Monday, June 30, 2008

15 minutes of DoA

Peter: so, I can't help but think
Peter: ufc would be even better if
Peter: the fighters were female and hot
Ronak: lol
Ronak: so live action dead or alive
Ronak: but UFC
Peter: actually that is probably what the DoA movie is about
Peter: I need to reconsider
__________

So thus follows commentary on the first 15 minutes of the movie, courtesy the internet. I thought about screenshots, but that necessitates work.

1:25 - Oh boy, I can tell this is going to be QUALITY acting already.

2:24 - The anticipation causes me to LOL prematurely.

4:09 - If Kasumi keeps shedding clothes at this rate, she'll be naked by the end of the scene.

4:32 - Oh, nevermind. Scene transition...to one of the characters in a swimsuit showing some cleavage.

5:25 - Now she's attacked by pirates.

7:28 - Scene transition. Keeping with the trend, another character is clad only in nothing.

7:34 - ...now she's wearing a towel

8:20 - ...and now she's putting on her underwear with a porn groove in the background.

8:56 - ...and now she is fighting topless.

10:17 - Normally the panty shot here would be of note, but considering she spent the last few minutes clothing impaired...

10:43 - New scene! Plot development? If you call it that.

11:08 - New scene. IIRC, Helena was a crazy high-class French skank as opposed to some ditzy low-class teenage skank. They do remain consistent to the skank part though.

13:30 - Plot takes a dive. Literally.

15:42 - So much grabbing and moaning. 15 minutes is up!

In conclusion, from what I've seen, it will only take minor revisions to turn the entire movie into a porno. Next time I'll watch something better written. Like Ghost Rider.

Friday, June 20, 2008

How do you know if you're making a war film right?

If it makes you not want to go to war.

Just finishing up Band of Brothers, it's top notch.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Irony

Quite a while ago, the USAF wanted to buy 20 refueling tankers from Boeing to replace its fleet. Of course, Senators aren't pleased at all. Just 20? That wouldn't create enough jobs in their home States.

So the USAF budget was upped and they were told to buy 100 airplanes instead. The Air Force decides that with such a large contract at stake, they ought to have an open competition. The result of the competition was that the French company Northrop Grumman won.

Naturally, the government throws a hissy fit that all that money they granted to the Air Force to buy planes they don't need is going to go out of country. A shitstorm ensues; many French jokes were made.

Well, now the Government Accountability Office decided the previous competition was invalid and the Air Force should hold a new contest.

...

I hate that government.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Great Wall isn't so great

So, it's basically the Maginot Line.

But more expensive and with less guns.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Fine

Comments are now enabled.

Stop asking already.

Friday, June 13, 2008

This makes me cry...

crobert: mit is better
crobert: because mit has actual architecture
Peter: I think loo has actual architecture
Peter: at their architecture school
crobert: which isn't even in loo
Peter: alternatively
Peter: loo has too much architecture
Peter: that's why it looks retarded
Peter: too much br00talism
_____

It was at this point that I discovered Wikipedia actually has a picture of Waterloo right on their Brutalist Architecture page.

*Massive facepalm*

Now deconstructivism, that's the kind of architecture I can get behind.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Solidarity

Decklist:
12 Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta

4 High Tide
4 Reset
4 Opt
4 Brainstorm
4 Impulse
4 Force of Will
4 Remand
3 Meditate
3 Turnabout
3 Brain Freeze
3 Cunning Wish
2 Flash of Insight

Sideboard:
4 Hydroblast
3 Disrupt
2 Twincast
1 Brain Freeze
1 Meditate
1 Turnabout
1 Echoing Truth
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Stroke of Genius

Disclaimer: This is entirely copy and pasted AKA netdecked. Sideboard is important because of Wish, Stroke is the only instant speed kill I think.

I so want to play this. Firstly it's legacy, so it'll work forever (maybe not top-tier, but still powerful). Secondly everything barring the lands and Force are pretty cheap. Force is kind of optional for non-competitive too.

