Large Hadron Collider Rap

This is a rap about CERN’s Large Hardron Collider (as you could probably deduce from the title of this post) and the physics around it:



You might know about this from reading Dan Brown’s Angles and Demons (which was just a little bit exaggerated.)

One (More) New Game that I’m Exited About

Blah, blah, blah, blah; you know the routine by now; I’ve decided to just mention any game I’m personally exited about, I no longer care about making a list.

Final Fantasy XIII

Of all the Final Fantasy games I’ve owned, I finished only two. Final Fantasy VII, which had a highly original story (for the time), great gameplay, graphics, and even characters (for the time); I also finished Final Fantasy XII, simply because I loved the none turn-based gameplay.

I don’t know what this one will shape into, but it’s a fair bet that it will continue the high production values set out by its predecessors.

Edit: I used to include Too Human in this post, but after playing the game a little and reading some more about it, I decided It does not belong here. Which is sad, it had potential.

White Knight Two Revealed!

I’m highly skeptical of most claims- blame it on my cynical nature - but I really do think that we could be witnessing the dawning of a new age for space flight and exploration. Case and point, Virgin has actually delivered on its promises; first to get into low orbit, and now to roll out the new carrier vehicle for Virgin Galactic: a vehicle for the first private space tours. They call it White Knight Two.

Just read this from the press release:

Christened “EVE” in honor of Sir Richard’s mother, who performed the official naming ceremony, WK2 is both visually remarkable and represents ground-breaking aerospace technology. It is the world’s largest all carbon composite aircraft and many of its component parts have been built using composite materials for the very first time. At 140 ft, the wing spar is the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever manufactured.

Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Galactic) continued with some comments about the ships greater significance:

….Virgin Galactic is central to our ambition at Virgin to become the world’s leading group in the operation of energy and environmentally efficient transportation, in the air, on the ground and in space. We arrived here this morning on an aircraft operated by Virgin America, who run the most fuel efficient commercial fleet in the US, to roll out what by most definitions, is the most energy efficient aircraft in history. We are naming it EVE after my Mother, Eve Branson but also because it represents a first and a new beginning, the chance for our ever growing group of future astronauts and other scientists and payload specialists to see our world in a completely new light. I for one can’t wait!”

I for one can’t wait. For all those who felt that the end of the “space age” left a particular emptiness in the world, and those that never experienced it; thank you-Virgin-for giving us something to admire.

I also like the whimsical art on the craft:

McCain’s Contradiction

As of now, neither of the candidates has distinguished themselves economically. Obama, with his meaningless economic drivel and slogans that should have died in the 1970’s; And McCain, with the blatant inconsistencies typical of Conservatives.

Take this for example: McCain at one point mentioned that high gas prices where solely the fault of spectators, and that an investigation should proceed; another time he mentioned that he credited Bush for the drop in prices. As Boudreaux at Café Hayek mentioned:

Sen. McCain can't have it both ways. Oil prices either chiefly reflect the underlying reality of supply and demand or they don't. If baseless speculation caused oil's price to rise to heights unjustified by supply and demand - if speculators are financial sorcerers who detach prices at will from underlying economic realities - how does a presidential announcement signaling higher future supplies cause lower prices? On the other hand, if a more promising prospect of greater off-shore drilling really is responsible for pushing oil prices downward (which I think more likely), why would Sen. McCain ever have blamed high oil prices on evil speculators rather than on the underlying conditions of supply and demand?

True, in the end the spectators are basing their purchases and sales on what they believe will be the future price of gas; in the end, the futures market is very beneficial to the price of oil. Though Boudreaux fully admits that spectators can drive up prices:

Note that I'm not saying here that speculators cannot drive prices to heights (or depress prices to depths) that are, on some reasonable calculation, inconsistent with the underlying conditions of supply and demand. I concede the reality of bubbles, both positive and negative.

Exactly, the change in prices by spectators can go both ways. The point is; McCain is merely trying to gain supporters, by attacking popular enemies; rather then sound economic reasoning:

….McCain is playing politics (duh!) to scream "evil speculators" when oil prices are rising and then announce "supply and demand" when oil prices are falling.

This is not good news, a person so willing to sacrifice good thinking for the sake of politics can’t be good economically for the country; he will likely to bring about the same mixed economics which has caused so many problems in the past. Earlier this year, McCain mentioned offhand that Russia should be barred from G8; All I can hope is that he wasn’t serous, as this would cause an enormous amount of problems.

Of course, the President’s control over the economy is not as great as people think; they have much more control over foreign affairs. This can bring anybody some peace, as their options- McCain and Obama- seem just different shades of economic grayness.

Goodbye, Inspiring Guy: Randy Pausch, 1961-2008

Awhile ago I posted about a man dieing of cancer, who was going around the country with his “last lecture”, a speech he gave that was both sad and inspiring.

I’m sad to say that Randy Pausch succumb to Pancreatic Cancer. As this article on Yahoo mentions, Randy became an internet sensation; for good reason, he even appeared on an episode of Opera.

