The Txt

Effects of the Digital Age have reached into every aspect of our lives; they follow us into just about all of the places we are. No manifestation represents this more than the infamous "text message." Ephemeral and quick, these messages activate our cell phones at nearly any time and any place.

It is normally when I am attempting to savor some time in solitude when I receive one.

An abrupt and violent vibration on my upper right thigh, and a noise of some tiny weight whirring, just for a second, nearly makes me start. I am shattered. My mind scrambles for identification, for order to this unexpected descent into chaos; in the process, the state of mind that was moments ago so cathartic and enveloping is immediately dropped into oblivion. Oh, I realize, slightly annoyed. That's my phone. Someone has just texted me.

Sitting, but unwilling to exert energy to answer the message, I compromise and straighten my leg out, thrusting my pelvic bone into the air. The slightly frayed pockets on my jeans prevent my phone from coming out easily. My hands flick around the metallic mass, searching for the antenna (I have determined through empirical data that finding the antenna first is the easiest method for extracting my phone from my pocket). Out with my hand comes a gray rectangular box, not much longer or wider than a few of my fingers, heralding the current time, 11:04, and the message “1 message received.” Now that I know the time, I might as well re-examine the state of my physical being. I am currently Wil, by myself, and in my room.

Text messaging has often provoked this style of reaction from me. But this model of events is not just a recent development -- the idea of the telephone ring has triggered an abrupt dissonance for as long as I can remember. Until as recently as a year or two ago, my house would receive as many as 10 or more calls a day; my focus was obliterated by the end of each day by the mere anticipation of my focus being obliterated. The shrill sound that signaled someone in a far land beckoning my attention for a few lines of unimportant dialogue was an object of my scorn.

I received my cell phone about 2 years ago. After exchanging numbers with a few friends, instead of telephone calls, I unexpectedly began receiving texts. And it was invigorating – my friends and I communicated silently through truncated words and unfinished sentences. Messages received through the air, without the need for sound -- what strange space! (Words sound different on a page than they do vibrating through the air.) I envied the people I observed typing without looking, typing faster than I could. I envied the people being fast and secret. The sequence of buttons I watched people smoothly press would remain an abstract and intangible idea, an unreadable secret passed directly before my eyes, if the message was not sent to me.

Whenever I was alone, my friends were just a mere text away! I could even send and receive pictures. Whenever I wanted. The instantaneous sending back and forth of text words seemed much more efficient than wasting my time calling a person and using my voice with him or her. Unless a spelling error is made, a person cannot as easily misunderstand a typed word as opposed to a word heard through the phone speaker (in addition, my speaker is broken, making most speech I hear fuzzy, and to my dismay many times, silent). And after my message was sent, I was free to forget about my text and go about doing whatever I wish, until I received a response. And the culture surrounding text messaging is predisposed to the passing thought. Text etiquette does not require any cues on the parts of the speakers -- no "hello" or "goodbye."It ends just as quickly as it starts.

What I failed to come to terms with immediately, though, was the fact that my friends and I could mutually contact each other at any time. Including the times I did not wish to be disturbed, such as when I was trying to concentrate on homework, or had a headache, or had a sub-par day. Or, worse, when I thought what the other texter had to say turned out to be boring. Without fail, the frantic vibrations of an incoming transmission would decimate my state of mind. Consequently, I ended up having text conversations when I wanted to concentrate on other things. I re-discovered on top of this the possibility for text to miscommunicate easily a speaker's tone. With the element of voice removed, emotions got mangled and misunderstood through what at first glance appeared to be a straightforward, simple message. The sudden dissolution of my thoughts, the smooth surface broken by the telephone alert, returned.

So why do I still text message?

Partially because texts are convenient and more readily answered by most, to be honest. But the anticipation of the alert my phone will sound serves to keep me subliminally aware of my physicality. As my mind begins to stray away from my location on the ground, these messages and telephone rings come to me and literally nudge me awake. They challenge me to consider the world differently; without them, I may be living more through my mind, and may have forgotten that I can (must) live through senses as well.

