Those of you that know me also know that I am a rather big fan of RPG's. My brother is too. It all got started with a rental (and later purchase) of Shining Force II. It's a strategic, turn based game which has spawned many imitators, e.g. Final Fantasy Tactics.
Well, tonight I close a chapter in the RPG nerdiness of my experience, just in time to start studying for my qualifier in August. Tonight I beat SFII on Ouch! difficulty. And it feels great! Let's just say that Zeon was tough. :)
[brag]To make things sweeter, the bonus fight also fell to my party. For those of us who don't remember, that's situated in the Ancient Tunnels between Grans Island and the Parmecian continent, reached after the endgame has played out by waiting ~5 mins on the "Fin" screen. The enemies: Zeon, King Galam, Odd Eye, Geshp, Red Baron, Cameela, Zalbard, the Chess King, Willard the Rat, Prism flowers, and a posessing ghost from the first battle. All at once. And on Ouch![/brag]
Monday, June 27, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Let us Destroy our Freedom!
It would seem that the US House has again approved a proposed Constitutional amendment which would add a single sentence:
"The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."
Republican representatives are quoted as evoking images of the WTC disaster while it was under debate. The Senate, which has quashed similar amendments in the past, will take it under consideration after July 4.
Personally, I think this amendment flies against the face of everything that America stands for -- especially that first amendment which our younger generations now hold in disdain. Seriously, what is the harm of burning a piece of cloth? The flag certainly is a powerful symbol -- but it represents the freedom to dissent as well.
If the Congress can Constitutionally ban a form of currently protected free speech, what's to stop them from adding additional one-liners that will enable them to censor which political topics we may discuss without risk of jail? (Hell, let's get rid of that whole "due process" thing and protections against "cruel and unusual punishment" while we're at it, since we're already making a mockery of the Justice system with our base in Guantanamo -- never mind the policy of flying high level prisoners out of the US to torture them.)
Seriously, why throw people in jail for burning the flag when Congress and the President are willing to shred the Constitution already?
"The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."
Republican representatives are quoted as evoking images of the WTC disaster while it was under debate. The Senate, which has quashed similar amendments in the past, will take it under consideration after July 4.
Personally, I think this amendment flies against the face of everything that America stands for -- especially that first amendment which our younger generations now hold in disdain. Seriously, what is the harm of burning a piece of cloth? The flag certainly is a powerful symbol -- but it represents the freedom to dissent as well.
If the Congress can Constitutionally ban a form of currently protected free speech, what's to stop them from adding additional one-liners that will enable them to censor which political topics we may discuss without risk of jail? (Hell, let's get rid of that whole "due process" thing and protections against "cruel and unusual punishment" while we're at it, since we're already making a mockery of the Justice system with our base in Guantanamo -- never mind the policy of flying high level prisoners out of the US to torture them.)
Seriously, why throw people in jail for burning the flag when Congress and the President are willing to shred the Constitution already?
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Digital Activism
I was dismayed to see today (on /. no less) that the Hollywood *AA types are working to sneak the Broadcast Flag back into our airwaves and into our electronics by tacking on legislation to an appropriations bill.
Personally, I think this kind of underhanded political action needs to be avoided. Major thanks to the EFF for pointing out this move. This type of behavior, and the fact that EFF caught it, pushed me over the edge. EFF needs people to support them financially in order to keep their vigilance against these sneaky lobbyists. I'm now a card-carrying member -- and I invite you to do so as well.
Personally, I think this kind of underhanded political action needs to be avoided. Major thanks to the EFF for pointing out this move. This type of behavior, and the fact that EFF caught it, pushed me over the edge. EFF needs people to support them financially in order to keep their vigilance against these sneaky lobbyists. I'm now a card-carrying member -- and I invite you to do so as well.
Thursday, June 9, 2005
An Update
It's been a while since I last wrote any form of an update, so here goes...
The first year of graduate school is now behind me. It's nice to be working a regular 40 hour/week job again! Things have been very busy despite being finished with classes. (Jackson is successfully behind me forever!) My research group has been preparing for a submission of a renewed project proposal to the Department of Energy, which has been keeping most of us poor grad students working like crazy to get data, references to papers, and fix things when they break. My adviser should emerge from the black hole of the proposal sometime within the next week; with luck, he'll be able to clue me in on the progress we're making with my (eventual) collaboration with General Atomics. At the moment, it looks like I won't be heading out to San Diego any time soon; we're caught up in red tape at the moment.
I've decided that it's time for me to bite the bullet and submit myself as a candidate for the Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics Qualifying Examination to be conducted at the end of August. It's the first of three Big Exams that I'll face in my PhD program at UW-Madison. Six hours of closed book exams which test mastery of undergraduate mathematics, classical physics, and modern physics (my choice of topics which are suited to a physics background), plus an oral exam that's a grabbag of concepts. (Ugh!) I'll be disappearing from work in July in order to be adequately prepared by the exam. In the meantime, I'm enjoying what I have left of June!
For instance: RotS was awesome. So are sci-fi books by Robert A. Heinlein. And of course the fantastic Square RPG Chrono Trigger! (That one caught my obsession for a fun-filled week...) I've also been able to spend some time cooking nicer meals, as well as take a few more nights on the town with Kristen. It's great to remember how nights and weekends should be really spent.
And, as a last note: congrats to the class of '05! I wish you the best of luck in the real world. :)
The first year of graduate school is now behind me. It's nice to be working a regular 40 hour/week job again! Things have been very busy despite being finished with classes. (Jackson is successfully behind me forever!) My research group has been preparing for a submission of a renewed project proposal to the Department of Energy, which has been keeping most of us poor grad students working like crazy to get data, references to papers, and fix things when they break. My adviser should emerge from the black hole of the proposal sometime within the next week; with luck, he'll be able to clue me in on the progress we're making with my (eventual) collaboration with General Atomics. At the moment, it looks like I won't be heading out to San Diego any time soon; we're caught up in red tape at the moment.
I've decided that it's time for me to bite the bullet and submit myself as a candidate for the Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics Qualifying Examination to be conducted at the end of August. It's the first of three Big Exams that I'll face in my PhD program at UW-Madison. Six hours of closed book exams which test mastery of undergraduate mathematics, classical physics, and modern physics (my choice of topics which are suited to a physics background), plus an oral exam that's a grabbag of concepts. (Ugh!) I'll be disappearing from work in July in order to be adequately prepared by the exam. In the meantime, I'm enjoying what I have left of June!
For instance: RotS was awesome. So are sci-fi books by Robert A. Heinlein. And of course the fantastic Square RPG Chrono Trigger! (That one caught my obsession for a fun-filled week...) I've also been able to spend some time cooking nicer meals, as well as take a few more nights on the town with Kristen. It's great to remember how nights and weekends should be really spent.
And, as a last note: congrats to the class of '05! I wish you the best of luck in the real world. :)
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