chicken noodle is the best

There's also a really coked-up puppy.

My job is so freaking unbelievable. I’ll try to sum it up by first telling you about the folks I work with :

First, there is this supermodel wanna-be chick. Yeah, okay, she is pretty hot, but fuuuuuuck is she completely useless. The girl is constantly fixing her hair or putting on makeup. She is extremely self-centered and has never once considered the needs or wants of anyone but herself. She is as dumb as a box of rocks, and I still find it surprising that she has enough brain power to continue to breathe.

The next chick is completely the opposite. She might even be one of the smartest people on the planet. Her career opportunities are endless, and yet she is here with us. I think she might be a lesbian, because every time we drive by the hardware store, she moans like a cat in the heat.

But the jewel of the crowd has got to be the freaking stoner. And this guy is more than just your average pothead. In fact, he is baked before he comes to work, during work, and I’m sure after work. He probably hasn’t been sober anytime in the last ten years, and he’s 22. He dresses like a beatnick throwback from the 1960′s, and to make things worse, he brings his enormous dog to work. Every freaking day I have to look at this huge Great Dane walk around half-stoned from the second-hand smoke. Hell, sometimes I even think it’s trying to talk with its constant bellowing. Also, both of them are constantly hungry, requiring multiple stops to McDonalds and Burger King, every single day.

Anyway, I drive these fuck-tards around in my van and we solve mysteries and stuff.

X-men: First Class

“X-Men: First Class:” No. Not going to happen this time. I shelled out money for both “X-Men 3″ and “Wolverine,” and you know what? I’m done. Fool me once, you can’t get fooled again or something like that. I don’t care who’s in it, or who directed it…what? The guy who did “Kick Ass?” Damn it. Here. Here’s my wallet, Marvel. Just take it.

BTW science is a verb now

Hey! You're awesome, So maybe if I rub you on my face i'll live forever!

how to build a flame thrower

Building a Flamethrower:
Step 1: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.
You're doing it anyways? *sigh* All right...
Step 2:Trust the internet to teach you how to build something that will just as likely explode as shoot flames.
Step 3:Build a fucking flamethrower.

More details to come...

VlogBrothers

I have decided to go back and watch all of the vlogbrothers videos. A pilgrimage, if you will.

BTW

I will also take Hank Greens Annual survey.

1-6: the same as always, you already know the answers.

Q7: how long have you known hank and Katherin?

A7:I have known (of) Hank since October, 2011, and Katherine for the hour-and a half i've been watching the original Brotherhood 2.0 videos.

Q8:What do you Want from us?

A8: just enough to get by

Q9-11:What are you doing? How Much longer will you be doing it? Why?

A9-11: Writing a book. Until its done. It make me feel less insignificant

Q12:What do you want to be doing?

A12:Getting A's in at least half my classes next year

Q13:What is next in your life?

A13:two years of high school and then college

Q14: How are you doing?

A14:Very well, thanks for asking

Q15: what is the best book you read this year?

A15:A Game of Thrones by George Martin

Q16:Describe a perfect day.

A16:Wake up at 8:00 after long nights sleep, Write at least 100 words, go to a movie with a friend, go on a walk, Play a video game, go on the internet, then go to bed.

Q17:Assuming that all thing come to an end, how will humans go extinct?

A17:Nuclear war

Q18:How do you feel about having kids?

A18: i love kids but i dont have any money

Q19a:Ask an answer your own question.

Q19b: WHY DON'T YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?

A19a: I DON'T HAVE THE SOCIAL SKILLS TO TALK TO WOMEN IN PUBLIC.

Q20:What does ambrozzo taste like?

A20: Hopes and Dreams

Q21:If you were a Cliche, what Cliche would you be?

A21:

Q22: What is your least favorite part of any given day?

A22: Writers block.

Q23: Do you enjoy Science fiction?

A23: Yes, very much

Q24:Cheese or Chocolate?

A24: Chocolate.

Q25:What was your first concert?

A25: one of my friends brothers' band, "My Lady 4"

Q26:Where would you live if you could live any where?

A26: On a Greek beach.

Q27: Invisibility or time travel?

A27: Time Travel

Q28:If you could start a business that would be instantly successful, what would it be?

A28: "THIS COMPANY CURES CANCER, ltd."

Q29: What is wrong with the world?

A29: Money.

Excerpt

Sam Decker opened his eyes to see two men in their early thirties staring down at him.

“Welcome back to the universe, Mister Decker.” Said the one on the left.

All Decker could do was lay there for a minute until he could begin to form words. “Who are you? Where am I?” he said with a slight slur as he tried to sit up.

“Don’t worry; You’re right where you have been for a thousand years, safe on earth, in the MIT cryotechnology lab. We’re the lab technicians. My name is Greg Whitford (PhD), and this is my assistant, David Wayne.”

