Epoch Ranting is What It Is

Evening viewers.  Or readers.  I’m never sure on when to use which term.  Because in order to read, you have to view as well.  Why is it that when I blog normally you’re ‘readers’ but when I post a picture you’re still ‘readers’?  How do you read a picture? You do not, you view a picture, hence you are ‘viewers’.  But why use the term interchangably?  You have to view words before you read them, hence I shall refer to you as viewers as a general term.  Unless by next blog post I’ve forgotten and go back to the online standard of ‘readers’.  Should I start?  I should start.

We begin this blog post with views.  No, not– Ugh, I knew that first paragraph would confuse you.  MY views.  Yes, my views.  Of course I have them.  Admittedly not often, and when I do I don’t voice them, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a good old rant.  I’m in one of those ranting moods right now actually.  Friday the 13th hasn’t been kind to me.  It’s been a very up and down day really, I’ve never been able to get the hang of Friday the 13ths.

I should warn you now that this is liable to be a very wrong and -VERY- inaccurate blog post.  It’s posting about things that I don’t claim to understand.  With that in mind, it’s time to begin.

[rant]

Professor Richard Dawkins.  Darwin’s Rottweiler according to the media, inventor of the word ‘meme’, and super-ultra-mega-atheist. (This prooves nothing other than the fact that I was able to find him on Wikipedia and that I know what a meme is).

Quoth Mail Online:

 

Outspoken atheist Professor Richard Dawkins is to warn children of the dangers in believing “anti-scientific” fairytales such as Harry Potter.

Prof Dawkins will write a book aimed at youngsters where he will discuss whether stories like the successful JK Rowling series have a “pernicious” effect on children.

The 67-year-old, who recently resigned from his position at Oxford University, says he intends to look at the effects of “bringing children up to believe in spells and wizards”.

 

The ‘effects of bringing children up to believe in spells and wizards’.  This is just yet another layer of cotton wool to wrap children in, really.  I have to say I’m very against the future in the way that children will just be brought up protected against every tiny thing and never learning for themselves or experiencing culture.  It’s just another thing for people to constantly be worrying about and casting judgement on.  Like “Oh, you let your child read Harry Potter?” and overprotective parents being all up themselves for being perfect while their child is screaming in a padded room safe from all outside influences.  Sorry, went off on a strange tangent there.

Dawkins fails to see creativity beyond “This is probably fucking up kids, lets tell people that”.  He comes across as being the kind of extremist that wants us all to be governed purely by science, to have no outside influences that change who we are.    But it’s the outside influences who MAKE US who we are.  Take away anything that could influence us, take away anything that could inspire us, take away anything that could cause us to develop in our own ways and we will just be the same.  And encouraging people to do that, I feel would be harmful on creativity.  No inspiration, no creativity, we may as a result become more ’scientific’ in our methods but ultimately we will just be robots.

Children learn.  They learn from the outside world.  They pick up on ethical frameworks, reasoning, logic, how to think for themselves, what inspirations they have.  If you show a child what conclusion to arrive at, you do not teach the child to think for themself.  It is not until adulthood that we learn what to learn.  It is as a child that we learn HOW to learn.  Then at university you tell them “YOU’RE WRONG” and teach them how to learn all over again.  But that’s in a more academic sense.  Have I got sidetracked?  I’ve got sidetracked, doh.

Real world example.  Santa Claus (Or Father Christmas to us in England).   Children are told about Santa Claus.  they believe in him.  Over the years, they get suspicious.  Then they come up with theories as to how he can get all around the world in a night.  Then they tweak those theories and learn, for themselves, that they are implausible and eventually probably derive for themselves that he is not real.  What Dawkins is trying to do is change that to “Children are told about Santa Claus, then told he’s not real”.  No learning process.  No deriving for themselves.  Spoilers, if you will.  Same with Harry Potter.  Children read about Harry Potter, some may believe in him, over the years they come up with theories, start to doubt, then realise he’s not real.  Self learning and self bettering process.  Dawkins version: Children read about Harry Potter then are told he’s not real.

