Duality

Trust your innerHTML.

Remember this next time you fumble with AJAX.

1. I can’t whistle (though I finally learned to snap my fingers a year ago; right-hand only).
2. I can’t read resistor color codes without checking my notes or Google.
3. I have trouble talking and listening—and well, even just thinking—when face-to-face with someone else.
4. My right shoulder is significantly less stable than my left. I’m not sure why.
5. I can’t swallow pills. Penicillin and Amoxicillin both taste incredibly nasty, by the way.
6. I still don’t know the difference between Christianity and Catholicism (so forgive me if I ever confuse the two).
7. No matter how many times I check, I still get call and put mixed up.
8. I pick my nails—now more than ever.
9. I am chronically tardy—again, now more than ever.
10. I finally see failings of the middle class. All my life, I was taught that getting a good job was the key to financial security. But seeing my money slip through my fingers has made me realize that that’s all a lie: working for money will never set you free.

I wore a faint-white-grid-on-dark-red shirt with sorta-but-not-really-dark khakis in protest… ok, so that’s one of the usual combinations I wear to work.

I never really understood the whole “wear black on Valentine’s Day” thing. Then again, there’s a lot I don’t understand, like income taxes. That’s why I went to my company’s tax basics workshop today. And that’s why I dub today “Tax Basics Workshop Day.”

So get out your W-2’s, 1040’s, Schedule A’s, and Schedule D’s! It’s Tax Basics Workshop Day!

I have somewhere to go on Sunday. Seriously, writing vague comments here is the best way for me to remember things.

And just so the rest of you have something interesting to ponder…

Anyone know how to stave off food coma? Any lunch of decent proportions puts me out of commission for the next two hours. Seriously. Right now, I run up and down the stairs when I start nodding off, but I have to do it every 40 minutes or so and it doesn’t really keep my brain going.

I suppose I could eat less for lunch, but then I have to bring a snack to work otherwise I’ll get so hungry by the end of the day that I won’t be able to concentrate.

I knew the ASUC (student government at Cal) was planning to replace BEARcade with a Gelataria Naia (gelato shop which has another location on Shattuck). I’ve known for awhile, but after not hearing anything about it for months, I thought the deal was blocked. Nope, Bigi informed me a couple days ago during work; BEARcade is gone. I guess like other governments I know, ASUC can’t be talked out of a bad decision.

Immediately after Bigi broke the news, I went searching on Google. I didn’t know what I was looking for. What day BEARcade closed? What attempts were made to try and stop the closure? I wasn’t sure until I found this: a goodbye piece by BEARcade-regular Pat Miller.

Reading it brought back all of my memories of BEARcade—going there after ATDP in the summer to play DDR, bumming around there for hours during my freshman and sophomore years of college, stopping by for my post-work-out beatmania during my junior and senior years of college, and entering one of the summer GGXX tourneys with Bigi and getting our asses handed to us. BEARcade introduced me to some of my favorite games: GGXX, CvS2, drummania, and of course beatmania (5-key, IIDX, and III). BEARcade was where I learned to use a joystick and appreciate well-maintained machines. BEARcade was where I learned to appreciate high-level play and to stop playing (and thinking) like a scrub.

I don’t want to believe that BEARcade is gone. I don’t want to believe that ASUC would so easily dismiss the importance of having an arcade on campus for those that don’t want to hang out at frat parties or ice cream shops. I don’t want to believe that an arcade as well-managed as and as well-regarded as BEARcade was allowed to fade away.

After dismissing DS redesign rumors on January 16th, Nintendo says, “Well actually, we are redesigning the DS. We were just pulling your leg when we said we weren’t.” The new DS, dubbed the DS lite (I know it’s in Japanese, just scroll down for the picture), will be smaller and lighter, have an adjustable screen brightness, and cost a little more than the non-lite DS costs now. It will be released in Japan on March 2nd.

Yes, I’ll be getting one; and yes, snaking in Mario Kart DS will be just as hard—if not harder (because the DS lite is thinner)—on the DS lite.

Sometimes, my parents surprise me with how rational and understanding they can be. Take this past weekend, for example. I finally told them about the traffic ticket I got back in November for running a red light while driving from Oakland to EC. I didn’t tell them for so long because I thought they’d get upset for any number of reasons: first, that I drove from SJ to Oakland / EC to SJ without telling them (yes, they want me to tell them when I go places); second, I got a ticket for running a red light; third, because I didn’t tell them for so long.

But when I told them, everything was a non-issue to them. The only mildly-upsetting aspect was the cost of my bail + traffic school administration fee: $380 [obligatory sad face =(]. I was shocked. Of course, this week, they’ll probably do something completely irrational to compensate.

