Yes, finally!!!! Finally, that little shiny thing called iPhone, that smacked the hell out of everyone when it was introduced (if you don't know about this... where on Earth have you been..?!), came out today. I wonder if anyone I know got one yet. I wanna see how sleek and easy it is to play around with!!
Just a funny clip on iPhone.
Blog Post by Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, EVE Online's economist
Recently, I have been very interested in trying out EVE Online once again, drawn to its sandbox design and complex and diverse structure of its universe.
One of its strength, according to the website, is that, unlike other traditional RPGs like World of Warcraft, it boasts freedom. Freedom to do whatever you want, with only one goal: Power. (Acutally, I think there's freedom in goal as well. Not everyone's out there to become the number one overlord.) You can pursue the goal by whatever method suits you; you can mine for vital ores for the universe, you can trade goods in various regions, manufacture necessary components for others, or if you are more of violent person--most of us are--you can even pirate other players for goods; this creates another opportunity for others who can get hired for protection or escort missions. Players can also form alliances or corporations to bring their efforts together to make much more profit and form a noticable presence.
This diverse activities are possible in the world of EVE because it maintains a real, complex, and breathing economy, dynamically evolving by players, along with huge (and I really do me huge) universe to provide abundance of market to run it. There are countless regions with different recourses, and needs for other resources it lacks. There are secure zones, or insecure ones. There are so many that I can go on for hours. This diverse setting is vast enough to grab attention from academia (as explained in the blog entry linked to this post) on how economic researchers may use it to study economic dyanmics, and much more.
As such complex economy keeps growing and evolving, EVE Online's creator, CCP Games, has brought in a real economist into their development team. As can be seen in the blog entry linked to this article, he will be making quarterly reports on EVE Online's economy, and providing vital feedbacks to the core development team for future development of the community. In essence, he will be Greenspan of EVE.
I am both awed and amazed by this news. It is another indicator how advanced EVE community is. Unlike other MMO games, which most of them claims that the future of [INSERT A WORLD HERE] depends on your hand.....except it really doesn't. (I can talk about this in length, but it's a whole different topic. Maybe later.) On the other hand, EVE Online really lets players have impact in the world. They never say players are heroes, or that they're destined to be saviors of the world. Instead, they say that players are citizens. People live in that world and can band together and make changes...just like the world we live in!
Blog Post by Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, EVE Online's economist
I was flipping through this week's Newsweek when I came across a short column about a sighting of Paris Hilton holding Bible in her arms. She claims that she has found Jesus, and that He has given her a second chance. Only three days before going into jail, that is.
While it kind of made me to think how shallow her action must be, that column talks about how there's a "long tradition of jailhouse conversions," from Malcolm X (to Islam, in this case) to Terry Nichols, the Oklahoma-bombing conspirator who claimed to have worn out four Bibles, and such. Why do people suddenly become religious behind bars? To impress judges in order to avoid, or shorten, jail sentence may be one reason for some. But for others, it's because, according to Chuck Colson, a special counsel to President Nixon, "...everything else is stripped away, so you think about what really matters in life." Well, if that is true, it in turn tells us how almost all people in this world are distracted by worldly affair, away from "what really matters."
Then, how do we live life like as it is meant to be? Should we all start going to church, pray everyday, and bow before the Almighty, who is so invisible and becoming more and more distant as time goes? Well, it may help living a calmer, soothing life, but I don't think it won't work for everyone. Instead, I think finding your true calling, and working towards it is what matters the most. For deeply religious people, it's by devoting their whole life to church activities, doing charity work, or even becoming priests, monks, and so on. For others, it means do what you are good at, or what you think you are born to do...like Paul Potts! When you find the right one, everyone around you will be cheering for you and be glad to see you succeed. Like Paul Potts!
As for Ms. Hilton, I hope she keeps going to church on weekends, so that going to church will be da shiz. That way, more people will go to church, be more educated (hopefully) and help bringing naughty-ness of our teens down a bit.
While listening to CNET's wonderful podcast, Buzz Out Loud, Episode 487, Veronica, one of the host, read a reader's letter about this very interesting site.
I always wondered what cats were up to the whole day, and now my curiousity received its answer. At least a bit.
When I saw that instant freeze...thingy in an old, 1993 movie, Demolition Man, I thought it was a big bogus. How can something so small freeze the whole room, including the bad guy, a living person? Well, although it is bit stretched, freezing water at an instant is ... apparently possible?!
If you could tell me how this is done, let me know please.
UPDATE: I guess this is pretty popular now; to cool pure water (water with low amount of impurities) to below its freezing point, then giving it a disturbance to start the freezing process. There are several YouTube videos that explore this very interesting characteristics of water...
Supercooling Experiment 2
