Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Dinosaurs? That's not scinece. Now, the bible says...

Some things in life are just too funny and strange to make up. I was searching Google Video for Alton Brown's ceramic smoker episode (brilliant idea, btw). Somehow, through the divine grace of Google, my search of alton brown ceramic yielded the truth from the words of Ken Hovind. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of Eric's kind and disarming demeanor. Was this some sort of joke? Then, like sweet drops of honeydew, Hovind's words began to settle upon my fragile little mind. Was I being charmed by some sort of internet video Pied Piper? Fortunately, I found his Wikipedia page, and we all know, Wikipedia is "serious fucking business™." What followed was pure intrigue. I never knew the bible contained so much science! Furthermore, I found out that there is a "scientific" field that is, according to the Great Wiki, "the search for living examples of animals taxonomically identified through fossil records, but which are believed to be extinct" and "the search for animals that fall outside of taxonomic records due to a lack of empirical evidence, but for which anecdotal evidence exists in the form of myths, legends, or undocumented sightings."

Obviously, someone with a scientific background based on hunting for leprechauns and Bigfoot has immense credibility and is not something to be taken lightly. Go ahead, take the jump and watch and listen as Kent Hovind, cryptozoologist extraordinaire, unleashes his rambling missive of superior biblioscientificalitical analysis upon you. Of course, some of the things aren't fully covered in here, you have buy DVD 6 for that.




For shits and giggles, I made this a few nights ago.


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Thursday, June 12, 2008

A Guild divided.

Wow... So, this apparently happened a little while ago. Guild Wars has separated it's skills changes into PvE (player vs environment) and PvP (player vs player). To those who know nothing about Guild Wars, let me explain.

Guild Wars has a level cap of 20. It is pretty easy to get to level 20, but that's not where you truly gain your power. You gain your power from skills. And there are a lot of them. The best way to think of these skills is like a card game. You get skills from quests, buying them, and by buying "capture signets" that allow you to get skills from dead bosses. This is also how you get Elite skills, which are very powerful. Think of this as adding a card to your deck.

Unlike Wow and many other MMOs, you can only equip eight skills at one time. Think of this as the cards in your hand. When you are in towns and outposts, you are surrounded by your peers. Here you buy, sell, chat, celebrate holidays, join into parties to do missions, farm, quests, and whatever else. As soon as you leave these areas, you are in an "instance" where only your party exists. So it is now the party versus the monsters and you can no longer swap out cards, you can only play the cards in your hand. You are limited to only equipping one Elite card before you leave a town.

Now that I explained it, and hopefully I made it clear enough to understand, I will no longer refer skills as cards.

Previously, these skill balance were an ongoing trial and error process. Some skills were introduced to overcome extremely powerful monsters and bosses. The problem was that these skills were exploited by players in PvP to unfairly quash their opponents. This is a severe problem because PvP isn't just for shits and giggles. Well, not to some people. There are tournaments, both regional (North America, Korea, etc) and national where people earnestly compete for virtual and real world prizes, which includes money.

Naturally, this made things difficult. Skill changes affected the entire game. By separating the skill changes into PvP and PvE changes, you can now have skills more tailored to how they should be in the different game modes. This means that if a skill is slightly over powered, that's okay to leave it in PvE, but maybe tweak it to be more balanced in PvP. It also means that nerfs for either perspective of gameplay do not adversely affect the other.

The common complaint seems to be, "oh noes! Now I have to read more about teh Guild Wars!" If this is best people can come up with to complain about, then praise Ao. Yeah, I admit it is going to be a pain for those of us that do both PvP and PvE to remember what skills do what and so on, but the nice thing is that PvE can work towards getting locked in while PvP can still be kept fresh via various tweaks. I see this as an absolute win/win situation. Besides, you can save skill sets on templates. The complaint of it being harder to keep up with skill changes is relevant, but considering the great gain in gameplay, is entirely forgivable. Also, isn't this how Guild Wars 2 is purported to work?

GG ANet. GG.


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Limbo of the Lost: is this some kind of joke?