He got so much attention because most of what he said was genuinely uplifting; from a man that had less to be uplifting about then most of us.

He will be missed, not only by his friends and family, but by the millions who heard him talk.

Top 5 New Games I’m Exited About (Expanded Again)

Here are a couple more games on my ‘top 5’ list; there is just so many great games coming out I can’t limit myself to only a few (so excuse me the liberal use of the number ‘5.’)

Valkyria Chronicles


Occasionally, when I grow tired of the metal grey and the rust orange of American games, I turn my eyes to the East for a breath of fresh air; except, for all the virtues and vibrant colors of Japanese games, many of them, for lack of a better term: suck. The characters are many times annoying; the themes are often self-contradictor; bad writing, and often repetitive gameplay. Still, they remain original, and every once in a while they get it very, very right.

Which is why I am exited about Valkyria Chronicles, a Tactical RPG with brilliant graphics; and what looks to be original gameplay in a turn-based tactics game.

Killzone 2

Even I don’t mind the color pallet of this game; the graphics are the most beautiful I have ever seen on a console game. Interesting new Ideas for this game, like taking cover in a first person shooter, and being able to peek out of said cover, are turning this game into something to be exited about.

Top 5 New Games I’m Exited About (Expanded)

Far Cry 2

A first-person-shooter set on the African Savanna; there is supposedly more then 50 square-kilometers to explore; as you try to find “the Jackal” who is instigating war between two rival factions. The graphics are incredible, and the sense of freedom will be unprecedented in a first person shooter.

Beyond Good & Evil 2

The most original (and underappreciated) game of the last few years is getting a next-gen sequel! A game that stressed stealth and photography (to uncover a government conspiracy) instead of fighting. It’s weird, it’s creative, it has a good story, and I’m guessing the sequel is going to be incredible.

700 Billion Dollars Lost?

According to T. Boone Pickens (an oil tycoon), the money America spends on foreign gas represents a huge loss for America. But don’t take my word for it:



I was going to write up a big long post on the various reasons why this is wrong; but luckily, a blogger at fibbertigbet has done most of the work for me:

First of all, 700 billion dollars may be leaving our country, but oil worth 700 Billion dollars is coming in. People aren't just putting dollars into envelopes and mailing them to the Sultan of Brunei. They're exchanging dollars for oil. It's trade.

That’s right. It like when you pay 5 dollars at a local market for a sandwich, you don’t consider that “transfer of wealth” a loss. In fact, we gave up five dollars so we could get something of personally greater value, in this case, a sandwich (that’s why we trade in the first place!) If you look at it rationally, we are actually gaining more then 700 billion dollars in value from this exchange.

It’s doubly untrue when you consider what inevitably happens to that 700 billion. A great deal of money we send overseas comes back to America in the form of investment capital.

The blogger makes another good point:

….this [the claims in the video] implies that it is a single transaction between just two entities, when in fact the trade of oil represents a massive supply chain of exchanges between innumerable entities.

This comes from the old fallacy that countries compete economically. At a macro-economic level you could look at it this way, but it doesn’t represent what’s really happening (even in countries with a great deal of economic control.)

Now, there are some good reasons to become less dependent on foreign energy; and to start drifting towered different energy sources (so long as this happens naturally.) But none of the ‘good’ reasons are mentioned in the video above by Pickens.

Just goes to show you: businessmen don’t necessarily make good economists (and vice versa.)

The Dark Knight: Review

Of all the superhero movies I’ve seen, this is the first one I feel comfortable calling epic. It is possibly the most ambitious movie I’ve seen all year; and the most groundbreaking in terms of the genre. In fact, The Dark Knight doesn’t so much feel like a superhero movie as much as crime drama in league with The Departed and Heat (and I’m far from the first person to mention that.)

This mix creates a superhero experience that is both unique and engrossing; and cultivates a bizarre feeling of plausibility. This is by far the most adult superhero movie I have ever seen; and by that I don’t mean blood, gore, and sex. This movie has a complexity to it that is surprising. Each character is driven by a unique philosophy and set of morals. Especially Batman; who is a vigilantly, but realizes that he cannot be the one that ultimately distributes justice. He sees the new D.A. Harvey Dent (Gotham’s new ‘white night’ played by Aaron Eckhart) and Lieutenant Gordon (the “good cop” played by Gary Oldeman) as people that can ultimately replace him. Ironically, Dent and Gordon see Batman as a person who can really get things done, as the frustrations of working within the law get to them.

But Batman runs head first into the Law of Unintended Consequences. Yes, he is inspiring good (as exemplified in Gordon and Harvey Dent) but criminals are becoming more dangerous; and small pockets of incompetent copycat vigilantes are fouling things up.

Things escalate, and a new villain comes on the scene; a near arch-type of nihilism: The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger.

And what’s to be said about Heath Ledger’s performance that has not already been said? His Joker is mesmerizing: he creates one of the most memorable movie villains I have ever seen, in league with Hannibal Lector.