As a side note, I got my courtesy notice from the traffic court the week before Christmas. It was like “HO HO HO, pay $380!” That Santa sure has a sense of humor. No more screwing around, Santa. Nintendo Revolution under the tree in 2006. Or at least, don’t make me use the money I’ll be setting aside for a Revolution on something else.

It is possible for me to get out of bed (and stay out of bed) at 7 AM. Whether or not it is possible when I don’t have somewhere to go before work is still unknown. I guess I’ll be getting to work at the same time as usual.

No, the place I have to go to this morning is not Toys R Us. TRU opens at 10 AM.

When it comes to games, my tastes and Xero’s differ by quite a bit. I prefer knuckle-busters while Xero prefers the more-laidback variety. That’s a good thing. Between the two of us, I think we cover all styles of games. If a game is good, at least one of us will like it.

I bring this up because someone posted a comment on my review of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence saying that it is one of the best PS2 games ever. Now, Lament of Innocence has gotten decent reviews from paper and online publications (including 7/10 from my precious Eurogamer). But it remains one of the few of such games* that both Xero and I don’t like at all.

I guess that might not mean much. If you like the game, you like the game regardless of what we say. But it troubles me a little to think that a game we both think is bad (I paid $6 for it and still feel disappointed) is considered by some to be one of the best PS2 games of all time. Sticking with the “third-person action” genre, I know Xero would be quick to say God of War and Resident Evil 4 are miles ahead of Lament of Innocence. I’d be quick to name Devil May Cry (also mentioned in my review) and Devil May Cry 3.

Speaking for my own recommendations, neither entry in the Devil May Cry series suffers from the terrible art direction and lame action that plagues Lament of Innocence. Hey Xero, do you remember your complaints regarding the game?

* the only other I can think of at the moment is Final Fantasy X-2 (8/10 at Eurogamer). I do find the premise of FF X-2 interesting to think about though (what do you do after you save the world? How does the world change after it has been saved?). Then again, maybe it’s because I think Yuna’s kinda cute…

Every so often, Apple will remind you that it is run by humans by making a cool product with an awful-sounding name. Joining the “Extremes” (Airport and Quartz) and Apple’s endless fascination with “i” (come on, you know they’re taking it too far) is the MacBook Pro. Unlike the other cases, though, I think this is the first time Apple has rebranded a product with a name as cool as “PowerBook” with a name as bad as “MacBook Pro.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s an awesome product. Dual-core Yonah CPU, PCI-e, DDR2 RAM, SATA hard drives, lithium polymer battery (unknown battery life, however), built-in iSight, a thinner profile, and the possibility of dual-booting or virtualizing Windows (GTA2!). I certainly wouldn’t mind having one in my possession. But the name! “MacBook Pro” sends shivers down my spine (in a bad way).

2005 was the most difficult year so far for me. Starting around the time of my graduation, I’ve had a lot of different things on my mind. It wasn’t just moving out for the first time and entering the working world. I can’t go into details, but there are other things which complicated (and continue to complicate) my transition—on top of being a worry in their own right.

Worry was the name of the game in 2005. I’m a worrier, but until I graduated, I didn’t have much to worry about. In the past year, I felt like it consumed me. I could feel it whittling away my focus. To be honest, I haven’t made that much progress at work—or well, it feels that way. I have a job in an amazing field, so my non-progress became another worry. My head was on the grindstone all year; my mind slowly wearing away.

More than ever, I need to take things one step at a time and just believe everything will be okay. That is my New Year’s resolution: to not let what’s to come bog down what I have to do now. I don’t know if I will be able to accomplish it alone. I hope you will be there for me.

Here’s to 2006.

(comments off)

N.L.T.

Learn that abbreviation because I might use it again. I’ve decided I won’t launch the new design until it’s ready.

Getting myself to work on the new design this week has been hard. There has been a lot on my mind and a lot—or it feels like a lot—to take care of. This vacation has served its purpose: I’m ready to go back to work, even though this week didn’t feel like a vacation at all. And the blogosphere’s felt dead to me lately. It’s hard to get excited when seemingly nothing else is going on.

Anyway, back to work. It’ll be ready when it’s ready. Though, I probably won’t get everything working before I declare it ready.

So, I haven’t been posting much because I’ve had to take care of some stuff over my week off in addition to working on the new design and relaxing. But I found something just now that screamed to be mentioned.

You have no doubt been looking around the Google Video beta. That’s where I found this beauty (yes, safe for work. Show all your coworkers! =)). It’s a video of some guy playing level 3 of IKARUGA with his left hand controlling player 1 and his right hand controlling player 2. He full-chains the level and pulls off some crazy, crazy, crazy manoeuvres… maneuvers.

