Omega's European Adventures

Forgive the lack of posting, as usual, I can only spare about one post a month. However, for two weeks, I'll be voyaging in Italy and beyond, so I made another blog, one detailed enough to contain my experiences and photos.

Do go have a look.

www.omegaseuropeanadventures.blogspot.com

Student Attendance, 6/5/07

I felt I needed to publish these results. Do Comment.

FACTS:

• 72% of Polled Students ARE NOT attending School on 6/5
• 19% ARE attending school on 6/5
• 8% DECLINED to answer
  

MacBook reactions.....Wow.....

Well, as of late, I've come into some significant money, and as a result, I chose to spend some of it on a new Mac, seeing as how my Mac Mini Core Solo doesn't exactly have the horsepower to do much of anything that is of importance to me. iMovie runs slowly, iDVD is useless (no DVD burner...) and on occasion, that machine has just been...well, its just been slow. So No more! I said and took this money to my local Apple Store and picked up a new MacBook. My initial experience was nothing less than the ultimate. This machine is by far the best computer I've owned to date. As is usually done on this blog, I will now begin to rave at length about the MacBook.

The Speed!
Oh my the speed! The sheer difference in my 2.0 gHz Intel Core 2 Duo and the 1.5 gHz Intel Core Solo was incredible enough for even a speed junkie like myself to notice. Plus, I bought the $1299 model, which came with a built in 80gb Harddrive and 1gb of RAM! Together, with its blazing clockspeed and its lightning fast RAM, I've yet to find a task the MacBook cannot complete with ease and efficiency.

The Software!
Now you readers have heard me boast and brag about OS X, over and over and over again, however, it never gets old. Never once, on my Mac Experience, have I ever wished to use a different operating system. OS X is by far the most excellently designed piece of software ever concieved. The sheer userability of OS X is great enough to turn day long daunting tasks, into hour long creative projects. Sorry to say it folks. The boasting isn't stopping soon.

The Portability!
At JUST over an inch, the MacBook is the Ultimate in Portable Computer. I can take it pretty much anywhere, without needing much, and its great six-hour battery life ensures I can take a LOOOONG trip.

To conclude, anyone who is deciding to buy a new computer, regardless of usage, whether a video editor, a programmer, a gamer, a music junkie, or a writer, like me, I suggest you pick up a new MacBook today!!

The Reasons Why I Ally Myself with the Democratic Party

Today is April 18th 2007. Two days after the most gruesome massacre in American History. I see constant media barrage about the lives lost, the sacrifices made, and those who have survived. The horrific event that has occurred at that Virginia Tech campus reminds me of the main reason I choose to be a Democrat rather than a Republican.

Sure, many people are anrgy, at the failure to lockdown a campus, or at the loss of life, but I am very very angry at our American Policies that allowed one young man, a student barely old enough to drink, walk into a gun shop and purchase a gun which he would later use to murder 32 of his classmates and himself.

This terrible crime incenses me, because I am in full support of gun control. There should have been no way for a student to walk into a gun shop and to buy a weapon for use against humanity. Weapons should have been restricted to law enforcement agencies and the military. I now know that many things need to be done to oppose those who believe that guns should be in the hands of every man. Who is to mandate who gets the potential to kill many lives? Who gets to decide who lives or dies?

Thats why I don't blame this horrific event on the students, the school administration or on the perpetraitor, I blame it solely on the US Congress and the Bush Administration which loosened up gun control laws. That administration opened the door for a massacre like the one we witnessed on April 16th 2007, and for this I cannot stand.

I urge you, enact gun control laws in your community, and help our congress make the right decisions, to prevent another catastrophe like the event we witnessed two days ago on a peaceful April morning.

Analysis of the Themes in "Rejected"

"Rejected" is a short animated film by Don Hertzfeldt which was released in 2000 by his production company Bitter Films. "Rejected" offers a unique view of humanity, and a unique view of society and the human condition. This essay will attempt to explain the many themes exemplified in "Rejected."

The first scene we are presented with in the film is the infamous "spoon and banana" scene. This scene reflects the human condition, in that the man, having realised, that his spoon is way too big, realises the futility of life in that he will never get the chance to consume his bowl of cereal. The banana enters to examplify how he feels inadequate in regards to the other fruit. Oh how he wishes to be as hard as an apple, or as fuzzy as a peach, but he is instead a banana. His sudden loud, perturbing cry of "I AM A BANANA!" Reflects his acceptance of his role in the fruitbowl of life as a squishy, non-necessary object of mediocre taste.

