Since nobody else has made a legitimate post this week, here's a poem:

Why I love Haikus:
they are real easy to write
unless you can't count.

Haikus are more fun
when you make them extra long
adding more stanzas.

But it's really lame
when noobs use cheap cop-outs like
"Refrigerator."

I promised myself I'd never do this...

I apologize to all who were looking forward to another webcomic review (all two and a half of you), but I've had no time to write today. I have contracted a bad case of 'holy crap there's a test tomorrow that's worth 25% of my grade' from my chemistry class. In an attempt to cure it as best as possible, I've been cramming all day, which has left me no time for blogging. Hopefully this post will disappear tonight after I've determined to my own satisfaction that I'm not going to fail the test tomorrow, but if not, I promise I'll get something written tomorrow.

-Defender of the Blog, retreating under heavy fire

is sick

He y'all I would normal post to day but have been brought down with something (that you don't want to have). I may make a post later this week but do not come and burn down my house if I don't. Well that's all "see" you later T100

P.S. have fun reading about noobs this no drive in there life↓

5 Completely Unrelated Songs

Ah, Tuesdays. You never notice how they sneak up on you until you have to blog on them during the last week of classes. This is the week that everything is due, frantic studying begins and you look ahead to the upcoming break fondly until you realize that, before you can relax and recover from sleep-deprivation, it's going to get exponentially worse in a two-week time span. As a result of this madness, my post is going to be on the short and unplanned side. I think you'll agree it's for a good cause: my final English paper about the assumed law of fantasy worlds that creatures can exclusively be or use magic. Hopefully, it will turn out to be the spectacular conclusion to my series of odd papers (including an argument on techno and an analysis of Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword).


Today, I will comment on the five newest additions to my favorites on Grooveshark (because it's amazing) excluding techno songs I've already talked about.


No. 5 in G Minor by Johannes Brahms
Here is an entirely too brief piece that is fast-paced, upbeat and generally exciting (with a few artistically-placed slow sections). There are three main sections of the melody that work together extremely well. The entire piece is done with the typical Baroque system of composition and, as such, it is well-balanced in all four parts (soprano, alto, tenor and bass).


Fame by Irene Cara
I perpetually forget about this song due to not having seen the original musical. However, this is a great song if only for blasting and singing in the car. It's not nearly as negative or annoying as most everything I can find on the radio and it stays well enough out of the mezzo soprano range that a great many people can sing it without any impossible sections.


Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
There is no denying the allure of this song. It is a work of pure genius (or insanity, it's hard to tell) and is the single greatest song to play while on a bus or, if there are enough people present, car. Granted, it's also good for singing alone, but no matter what it must be done at full volume. The only reason this is just now on my favorites list is because someone incorrectly changed the name of the one I had favorited before.


What Is Love by Haddaway
I love this song with a passion largely due to the memories (ironically of band camp) that I associate with it and because it is an addictively fun song. As with many on my list, it is made to be blasted out of whatever music-playing device you have at the time though I suggest you not do it with headphones on. It's just generally a bad idea to blast things with headphones on, but the treble in this might make your head explode (Disclaimer: No evidence of this phenomenon has been collected other than the pain in my head).


He's a Pirate by Klaus Badelt
If you don't like this song, there may be something psychologically wrong. I cannot properly express the many reasons why it is a work of art aside from following traditional composition in unexpected ways. Ignore, for a moment, the pirates vs. ninjas debate and listen to how epic this song is (if that alone is why you don't listen to the song, shame on you). It is now on my favorites list due to someone sending me the infinitely inferior remix which prompted me to find all PotC music and use it as homework motivation.


This concludes the November edition of my music posts. I will write to you all next week though it will be later in the day because of an interfering final.

A presto!

~ Entropy

Synopsis for Week 2

Greetings and Salutations,

Over this last week we got to see the addition of a new member: T100 in addition to the return of former members.

On Tuesday Entropy added some more songs to her rave playlist, giving us the final piece of her list of favorite and popular rave songs in "[insert-witty-title-here]".

