The Virtual Stick

Of Beliefs and Respect

2009-08-10T20:03:00.002-04:00

I'm writing this because, recently, I ran into some people who were incredulous over a person stating that there is no hell. These people claimed that this person was not showing enough "respect" for religion. As one of them said, they were respectful of people being atheists, and not believing in a god, but somehow these atheists have the audacity to, essentially, voice their opinion that these

Intro to Animation Video Dump

2009-05-26T14:15:00.002-04:00

Here is a bunch of animations I did for my Intro to Animation class back in freshman year that I had never uploaded to youtube until now.

Woot! Advanced 3D Project Video

2009-05-19T16:02:00.004-04:00

My Advanced 3D project collaboration with the most excellent Gene Kim can be viewed here.Edit: Ah, instead of a crummy ol' link, I now have an embedded youtube version I can put here.

Scientific Integrity, Self-Honesty, and Belief

2009-02-04T21:34:00.012-05:00

If there is one thing that people have chided me about (well, at least people who know me in real life) is how uncertain and equivocal I can be, especially with answering questions. "I guess", "I think", "probably", "maybe", "possibly", "hopefully", "I suppose so", "I don't know", etc. It used to bug the hell of out my dad (it might still)."Why can't you ever give me a definite answer?" He would

Going to Class on Inauguration Day May Result in an "F"

2009-01-21T18:51:00.004-05:00

Tuesday, the 20th of January, 2009. A memorable day, not the least because it was the day that Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States, and Bush could finally vacate the White House and proceed to figure out how to live in a nation that almost universally detested him. The upside, however, is that he's probably living in the one country that likes him the most out of all the

The Legend of Batman

2008-05-25T11:43:00.003-04:00

As the summer begins in earnest and the blockbuster movies start kicking in I find my thoughts turning to Batman. Of course it's not very hard to get me thinking about Batman, since he's been one of those pop-culture mainstays/father figures I grew up with. I had been thinking about how much I was just tooting my own horn talking about how great video-games are and how much potential they have.

GTA IV: Tough Choices

2008-05-07T20:32:00.006-04:00

There are many reasons to like GTA IV. It's a technical achievement that has tons of features, great gameplay, a fully fleshed out and realized recreation of New York City, and compelling characters with snappy dialogue. However, as much as I appreciate and enjoy all those, they aren't the specific reason why I, personally, enjoyed and liked GTA.The Choice is Mine, But Do I Care?Player choice is

Unfiltered japanese internet culture

2008-04-21T23:07:00.002-04:00

here are two videos from youtube based around bizzare japanese memes. I really don't have time to try and make something intelligent sounding up about these, so I'll let all 2 of our readers draw their own conclusions. スマブラxで男女 is a song with lyrics about confusing boys and girls, this other one is just smash bros brawl characters dancing to some sort of terrifying pop song. This may or may not

psycho mantis

2008-04-12T05:01:00.003-04:00

I hope people will forgive my excitable nature, but I probably like and appreciate Psycho Mantis as person more than a lot of people in real life. guess that tells you something about me if you know who mantis is. also, I couldn't sleep tonight b/c people were talking loud outside my room, so if the post is a little disorganized or just cuts out, 本当にすみません(that's "I'm truly sorry" in japanese)

Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Analytical Essay

2008-04-08T21:19:00.003-04:00

firstly I will post a link to a hilarious and extraordinarily intelligent forum thread from my good friend jack, who from here on will be referred to as Mr.Jack. Mr.Jack has been good enough to lend me all 3 metal gears: Metal Gear Solid:Twin Snakes, MGS II:Substance, and MGS III:Subsistance. It is my own goal to replay through the entire series again before 4 and pay as close attention to

Why Solid Snake matters

2008-04-07T23:48:00.002-04:00

Mario and Ms.Pacman art appreciation

2008-03-30T16:32:00.003-04:00

A (somewhat) philosophical argument for gaming

2008-03-30T16:23:00.003-04:00

In Susan Wolf’s essay “Happiness and Meaning: Two Aspects of a Good Life” she uses many examples to differentiate what she sees as meaningful pursuits and meaningless pursuits. Among the meaningful pursuits Wolf mentions are: “Relationships with friends and relatives…Aesthetic enterprises (both creative and appreciative), the cultivation of personal virtues, and religious

Storytelling Theory: Interaction, Character and Immersion

2008-03-26T02:58:00.006-04:00

It is sad to see that in most videogames, the narrative is very much neglected or handled improperly. I can understand that some genres, or particular styles of game do not need much of a narrative, if at all. But for other genres, like shooters for example, story can be a very important, if not necessary, component for the game as a whole. Having a great, immersive, well-designed and structured

Thus, a new blog is born

2008-03-19T22:54:00.003-04:00

Hey, my first post. I'm sure that this is a momentous and exciting moment for all zero of my current readers.So, I guess this moment is akin to launching a brand new boat, and I'm smashing the proverbial wine bottle on the hull. However, it seems that the boat was built by unseen hands, and I'm the only person at the launch, egotistically patting myself on the back for the creation of something