Back to the real world example, the person who no longer believes in Santa Claus will now grow up, and tell their child about it.  This, I feel, is at the heart of Dawkin’s problem with the system.  He is, in Loup’s words, “occasioning a radical break with cultural tradition.  He is saying, no, don’t allow that process to take place, deliver the myth and its debunking all at one stage”.  Which I would argue is hardly encouraging children to think or reason for themselves.

Picture totally unrelated.

[/rant]

Ah, man, I feel so much better now.  It’s been so long since I’ve had a good rant, I need to get that out of my system more often.  Okay, I have more things to talk about.

HAPPY 1234567890!

I should explain for the non-techie readers.  Computers store dates by storing a number, which is equal to the number of seconds that has passed since midnight on 1st January 1970.  That’s called Epoch time.  On today (13th February) at 23:31:30 precisely, Epoch time totalled exactly 1234567890.  So, happy 1234567890.  I just love saying 1234567890.  It makes the keyboard make a nice sound.  123456789012345678901234567890.  It’s the most awesome Epoch time number until 2038, when it will equal #7FFFFFFF in hexadecimal, which is the largest value a 32-bit number can hold.  Which means in 2038 all computer clocks randomly reset to 1901 as #80000000 (which is the next second) is a negative number.  Yay.  Like the millenium bug but more real.

Anyway, enough about techie stuff, what’s next to talk abou–Oh.  Snake.  Well, I guess it’s not enough about techie stuff.

Yes, today was the deadline for the Snake game.  Which I finished, with all optional extras included.  115/115 marks, which is pretty good in my experience.  About average for me.  17.25% of the entire Java lab module, I am led to believe.  The next project we have to work on is a national (sorry, ‘notional’) lottery game.  Not sure how that’s going to work.  I really should read the assignments ahead of having to do them.  But yes, that’s gone well.

My phone is broken.  It won’t charge.  I’m not sure if getting another charger will fix it, if not.. then I’m screwed.  Ugh.  I plug the charger in and nothing.  Tried with different charger plug sockets.  Something must be wrong with the connection between the phone and the charger.  Using another charger may fix it if the problem is the connector which is actually notably dented.  Otherwise the problem is in the phone and well, it’s out of battery and unchargable.  It’s basically a brick.  Sigh.

How much are iPhones?  Oh.. that much.  Ouch.

Finally, today was the day I went to see Dylan Moran.  I’m never sure if you pronounce that mor-run or mor-ran.  I suspect it’s mor-ran but I use mor-run in speech because nobody knows who you’re talking about for some reason if you say mor-I’m sorry I’ll get back to the point.

I was somewhat underwhelmed.  It was still funny hahahaha.  His one-liners and comments were certainly chuckleworthy at least.  But it all just seemed so scripted.  And he seemed to get bored some time after the interval, as he was a lot lower energy in the second half.  And he ended poorly, no build up, just one joke the same as the others and right I’m off have a good night.

I’m not saying it was bad by any means, it was a very entertaining evening and I loved it.  But parts of his act just seemed.. underwhelming.  Particularly most of the second half and the end.

I have blogged for FAR too long, so I’m going to sleep.  Night.

Drumroll

To blog, or not to blog: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to update the posts and comments of outrageous boredom.

As I say, I’m not sure. To blog and feel stifled by the.. feeling that people I know from home are reading it, or to drop everything and just be able to forge a new identity.

In fact, I would prefer the latter. I want to generally be more open about who/what I am and just be.. different. To a point that well, I want to be more naturally who I am, and contact with people from home will remind me that it’s not who I am. Or at least, who I’ve been.

This isn’t making much sense. Basically, I just don’t want to be tied down by what people think of me at the moment, and who I am at the moment.

In fact, I may as well come out with what I’m going to say because I know I’m not going to say it in any other way. I’ve been told by many people many times that I’ll know when the time’s right and blah blah it’ll just happen, but it never happened and I’m sure the last 3 days have been the right time to say it.

So here it comes. I’m gay. There. It’s out. Happy now? And yes it’s not a phase.

