Perennially Perturbed

Constance loves to pluck white hairs from my scalp and scrounge around my ear for ear wax and I love grooming her hair. An evolutionary throwback?

'The Square Root of Three' by David Feinberg

I’m sure that I will always be,
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight

Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
With just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun,
As 1.7321

Such is my reality,
A sad irrationality

When hark!

What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply

To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds.
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued,
Your love for me has been renewed

It's really nice to spend time with yourself it is something that I can really get used to, for onyl in solitude can the buzz of the mind be heard with perfect clarity.(Actually I'm quiet well acquainted with being alone, it's just rare to find little pockets of time like this)

Allow me to explain, I've clocked close to 11 hours (timing courtesy of Steam tracking) since my exams ended on S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl (abbreviated to "Stalker") and by golly, it's a fantastic game, not quite like "Oblivion with guns" as I was originally lead to believe.

For the uninformed, Stalker is a game set in 2012 in which the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explodes a second time, bringing forth a host of strange anomalies and mutations to the people and animals who live nearby. You (or in this case, me) are one of the many mercenaries and low-lifers who rampage about looting and stealing from the remains of that mini post-apocalyptic snow globe.

And boy, that snow globe sure is well designed. Kudos to the level designers and artists of the game, who managed to bring to life a desolate and utterly depressing landscape full of wild surprises. The attention to detail and the atmosphere is absolutely astounding and portrays a untamed Eastern European landscape, complete with derelict buildings that are slowly being reclaimed by nature and eerily touched with a sense of desperation and the perversely corrupted mutation of man and nature.

In some ways the game reminds me so much of the Fallout series, which was so atmoshperic (so atmospheric in fact that I fell in love with a cybernetic K-9 that made up of simple *woof woof* text and small 2D sprites) and featured some of the best writing I've experienced in games. It's hard to find such immersion in games that don't rely on fancy 3D graphics nowadays.

The vast open grasslands, so far removed from the desert wastelands of FAllout still manages to evoke a sense of foreboding, tension and total freedom. The ancient caveman side of me must have been speaking to me then, for I felt a strange and intimate connection to the wild and unlimited (until the next load screen) side of myself as I ran across the gently rolling expanse of computer hills. Crawling ever-so-patiently through the gently swaying bunches of flat billboard grass as I stalked my prey really drove the point home.

Speaking of the hunt, I mean the combat system, Stalker features the most realistic shooting I've ever experienced (barring Mafia). The guns have a really solid feel to them, bullets sing and ricochet off objects, men scream and grab their bleeding bellies as they writhe on the ground in pain. Seriously, guns hurt.

Now, this game isn't for everyone. It's made to be HARD and has elements of survival horror in it that would make most gamers queasy. There are these essential plot missions (by the way, the rest of the game is essentially "free-form" like GTA or the fore-mentioned Oblivion) that involve you creeping around dangerous radioactive labs. Yeah, labs. What can be worse than descending into a radioactive lab (where they probably conduct foul experiments on people who are now extremely pissed and horribly mutated) filled with mutants straight out of a Lovecraftian novel, armed with limited ammo and a puny flashlight? Oh and it's DARK.

They should seriously pack disposable underwear with this game.

Being a mature adult does not preclude you from being Happy!

(Though it's hard not to take the easy way out and be jaded just like everyone else).

The exams are finally OVER! And for the first time, I needed someone to constantly remind me of that(Thanks, Constance :).

The final test wasn't that great, but it's pointless to worry over it now. Onwards!

(More exciting updates to come in the following weeks)

The biggest squid ever caught, at up to 10 metres long and boasting a fearsome beak and razor-sharp hooks, may be small compared to others still lurking in the depths, scientists said Tuesday.

The colossal squid has begun a two-day thaw at The Museum of New Zealand in Wellington before it is examined in more detail Wednesday by an international team of scientists.

It weighs 495 kilograms (1,090 pounds), has eyes the size of dinner plates and is estimated at up to 10 metres (33 feet) long.

But that may be relatively small, scientists say after initial examination, suggesting other colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) under the chilly Antarctic waters might grow much larger.

Source: AFP

Official Site (warning, science and dissection content!): Colossal squid blog

Exams are always a hit or miss for me.

If I do well (and I will know) I will be so pumped with excitment that by the end of the paper that I will know that I've given my all.

But if I didn't do so well, I would emerge, tired and bored.

Today's exam was spot on. :)

Experts say the numbers underline the growing power of the games industry, which - with forecasts of $14bn in games sales for the three major consoles in 2008 - is eclipsing other major entertainment industries, including cinema. In fact, GTA IV is expected to earn more during its first few days of release than the $400m made by the third instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean, the Hollywood record holder, in its opening weekend.

The film magazine Variety has suggested the game's success could affect interest in this summer's blockbusters, which may struggle to compete for the same audience of young men.

Iron Man, the high-octane movie based on the comic book character, which is expected to be one of the year's biggest action films, is just one of those which could be harmed by going on release the same week as Grand Theft Auto IV.

Source: The Guardian

If a hypothetical "God" reached down to Earth and picked you to enjoy a life that you have always wanted to live, with the level of success, freedom, enjoyment that you've always wanted, with the catch being that you would have to suffer at times, make some sacrifices and work hard to earn it. What would you say?

Author's note: I wrote this to remind myself that life is as we perceive it, as we want it. If we are not willing to work for the betterment of ourselves, we'll always remain unsatisfied. However, it is far beyond me to say that we should always remain in a state of disatisfaction. To each, his own.

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequertolled me sew.
~ Sores unknown ~

I have a spelling checker
It came with my PC
It plainly marks for my review
Mistakes I cannot see
I have run this poem through it
I am sure you are pleased to know
It’s letter perfect all the way
My checker told me so
~ Source unknown ~

This is totally for fun as there is no conceivable use for this data.

1. Spelling and capitalisation
2. Grammar and punctuation
3. Misued words
4. Redundancy
5. Hedging
6. Lengthy paragraphs
7. Lengthy sentences
8. Passive language
9. Inappropriate tone
10. Poor organisation

But I like 7.... :(

A deadly combination of in-game physics and bad luck

It's a little confusing at first, but later on there'll only be one word in your mind: OWNED

Coooool-I spot endless hours of entertainment. Though, the R/C Firefly would be better for self-entertainment

OMG This game looks just as good as it's predecessors. Can't wait for it to be out!

"Singaporeans spend about 70% of their income on food."
Source: A friend

Discuss.

I think German is a lovely language.

Quixotic

1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality.
2. Capricious; impulsive: “At worst his scruples must have been quixotic, not malicious” (Louis Auchincloss).

It is that time of the year again, where students scramble for oft-neglected notes, cram forgotten theories and abstract notions into their overloaded brains and squint, blurry-eyed at laptop screens, while wondering about the wisdom of the effort put in for this abritray evaluation of their abilities and knowledge retention skills.

Well, maybe all not all students... but the 28th, 29th of April and the 6th of May is my time. Whee~