No Place is Safe

I opened Flipbook to the news and the first piece was the White Settlement, Texas shooting. The first thought that jumped to my mind was that this was an awful event and, yet again, highlights the need for better gun regulations to minimize the illegal and lethal use of firearms.

But, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick stated that the security in the church shot and killed the shooter within "six" seconds of the event happening. If this statement is near fact, then every parishioner in the state of Texas should be disturbed. The security people may have undergone rigorous training in their firearms use, but they were absolutely willing to KILL the shooter. It is my understanding that regulated police forces refrain from killing except in the most extreme set of circumstances.

Instead of detaining or stopping the shooter from continuing to squeeze that trigger, the security people killed him as a first action. There will be those who will count the parishioners as more important than the shooter. But, as a CHURCH, are they not supposed to value all life equally? Are they not supposed to try to subdue the shooter instead of killing him? As a church, are they not supposed to give the sinner every opportunity to repent? Are they not supposed to forgive him, even in the presence of overwhelming evidence of sin?

And what government is willing to acquiesce their power to these religious organizations? We already know that the Catholic Church abused their influence in Europe for centuries through inquisitions and crusades. What more then when the separation of church and state is no longer enforced? What else will these 'religious security forces' do in the name of security?

What this event showed is that people are willing to be blind when it is convenient and not look when it is right.

--HardWearJunkie

This Is My World!

Two years. Dah-yum.

I want to be a player in a role playing game. I want to game with other people who share my interests. I want to pretend I'm better than what I am now. I want.

What I can't find is a group to game with, people who have the patience and time to roll polyhedral dice and scream in frustration at crit-failed rolls. It's frustrating.

Mary Sues

I started watching In Another World With My Smartphone. In short, guy dies and God makes it up by sending him and his smartphone to a fantasy world. There polygyny is acceptable and dragons roam the skies. A ho-hum harem anime. (He has four girls in his "adventuring party".)

That's not the point.

The main character (I'll just call him Ren, because I forgot) is able to control all aspects of magic and use any Null Magic (personal spells unique to each magic user) when he sees it. Not only does he have a smartphone that works on magic and can be magically augmented, but he can cast nearly any spell that can be conceived. He can even reshape objects into other objects.

That's not the point.

In the most recent episode he meets the queen of the fairies and she teaches him a specific Null Magic spell called "Program". Disregard the use of modern words for a moment. This spell allows a caster to impart "abilities" into objects. For the example the animators showed, casting Program on a chair allowed it to move when someone sat down on it.

That's not the point.

Having done all this up to the current episode, Ren decides to create a new weapon for himself. Being from modern Earth himself, he proceeds to make a gun and bullets. But not just any gun. He makes a sword-gun. Damn it, someone on the animation team played too much Final Fantasy. Anyways, in order to make reloading the gun easier, he uses Program so that the gun magically discharges casings and reloads using the nearest supply of bullets.

This is the point. Ren is dumped into a fantasy world and has the ability to disrupt the status quo just by being himself. Not only is he the Mary Sue but he is also creating LEGENDARY WEAPONS on the fly. In the story no one has ever heard of a gun, let alone bullets. Here Ren has given himself the most overpowered weapon in the world and barely gave it a second thought. He is so overpowered that his own experiments make him even more overpowered. It's ridiculous.

Did I fail to mention this is a harem anime? No? Okay. Just thought I'd point out my mistake.

In a nutshell, the train not only jumped off the rails but is careening into a canyon. It is somewhat fun at times but its focus is on the interactions between the one boy and (currently) four girls. Did I fail to mention this is a harem anime?

"The Surge" Suddenly Became Easy

Between hard hitting attacks, surprises from my blind spots, and the paltry health and armor upgrades, "The Surge" video game is a difficult game to play, even on Normal. ("Normal" is an abused word and should file claims in court.) With every death a player should learn more about the mechanics and layout of the game.

And with every death the tech scrap (a.k.a. Money) you've accumulated up to that point is dropped. When you leave your Ops (safe house) the dropped scrap begins counting down. You can increase its limit by killing enemies along the way to the scrap but once it reaches zero it disappears forever. When that fifteen thousand scrap pile says good-bye your heart dies a little more.

This can be a difficult mechanic to master unless you use it to your advantage. As one ventures through the maps and experience the distance growing between shortcuts a player will find a section of map that she can adequately farm for scrap with little to no consequence. She should then proceed onward until she dies. The player should then take a measure of the effort to reach that death point from Ops as she kills zombie robots along the way.

