gen

So it's been a month with no update. I did think about posting to the blog - it's the thought that counts right? ...Yeah, I guess not. So anyway, many GTA IV sessions have passed, I'm now back home in the ATL with summer classes in session. It's actually not so bad (I say this in retrospect because whenever I'm actually in class, it really is bad, but I'll get to that in a bit). I originally thought I had classes everyday (which I will eventually) but it turns out Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes are for the short summer session which starts in mid-June. THUS! I have 4-day weekends until then! It's quite amazing - 2 days of classes out of 7.

The only problem with summer classes is that they're SO FRICKIN LONG (insert "that's what she said" here). I can handle interesting subjects for 1hr 45min, but monotonous and uninteresting subjects are just that - monotonous and uninteresting... for an hour and 45 minutes. Take for example my math class Applied Combinatorics. I thought this would be an interesting class because of its description:

Elementary combinatorial techniques used in discrete problem solving: counting methods, solving linear recurrences, graph and network models, related algorithms, and combinatorial designs.

That sounds pretty interesting right? At least for a math class, right? No? I'm just a dork? Ok. You're right. The other day we spend half an hour on proving the existence and the uniqueness of a "Division Algorithm" aka we learned how to divide. Needless to say I lost interest 5 minutes in. I'm still hoping, however, that the course will become more interesting. Which leads me to the class following: History. This class has no hope of becoming more interesting. The prof talks for an 1hr45min non-stop. I kid you not. No breaks, starts on time, ends on time. It's unbelievably sleep-inducing.

Now that you've read about my school life, let's move on to the more interesting stuff? Like that kid and his male guardian figure I mentioned... a month ago. So I was at GameStop pre-ordering GTAIV and while waiting in line I overheard this conversation going on between this kid and this dude. It went a little something like this:

Dad: ....but you already have a two-hundred and fifty dollar gaming machine at home, you don't need this
Kid: but...
Dad: Do you see this price tag? It says one-hundred and thirty dollars . This is not as good as your two-hundred and fifty dollar one you have at home.

At first I was wondering what they were going on about, but then as soon as he stated $130 I knew what he was talking about. He was puttin' down my DS, my and our beloved DS, as inferior to the PSP on the basis of price alone. I felt like walking up and saying: If you're going to lecture a child, do it properly and with your facts straight. While it's good you're teaching the kid he doesn't need two portable gaming toys, the reasoning behind your logic is ultimately flawed. But I supposed I'm biased and partial towards the DS. BUT!, my partiality has logic behind it. By the following table, I shall support my reasons for knowing that DS > PSP.So there you have it, DS clearly is better than PSP. Even though the PSP is two-hundred and fifty dollars it is ousted by the one-hundred and thirty dollar gaming machine. Take that two-hundred and fifty dollar gaming machine! And take that Mr. Swayed-By-Price-Of-Unit. People who think they know things that they don't annoy me. You are distorting that child's mind! He shall never know the joys of a DS! But whatever, you bought him a PSP in the first place. He better be happy with that.

Onto the next subject! What's up with all these game journalists using the term 'next-gen' to describe the 360, PS3, and even Wii. This very much annoys me whenever I see it used to reference one/all of these consoles. The term is blatantly inaccurate.

next [nekst] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1. immediately following in time, order, importance, etc.: the next day; the next person in line.
5. on the first occasion to follow: when next we meet.
Courtesy of Dictionary.com

What's this? 'Next' means coming up? What a concept! Wait, how are our consoles 'next-gen' if they're already here! This term may have been fine when the consoles were in development, but why has the term stuck? I dislike things that are inaccurate but become trendy.

Aside: Back in my Guild Wars days, there was a team build that was named IWAY. The build name was coined because its cornerstone key skill was called '"I Will Avenge You!"' Thus the name fit appropriately. Its amazing success however, had many other builds INACCURATELY mimicking the name. Builds such as Flare-way, Monk-way, hell, I even saw some people have the audacity to call Necro spikes SS-way (for the skill Shadow Strike) and many others (of which I've forgotten names, it's been a while...) that I didn't care to remember since they were so lamely copied.

Get a clue people, these consoles are no longer 'next-gen', they are 'current-gen'. I suppose describing the graphics in a new fangled game as current-gen-graphics doesn't have the same luster to it ("The graphics in [insert game] are very current-gen~!" vs. "The graphics in [insert game] are very next-gen~!") but next-gen-graphics falsely implies that the graphics are of quality that can't be seen today. I'm sorry for being picky, but the term annoys me. I suppose stating that the technically correct way of referencing this current generation of video game machines as 7th generation wouldn't get the same message across either... *sigh.

That is all for this time. Until the next, enjoy life!

night activities

So I was in the shower yesterday (and other days too, yesterday was not a special occasion) and I turned on the water. The water flowed out of the tub faucet and I inserted my finger into the stream to test its temperature. Then a thought crossed my mind. I wonder how much water is wasted by people who do the same as me. All that unused "warmup-period" shower water just goes down the drain - the majority of which never gets the chance to grace your body. Poor water.

