kismetism

TIC10 Finale / DRAW?!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:52:00 -0700

… GARY: ericdlee’s turn (action phase)

EricDLee: !0

GARY: ericdlee played Proton Beam.
gor’s turn (reaction phase)

GoR: !1

GARY: gor played Electron Sponge.
gor dodges ericdlee’s Proton Beam.
gor’s Electron Sponge absorbs the Proton Beam and turns the energy into health!
gor’s turn (action phase)

GoR: !0

GARY: gor played Mirror Shield.
ericdlee’s turn (reaction phase)

EricDLee: !0

GARY: ericdlee played Vorpal Sword.
gor tries to slam with Mirror Shield for 16 damage.
ericdlee’s Vorpal Sword swings for 36 damage.
ericdlee has no more items.
gor’s turn (final retaliation).

GoR: !0

GARY: gor played Proton Beam.
gor releases Proton Beam for 65 damage.
gor has no more items.
gor has 69 HP remaining. ericdlee has 69.
Duel has ended in a draw!
Final status:
Challenger: [21] gor | level 13 | hp: 69 / 139 | strength 35, accuracy 22, armor 8, dodge 45 | 0 cards remaining.
Defender: [41] ericdlee | level 15 | hp: 69 / 150 | strength 31, accuracy 28, armor 9, dodge 13 | 0 cards remaining.

Google social gaming service reportedly in the works

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:02:47 -0700

Google social gaming service reportedly in the works:

A-HA!

Why does the media still think video games are bad for kids?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:33:32 -0700

Why does the media still think video games are bad for kids?:

Nice. On CNN, too.

Apple loses big in DRM ruling: jailbreaks are "fair use"

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:01:45 -0700

Apple loses big in DRM ruling: jailbreaks are "fair use":

Holy crap.

Absolutely, freaking fantastic.

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:30:13 -0700

Absolutely, freaking fantastic.

Inception

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:58:00 -0700

… was pretty goshdarnedgud! I mean, I don’t think I would go see it four times in the theater… probably not even a second time. But it was a pretty good ride overall.

I’m not sure what’s with the people who call it confusing, because most of it seemed pretty straightforward to me, up until the very end which is (of course) deliberately ambiguous. And then, you have to overlook the fact that there are a ton of things left unexplained: how, exactly, the machines let people share dreams… who gets to control what and why, etc etc. I’m still not really sure what Ariadne’s role (as the “architect”) was… she just designed the dreams at the beginning and wasn’t really necessary afterwards at all, it seemed?

And I’d have to agree that it seemed like a missed opportunity in some ways… could have pushed the dream angle way more and made things actually surreal more often. I read the wiki and one of the things mentioned was how the more unreal a dream was, the more likely it was that the dreamer would figure things out… which I think is a blatant falsehood. My dreams frequently get super unrealistic and I never think anything is weird. Then again, I’ve never personally successfully achieved lucidity in a dream, and whenever I get close, I just wake up, so meh.

As long as you willingly and politely suspend your belief in a few key things, the movie’s great. XP

In other news, omg hiking. x____x

(as well as omg ankle. -____-)

The Facebook Game That Makes Fun of Facebook Games

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:00:42 -0700

The Facebook Game That Makes Fun of Facebook Games:

Ironically I saw a mention of this game first when I saw Quad post one of its things to his wall. Then I read this article and realized it was Ian Bogost’s game, which in retrospect makes everything make a whole lot more sense.

Echochrome II

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:21:52 -0700

Echochrome II:

Sooooooo cool!

Second guessing

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:09:29 -0700

It sucks to get a letter that is essentially full of praise, and yet all you can do is double or triple check every line and wonder if you’ve broken some kind of rule.

Names

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:34:00 -0700

My name(s) is/are so inconvenient, at least as far as snagging URLs is concerned. I mean, I like my short name and all (first initial, last name) … it’s not too common. But when it’s four letters long, it often means it’s too short for websites to accept. (Facebook won’t, LinkedIn won’t… this other site I just found and was trying to register for won’t either).

