Vanthor’s Random Rant

What is the true measure of a man? It can only be what others think of him, for in the end, when he is gone, that is all that remains.

I typed this once but my internet went down, so I lost it. Therefore I will be brief: Use the the Tor network to anonymously host a website, and allow the public to view it through a website that is able to interface with the tor network. This would allow a content provider to be completly annonymouse in there dealings, while being accesible to the general public. Only the site directing users to the tor site is at risk.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_routing

http://www.torproject.org/docs/tor-hidden-service.html.en

Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered who was staring back at you? Who this person was, and what he was trying to be? Have you ever wondered why some things keep up at night? Things that have never bothered him before, things that he has never thought of before? Have you ever wondered if that man was you?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a cellphone that cost $50 and offered you free cell service? Well, I’d like to see if that is possible with a cellphone that taps into open wireless networks (or ones that you have the security information for) to make calls. It would also need to have the ability to place calls normaly, but that not that big of an issue. I believe that this is very do-able using open-source software and cheap parts. Te question is this: Are there enough open wireless networks around to make it useful?

Ya, so I’m about to go to sleep, when Phil messages me about something. He tells me that he had found the girl I had been talking to at the party, Rose, face book page, and told me that I should probably go friend her. Now, this is probably a relatively easy task for most people, but I lack self esteem and self confidence. So this puts me into an agitated state, because I don’t want to come of as some sort of creepy face-book stalker. Also, Phil told me that,   it appears she does not have a boyfriend, if the information on her face-book page is correct. He also told me I should talk to her. So, now I’m trying to get to sleep, and I have all these god damned thoughts running through my head.

I’m sick and tired of taking no action for fear of loss. I’m not a person who can go u[ and talk to people. Talking to new people scares the crap out of me. Well, not talking to new people but initiating a conversation does. The last time I started a conversation and befriended a girl was when I met Laura when I was about 4-5. Those of you reading this think about that for a second. I have never been in a relationship in my entire life. You have no idea how depressing that truth is. I worry that Ill fuck up  somehow, for instance, I just realized I have no idea what a blog is for. I don’t really care though. I just hope that something that doesn’t suck happens. Well, that about covers it. I’m glad nobody reads this blog anyway.

So I went out to a party last night, and it was pretty fun. It was called “Sex on the Beach”, and they get a ton of sand and fillup the party room to about 6 inches deep with it. Now this party was a blast. I had a bit to much to drink, and ended up admiring a girl for about half an hour before I decided to go talk to her. I had thought at the time that she looked familiar, and it turns out that She had played dodge-ball with me before. I would have liked to have talked to here longer, but I had to go use the bathroom, and when I returned she was gone. The only other things of interest that happened, other then 2 random guys walking up to me an telling me I looked like McLovin, and a long talk that I had with Phil.  So I met three people, Rose, Ben, and Ben.

 Also, I went and checked out apartments on Saturday, and we found a freaking awsome set up so that we don’t have to split up everyone. Its two 4 person appartments in the same building, and they are relitivly large and good looking in comparison to other apartments I’ve seen. 

On a unrelated note, I read recently that if you right down everything before you go to bed at night, it makes it easier to sleep at night, so I’m giving it a shot.

You might be asking yourself, right now, what is a serious game and why should I care? Well, as far as I can tell, a serious game is a game where the main point is not to have fun. There are two major types of games that fall in this category: Simulators and other educational games, and games with a message. This is not to say that simulator or games with a message aren’t fun, its just that the main point of the game is not for the user to have fun.
Now, what I want to talk about is games with a message. In my opinion, this is an under utilized medium for getting a message across. Up to this point, most games that have a message fails to get it across either because the message was too subtle, or the game failed to elicit an emotional response in the person playing it.
There is a game called Save Darfur. The game is supposed to get you to care more about darfur, and to teach you about what happening there. Unfortunately, in fails in many respects. When a game is used to teach something, it should do so in a transparent manner. You really shouldn’t be actively noticing your being taught something. The act of playing the game should be what teaches you. Saving Darfur fails to teach you anything useful through game mechanics. In fact it only teaches you by sending you to outside websites about darfur. This is not only annoying, it detract from the experience.
A game should elicit an emotional response in the person playing it. If your game is about genocide, it should not be in any way in friendly, which saving Darfur is.
In order to make a good serious game, we need to apply the greatest strengths of games. Games are all about problem solving, no matter what game your playing. Whether its figuring out what platforms to jump on, to what units yo need to make to beat an opponent in a RTS. It is through solving problem while actively playing the game that you get learn things.
Games are immersive, this is a given. It is the greatest strength of games as a whole. If you are going to make a serious game which includes the destruction of a village, the game should get you to care about the destruction of the village. If its a pre-made village that you where just given, you probably won’t care so much. If its a village you spent an hour lovingly constructing, you’ll care a great deal that some assholes just burned it down. You’ll definitely care in that instance.

Well I’m out of time, so I’m just going to post now.

Nah, just kidding. This is really just a test. It’s possible that I could post something worth while, but its much more likely I’ll just wait until tommorow when I’m in my two hour long IMGD class.

 On A Side note, apparently I didn’t get first post on my own blog. Imagine that.