That's when ideas started popping into my head on ways to preserve this taken-for-granted water. At first I thought - maybe there should be a middle option on the faucet that let's less water out. Since, right now, there's either shower head or FULL BLAST WASTING WATER (unless you're about to take a bath - different story). They could design a 3-state lift arm on the faucet; all the way down means you're going to take a bath, midway means you are warming up the water, and all the way up means you are in the process of taking a shower.

Then I thought to myself, this would still waste water - thus, not completely dissolving the issue at hand. So, my next idea was a intermediate basin of some sort that can re-circulate unused water. This way, the unused water would not go down the drain, but simply get warmed up by incoming water. For novelty's sake, you would be able to stick your finger in the basin to test the temperature - yeah that's right, it could have a sensor to do this, but that would be too technical; some things are just better the old fashioned way.

Come to think of it, this could be expanded to sinks as well! Maybe it's not as big a deal though. Still, some people wait for water to get hot before washing the dishes, right? Dishwasher? What's that?

I guess this all boils down to older houses though since their water heating systems are not as snappy as new homes... All of these thoughts crossed my mind from simply waiting for the water to get warm for a shower.

In gaming news, approximately 7 days and 5 hours until I get my hands on Grand Theft Auto IV. I'm mega stoked and I'm devouring any article that has to do with GTA IV and it's frustrating me even more. How come they get to play it before us and then tease us with tidbits of information - marketing is such a devious operation.

Yes, I do not plan on sleeping Monday night - or Tuesday morning - or whatever you want to call it. I went last Friday to pre-order it at the closest brick and mortar store - it happened to be GameStop. I heard the most ridiculous conversation between a dad and his kid. That story, however, will be left for another time as I'm too lazy to write about it now. (At least that's my excuse to give me some time to carefully organize my plan of attack).

So, next time, look forward to Dad vs. Kid and also a look into what the phrase "next-gen" means to me. Until then, enjoy life.

be like sex machine

I'm going to continue posting as if this last month and a half never happened. Whaddya say? We'll call not posting at all in March my April Fools joke that also extends a few weeks into April. Ha Ha! On a more serious note: I seem to have the mindset that something worth posting should be fairly lengthy. So every time something amusing comes up in my mind and I tell myself I might want to blog about it, the following happens.

Ha ha, that's amusing; maybe I should write something about it.
How much can be written about it?
Oh, I guess it wouldn't be very in depth at all.
Oh well, I guess I won't post about it.
That's generally how it goes. But I'm trying to see if I can make micro-posts now. So here goes:

My PayPal account information needs to be updated because there's been some kind of unauthorized activity, but I have more important issues at hand. Apparently, I'm no good in bed - most likely due to the fact that my penis is too small, or due to the fact that I have no weight at all. Thus, I need a guide on games in bed or I could be like sex machine.

Did I lose you yet? Awesome. Ever get these spam emails? I feel sorry for the people who take them seriously, but have you ever taken the time to sit down and actually examine these things? If you're bored and want to be amused, just take a brief read of them.

First up, my PayPal account is under attack! (Yes this is an old email, but my April Fools joke got in the way of sharing about it)
Step 1 of making a proper spam email: Have bad grammar and bad spelling. Well isn't this pleasant - they failed at Step One. This must be the real deal then. Still, they make a pretty bold comment to say there will be no more future problems with the service. Wow! But oh dear! I only have 2 days to update my information! Panic!

Wow, that link they gave me looks pretty official doesn't it! Even better is that official email address in the From line. It looks like PayPal doesn't have enough money and must use a free email service like Yahoo. Tsk tsk, I may have believed the authenticity of the email if it had been servce@gmail.com, but alas, I have seen through their ruse.

Now, we travel to my university email inbox. I have three emails that catch my eye!

• From: Marty Perkins - Subject: No weight - no problems


• From: Mel Tatum - Subject: Smart in bed games


• From: Fritz Davila - Subject: Be like sex machine

Holy crap! I'm suffering from "no weight"! I need to check out this first email:
Never late to try.
Watch details attached and know more.
... this must be written in code. Never late to try? Is this their attempt to introduce colloquialism to make me feel more at ease? Ok, I guess I need to stare at the attachment and the solution to my problems will hit me. Or not.

Next email. I suppose I've been doing dumb in bed games. I need to learn smarter ones.
On top all night
Please look attached file and know MORE ABOUT THIS!
What does being on top have anything to do with games? What a let down, I was expecting better tips. Please look. Attached File. Yes, I see an attached file. "MORE ABOUT THIS." (Unclear Pronoun Reference -5pts). You fail email.

Ah, but I still have hope. Even if I can't do smart bed games, I can at least be like sex machine.
She wants you more now
Please look attached file and know MORE ABOUT THIS!
Wow! This must be a magic email! She wants me more now. Amazing! I wonder what the secret was that made her want me more. ... hey wait a second ... deja vu? Please look. Attached File. Yes, I see an attached file. "MORE ABOUT THIS." (UPR -5). You fail email.

For those who want to see the content of the attachments, I have carefully retrieved its contents. (Disclaimer: If you are susceptible to epileptic seizures, do not view the following image. Ok, just kidding, but seriously... wtf)

That's all I got for this post. But before I go, I want to share a video that made me smile. Some of you may have already seen this - as I found the video on digg - but this is just one of those videos that needs to be shared.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA
After watching that, I hope my usual end note can be more significant for you.

Enjoy Life.
-nfinite