Hippopotamus

Hippopotamus ...that is all


Today I learned that I need better time management, however for now I have avoided delay. I said nothing about editing posts later after the fact...

Renewable Energy Production Surpases Nuclear, TIL

According to the latest issue of Monthly Energy Review, the total production amount for alternative energy has surpassed that of nuclear within the first 3 months of 2011. During these months all renewable energy output equated to approximately 2.245 quadrillion BTUs of energy. This is about 11% of all energy generated within the US.

Although I'm an environmentalist I don't think nuclear power is that horrible. There have been breakthroughs within the past decade to recycle nuclear material. Storage is somewhat running out so I'm not necessarily a nuclear fanatic but other sources such as coal tend to be exponentially worse. Fission reactors aren't perfect, I get that...However, I'm mostly waiting for fusion. With the hydrogen from a bathtub of water you can potentially power a mid-sized city for a week.

 Something that I find a bit intriguing called Cherenkov Radiation

Today I learned that there is a punctuation mark that was proposed in the 1580s to denote sarcasm or irony known as the Irony Mark.

Steam Summer Sale, P90X, TIL

I apologize a thousandfold for the delay. From now on I will try to make a daily post to have consistency. If I break from the daily posts I will do something utterly ridiculous for your amusement. I will also take recommendations.

If you don't know about the Steam Summer Sale you need to go on Steam RIGHT NOW!! Some of the Daily Deals and the featured packs are worth it. I've gotten about $100 worth of games for about $30. It lasts till July 10th if I'm not mistaken.

Games I've gotten specifically from the summer sale:
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion GOTY deluxe
Half Life 2, Episode 1 and 2
Bioshock 1 and 2
RealMyst
Riven
Syberia 1 and 2
Penumbra: Black Plague, Penumbra: Requiem

Today I began the P90X workout regiment. This included push-ups, lunges, a series of moves using weights such as the "lawnmower" move.. and there were dips, fuck dips! I better look like the guy on the cover in 90 days or I'll be severely dissapointed....I was working out with a friend and he had this to say. "You're not going to put this on your blog are you?! Think about it.. two grown men standing in front of a fucking computer screen, bending over and lifting weights.. it's supposed to be a fucking secret..." . He didn't really catch on that I was typing as he was talking.

Today I learned that dolphins go on killing sprees when they are sexually frustrated.....

Fireworks and burgers...blowing sh*t up and eating meat, this is truly an American holiday =)

Verizon's tiered data plan leaked, Spectral Layers audio editing, TIL

According to a few Verizon employees anyone who signs up for Verizon after July 7th will no longer have access to the unlimited data plan. The pricing is about $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5GB and $80 for 10GB. Overages cost about $10 per GB. This seems to be the upcoming trend for mobile providers and it's only a matter of time before the relief of unlimited transfer ends.

New audio editing software called Spectral Layers is essentially the new "photoshop" for audio. This is because of how much functionality there is along it with being user friendly. I'm not nearly as much of an audiophile as other people are but when it comes to editing the audio portion is definitely underrated.

Today I learned that in case of an emergency on the launch pad astronauts glide down a giant zipline and ride in a tank out of range.

Oh, and congratulations New York!!

The Old Republic, How UPS works, TIL x 2

This is the intro to the upcoming Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The animation is pretty realistic. Recently I've moved away from Star Wars but this has pulled me back into that universe.

 

 From college humor, how UPS actually works. It might as well be true considering how often I miss packages. Sometimes they can be sneaky bastards. For some reason the embedding isn't working so here is the link.

Today I learned Alan Turing, a well renowned English mathematician and computer scientist, was convicted of homosexuality and was chemically castrated through hormonal treatment. He committed suicide as a result.

Today I also learned that German scientists developed plans to build a mirror in space, called the "Sun Gun" in order to scorch cities.

Appreciate the Architecture

Here's a few examples of some pretty cool architecture.

This home was designed by Robert Konieczny and seems to be the ultimate safe-house. There is also an almost perfect balance of simplicity and functionality. As expected with my generation when someone looks at this all they can think of is this being the perfect zombie fortress.

If you manage to get your hands on an extra pair of 747 wings you may want to add them to the design of a new roof. You'll be soaring above the norm of conventional design.

Cahill center for Astronomy and Astrophysics at CalTech. I bet it's very spacey and has a lot of dimensions.

Villa Vals is not the typical 'hole in the wall' vacation spot in Switzerland. If you're interested in booking a vacation here: http://www.villavals.ch/yourstay.php




The ultimate outdoor experience from the porch.

E3 Press Conferences Day 1 Part 3, TIL x 2

Ubisoft Press Conference (watch it here):

Rayman Origins debuts with the creators playing a demo and they describe it as being a bit difficult. The game seems to be difficult in some aspects, being that it's a bit more fast paced than most side-scrollers that I can remember. However, I can tell it's definitely a game made for coop and a fun one at that.

Driver San Francisco: The premise is that you are an undercover cop in persuit of your arch rival throughout the streets of San Francisco. Since they just showed a clip of it I can't say much but it seems to have a sort of "Gone in 60 seconds" style plot.

Far Cry 3: At first I didn't know what this was because the title wasn't displayed until the very end. There was an eerie feeling the cut-scene gave when a leader of a guerrilla squad is describing to you the definition of 'insanity.'  When there was actual gameplay I thought "this feels somewhat like Farcry, but better."  It also seems like close quarter combat with knives and such is very much encouraged. A lot of AK47 use, jungle warfare...it's far cry.

Brothers in Arms: Furious 4: a trailer was shown and it completely reminds me of Inglourious Basterds. It's the same type of anti-nazi special ops team that uses crazy methods to...well, kill nazis.

Next we have the Adventures of TinTin and it is based off the movie but includes a lot more areas of adventure. This is another game which is centered on coop although this one is probably best suited for something like a  family to play together.

Gameplay was shown for Ghost Recon: Future soldier and it was pretty much what I expected from the trailer that was shown during the Microsoft conference. It's still very much a tactical shooter but utilizes more "action" than other TC:GR previous games. Invisibility cloaks and a variety of sensors allow you to be a silent or as loud as you want.

Trackmania 2: Canyon, there's not much to say about this other than it' a trackmania game that's in a desert setting. If you recall not too long ago I posted a trackmania video. It'll probably be something like that but with better graphics and course creation tools.

Raving Rabbids Alive and Kicking utilizes the Kinect though not in the usual way. You see yourself in a mirror-like view and the rabbits appear on the screen as if they were right in front of you.

Just Dance 3 was shown, don't care about it...if you do look it up somewhere else. Yes I'm biased.

Rocksmith is a game where you a literally playing the guitar, so it's about 20 times more realistic than guitar hero. Apparently when you finish the game you should be a decent guitar player. Interesting...or you could buy a guitar and learn the old fashion way but to each their own I guess.

A demo was shown for the upcoming Assassin's Creed Revelations game. I'm indifferent about the franchise but this one looks action packed and visually 'stunning' so I recommend at least watching a trailer or some gameplay footage.

I'll do two today to make up for lost time.

Today I learned that an invisible wall of static electricity was accidentally created which was so strong that people could not cross a hallway.

Today I also learned that Lucille Ball, Lucy from "I love Lucy" is responsible for the existence of Star Trek today because she was the chief executive of Desilu Studios and refused to cancel it when others thought it was too expensive to create.