That feels better. I know my dad reads this, it’s just a matter of time now.

I’m going to sleep.

Analysis of Rogues

Crossposted from http://mindezeebaideologies.blogspot.com/

You.. wouldn’t.. like.. me.. when.. I’m.. angry…

Urgh, the ever-increasing amount of noobs on Halo 3 is starting to annoy me.  A side effect of a successful game in a way, but it just makes you wonder how these people actually manage to fit into civilised society.  Seemingly blind people with 0 kills versus my 20 in a match, shouting their heads off after the match about how they were the best in the match and everyone on their team were all fags.   Retards pretending to not know how to play the game, shouting “HOW DO YOU SHOOT!” for half the match while you try to concentrate on a kill.

To be fair, though, this analysis only holds true on Social matches.  Given my high rank on Ranked matches I only get pitted against other people that are good at the game as well, and they are much funner.  Social is simple, and I only use it every now and then to get experience.  But just because there is no penalty for losing a game doesn’t mean that you should just piss around and act like retards on it, does it?

It’s all about this waving things in front of someone.  You will get a reward if you win.  You will get a penalty if you lose.  This is how it is on ranked.  You win matches, your skill level increases.  You lose matches, your skill level decreases.  On Social, there is no skill ranking system, and so no penalty for failure.  So nobody tries, nobody plays.

It’s all related to the blog posts I made months ago – WHY do people play games?  Must people be constantly shown reward for winning in order to get people to actually play? To me, Social on Halo 3 seems to prove that without penalty for loss, people just DON’T CARE, and don’t want to play properly, quitting early, being retards on microphone, etc.

Xbox Live has a wonderful thing called “File Complaint”, which can get people banned if they receive enough complaints (allegedly).  I’ve been using this an awful lot recently on social.  I’ll give them a penalty for being a retard even if the game won’t. Because they deserve it, they clearly don’t want to play, they just want to piss people off.  People that want to play the game.  Like me.  Any Halo 3 social gamers out there that are getting annoyed at them as well, I encourage you to do the same.  it’s what the feature’s for, anyway.   And if it’s the only way to make Halo 3 Social playable, it’s necessary.

Anyway, I just wrote this to vent some anger without shouting my head off over xbox live like some people seem to.

It’s strange, I never had problems with Social games before a couple of days ago, and now every match is just a retardfest.

I want to do something video-y.  Perhaps some kind of vlog, or a one-man series.  I dunno.  Any ideas, comments plz.

-Mindez

Why play games?

With old consoles like the Playstation, there was no way to get physical gain.Why do people play games? Is it the joy of playing, the possible physical gain (prizes), or the mental gain (leaderboards, respect etc).

Originally, particularly noticably with video games, it was certainly the joy of playing. With old consoles like the Playstation, there was no way to get physical gain. No way to get a global leaderboard or anything. Then consoles were connected up to the internet. The new generation of consoles, the XBox 360, the PS2/3.. and then it seemed to be more about the mental gain, and the joy of playing. Many games now have global leaderboards, you can see who the best Guitar Hero player is in the world, you can see how you compare. If you’re good enough, you can demand respect from other players.If a game is released, so what? What can you get out of it?

And in recent years, there has been a lot of growth for games on the internet. Things like Perplex City had physical gain, there are lots of online game websites that give out prizes for being good at particular games.

Incentive to play games no longer seems to be simply ‘joy of playing’ any more. If a game is released, so what? What can you get out of it? If it’s not online then there doesn’t seem any point in it any more.

This is a particular problem for me, and the game I hope to bring out. I haven’t got the resources to offer any physical incentives for playing, or mental incentives. This has been criticised by one of the people that is working on it with me..Are the days of 8-bit offline games well and truly gone, pushed out by cash rewards and global leaderboards?

I want your thoughts. Are physical/mental incentives pretty much required for a game you have to buy in the modern world? Are the days of 8-bit offline games well and truly gone, pushed out by cash rewards and global leaderboards?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Comments please!