Given time, effort, and the amount of scrap each enemy drops, the player should pick up the scrap and die at that area immediately. With each death the scrap pile grows. Because that stretch of path is relatively easy the player should amass a large death scrap pile after two or three demises. Only after three or more deaths should she return to Ops to bank that huge pile.

So, if you can desensitize your character's Death then accumulating a large chunk of scrap should be a breeze.

A Hangover Seems Better Than This Crap (Rant)

Once upon a time I was a Republican. I believed in a few of the ideals and supported conservative lines of thought. For the longest of times I could not be swayed by anyone's argument because I was on that road towards complete conversion.

I don't know what hit me, but another thought raced through my head:

The Republican Party does not give two shits for me.

There might have been a series of laws passed that I could not take advantage of because I happened to not be white. I was finding more and more programs that I could qualify for since I was not white; then they got slashed during Republican controlled congresses. I was left out while I saw wealthy white people get bigger and bigger slices of the government pie. (And it was both the state pie and federal pie.)

This past week saw the House pass a bill that could force me to live without coverage. I read an article that quoted a Republican representative: "Nobody dies from not having health care." He also did not mention that thousands of people die every year from not being able to afford health care.

Once upon a time I was a Republican. I look back on that time and tell myself, "I was ignorant and selfish." I never want to be that again.

Interacting With Another World

I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: a nerve where my hand and wrist meet is pinched and causing pain (I think it's pinched). To mitigate the pain I have a "splint" that keeps my hand in neutral overnight and while I work. Unfortunately this also makes playing video games on my computer near impossible because I play with keyboard and mouse. The control scheme allows me to play first person "shooters" with higher accuracy than a controller.

On the other hand, controllers allow me to play games without incurring pain in my wrists because my thumb and wrist is in a different position than it would be on my Logitech M570 Trackball Mouse. If only I can move my accurate tracking from the mouse to the controller then I would be set.

Enter the Steam Controller. The controller has triggers and shoulder buttons plus a third pair of buttons where the third, fourth, and fifth fingers would rest. It also has the standard face buttons of X/Y/A/B and the stick control. What it also has are two haptic control pads that react to my touch. The Left pad is okay but it's the right pad that gets me excited: I can use it for mouse control. That lets me play first person shooters with the accuracy of a mouse but I do not get wrist pain from the CTS. Awesome!

I have tried setting up Borderlands 2 for this and the haptic control pad requires a new level of training for my brain. I am confident that I can use the Steam Controller and will be able to stream my gameplays again.

Our Civic Duty

I live in California and registered to vote. I have voted on who will be President of the United States of America, who will be my representatives in the US Senate and House, and who are my local leaders for, I think, the next six years. I have voted on bond measures, state propositions, and changes to our state judicial system. Hopefully I voted with enough wisdom for my beautiful California Republic to continue being beautiful and honest.

So I voted. So I did my civic duty. Yay.

I did it for one day. One lousy November day. One lousy day in the over seven hundred days of the period until the mid-term elections. One lousy day where we do not get a do-over.

What the hell are we all doing between elections? Do not gripe to me about having the time to vote: this state has EARLY VOTING. The thousands of hours running up to the election is the reason that you at least know about the major ballot referendums and local issues plaguing your community. There is no excuse to not vote.

And there should be no excuse to not participate. Whatever town, city, or state you live in you should at least tune in once a month. I, myself, resolve to check on the political landscape once a month. God knows California can go down the tubes in a moment's notice.

Do not stop doing your civic duty after the election. Do it at least once a month. If anything you won't be surprised by the ballot comes two years later.

Changes, They Need To Arrive

I used to watch the San Francisco Forty-Niners. Hearing about the concussions and the issues many players are facing after retiring I can no longer watch NFL games. My emotions are not in line with the other fans: I am saddened at the fact that football players have decreased mental capacity after a years of high impact sports.

I cannot in good conscience support the NFL anymore. I will always be a fan of the Forty-Niners and I do not forsake anyone else from enjoying the games. I just feel guilty for enjoying an activity that asks too much of its players for so little compensation. Just my two cents.

The Proposed Mileage Tax

Did I spell that correctly: "mileage"?

Anyways, Fortune's website has reported that several states are preparing to, at the very least, implement a prototype tax based on the number of miles you drive. This is to complement the gas tax as primary funding for transportation budgets.

