Seriously though, it turns out I actually like blogging. In retrospect, this makes sense, because I like writing, and oh jeez oh man, it turns out writing on a blog involves a lot of writing. I think I have some trouble with doing the things people expect from a blog, like linking to interesting stuff and providing commentary about it. Chalk that up to my egocentrism, but I don't really consider it a problem at this point. I feel like I can still manage to make up some entertaining stuff on my own. Sometimes.

I may continue my blogging endeavors post-IST 110H, and see how things go when I feel free to post about anything. Or I may not because I am an extremely lazy and unmotivated individual. Either way, what I'm basically saying here is PLEASE PLEASE OH GOD DON'T FAIL ME ON THIS PROJECT. Because at the end of the day, what really matters isn't whether I've learned something about technology or myself. What matters is whether I get put on academic probation.

Google Search: "Dennis Kucinich is Crazy": 1,680,000 results

Interesting. Keep in mind these findings may be skewed, as Kucinich has been on the national scene longer than Paul, and Google has a conservative bias.

Deltron 3030 is a concept album about the year 3030. You may be familiar with lead emcee (that means rapper) Del tha Funkee Homosapien from his work on the first Gorillaz album. On Deltron 3030, he is a planet-hopping battle rapper named Deltron Zero aspiring to be the Galactic Rhyme Federation Champion, on the run from an oppressive space dictatorship.

I mention it here because I think people need to listen to good hip-hop, but also because a lot of what Del raps about on this album has to do with the potential ramifications of rapidly progressing technology on human society. On "Virus", he spits vitriol at tech-reliant companies, firing off

"I wanna devise a virus
to bring dire straits to your environment
Crushing corporations with a mild touch
Trash the whole computer system and revert you to papyrus"

He further waxes philosophic on genetic convergence and love in an existentialist future in ways that will make you think. But more importantly, it's fun to listen to. If you're someone who could normally not give a damn about hip-hop, but thinks these are interesting topics, give this a listen. It's only seven years old, for god's sake.

Threat 1: State College Winters

The other day, I thought my motherboard had frozen, because I was trying to type on my keyboard and nothing seemed to be happening on my screen. I soon realized I couldn't feel anything in my fingers because I had frostbite and I was actually trying to type on my thighs, but the point remains that sometimes there is such a thing as too much cooling.

Threat 2: Non Second-Life Dance Parties

The above is a poor place for computing, regardless of how strong the Wi-Fi signal may be.

Threat 3: Luddites

Since 1811, they have been committed to the utter destruction of technology. You may even know a few Luddites. Many professors, grandparents, and Liberal Arts majors harbor Luddite tendencies, and are liable to snap at any time and destroy anything within 100 yards housing a microchip.

I'm excited, as a former and soon to be again denizen of Azeroth, and a resident of everyone's favorite Second Life. I find stuff like the WoW plague fascinating and, frankly, awesome. Personally I think engineering these kinds of social events in an MMO environment could lead to really great game design. I'm mad excited to take a look at this topic.

-All in all, the whole exercise ended up feeling a bit silly. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

-Dear God, how much bandwidth did I just use?

-I still don't understand the popcorn machine.

-At one point I thought the server crashed. Honestly I can't believe it didn't all night.

-What am I going to do with L$250?

-I fully support this project, since it gave me an excuse to post here four times.

-Make it so I can instantly wash my socks with no effort. I am sick of going through all my good socks and having to wear my crappy ones the rest of the week.

-Write insightful, on-topic blog posts for me so I don't have to make a last-ditch effort to save my grade in IST. (This one is a bit more hypothetical)

-While we're at it, do all my homework and studying for me so that I can play Team Fortress 2 instead. Who am I kidding? I don't study.

-Auto-talk to my idiot friends on AIM.

-Force the Penn State Creamery to make better iced tea. Seriously, this stuff is awful. It tastes like it was made with Splenda.

-Make more albums like this.

If we as a generation can just accomplish these modest goals, we can surely usurp the title of "Greatest Generation".

-I entered the costume contest as an original costume. If I don't win I will probably cry. Either that or I will just go on with my life with no reaction.

-I am eavesdropping on a conversation between Gerry Santoro, Dr. Tapia, and someone who appears to be her date. As a geek who only knows the world of code and video games, the concept of bringing a date to a party, even a virtual one, is surely alien to me. He appears to have upclassed the rest of the party, wearing a tuxedo. I was going to wear a tie, but then I remembered I'm a giant blue monster.

-I've got the techno music in the dance hall muted. I feel like I am kind of cheating the atmosphere since I'm currently listening to The Clash instead.

-I thought that the one thing the party was missing was a DJ. Then I remembered.

Seriously. We all know my obsession with Team Fortress 2, and further with the Pyro class. My desire for this shirt burns greater every day.

-Just noticed the "lava lamp" that Pat Bonner constructed in the corner. The stuff inside isn't moving. I suspect it may be broken. Still looks nice though.

-Apparently Gerry Santoro just showed up. OH JESUS he has a wolf head. I was expecting him to ride in on a motorcycle. I guess you can't always get what you want. (Who's keeping track of the number of links I'm posting?)

-Robosapien seems overdressed. Why don't people make their own costumes? Props to Steve Dodge / Batman.

-Pac-Man chairs???????

But part of the presentation was advertising the Imagine Cup, a design competition run by Microsoft. I've decided I'm going to enter the game development portion of it.

All I need to do is come up with an engaging and fun game idea that fits into this year's theme. Which happens to be the environment. Piece of cake.

-Glow sticks are sweet. Pat Mulholland seems to be the only one rocking them in hand and around his neck, which is a shame. This could be due to initially unreliable implementation. I would be using them, but I can't modify them to fit my enormous avatar.

-Dance hall looks nice. Frosted glass is a good touch, everything seems to be glowing. Joe Paterno bartenders are kind of out of place.

-Popcorn machine????

-Batman's cape is waving a lot, perhaps more than the real Batman's.

-Kool-Aid man is trying to steal my thunder as large, round, out-of-place dancer. This makes me sad.

-Garrett has the most average-looking avatar I've ever seen.

-When will the costume contest get underway?

More updates as events progress.

The short version: This dude Jeff Gerstmann, longtime editorial director for Gamespot, gave a negative review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, whose publisher Eidos Interactive paid lots of money to advertise the game all over the site. Shortly thereafter, he was fired.

Thoughts: Yikes.

Recommended reading: Penny Arcade's comic and news post about the story.

And by terrible, I mean phenomenally awesome.