Decker just sat there for a moment, dazed. Then a look of satisfaction came across his face. “A thousand years. That’s amazing. How much has changed since then? What were the major wars? Who were the important people? Who were the economic superpowers? Who were the important military superpowers? What were the great technological innovations? What happened to the United States of America?”

“Slow down, you’ll learn everything you need to know soon. You will have plenty of time to look up what you want to know. And, to get you comfortable with the technology and culture of modern society, we will provide you with someone familiar with the late twenty-fifth century.”

“What, a historian?

“I suppose you could call him that. But first, we need to get you some comfortable clothes, your preserved affects, and your pre-arranged housing details.”

Looking down, Decker noticed that he was, in fact, wearing only a paper-thin medical gown. “That would be nice,” he replied. While he waited for them to get the clothes, he looked around the poorly lit room. The stainless steel table he had been sitting on was one of twelve placed along the walls perpendicular to a wall with a large door. On each of the other tables lay a human figure, and on the wall above each the tables was a glowing rectangle displaying the vitals of the person it belonged to. On the wall opposite the door was a row of glass cabinets full of various medical devices he couldn’t begin to recognize.

Then Decker suddenly realized how cold it was in the room. It was easily below freezing, and possibly below zero, but he couldn’t tell. He glanced back at the display for his table to see if it had the temperature, but it was blank except for the MIT logo. He opened his mouth to ask the lab technicians, but they had both left the room. A slightly computerized female voice spoke to him.

“Hello Mister Decker.”

It startled him, not because he didn’t expect it, but because it came from right in front of him.

“I apologize if I have startled you, Mister Decker. Let me introduce myself. My name is Eve, and I am the MIT campus AI.”

“What do you do?” Decker asked out loud.

“I function primarily as the university activities director, but I also work with the students directly in most departments to enrich the student learning experience as well as my knowledge of human culture.”

“Do you work with the history department?”

“Yes. I often work one-on-one with students to assist with essays.”

“What can you tell me about human history in the last one thousand years?”

“I have already prepared a list of scientifically and culturally significant Headlines from the last one thousand years. Shall I read them to you now?”

“That sounds nice.”

“August 27^th,2507: The secret to indefinite longevity discovered by Hans DeWitt ; July 12^th, 2594: United Nations passes plans for inter-solar starship expedition to Alpha-Centari; September 30^th, 2615: SS Minerva christened by President Francis, departure set for next year; May 2^nd, 2616: SS Minerva departure delayed by terrorist bomb threats; May 5^th, 2616 …” Then Eve fell silent quickly.

“Here you go, mister Decker,” Dave said, entering the room. “Here are your clothes,” he said as he handed Decker a pair of sweatpants, a shirt, and a pair of sandals.

“Can we go somewhere warmer?” Decker asked.

“What? Oh, yeah. I forgot how cold it is in here. There’s a heated room down the hallway. Go left out the door and it’s the second room on the right. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

Decker went to the room, which was kept at a very comfortable 70 degrees Fahrenheit, as indicated by the thermostat next to the door. Decker got dressed and sat down on a sofa against the wall next to the door and waited for someone to come and give him something to do.

After a minute or two, Greg came in with what looked like a manila envelope. “Here are your housing arrangements.”

Decker took the envelope and opened it. Inside, there were a number of letters and a pamphlet for a housing development in a New York suburb.

“We still use paper?” Decker remarked.

“We’ve always used paper. It’s cheap and recyclable. Besides, silicon is a lot rarer than it used to be, and we export most of what we have off-world. In fact, except for Summer – you don’t know about Summer, it’s all sand on the surface, low population, it’s barely livable – there are barely any silicate based planets. Don’t get me wrong, we get a lot of useful exports from the rest, like hydrogen fuel, industrial grade diamonds, and water, but silicon is the stuff of an efficient society.”

“I thought you were a doctor. Why do you know all this?”

“I minored in Intersolar Economics. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made, if I say so myself.”

Give me a world that I want to save.

"Don't give me a world that needs to be saved. Give me a world that deserves to be saved."

Unity

my music video project for U.S. history is as follows.

Mr. Conway said it was the best that hour.

Mine is Epsilon Orionis, the buckle on Orions belt.

Mis-attributed quote

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy."
-Jessica Dovey

There, fixed it.

If You Die in Canada, You Die in Real Life.

We did not invent the algorithm.

Also, this:

Wil Wheaton loves you very much.

GlaDOS's screams will haunt me forever.

Portal 2 is an amazing game.

With this out of the way, I will now elaborate on something I noticed, which is how it manages the puzzles along the game's experience.

In the original: you were thrown into a room, with the goal to leave one way or another, using your portal gun to shazzam your way to victory.

The sequel does more of the same, and adds new pieces to the puzzle, such as the very fun accelerating gel.