On Wednesday T100 gave us a look into the meaning of what a base is and gave us a basic (no pun intended) understanding of the main three bases and gave us a setup for the Fibonacci base in "A look into math part one. All Your Base.".

In addition The King of the Blog gave us a confusing look into societal groups, the interactions between them, and why they exist in "Swirlies and Other Stories".

On Thursday X37V stated his goals and his topics for his posts as well as gave a rating for rating styles in "Put a rating in your rating".

In addition, Defender of the Blog discussed the webcomic Dr. Mcninja Written by Christopher Hastings in "Ninjas can't catch you if you're on fire".

On Friday ACRONYM discussed disillusionment, it's base concepts, the confusion involved, and how easy it is to fall prey to it in "The Concept of Disillusionment".

As always, feel free to go back and read these incredible posts if you missed them, to comment on them (please do, whenever you want) and to argue over things as commenting people are wont to do.

Live long and prosper,

King of the Blog

The Concept of Disillusionment

I had a hard time coming up with what to post. Thankfully, I spent a large portion of my day today away from my computer so I had time to think about what I wanted to post. I have now come up with ideas for today's post and an idea for a new Nerdology post (Remember that series? You will soon). Anyway, on with the post.

Link of the Week: Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal (View my post about the original game here).

I couldn't think of a witty title for this post, so the title explains itself. Let me take you into a memory of mine from the 4th/5th grade (I had the same teacher for both grades). I was an odd child. I liked creating things from common objects. Naturally, I tended to bend paper clips, mold aluminum foil, etc... to do so. Well, one ordinary day, my teacher had a special paper clip that was, apparently, somewhat pricey. She found it bent and mangled and was very upset. She demanded that whoever ruined the paper clip to come forward and admit it. No one did. Now, I'm pretty sure that I was the culprit, but the thing is, I'm not sure. Why? Because my memory of the incident is so distorted that it is impossible to tell if I actually did. I believed that I didn't do it so much that I managed to convince myself that I did not do it in order to avoid guilt. Furthermore, by insisting that I did do it, I created a false memory within my mind of doing the act. Thus, the memory is so twisted that I cannot say for sure whether I did it.

This is very strange, as I clearly distorted my memory of this incident. But to what extent? I can't tell, so besides the basic facts, I can't tell what actually happened. This brings up an interesting point. Can we impose false realities on ourself and distort our own memories? I think that we can to a point. Disillusionment is hardly something that can be done intentionally because if you know that something is a lie, than you can't believe it. Disillusionment is something that occurs gradually and, most likely, subconsciously. It occurs when your sense of reality is so skewed, that you can no longer reliably discern the truth regarding a memory or thought. It's a scary thought, but it happens all the time. People sometimes want to believe something so badly that they ignore glaring falsities. Furthermore, they soon come up with their own twisted ideas to cover these falsities and genuinely believe them.

We live in a world of business. Business is essentially the vanguard of disillusionment; businesses convince themselves that they are doing right regardless if they actually are, advertising is used to create disillusionment in the masses so people will buy their services and products, and people slowly believe the lies of the businesses. People believe the lies that they can be perfect through the use of a product. Because of this, disillusionment is an underlying and integral part of society.

Therefore, the question we must ask is "How can I rid myself of this disillusionment?" The short answer is through gradual introspection and enlightenment. Just as it takes time for disillusionment take root, it takes time to pull it out of one's mind. It is hard to take back what you formally believed, depending on the level of disillusionment. It is a long and difficult process but a necessary one in the pursuit of truth.

I would encourage you to read/look up about disillusionment, but the Internet has a dearth of information regarding this subject. Therefore, I encourage you to muse about this: how disillusioned are you? What is real? What is a figment of your mind? All of these are difficult questions, but I encourage you to ask them. Disillusioning yourself is a worthwhile process in the end.

Comment, debate, and question disillusionment if you'd like in the comments. It is certainly an interesting concept.

See you next week!
ACRONYM of the Blog

P.S. I need a new name, but I haven't come up with one yet.

