Gallery can be seen here.
For those who don't know, or often get confused, a Lunar eclipses is when the moon passes into the Earth's shadow. Here is some ASCII art to further explain.
O o .
Sun Earth Moon
Because the Moon's orbit is tilted off the plane of the Sun, we don't get Lunar or Solar eclipses every month. There have been two Lunar Eclipses this year, a rare event, and another will happen in the Spring of next year.
First it was Karl, then it was Tony Snow, and now Attorney General Gonzales has also announced is resignation.
Can I just say I didn't vote for Bush...
I recently just got into the Tabula Rasa closed Beta test. Tabula Rasa is a persistent world massive multiplayer game (MMOG) developed by Richard Garriott (seriously, check out his house), creator of Ultima Online, the game that launched the massive multiplayer platform into the mainstream. I managed to enter the limited closed beta by picking up the $5 beta pack when I went to Fry's to exchange copies of X3: Reunion (the game, not the movie). I didn't get in through any skill or expertise, just an extra $5 I was willing to spend. This should help me down the road when I wish to beta other products.
Right now I definitely plan on at least playing the full trial. By participating in the beta I have agreed to a non-disclosure agreement so I can't just spout off all the things I'm observing, but I can articulate the potential I see from the Wikipedia article on this game.
On the surface there are some similarities to World of Warcraft . The primary focus of the game in on player vs environment conflict rather than player vs player. There are some instanced missions (quests) intended for larger groups of people. Unlike WoW the only playable side are Humans. Allies and the Bane (the bad buys) are NPC only. Another variation is that all players start as the same class. Once the player reaches a specific level they are required to start specializing. The two groups are those who wish to be in direct combat and the other are more support roles. These are further subdivided into a couple more levels. One advantage to this game is that at these junctures you can create a clone of your current character, allowing you to take the other path. This allows the player to have many classes without having to replay the entry levels each time.
One of the most interesting aspects are the dynamic missions. Many MMOG's mission systems are static. They will always be exactly the same. The map of Tabula Risa is dynamic. Humans and Bane are in constant conflict trying to gain territory by capturing each others bases. When one side captures a base they will then be able to make use of its features from the medical bay to the crafting stations to the teleporters to the resident NPCs who give out missions. What missions that are available will also depend on how much and how the map is controlled by the players. In fact the entire outcome of the war will be determined by how well the players play.
What makes these missions very interesting is that the development team is designating roughly 20% of all missions as "ethical parables." These are missions with multiple outcomes. I already faced one such missions, and this particular mission had no right answer. One example that Richard presented in an interview with PCGamer is a situation where the Bane are being held back by an unusually powerful shield generator. What makes this situation unusual is that it requires the sacrifice of a sentient life at regular intervals to keep it running.
The controls are another interesting aspect. WoW, Eve, and others are turn based games descised as real time games. There is a subtle turn system which is used as a mechanism to allow the game mechanics to tollerate a higher leve of latency from the players. True twitched based games, such as CounterStrike or Allegiance, require very low pings for smooth gameplay. Using a turn based system that uses die rolls instead of player skill and reflexes are rare and almost never seen in large persistent worlds. Tabula Rasa hybridizes the system. Some player skill is involved with pointing a shooting, but there is still a dieroll system. Unlike some of these other games, Tabula Rasa will take into account things like movement and amount of cover when calculating damage and hit success to simulate a pure twitch based system.
As this is a beta and release still over a month away there is still a good deal of content missing. For example, the swimming animation is missing causing the avatar to simply drift in a vertical upright position half submerged in the water. Despite the beta conditions I can see this game possibly resonating well with me. I enjoy games with persistent worlds as I feel like I contribute and participate in something bigger than myself. Yet at the same time I don't enjoy feeling required to invest specific amount of time, or being locked into staying logged in to do an activity with/for others. This is one reason why I enjoy Allegiance: it provides a massive multiplayer game based in teamwork, but because the game world is not persistent (games last 30-90 minutes) I do not feel bad logging out in the middle of a game if I become bored or want to do something else. Tabula Rasa seems to want to bring both aspects together, and I look forward to trying the final version.
