dracil

To those this applies to, don't forget to go to church! And fast if it's safe for you to do so!

Although I still don't get what exactly constitutes a "full meal" though.
Currently feeling okay

dracil

Hmm, just finished this anime series. Now I'm sad.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

I'm gonna be so happy after Thursday's over next week!
Currently feeling blah

dracil

My dorm actually had a board game night today so I took advantage of it. Well first, the girls all wanted to play Taboo (typical), and did it guys vs. girls (also typical). Needless to say, guys lost.

Then I managed to convince them to try one of my games, Once Upon A Time, which I rightly judged would appeal to them (because they like party games). Both games were won by the same girl. Second game went better since people started to get into it more and interrupt the stories.
Currently feeling okay

dracil

Meh, didn't blog last night. Just continuing to work on my project. Had to scrap and redo the GUI because I did something and none of the text fields could be edited. And yes, I made sure the editable box was checked.

I think the new version is cleaner though.

In a way, the project's almost done, but there's so many little bits that could be improved. Ah well, it's the first time I've done graphics in Java. It's definitely minimalistic and just functional. e.g. the "cards" are just text boxes with the numbers in them. I'm certainly not gonna spend the time to scan in 104 cards and then figure out how to lay them out on the screen.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

Ok, seems like most of the bugs are ironed out. The problem now is making sure it runs on campus, especially the GUI, which uses Netbeans.

In the meantime, I also managed to unlock EX mode for Shoot the Bullet. Cleared 24 scenes or so in the past 3 days.
Currently feeling accomplished

dracil

These were some of the more impressive spellcards that I cleared over the weekend. I actually had to upload it at work on campus because our dorm internet really is that crappy. I like them because the attack patterns change and become more intense with each picture taken. Well, that last part's actually true for most of the spellcards, but Yuyuko's fun because she changes the background when she uses her spellcards to that giant fan which covers the silhouette of the tree where her body's buried (more thematic), and Komachi's last two pictures really fill the screen, which is what danmaku's all about.


Scene 8-4 - Shoot the Bullet
Replay of Scene 8-4, Yuyuko Saigyouji's spellcard "Butterfly Sign 'Swallowtail Butterfly Pattern's Death Spear'"


Scene 10-1 - Shoot the Bullet
Replay of Scene 10-1, Komachi Onozuka's untitled spellcard.

My professor gave us pretty much exactly what most of the questions are gonna be for our midterm on Wednesday, so I'm feeling more confident about that class. I just need to make sure I have the tools to do each problem. It's open notes, open book, and we can use computers. Some of the problems might require a bit of computing power, which is why I need to make the programs to do the problems beforehand.
Currently feeling okay

dracil

So I presented my project today, just need to write the report by Thursday, and today's lab is done as well.

Spent the night writing the programs for my midterm tomorrow. Book actually had a mistake in their solution. Really annoying. Anyway, they should allow me do about 2/3 of the midterm problems really easily.

Then one more midterm on Thursday and I'm home free!
Currently feeling tired

dracil

Midterm today was swell. I finished most of the test within 40 minutes thanks to the programs, but I still took all 2 hours to completely finish it. Mainly because I used most of that time writing essays to two of the more open-ended questions. Turns out some people didn't even write anything for it (they were multiple choice, but earlier instructions said something about needing to argue the points), although I'm pretty sure we were supposed to.

And I just finished writing my report for the project on Tuesday.

So it's just tomorrow's midterm left, which I'm nowhere near as prepared as I should be because of everything else I've been trying to finish and prepare for these past few days.
Currently feeling very tired

dracil

Because I saw mention of International Women's Day in a few places (and there being no equivalent for men), and because of an article and forum thread about the inequality that men suffer in regards to being able to decline fatherhood, and because I'm a fan of this book, I wanted to say the following:

The greatest power women have is the illusion that they lack power.

Misandry is a good word and needs to be used more.
Currently feeling rebellious

dracil

DONE DONE DONE!

And no classes for 10 days because of spring break!

Not that it'll be a completely carefree break though, since I have stuff due after it.

Midterm today went pretty well considering the crammed studying I did yesterday. I only have one question that I feel I really answered wrong, and it wasn't worth too many points.

So Xia and I celebrated by eating at Pho Hoa, and then we saw a couple girls drinking something that looked good, so we asked the waitress and the girls overheard us and told us it was Thai Iced Tea. Anyway, it was a nice meal. Then we shopped around Walgreens a bit before going home to relax.
Currently feeling happy

dracil

Well, Tabulas got hacked last night so I couldn't update.

Kinda sucks that I still have to work during my spring break (this is what causes people to snap and go on shooting rampages!)

Had a really nice 11 hour sleep.

And is this a glimpse into my future?