Ninjas can't catch you if you're on fire

It's true. If you ever find yourself beset by ninja, all you have to do is set yourself on fire. Really. I saw it on the internet, so it must be true.

The focus of this week's review is Dr. McNinja, by Christopher Hastings. He's a doctor. And a ninja. He's also Irish. Enough said. ...Yeah, not really. Besides, I think you expect a bit more out of me than two puny paragraphs for a week's blog post.

Dr. McNinja is a practicing medical doctor in the small-ish town of Cumberland, Maryland. He is their self-appointed protector and investigator. As the firstborn son of Dan McNinja, it was somewhat expected that he would follow in his fathers footsteps and become a full-time ninja, but the Doctor had a different idea. In college, he cloned himself dozens of times for the sole purpose of gaining at least a Masters in every field imaginable (and some that aren't). After they all completed their mission, they amalgamated into one Doctor with all the knowledge of the combined McNinjas. One didn't make it back in time and was captured by pirates, but that's a different story.

The comic only shows a few years of his life in Cumberland, but what it does show is rather dramatic. The Doctor has faced down Ronald McDonald, cured Paul Bunyan's disease (make sure you read the alt text), used frozen shamrocks to defeat pirates, proven that working out too much gives you a jetpack crafted from your ab muscles and makes you crazy, fought off a horde of undead ninja, and done a lot of other awesome stuff that you probably don't want to hear about in a huge list.

The Doctor's companions are a rather heterogeneous lot. His family, consisting of his parents and younger brother, are all ninja (not really surprising, but definitely interesting at family reunions). The receptionist at his practice is a gorilla. His sidekick, 12 year-old Gordito, possesses a handlebar mustache that he grew by sheer will after his father was killed in a circus acrobatic accident. His preferred method of transportation is via a velociraptor named Yoshi. His mentor is a clone of Benjamin Franklin. The mayor of the town of Cumberland is a former astronaut with a severe aversion to zombies. The Doctor has crossed swords with mimes, pirates, and vampires, but his real nemesis is a man known only as King Radical. Recently instated as the head of the Cumberland Mafia, Radical is plotting to overthrow Cumberland through a series of philanthropic, community-oriented projects that only the Doctor can see through. This doesn't do a whole lot to help Dr. McNinja's public image, as most of the town's populace think he is, at best, extremely eccentric (of course he is, but this doesn't do anything to help his image, either).

I'd have to rate Dr. McNinja PG for a handful of reasons. There is a good bit of blood in a few of his story arcs, but it's not terribly excessive (usually), and gore is kept to a minimum. There is some censored swearing, but it's bleeped in such a way that your mind is drawn to what was written in the little black box over the words in question, rather than the word in question itself. There is no explicit content in the comic, which is a welcome change from some of the questionable content on other artists' pages. Outside of these minor issues, it's a solid comic that most anyone should be able to enjoy. Chris, you made an A.

Happy Katanakka!

-Defender of the Blog, RTB

Put a rating in your rating...

To start off this fine post, I would like to express my happiness at seeing the Return of the Blog. It was a really great wrap-up to the trilogy and... wait, no that's Star Wars. Or Lord of the Rings. Anyways, I would like to explain what I hope to be contribution to the blog. I will rate things. You might not like my rating, but I'll make it as humorous and logical as possible. Now when I say 'things,' I mean to keep it vague. The plan is that people who read this blog will send me random things to rate. And I mean anything. Maybe a picture of a cute lizard? Maybe a mathematical theorum? I will create specific categories of things to be rated, as well, and when people send enough suggestions I will group them together in a single post. For instance, right away I would like to create the catagory: Fewd. Spelled with an 'ew' because it's funny and because the edibles that I am rating will likely not be considered edible by most. When people send suggestions, I will attempt to obtain and sample them and will then rate them as to their culinary value. As two sneak peeks: Yoo-Dew and Spicy Carameese.

Send all suggestions to x37v.tbcrh@gmail.com which doesn't exist yet so I'm going to go make it as soon as I'm done writing this.

