T-800

terminator44 @ 2009-10-28T11:16:00

2009-10-28T15:17:08Z

Writer's Block: And the Apple Goes To

2009-08-17T13:30:20Z

Who is/was your favorite teacher in school?

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.

terminator44 @ 2009-08-10T18:46:00

2009-08-10T22:46:33Z

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.

Writer's Block: I May Be Crazy

2009-08-07T03:46:37Z

What does this Rorschach blot look like to you?

View 540 Answers

~~Dog. Dog with its head split open.~~ A pretty butterfly.

Writer's Block: Le Quatorze Juillet

2009-07-15T02:51:30Z

Happy Bastille Day! Today the French celebrate the event that sparked the French revolution. In honor of our Francophone friends, what is your favorite French thing? Bonus points for answers en français.

View 502 Answers

Quoi d'autre? (What else?)

terminator44 @ 2009-06-20T01:04:00

2009-06-20T05:06:38Z

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.

Twenty years ago...

2009-06-04T06:53:44Z

Writer's Block: You Don't Know Me

2009-05-03T19:13:37Z

Our friends don't always know us as well as they think, particularly when it comes to likes and dislikes. Which popular book, movie, band, food, TV show, etc. would your friends be surprised to hear that you don't like?

View 500 Answers

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.

Writer's Block: End of the World as We Know It

2009-05-01T14:32:19Z

Robert Frost speculated about the world ending in fire or in ice. Which do you think is likely to end us all: meteorite, global warming, nuclear weapons, zombies, or the superflu?

View 501 Answers

You left out "genocide by robots/A.I.s".

Writer's Block: LiveJournal Book Club

2009-04-25T22:57:55Z

Out of all of your favorite books, pick just one you'd recommend everyone read. As a bonus: why did you pick that one?

View 505 Answers

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.

Writer's Block: Going Greener

2009-04-22T13:16:49Z

How could you better “green” your life? What’s holding you back?

Sponsored by One Million Acts of Green brought to you by Cisco.

View 314 Answers

It's not easy being green:

Writer's Block: Gamer's Choice

2009-04-13T19:58:53Z

What is your favorite old-school video game?

Submitted By 2hated2care

View 503 Answers

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.

Writer's Block: Rare Condition

2009-02-13T16:41:22Z

Do you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia or know anyone who does?

View 500 Answers

Hell, no. The worst day I've had all month was yesterday.

Writer's Block: Year of the Ox

2009-01-26T17:50:26Z

Happy Chinese New Year! The Year of the Ox starts today. What is your Chinese zodiac animal? Do you think you fit the description of the sign?

View 500 Answers

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.

Writer's Block: Robotic

2009-01-25T18:34:34Z

Who (or what) is your favorite fictional robot?

View 500 Answers

Take a wild guess.

Writer's Block: Humans and Cylons

2009-01-16T20:43:32Z

The final episodes of Battlestar Galactica begin today. The sci-fi drama often explores the relationship between humans and machines. At what point do we consider a machine with artificial intelligence to be an individual with its own feelings and rights?

View 500 Answers

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?

He's Kris Kringle and he approves this message.

2008-12-24T14:50:45Z

Writer's Block: What Kind of Wonderful?

2008-12-20T14:45:17Z

A lot of people love the film It's a Wonderful Life. Some people find it to be not so wonderful. Do you have a favorite holiday-themed movie? And if so, what is it?

View 500 Answers

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.

terminator44 @ 2008-11-28T17:16:00

2008-11-28T22:27:22Z

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.

terminator44 @ 2008-11-04T23:34:00

2008-11-05T04:40:58Z

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.

Writer's Block: Confidential

2008-10-26T18:35:05Z

Prying eyes are everywhere, from pesky younger siblings to the Patriot Act. What steps do you take to protect your privacy, on or offline?

View 432 Answers

Toss my cookies. No, really, Ad-Aware is good at it.

terminator44 @ 2008-10-17T23:09:00

2008-10-18T03:13:54Z

I can't believe I've waited this long to mention this: Last week, one of the organizers of the Ig Nobel awards ceremony gave a lecture here at Wright State. It gave me some much-needed laughter.

That's all for now. Need to get back to a programming project.

Writer's Block: Neuromancer

2008-10-02T00:42:05Z

Happy birthday, Neuromancer! Since its publication 24 years ago, William Gibson’s visionary novel has influenced everything from technology to pop culture. What other novels have had such an unexpected impact?

View 290 Answers

Got to go with Brave New World by Auldous Huxley and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. TANSTAAFL!

Addiction squared.

2008-09-29T00:25:18Z

Bejeweled is about to be playable on World of Warcraft.

Now, I've defended Blizzard from claims of people who compare them to drug dealers, but damn, that's just unfair.

We interrupt this post for an important news bulletin: Congress has finally done something that doesn't make me feel like brewing Molotov cocktails.

Writer's Block: Easier Said Than Done

2008-09-12T01:53:40Z

What’s a simple thing you could do to save money, but are unwilling (or unable) to put to practice?