This heightened consciousness of my place is accompanied by the consciousness of the place of others. Unpredictably, some person is in a spot that is not where I am right now, thinking a thought that led to their contact with me. It is entirely too easy for us to forget that people exist in places outside of our sensory range. Out of sight, out of mind. With this one person, who has texted me and is away from my physical location, countless others exist in between, beyond. The text message heralds the existence of the world through its implications. For every one that can text, others exist who do not have cell phones. And others who I have never seen; and others who are located on different continents; and others who are existing, along with me. Instantaneous, a glancing moment of clarity, these implications flood past with the message.

And valuable to me are the interactions I have had with people through cell phone space. Perhaps using text gives texters more time to consider their sentences; people undergo transformations when they reach my cell phone screen. People change according to the space they are given. Wonderfully interesting conversations have blossomed between various texters and I. Eerily beautiful fragments of sentences. Text messages give you the ability to stare at, revisit, contemplate the words they bear. Friends (I) have delivered painful transmissions. At times my heart races when the phone finally sounds its alert that a message has been received.

Recently I went to clear out my old picture messages (an enhanced method of text messaging in which messagers add text to a picture, and send it), in the hopes that my now-ancient phone would operate more effectively. What I found were documents -- documents of instants in time that I had long forgotten about. I found pictures of me and old friends in strange places; pictures people sent me that made me laugh; pictures of a foreign, distant person I once referred to as myself. The digital quality of the text allows for easy archival of what, at one point, we deemed appropriate to remember; things monumental and trivial are recorded. Like layers of Earth, we impress the matter of our age into the atmosphere.

The text message evokes my bittersweet acceptance. At times I wish I was not the owner of my cell phone. When I receive a text message, however, I rush with bounding curiosity and apprehension to read the transmission. At my very early stages of text messaging development, I received a text from a number I did not know. It read: "You sleep -- love is never wrong." As our tools become more complex, perhaps we distance ourselves further and further from the original medium; regardless, people can still produce some beautiful things.

Coke's Undeniable Waste

Coke. I love it. I drink it almost everyday and I am really not ashamed. In all fashions I buy it, from the fountain at my local McDonald's, to cans from Kroger, even to the 2 Liter bottles that my parents adore because cans aren't left around the house. I recycle every stinking bottle though. I try at least and I'm angry when I don't. That isn't the point though. The fact is that most everyone drinks it in some fashion or another and many don't recycle. Another point is that the Coke company sells it in individual cans, not for convenience but to get more bang for their buck. The Coca-Cola Company has never lost money, really. Jumping on the corporate bandwagon to China and India, they're cheaply and environmentally irresponsibly producing Coke to sell to emerging markets, and their profits climbed 19% in the first fiscal quarter, while most everybody else is losing money. What is their effect? The fact is, they're so busy caught up in making money, that they don't want to think about how many pollutants pulling tons of aluminum out of the ground every year to make a one time use can will put into the environment. While other brands such as Deer Park of Nestle are attempting to capitalize on the eco-craze, but at least their doing their part. Coke has not re-thought their strategy, nor really cared I'm sure. Profits are up, demand is up. Why should we really care about our effect upon the environment? That's reasoning enough for most companies to not even turn an eye toward the eco-friendly side of the fence, unless of course they can't see through the smog around their own factory. The ecological effect of one can is big, but think about the ecological effect of billions, even trillions that go to a landfill. Staring at a Pepsi can, I even see a small advertisement to recycle, but not on a coke can, no way.

Icarus

Most men will not swim before they are able to
-Novalis

This idea makes the case that humans are not omnipotent beings. We often forget this in day-to-day life since we completely dominate the surroundings. From sky scrapers in cities to millions of acres of forests cleared for farming, it’s nearly impossible to escape the evidence of our superiority over any other species. However, in spite of this superiority, mankind as a species still has their limits.