The Dark Knights’ Joker is a villain of unrelenting evil. As Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred (Michael Cain) says, “Some people aren’t looking for anything logical.” The Joker breaks the old detective axiom “who benefits?” because nobody does, least of all him. The Joker doesn’t believe in values or morality, they are just foolish “jokes” held by an ignorant public, and dropped at the first sign of trouble. The Joker delights in tearing people down; in creating situations where their morals can be compromised. It is for this reason that the Joker fixates on a possibly incorruptible force: The Batman.

It is in this that we see the theme of the movie: which centers on moral compromise. The battle between the Joker, who believes that compromise is inevitable because values don’t exist; and Batman, Gordon, and Dent- who work within there own moral codes but find themselves limited by them. The theme of this movie is carried all the way through; it’s perfect that most of the major action sequences focus to some degree on choice. Can a person stand up for what they believe? The integration of this question into the plot is exiting and often surprising.

Are there any problems? I suppose I could nitpick if I wanted to. There are some pacing issues, and great dialoged is sometimes lost in a scene. Christopher Nolan has problems with directing multi-shot conversations and off-screen action (though he has improved greatly from Batman Begins.) As for Batman’s detective skills: they get a little more screen time then the last movie; in a CSI-esc sequence and a few others. Still, I felt myself unsatisfied with this aspect of the movie.

But these are just small complaints that don’t tar what is ultimately a great film; not just a great superhero movie or action movie; but a great film: period.

The cast and performances are all stunning, nuanced, and honest. Heath Ledger has been given a good deal of press for his memorable role; but I think Aaron Eckhart has been somewhat overlooked. His Harvey Dent is both sympathetic and plausible (without being Naturalistic.) There is a point about a third of the way through where Eckhart displays some of the best acting I have seen all year; Maggie Gyllenhall (replacing Holmes as Rachael) is also good in this scene. Harvey Dent’s story arc is very reflective of the story at large; it is perfectly integrated with the theme. In a way, the Harvey Dent character is at the heart of the movie.

It’s exiting how the movie plays with your expectations; and how much you find yourself caring about the characters and their fates, even those who receive little screen-time (Though the movie is never exploitive.) The plot progressive logically; with each major event being set in motion by one of the characters. In the tradition of great Romantic storytelling, everything has a purpose; and ultimately everything serves and compliments the theme.

I have rarely gone to a movie this long that felt this short. It is a film with a great deal going on, but never feels crowded. The story, as I mentioned, is complex and interesting, many will be surprised where the movie ends up; as it drives home the theme, with one of the best monologues in the movie (the best monologue, of course, belongs to Ledger.)

Like the last movie, this one makes you hungry for more; not with cliffhangers, but with promises of what’s to come. The best testament I can give to this movie that I hope the franchise continues; I hope Christopher Nolan continues to improve in the quality of his directing and storytelling (as he has shown great and dramatic growth through his career.) And most of all; I hope the show isn’t sold out for my second viewing.

Top 5 New Games I’m Exited About

5. Fable II The silly dialoged coupled with the bad British accents; The oversized weapons; deciding to become a bisexual polygamous; how can anybody not be excited about this game?

The sequel promises a more open ended world; better controls and graphics (of course); and most attractive: no more crappy escort missions with moronic A.I.

4. Resistance 2: Fall of Man

I don’t like the color palet of this game; it’s depressing and it looks like everything else; still, even I can get exited about the gameplay and story. I was sold on this game when I saw that you would have to fight a 300-foot leviathan monster. Side missions and co-op play also look great.

3. Prince of Persia: Prodigy

I kinda gave up on the Prince of Persia series when the stories became more and more convoluted, along with the gameplay. Everything also looked the same (despite a decent sense of design.) But I’m glad to say I’m excited again, as the series is reinvented with brand new characters and a sweet new look (not to mention much improved gameplay.)

2. Infamous I loved Sly Copper; it was clever, fun, and I liked the characters. Well now, Sucker Punch is moving into different territory; a post-apocalyptic superhero game. Initial reports suggest the gameplay is amazing, the story well-written and the character engrossing. The open ended world offers some incredible freedom (as our hero is a fan of Parkour.)

The game will even incorporate a degree of choice (though not to the degree of Fable II) in what kind of hero you want to be.

1. Brutal Legend Tim Schafer brought us Psychonauts and Grim Fandango, and now he brings us my number one most exiting new game. This looks like the most original and fun game to come out in a very long time. You play a Roadie named Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black!), who is transported through time to the age of Metal; where car parts are dug out of the ground, and the Metal Gods watch over the land. Eddie soon learns that he must create and lead an army to defeat a tyrant.

Schafer has an affinity for creating great stories and characters; really great characters, that put other games to shame (I’m looking at you, Gears of War.) The look of this game is great; the gameplay promises to be incredible (battle axes, hot rods, flying with demon wings, combo attacks with other characters, and controlling armies); and the soundtrack, a collection of Rock hits, is going to be incredible.

Brutal Legend is defiantly the game to beat in 2008.