-Mindez

The Edit

So, the last post was rather long, originally. I cut out a large amount of it, all Perplex City related. Why? Because it’s <censored>.

So, we worked out, in a completely dull trial-and-error puzzle, that the post was all being delayed from a certain location, Apolyton Institute. ( http://www.apolytoninstitute.com/). Some plans were lost, blah blah, read all about that http://www.violetunderground.com/ please, I can’t be <censored> going over it again.

And we’ve been given another task, find the plans that were leaked onto BBC Radio 1. So, naturally, I spend a good couple of hours searching through radio 1’s logs, listening to the gaps between programs, looking for something perhaps. But no, of course I wouldn’t find it, would I? Because, unbeknownst to me, everyone else had already solved the puzzle and worked out exactly where everything was within a few minutes, it seemed.

And the answer involved another ARG or something, made by the BBC. This is complete and total <censored>.

So, in order to play PERPLEX CITY, we now need to KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENED IN EVERY OTHER ARG? <censored> advertising, that’s all Perplex City is becoming now. This last event was just advertising for the <censored> BBC Radio 1 ARG. There was no good puzzle, there was nothing to solve. If you had played the BBC Radio 1 ARG, then you knew the answer. If not, then you’re screwed.

<censored> <censored> <censored> this is <censored>.

Argh.

I’m seriously thinking of quitting Perplex City if this goes on much longer, because it is completely unfair on the people that just want to play a good ARG. Having to play all the other <censored> advertising ARGs like the Radio 1 thing is not my idea of fun, I just want to play PERPLEX CITY.

<censored> <censored> <censored> <censored> advertising.

<censored>.

-Mindez

(Will calm down before going back on the Perplexorum, promise)

Bill Bailey, and 17-er-1976

So, I was randomly scrolling around tv-links.co.uk today, looking for something to watch, bit bored.  And I stumbled upon Black Books.  So I watched the first episode.

It is genius.  I love Bill Bailey.  I’ve seen some of his stand-up stuff and it is so wonderfully hilarious.

I think, in fact, that a 9-hour watching spree of all Black Books episodes is called for.

Anyway, part two of this blog post is about the yay George Bush.  Now, this last week, the queen went over to America.  No idea why, don’t care.  And George Bush was filmed saying that she was there in “17-er..-1976″.  This has, naturally, been all over the comedic news programs (I’ve not seen “The Daily Show” or “The Colbert Report” in the last week, but I will assume it’s been on them as well.  Certainly been on HIGNFY over here, and breakfast news and whatever).

Now, I think this media coverage is going a little too ridiculously far.  Sure, the thought of the queen being there in 1776 is a funny one, but people are directly attacking George Bush for this, and calling him stupid for not knowing when the bicentennial of independance (or whatever) was.   And I think this is sad.

It was a slip of the tongue, and it’s obvious to anybody watching it that it’s a slip of the tongue.  What I don’t like is these newspapers calling him stupid without giving the viewer the chance to make up their own mind; should the media be forcing opinions onto people?  Shouldn’t they just be reporting facts? Bah, it’s another age-old debate, I guess.  I have respect for HIGNFY, they showed the video clip, made fun of it like they would any other.  They let us decide for ourselves whether he is a completely incompetent buffoon or not.

If I made a typo on this blog, would I be displayed as stupid?  Because that’s pretty much what Bush did with that.  I’m not defending Bush for anything, here.  Obviously he is a completely incompetent buffoon, but attacking him over something this small is just completely ridiculous.

*grumbles*

Okay, back to comedy now.

-Mindez

Playing to win

*sigh*

Why do I have to go and make other people feel like crap, in turn making myself feel like crap?

People nowadays have too much of a winners mentality. They HAVE to win everything or they will simply refuse to play it, because not-winning just isn’t fun. I hate winning. HATE IT. Because it makes other people feel like crap. As children, we are taught that the good guys always beat the bad guys, and that being the good guy is a good thing. I think that people connect this to anything – if they don’t win at something, they they must be the bad guy, which isn’t good. And that simple thing has paved major problems for lots of people.