There are certain tasks that man will never be able to perform as well as other species. Swimming for example, is something man, as a species, will be able to do as well as fish. While man is able to learn how to swim, he is ultimately meant for land. Also, man not only has the limitation of naturally not know how to swim, but other physiological limitations make him suited for land. The lack of gills makes him surface every so often for air, while no way to deal with the increased pressure of increased depth.

Furthermore, what is even more unattainable by man is the sky. While man can walk or swim, he cannot fly without the use of machinery. Once again, this is because he is made for land. Whether man was created this way, or he evolved through billions of years of evolution is irrelevant. The fact is man is not as omnipotent as he thinks he has become.

What if man doesn’t just have physical limitations, but also mental ones? There could be problems that man simply doesn’t have to mental capabilities to solve. The most elusive problem is the theory of unification which would explain the universe. It is referred to as the “theory of everything”, and the current theory to answer this is the String Theory.

In case you aren’t familiar with the String Theory, it theorizes that all matter is made up of unimaginably small vibrating strings of energy. Could it be possible that the complexity of the universe could be explained by little strings of energy? Or is man just desperately trying to answer questions he has no business attempting to solve?

What if man does not have the mental capabilities to answer the greater mysteries of the universe? I personally believe that this is the case. Science and math are based on the past discoveries and work of the past. This is the basis for evolution: small changes that accumulate to something better. During the time between t he 16th and 18th centuries, this evolution of our understanding of the world exploded with revolutionary changes in the way we think about astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry, and biology. However, since this time, the theories that hold weight are dwindling in numbers.

Except for Einstein’s theory of relativity, there have been no truly revolutionary theories dealing with our physical universe in over 100 years. Is it possible that man as a species reached its intellectual peak during the Scientific Revolution and that only a few individuals on the edge of the bell curve of intelligence are able to come up with any new ideas?

This appears to be the case. In a research paper by John Walker, he presents the theory that the world wide mean IQ decreases as time goes on: 5 IQ points in only 100 years. This explains why there has been little progress in unraveling the secrets of the universe. The answers to our questions dealing with the universe are becoming more complex than ever, while our intelligence as a species lessens. We would have to rely on the individuals that lie on the far end of the IQ bell curve, but unfortunately, they will grow fewer in numbers as time goes on.

Does this mean that man will never be able conceive a theory that explains everything? Are we doomed to a fate where the mean IQ is 50 because people reproduce based on physical appearance and not intellectual abilities?

Only time will tell…

Change of Pace

So after looking back upon my previous post and realizing how absurdly retarded it is, i decided to post on what perked my interested and i feel that people should know about. Tonight i was watching a movie called "Stop-Loss". It is about army men who are told they can leave after their tour in Iraq or Afghanistan but end up sending them back anyways. During the movie, twice i heard a rap song which perked my interest. Now, when i looked at the soundtrack for the movie, those songs were not listed. only soft rock and country bullshit. so i researched and found out it was a hip-hop group named 4th25. This group are soldiers that have written these songs about their lives in war and their spiritual battles while overseas. i spent $10 dollars on this album tonight. It is titled "Live From Iraq" and it honestly is one of the most moving, and simply good, albums I have heard in a long time. Here is a sample of the lyrics

"Cause this is live from iraq
Home of too many soldiers graves
Where for our country
We gamble with our lives everyday
And there are no blue skies here
Every colors gray
This is the blood of soldiers of which the streets are now paved
And there is no reimbursement for the price that we pay
While yall home sleep were here constantly getting weighed
And every convoy that rides out
Constantly getting sprayed
But we don't fold hands
The cards we are dealt get played"


I honestly suggest checking this group out. stunning lyrics and pleasure to listen to. you can search youtube to get a sample of their music.

