rustybutterkniv

Did not know until today that I had a cousin who went to UC Merced, and in fact graduated from UC Merced this year, and saw Michelle Obama give the commencement speech.

If you haven't seen it already, go watch it right now.

http://drhorrible.com/

Now that I've played Twilight Princess for a bit, I thought I'd put my impressions on it. Here it is, x-posted from a message board I check out occasionally. I'm adding a few notes and a few more edits as I reread it:

I might as well put my impressions of the Wii version in here, since it seems I'm the only one who's played this game. Be warned that you may be spoiled by what I'm about to write.

Overall it's been an extremely good game. My main stumbling point is with the twilight realm. I'm less than 10 hours into the game, and all three of my forays into the twilight realm have been a bit disappointing. Graphically, and soundwise, the twilight realm is extremely beautifully executed, with a very lonely and forboding palette, mysteriously atarilike pixelation in some places and "metallic" (as my sister put it) electronic sound effects in the soundtrack, the latter two of which almost make me wonder if there's some sort of Sci-Fi element to the game lurking around the corners. Another lovely thing is that I cannot for the life of me draw, or even clearly imagine certain features of the creatures of the twilight to any degree of precision. Somehow the designers have imbued them with a vagueness of form that my senses can't quite make sense of. Yes, the brightness on my TV is set amply high, thank you for asking! At the same time, they are creepy and have an original, alien look. (There are a few that remind me a bit of Cthulhu, actually) I never want to see screenshots or toys made of them, as it would destroy a lot of the mystery.

But, I digress. The puzzles in the twilight realm seem a lot more simplistic than the rest of the game. Perhaps when I have more wolfy abilities this won't be the case, but this early on, it's definitely simpler because you lose your items, and the abilities that replace them are simpler. There are jumping puzzles where the girl who rides on your back takes you across a gap... and the way these work seems arbitrary on some jumps. Sort of like, you hunt around for the spot where she'll call for her to pick you up, and there aren't any set criteria for this beyond clear line of sight. The other problem with this is that you can jump without any difficulty except in TWO places so far. I'd appreciate it if the jumps were a little bit more challenging. This isn't as bad as the fetch quest they give you when you go to the twilight realm, though. Zelda, in a way, is all about fetch quests: get the key to open the door, get the special item out of the dungeon to use on the boss, and so forth. This is different, see, you need to pick up these tears of light that get rid of the twilight in a particular area. Unlike a boomerang, or a bow, or even a key, you don't _do_ anything with them. Instead they just work by "magic" when you get enough of them. That, I think, is what I find a bit unsatisfying about this fetch quest. Combined with the fact that your items are gone, this part of the game feel less like Zelda, and almost sort of like a platform or action game. This isn't to say that I dislike this part of the game; your new wolfy perspective gets used cleverly much of the time, It's just that it's not as cool as the rest of the game.

The other minor problem I have with the game is that it starts out a bit slower than other Zeldas I've played. Part of this, I think, has to do with my unfamiliarity with the Wiimote. For those of you getting this game on the GC, the beginning should be just as quick as OoT or WW. (Damn fish.)

Other than these things though, the game is spectacular. The graphics and sound are not merely beautiful, but serve to draw you into the game. Like Zeldas before it, this game is rather light on story, but is good at drawing you into the atmosphere of a fantasy realm. The cutscenes (and there are a lot of them, but it never feels like too much) accomplish this as well and highlight the atmosphere: dark, with small pockets of happiness in the normal Hyrule, darker and alien in Twilight Hyrule.

This game is definitely harder than the other 3D zeldas (I haven't played MM) and it's a refreshing change from WW which, while having interesting puzzles, had very easy ones. The puzzles aren't the main thing making this game more challenging though, it's the combat. Thankfully they did away with the I-can-hit-you-automatically-no-matter-what sword move that was in WW, which, while satisfying when you pulled it off, made combat way too easy. Another change is the addition of more mini-games. At one point I'm herding goats, another part I'm jousting, and later I'm sumo wrestling a goron. All of these feel well designed and for the most part don't feel separate from the main game, to the point where I hesitate to even call them mini-games. (They're sort of like the parts where you're running away from a boulder, or trying to avoid getting chopped in half in RE4, but slightly more complex)

Is it better than Ocarina of Time? If the puzzles in the Twilight realm get better and the jumping seems less arbitrary and more challenging, I'd say yes.

