thankfully only have my early morning History class. Exciting stuff. The bonus with this schedule however, is that I have all the time in the world to do schoolwork, and have almost the entire weekend to relax or do something other than schoolwork.

 

I figure I should also point out that I attach a song to each week’s post, and that I should probably say at the end what the title and band is. Sometimes songs on Project Playlist will disappear, so the order might get mixed up sometimes otherwise.

This week’s song:

“College Kids” by Relient K.

I’m usually not a big fan of their music, but they do have one or two ok songs I enjoy. Haha, sorry I couldn’t think of anything better to attach this time around.

 

Back to work…

Not a Tithe, But an Offering

I feel I don't say it nearly enough, though I do my best to live it. God is truly amazing and wonderful. I owe so much to Him: my lot in life, my eternal security, and my very life. The last of which I may not remember myself, but I am humbled and awestruck when the thought comes to me, when the images given by my parent's memory, when I consider all that God has used me for in His glory... I am overcome. Not just in word, but literally- if I am alone I sometimes have trouble keeping my composure when I think about it. I suppose this would be a good chance to share that story, but that's quite a post in and of itself.

In my life, there have been times when I've dedicated myself to work, school, self-enrichment, or other betterment. In painful honesty, there have been many more times I've have given equal effort to pleasure, entertainment, selfishness. I'm a student of history, and I know I haven't lived long, but in my life I have found that there is not enough time in all the world to fully satisfy either of these ends. Neither is fully achievable. It would seem that as I look back, my greatest success in both was when I concentrated on neither, but on God instead. When He is my number one, everything else just seems to fall into place.

These ideas have been coming to me in my times of thought lately, but particularly heavy today. It is somewhat ironic, though wholly appropriate that this very day is the start of a new year, when people look back, look forward, and steel themselves for whatever the year may bring. I hope to grow closer to God, to stretch myself, and above all that I might be prepared for what exciting and amazing things He uses me for this year.



It has also been haunting the recesses of my mind for quite some time now how little I ever show my spiritual life online. So, here I proclaim for all to see what I believe, as complete and accurate as I have endeavored to create, my statement of faith:

I have a deep and sincere love for my God, a being one and separate, though it is beyond my mind to comprehend. I believe the Bible is completely true, and if it were to have but a single error like many claim, my entire belief would be worthless. (There's actually a verse that says the same directly, though I will need to search and remember the exact reference.) I believe that faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven, nothing else, and that all that reject God will go to a place of torment called hell, and that this fact is deeply saddening to God (if He didn't have mercy, or enjoyed punishment, I sure wouldn't be here). I believe that nothing happens on accident, but bad thing are allowed to happen so that we may be drawn to God or shown our own personal inadequacies, and great tragedies occur because we live in a world corrupted by sin, not because God is up there causing it all. I believe that God has two plans for our lives: the original best He has for us, and then the one that He has for us even after we screw up, for He still wants the best for you and I. I believe in a literal, physical, "rapture", and that a new heaven and earth will be created to house believers for all eternity. I won't state here where I stand on all the pre-mid-post tribulation nonsense, for I figure that even if my understanding is wrong, it'll happen however God plans it to. Guaranteed.

-Kenneth R. Kurtz


Ah, it looks like this won't be finished before the first day of the year officially ends. Oh well, wasn't really why I was posting it anyway. =)