YouTube Channel

youtube channel...

Playlist.

So i saw that Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight Saga, created a playlist of the songs that inpired each book. I found this very interesting due to the fact that I too am inspired by a lot of the music i listen to when it comes to stories. To be honest, whenever i listen to a song, i try to create a music video in my head of the characters from the story, and if there are no characters fit the song genre/message i create some other character in some other universe, and suddenly i have an entirely different story idea, and then i get into trouble because i have another story idea on my shoulders.

(Warning: Long explanation Starting here, Skip to "Note" if you are not interested.)

To give you an example, during the last year i was listening to the band Tool quite a bit, and because of this, a substantial amount of material for my Novel (Which i will here on refer to as FLAF). Around the end of the summer of last year i also started listening to a band called "Porcelain and the Tramps" (Procelain) which through me for a complete and utter loop when it comes to story ideas. FLAF is a steampunk adventure with a lot of spiritual and political views that are almost directly from Tool's surreal lyrics, and when i listened to Porcelain, i'm hit with very strong and empowering chick-rock! I'm not saying that FLAF doesn't have empowering women, but it's a different type of empowering that Porcelain speaks of and that is why it confused me. Therefore i came up with another story idea to fit the music. I create a completely different set of characters, plot elements, villians, and cities. The problem with this was that i now had two completely opposite story ideas.

(Note: Explanation ends Here)

Since this happens with pretty much each style of music i listen to, i get too many ideas going through my head. This is why i decided to create a playlist of the songs that inspire each story, just so if i ever need to get into the zone for writing for one story or another, i am able to!

I'm still working on it now, so hopefully i can finish it and post it so you guys can see what goes through my head!

Lame...

This is going to be somewhat of a rant/vent/whatever-you-want-to-call-it.

Now, I don't mean to sound like a total bitch, but I am going to have to say it. I have been overweight pretty much all my life. I have always wanted to get in better shape, or just loose enough weight to go down in clothes sizes, and in the summer of 2008 I almost did it!

Unfortunately, as life would have it, something happened that deeply impacted my life, and it threw me into a depression that I have just started to get out of. During this time period, i gained quite a bit of weight. If i remember correctly, in the middle of Summer08 i weighed 250 pounds having lost 20 pounds during the first half of the Summer. But now, after weighing myself for the first time since, i weigh 300 pounds.

The worst part about it is that ever since i weighed myself, i started to feel it! I feel like i am weighed down, like i can;t breath. I feel the flab in my body, and I see how large my girth has gotten, and it makes me feel HORRIBLE!

Now this brings me to why i am writing this blog. I want to lose weight. I want to get in better shape. I want to be the Tyler Durden that every man has in their head. But I can't. Or at least it seems that way.

I pretty much am writing this because i wish to turn over a new leaf. I want to start controlling my diet. If i can do that, I think the rest will happen on it's own. I just need to take that first step! But it seems harder to me than it should. I know i can do it! I KNOW I CAN, because i did it once before!

Ugh...

let's see what happens...

My Mega List of Free Software! Part1: (Video Edition)

So if you didn't already know, i am a HUGE advocate for free software. Whether it be Open Source or just plain Freeware, nothing beats having a software so AWESOME it shocks you that it's free. The funny thing is, there are still a lot of people who are unaware of the mass amounts of software available, and which one is actually worthwhile.

So, this leads me to this entry, i am making a list of all the awesome free software that is the best in each category. And here it is!

Video Viewing: VideoLan Media Player
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Why?
Ever since videos started coming in different containers, codecs, and audio formats *cough.AVIcough* it has been difficult to find a video player that can take it all! VLC is probably the ONLY software i have found that is capable of playing almost anything you through at it. I Remember before i started using VLC, i would have to either download and install a new codec, or use some form of converter to put it into a more common format. The sucky part is that if you get a video format that is uncommon, you wouldn't (To my knowledge) be able to determine whether it is a common format. So say if you send/give this file to someone, they may not be a fellow VLC user and be totally lost.

Pros:
Handles pretty much anything you through at it, simple, lightweight, FREE
Cons:
The Very fact is handles everything makes it difficult to determine whether it is common.