The second scene that we witness as viewers is the tumor scene. This displays how two men standing completely alone on the edge of nothingness, are able to relate, and still worry. The first is quoted as saying: "Tuesday's coming did you bring your coat?" Symbolising how the end of the world is on tuesday, and they stand just on the threshold of it. The "did you bring your coat?" Shows the mans care for his friend, and how he wishes his friend to not worry about the imminent armageddon, but to focus back on trivial matters, so that when armageddon comes, it will be short, and painless for his friend. The second man's response of "I live in a giant bucket." demonstrates how the man realises that no matter how his friend tries to protect him, he is still aware of the imminent armageddon, just like one is aware of every droplet of rain when you live in a giant bucket. Suddenly the first mans inner concerns break free and burst out of his head in a giant wiggling talking tumor. The tumor responds in gibberish, and the second man, shocked at the true inner worries of his friend, responds with a hearty "F@CK!". While this exchange occurs, a pigsquid rushes by overhead, showing that even at the edge of apocalypse, pigsquids can still go about their lives innocently and ignorantly.

The third human reflection we witness is the "Silly Hat Segregation" scene. This scene depicts three very happy men, wearing silly hats, standing in a "Silly Hat Only" zone. This demonstrates to the viewer that even in our modern homologous culture, people can still be separated. As a man arrives, wearing a relatively normal hat, he stands for a moment in the zone, and looks about, daring to believe his luck that the societal barriers have finally been broken. We cut to a short advertisement for the "Family Learning Channel" and we return to witness the normal hatted man being beaten by those with silly hats in an accurate representation of what REAL society is like.

The fourth human condition reflection we see is the "Violent Bleeding" scene. This scene shows the same two men as in the tumor scene who are standing on the edge of nowhere again. The first man asks the second: "Do you want to go see a movie?" and the second responds with an "I'm feeling fat and sassy." The first's question is designed to show his care for his friend again trying to distract away from the impending armageddon. The seconds response is even more tragic as that he comes to a realisation that in this thin anorexic world, poor second in comparison is quite "Fat" and due to his subtle realisation, he admits to being additionally "sassy." Suddenly the increased stress in First's head explodes in a fit of screaming and suddenly his eye pops out and begins spraying blood all over his friend, and his friend is too shocked and concerned to move or do anything but stand, and scream again at the futility of life.

The fifth exemplification of the human condition is during the "Fish Sticks" Ad. The man stands alone on the edge of a great white abyss. He sees nothing around him but a lone "Yield" Sign. Out of the heavens drops a sudden alien craft, which then proceeds to euthanize this poor man on the edge of nothing by stealing his eyeballs. The man, then unhindered by the burden of sight proceeds to walk directly into the yield sign in an effort to end his tragic existience.

The second-to-last exemplification of the human condition is the "anal bleeding" scene at which many small puff clouds begin dancing to a rather hypnotic song sung obviously by swedish people. They all dance with cries of:"THIS IS FUN!" and "LIFE IS GOOOD!" meanwhile a lone puff-cloud springs a leak in his anus and begins bleeding. Its tragic as this puff-cloud begins to shout louder and louder, more and more desperate of his plight as his friends continue dancing. As it is in real society, as the ones who need the most help, are often kicked to the curb and left to die, or in this case, drown.

The final and greatest of all exemplification of the human condition is the "End of the Cartoons" scene. In this scene, the cartoons so carefully drawn and rejected by Hertzfeldt begin to fall apart. Everything begins to decay. A sudden ripple in the pages wipes out the poor segregated silly-hatted folks. A great gaping hole in the sky begins to suck anything and everything into it, including the Banana and our dear sightless friend. The Family Learning Channel banner falls crushing a group of small puff-cloud items, and the duplicate men are caught in a blasting mirror image. Finally it falls on a lone man who watches as his world, all he has come to know and love, collapse into pieces and crinkled paper. This symbolises how we will all react on that fateful day when few of us will be left standing to watch our world collapse around us, into nothing more, than crinkled paper.

