Zombies, Everything Zombies

Zombies are becoming everywhere.
We've already had zombie movies.
Zombie video games, sure.
But now...
So many zombie movies have come out, that they've made parodies of them - Shaun of the Dead for example.
Video games are adding zombies, even when it doesn't really fit - see the picture of the Call of Duty Black Ops main menu.
Even anime is tending more towards zombies (and fanservice, as always), with the recent, summer 2010, Highschool of the Dead.
Spring 2011, there's an anime airing called "Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?" or in English "Is it a Zombie?"

I see two possible routes.  In a few years, we get tired of zombies, and the fad dies out.
Or, I fear, it becomes more and more popular, and it's just a matter of time before a "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha vs. Zombies" movie comes out.

Another semester of game design completed

I'm not sure if the best version of the game is on the website currently, but here's the website: http://bionicblock.ranzhao.com/
(many titles, my favorites are UnBlockable and Grand Theft Block)

If you get the game, there is little guarantee that you will be able to play it, feel free to contact me directly if you have any difficulties with it, or if the music sounds odd (there might be a glitch with it), or if you wish to make your own levels/edit the levels, for some reason.

This was a tough semester.  I'd describe our game as:
A train wreck that fell off the tracks and onto another set of tracks which happened to head to the same destination.

Well, there's a few problems here and there, but overall I believe it's a very playable game (though a bit difficult).

AutoHotKey

AutoHotKey is an excellent free windows only program, and I would highly recommend it to the somewhat tech-savvy people who have windows.

Using it, and some online help http://www.autohotkey.com/, you can effectively make anything do anything.  This is a slight exaggeration, but the tool is very simple and very, very effective.  If you are on a desktop, and you have extra keys which you never use, like me (pause/break key, what is it even supposed to do?), then this is perfect for you.

All you need to do is keep one script running in the background (it doesn't take up much cpu) and you can have as many hotkeys as you want.  Alternatively, you can make scripts that just perform a series of actions when run but don't actually use a hotkey to trigger.  I use both types (the second one for automating tasks, such as a series of repetitive Photoshop functions).

I listen to music; I keep it all in one folder.  If I press scroll lock, it plays my music, this makes me happy.
ctrl+shift+w checks the weather, it is quite handy.
I don't use the numpad; setting the numpad + and - keys to increase and decrease the system sound is easy.
These are just a few hotkeys that I made myself.  If you look around on the internet, people have made much more impressive scripts which you can download and use for yourself.  For example, I got one that makes it so that a controller (such as a wired xbox 360 controller) can control the mouse.

You can also use it for much simpler ways of speeding up tasks.
I have it set so that pressing just 2 keypresses will type in "t/give stickfight2 " and anyone who's played minecraft with me should recognize that.

It is handy, it is easy, I don't know why more people don't use it.  Also, please feel free to contact me if you want some pointers on how to get started.

uggh, graphics cards. I need a better one

When you're making a game that even your own computer can't handle, that's when you know you need a better graphics card.  Currently, the HUD simply won't display on my computer.

Spice and Wolf

A mix between romance with a wolf-girl, and microeconomics with a merchant in the past.

It is a strange combination of genres, but it works, and quite well.  This is not an intense action fight sword gun killer anime, as you can probably guess.  Spice and Wolf focuses more on the plot and setting to provide entertainment.  It is a simple anime, but it can certainly draw its viewers in.

Spice and Wolf begins the story around a lone peddler in some past age.  He wanders into a town which has a legend about a goddess, and, of course, the legend comes true, almost immediately.  After some events take place, they travel together, and this is their story.

This anime is one that is difficult to stop watching; during the second season in particular, there was a segment of approximately 10 episodes in which I kept on telling myself 'Ok, one more episode, then when I'm at a good place to stop, I'll stop.'  I was naturally unable to stop watching until the conflict was resolved at the end.

It's not necessarily a perfect anime, but Spice and Wolf is entertaining.  It can feel a bit slow at times, but my primary complaint is that, as of now, it is a bit too short.  It didn't end in a cliffhanger, but it left a desire for more.  The second season ended in 2009, so there is certainly a chance for more, but if enough time passes without a third season, then I'm just going to read the light novels (which are currently ongoing, I believe).

One thing I find particularly striking about Spice and Wolf is how it's unique.  It has a bit of melancholy with just the right amount of emotion to tie it together.  It contains happy tones mixed with the occasional darker feeling.  I am unable to completely summarize the feeling that it emanates, but I can assure that it is pleasant.

Also, excellent soundtrack.  I still get "7 Apples on a Witch's Tree" stuck in my head at times.

Spice and Wolf is currently 2 seasons long with the first containing 13 episodes and the second containing 12, and it is enjoyable, but I still wish for more.

Azumanga Daioh

For a lighthearted enjoyable experience, ripe with humor and full of smiles, watch Azumanga Daioh

I can never get enough of this anime.  This won't please the people which wish for only action, blood, and violence, but everyone else who enjoys anime should find this one particularly lovable.  Azumanga Daioh contains a mix of quick humor which takes little thought and the occasional deeper joke which lasts for longer than 10 seconds, though, overall, most of the jokes are of the former category.

The best part of the humor of this series is its uniqueness.  Azumanga Daioh rarely has the 'humor' of simply drawing silly faces, and expecting the audience to laugh.  The humor begins with a standard above that level, and it maintains it throughout the series.

The only problem that I've occasionally noticed is that it references things well known in Japan, but not at all known here.  This is not Azumanga Daioh's fault in the least, because it works for its target audience, but occasionally there is a joke that leaves me in the dark.

As a side note, I still get some of the supremely joyful music stuck in my head, and it is an excellent way to obtain a smile.

Azumanga Daioh, as a small 26 episode series, with its happy, funny, heartwarming moments, is entirely worth watching.

I have entered the world of blogging!

My primary blog posts will probably be about:
minecraft
anime reviews
fun stuff on the internet
programming, and game design
puzzles

Also, I'll try to keep it geared towards those that follow me.

Now that the obligatory first post is out of the way, on to business...