However, the white panels where you are able to put your portals are few and far between.

The result is that now most of the puzzles are solved by choosing which one of the 4 or 5 panels available will get which end of the portal gun. Probably only one of them even, as the other is usually occupied on a light bridge / gel faucet / tractor beam.

The biggest challenge for me in the end was typically finding the panel in question. Some are cleverly hidden but it's more often than not, it's a matter of perception rather than logical thinking. Plenty of times I didn't know what to do, so I just ended up just scanning around for lonely panels and based on their location, I found what I needed to do.

Still, I don't think this makes the game worse, I think it just kinda gives it a different feel. Like it's now a treasure hunt for hidden panels instead of a gravity riddle with portals.

On another note, I'm pretty glad they took out the twitch aspect of some jumps. If you finally found out how to solve a puzzle correctly, now it's resolution is smooth and simple - no more flinging portals while breaking the sound barrier in mid-air to project yourself perfectly in a tiny gap.

That said; I'd not object to a few of these kinds of challenges on future custom maps, if they end up being made.

It's a good game, go play it!

Particle accelerators give me a hadron.

I´m reading a book about anti-gravity, can’t put it down. Why did the chicken cross the Möbius strip? To get to the same side. A group of three variable equations walk into an airport bar: The bouncer asks "You all together?" The equations reply: "Yes, we all met on a plane." Alcohol & calculus don't mix. Never drink & derive. A neutron walks into a bar and asks the bartender how much for a drink. The bartender says "For you, no charge."

Japan's Nuclear Disaster Explained

In short, fission products continually decaying in both active and spent fuel rods create enough heat to melt themselves. The coolant systems that would prevent this from happening were disabled by the tsunami. Cracks in the fuel rods created an environment allowing hydrogen to form, which concentrated and then exploded several times destroying both the primary and secondary containment structures at at least one reactor.

The result is that the reactor needs to remain cooled or else radiation from the meltdown will be released to the environment in significant quantities. The people working to keep the reactor from overheating are risking their lives to do so, and we all hope they will be able to stabilize the reactor without harm.

Realism is hard.

I got a lot of really got ideas for my story, but no way to make them realistic. Ideas like a vacuum-sealed heat-shielded and insulated exo-suit with a parachute: I call it "The Orbital Drop Suite." But what is it made out of? Carbon fiber and kevlar seem to fragile, but every thing else is too heavy. IDEAS, GO.

Viva La Rivoluzione!

BREAKING NEWS:
It's official: Hosni Mubarak has abandoned his position as President of Egypt and fled Cairo after one and a half weeks of civil unrest. Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had stepped down and that the Egyptian military would assume control of the nation's affairs in the short term. Jubilant celebrations broke out in Tahrir Square at the news.
Again, much joy and jubilation.

Something about a bowl of soup...

This weekend millions of people were rewarded for yelling at the T.V. for three and half hours. The Steelers almost had it in the last quarter, but they tripped up just short of the first down.
In other news, computers are playing Jepardy! and winning!

Hard work is your friend. Also Mountain Dew.

Why work hard when you can simply get by?
I gets you into a better school, thats why. Quit being so daft. Harvard and Caltech and Yale and MIT don't just let in any one who asks. YOU GOTS TO WORK FOR YOUR DEGREE.
Also , isn't it great to live in a city with such reliable roads? THAT MEANS NO SNOW DAYS. EVER. SIX FEET OF SNOW AND WE'LL STILL BE LEARNIN'. Not really. At least I hope not. That would suck.

Second Semester

First day of the second semester is going good so far. Literature, German, Programming, Biology, Study hall, U.S. History, Algebra.
Fun.
I am writing this during the introduction speech in programing. I should be listening, but instead I'm trying not to get caught.

Hello.

My name is Nate. I am a high-school sophomore planning on a career in some field of physics. Right now though, I help build and program robots as a member of the FIRST FRC robotics program. As i write this, our teams (2977 Sir Lancer Bots) robot is on the ground and moving for the first time. Much joy and jubilation! We celebrate by eating some of those little candy hearts people usually save for St. Valentines day. The controls are a bit jumbled, but it's nothing reviewing the code won't fix.
I am an avid Science Fiction fan, and I enjoy the works of Isaac Asimov, Neal Stephenson, Orson Scott Card, and Peter Hamilton. I am also an aspiring Science Fiction writer. In my spare time (when I should be sleeping, or studying, or pretending to care what the teacher is saying), I write down bits and pieces of my stories, concepts for my characters, and sketch drawings of the locations I write about. Right now I focus my time on a story about humans in the 36th century, a "federation" of about 20 planets, a resistance group, and and an obligitory alien invasion. I'll talk more about that later. But for now, I must get back to work.
I'll see you when I see you,
-Nate