Gears of War

The Quest to Survive Human Extinction

I hate being killed. That's right, I hate being shot into a million pieces. All Raam has to do is send his little kryll out and devour me into dust. For all you Gears of War fans out there, I come to you with hope of sympathy and advice. I love Gears, don't get me wrong. Killing an alien race that sat dormant underground and now you have to save the world from complete annihilation, how can you not get hooked? I have tried and tried again to defeat the final boss, Raam, on the medium setting. (I believe that is Hardcore) I had beaten him before on easy, but well let's face it, it's meant to be just that: easy. I didn't think it should be as hard as it is on medium, but I can't seem to win....

My first frustration came when my partner, Dom, would die off so quickly. I used him on easy mode as a distraction to keep Raam from attacking me with his shield of Kryll. But everytime we go into battle, he has the urge to run as fast as he can to just get mowed by Raam and his arsinal of attacks. So that leaves just me and Raam. That's never too easy. The second frustration was as to what guns I should take into battle with me. I first thought that the (sorry for my lack of gun terminology) chainsaw gun and shotgun would be best, but I never seemed to take off a lot of damage. I am aware of his Kryll shield and the fact that he is invincible to damage while his little friends circle him. But even when I get a clear shot I can't seem to take him down. Then I tried to use the sniper and shotgun, keeping with the long and short range weapon combo. But that didn't work either, the sniper rifle took too long to reload. I then tried the bow and bomb arrow with the chainsaw gun, finding that to be a popular solution online. But still no good. My third problem was the fact that he would rush me constantly, giving me no time to shoot him, I would have to run away and hide behind another barrier, avoiding death on all angles. My question is how to win. I have been patient but I still can't win. Who has the experience and wisdom to defeat such a unfair boss?

Who Needs Mailboxes

Email: Its Good and Bad

Emails have now been familiar in the technological society for quite some time now. Starting back in the 1980's companies used Email to send data and info to one another electronically for faster and more reliable transportation. It has spread quite quickly to everyone, with so many different Email providers now, many of which are on the Internet, such as Yahoo Gmail and AIM Mail. But how great is this new medium of stationery? I will go through some of my good and bad experiences of using Email and how it affects my life.

First with the bad. The obvious nuisance to Emails is spam. With all the spam blockers and filters out there, you think that the problem of unnecessary advertisements and badgering money hounds would be solved. Overall, yes, I can say the problem is generally gone. But sometimes, it blocks too much. I remember numerous occasions where I have had Emails from family and friends that get blocked because it met some criteria for spam, and that person or persons wonder why I wasn't getting any of their Emails. I never truly lost any of their Emails, but it was hard to go through all the crap I was giving as "spam" and find what I was suppose to get. Another problem is receiving too many chain letters, either in the form of support for God or the soldiers fighting wars, to the "If you don't send this to 100 people in three seconds your family is going to be murdered by little demon children!!!!" I like the effort but it really gets old fast. Another thing that puts Email at a disadvantage to the postal service is packaging items or gifts. No matter how advanced our computers get, they will never be able to send matter through the airwaves....Sorry.

Now for the happy good things! One thing I love about Email is you don't have to remember anything about anyone you know again! You simply put down ANY information about the person in question (AIM screen name, phone numbers, addresses, schedule for school, likes/dislikes, when they sleep and wake....just kidding, etc)when you first put them into your Email's convenient address book and away you go! Another thing I like is getting funny chain letters. I get jokes from long chains of Emails from friends and family and they are quick and easy to look at and send. Having the Email system helps to at least send pictures. Those are either cute or hilarious to get sent to you, like the baby pictures or some picture of a redneck bike made of shoes. The process itself is definitely better than having to buy stamps and lick the back of some envelope.

Overall, the Email system has helped keep people informed and connected with each other longer and faster, and the system will continue to improve as technology advantages. I mean they already have Email accessible on phones now....think of where they'll be in 20 years!

Matlab VIII

If You Were to Read This Article...

Hello everyone, how are we all doing this evening? If you answer good, then I would have to output a "I'm glad" statement. Else if you were to answer bad, then I would probably output a "That's really too bad" statement. My else would just be "Try again". Yes yes, I did just write that opening with poor, incomprehensible English. But I was speaking in terms of Matlab language. This week on Matlab Tutorial, I was going to focus on talking about If, Elseif, and Else commands while working on Matlab programs.

The basic function of an If, Elseif, or Else statement chain of commands is to give the program some options of what exactly it will be computing. Based on what is inputted and what certain variable values are, the if statements help filter and sort these values based on parameters that you set within the code so that the program runs through different choices of computations. Basically if you want the program to do a certain calculation when an arbitrary variable has a certain value, then you write an if statement there along with what the program does when it meets those needs specified.