And I have no middle name, so that doesn’t help. D:

Need to come up with something that’s not my full name, but enough like my real name that I can still use it professionally… cursed aliases..

"I’m not actually bad at math; math is just POORLY DESIGNED."

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:21:00 -0700

“I’m not actually bad at math; math is just POORLY DESIGNED.”

- after reading a passage from The Design of Everyday Things

Lloyd's retirement party

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:50:00 -0700

… Was really kind of insane, seeing all those people, whose lives Lloyd has so strongly affected. Kind of surreal.

I’m proud that I managed to avoid crying, though, even when forced to speak!

Funnily enough, I wasn’t really at a loss for words so much as I knew that whatever I had to say, Lloyd already knows of my everlasting gratitude… maybe even more than I do. I guess I had to represent, though. Silly TIC children. (And poor Alina. :x )

Google Invests $100+ Million In FarmVille Company, Prepares Google Games

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:00:42 -0700

Google Invests $100+ Million In FarmVille Company, Prepares Google Games:

Hmm, what’s going on here…

Are Your Online Gaming Friends Really Your Friends?

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:00:42 -0700

Are Your Online Gaming Friends Really Your Friends?:

Same old song and dance. I’m especially amused by the commenter who says virtual friends are not as good because your RL friends might actually save your life, whereas online friends can only pretend to. Derp.

I maintain my theory of the formula for “great” friendships: (1) shared experiences, (2) compatible personalities, and (3) common values. Online or offline is irrelevant.

But… I did appreciate what another commenter had to say, and I think it’s key to why some people have better experiences than others with online interactions. Emphasis is mine.

What’s attractive about online interactions is that you don’t have that baggage that saddles you in real life - you are who you represent yourself to be. If you represent yourself fairly truthfully, and people appreciate you for being that person you are, that’s very gratifying, perhaps especially because you know that these people aren’t liking or disliking you because of your looks, social standing, the way you dress, or any of the other things that make “friendship” in real life such an elusive thing to chase, especially as we get older.

TIC: The RPG

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:39:00 -0700

TIC: The RPG:

I am so insanely proud of this. ::rofl::

And this isn’t half bad either.

Thoughts on Airbending

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 14:38:00 -0700

Teacher told me to write a five paragraph response after finishing the series, so here I am. :O

Lessee. Hmm. I guess Dev actually made me watch the entire series… though we watched the first season quite a while ago and then finished second and third in the last month or so between prepping for courses.

Overall impression? Sure, it was pretty great. Dev kept saying that the first season was horrible compared to the second and third seasons… which I was skeptical of, but I guess I’m convinced now. (Not because I loved the first season, but because these things usually get worse as time goes on, not better. >_> )

I would guess that Avatar’s best attribute was in the simple fact that it was so polished and well-rounded. The world building was thorough, the characters were fleshed out. (I love Appa and Toph. And Iroh.) The story writers took story points to their logical ends and didn’t let heroes or villains always be the ones with the upper hand. And the series didn’t take itself too seriously, which allowed for episodes like the dream one… which was so wonderfully illogical and ridiculous.

And that is, of course, exactly why the movie sucks… or would suck, if I went to see it, not that I’m going to with the reviews it’s been getting. Because all the fun that is Avatar is completely absent from the trailers… not a single laugh-y moment. So lame.

The third season ending was … not bad, but I’d have to concede that there was something kind of sudden and abrupt to the whole ‘energybending’ thing. Not that I could see it ending in any other way, but… meh. But Azula’s rapid deterioration into insanity was pretty amazing… and creepy… and realistic.

I think the only thing I disliked about the entire series might be the rapid shifts in time between episodes. Sometimes it seems as though certain character relationships progressed WAY faster than conceivably possible, since episodes tended to cut … well, who even knows how much time. And then we didn’t really get to see how certain things ended up as they were (like I was totally taken aback by Zuko and Mei when they were first presented. lykwut??) … But I guess it’s a minor nitpick, since they can’t really afford to detail all the boring stuff that happens in between. ::lol::

Okay, it didn’t really have anything to do with Airbending, but I couldn’t very well call it “Avatar”. >_> Silly James Cameron!

