I've been trying to get back into the politics of the war this week, now that I'm back at school and surrounded by my soldier friends...but, it's very hard to get any unbiased news at all on the subject, and I find that incredibly disheartening.
Stories like this make claims like the "body count has doubled" and are littered with pictures of bodies, hospitalized civilians, and the like. How about pictures of the hospitals themselves? They've been rebuilt? How about waterlines and some basic infrastructure rebuilding articles?
Seriously...Everyone's talking about how the morale of the troops isn't so hot right now...and I'm certainly not in Iraq right now...but it sure is disheartening to constantly hear about all the things we're doing wrong...maybe it would help to stop selling the news and just report it instead?
Hooah.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Green Street Hooligans
If you haven't this this movie, do so...my brother made me watch it over the weekend of the Fourth this summer, and I can't get enough of it now.
Elijah Wood, a kick-ass soundtrack, and rowdy, English football fans. Unbelievably good.
More PSP
**Shameless plug warning**
So, recently, a universal "unbricker/downgrader" was released by a psp-hacker-dream team via the internet.
If you're more-or-less up to date on my thoughts on the psp, you might be aware that I think the psp is an amazing piece of technology and own one. If you do not own one, I highly recommend you look into at the very least trying one out.
The universal downgrader makes it possible for any psp to be made homebrew-capable for free. Emulators (to be used legally), homebrewed applications and software, legally-ripped UMDs run from the memory card for increased loading speeds, Playstation 1 titles...the list of benefits goes on and on and on...
It's truly a miraculous work of ingenuity and reverse-engineering...check out the article here or the forum thread here for the whole story.
Hooah.
So, recently, a universal "unbricker/downgrader" was released by a psp-hacker-dream team via the internet.
If you're more-or-less up to date on my thoughts on the psp, you might be aware that I think the psp is an amazing piece of technology and own one. If you do not own one, I highly recommend you look into at the very least trying one out.
The universal downgrader makes it possible for any psp to be made homebrew-capable for free. Emulators (to be used legally), homebrewed applications and software, legally-ripped UMDs run from the memory card for increased loading speeds, Playstation 1 titles...the list of benefits goes on and on and on...
It's truly a miraculous work of ingenuity and reverse-engineering...check out the article here or the forum thread here for the whole story.
Hooah.
School Begins
A lot has happened over the past month or so...
The end of my summer break was really nice. I love that I had the opportunity to spend so much time with my family, especially my youngest brother. I'm going home over Labor Day so I can watch him play football (just made varsity), something I've not been able to do since he was in...6th grade, if I remember correctly (he's now a sophomore in high school).
Classes won't be too terrible this semester. Software Engineering, Computer Graphics, and Database Management...all three are semi-to-fully-project-based, which kind of blows, but I do have a lot of free time, so I've just got to be sure to maximize my time-efficiency.
I'm also taking MSL 101 with our new Master Sergeant, who is very cool, and Beginning Arabic which starts this Monday. I'll definitely be sure to keep updates on that here.
Speaking of new cadre, our new Lieutenant Colonel is really intense. He's a West Point-football player grad, combat ranger. Our first actual PT yesterday almost had me throwing up in post-formation. First time that's ever happened...too cool! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the semester; road marching every two weeks, four mile runs, hill runs...too cool.
Speaking of exercise, I'm also going to get a chance to "return" to the world of rock climbing this semester thanks to my quitting my job at the university rock gym, heh...once again, I'll be hitting the panels 3 times a week...I plan on bouldering myself sick this semester.
Videography for the marching band has been going...ok, heh. I really need to start putting more effort into the video or I'll never get it done before December...
Ok...more to come now that I'm back in school.
New school year...time for a new end-line...
Hooah.
The end of my summer break was really nice. I love that I had the opportunity to spend so much time with my family, especially my youngest brother. I'm going home over Labor Day so I can watch him play football (just made varsity), something I've not been able to do since he was in...6th grade, if I remember correctly (he's now a sophomore in high school).
Classes won't be too terrible this semester. Software Engineering, Computer Graphics, and Database Management...all three are semi-to-fully-project-based, which kind of blows, but I do have a lot of free time, so I've just got to be sure to maximize my time-efficiency.
I'm also taking MSL 101 with our new Master Sergeant, who is very cool, and Beginning Arabic which starts this Monday. I'll definitely be sure to keep updates on that here.
Speaking of new cadre, our new Lieutenant Colonel is really intense. He's a West Point-football player grad, combat ranger. Our first actual PT yesterday almost had me throwing up in post-formation. First time that's ever happened...too cool! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the semester; road marching every two weeks, four mile runs, hill runs...too cool.