Symphony of Lights

Title: Music Catch

Game Play: 7.5
Sound: 9.0
Graphics: 6.5
Presentation: 7.5
Replay Value: 5.0

Over All: 7.5 out of 10








Last week, I have been in Disney World, so I have not had the chance to write a review. So today I found this fun, interesting game for you play through. Best part about it is, the whole game takes about five minutes to play, which means you could play it without anyone ever knowing! Through it is short, don't under estimate the worth of this game. Remember what your parents told you, big things come in small packages.
The game play is simple, you control a small yellowish circle and your goal is to collect as many different colored shapes as possible. Sounds easy, well it is. AS you play, different size shapes come from a line that rotates around the screen. You must collect as many as possible to run up your score. As the game goes on, red shapes come out along with yellow shapes. Red shapes are bad, for they decrease your multiplier and make you smaller. Yellow ones are good for they increase your multiplier and make you bigger.
Whats makes this game different is that the order in the shapes come out is random, but is sync to the music that plays during the game. So its like a DDR but, without timing per say. When you collect a yellow shape or red shape, depending on which one you get, the game will say something groovy or dissonant. This make you feel the music in a way or ride it. The song that is used is an awesome piano track.
Whats bad about the game is that it is short. Almost to short, as soon as you get a feel for the game, its over. For the song is only about 4 minutes long, and there is only one song. Also, there is no replay value. Sure Kongregate gives it a little until you get the badges for it, and then your done, moved on to bigger things.
Overall, it is fun while it last. It needs to be a lot longer, with different songs and harder difficulties. Graphics could be better, but they are fine right now. So I gave it a 7.5 out of 10. Next time, if there is a nest time, it better be longer.

Hint: Stay close enough to the line to catch a lot of the shapes, but far enough away to see and avoid the red shapes.

Hint: Grab the Purple shapes at all cost!!!!!! Purple shapes, what are those you ask? Grab one and find out.

Stand Up

Anyone listen to Flobots? They're a pretty progressive band. If you've been listening to the radio in Richmond at all, you would have heard they're most conservative hit Handlebars. In my opinion, Flobots is probably one of the most progressive bands I have ever heard. They're hybrid hip-hop/ jazz really carries their music to the next level. Accompanying two emcees are a jazz trumpet player, and a violinist as well as separate rhythm section to tie it all together. While the composition of their band is different, so are their lyrics and their ideas.
Stand Up is a gorgeous song. The violin/hip-hop hybrid delivers their liberal, yet unignoringly relevant message to the world today. I am not going to analyze the song, because I don't believe in doing such things, but I really do encourage you to listen to them. Whether your a liberal Democrat, or a conservative repulbican their ideas are worth listening to. I believe in listening to people and understanding them, no matter what their beliefs are and you should at least consider it. You can also check out their community action plan website

More Info:
Good Old Project Playlist:
Stand Up


I Encourage You to Watch This:

The Price of the Earth

Economic power comes with a price, often an environmental one; and the American Midwest is no exception. Accompanying the recent explosions in demand for corn and food crops is hypoxia, in the Gulf of Mexico, spanning a larger area than has ever been recorded. This dead zone, engrossing more than 10,000 square miles, is mainly the result of modernized, chemically intensive agricultural practices, and is not the only one (though the only one if its magnitude) in the world. Algae blooms and feeds off of the nutrients, depleting the water's oxygen and making the areas uninhabitable for other marine life. What was not taken into account in the recent measure of this dead zone, however, is the massive amount of farmland, and subsequently chemicals, that will reach the Gulf via recent Midwest flooding.

The EPA has issued a statement on the matter, outlining an 11-point “plan of action” to prevent further spreading and restore the area. Despite this, critics of the bill have pointed out that most of the points have no due dates or minimum standards for its goals. Rather more surprisingly, however, is the impact that our current agricultural policy (the most recent aspect of it being passed last month) may be having on this environmental crisis.

Subsidies have been given to farmers by our government seemingly in spite of the fact that farmers have been turning a record amount in profits. What is more ridiculous is that these subsidies generally support the largest, most polluting, most water and energy consuming farm operations. Which has had this minuscule environmental side effect. The interconnection of policy astounds me. Our politicians need to re-examine the “Policy Adjudication/Evaluation” phase of their Public Policy flow charts.

