Oculus Rift VR Headset

I have to admit, Oculus Rift is sounding a LOT better than it did a year ago.

Now it sounds genuinely like it can provide an experience beyond what is possible with simply a PC or console.
It really seems like this is the third and final piece of the puzzle to complete the PlayStation Move/PlayStation Eye combo.



-- Kinect - on its own its pretty dumb.
-- WiiMotion - on its own its decent-ish, but mostly unnecessary.
-- PlayStation Move + PlayStation Eye - a big step in the right direction, IN THEORY, but still not put to any good use.

But when you combine all 3 - the motion controls, a game camera AND a VR environment...HOLY SHIT!!!


You can move, walk and manage abilities with the analog sticks, interact with objects in the game world, swing/aims weapons, and block with a shield using natural motions thanks to the motion controls, and instead of seeing your actions mirrored by your character on a screen you SEE YOURSELF DOING IT.
None of this trying to "telepathically" control a separate entity into manipulating its environment, and fumbling around for objects that have a weird spatial relationship to you yourself. No. Now you can use YOUR hands to pick things up. YOUR hands to swing a sword.




If the Oculus Rift (or a very very similar technology) doesn't get ignored, and it's well implemented, it could very well be the biggest evolution of games since the 5th Generation consoles (PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, and Sega Saturn) were released and brought polygonal 3D to games...
Much more drastic than the better graphics championed for the 6th and 7th Gen systems (graphics have ALWAYS been getting better), or online play (we already had multiplayer...*shrug*), or touch screens (just fancier buttons), or motion controls on their own (very few significant uses).

This is the first gaming technology in a loooong time that seems economical, feasible, useful, and revolutionary all at the same time.




Honestly, the only downside I see is that you have to wear that thing on your head... 


I can't say I'm super excited yet, but I sure as hell am intrigued.

Inequalities In Modern Society

We have all this stuff going on right now. Gay marriage equality, women being treated poorly all over the goddamned place, a case of rape where the media is making excuses for the rapists and certain people are blaming and threatening the victim.....

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!?!?!??

How hard can this shit be?

• Make marriage, and everything associated, equal for everyone.

• Treat women as human beings that are just as competent and capable as men, and let them make their own damn decisions regarding their bodies.

• Destroy the lives of rapists and get justice for their victims.

What in the actual fuck is wrong with the world that these things still have to be brought up as things needing discussion?
These should all be givens!!!


You know, sometimes I want to believe that people aren't the dysfunctional, barbarous morons that I think they are. But they just do everything in their power to prove me right.
Some days I think maybe Republicans might not be as bad as I think they are, but the amount of THIS shit that they are making worse is unforgivable.
It almost seems like we can literally divide this country up politically by IQ.
Republicans and assholes with their low IQs, and Democrats and civilized humans with the high IQs.
I'm not a Democrat. I don't agree with a lot of their stances on things, but at least I don't think the things they do are based off of monumental stupidity, UNLIKE SOME PARTY.

It can't be a coincidence that the GOP reminds me of angry chimps who fling poo at the people denying them whatever they want, while the more liberal entities, like The Colbert Report and Daily Show, just sit back and go "Oh my god, don't these primitive apes ever stop flinging poo?" and it's HILARIOUS.
Conservatives have nothing but spite and ignorance as weapons, which gives the liberals all the ammunition in the world to make fun of them for how god damned stupid and insane they are.

It's THAT level of shameless and obvious stupidity that makes us have to fight for equal rights NOW, in 2013.
Seriously, what the fuck?!?

Those givens, people being equal, people being allowed to love who they want, criminals getting punished, victims being defended...I HAVE UNDERSTOOD THIS SHIT SINCE I WAS 5!!!!

I know I'm a genius, but god-mother-fucking-dammit, are people really this stupid?!?!?!?

*supreme exasperation*


Some days I just want to go around punching idiots in the throat, and I think I'd be fully justified, because they are the reason we can't have nice things.

