| Writer's Block: And the Apple Goes To |
[Aug. 17th, 2009|09:24 am] |
That honor goes to one Travis Doom, PH.D. in Computer Science and Engineering. You read that sentence right. His name is Dr. Doom. Despite that fact, he is far from sinister. He is intelligent, lively, helpful, and has that power to make you interested in the subject he is teaching that only the best teachers have. He is the reason I decided to continue in the field when things got rough. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 10th, 2009|06:46 pm] |
The alternate history film Red Dawn debuted in theaters 25 years ago today. Although premise and propaganda make it seem dated, it is a good action movie and a interesting look at the dominant fears and beliefs in the U.S. at the time.
They say if you watch the trailer and yell "Wolverines!" three times, the ghost of Ronald Reagan will appear and give you a jellybean.
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 20th, 2009|01:04 am] |
So Obama killed a fly. I've killed three on the same day. I've gotten threefold better results than our decider-in-chief commander-in-chief. That's not good.
Also, I'm very tired. |
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| Writer's Block: You Don't Know Me |
[May. 3rd, 2009|03:09 pm] |
Given my username and the poster for The Terminator on my wall, everyone thinks that I like The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Although I was originally optimistic, the show just seemed to go further and further downhill the more I watched it. The writing was just so painful, it reminded me why I rarely watch TV anymore. |
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| Writer's Block: LiveJournal Book Club |
[Apr. 25th, 2009|06:10 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | writer's block | ] |
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Harry Turtledove's "Tosev" series of alternate-history novels. The first four books (the Worldwar tetrology) involves lizard-like aliens known as the Race invading Earth during World War II, and the Allied and Axis nations putting off their differences to resist them. It was an interesting and unique way of looking at that conflict, not only through the eyes of political leaders and military commanders you heard about in history class, but also from the perspective of everyday (fictional) characters.
The next three books (the Colonization trilogy) details the Race colonists trying to settle down on the parts of Earth their military conquered while their leaders maintain a sort of cold war with the human nations that fought it to a stalemate in Worldwar. It takes place during the 1960s, so it looks at the changing of social norms during that time in the same way Worldwar looked at WWII. Interestingly, it also observes some of the problems facing our own time, such as the Race fighting against Islamic extremists in its colonies in the Middle East (the "War on Terror" was right around the corner when this trilogy came out).
The final book, Homeward Bound, involves the U.S. reaching the Race's homeworld (known as, what else, "Home") to establish stronger diplomatic ties with it. The book continues many of the same themes of the previous book and gives at least a semblance of closure to the series. This novel explores the Race's culture in greater detail and demonstrates just how damn hard it is for different nations and cultures to coexist peacefully.
These eight books are among the very few works of fiction that have left a lasting impression on me. They got me to look at history and culture in a much broader sense. I'm not recommending any book from the series in particular. You should read all of them. |
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| Writer's Block: Gamer's Choice |
[Apr. 13th, 2009|03:04 pm] |
I can't name a single favorite "old-school" game as the term includes-for me at least-every game made from the 1970s to 2002 because as a computer person a tend to view anything that's more than four years old as "quaint". As any gamer will tell you, video games were often completely different from one decade to another. Thus, I will just list my favorite game by the decade it was released:
1970s: Breakout. Just smash some bricks by bouncing a ball off a paddle. Not very complicated, but engaging. The only thing I didn't like about the game was trying to hit the last brick (that was the part when I usually just stopped playing).
1980s: Robotron 2084 I never had an NES, so the only 80s games I've played are ones that were on the arcade, and Robotron was the only one I kept coming back to. The game had frentic action, catchy sounds and visuals (especially the transitions between levels), and great dual-joystick controls which made moving a shooting a breeze. I'd also like to give honorable mention to Robotron's successor, Smash TV.
1990s: Duke Nukem 3D. Wolfenstein 3D and Doom may have birthed the first person shooter, but Duke 3D perfected it. It had well designed levels which actually looked like real places (as opposed to Doom which only had corridors of simple geometric shapes), excellent theme music which is still fun to listen to, and a sense of humor (however crude it was) that is sorely missing from more recent shooting games. As an aside, I preferred the Nintendo 64 version, which had better graphics, larger levels, and different types of ammunition for the game's weapons (such as explosive shotgun shells). It was one of those rare cases where a game is significantly better on a console than it is on a personal computer. |
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| Writer's Block: Year of the Ox |
[Jan. 26th, 2009|12:48 pm] |
According to the system, I am a Earth Snake, which I suppose makes sense. I tend to be cautious, analytical, mellow, and I don't take stress very well. |
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| Writer's Block: Humans and Cylons |
[Jan. 16th, 2009|03:35 pm] |
I don't know about feelings, but to get their rights they will need to fight for them. Freedom has never been free, so we'll have to watch out for waves of unmanned bombers and muscular California governors with Austrian accents for a while. The good news is that just by fighting, they will have proved that they have caught up to us on an intellectual and emotional level. If you have self-determination, how can you help but be human? |
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| Writer's Block: What Kind of Wonderful? |
[Dec. 20th, 2008|09:42 am] |
Jingle All the Way, of course. Watching Ahnold beat the shit out of people over an action figure is something Christmas shoppers everywhere can relate to. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 28th, 2008|05:16 pm] |
I get out of college for Winter Break and wouldn't you know it: my Xbox 360 gets the red ring and Ubuntu stops working. Yay.
Seriously, I was so bored the last few days I decided to rent another system for $30 while the replacement is sent out. After being able to play Fallout 3 again, I can say it was worth every penny. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 4th, 2008|11:34 pm] |
It's over. Thank God Allah Buddha Shiva Xenu that goddamn teapot, it's finally over.
An aside: I saw Air Force One circling around the university (Wright-Patterson AFB is practically next door) earlier today. Still haven't been able to figure out what it was doing there. |
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