Currently feeling rested

dracil

It's actually hailing. Despite the cries of global warming it's colder in the Bay Area than it has been for a while.

Hmm, earlier today, when it was sunnier, Xia and I went to have a late lunch at Happy Garden again. We were worried it was going to be closed because we didn't leave until 1:40 (we both woke up late) but it seems like they're open all day for dim sum, and it's only served on weekends and holidays. Good food, subpar service. Their rice porridge is a very good value at $2 for a large bowl.

We went to Ross afterwards to look around, which was actually quite far. Around 12 blocks from my place? Maybe the same distance to school actually, but it's in the other direction.

And I bought grapes for dinner. Very sweet. Actually a bit too sweet, which is saying something since things being too sweet doesn't usually affect me.
Currently feeling surprised

dracil

You heard that right. An underhanded attempt to spite a company that decided not to burden their game with intrusive copy protections.

Screenshot: http://www.galciv2.com/temp/starfo2.jpg
Victim: http://forums.galciv2.com/?ForumID=161&AID=106741
Thread in question: http://www.star-force.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=670&st=0

Slashdot article: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/11/2049230
DailyTech article http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1209

Report the act of piracy/racketeering here http://www.theesa.com/piracy/index.php Make sure to mention they already removed the link. But I'm pretty sure Stardock has the unaltered screenshot and IsoHunt would have logs of hits from StarForce.

I seriously hope they get their ass sued off.

Edit: On second thought, not gonna give an easy free link to their site. People don't like copying and pasting links, so you'll have to work at it to visit their site.
Currently feeling angry

dracil

Well, this is what I unlocked after clearing those 66 scenes.


Scene EX-1 - Shoot the Bullet (H.264)


Scene EX-8 - Shoot the Bullet

Apparently, many people find this one really hard (it's an earlier stage)

Scene 9-6 - Shoot the Bullet (H.264)
Currently feeling okay

dracil

Heh, a Gensokyo LJ community. Make sure to check the friends section for more posts.

It's basically LJ role-playing.

Oh, and it appears I've been linked by a Thai Fansub Tracker site. Unfortunately it seems to be in a private thread so I can't see what they're saying about me.
Currently feeling amused

dracil

Better get it while you still can.

I like the new ending song.
Currently feeling meh

dracil

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/AvianFlu/story?id=1724801&page=1

Hmm, if it actually remains that lethal if/when it's capable of going from humans to humans, it's gonna be pretty scary. The thing is, 50% is based on people having access to medical care, like right now. If it actually becomes real, that rate's probably going to be higher because there simply won't be enough medical facilities for everyone.
Currently feeling thoughtful

dracil

Wear green or else!
Currently feeling okay

dracil

Scene 10-2 - Shoot the Bullet




Scene 10-5 - Shoot the Bullet

Now, back to work.


Currently feeling okay

dracil

Oh yeah, finished watching Rozen Maiden Träumend. Kinda sad ending. But I'm glad they didn't go for a cop-out like other animes *cough*Mai-HiME*cough*
Currently feeling amused

dracil

Well, spring break's over and it was hailing again just now.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

One class cancelled today. Nothing else interesting really.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

Eh, tired. Too much to think about now it's halfway to semester end.
Currently feeling stressed

dracil

I've developed a phobia towards touching metal surfaces here. For some reason, I get static shocks a lot here.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

Mmm, workload's slowly creeping up again.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

Last night I read this manga by Okama called Hanafuda. It's actually a pretty interesting love story with several plot twists in it, despite its genre.



(The story (spoilers!))

Anyway, it was good enough that it made me want to read up more on the folklore surrounding kitsune beyond what I already knew. Although kitsune just means "fox" in Japanese, in terms of these stories, they're supernatural creatures, and are sometimes called "fox spirits" or "demon fox" and they often have the ability to transform, along with other powers.

Wikipedia of course, was an obvious source. And the first two links in the external links section are particularly good. Especially the second one, but both them have some PDF files of an old out-of-print book that can only be bought for hundreds of dollars (up to $1500) now. In other words, restricted library material, and not for normal people. Which I guess makes it fair use.
Currently feeling sleepy

dracil

Must be more productive... argh.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

But really, there isn't really much to blog about, and life kinda sucks right now. Or at least I keep having this feeling of general pressure. Needing to file my taxes and needing to look for a place after I leave the dorms on top of schoolwork isn't helping of course.

I really really really hate having to deal with stuff outside of my usual life schedule, and those other things I would count as that.

It also doesn't help that the weather here has been sucking a lot.
Currently feeling generally stressed

dracil

Every time I want to go to bed, it takes me 2 more hours before I actually do so.
Currently feeling sleepy

dracil

When the heck is it going to stop raining?!
Currently feeling annoyed