Not Really Important but Funny

Ok, this really isn't that important nor is it really that interesting, but I just thought it would be someting funny for you guys to check out. For those of you who like Garfield, and even those who don't, you will likely find Garfield Minus Garfield hilarious.

The idea behind the comic strip is simple. Take an existing Garfield comic strip and simply edit out Garfield leaving only Jon Arbuckle. Doesn't sound to interesting does it? Don't judge it until you see it. The end result ends up being a portrait of a man struggling with his own madness. The simplicity of the comics is what makes them so funny. You'd never know how integral a part of the comic Garfield is until he is gone.

If nothing else it will make you chuckle and bring a bit a funny to your day. I know this has no educational or moral value but I love them and thought that I would share it with you.

ANTIWARGAME

If any of you guys are in COM 435 here at Purdue, and happened to attend the class where we were shown the game where you could attack terrorists this is kinda along the same lines. The goal of the game is to prevent war. You do this by controlling a pie chart that distributes your funds to military foreign aid, and social spending. You also are in charge of American citizens, which either do nothing, protest, or become soldiers. The game gets interesting when you can use the soldiers to conquer oil fields, which can lead to terrorist attacks. There are actually quite a few outcomes that come happen depending how you play. I find its an interesting look on the situation that the United States is currently in. I know that our war in Iraq is not this simplistic, but I believe that the creators of the game made it to more or less get us thinking about the consequences of our countries actions. The only way that it appears in the game to win is to basically not get the military involved at all. Obviously this is the intent of the game and thoughts of the creator. I tend to disagree with this line of thinking and feel that sometimes military force is necesary. If any of you wish to play the game here it is. Remember take it for what it is, a game, political in nature though it may be.

http://www.antiwargame.org/

Does Cost = Quality?

So by now I'm sure that most of you have heard of the movie Avatar. Now it is set to be released in the next few days but still little is know about what its really about. From the trailer it is evident that the movie is about a high action movie which involves a fight with aliens on an alien world and also that it cost a lot of money. In fact it is recorded as the most expensive movie in history. It has cost upwards of $200 millions to make.

Will this expense yield a good return? Only time will tell. I for one do want to see it. I'm a sucker for action flicks, but it can't be just explosions and gunfights. There has to be some substance. If there's no compelling story line, whats going to drive to audiences to the theatres? If I just wanted to see explosion, I'd blow things up in my backyard. It's the story that makes the movie.

James Cameron has a habit of making big budget films and in the past has worked for him. For instance Titanic was also the most expensive film to make at the time and it recieved record ticket sales. Hopefully he can continue this trend

Excitement

Hello all,

Sorry this post won't be as graphically charged as my previous few, but I just feel like talking. So anyways, as the title would lead you to believe, yes I am excited, for this is my last week of my college career. Yes its true, I am graduating and I couldn't be more excited and admittedly a little scared. I have definately loved my time here at Purdue and am sad to be leaving it. I still have two exams to take which I am planning on doing well on. These past few years have gone by so fast and part of me wishes that it wasn't over, but hopefully I will be moving on to bigger and better things. Now comes the ever fun task of finding a job. I know the market isn't great right now, but where there is opposition there is also oppurtunity. So to all my fellow graduates here at Purdue, good luck to you all and congratulations.

Touch DJ

To go along with the poster project I mentioned on my last post, one of the posters that really caught my eye focused on an iPhone app called Touch DJ developed by Amidio. This application, which is said to be comparable to software worth hundreds of dollars, allows the user to mix music live on their iPod or iPhone with the touch of their fingers. As someone who has had a passion for DJing for many years, this has peaked a great interest in me. This also eleminates the need for highly expensive DJ equipment. The application also allows for scratching, normally done by moving a record rapidly back and forth, by simply moving the user's finger back and forth on the individual track. Here's a video that better demonstrates how the application actually works.

COM 435 Poster

I have to say this was definately one of my more favorite projects that we for class. In our class we had to research a emerging technology and create a poster to display to the class. I did my poster on a new form of alternative energy. With a new device called the Oyster, wave energy can be converted to electricty. How it works is that the device is placed in the ocean the waves push it back and forth. This pushes water up a water line to an on-shore conversion plant where the water spins turbines and generates electricity. Here is a video of one in action


This is a very exciting technology that shows alot of promise. Honestly I don't know how this hasn't been thought of before now.

Potential Global Bombshell?

As someone who has a strong love of space and anything related I feel that this is one of the most interesting and, at least for myself, anticipated events of our century. It appears to be a general consensus that we are alone in the universe, but an event that is rumored to take place on November 27th 2009, may change this line of thinking. In my scouring of the internets, I have found that there is a lot of chatter about an address President Obama is going to make this upcoming Friday. Apparently the President has been pressured to disclose the government's knowledge of extra-terrestrials as well as it's cooperation with them by the end of the year of 2009.

This is not to say I am not skeptical of such an event, but the amount of sources talking of this matter leads me to believe there might be something to this. What I find interesting is that if this does happen, how will people react. I believe that it will change the way we see ourselves in the universe. We would no longer be this lone island in sea of black. Though I have some doubts, I will definately be looking forward to what will actually happen, but needless to say, I am very excited.

Here is a related story as well as a video talkint about the supposed address.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2383-Honolulu-Exopolitics-Examiner~y2009m10d21-Official-disclosure-of-extraterrestrial-life-is-imminent