-------------------------------------------------------

For this post, however, I will be rating various rating systems:

The Letter Grade:

The most classic and well known grading system in schools, and often used as a generic rating system. We've all had driven into us since childhood the idea of how great 'A' is and how bad and terrible 'F' is, so it's clear that a lot of how we view this system comes from classical conditioning. As such, it receives credit for involving psychology. However, it's so random. I mean, why leave 'E' out? And for that matter, why use letters at all if you only need 5 of them? Finally, as with all ratings, we want more detail when a grade isn't quite good enough for A, but too good for B, so we introduced +'s and -'s. Now this is just dumb. I mean, combining letters and mathematical symbols? What is this, algebra? And it gets worse when considering that we can't express higher levels than '+' without resorting to 'A++' (or for those who have slogged through eBay feedback pages, the dreaded 'A++++++++++++++++++++++++++'). In the end, though, letter grades express what they're trying to express adequately, so they receives a decent

B-

Percentage:

Amongst school systems, this is what the Letter Grade system is based off of and amongst media this is what fan level is based off of. It is clear cut and obvious what your position is if you understand the slightest thing about percentages. 100% is good; 80% is pretty good; 0% is bad; 50% is right in the middle and therefore not good. In addition, it looks professional and tidy. Best of all, if a hundredths scale isn't specific enough for you, you can just tack on some decimal points and it still looks good. (Ex.: 83.45%) While viewing percentage ratings, they are nigh on perfect. However, when assigning them, they can be hellish. I mean, you have a hundred different numbers to pick from. And if even one of your numbers ought to have a decimal point, they all need it. The worst is when you're trying to add up a bunch to equal 100% total; then you have to keep bumping one measurement up and another down and they never all look perfect. Percentages receive the adequate grade of

87.65%

Stars:

Unfortunately, the source of all knowledge and Wisdom on the internet, Wikipedia, does not seem to have a page on the Star Rating system. If it had, I would have been able to give a quick history of how this system came to be. As it stands, I will have to live with the fact that I have no idea how the idea of stars as a rating system came about, but it is used endlessly today. It is often used for rating movies and games, and of course is the primary system for rating hotels. I believe it is so popular because it is extremely quick and easy to use and because images seem to stand out better than words. Most commonly, a rating will be something 'out of 5 stars.' When more detail than fifths is required, either more base stars can be added (Ex.: 7 out of 10) or fractions of stars can be used. (Ex.: 3.5 out of 5) This makes it look like the star bar is being filled up, and is visually pleasing to most people. However, pieces of stars can be somewhat hard to decipher, and even with fractional stars, 5 is still a very limiting number. Therefore, the star system receives a better-then-average

Non-Stars:

This is a somewhat rare spin-off of the Star Rating system. It is often applied on internet forums and the like. It entails the use of various images, emoticons, animals, memes, or abstract concepts instead of stars, but is similar in every other aspect. This can lead to a much more appropriate, humorous, and/or relevant expression. (Ex.: I give this webcomic about pokemon 4 out of 5 happy Pikachus! -accompanied by 4 pictures of said happy Pikachu-) However, when taking into account the above mention of partial ratings, this can look extremely odd, such as when 3.9 Buddy's results in a missing limb:

However, this may prove to be even more humorous than the whole picture would have been. The primary issue with such a rating is when those internet folk that are lacking in brain cells attempt to use this system and completely ruin the point of it by using an entirely unrelated and possibly annoying picture/idea. (Ex.: I give this picture of a laughing camel 3 out of 5 pretty, pretty princesses) Non-Star ratings receive a better-than-better-than-average

(4 out of 5, I found this to be humorous. -gets stabbed-)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that's all for now. As everyone else is changing their name, and I'd prefer a single word name, I shall be going with my long-standing codename: X37V.

Farewell and good fortune,

~ X37V

A look into math part one. All Your Base.

Earlier today,(by day I mean any time in the past 7 days) I was writing out the Fibonacci numbers and thought “could I make a base Fibonacci?”