Derek, I'll let you know if the game goes open beta :)
Last spring my corps friend Jamey asked me if I would be interested in being a visual tech for the Sunset Marching Band. To those not in the know, a visual tech works on the field correcting more individual problems. I said yes as being on staff with a marching band has been a dream of mine sense I graduated high school. I never pursued the option very far because I never thought I was good enough as a marcher or as a teacher. There I was, in his car, being asked if I wanted to.
This past week was the first week of band camp. I'm still nervous as it has been over a year sense I last marched and much of what I have learned has fallen away into obscurity. So far I think I am holding my own. The woodwinds have been placed in my responsibility and my peril. The flutes. Oh my god some of the flute players. Horn angles are always sagging and the feet are an abomination.
It was for this reason, and the usual attrition rate of 4-5 members for bad grades or injuries, that the drill has been written for two alternate spots. These people will perform standing still at the front off to the side of the pit. Dave (the head visual guy) and myself want this to be an inclusive activity. This isn't about winning or scores but about the experience and trying to be the best possible. At the same time there are a small handfull of them who have not made much improvement this past week. A couple don't even care to try. It is a hard pickle that we are placed in.
By the way, there is little more erotic than seeing the first page of drill for the first time.
Top White House aide Rove resigns
Top White House aide Karl Rove, seen by many as the brains behind George W Bush's presidency, has said he will resign at the end of August.
"I just think it's time," Mr Rove said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, adding that he was quitting for the sake of his family.
Mr Rove has worked with Mr Bush since 1993 when he ran for Texas governor.
As Mr Bush's chief strategist, he is seen as instrumental in delivering election victories in 2000 and 2004. For this he is highly regarded by Republicans, but at the same time equally reviled by Democrats.
"Obviously, it's a big loss to us," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino told the Associated Press news agency. "He's a great colleague, a good friend, and a brilliant mind. He will be greatly missed."
"He will continue to be one of the president's greatest friends," she added.
Delayed departure
Mr Rove has been accused of underhand political tactics since his teenage years.
As a student, he invited Chicago vagrants to turn up for free beer at a plush reception for a Democrat state candidate - an incident he later described as a "youthful prank" that he regretted.
He has continued to be dogged by controversy.
Last month, the US Senate issued a subpoena against him as part of an investigation into the sacking of eight federal prosecutors, but Mr Bush ordered him not to testify, citing executive privilege.
Mr Rove was also investigated in connection with the exposure of CIA agent Valerie Plame, though prosecutors decided he should not face any charges.
Mr Rove told the Wall Street Journal that he had first floated the idea of leaving last year, but had delayed his departure when the Democrats took control of Congress.
He said he took a final decision to leave after White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten told aides that if they stayed after the end of August they would be obliged to stay in the administration until Mr Bush's own departure in January 2009.
"There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family," he said.
He said he expected Mr Bush's current poor ratings to improve, and that conditions in Iraq would get better as the military surge continued.
A Republican had a good chance of winning the 2008 presidential election, he said, because Democrats would choose the "fatally flawed" Hillary Clinton as their candidate.
In less than an hour I am off to fly to Pasadena for the 2007 Drum Corps International World Championships. This is the furthest west DCI has ever been and will be this first time I traveled a significant distance without parental supervision. Derek beat me to the punch on this one ;) I'll walk out the door with my military surplus duffel bag and a spiky-punkish hairstyle.
I will be posting video and pictures to my gallery, either the night of if I have internet or when I return on Sunday.
In much more depressing news, the Chinese Rive Dolphin has been declared extinct, the largest vertebrate extinction in 50 years.
Buy the upcomming special edition DVDs. Please!
So give me hope for a Serenity II
JW: Hope for it probably rests with this DVD.
So then you’re saying we’ve got a chance?
JW: Well it’s probably not being discussed in boardrooms right now, but the fact of the matter is if it makes enough money sooner or later they say “hey, this is money!” Also there are paradigms that are much cheaper, it doesn’t have to be enormous. But on the other hand I’m happy to say all of my actors are working very hard. It’s not the same situation where we all threw in for pennies because we had to finish telling that story. Now that situation might be harder to bring about.