The biggest reason to do so is to grab the people who are converting their cars to hybrid or fully electric cars. These vehicles either pay zero gas tax or very little because they infrequently gas up. Without that gas tax transportation budgets see (relatively) smaller funds for infrastructure like BRIDGE REPAIR. Yes, there are tolls and such but there are areas where tolls are a detractor.

For one example California does not toll many of its highways. If the state decided to toll I-80, Hwy-50, and I-8 then the relatively cheap trip along flat ground to Los Angeles, San Diego, Stockton, and San Francisco Bay become just as expensive as climbing over the Rocky Mountains to get to Portland and Seattle by burning more gas. As a counter example, New Jersey absolutely tolls its roads because for New York City and the rest of New England to access most of the country quickly they must pass through New Jersey. NJ is, geographically, the critical corridor for ground transport. The state government there would be insane not to toll their highways.

The second reason is to make sure that the burden of transportation maintenance is not sidestepped. For those who drive fully electric cars do not pay the gas tax, thus they do not help finance road maintenance. The catch is they STILL use the roads that they DON'T help pay for. To not acknowledge this change in society is to be blind to where we are trying to go.

And the article also states that the gas tax has not been raised in years. I blame lobbyists. Then again I blame lobbyists for nearly everything. But if the gas tax has not been raised then the funds we get for transportation dwindles relative to the number of vehicles on the road. With the dawn of electric cars entering the marketplace the need for a mileage tax becomes increasingly necessary.

Vote for a mileage tax if it comes up; you don't want more potholes in your highways.

So Many Things to Say

Yeah, a whole seven months since I spoke here. I'm lazy, but I did remember.

I got XCom 2 and played it until I liberated Earth. I loaded over and over again because I'm too attached to my soldiers. I do not make a good general because I want to see all my soldiers succeed. It was like that with the original game back in the 90's, the reboot years ago, and it is true today.

The game is so much better than the reboot. The maps are more organic. There is more variety in the types of missions, and the pace is quicker. Unfortunately the errors that plagued the reboot also show up in XCom 2: characters clipping objects, shooting through walls (and hitting their targets), odd camera angles obscured by objects, and delays between actions. These are major gripes but I gloss over them because the game is so good and engrossing. Damn I played over 80 hours to get to the end on normal mode and I am playing again in Easy but with Ironman engaged.

Get XCom 2. You will enjoy freeing the Earth from the alien menace.

Your Sexuality Is Not Love

I am finding news posts littering the internet claiming that homosexuality is not a choice. The claims state that many factors (from what I briefly read, external) contribute to a person's sexuality before they hit puberty.

This is disturbing on so many levels. To say that external factors can influence a person's sexual preference suggests that we can program all humans to behave in specific categories. If you want your child to be heterosexual then you will strive to have specific influences be much stronger. Say, corporal punishment to change the child's behavior. That may be an extreme example of a process but it is one that many people are very familiar with.

So what happens to the unconditional love that we, as a society, profess? What happens when the love we said we give and take with our life partners are really just a bunch of factors and chemical influences? What happens to our choices when we can boil it down to initial conditions? What happens when our freedom to choose who we love is no longer a freedom?

If homosexuality is not a choice, then heterosexuality is not a choice. The homosexual men and women who are raising children may raise a child heterosexual or homosexual or some other type on the spectrum. (I'm finding more articles describing more sexual orientations than I am currently capable of fully understanding.) What happens then?

I find that many people on either side of the debate equate social preferences with sexual orientation. A person can come to terms with their sexual orientation if they understand that orientation does not mean they not love and are less committed to their different-orientation partner. If any person says that love and orientation are intertwined they that person does not believe there is any choice in the world.

I will paraphrase what I have said before to clarify this subject: sexuality is not Love. Forget that and you forget why we are human.

What Did the Developers of "Hatred" Really Do?

I've heard all the controversy and the counter-arguments when people talk about Hatred. I was originally in the "Against" crowd mainly because I didn't want an example of why video games are bad for you.

A while ago I watched one of Total Biscuit's WTF videos and, after much contemplation, I not only agree with his views and conclusions but I must also admit my own complicity in Destructive Creations' scheme. They set out to distill a video game genre's assumptions into a nearly pure game, but they dressed it up and advertised it in the worst possible way. Did they make money? Sure; I'll give them that. Did they make a game? Yes; I will also give them that.