Well before we answer this question we need to know two things; what is a base and, what are the Fibonacci numbers.

In this post we will cover the harder one; what is a base?
Well according to dictionary.com a base is “the bottom support of anything; that on which a thing stands or rests: a metal base for the table.” Wait… sorry… here

13.
Mathematics.
a.
the number that serves as a starting point for a logarithmic or other numerical system.
b.
a collection of subsets of a topological space having the property that every open set in the given topology can be written as the union of sets of the collection.
c.
a collection of neighborhoods of a point such that every neighborhood of the point contains one from the collection.
d.
a collection of sets of a given filter such that every set in the filter is contained in some set in the collection.

Let us pull that apart and make some more sense of it.

In our day to day life we come across three bases, what we work in base 10 (Dec), what is used in making colors for computers base 16 (Hex), and the life blood of computers base 2 (bin)

We will start with what we all know, base 10.
At every power of 10 we add a place. What do I mean by that?
Well the powers are 1, 10, 100, 1000… (10^0, 10^1, 10^2, 10^3…)
With a base 10 we need 10 deferent symbols we use 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.
So how does this work in real life? Well lets take the number 1138 why well I like that number.
We have one 10^3 (A.K.A. 1000) one 10^2 (A.K.A 100) three 10^2 (A.K.A 30) and eight 10^0 (A.K.A 8). So we have 1000+100+30+8 = 1138 at this point may be thinking well Duhh T100 we know 1138=1138 but stay with me.

We will now look at the number 18C6 WAIT!!!!!!!! “C” is not a number! But it is in base 16 known as Hexadecimal (Hex). We now need 16 symbols to use so we will use 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F. So the points that we need add a new place is at the powers of 16 they are , 1, 16 , 256, 4096…(16^0, 16^1, 16^2, 16^3…)(all these numbers are in Dec for the readers)

So lets get back to our number 18C6
We have one 16^3 (A.K.A. 4096 in Dec) eight 16^2 (A.K.A. 2048 in De) twelve 16^1 (A.K.A. 192 in Dec) and six 16^0 (A.K.A. 6 in Dec) So we have in Hex 1000 + 800 +C0 +6 = 18C6 In Dec this would be 4096 + 2048 +192 +6 = 6342
Hex is used for colors in computers. The color is made by the mix of red green and blue (RBG) ranging FFF,FFF,FFF (black) to 000,000,000 (white)

roses are _#FF0000 violets are _#0000FF all my base are belong to you. =P

Now on to the best base of all base 2 (bin)
So by now you know the drill. Being only base 2 we only need 2 we will use 0,1.
The powers are:; 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256…(2^0, 2^1, 2^2, 2^3, 2^4, 2^5, 2^6, 2^7, 2^8…). Lets take this number 101010. We have a one in the 32 space (2^5), nothing in the 16 space (2^4), a one in the 8 space (2^3), nothing in the 4 space (2^2), a one in the 2 space (2^1), and last nothing in the 1 space (2^0). We not have 32+0+8+0+2+0=42.
Now why would we ever use this? It takes more space then any other base (save base one, but we got away form tick marks a long time back). Well it only needs to states on or off (0 or 1) this can be done with a normal switch or one variable. It allows us to change logic tables into an electric form if you have three switches; A, B, and C, and you want to know what state they are in you can do so with one number. If A is on B is off and C is on, we get 101 or in Dec this would be 5 (we have one in the 1 place nun in the 2 place and one in the 4 place 1+0+4 =5). So you can set three switches with one number lets say we want A off B on and C off all we need is 2 (the computer takes it and changes it to 010 A is off (0) well B is on (1) and C is off (0)).

I hope this has help and not just mixed you up more. Fell free to post ether way.
“See” you next week.
T100

[insert witty title here]

Happy Tuesday, everyone. I have for you the second part of my rave playlist. It’s a bit shorter than the first because, after listening to it exclusively for a week, I’m sick of some of the songs and they’re obviously not good enough for me to talk about. Luckily, this is the last piece of the playlist. Otherwise, the entire thing would be reduced to my five favorites and you would have much less exposure to new songs. On to the music!