World Falling Apart

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:36:00 -0700

I wish I had the presence of mind to log these days, but it’s like there’s just too much to say, so I get tired just thinking about writing it, let alone actually doing. Lately it just seems like the world is pulling apart at the seams.

One thing that’s fanning the gaming flames is the Real IDs + forums stunt that Blizzard is pulling… which, as someone who has Studied Facebook Games And Compared Them To Hardcore MMOs, is a fascinating move that my mind is reeling at. I have a ton of thoughts on the subject, but not much coherency, so I don’t feel good about writing about it.

TIC and ATDP are much the same, while also being totally different. While doing something totally new has been reinvigorating to some degree, I haven’t made so many mistakes since my first year teaching with Trev. I’m overall still having fun, but there’s some stress involved with keeping things running smoothly and I end up worrying about the future too much.

Of course, the really big news was the Mehserle verdict that came out earlier today. I don’t know much about the case except what I picked up off of Wikipedia and I’ll admit that the whole thing only came to my attention because ATDP has been on alert for the sake of students who take BART. While I understood the basics of the case, what I didn’t really follow or recognize was the reality of the expectation of violence in the event of a perceived too lenient sentence.

I guess I continue to be too naive in the face of racial tension, because Oakland got completely torn up today.

Here’s hoping reason and sanity return sooner rather than later.

Oh, and happy birthday, Spark. :x

"TEACHING + DRAMA = SUCK"

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:28:00 -0700

“TEACHING + DRAMA = SUCK”

- me

(unless, i guess, you’re the drama teacher. then, uh, it’s great. >_>; )

Dementia

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 11:06:00 -0700

Dream! Not sure what triggered this, but it must have something to do with having met Spark’s grandmother a couple weeks ago. >_>

I don’t remember much, but I know at least Kim and Manda were there, and there was at least one other but I’m not sure who… get the feeling it was another SC. And they were all sitting at a table in the room I was in and I was sleeping.

And I woke up really slowly and hazily and heard them talking quietly. And I felt like, as I was waking, that my mind was strangely clearer than usual. And near my bedside there was a sheaf of papers, which I thumbed through. They were pages of the manga … nonexistent pages, mind you, that haven’t been drawn yet (in real life or the dream) … and I scanned them with interest.

Then I got up and shuffled over to the girls at the table and … hm, well, I broke down crying in Kim’s arms, saying something about how I missed them and wished my mind was not messed up so that I could be “present” with them all the time, rather than … only really there in body. And I had been on the verge of asking what I was like when I wasn’t having a moment of clarity when I woke up.

I suppose, somewhere, this is what I have decided dementia must be like… where most of the time your mind is in a fuzzy, dreamy haze and you don’t live in the moment anymore. I said a while back, while Spark was talking to Lloyd about his grandmother, that I wouldn’t want to live like that. >_>

Anyway! Happy fourth. XP

Why Dev cannot be trusted

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:06:00 -0700

[22:55:34] Dev went away: Beep if you need me.
taptapCRASH: /beep Dev
[22:56:12] Dev: wat.
[22:56:18] taptapCRASH: For references, do we need them in the actual content in MLA format?
[22:56:23] taptapCRASH: or just on the reference page?
[22:56:23] Janvi: rofl
[22:56:26] Dev: Yes.
[22:56:32] taptapCRASH: Which one. o.o
[22:56:36] Dev: Both.
[22:56:38] Janvi: MLA?!?!?!
[22:56:41] Janvi: THEY HAVE TO DO MLA?
[22:56:59] Janvi: crap, I don't think I even knew what MLA was in 7th grade.
[22:57:06] Dev: Auto fail if they don't.
[22:57:10] Janvi: sad day.
[22:57:13] MyNamelsFrank: lol
[22:57:14] Dev: =_=