Things Minecraft Really Needs

This list is written post-Redstone Update due to just various frustrations I have with the core version of Minecraft.I'm aware there are all sorts of mods available, but with mods being invalidated when Minecraft upgrades to the next version, it's really frustrating not to have these things in the core game.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

When I'm building Redstone contraption, I often have to build huge elaborate Redstone paths for no apparent reason. For example, if I simply want to make a Redstone current go UP, I have to build a whole big spiral staircase of blocks to place Redstone Wire on. Why can't I just have a stackable conductive block?
We have loads of material types and creature sizes, but all doors are tiny personal 1x2 doors made of generic Wood, OR Iron. Why not Stone, Sandstone, different types of Wood, Nether Brick, Quartz, etc?
When making architecturally elaborate buildings, Stair and Slabs are AWESOME, but every 10 minutes I find a vertical corner too dramatic, or a hole in a wall that's too deep, or I find I can't build a convincing statue because a block is too thick horizontally, etc etc. All this could be fixed if there were Stair and Slabs that were sideways.
I have all sorts of little issues like this with Minecraft, so that's why we need things like this:
- A conductive block (Redstone Wire and Redstone Blocks are insufficient)
- Bigger doors (2x4, 3x6, etc), and doors made of materials other than Oak.
- Sideways Stairs and sideways Slabs.
- Stairs and Slabs of almost every block type.
- Slabs that stack with Slabs of a different type.
- Fences for the other types of Wood. (Having only Oak and Nether Brick fences is annoying)
- The ability to build decorative statues and gargoyles.
- A "NOT gate" Redstone signal inverter block.

NATURE

To me, Minecraft is a sandbox world where I can really play god and make interesting places and things, but no matter how awesome my constructs in the world are, the world itself seems very hollow and lifeless. Like a model train world where everything is just a decoration. This game needs more wildlife and plant life.
- Plants that grow pickable fruit (aside from Cocoa/Jungle Trees). e.g. apple trees, grape vines, palm tree with coconuts, etc....
- Animals to make the world seem alive -
--- Camels for the deserts.
--- Whales, Sharks, Eels, Crabs, and Fish for the oceans.
--- Birds, Bears, and Deer for all the foresty/temperate biomes.
--- Penguins and Polar Bears for the snowy biomes.
--- Alligators, Frogs, and bugs for the swamp biomes.

BETTER OCEANS

Beyond the simple emptiness of the Minecraft world in general, the Ocean biomes are SUPER lifeless and pointless. I see water as purely decorative, or as an obstacle. At most I might need Ink and then I'll go kill a couple Squid for a minute, but otherwise I avoid the water as a pointless inconvenience. We need more underwater resources. Resources we like and need so that we have a reason to go into the water after them.
And beyond just resources, we need stuff to make the Oceans feel alive, like the aforementioned animals, but also reefs and such.
- Aquatic/Maritime stuff (the oceans are boring as hell)
--- Diving Gear (deep sea diving helmets, basically)--- Air tanks (to fuel the diving helmet)
--- Coral
--- Seaweed
--- Naturally occurring/functional Sponges--- Ships (something MUCH more grand than those dinky little boxes they call boats)
--- Orichalcum (ocean metal to build Maritime equipment like diving helmets, weighted boots, harpoons, anchors, air tanks, etc etc) Wikipedia:Orichalcum

Thoughts about stuff.

So, I'm constantly setting off to explain my vast and complex opinions on various things when someone asks some random question on a forum or whatever.
I always end up typing out a massive essay that explains what I'm talking about.

Eventually, it got to the point where it seemed silly to me that I was hammering out this huge detailed view of the world and just sort of chucking it off into space, never to be seen again, when I could actually collect it all somewhere and see what it all adds up to.

So here's this.
I have a blog again.
It's been a while since I had one. I've become a Juggernaut of words since the last time I messed with this stuff.

Guess we'll see where this goes....


Topics I foresee ranting about:

• Love
• Religion/Mythology
• Science
• Video Games/Game Design/Art/Technology
• Political Stuffs
• Philosophy
• Food
• Minecraft
• Apocalypses
• Zombies
• Superheroes/Comic Book Stuff
• Movies/TV
• Other Geeky Stuff
• Top 5/10/# Lists of whatever I find interesting.
• Etc....