What surprised me more about this was that President Bush actually vetoed last month's farm bill, though Congress promptly overrode him. Apparently, the bill was laden with enough pork-barrel spending that both the Republican and Democratic members of the Legislature couldn't resist passing it. Out of all fairness, it did include some environmental conservation measures. Obviously not enough to prevent something as dangerous as 10,000 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico becoming uninhabitable, though.

What is discouraging is the willingness of our Congress members to succumb to this pork-barrel spending methodology. Politicians are so eager to appease their constituencies, so scared of losing their jobs, that they will willingly sacrifice the more long-term choices (in this case it was the national budget and the environment) to maintain favor. Granted, it is a fairly difficult situation – the economic crisis is solidifying daily. However, I disagree that the method by which we should attempt to assuage the economy is by giving breaks to those making the most money. We must tend to our deeper problems (our dependency on foreign oil (or oil, for that matter)) while giving breaks to those who are feeling the crunch the most. Our money can be used more efficiently; we citizens are becoming frustrated that it is not.

Equally frustrating is the fact that such an advanced country as us is still struggling with preserving the environment. Industrializing countries, such as the BRIC countries, grapple between economic development and environmental preservation. But the US is at (or near) the forefront of development. It is imperative that we set an example, and not destroy a resource that is a humanity's property, and not just our own. We have to do something about environmental degradation of this magnitude, before much more damage becomes irreversible.

Oh, and John McCain backed Bush's veto, while Obama and Clinton opted for the bill. Unexpected.

Additional Links:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/09/MN1110JA53.DTL

http://www.mulchblog.com

I stand on the shoulders of giants.

I see time as a three-digit number instead of a measurement. I was staring at the clock during Calculus class my junior year when I started manipulating the numbers so they would add, subtract, or multiply to equal each other. Ultimately, I heard the teacher mention roots of polynomials, and then the idea came to me: factoring time.

In spite of my newly found way to pass the time, I still sought more. After all, nobody would want to have one unique hobby when there are endless possibilities. By the end of first quarter, I had taken on several different left-brain based practices. When I wasn’t factoring time, I spent my time going over arguments or debates in my mind. Being from a governor’s school, my friends have diverse views, some of which contrast my own. The time I dedicate to the different hypothetical arguments sharpens my mind and quickens my thought process. The benefits of this are usefully when my mind wonders on scientific endeavors such as the origins of the universe or the possibility of time travel.

I do not have a good answer for why I am unable to have normal daydreams, but I like to attribute it to my natural curiosity. Over the past three years I have read essays, novels, and books dealing with complex mathematical concepts, like infinity or irrational numbers, and scientific research, such as the evolution of the heliocentric model of the solar system or the ever-changing string theory. In my pursuit of understanding how my mathematical and scientific heroes thought, I have read countless biographies and essays. Copernicus and Darwin, however, are held to a special esteem in my mind. After reading many essays about their work, I noticed a striking similarity between the two that I could also relate to myself. These two scientific patriarchs revolutionized science through their work because of their innate curiosity. Copernicus was curious about the universe and Darwin about the origins of species. The revolution started when Copernicus theorized that the Earth was not the center of the universe, and Darwin continued the anti-anthropocentrism when he viewed the origins of any given species more important than the origin of humans.

I feel a bond with these figures because of my unique way to pass the time, my intrinsic curiosity, and my desire to constantly better myself intellectually. In my studies, I have noticed that these two scientists had the same intellectual disposition that I believe I possess. Copernicus had his heavenly spheres, Darwin had his species, and I have my time.

Wil's First Substantial Post!

(After a little self-deliberation, it was decided that my first post would not be in response to a current event, but to a strange occurance that took place to some of my friends and I a few days ago. In an empty parking lot, some asshole parked behind the only other car in the lot (us) and deemed us and the surrounding area eligible to hear his music. It was a fairly uncomfortable situation, but in this story I'm going to try to see it all from an angle other than my own.)



I will tell you the story of the egalitarian.

His motorcycle was all he could hear as the egalitarian and his friend rode towards White Bank Park. The solitary road, arched with trees darkened by the lateness of day, flew back, and the space turned into a parking lot with overgrown lawn grass. The brown lake shown directly ahead. The playground is empty save for a brother and sister riding their bikes, and their grandfather tending to them.