In case you haven't heard, adventure game Limbo of the Lost is in a bit of trouble. Their publisher has dropped the game after it was found that Majestic Studio's game contained a bevy of stolen resources. These resources include, but are not limited to Crysis, Oblivion IV, Oblivion III, Unreal Tournament 2003, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Painkiller, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Black & White, Thief: Deadly Shadows, WoW, Diablo 2, Lord of the Rings, and a few others. And that's just stuff that people have been able to pick out over the past few days since this story broke.

Hit the jump for links to pics.

Gameplasma.com
Gamespot forums
Shacknews

I can't think of a better way to kill your career than by stealing assets from a bunch of extremely popular and well known titles. I don't know how long those developers thought they could get away with this, but they did manage to get away with it for quite some time. The game has been available since November 2007 in Japan.

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Does weighing airline passengers make sense?

Much of this ties into exactly what in said in my "Even an idiot has his day" editorial. Does that small amount of weight add up to create a fuel-wasting money sink for airlines? If one uses simple logic and reason, probably not. My guess is that this is a ploy by airlines to get more money. If you have a 747 at full capacity with 400 passengers who are all 30 pounds overweight, that adds 12,000 pounds of extra weight. That might seem significant, but when the vehicle itself weighs somewhere around 400,000 pounds, that means that the extra weight added amounts to roughly 1/35th at optional takeoff weight and 1/80th at maximum takeoff. A 747 has a maximum takeoff weight of between 780,000 - 970,000 pounds and an optional takeoff weight at 400,000 pounds, plus or minus a few pounds depending on the model.

Of course, you have idiotic shits like Daniel Hamermesh (of freakanomics fame) saying that charging passengers by weight makes perfect sense. Well no shit it makes sense from an economic standpoint, it means more money. Duh! But does the science support it? Not really. Slowing down your airspeed does make sense, as you exponentially use more fuel per second to run engines at higher and higher speeds. But the addition of 1/35th to 1/80th is such an insignificant amount of weight that the difference can only be described as negligible at best. We're talking about pennies on the dollar here, folks. Now, if it was 1/16th to 1/40th (meaning that each passenger is 60 pounds overweight), then that might be a problem, but such a scenario is highly unlikely. You should also keep in mind that these figures are assuming that every single one of the 400 passengers is overweight. Furthermore, what if you are simply tall? I'm 6'3" and I weigh about 190 pounds, which is average for my height. Are you trying to tell me I will have to pay more because I'm taller? Even though it is the airlines that have shrunk the size of the seats to cram more passengers on there in the first place? I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. Especially since none of the tests to find ideal weight are anywhere near correct. (according to several, I should weight 165-170 pounds. at that weight, I would be emaciated)

I've got a much better idea. We take the CEO pay for these airlines and reduce it $40,000 a year. This is on par with what most firefighters and teachers make, let alone pilots. Considering these CEOs can't seem to keep their fucking business afloat without government bailouts, these CEOs should not be able to reap big bucks until they can finally get their business straight.

GORDON GEKKO: "Greed for lack of a better word - is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit."

BILL MOYERS: Gordon Gekko's words were ringing in my ears the other day as Northwest Airlines emerged from bankruptcy.

After 20 months of restructuring the company, CEO Doug Steenland rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.

DOUG STEENLAND: The best way to secure job security, the best way to secure security of your pensions and the best way to increase standards of living is for the airline to be very successful and profitable."

BILL MOYERS: And if you feather your own nest in the process---more power to you. On top of Steenland's salary, reported at half a million dollars or more last year, he will get a total compensation package of $26.6 million in stock.

That's $5.8 million in stock options and $20.8 million worth of restricted stock that will vest over the next four years. And his official next-of-kin — the company's four Executive Vice Presidents - were offered more than 10 million dollars each, on top of their salaries, if they stay on for four years.

Oh, yes, Gary Wilson, the outgoing chairman — who already has $21 million dollars from stock he cashed in just before the bankruptcy — will get a two million-dollar good-bye gift plus medical and dental insurance for life — that's right — for life.