Did they prey on everyone's sensibilities for a relatively cheap influx of cash and lazily depend on those sensibilities? Of course.

The large part of this controversy is that people are looking at this game for a certain type of commentary on the state of video games. What the public got was a lazily built game using controversy to sell itself rather than sell itself as a video game. Total Biscuit's review points out the lackluster design in gameplay mechanics: committing "execution style" scenes for health does not make much sense in a Diablo clone game where fast action is the point of the play. The black and white coloring for the world makes the action look plain and dull in TB's review footage. I would have a hard time swallowing this decision to make nearly everything drab.

There could have been a whole lot more work done on this game. Destructive Creations could have worked hard on making a quality game that had substance and value to it. All the developers did was depend on angry rhetoric and lazy game making to bilk people of their cash.

If you are going to use controversy, be worthy of the fallout, hype, and conversations that go with it.

What Could Be Interesting Now That I Have Come Back

Courier font. Well, it's readable.

I was in the closed Beta for Heroes of the Storm. Today it went public and I am downloading the update.

I just thought of something. Each of the characters introduced is a part of Blizzard's past intellectual properties. Even 'The Lost Vikings' still belong to Blizzard.

In other words, if you play Heroes then that game could gateway you into World of Warcraft, or into Diablo, or into Starcraft. Or you could search for their earlier titles and play retro.

It feels both devious and logical at the same time. Kudos to Blizzard for planning their product line.

I'm sure that if Overwatch characters are introduced then that would be Blizzard's way of saying Earth, and ourselves, are really a part of their world.

*shivers*

Retrospect SUCKS

I just reread the previous post and I gave away the concept. I'm an idiot.

Anyways, the coding is coming along. There was a bit of frustration because Gamemaker would not update my changes. I was "accepting" the changes but the information on the objects were not updating correctly. It felt like the editor side of things wasn't cooperating.

The bug didn't last long and I was able to push forward. I have the second weapon nearly done and adding some effects to it to differentiate from the cannon shot.

I just have to think "perseverance" and get this done.

--HardWearJunkie

Okay, New Focuses (Or Is It Foci?)

I've put the drawing thing aside until I can get much better at it. Instead I'm coding a prototype shoot 'em up game (side scrolling) that incorporates a shooting scheme.

First, all enemies drop power-ups. Some drop a specific type while others will randomly drop one of three. Each power-up will charge that type of weapon on the player's ship to the maximum amount of the next power level. The problem is that the higher the power level is for the weapon the shorter its duration.

For example: the Level 5 charge of the cannons shoots in many directions but constant fire will deplete it in a scant 10 seconds. The only way to keep the weapon level is to destroy another enemy and pick up the power-up it drops.

This does sound simple when you look at the first few levels where the enemies can only take a few hits before being destroyed. In later stages enemies can take more damage and take more charge of your weapons, thus making those power-ups harder to acquire. In fact, the player might end up concentrating on killing just a few of the enemies at a time in order to maintain maximum weapon power.

This is where two other types of weapons come into play. I don't want to give away the concept, but each weapon has strengths and weaknesses that make them ideal in different situations. Switching between weapons will allow the player to approach waves and bosses in different ways.

Or, at least that is my hope. This experiment might go to the crapper if I cannot get it right. Here's to hard work.

--HardWearJunkie

Nothing But the Truth

Just want to say it: drawing is hard. I must learn baby steps but I want to jump to jaw dropping gorgeous NOW.

I have no patience.

That Is a Lot of Decibels

The other day I brought my dad to a medical appointment for an MRI. I was the one who took him into the room after removing all items that could be affected (including my glasses). The only things on me that were metallic are my belt buckle, the buttons in my jeans, and the key I had that locked away my belongings.

The machine they used was LOUD. I thought MRI scanners were supposed to be quiet. I am guessing that the periodic fluctuations of the magnets and their orientation rattles the case, the floor it immediately stands on, and the magnetic materials itself. I wished I was standing there with the techs in the room; instead I was sitting in a chair in the same room as my dad and the MRI machine.

The tests took about forty minutes because they forgot one test while my dad was dismounting from the machine. It was a strange experience because even with earplugs the sound was very loud. I would say it was louder than a rock concert. Which concert? Pick any one; I am willing to bet that the MRI machine was much louder.

