Eight persons the world needs to meet June 25, 2009
Posted by Wilz in Entertainment, Society.add a comment
A brilliant performance, not only due to Sarah Jones’ talent with accents, but due to what each character has to say.
Fantasy is not Sci-Fi! June 13, 2009
Posted by Wilz in Entertainment.5 comments
Title on book: “Arthas: The Lich King.” Title on shelf:”Science Fiction.”
Is it really that hard to understand that fantasy stories and science fiction are two different things?
I used to think that some bookstores are just too small to carry too many of either genres and therefore just lump them together on the same shelf. But big bookstores seem to do the same. Yes I’m looking at you BORDERS @ The Gardens MidValley.
Even if you want to lump them together, couldn’t you call it “fantasy & sci-fi”? Argh.
Watermelon Buns June 12, 2009
Posted by Wilz in Personal.1 comment so far
Willie : you can has read email pls now thx k
Sent an email to William, asked him to read it. The purpose of this post is to… introduce watermelon buns to the world.
Willie : you can has read email pls now thx k
William : familiar name
Willie : yes he r
Willie : you may replai email nao kthx
William : can i reply here
Willie : no
Willie : the other two (including the shmuck) must sees
William : haet
Willie : or i can i guess quote you or somethins
Willie : but i’ll put ‘watermelon buns’ next to each line
William : wtf are watermelon buns and how can i get some
Willie : just the sound of em are awesome aint it
Willie : they will only surface once the moon kisses mars where the star (which is not the sun) sheds it’s tears
Willie : and you know that’s not happening for a bit
William : damn them stars
Willie : replai wru?
William : sent you big doodoo
William : ah rats i sent it to you only
Willie : WHATANOOB
Willie : WHAAAAAT AAAAAAAAAA NOOOOOOOOOB
William : i hate yahoomail
ZYXW: Global Warming June 10, 2009
Posted by zhiyuan in Environment.3 comments
Inspired by XKCD… this is ZYXW. Enjoy.
Earth Hour March 28, 2009
Posted by William in Environment.1 comment so far
It is currently a little less than three hours till Melbourne embraces Earth Hour, a global effort to switch of non essential lights and appliances for one hour starting at 830PM local time. There has been a bit of drama behind the idea for the past few months. To be succint:
Why is it important: To raise awareness regarding our impact on the environment and as a vehicle for global citizens to vote for the intention to improve the ecosystems and reduce stress on the planet.
Why it is awesome: It is an opportunity for us to unite as a species and vote for a common direction, something we are somehow genetically predisposed not to do.
Who should really be excited about it: Everyone above the poverty line.
Who in reality are the most excited about it: Criminals, according to certain people(New Scientist). I’ll admit that is the first thing that popped into my mind when i first read about Earth Hour – it is a fanstastic opportunity for thieves to plan elaborate heists around the world. Heck they could even have a forum of their own and plan this months in advance and celebrate an early Christmas. I’m also certain its a fantastic window for a bit of snoosnoo in unorthodox locations.
That is, if we’re all idiots. The project did not call for us to plunge ourselves into pitch darkness, but to switch off non essential lights and equipment. In the article linked above, business owners calculated the cost of participating and some comments were suggesting that it is more cost effective if we spend the time on other green projects like changing lightbulbs etc. I do not think they get the spirit nor the scale of this excercise. This is about awareness and forging global unity, and there is no reason why we can’t both change lightbulbs and switch it off – they are not mutually exclusive.
If your business can not afford the risk, just decline politely and perhaps support it on the personal level and do it at home. With doors fully locked.
Personally my uni will be honoring the cause and hopefully here’s hoping we’ll have satellite images of the planetary mexican wave popping up on the net soon.
Say NO to Shark Fin Soup March 21, 2009
Posted by Wilz in Environment, Personal.add a comment
I actually wrote this in my drafts two years ago (around November 2007)
A couple of months ago, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry announced that it and its agencies will stop serving shark fin soup at all functions. Now if only the billion or so Chinese, actually more like the hundreds of millions who can afford it, start doing the same.
I’ve stopped taking Shark Fin Soup during Chinese New Year. It can be weird at the reunion dinner table, especially if your family insists on serving that dish. Last year I asked my parents not to buy shark fin when they went out for CNY shopping. They went ahead and bought it. They cooked and served it, I didn’t eat it. I think they got the message.