Nearing the shelter and playground area, the egalitarian is suddenly and forcefully alerted to things misplaced -- four boys, sitting in a car parked directly in opposition to the parking spaces, with their windows down, doing nothing. His sunglasses are on, and as he lets his friend off at the shelters, he turns his head directly into the faces of these boys. Their obtuse puppy faces look at him, then look down, then look away. Nothing going on registers with them. They are safely kept to their own devices by the glass and metal that separates them from atmosphere (or so they thought). Each boy is reassured, kept cripplingly introverted by the others, the egalitarian thinks.

So he starts his motorcycle and maneuvers it to be directly behind their car, stops. I'll pick some of my music, he thinks. They've never heard this. It started. The boys glance around, flustered, and choose to ignore him. "Let me pick one y'all will like." He speaks in a normal voice. Highway to Hell. The boys continue to ignore him. No matter how comfortable your space in that car is, he muses, you simply can't ignore the state of things.

His friend materializes at the front of the shelter area. "No one wants to hear your music," she drawls carelessly, a confirmed and smug look on her face. She doesn't look at the boys. She doesn't understand. "I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks." Those boys think they understand the world -- they've got another thing coming.

They got the message. The egalitarian has other places to be. His friend climbs onto the back of the wide white motorcycle, and they accelerate parabolically, their black leather clinging close to their bodies.

"For Madmen Only"

I am Cam, the latest author to join this blog. Consequently, there is little that is not covered by the coauthors that I can claim as my subject to write about. So, I'm just going to write about whatever occupies my mind that day that I feel is worth sharing. This means entries can be a bit of philosophy, a discussion of a quote or current event, or possibly a bit of fiction.

Please, feel free to respond to any assertion or claim I make, I would appreciate any and all constructive feedback. If the feedback is disagreeing, like Wil, I ask you to simply fully explain your point of view. While I do not know exactly what I will be posting, personal views, both spiritual and philosophical, will be used. Therefore there is plenty of room for a different interpretation, and I would love to hear your views.

Also, the titles will be a reference to something. A work of art, a historical figures and events, or maybe something else, I don't know at the time. If you can name the reference or explain it, you'll get mad kudos.

Next post coming...eventually

Snack Food 1: Sunkist Fruit Flavored Snacks

Sunkist: Fruit Flavored Snacks

Portability:9
Taste:7 fades to 4 with after taste...
Cool Factor/Style: 3
Snackability*:6

Overall: 7


Now, these are pretty good...honestly...good. They are highly portable, able to fit in any pocket(male). They taste mildly delicious and are not cool at all. If you are a toddler wanting to go play these might be cool, but for teenagers trying to look cool while snacking it up, keep away from fruit snacks.... the after taste kind of sucks but it is bearable. Now, at times... I have been known to go and eat like...six of these at a time but that is only because there are only about 8 of these little fruit shaped bitches in a bag...come on...8? they need to recognize that teenagers are entering a new phase of snacking. The fruit snack. TFS. come on and catch up with the newest fads. i want this to be a 9 on the cool factor by next month. that now, that, would please me greatly.

look for next post soon.
-Pusseliah





*Your ability to eat for hours on end. Unfilling yet satisfying.

High Times

hey guys this is the newest poster on the blog, pusseliah. i dont know what im going to write about at this point...maybe just the stupid shit i do this summer but i havent quiet figured it out. I have to go do community service all next week due to "graffiti"/ "vandalism" of our school... a dick drawing.... very large in our courtyard and other things caused us to get in a little trouble. then today we did street art in a cul-de-sac. random shit from math equations to faces.

