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 Thursday, July 31st, 2008 - 10:16pm - [Direct Link] TRUTH! It's a wonderful thing. Everyone should have some truth in their lives. I'm writing this in the hopes that I can help a few people know what to look for and how to categorize it. Things made a lot more sense to me after thinking about it this way. But as I'm going to point out... my truth may not be your truth. Truth comes in three levels. 1. Personal Truth. A personal truth is something that is truthful for you and only you. For example, I can get pretty bad heartburn if I eat the wrong things. True for me, but some people have been fortunate enough to never have heartburn. 2. Social Truth. A social truth is a rule, law, or consequence put into place by a social structure, usually to assist with keeping things orderly and manageable. Traffic laws keep people safe on the roads. If you didn't stay on the correct side of the road or stay under (or at least near) the speed limit, then dangerous things might result, for you or someone else. 3. Universal Truth. Universal truth is something that's true for everyone. And not just for people, for anything, anywhere. Light travels at a certain speed. Sound travels at another. Gravity works off a certain mathematical formula. And etc. Now let me dig a little deeper on these, and illustrate some common communication problems these help clear up. Elevating a truth offends people. This is just a general rule, of course. But if you take a personal truth, and apply it socially or universally, you're essentially imposing a rule on someone else that they may not believe in. A common example of this is churches. Churches, like it or not, can only be empirically proven as social truths. Personally, I believe that the truths my church teachers are all the way up at universal truth. But if I present it that way to someone who doesn't agree, I can easily offend them. By leaving it at the personal or social level, a discussion can actually happen. And when I talk about social levels, I mean limited social levels. If you're dealing with national social beliefs and speaking as an American to a Briton, and the Briton insists that cars must drive on the left side of the road, then ur doin it rong. You've crossed the social truth boundaries and they no longer apply. Same goes with religious discussions. Social truths should only be applied for people that are a member of that society. Essentially, the biggest problem I see with religious, political, and other discussions that end up offending and resulting in yelling is that people upgrade their personal or social truths to apply to other people's personal, social, or even universal truths. Now the title includes "cheating." This is my favorite part. Truth seems to have two parts to it. Action and consequence, and limitations. Social truths tend to be punishment based, so they're more action and consequence. Personal truths have action and consequence, but they're also heavily limitation based. There are things people simply cannot do, such as fly, or run faster than a few miles per hour. But let's talk about limitations. For example, I cannot lift five tons. It's too friggin' heavy. But, if I apply all sorts of mechanical lever and pulley knowledge (or just get a big tractor) then I can do it no problem. Cheating in life means bypassing limitations defined by truth. The Belgariad has a fun recurring theme, where a master sorcerer gets offended when people say things are impossible. I'm much the same way. I'm currently working on a project in Second Life. It defies truths, or limitations, set in place when the program was created. I've shown it to some friends that are familiar with Second Life. They look at it, and they watch it work, and then when I'm done demonstrating it I ask them a simple question, "is what just happened possible?" Having just watched the demonstration, currently looking at it with their own eyes, they invariably answer "No." A truth was established, and it was cheated. It's a wonderful and exciting feeling to do so. I'll (hopefully) give more info on that project within a week.  Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 - 8:33pm - [Direct Link] For those of you that don't know, I'm really big on webcomics. I have several that I read regularly, and odds are I've at least heard of it if it's worth mentioning. A while back, I came across a webcomic called DreamKeepers. It was cute, funny, entertaining, well drawn, and all around neat. One of the things I hate about webcomics is when they give you like five pages and then they're all "Oh, HA! You thought this was a free comic! No, we just put five pages of our published comic online. Now you should buy it." Another solution, which I find much better, is the route that Digger took. You get two hundred and eighty five comics, and then you have to pay to see the rest. BUT, if you're good with schedules, you can see the current page every day. I would much prefer if there was some large gap in the middle that was moving, so you could keep reading you'd just be behind. But it's a lot less evil than just putting up a couple pages. The least evil solution I've seen, which is why I purchased DreamKeepers when I've never purchased a dead-tree version of a webcomic before, was that not only did it offer a small sample of the book version (19 pages) but it has a pre-book webcomic that's updated weekly. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to read the DreamKeeper's physical comic book. It arrived and my mom saw it. She said, "Hey, I wasn't allowed to have comic books when I was a kid," took it, and walked off, thumbing through it. Based on the webcomic, I have no doubts about its quality. In other news, I still need to post my past grades. I don't even know when the last time I posted them was. And I don't know if I've posted my upcoming fall schedule, either. I will make a post when my Seawolf project is finished for Second Life, though. If I haven't mentioned it, I make Boats with a friend. We're working on something else now, though, but have been careful not to make the information public and only gotten the opinion of close friends and professionals. It's really, really, really awesome though. Really.  Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 - 11:06pm - [Direct Link] As many of you know, I don't use the commonly available shoutboxes or whatever they're calling them these days. I prefer to control the code and information myself, even if it means things get done slowly or tend to not work... perfectly. So I created my own little version and I called it the "miniforum." It worked fine, for a bit. Then we hit 900 posts and it got a little confused about what it was supposed to do. I knew what it was supposed to do, but apparently I didn't explain it quite clear enough. Of course, the 900 posts confusion didn't really cause an actual problem. It wasn't until about 2MBs of posts were made that PHP decided it wasn't funny anymore and stopped laughing. I've returned PHP's good humor and the chatboxes/miniforums/whatever should now be in good working order. Please notify me if there are any problems. Thanks.  Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 - 8:44pm - [Direct Link] A while back I laid out my movie rating scale. I'll paste it here again and then give the reviews of the movies I've seen recently. 1: Don't bother seeing it 2: See a friend's copy 3: Rent it 4: See it in theaters 5: Buy the DVD Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 5.0/5.0 I was taught in film class last year that Indiana Jones was the movie George Lucas made "according to the rules" after he failed to create a successful title (THX 1138) on his own terms. The movie is fabulous and has plenty of references to the older movies for die hard fans. They also hint at the possibility of more Indiana Jones movies to come. Unlike the first three Stars Wars, Indiana Jones does things "the right way" and does a good job of it. Wonderful adventure movie. I have to give it a 5/5. Gone in 60 Seconds - 5.0/5.0 I watched this movie again recently. While my entire family loves cars, but I grew up as a computer person. I still enjoyed the movie tremendously, though. While the movie is about stealing cars, it has wonderful undertones of family and friendship. It's a perfect case of doing the wrong thing for the right reason. I rate it 5/5. Get your hands on a copy and add it to the collection. License to Wed - 4.5/5.0 Robert Williams! One of the few actors I actually know by name. I'm a religious person whose religion puts an emphasis on family, so I was a little worried about what this movie might do. However, the movie was about the 50% divorce rate and what one pastor does to have a 100% success rate in the marriages he preforms. Delightful comedy, though I feel it could have had a little more in their relationship problems. Not my perfect type of movie, but still very good. 4.5/5. See a friend's copy or rent it, and if you like it, grab yourself a copy. The Bourne Ultimatum - 4.5/5.0 I've never read the books, so I can't say how it compares to those. And I was very frightful of this movie after the horrible "shaky cam" adventure of the second one. I mean, when the guy puts a piece of paper on a phone book to stabilize it, the camera should NOT be jumping around! But that's not this movie. This movie does make use of the shaky cam, but it's dialed back enough to be tolerable. Lots of crazy action and twists. Really exciting and plenty of awesome. I feel the series is tainted because you really have to watch all three to get the full story, and the others aren't as good, but it's still a great movie in itself. I'll give it a 4.5/5. Watch it, love it, buy it to complete the series. AvP: Requiem - 1.5/5.0 The one word I can use to describe this movie is "excessive." I was expecting something like the