Seeing as how I’ve never full-chained level 3, I’d be impressed by just a single-player run-through. But this—one person controlling both players—is just crazy.

(Then again, it might be two people pulling off an elaborate hoax? Nah, don’t ruin the excitement.)

Something big’s going down at TRU (Toys R Us) tomorrow. We’re talking almost $5-CC-clearance big. I won’t be going—I better not be going because my credit card bill this month will already be huge—but I know I’ll be thinking about it all day.

I’m sort of interested in the games, but really, it’s not about the games. My fascination with game deals has never been about the games. If it were, how could I let all the good games I buy languish on my TV? It’s about getting something new. And getting something for much less than it usually costs.

It doesn’t make sense when I think about it, but still the deals never fail to fascinate me. Knowing that I won’t—and shouldn’t—be taking advantage of this deal eats me up inside, but I guess there’s always next time.

I’ll be honest: hearing about Microsoft’s troubles with the XBOX360 puts a big smile on my face. As a Microsoft-hater and Nintendo fanboy, I think it’s my right to smile at their troubles, even if I’m over 21 and supposedly an “adult.”

Microsoft’s inability to provide enough consoles is especially delicious. They never said the reason behind the shortage, right? No need really; I think every Mac user knows why. What? You don’t know? It’s IBM’s legendary inability to produce their high-end CPUs in significant quantities, of course.

Ah, the frustrations over PowerMac shortages are now delights over XBOX360 shortages. Really, are people still wondering why Apple dumped IBM?

(Yes, I know Nintendo’s Revolution will be using IBM chips, but I’m not worried. I think the key difference will be that the Revolution isn’t using cutting-edge CPUs—and all those stick-in-the-muds won’t be buying it.)

I finally got Mario Kart DS last Wednesday and have been playing it like crazy to make up time. I’ve already beaten all the 50CC, 100CC, and 150CC grand prix, some of the GP that comes after 150CC, star-ranked all the missions except one, unlocked a few staff ghosts, and showed Bigi “teh pwnage” online. You haven’t done all that yet? Who’s the slacker now, huh? HUH?!

(I like Bigi’s Mario Kart icon: “PWN U FTW!” It’s very theoretical—because he has exactly 0 wins against me at the moment =))

I should write a review for this game. But you know, this is one of those games you don’t need to review. If you own a DS, you should own Mario Kart DS. If you don’t own a DS and you want to play one of the most fun games ever, you should get a DS and Mario Kart DS.

Even if you don’t play through the single-player modes—which admittedly is sometimes like eating your vegetables, assuming you don’t like veggies—I think the sheer fun of online play will keep you enthralled for hours. Yesterday, I played a couple matches against Bigi online. It was only us two (instead of the full online complement of four players), but it was still the most fun I’ve had since the party.

To quote Bigi: “damn. online play is so good”

Help sate my curiosity while possibly guiding the future of Duality by answering the following questions. Again, no iPod drawing.

Questions

1. Does your computer have the font Gill Sans?
2. Have you changed browsers since May 31st? If so, what browser and version do you use? (ignore if you use Firefox)
3. Is the gamma setting on your monitor closer to the Mac default or Windows default?
4. Do you like blue?
5. Am I the last DS owner that doesn’t have Mario Kart DS?
6. Is the DS Nintendo’s first dual-screen device?

Remember, feedback makes everything better… except noise factor.

In Target’s December catalog, they goofed on the price of a DS: $100 instead of $130. They are, however, honoring the price, so if you are wondering whether or not to get a DS, I think this makes the answer a resounding “YES!”

Note: if you do take advantage of this deal, be prepared. Here’s a post from the CAG forums.

Well, I just got back from Target and it worked for me, althought I’m sure it won’t for all. I brought a screenshot of the price, and the phone number from the joystiq article (800-440-0680).

What I did:
I kept explaining that I DID understand they don’t pricematch their website, but that this was an advertisement for an IN-STORE price and that yes, it IS a typo, but that an email response from Target said that they would honor this price anyhow so long as a copy was brought into store, and that my local Target could call the 800 number if they needed to confirm.

=)

These movies of ZBrush made my jaw drop.

Now, I’m no expert on 3D-modeling software. I stopped following the field after the mega-merger of Specular, Fractal Design, and MetaTools into MetaCreations and the subsequent firesale when MetaCreations turned into the irrelevant MetaStream (now Viewpoint). But you don’t need to be an expert to see that ZBrush has an incredibly-slick and -intuitive interface.

Just from watching the movies, I already feel like I understand how to use the program. It’s almost like sculpting clay with your bare hands—almost because when using ZBrush, you don’t have to worry about making both sides look the same!

If I had more free time, ZBrush would definitely be a program I’d check out. Doesn’t look like that’ll happen any time soon though. Time to cook! Posted!