It's also my style, sit around and draw cards for a while. Then combo into a Brain Freeze for 60. Plus, everything is instant speed, so you can always wait until the very last possible moment before attempting to go off. As in you can win the game in response to someone attacking you to death with damage on the stack. In fact, Reset encourages this kind of playing.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

...ergo propter hoc

So here's my issue, what is the functional difference between cum hoc ergo propter hoc and post hoc ergo propter hoc?
_____

crobert: post = after, cum = with
crobert: post implies causation while cum just implies a correlation
Peter: thank you
Peter: no, I meant what is the functional difference
crobert: post needs a strict chronological sequencing
crobert: while in cum they just need to be related
Peter: in what example
Peter: would there not be some kind of chronological sequence
Peter: if causation were implied?
_____

Naturally, Wikipedia was the first source to be consulted.
_____

crobert: ok i'll just steal one from wiki
crobert:

"Sleeping with one's shoes on is strongly correlated with waking up with a headache.
Therefore, sleeping with one's shoes on causes headache. "

crobert: here you have "sleeping" and "with shoes on"
crobert: one doesnt happen after another
crobert: in fact, they're going on at the same time
crobert: as opposed to

"i saw a black cat, then crashed my car. therefore seeing black cats cause car crashse"

Peter: there is clearly a chronological sequence
Peter: Sleep with shoes ---> wake up with head ache
Peter: arrow is time

crobert: ok say you had
crobert: number of lung cancer cases has been steadily increasing
crobert: and
crobert: number of cigarettes sold has been steadily increasing
crobert: so you falsely conclude that they are related
crobert: one doesnt necessarily happen after the other
_____

So basically, I'm not seeing it. If you're implying that a causes b, then D[b(t)] must equal kD[a(t+x)]. Where t = time and {x|x ∈ R, x > 0}. The k could even be a function of a(t) or something, but you can't just say they're both positive and therefore correlate. If your k value ends up looking like a Weierstrass function, your correlation is garbage in the first place without even getting into the causation part.

Any philosophers reading this, feel free to drop me a line.

Unless your name is Kant. In which case: don't.

update:
_____
Peter: I thought of something
Peter: dead people are old
Peter: therefore time causes death
Peter: I think this is the only way around the chronological factor
crobert: <_<
crobert: you're just thinking it wrong
crobert: it works, you just think it doesnt
crobert: you have two simultaneous events
crobert: the fallacy is that one is dependent on the other
Peter: how can a cause b if they both happen at once
Peter: unless one of them is time
crobert: protip: it doesnt
crobert: that's why it's a fallacy
Peter: this is a shitty fallacy
...
crobert: what part of it dont you get
crobert: you understand that it's a fallacy right <_<
Peter: so cum hoc is the universal set
crobert: yeah i sort of said that already
Peter: but pos hoc' = half diminished
Peter: That's the crux of my issue
Peter: maybe I'm looking at this wrong
Peter: maybe it's stating the obvious
Peter: AKA 2 simultaneous events can't cause each other because it's simultaneous
Peter: AKA this is a shitty fallacy
crobert: all fallacies are shitty
crobert: give me a nonshitty fallacy
Peter: naturalistic fallacy is alright
Peter: I am going to eat my GM foods and enjoy them

Saturday, June 07, 2008

The ugliest box I have ever seen

It is like the Poser Mobile of PCs.

"With the only real competition (in terms of potential volume) coming from Dell’s two gaming brands—XPS and Alienware—because HP has still not brought its Voodoo brand to Europe, Acer has the chance to jump into a gap in the market here. The system specs are well balanced and at least the European prices are very palatable: €1,699 for the “basic” Sniper, €1,999 for the Trooper, €2,999 for the Crusher and €3,999 for the Eliminator."

I think it was made for Leo.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Creatures? Madness!

Some people get confused looking at a decklist like Neo-Academy.

At this point I'm the opposite. Empty Gush? Makes sense. Quick 'n Toast? It's like a constructed Keeper.

But then I look at Rock. What? No insane card draw? No complicated mana-base? It wins with non-tribal creatures? That's crazy!

I think it's because of the Extended environment during Mirrodin, where even the goblin decks would combo off of a Goblin Recruiter engine. It's permanently skewed my perception.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008