Video Editing: Jahshaka
http://jahshaka.org/

Why?
Now that there are video editing tools like Adobe AfterEffects and iMovie, Window's movie maker isn't cutting it. This is especially true ever since the advent of YouTube! Yes, the want to be an internet sensation and do all the awesome candy coated effects the big leaguers do you need a software that gives you the capabilities! This is where Jahshaka comes in. It actually shocked me when i saw some of the stuff people were able to do with this powerful editing tool! I'm no expert, but i would have to say it is Slowly coming up to par with AfterEffects! That is, if they EVER release Version 3!
I fear the only dpwnfall of Jahshaka is the IMMENSE learning curve. It took forever for me to figure out how to add background music to a video. It doesn't seem to have tooltips, and the installation can get confusing if you are not familiar with computers (It sends you to several mirrors since the website is going through a total overhaul.)

Pros:
POWERFUL, fully featured, can handle most formats, FREE!
Cons:
EXTREMELY difficult to learn.


Video Converter: MediaCoder
http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/
Why?
I like MediaCoder because it is very strong and supports most video formats. It also has several presets (such as iPod, AppleTV etc). It is pretty straight forward. The only thing is that it is relies too heavily on an internet connection. (The presets require it. Also everytime you open the software it opens your browser looking for updates *annoying much*) and it also is pretty finiky on Vista. But none the less it does get the job done.


Pros:
Handles a LOT, simple, FREE

Cons:
Dependence on Internet and is Whonky on Vista.

Experiments in Zbrush.

Zbrush is a VERY robust sculpting tool created by Pixologic. I absolutely love this software, and when i got it i did a lot of work fiddling around with it, just for fun. Here are some of the things i made just by playing around with it for the first hour or so.

I really hope i get the time to play around with it some more!

Blender UV Unwrapping Tutorial v2.46+ Re-recorded

So i finally got around to rerecording my UV unwrapping tutorial with better audio quality, and with the newer versions of blender, but for some reason, my audio isn't recording very loud. If you have headphones, it sounds perfectly fine.

To get other tutorials visit my YouTube Channel

Strange Major Requirement

I am a computer science major at ASU and i absolutely love the classes. That is, i love the classes that actually pertain to my major (i.e. Data Structures, Assembly Language, Java etc.). Now why is it that as a Computer Science major i have to take Biology? And not just a simple lower end biology class as a prerequisite like i did with english (English 101/102) but the fraggin weed-out course for Biology and prospective pre-med majors.

Wondering about this i decided to go to the advising office to see if they can shed some light on it. I got a different response with each one...

Response 1:
"Biology is a requirement because it is starting to become more and more related to computer science." (Maybe if i was majoring in Bio-Tech)

Response 2:
"It is meant to make you a well rounded individual." (WHAT IS THIS?! HIGH SCHOOL?!)

Response 3:
"You will be applying the knowledge in biology to computers everyday!" (*Blank-Stare*)

I think my friend Jimmy described the thought process perfectly.
"Give us your money, here's a bunch of hard shit, hopefully you have to retake it."

Yeah, i will have to agree with Jimmy. Why would i ever have to know the differences between Mitosis and Meiosis? Seems like a big ball of lame if you ask me.

There are 3 reasons why i dislike the class, one of which i have already talked about. Here are reasons 2 and 3:

2) My professor is a dipshit. I swear to God, i have no idea how she got her Phd. First of all, she lectures WAY too fast, making it nearly impossible to take notes. You might as well skip lecture and read the textbook, which would probably give to much more accurate information considering she CONSTANTLY gives bad information. But if you miss class, you won't get attendence whenever she does takes a poll of the class through CPS (It's an electronic clicker thing every student has).

Now let me give you an example of how stupid she is. When we were talking about speciation, she said, and this is a DIRECT quote , "Ligers can grow to be up to 90 tons". 90 tons?! do you have any idea how big that is?! A semi-truck's max legal weight with trailer is 40 tons! and then when questioned about it, she said "Oh i'm talking about metric tons". THAT WOULD BE BIGGER! The sad part was that most of the class was accepting it as fact!

Another incident occured when she was showing the conversion from farenheit to celcius. She had the freaking equation on the board, and in front of 400 students said that 5 degrees celsius is about 10 degrees farenheit.

And finally reason number 3:

Once you enroll into an engineering major, you get use to doing real world application work. And when you have to take a class that is entirly based on memerization you totally forget how to manage it! At least, that is how i feel, along with many of my peers.


Anyway, if you are planning to take Bio 187 at ASU DO NOT TAKE IT WITH Nicola Plowe.

now don't think i am being mean to her! I just hate her as a proffessor. she is probably a great person, but if you wish to pass Biology as a non-bio/pre-med student, do not take it with her!