As for the folks who merely fly the planes, fix the engines, and serve those meals — I mean, snacks — well, they took pay cuts of 20 to 40 percent, as well as curtailed medical benefits, fewer days off and frozen pensions.

JUDITH FISHER, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: When you have veteran employees that have given a lifetime of commitment to service and good employment to this employer. It made me really really angry. Very sick to my stomach when I my pension has been cut and frozen.

BILL MOYERS: No wonder Northwest pilots, flight attendants and machinists were out in protest on the steps of the Minnesota state capitol last week.

To keep the airline aloft, pilots increased their working hours by as much as 20 percent while taking a pay cut of 40 percent.

PROTESTORS: We built these airlines, we built this company. Let's take it back today.

BILL MOYERS: To make ends meet, pilot Ron Hay has to sell his house and move his family back to his wife's hometown in Texas.

RON HAY, NORTHWEST PILOT: Our CEO's $26.6 million is one complete annual payment to our pension fund. Our pension fund could be one more step closer to whole. The $25 million is probably in excess any funds needed to bring us back down to a medical benefit that we wouldn't have to pay anything.

- Source


video of the excerpt above







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Even an idiot has his day.

I don't really like Kanye West. Why? A myriad of reasons. Quite a few of the directly correlate with why I no longer look or listen to Mos Def with a modicum of respect. Kanye West has repeatedly shown himself to be a pompous, egotistical blowhard, trumpeting himself as masterful, and already worthy of great annals of history. I also lose a bit of respect for him because his writing is simply atrocious. I'm sorry, but I cannot take anyone seriously whose sentence structure is punctuated with 2's. It looks sloppy and simply unprofessional. Besides, how hard is it to write "to" instead? Also, there's the little matter that Kanye believes the government gave Africans AIDS so they could steal their diamonds. This coming from a man encrusted in diamonds.

As for Mos Def, hearing him state on Real Time With Bill Maher that the brutality and murder of those who refused to convert during the Muslim conquests after Mohamed's death was "a very convenient revision of history," really lowered my opinion of him. I know Mos Def is Muslim, and that's fine, but to blatantly selectively ignore history like that is insane. It's idiotic. It's refusing reality, just like Holocaust deniers. To top things off, Mos Def does not believe that Al Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

But this is all just bullshit, right? So what if two very prominent musicians are kinda nutty and believe in mumbo jumbo conspiracy bullshit, right? Musicians are pretty well known for being eccentric and kind of kooky and say dumb shit all the time. Like Alicia Keys saying that gangsta rap is a government ploy to get blacks to kill each other. (never mind the fact that most of the government was trying to ban it for years) Apparently Mos Def, Kanye, and Keys aren't alone in their conspiracy theorizing and selective information alternate reality. A poll done in 2006 showed that slightly over 1/3 of the 1,000+ asked people believed, in some varying degree, that 9/11 was a conspiracy.

Personally, I find this to be appalling. That means, if we use that poll as a national view, that 1/3 of the population is delusional. The cornerstone of all variety of 9/11 conspiracies involve selective information, incorrect information, lies and distortions. This is also what is used to illustrate evolution is a falsehood. Some of of Darwin's theories were wrong, (survival of the fittest, for example) but the over-arching premise was correct. Animals do mutate and change, resulting in a slow progression of new species. I have heard many times, "if evolution is true, then shouldn't there be tons of new animals popping up all of the time?" What? Why? From where? That's not how evolution works. These straw man arguments presume an untrue facet of evolution in order to discredit it. That's not being rational and, furthermore, that's not being intelligent. Let alone "smart."

This is fine and well if this was just opinions on a subject, but it's not. These are ideas that fundamentally shape your world view. Rejection of evolution means a rejection of the core understanding of biology. Believe it or not, but there has never been a single peer-reviewed article published in any scientific journal denouncing evolution or promoting intelligent design. This is a fact. To say otherwise is to lie. It is to invent the truth to serve a purpose. It is a removal from reality in an attempt to create your own.