So ends my Analysis of the Themes in the short film: "Rejected"

Review of Programming Language VB.NET

Alright folks, as of late, I've spent a large portion of my time playing around with programming, and I can say with complete success that the language Visual Basic .NET edition is quite the language for anyone programming for the Microsoft Windows XP platform. I guess my biggest fear in using VB.NET is that in a year or so when Windows Vista has become the native OS of most of the modern world, my applications will be obsolete. Ahh, but as is the cry of a developer. Unless of course the new .NET framework will come natively on Vista. Ahh, but we shall see in due time.

Anyway, before you readers crucify me royally for saying this, I'm GLAD thats right thats in capitals, that I'm writing code for Microsoft Windows. BECAUSE, the entirety of the computing world uses windows (Save us intelligent UNIX users....) so, I know that if I choose to openly distribute my software, (UNIX Open Source Style...) Except written in VB, I'll reach my maximum target community, the largely windows using community.

There are still those few antiquated hold-outs who refuse to update to download the .NET Framework, or those who just don't plain know how, but if they evolved too, not enough to use UNIX yes, but enough to use the latest software, then I'm sure my work could reach the highest mass usage of any software. I doubt this will happen albeit.

Anyway, I've found that not ONLY is VB.NET an easy to use language, its IDE (Integrated Developer Environment) Microsoft Visual Studio is quite advanced. I love the system of designing and implementing your interface, designing the look, the feel, the overall style, and then designing the code behind it. Its an easy to use and very pretty-looking IDE, in comparison to say, VI, the most basic IDE for Java.

On the whole though, throughout all of Microsoft's "Consortium of Revolting Software" (ANFSCD, 2) I feel that VB.NET and its subsequent IDE Microsoft Visual Basic, are by far one of the most advanced Windows running applications I've used. So for once, I'll say it: well done Microsoft.

My Operating Systems

Hello readers, I've been gone for some time, due to exams and what not as well as a variety of other education related activities, what with deciding on majors, trying new Operating Systems, and getting other such Technological Advantages for my newly designed Lab from which I am posting this now. So without further ado, I want to Talk about all the operating systems from which I've tested.

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Novell SuSE Linux 10.1 GNOME Environment

A few things I noticed when I first booted into SuSE was the similarity to my preferential OS Mac OX Tiger. The environment was the same, the menu bar was the same, the way things were laid out was the same. The browsers, the file organization, and the Beagle Search which behaves like Spotlight.

As Far as packaged Applications go, the Epiphany Web Browser is quite a good browser (I was curious to try something different from the Mozilla guys, because I use Firefox on my XP box and Camino on my Mac.) From the tests i've run, I am a fan of Epiphany because it runs and behaves similiarly to Safari, my second favorite Browser also on the Mac.

All in all though(albeit I haven't covered much) SuSe is a good OS, one I'm comfortable using due to its similarity to OSX. Should my Mac ever crash, I feel i should be backing up onto the SuSE box, so that way I can have a fast, well run, well tested Unix Based OS.

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Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Service Pack 2

As you all know I am quite Anti-XP-Anti Microsoft, so as a result, I'm going to go into detail analysing it. It'll be good, It'll be fair, and it'll be legit. Let me begin by saying that you guys are probably using it right now. Oh wait, your window froze up. CTRL-ALT-DELETE. You'll get out. End Task. End Process Tree.

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Apple Mac OS X Tiger

Tiger Tiger, Tiger, what can i say about Tiger, except that it is my PRIMARY desktop OS. On my Mac Mini, I have all my data, all my movies, all my music, all my documents, all my programs all my files, this computer is my primary machine for any operation I carry out. My favorite application on Mac OSX is probably iChat AV. With an iSight (which I have,) one click connects you to anyones computer so that you can send a video message, or if they also have a video webcam, you can videochat with them. i for one, enjoy not having to type as much in an IM window. Plus you can import ALL of your AIM contacts. All in all, I recommend you use Mac OS X Tiger over ANY OTHER OS in the world.


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In conclusion, you've now heard my highly biased opinions about Mac OS X tiger, Windows XP sp2, and Novell SuSE Linux 10.1. Remember, these opinions are just that. Opinions, and I know for a fact that these are my feelings only. If you have an issue with them, remember this is a blog and I can say and will continue to say whatever the hell I feel like saying. Period.


--Omega