All through this the "safe" key was dangling on my wrist. Not once did it sway towards the machine. I was disappointed because I thought I would at least feel a slight tug from my belt. Nothing happened. I am sure that if I had my Android phone it would have been wiped clean of everything.

My Gut Feeling

I need to exercise but I'm too lazy to start on my own. I keep finding excuses to not exercise that I don't exercise at all. Not even the meager five or six simple reps that I liked.

What will it take? Probably a goal, but it has to be a good one. Just saying that I want to lose weight is not enough. I probably have to attach a woman to this goal. And there I go making me a selfish bastard.

(Just realized that "bastard" is written with one hand.)

(Also realized I missed a week. I did return so it isn't that bad.)

Their Words, Not Mine

I am not a connoisseur of art. I would not know what good art is, even if it bit me in the ass.

However, there is an artist out there whose art I love. Her online name is loish and I found her art through DeviantArt. (Put away the dirty thoughts.) Her pictures make me jealous of her skills, but the way she uses color and the textures that she implements in her pictures is amazing to me. Her skill shows brilliantly in the grunge pieces she makes, especially "Entertainment System". I cannot help but stare at the piece. I've commented on the piece before but I will say it again: I neither hate nor love "Entertainment System", but it does enthrall me. I rarely see it and I have to admit it is not spectacular or mind blowing to most anyone. For me, personally, I must drink in the sight and look at every line, every color, and futilely dive into the "painting". Just thinking about the piece is making me relive the first unclarified emotions and sensations I had at first glance.

Now I'm tearing up. Artists seem to have that power.

--HardWearJunkie

Define Love Before Someone Gets Hurt

The most cited reason for divorce is that your spouse cheated on you. He (or She) went and dated/kissed/slept with a person other than yourself.

I can understand that these activities are normally reserved for the person one commits to when they say "I Do". Whenever those vows are said I don't hear "And to have sex with only this person."

Why do we "believe" that sex should only be done with one person? Why should the act of sex be exclusive between two people? The reasons for having sex is biological: either you're trying to have a baby or you're trying to relieve the urges of trying to have a baby. I can't say anything for the women but men have those urges, just in a different way (BONERS!).

But back to my point. Divorce on the grounds of extramarital relations does not hold water. This way of thinking assumes that a couple got married just for the sex. And I don't believe that is the reason to spend ten thousand dollars on a ceremony, reception, and a cake of the wrong flavor.

A good reason to get divorced is that there is no love in the relationship. They can care for one another but that connection between the two that happened at the ceremony is no longer there however much time has passed. This comes down to the True Love theory that everyone would like to believe in. We profess in Love. We argue for Love. We say that we want Love.

What we do not do is Love. We. Do. Not. Love.

Love is a choice. No one can coerce you to love another person. You can say you do, but until you choose to Love, there will be no Love from you. There is no such thing as Love at First Sight. There is the choice to Love. You must give it freely or you're just lying to everyone, including yourself.

There are two implications with this way of Love. (1)Love is your responsibility, thus you must take care with Love. (2) Love is not a stimulus.

With (1) everyone who says they are in Love are not taking the weight and gravity of giving of one's self to another. There are no easy ways to Love, there is only one way: to give of yourself to another. No amount of flowers or chocolate or gifts are going to get you Love. They may get you attention but they do not get you Love.

With (2) we now get into the main problem with society's view of Love. Sex is a stimulus. It is a biological tool of nature and we must recognize it as such. Love is a choice, a product of humankind's social consciousness. Sex and Love are not the same. The two cannot be equated.

Sex and Love are highly personal, BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. People all over the world have Sex and not love the other person. A marriage full of Love can have little to no sex from month to month (or week to week, depending on stamina). So to cite infidelity for grounds of divorce should be the incorrect argument. A more accurate argument should be a failure in trust. It seems a typical "cheating" spouse will hide the affair from their wife/husband. The sexual act should not be alarming; what should be alarming is how long the offended spouse was made unaware. This is a better reason for divorce because the "cheating" spouse could not trust his/her partner to act rationally to the infidelity. Without trust there is no relationship and no longer a marriage.

However, the "victim" spouse can choose to stay with her/his partner IF both recognize that there is still Love in the relationship. They must work on their trust issues, figure out where the trouble spots are, and see if they still Love each other after all that has happened.

We are so used to using divorce as the escape clause in a relationship that we don't work to recognize just how much Love there is.

--HardWearJunkie