Speaking of exercise, I'm also going to get a chance to "return" to the world of rock climbing this semester thanks to my quitting my job at the university rock gym, heh...once again, I'll be hitting the panels 3 times a week...I plan on bouldering myself sick this semester.
Videography for the marching band has been going...ok, heh. I really need to start putting more effort into the video or I'll never get it done before December...
Ok...more to come now that I'm back in school.
New school year...time for a new end-line...
Hooah.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
My Take on Miracles...
I had a very interesting conversation with my family while driving around Atlanta a few days ago, and I just remembered that I wanted to post about it.
My immediate family members are all practicing Catholics. My two younger brothers and I went to a convent-grade school/junior high, a Franciscan high school, and my middle brother and I are currently attending a Catholic college. I've studied my faith, its history and traditions, and the Bible fairly extensively. I'm certainly not the best Christian or Catholic ever to walk the face of the planet...but I know my stuff and I practice what I preach.
However, my family also raised me to use my brain...this sometimes can catch my mother off guard when it comes to matters of faith. She is a wonderful woman and easily one of the most truly Christian women I have ever or will ever know.
I have begun to label myself a Deist Catholic. Deism is a philosophical interpretation of God and faith applied to religion...Deism.com defines deism as such:
Deism is the recognition of a universal creative force greater than that demonstrated by mankind, supported by personal observation of laws and designs in nature and the universe, perpetuated and validated by the innate ability of human reason coupled with the rejection of claims made by individuals and organized religions of having received special divine revelation.
While I don't buy into the deist philosophy one hundred percent, I very much appreciate its emphasis on using one's own brain to figure things out.
With the background set up now, I can get to the conversation.
My mother is intrigued by miracle stories, both modern and Biblical. I...am skeptical. The topic of conversation in the car on this particular day was the multiplying of loaves and fish (...the story would have first appeared in Mark, as it was the earliest Gospel written, so I'm going to refer to this particular version...Chapter 6 verses 34-44). Mark writes that Jesus went out to a deserted place; this means of course that he probably was out in the desert. Some 5,000 people followed him in the hopes that he would preach to them.
I don't even like to drive around for work each day without a bottle of water and an apple in the car...the idea that 5,000 people picked up and ran headfirst into the desert and then many hours later said to themselves, "CRAP! We didn't bring any food!" is one hundred percent ridiculous. The solution is somewhat less miraculous and awe-inspiring but just as important to Jesus' message.
When the people in the front of the crowd with food saw that Jesus was instructing his Apostles to share their food with those people who maybe hadn't realized how long they would be outside and hadn't brought enough sustenance, they acted in accordance with the instructions and began to pass around their own food. These acts of goodwill made their way among all the people present until all 5,000 people had enough to eat. I mean...they followed him to learn, right? The miracle story isn't about Jesus' power...it's about his revealing man's capacity and willingness to help himself, which is a great message!
My mom did concede this particular argument to me, which is always nice.
I won't claim to have a realistic interpretation of every miracle story or a logical explanation for every religious phenomena. And I'm certainly not an authority on all things Christian...but I would implore all Christians to think for themselves once in a while. God gave you a brain so you could use it.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
My immediate family members are all practicing Catholics. My two younger brothers and I went to a convent-grade school/junior high, a Franciscan high school, and my middle brother and I are currently attending a Catholic college. I've studied my faith, its history and traditions, and the Bible fairly extensively. I'm certainly not the best Christian or Catholic ever to walk the face of the planet...but I know my stuff and I practice what I preach.
However, my family also raised me to use my brain...this sometimes can catch my mother off guard when it comes to matters of faith. She is a wonderful woman and easily one of the most truly Christian women I have ever or will ever know.
I have begun to label myself a Deist Catholic. Deism is a philosophical interpretation of God and faith applied to religion...Deism.com defines deism as such:
Deism is the recognition of a universal creative force greater than that demonstrated by mankind, supported by personal observation of laws and designs in nature and the universe, perpetuated and validated by the innate ability of human reason coupled with the rejection of claims made by individuals and organized religions of having received special divine revelation.
While I don't buy into the deist philosophy one hundred percent, I very much appreciate its emphasis on using one's own brain to figure things out.
With the background set up now, I can get to the conversation.
My mother is intrigued by miracle stories, both modern and Biblical. I...am skeptical. The topic of conversation in the car on this particular day was the multiplying of loaves and fish (...the story would have first appeared in Mark, as it was the earliest Gospel written, so I'm going to refer to this particular version...Chapter 6 verses 34-44). Mark writes that Jesus went out to a deserted place; this means of course that he probably was out in the desert. Some 5,000 people followed him in the hopes that he would preach to them.