And if I happen, even by accident, to beat someone at something, then they go and sulk and refuse to play. At this moment, I have a 9-year-old cousin that refuses to play any kind of video game with me, because he knows I’ll win at everything, which is ‘not fun’. If there is no co-op mode on a game, then he won’t even consider it. “I want an opponent who has the same mentality as me. We play together, and the winner smiles proudly, and the loser goes off to train at the game, to better himself for the next match.”I also have one of my closest friends who is extremely upset because I beat her high score on a game by over 7000 points, that she worked very hard on.

I’m not saying that these people’s mentalities are wrong, but I just don’t understand it.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been using the internet for a long time. At first, I remember, I was like them, having to win at everything or else I would throw a tantrum. But after a while of playing, I realised something. There are people in the world that, no matter how good you are, are better. There is no point playing to be the best at something, there is no point in playing to -WIN-. It’s all about playing for the sake of playing – and that’s how I’ve always played games. I don’t WANT to win, you can HAVE your high-scores, and your kills, and your whatever. I just want to have FUN, and aim to better myself for the next game. That’s partly why I’ve done so many things on the internet, tried to start so many things – to find something that I’m good at, to constantly challenge myself to better myself at it.

Having said that, I hate when they rub it in your face that they won. I would never do that. I’ve never said to this friend “HAH, I BEAT YOUR SCORE BY 7000 POINTS, UNLUCKY”. And I never would, because that would probably make me feel worse than she would. I spent 5 minutes of “I’m sorry >.<” and “Crap, it was an accident”. I shouldn’t have to feel like this – I won, and I should be damned proud of my win, but the mentality of the people that I beat simply doesn’t make this a reality. I want an opponent who has the same mentality as me. We play together, and the winner smiles proudly, and the loser goes off to train at the game, to better himself for the next match, and they both have fun.

Does nobody like this exist?

Goddamn it.

I’d like to stress, this is purely my opinion. I may be in the wrong here, you all may be in the right – maybe it is the playing to win that’s important. But that’s not how I see it. Maybe the people that don’t mind losing are annoying to you, but that’s not how I see it.

I don’t want to be skilled at anything, because I end up hurting so many people.

What do you think? Should it be “Play to have fun” or “Play to win and ‘big’ yourself up in front of everyone”? I would be VERY interested in people’s thoughts on this, because it’s something that I’ve been considering for a very long time now, and have strong views on.

I leave you with an image.

-Mindez

Who’s gone for Eurovision

Yes, as the cleverly composed title of this post suggests, Doctor Who has been cancelled next Saturday, for the Eurovision. I wish the British (And Greek, to a lesser extent) team well, but still want to strangle them for cancelling Doctor Who.

ANYWAY. Achievements Unlocked today…

Call Of Duty 2 – Completed Training – 50 Points – Completed Basic Training
Call Of Duty 2 – Veteran of the Winter War – 60 Points – Finished The Winter War on Veteran difficulty
Phantasy Star Universe – De Ragan Slayer – 100 Points – Defeated De Ragan

210 points in one day. Getting these easy achievement games was a rather good idea.
“*nods* Yes, I rant on. Thanks for noticing.”
Now, let’s talk political psychology. The conservatives have dominated the recent election, but did they really win it? No, of course not. It’s mere backlash over the media coverage of how bad Tony Blair is. As a protest, people will refuse to vote for labour. But they can’t just not vote, because that would be a wasted vote. And they have grown up with the psychological conditioning that a vote for the Lib-Dems or any other party is purely a wasted vote. So they vote Conservatives, the only option left open to them.

This isn’t how democracy should be, voting for the lesser of two evils based on media manipulation. But it is how it is. I don’t believe that all those people would find the conservative views any better, it’s just revenge voting, which will not fix anything.

I don’t have a deep knowledge of politics, so if anything I’ve said is particularly wrong, then so be it. I’m just interested in the psychology behind why someone does something, and rounding that off with a “Which won’t help anything” post.

*nods* Yes, I rant on. Thanks for noticing.

I’m going to shut up now.

-Mindez