So why do these conspiracies and myths float around, and why do so many people believe them? Because people are not informed. They are not intelligent. They do bother to learn or understand the world around them. It's like the game "Telephone," where a phrase is whispered from person to person and it slowly evolves into something drastically different. Except this isn't just gossip. It's not about the neighbor's affair or about Angelina's babies. (all 2.6 million of them) It's about understanding fundamental aspects of out life. It's like understanding that the Earth rotates around the sun and that it spins on an axial tilt. You can choose not to believe that, but that is the case. It's a fact and is true whether you want to believe it or not.

I was quite relieved when I saw Jon Stewart's interview with Rick Shenkman, the author of Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter. No one wants to think that they are dumb, but when 70-some percent of Americans thought that Saddam was behind 9/11 in the months prior to invading Iraq, and I bet a large chunk continue to think so, that is a good example of our collective idiocy causing real world problems. When people take untrue information and construct a fantasy world, especially when this is done en masse, then you have a nation that refuses to accept or admit reality. If roughly 3/4 of the population is completely delusional and unwilling or uncaring to educate themselves on important information pertaining to the world they live in, one has to wonder, "what the fuck is wrong with us as a society?" We have information at our fucking fingertips! How the shit do you think I composed this? Perhaps the scariest in all of this is that it is reasonable to assume that portions of these delusional, unwilling to self educate people run important parts of our lives, including government functions. Apparently a decent number of them work in the entertainment industry.

Another popular conspiracy seems to be the more mundane "Bush lied" conspiracy, which doesn't hold up either. Want to know the truth? The CIA was duped by a cab driver. Seriously, that's what happened. The CIA, for whatever reason, thought Rafid Ahmed Alwan's stories to be credible. Bush used this information to make a case to go to war. The American people were a bunch of idiots and unable to properly digest any of the information, supported the war, and so we invaded Iraq. Even the Rockefeller report (which was touted as proof that bush lied) says that all the information the President used was substantiated. Bush didn't even have to lie. So many people were so fucking stupid that they let Bush and company do it. So many were uninformed, ill-informed, and just outright complete idiots that they didn't even need to hear Bush's reasons for war, the American people had already conjured up their own delusional reasons to go to war: Saddam was the mastermind behind 9/11.

To be fair, I don't think everyone is stupid, but it worries me when I see that, potentially, 1/3 of the population has eschewed critical thinking for . The 9/11 Truth movement isn't interested in finding the truth. They are interested in validating their version of the truth, which is exactly the problem. No matter how many people believe in a 9/11 conspiracy, it does not make it true. No matter how much people want to believe that Bush deliberately lied to go to war with Iraq, the facts simply do not support such a claim. You cannot cherry-pick information and create your own reality. To do so is delusional. To do so is to ignore the reality of the world around around you. And when the confederacy of dunces is backed by a veritable mass of dunces, suddenly the inmates are running the asylum.



Makers of the Loose Change 9/11 conspiracy video
Vs.
journalists from Popular Mechanics.

the debate starts around the 17min mark



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Friday, June 6, 2008

Jack Thompson's epic faliure.

Things have finally come to a head for Mr. Thompson, the anti-gaming right wing loony attorney from Florida. Thompson's disbarment has been on the plate for a while now. Thompson has been facing disbarment for 31 (!) various infractions of misconduct. Though I don't think his harassing email to the mother of Strauss Zelnick, Take Two's chairman, is one of them.

After finding him responsible for 27 separate instances of professional misconduct, the Florida Bar has requested that controversial Miami attorney and anti-gaming activist Jack Thompson be disbarred for 10 years, reports GamePolitics.
- Source


And what exactly do those 27 guilty verdicts pertain to?


Among the Florida Bar offenses for which Judge Tunis has recommended a guilty verdict:

* Knowingly making a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal
* Knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal
* Communicating the merits of the case with a judge before whom the proceeding is pending
* Using means that have no purpose other than to embarrass, delay or burden a third person
* Engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation
* Engaging in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, including to knowingly or through callous indifference disparage or humiliate litigants or other lawyers
* Making statements that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge

- Source


Thompson also handed in a 14 page 4,500 word "objection" after he was denied the ability to verbalize his rambling tirade. He then stomped his feet, called the Florida bar fascists, called the presiding judge arrogant and incompetent and probably said some other stupid shit too. If one takes the time to read Thompson's rambling, delusional "objection," you quickly realize just how fucking nuts the guy is. Especially when you get to the part where he compares himself to Jesus and John The Baptist.