Alright, I've figured out what one of the things I'm going to post weekly or daily. I dont know yet. I am going to rate junkfood. since apparently im turning into the fat one of the group. I'm going to give it a rank 1-10. 10 Being the the most delicious, mouth watering, orgasmic shit ever. 1 being spoiled canned shit.

i.e. 10=Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
1= Fried Whale Testes


Next post coming soon.
-Pusseliah

Introduction

Hey Everybody,

I'm Ross. My friends Nick and Wil also post on this blog, and I'm joining them. I'm going to post about whatever I feel like, and I mean whatever I feel like. It won't be vulgar or a tedious outline of my shitty day, but it will be interesting and more than likely technology related. W00t. Please, if you have any suggestions, don't hesitate to call me an asshole, or a douche, or anything really. There is one stipulation to your feedback though, it has to at least be thoughtful. If your just calling me an asshole for no reason, please don't post it. I want some really solid stuff here and if you are thoroughly interested in combating my paradigm, or you are 100% sure that I am wrong (I do use Google) please go ahead and post. Have a good summer you guys and keep reading.

The End to the Beginning

Somewhere between the times of doing work and slacking off, you have stumbled upon a game or two on the internet, and wasted a few productive hours playing it, but what for? You obliviously had better stuff to do, but it was all worth it, wasn't it?

Well, you better prepare yourself for a world of fun, cause I'll be telling you about the best, newest, oldest and greatest flash ever created on the interwebs all for your enjoyment and pleasure to play, beat and waste that good old productive time you could be using for something else.

I'm Nick, and just like you, i hate the thought of work. My motto is "why do the work when you can get someone else to do it for you". This might be seen as being lazy, and it is, but unlike others, I can get the job and on time too. What else is a better way to slack off and be lazy, while also look like your doing work then playing a flash game. Its fun, enjoyable, FREE, and can stimulate the mind.

If your like most people, you want some kind of reward of recognition for all this time spent playing these games. Well the people at http://www.kongregate.com have you covered. For almost every game on the site, there are badge(s) for games, which after you accomplish some criteria or you beat the game, you are awarded the badge along with a certain amount of points that goes along with the badge which range from 5 points to 60 points. After you gain enough points, you "level up". Which really has no value or anything other than to make you feel great (as of right now, according to their website, they are working on something for people who level up a high amount).

You can also join one of the many chat rooms and talk to people around the globe, or right next door, and make friends with them, ask them for help in a game or whatever, its all up to you. There's also a card game they are working on where you collect cards by completing challenges on certain flash games, which will become available this fall (So they Say).

So every now and then (hopefully more now than then), I will stop by and let you know about a game that will be worth your time, and that you should check out. I will review it, give it a score, and give a few pointers and tips on how to play and beat it, but ultimately, the decision is up to you to decide if you like it or not.

So get out there and play!!!

-Nick


P.S. Comments, emails, and other stuff is always welcome

The Big Bang.

WE are here!

At long last... after an infinite amount of time passed, the physical forces of the universe have resulted in US, being here, at this sliver in continuity. We stand with wild-eyed defiance as time creeps slowly.

Ah! What are we, one might wonder?

Well, I am Wil, one of the writers that will be posting on this blog. This is a blog about anything, with a slight disposition to things of technological concern.

And what, pray tell, will I be posting?

I will be attempting to stay on top of events happening in the world -- politically, culturally, technologically, scientifically, what have you. I will be trying not to post things that simply interest me, but the more pressing issues of the world, in addition. Too much of one is not a good thing. As they say. Besides, I am for unconsidered perspectives. The Internet is vastly democratic, as it stands now – its power is here to be used.

For each issue/article (which I will link to, of course), more conspicuous lines/ideas will be explained, as far as why it drew my attention. Then I will express my opinion or feeling on the overall matter (combined with knowledge I have obtained from various places).

Am I always right? Hell, no. I beseech you not to hesitate in disagreeing with me. I am by no means afraid to make or admit my mistakes. My being grows stronger with every tragedy that graces my threshold. (Heh.) All I ask is that you support your claims (as I am not perfect, I cannot always see immediately where some perspectives come from. So, help me out. I am for trust.).

If I ever get the inclination to, I may diverge into blogging about things that strike/interest/are consuming me. With a little effort though, the current event postings will be regular.

Well, I'll be seeing you. It's been a pleasure.

-Wil