How White and Nerdy Are You?

Pure Nerd 78 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 39% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on nerdiness You scored higher than 99% on geekosity You scored higher than 99% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Hard core nerd in the hizzy... about as I predicted. From RJ's journal.

:D!!!! The DS Opera web browser is coming out soon. Link via slashdot.

Had to switch planes and then wait another 3 hours last night before we left because they had to fix some hydraulic thing on the first plane in my layover in Atlanta, but I'm home! I don't really feel like posting about the trip in LJ right now, but if you see me, ask. It'll be interesting, promise.

My friend code is:

064491004613

Yes, it really is _duck_tape, wiki it if you don't believe me.

Anyway I made a fugly-ass case for my DS out of black duck tape, for keeping out the Portland rain when it's in my backpack. I had made a sleeve for it before, which covered everything except one end (the part that has the L and R and power), but added a cover for that side and a "latch". Pictures later.

I'm planning on making it look nicer by putting on clippings from old nintendo powers and other stuff, painted on with two or three coats of watered down Elmer's glue.

I'm thinking about volunteering at Free Geeks again, so I can get a computer, hook it up to my stereo and the ethernetwork, and use it as a Jukebox for all my MP3s, OGGs, etc., and access it remotely from the other computers in the house, rather than having a monitor, keyboard, etc. Other than the volunteering, I can't see it costing more than $50 between cables and adapters (which I can mostly get at their thrift shop). A good cheap low-wattage power supply might be nice too.

I got a great idea for another Paranoia adventure yesterday: GAMESHOW! Some of the PCs will be be contestants on the show, some would be involved with the actual running of the show.

Slashdot has an article linked about a portable projector, making it possible to view info on a large screen on any so-equipped device. It triggered a whole sequence of thoughts I've been having over for the past year or so; that, in 5 to 10 years we'll be carrying our PCs around with us in our pockets. And, that businesses or local governments would be advised to start bringing out wireless access to accomodate this change.

Wireless access is probably one of the biggest pieces in miniaturizing the PC, and continuing the convergence of miniature devices. After all, if I can store all my music or videos on a hard drive at home, and have enough bandwidth to play them (and reasonable signal reliability), why own an iPod at all? Why own a cellphone, if I can use my portable PC with wireless access and Skype (other than differences in cost and signal, of course)? And with the other two essentials for a cellphone sized PC, projectible input (there are already projectible "keyboards", they'd just need to get a bit better), and output, why be content with crap PDA apps, awkward input on a small screen, and daily synchronization, when your PC is also your PDA? All you need is a flat surface to project your "keyboard" and a perpendicular white one for your screen. And when you get home, or to your work, you'll probably just need to set it near the nice big screen (or projector), keyboard/mouse and printer you have there for when you need to do more detailed work, all of them with bluetooth connectivity, or some evolution thereof. You'll only need wires for power. Also, as I alluded to earlier, the division between off and onsite personal storage (which we already see with, say, the programs that convert your Gmail to a filesystem), will further blur.

Of course, all of this comes as a huge "no shit" to some people, so I might as well talk about the next step along this chain as well. The next step after the cellphone PC, I suppose, is the sunglasses PC, as seen in the creative commons licensed free ebook Accelerando, by Charles Stross, and much other SF. Mice would be replaced by eye tracking (already in use by research psychologists for quite some time, but obviously not for the same purpose) and speech recognition, though I'd suspect keyboards would still be around as well because of privacy and crosstalk. At that point, the ability to project images on a wall/screen becomes moot except for those without the sunglasses.

Got in 10:00 p.m. and got home by 10:30, going to sleep now... i'm pretty sure I was on Portland time the whole time I was in NYC because it doesn't feel like 3:12 A.M.

Check out these sometime:

http://animeg.blogspot.com
http://www.cassowarybuttons.com/

I'll post again when I get situated in NYC on my grandma's Mac. Right now there's still too many "ifs" to make any kind of coherent picture of the future. I leave tonight at 11:55.