Love Don’t Let Me Go by David Guetta
The vocal harmony here is amazing and is the main focus of the song. The background melody is interesting and uses a bit less of the synth static that these songs tend to be drawn towards.

The Promise Man by Basic Element
If this song had no lyrics, it would be amazing. However, it does. It’s still a good song, but the lyrics really don’t add anything to it at all. While I’m changing things, I would add a bit more of the secondary melody.

Walk On Water by Basshunter
This is the song that got me hooked on techno. It’s one of those songs that is absurdly popular, but it still hasn’t been worn out. It’s insanely repetitive, but it can get away with it because it sounds amazing.

Feel Fine by Tune Up!
The main melody in this song is very well-supported and it gives this song a ton of energy. The song has three distinct parts that work together fairly well to keep things interesting.

Can I Get a Witness by Rob Mayth
The main melody of this song is good enough to make up for the odd lyrical sections. Once again, it has a lot of energy and it sounds like it’d be wonderful to dance to. The transitions are done very well.

Future Shock
Here is a true example of the Minimalist influence in techno. This song really doesn’t change often and the patterns are the same throughout. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s more of a filler song. At the moment, I can’t find the artist for this song because the Grooveshark gnomes seem to have taken the name off. If anyone knows it, post in the comments. It is currently listed under Hard Dance Mania Volume 5 (disk 2).

Start the Game by Tune Up!
Aside from the fact that this song makes me lose the game every single time I hear it, the melody is fun and restated in a few different ways. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get much deeper than that.

Bounce by Tune Up!
This one has become one of my favorites because of the energy, the lyrics (all four lines of them), the open synth sound in the melodic line and the layout of the song. Bounce is more complex than others because of the Matrix-esque slow motion break in the melody gives the song a bit more texture than the straight repetition of the beat.

Feelings by Basic Element
Unlike the other songs on this list, the main melody is exclusively in the lyrical line. It’s repetitive and leaning towards Minimalist, but it’s a generally interesting song. I will admit that I’ve never paid attention to the lyrics whatsoever.

Every Time We Touch by Cascada
Every Time We Touch is another techno/pop classic and one of the few songs on this list whose lyrics I actually listen to. It may be cheesy and slightly overused, but it’s a good song.

Ravers in the UK by Manian
Ah, Manian. Evidently, they love stealing from their own songs. There are few differences in the melody of this song and Welcome to the Club, but, luckily for them, I like both of them enough to overlook that. Once again, the rhythmic pattern from last week shows up noticeably in the melodic line. The lyrical line is great except the actual “ravers in the UK” part annoys me. The style of singing is subtly different on that part and it doesn’t sound as good as the rest. However, the remainder of the song has enough musical merit that I can get past it.

Stamp on the Ground by Italo Brothers
I blame the Nerd of the Blog for the inclusion of this song. Since my last post, he introduced me to it and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. My initial opinion was that it lacked in the energy of some of the other songs I’ve listed, but the melody is undeniably well-written (for those of you keeping track, it also has a bit of that same rhythmic pattern). The harmony in the lyrical line also has an appealingly open resonance. I’m absolutely in love with this song now and I can’t quite pin down why apart from reasons I’ve already stated.

Raise Your Head Up by Pimp! Code
I’m becoming steadily more impressed with Pimp! Code despite their odd name choice. This song is a tiny bit over-synthesized, but the pizzicato sections provide a good contrasting statement of the melody. The melody itself is very repetitive, but well-harmonized and a bit addicting. It hints at the same swung style of other techno songs I love (techno takes a lot from jazz rhythmically).

This marks the end of my rave playlist for the time being. I have many more playlists of various genres that will likely be coming to you soon. If you have any specific requests of songs for me to talk about or genres, leave a comment. I retain the right to choose not to talk about those songs (for example, I’m not going to be talking about the majority of heavy metal songs), but I promise I will consider them.

A martedì!

~ Entropy