For example: Lets say you have the user input (back from Matlab II) a value for the variable X. You then have a line of code squaring the value of X. Now you want to have two separate chain of commands depending on what the new value Y (X^2) is. Write the "if" command on the first line followed by a condition. For this example, the condition will be when Y = 4. You must use double equal signs when writing conditional arguments. So now if Y does indeed fit the statement it will do whatever follows that code. So this example will then have Y be divided by 2 to equal the variable Z. Now that is one option. If you finish the if statement with an "end", then you have a simply if statement. But you usually want an if statement to have outputs for every possibility. So you can either write the "else" syntax after your first computation followed by a line telling it to simply make Y = Z, or I will take it one step further and add the "elseif" statement in this example program. After the if statement and the equation for Z, a line of code should start with an "elseif", telling Matlab, "if Y didn't equal 4, see if it equals this". Let's just say if Y = 5. If this is true then our next line with ask the program to multiply Y by 2 to get Z. If Y doesn't equal either, then Y will just equal Z. End your if statements with the end command and output Z. Whew, that was a little rough. Lets see this example in the correct syntax:

X = input('Value for X= ')
Y = X^2
if Y == 4
Z = Y/2
elseif Y == 5
Z = Y * 2
else
Z = Y
end
Z

As you can see, the syntax and the process of the if statement is simpler to that of a loop. the only difference is that an if statement won't loop around multiple times. It will only go through the statements once. Unless of course it is nested in a for loop! Not only does it go through once, but understand that it goes through in sequential order. So make sure that the more important arguments and decisions you want the program to make be the first if statements in your chain of commands. Slowly but surely we are putting all the pieces together.....Good luck and stay tune for more exciting adventures of BATMAN AND -...oops, I mean MATLAB TUTORIAL!

Ok, I'm done.....

Resources: While Loop Help with Cyclismo, HTML Tags at Web Source

Mainstream Cellular Phones

So who remembers what a "telephone" is? Not just that wireless thing hanging from your kitchen wall. I'm talking old school turn dial phones. Well, I would understand for the kids of today to have little or no recollection of such a futile tool. It was the thing of the past. Who needs those when everyone is carrying around a cell phone. It is personal, light, and useful for more than just calls anymore. So how much has the telephone evolved since the old turn dials? Let us look at just a few of the advancements that phones have had over the years.

One the greatest differences that can be made about cell phones and telephones is the literal fact that telephones run via telephone wiring and now fiber-optics along cable lines. Cell phones are run via satellites sending signals from one phone to the other. The use of satellites over cable and phone lines is the fact that it travels faster and without any cords of wires. It can get reception from just about anywhere and can be used at any time. As far as fiber optics has come for sending information, it doesn't beat the waves used in cell phones.

Another large difference in the old home phone and the cell phones is the portability. Before, when you had to talk gossip with your best friend on the phone, you would have to take the phone cord, pull it all the way to the bathroom and lock yourself in to keep from others to listen. With cell phones, you can take it outside, upstairs, in the car, in a tree, etc. Also, even when they created portable phones in the 80's, they were large and clunky. Now they are sleek enough to fit in a wallet.

The cell phones have come up with other numerous ways to just simply communicate. Not only can you just talk into the phone, but you can have speaker phone, walkie-talkie mode (where everything is voice activated), text messages, AIM connections, etc. If you thought saying words was hard, there are now other ways of "speaking".

With the advancement of memory, cell phones have features never dreamed of by older phones: Cameras, music, games, AIM, Internet, and other fun little bells and whistles. The phones started putting in the little things like the planner with calendar, the calculator, the stop watch, etc into its entourage. Then they slowly added innovations like music downloads, an Internet connection, and music that takes their importance and shoots it through the roof. Now there is no need for any other electronic, it is all on your paper thin 1 by 2 inch phone. You don't need anything else.

One last thing I can mention that makes cell phones so great is the fact that they are cheap! I mean whne I can see a hobo on the greyhound buses using a cell phone, then you know that it is accessable to anyone and everyone. In which it should....except not to hobos....

Resources: RazorTurn Dial Phone

Gunbound

So over the weekend I had the chance to go home and visit some high school friends. One of them that I have known for a long time reminded me of a game he got me hooked on for a while called Gunbound.

The beauty of this game is trifold. First off its simple to play. Second, its multiplayer. But best of all its free!

The idea of the game is indeed simple. You take turns with other players moving around shooting each other. The whole game is in 2D, so the way a player shoots is by choosing and angle and picking how much power to put behind it. The beauty of the game play is that while it is simple to start, it takes time and skill to become a true pro.

When making shots, wind is a big factor, and it tends to change... a lot. Other than wind, you have different vehicles which you use to shoot and move with. Each vehicle has different types of shots, different amounts of armor, and certain shots/vehicles which it is especially weak to. Also, the turn order is based on delay. Delay is increased by more powerful shots and taking a lot of time during your turn. Oh yeah. You only have 20 seconds to take your turn, so think fast.

During each game you can earn gold and GP, which is basically reputation or experience, however you want to look at it. The more GP a player gains, the higher their rating will be. Also, gold can be used to buy items for your avatar. Items not only make you look unique, but they add certain stats to your vehicle, and players will stack stats that reflect their style of game play. A quick note however, you have to make sure you play in a zone that is designated "Avatar On" for these stats to actually work in battle.

Now its time to stop rambling and actually get you to try the game yourself. First you will need to download and install the game. Once it is installed, go here and create an account. Just remember you don't actually have to put in real information to play the game. Next you have to create a Game ID. Go here (that is the site you'll be sent to every time you click the game's desktop icon), log on using the User ID you just made, and look for this button:

Click on it, follow the steps, and make a Game ID. This Game ID will be the name that shows up for your character when you actually play the game. Finally go back here again and click the large "Play Live" button. It will probably install different crap needed to play the game for the first couple times you click it, but just keep pressing "Play Live" until you get a window that says "Start" and actually starts the game.

Well there you go. I hope some of you actually try this game and enjoy it. ^_^