Went to see the lead singer of the Decemberists at the Aladdin Theater last night. Though I like the Decemberists and the music he did from them, all of his solo stuff sounded pretty much the same. Maybe it would have helped if I'd listened to more Morrisey? That's what he played on his first solo album, and, I'd assume, at the show as well. He also played a couple of new songs that I liked, and one I hated was about a baby he and his girlfriend were having (a theme, he admitted, that could be a career killer). It wasn't a bad concert, but it was uneven, so the energy of one song didn't carry over to the next. He also seemed to be concentrating more on playing to the audience than playing music. I liked the opening act better, Ellen Veer (Vere?), and probably would have picked up her CD if I had any hard cash on me at the time.

I think I'll just stick with the Decemberists for now.

You scored as Philosophy. You should be a Philosophy major! Like the Philosopher, you are contemplative and you enjoy thinking about the purpose for humanity's existence. </td> Philosophy 83% Chemistry 75% Biology 75% English 75% Psychology 75% Sociology 67% Anthropology 67% Engineering 67% Mathematics 58% Journalism 58% Linguistics 58% Theater 58% Art 42% Dance 25% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

Chemistry probably would have rated slightly higher if it weren't for the question "The word 'molecular' fascinates me." No, the word doesn't fascinate me at all. Anyway, I minored in chemistry, and considered minoring or majoring in english and biology as well for a while.. so it's not far off.

I've been playing Fire Emblem a lot lately for the GBA. Great game, but the story leaves a lot to be desired. It's like they decided to throw in every trope of japanese rpgs and chivalric fantasy they could get to give the flavor, but not the heart of a good story... like an inexperienced RPer using "Sir" in an MMORPG. The gameplay, though, is great. When death is permanent, unlike FFT and other games I can think of, it forces you to think ahead, to prevent deaths. Also, when initially weak characters go on to become the strongest in the game, it forces you to think, not only within a single battle, but between battles, adding another level of strategy. The game is simpler, easier to learn the rules than FFT and other strategy rpgs, but then, so is chess. I wouldn't put it on the same level as chess, of course, but it is a fun game.

Other than that, I've been reading the fourth installment of "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin. I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed with "A Feast for Crows". I plan on finishing the book, based on how good it's seemed, but it so far (as of page 150 or so), doesn't stack up with the rest of the books in the series. The question that keeps popping into my head is whether it's because much less happens in this book than the others, or whether the quality of the writing in general is worse. I guess it would be better if the former is true so I could skip it on future rereadings of the series.

My new years resolutions is to up my skillz in French, I may start reading French websites. At one point I was thinking of buying two or three books in French that I already have in English (The Stranger by Camus, The Little Prince, etc.) but I think it'll be better this way.

My copy of FF4 Advance sold mere hours on sale at half.com. Maybe it's actually cheaper to buy new games if you aren't planning on keeping them.

If anyone wants to draw this into a comic, go right ahead.

Title: Teach a Man to Fish...

Panel 1: *splosh!*
Panel 2: "Hey, what are you doing throwing your fish back in the water?" Person 2
"Well, to tell you the truth it isn't my fish, it's my neighbors." Person 1
Panel 3: "He needs more motivation to catch big fish, like me." Person 1
Panel 4: "I've been doing it for years now, but he never seems to figure it out, the idiot." Person 1
Panel 5: "He just keeps catching these dinky little fish." Person 1
Panel 6: "The worst part of it is, he's got the government to take part of MY fish!" Person 1
Panel 7: "Well, don't you think he has a right to? After all, you're making it hard for him to live on small fish." Person 2
Panel 8: "Naw, he needs to try harder and learn how to catch bigger fish so he doesn't have to steal from me!" Person 1
Panel 9: "How can he catch bigger fish when you leave him starving?" Person 2
Panel 10: "Besides, you live farther upriver, you catch all the big fish before they get to him." Person 2
Panel 11: "And let's not even talk about the neighbors who are even further downriver-" Person 2
"There's nobody who lives farther downriver, that's crazy talk-" Person 1
Panel 12: "Actually there is, and they have to live on the rotted stinking fish you throw back in the river." Person 2
Panel 13: "It almost makes me want to throw YOU in the river." Person 2
"No sir, that's Communism!" Person 1
Panel 14: "Anyway, he has to work harder, trying to get the fish that scurried away from you." Person 2
Panel 15: "The ones that aren't so fat and dumb." Person 2
"Hey, how do you know so much about this anyways?" Person 1
Panel 16: "I'm your neighbor, asshole." Person 2

Don't get me wrong though, people can make new rivers and that's a good thing... usually they're the ones who are well fed to begin with.