I wonder if they’ll insist on buying it again this year.
The happy news is that my family has been shark fin soup free for two years!
The unhappy news is that… there’s a lot of Chinese people, they’re getting richer (in the long run), and they’re a bunch of hard-headed blind culture-worshippers who won’t listen to Yao Ming.
We’re That Country December 11, 2008
Posted by Wilz in Society.14 comments
Oh… my… teapot… we’re that country! We’re that country that puts “God” into the SCIENCE textbook.
It’s SCIENCE you dumb fucks SCIENCE. I promised myself to try not to swear on this blog not knowing who else might be reading this. But you DUMB FUCKS it’s called SCIENCE for a reason!
Seeing that little ancronym “KBSR” on the top right of that textbook, my hope for an intelligent next generation just faded by a factor of several hundred. Only the internet and its free inquiry can save them now…
P/S “can be seen with naked eyes.” Looks like the idiot (ok he was likely pressured by politicians) who wrote this textbook needs to learn some English too. “can be seen with the naked eye.” Fixed kthx.
Images/info originally appeared and obtained with permission from my good friend “Lich King“. Even the undead gets pissed at shit like this.
Life and Computer Games October 7, 2008
Posted by Wilz in Gaming, Society.7 comments
This video, and the video the speaker shows about halfway through the talk, perhaps expresses best my own thoughts about computer gaming right now. The strongest comment from his student that jumped out at me was his comparison between real life and game violence.
As creativity, curiosity and joy in learning is ’school-ed’ and ‘examination-ed’ out of our children and youth, and as their interest and sense of relevance for life, society and the environment is pushed further and further away through the ridiculous levels of book and classroom schooling they are forced through even at tertiary level, what surprise is there that the virtual world becomes the most comforting getaway.
Perhaps it is only fortunate that geeks are inherently chaotic good in alignment. For so far, most games I know of lean towards the same.
SPORE: Intelligent Design or Evolution September 5, 2008
Posted by Wilz in Astronomy, Environment, Gaming, Society.2 comments
I’m getting my copy of Spore on Tuesday next week! Woot! One of the ironies behind this game has been what it is trying to promote. In a lot of his presentations, Will Wright (the creator) have referred to the game as an excellent method through which one can explore and be familiar with the scientific concepts such as evolution, planetary properties and their balance, and the science of deep space exploration/travel. Spore’s logo by itself does a good job of making the spiral galaxy a ‘familiar’ image.
However, the ironic part (which is pointed out happily by many a religious nut) is that although the cell gene collection thing represents evolution, the actions of the cell (and later the creature and creatures) are controlled by an intelligent being, which is the player. In other words, even if it was evolution doing the work, it was still guided by intelligent design.
What a load of bull. Anyways, I made some quick lists to support the idea that;
the game is pro-science / evolution:
- The game portrays the evolution of a single celled organism into a complex creature.
- The game portrays how the creature grows into intelligence and civilization (much like our history).
- The game respects many scientific principles (injecting CO2 into the atmosphere raises a planet’s atmosphere, etc).
- The creator of the game says he loves science and wants to use Spore as a means of promoting it.
the game is pro-intelligent design (no, it’s not a science no matter how many papers you write) :
- There is a ‘guiding intelligence’ that is controlling the being/beings (The player is God).
- There is a trailer which sounds very much like it’s promoting intelligent design.
the game is just a bloody game:
- Well if the game supports any kind of intelligent design, it probably supports polytheism/milliontheism more than monotheism. The creatures/civilizations in the game were created by millions of different players, whose creations are seamlessly downloaded into your client as you’re playing. So many Gods om-G!
Therefore the conclusion is, what Spore truly represents is, are you ready for it – an alien conspiracy theory. Yep. A bunch of aliens powerful enough to affect things without actually being noticed by the creatures, manipulating everything for some sick purpose. They’re only as powerful as demigods, coz they can’t change the laws of space-time. They have only one power, to directly control the actions of their own species.
Oh wait that would make our CPU the proper God since it is creating and maintaining the universe, and running the AI of all the other creatures. But then again it connects to a server to donwload creatures so that would make the server some kind of God nexus… and since Maxis runs the server, they would be a multiple-staffed Godhead? Will Wright would be the equal but supreme member of the Godhead? OMG is model accurate for real life? Maybe a gaming company runs our universe! Nvm.
Can’t wait to play the game!
Wilz
zhiyuan
William