I don't even like to drive around for work each day without a bottle of water and an apple in the car...the idea that 5,000 people picked up and ran headfirst into the desert and then many hours later said to themselves, "CRAP! We didn't bring any food!" is one hundred percent ridiculous. The solution is somewhat less miraculous and awe-inspiring but just as important to Jesus' message.
When the people in the front of the crowd with food saw that Jesus was instructing his Apostles to share their food with those people who maybe hadn't realized how long they would be outside and hadn't brought enough sustenance, they acted in accordance with the instructions and began to pass around their own food. These acts of goodwill made their way among all the people present until all 5,000 people had enough to eat. I mean...they followed him to learn, right? The miracle story isn't about Jesus' power...it's about his revealing man's capacity and willingness to help himself, which is a great message!
My mom did concede this particular argument to me, which is always nice.
I won't claim to have a realistic interpretation of every miracle story or a logical explanation for every religious phenomena. And I'm certainly not an authority on all things Christian...but I would implore all Christians to think for themselves once in a while. God gave you a brain so you could use it.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Cosmic Rays
A new study has been published that says the sun no longer causes warming...
Ok, that's not exactly a fair statement...but it is fishy-sounding
"This paper re-enforces the fact that the warming in the last 20 to 40 years can't have been caused by solar activity"
- Dr Piers Forster
You'll have to read it to get the full idea, but essentially, these scientists have taken measurements of the sun's activity over the past 30 years or so, and have concluded that the activity has no effects on modern warming...
If we can't predict the weather on a daily basis, how can we possibly figure this garbage out?
Bah...that's all I've got.
Peace out.
Ok, that's not exactly a fair statement...but it is fishy-sounding
"This paper re-enforces the fact that the warming in the last 20 to 40 years can't have been caused by solar activity"
- Dr Piers Forster
You'll have to read it to get the full idea, but essentially, these scientists have taken measurements of the sun's activity over the past 30 years or so, and have concluded that the activity has no effects on modern warming...
If we can't predict the weather on a daily basis, how can we possibly figure this garbage out?
Bah...that's all I've got.
Peace out.
He's Alive
Hey everyone.
It has been too long. I hope you all had a magnificent Fourth of July.
I've been up to quite a bit lately. I spent the last week in Atlanta, GA for a wedding. I also wanted to spend some time with my mother's side of the family, as I will not get to see a lot of them for a significant amount of time. While in Atlanta, I was fortunate enough to see two very excellent movies, Live Free or Die Hard and Transformers.
Both are full of action and witty dialog. I've seen both three times already...so trust me, they are worth the price of admission.
Die Hard focuses once again on Bruce Willis' character, Detective John McClane. Both Willis and McClane are starting to show their ages...but that's ok. It makes the action scenes, most of which are of course completely over the top, even more badass...The film is as full of hilarious dialog as it is explosions...it is as good as the first movie, if not better.
Transfomers pays perfect homage to the television series. It is goofy, unbelievable, and chock full of ridiculous action. After seeing this film, my cousins and I got into our car and proceeded to look for the "turn into a giant robot button." I guarantee you'll want to do the same.
I've also been spending a lot of time with my psp lately. Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls is a Gameboy Advance title (which I own legally for that particular system) that I have been playing on my psp. It's a remake of both FF1 and 2...tons of stuff to do, simple and enjoyable combat system...but way too many random battles. It's almost enough to detract from the game.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
It has been too long. I hope you all had a magnificent Fourth of July.
I've been up to quite a bit lately. I spent the last week in Atlanta, GA for a wedding. I also wanted to spend some time with my mother's side of the family, as I will not get to see a lot of them for a significant amount of time. While in Atlanta, I was fortunate enough to see two very excellent movies, Live Free or Die Hard and Transformers.
Both are full of action and witty dialog. I've seen both three times already...so trust me, they are worth the price of admission.
Die Hard focuses once again on Bruce Willis' character, Detective John McClane. Both Willis and McClane are starting to show their ages...but that's ok. It makes the action scenes, most of which are of course completely over the top, even more badass...The film is as full of hilarious dialog as it is explosions...it is as good as the first movie, if not better.
Transfomers pays perfect homage to the television series. It is goofy, unbelievable, and chock full of ridiculous action. After seeing this film, my cousins and I got into our car and proceeded to look for the "turn into a giant robot button." I guarantee you'll want to do the same.
I've also been spending a lot of time with my psp lately. Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls is a Gameboy Advance title (which I own legally for that particular system) that I have been playing on my psp. It's a remake of both FF1 and 2...tons of stuff to do, simple and enjoyable combat system...but way too many random battles. It's almost enough to detract from the game.
That's all I've got.
Peace out.
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