Before walking out of the courtroom, Thompson filed what he called "Thompson's Formal Objection to June 4 Sanctions Hearing." In the rambling, 4,500-word objection, Thompson questioned Tunis' ability to preside at his hearing, calling her incompetent and arrogant and threatening to have her removed from office "in the days and weeks ahead." He also went on to call the people run The Florida Bar fascists and denied that he was involved some sort of "petty culture war."
- Source


You can go to the above quoted source (kotaku.com) to read Jack Thompson's lengthy letter.

If all of this still doesn't convince you Thompson is crazy...

Thompson had alleged in his lawsuit that The Florida Bar has participated in a civil conspiracy, collaborating with complainants who have filed SLAPP bar complaints against him to shut him up.

The Bar claims that Thompson had violated an order not to send a circuit court judge any letters or emails relating to a November 2005 case involving the death of two police officers. The Bar claims Thompson violated the order more than 30 times but no contempt charges were filed against Thompson.

The complaint also alleges that Thompson has sent strong and accusatory letters and e-mails to several lawyers including Miami attorney Alberto Cardenas, lawyers with the Philadelphia law form of Blank Rome and Judge James Moore of Fayette County, Ala.

One of the counts against Thompson is for his letter to Cardenas accusing him of “distribution of pornography to children”.

- Source


It's still too early to say goodbye to Jack just yet, as Thompson still has motions filed against the Florida Bar and against the Florida Supreme Court. However, once these machinations begin to peter out he will be left with nothing until his 10-year disbarment is up. Perhaps that's what he plans. To have his other asinine motions go on and on until he is allowed to reapply to the bar.

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George Will Fucks Colbert up, left, right and every way.

No, that this should not be much of a surprise, though I would think Will would smear a smile every now and then. Perhaps this is just wishful thinking, as I've never seen George Will smile. Ever. And maybe he won't. Ever. Still, the man is a stalwart of conservatism. And I don't mean that stupid bullshit "I'm one of you!" crap that GW did so well. Nor do I mean that stupid bullshit "I'm one of you" that Reagan ran on. Nor do I mean that "I'm not Jimmy Carter" that Nixon ran on.

No, George Will channels the era of Buckley Jr., but without the warm-hearted cheer and semblance of friendly and lively debate. George Will's counterpoints crack like a whip across his opponent's words. Unless you agree with him you are wrong and he simply not interested in any attempt to sway his belief structure. Normally, Colbert can squeeze a juicy bit from any sour lemon, but not so with Will. Instead, Will counters with blank-faceted one liners. Surely, someone whom espoused analytical thought would be open to interpretation? Not so, and that is what Colbert faced. The essence of the "unapologetic, mean-spirited, asshole that is absolutely correct, and you know it" pundit. One might take that as a derogatory view of Will, but I view it as exactly Will's strength. George Will is not a cuddly conservative of comfort. He is coldly assertive. He is not your buddy, he is your better, and he will make sure to remind you of that.

Many consider Limbaugh to be the bastion of Modern conservatism. Limbaugh wishes he could be even remotely resemble Will. For Colbert to think he could tear down something like Will is sheer insanity and Will proved that. You cannot embarrass or upset that which has no doubt nor humility.

Yet, with all of the appeal of a steel wall and the bravado of a hydrogen bomb, George Will stood against the mock-centric machine known as Stephen Colbert and not only escaped unmarred, but completely unscathed. Not only did George Will run Colbert down, but he made a very good statement for his cause, despite Colbert's best efforts. All of which proved that not only is George Will a formidable opponent, but that the GOP has much deeper and better intellectual minds than the barren shit-waste that comprises of Hannity, O'Reilly, Levin, Limbaugh, Savage, Boortz, ad nauseam.

Why stop at Will? Surely Frank Luntz would love to come back onto the Report.

George Will on Colbert Report:



Nothing After The Jump


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