first AvP, which felt like fanfiction. But it wasn't BAD fanfiction. Instead, I got some really disgusting stuff that tried to shock you instead of entertain. A horror instead of a horror/action movie. Also, my experience with the predalien was from the video games (which rock). They changed the lore considerably, and the predalien's design a lot, too. I don't think it does him justice. I'd rate this a 1.5/5. If you have to, watch a friend's copy. Otherwise, stick with the first one. Enchanted - 4.6/5.0 I really didn't know what to expect when a friend recommended this. The description says it's a cartoon princess that gets trapped in the real world. I've seen displacement movies before, and a lot of them are really bad. Instead of being interesting and excited, they're just uncomfortable. Fortunately, Enchanted is a delightful romantic comedy pitting a Disney princess against a no-nonsense divorce lawyer. The effects from 2D to 3D were fantastic. The only complaint I have is that I'd like to have seen more actual animation in the movie. I rate it a 4.6/5. The Golden Compass - 4.8/5.0 While the movie was fantastic, the aftertaste of a child actor dilutes it just a little bit. Still, what she did was amazing. There were Bourne Ultimatum moments where the pieces just clicked into place and you have to cheer them on for their brilliance in handling the situation. The CG was really beautiful, and while it's part 1 out of more (it doesn't have a real ending) it's still great. 4.8/5.0, definitely a keeper. Cloverfield - 4.3/5.0 I finally got to see it! I watched it with a friend and my mom, and neither one liked it, though. So it's apparently not a movie for everyone. If you're not familiar with it, it's shot in a "hand-held camera" style. The only shots you see that aren't from the character with the camera's perspective is when they film the TV showing the news. The "real life" style of the shooting made the movie that much more awesome. I loved how you only got the actual actor's perspective. That's a severe limitation that makes for interesting challenges, and I love how they overcame them so well. They also made wonderful use of color, which I originally dismissed as "hand held camera" issues, until I realized that the color overlays they were using really fit the moods of the scenes. I have a few issues with the movie's realism/logic. You'll see them yourself when you watch it. I don't want to spoil them for you. If you like giant monsters (yes) and you like "real life" heroes (yes) and you like new things because everyone's doing the same-old same-old (yes) then you'll like this. I give it a 4.3/5.0. I already own it, and if you like it, you should own it, too. The Seeker - 4.0/5.0 A random book-to-movie that I knew nothing about but ended up renting. It's about a young boy who has to save the world. Imagine that. It's a good movie with good effects and good storytelling. But it didn't have anything that stood out to me and said "love me!" It was simply a well done movie. 4.0/5.0. I won't be buying it, but it's a good one to watch.  Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 - 5:35pm - [Direct Link] Earlier yesterday I went out for a bite to eat. It was raining, surprise surprise. On the way back the rain had little ice chunks in it. "Aw, how cute," I thought! "It's trying to snow!" When I left school that evening, it was snowing, but it was only sticking a little on the grass. By the time I was halfway home, I was driving behind a snowplow and I couldn't see the lines on the road. When I got to that last turn before my house, I took a couple runs at it, and found I couldn't get up the hill. So I parked down on the main road, inches off the guardrail, away from side-streets and turns where people were likely to hit me, and well on the other side of the non-visible white line. Then I walked the short distance home. My mom woke me up this morning with a phone call to tell me she saw some damage on my car, and I should take some pictures and drive it home. I put on a coat and shoes and walked down, and found out the following.  1) It was a hit and run. No note was left.   2) It was undrivable. The tire would get shredded if I tried to drive it. Oh, and there was a four inch gash in the tire already.  3) The car that did it was white.  A short while ago, I was making a u-turn, didn't have as much clearance as I thought, and hit the sidewall of my tire on the curb pretty hard, destroying a tire. The tread on my tires was low, so I already had a new set of four tires at home. I put on a spare and drove home. Note: Always put the spare on a tire that doesn't drive the car. I ripped out a front tire, and mine is front wheel drive. I should have switched it with a back tire, and put the spare on the back. I didn't know this, and fortunately nothing bad came of it. So yeah, the tires were rather new. The good news is that insurance looks like it'll cover it.  Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 - 1:33am - [Direct Link] In nine easy steps. Click the images to open another window with a larger version. Step 1: Please a mousetrap under the sink. Step 2: When the mouse triggers the mousetrap, rush to it, only to find that it was too smart to actually get caught and is running around under the sink. Step 3: Throw a bowl on top of it. Optional: Place something heavy on top of the bowl.  Step 4: Stick something under the bowl, like a plate, to seal the mouse in.  Step 5: Realize the plate isn't flat enough when the mouse gets out. Panic and try to catch him under the plate. Become shocked when the plate is not the bowl. Then recapture the mouse under the bowl. Step 6: Slide something clear and flat under the bowl, like a ziplock bag.  Step 7: Tape it up.  No, really. Go wild!  Step 8: Take some pictures of the mouse through the clear plastic.    Step 9: Drive a few miles away and let it go, because you're too squeamish to kill it.  Sunday, November 11th, 2007 - 7:37am - [Direct Link] Here is the schedule I signed up for. It's possible that a class or two may be shifted or changed slightly, but this is probably it.
And what the cryptic class names mean, though my 2006-2007 course catalog isn't technically accurate anymore: ART 225 - 3D Design and Sculpture Credits: 3 Prerequisites: ART201 or ART155 Instructor: Becker Description: This course introduces students to the principles of 3D design using both traditional and digital tools. Students will become acquainted with additive, subtractive, and cast sculpture. They will consider the basic concepts of architectural space, interior design, landscape design, surface interplay with light, lofted forms, and skinning systems. The course will emphasize using modern polymer clays and building an animation maquette. Notes: There are rumors that Rossano will be teaching this class, since sculpture is her specialty. But there are always those rumors, and it never happens. ART 251 - Character Design Credits: 3 Prerequisites: ART201 Instructor: Kmiec Description: Students will leverage their drawing and anatomy knowledge to the creation of animation characters. This course introduces student to the traditions of character design and the basic structural strategies for creating animation characters. Students will explore simplification gradients relative to human, animal, and inanimate object-based characters. They will consider issues of costume, personality, and story interaction. The course will emphasize professional applications, techniques, and standards of quality. The work completed in this course will serve as pre-production design for PRJ 300, PRJ 350, or ANI 300. CG 251 - 2D Vector Graphics and Animation Credits: 3 Prerequisites: CG201 Instructor: TBA Description: This course examines the principles and practices of 2D vector graphics and animation. It will introduce students to industrystandard software, output options, and production strategies for using vector graphics in both graphic design and animation. The course will give special consideration to critical thinking and refinement strategies when modifying vector images. Students will examine methods of using vector-based tools for creating web and broadcast animation, and the course concludes with a series of applied problems in 2D vector animation. Notes: This is basically a Flash class, and the old Flash instructor, who was really good, should be returning to teach this. CG 275 - 3D Character Animation Credits: 3 Prerequisites: CG105 or CG225 Instructor: Crespi Description: Students will continue to explore and exercise the concepts and techniques of 3D animation through a series of assignments applied to characters. Exercises in this course will be considerably more demanding than those completed in CG 125 as they will be longer and require more refinement, subtlety, and creativity. The course will emphasize character development – the expression of personality, mood, thought, and attitude through motion and posing. It will also give special consideration to proper model rigging. PRJ 251 - 2D Vector Animation Production Credits: 5 Prerequisites: PRJ201 Instructor: Jazno Description: Students will build upon the foundations of their first two years by exploring a 2D vector- based animation production. 2D vector animations are found throughout the Internet, video game, educational software, and broadcast entertainment industries. Students will apply the production pipeline to a sustained project spanning an entire semester. The course will give special consideration to concepts in research, project development, workflow projection, scheduling, time management, administrative documentation, and quality control. Additionally, it will emphasize appropriate work habits. Notes: PRJ201 wasn't quite what they said it would be, but the description of this class sounds closer to what's planned. |
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