That right there is the URL to this website encoded as a QR Code and embedded into the map on my Minecraft server. The image is from the rendered map of the surface and it is readable. One person was even able to read it with their phone in-game while a cow was walking on it!
For anyone curious, the black is made of obsidian and the white is made of snow blocks. I took about 15 trips with an inventory full of buckets to pour lava into the black areas and convert it to obsidian.
Anyway, the next step it to make one in real life….
You are reading something written for the sake of being written by me to write about writing a blog post. I don’t have a topic, so watch this video and respond in the comments with three words to describe how it makes you feel:
Minecraft is a game that cannot easily be described. Any attempts I’ve heard failed to do the game justice, not necessarily because the game is amazing, but because the descriptions make it sound pretty lame. I’ve been putting many hours of free time into the game since I bought it last week, so there is definitely substance to this game.
I’ll attempt to give a basic summary of the gameplay. The game revolves around blocks that represent different materials such as stone, wood, and minerals. The whole infinitely generating world is made of these blocks. You can build and use various tools to help manipulate the blocks and collect the materials. You can also attach blocks to other blocks to build things, which is where most of the fun lies. For an added twist, there are monsters that appear at night or in dark tunnels.
Enough about the game. Here’s how my experience with this game went. First I created a single-player game and started randomly digging around, then built a failure of a shelter. After that, I joined some friends in a multiplayer game and never went back. After breaking some stuff, I borrowed some supplies and started mining for materials. Then I leveled an island and built a cabin on it. At this point I thought “Now what?”
The answer is build stuff! You can build pretty much anything you can imagine, limited only by your creativity and amount of effort you’re willing to put in. So far I’ve built a maze and a roller coaster, which is pretty fun. Other players on the server are building way more impressive structures.
At the time of this writing, the game is in the alpha stage of development so there are bugs as expected, especially in multiplayer mode. These don’t do much to get in the way, though. The game is moving to beta on Dec. 20th, which also means the price will double. So if you’re thinking of getting the game, buy it before then!
Today, the United States celebrates Thanksgiving. Many people visit family and eat the traditional turkey, but does anyone know the origins of the holiday? We’ll here is (my version of) the story of Thanksgiving…
It all started a long time ago when these pilgrim dudes with funny hats crashed their boat into a rock. They were like, “Oh man, that wasn’t insured.” So they were sitting on this rock when these Indians appeared and said, “Want some pie, eh?” (They learned to speak English from the Canadians).
The pilgrims, being hungry, shot all the Indians and took the pie. It was delicious. While eating the pie, one of them spotted a weird looking bird walking around. He said, “Hey look, something to shoot!” and they shot it. It was called a turkey.
They were still pretty hungry, so they cooked the bird and began eating it. While they were eating, another Indian appeared and exclaimed, “What have you done? This is all wrong!” The pilgrims agreed and vowed to always eat the turkey before the pie. Then they shot him.
After many years of exploring and shooting stuff, the pilgrims ran out of ammo. The Indians, being very generous or stupid, offered them their weapons. The pilgrims said, “Thank you.” Since they didn’t know how to use these weapons, the pilgrims and Indians finally lived in peace for a while. The end.
Soundgarden has resurfaced to perform at Lollapalooza and to announce Telephantasm, a retrospective due on September 28th. This will include many alternative versions of songs as well as several unreleased videos on DVD. It also includes “Black Rain,” a previously unreleased track recorded during the Badmotorfinger sessions. It sounds great!
You can listen to it right here:
The artwork for Telephantasm is also incredible, I might add! You can see full-sized images by clicking on either banner in this post. It’s also my new desktop background.
Soundgarden’s appearance at Lollapalooza marks their third performance since their return, including the one at the Showbox which I talked about in a previous post. They have exceeded my expectations with each performance. Chris can still sing, Kim can still make his crazy sounds, Ben can still manage to reach the floor, and Matt is perfect. 😀
I’ve already pre-ordered the Super Ultra Deluxe edition of Telephantasm. Now I wait…
So lately I’ve been making random videos out of in-game footage I have and uploading them to my channel on YouTube. Most of them are pointless, but I use them as opportunities to try new things. Anyway, here are some examples.
Just pointless (cool effect at the end though)…
Playing with time remapping…
Telling a story (I guess)…
Just cool stuff that happens…
If you want to see more, consider subscribing to me on YouTube. 🙂
Natural selection is the process by which individuals of a species that are best suited to the environment survive to reproduce and pass on their beneficial traits. It is believed to be the primary mechanism that drives evolution. With the human species, one of the results of this is the increased intelligence required to develop technology.
Some of this technology has, for a long time, been able to compensate for undesirable traits to allow more individuals to survive, and the effect of this technology is constantly increasing. So individuals who would otherwise not survive the environment, are able to live long enough to reproduce. It would appear that this is working against natural selection.
I see two ways to look at this. One is that modern technology is nullifying natural selection, and preventing evolution from continuing. The other is that technology is a direct result of our intelligence gained through the process of natural selection, and therefore is part of evolution. I think both of these are valid.
There is also a potentially devastating long-term effect of modern medicine. As we develop more and more potent antibiotics and disinfectants, we kill off the majority of bacteria species. This leaves the most resistant species and removes their competition. This effectively accelerates natural selection and creates stronger and stronger bacteria at an unnatural rate. This is evident in the existence of “super bugs” in sterile environments like hospitals.
The only real conclusion I can come up with is that technology plays a large part in the survivability of individuals. I’d say it’s the same exact effect of a less hostile environment. The question is, are the long-term effects of this good or bad for us as a species?
This is to all those who have given their lives to protecting others, from threats known and unknown. I don’t care who you are or where you came from, but risking your own life for the lives of others is the definition of heroism and deserves recognition.
Today is the day to remember all of the fallen US soldiers. Let’s not forget also those who are currently risking their lives right now.
To all of these people I’ve mentioned: Thank You
You don’t have to support the war or the politics behind it, but you have to support the men and women who fight in them so others don’t have to. There are few things that anger me me more than to see so-called “anti-war” protesters direct their contempt toward the soldiers that have to fight in those wars. They’re doing it wrong.
There is also a potentially devastating long-term effect of modern medicine. As we develop more and more potent antibiotics and disinfectants, we kill off the majority of bacteria species. This leaves the most resistant species and removes their competition. This effectively accelerates natural selection and creates stronger and stronger bacteria at an unnatural rate. This is evident in the existence of “
This is to all those who have given their lives to protecting others, from threats known and unknown. I don’t care who you are or where you came from, but risking your own life for the lives of others is the definition of heroism and deserves recognition.