I have only finished the first two temples in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword but it doesn't take anywhere near that length of playtime to realise that this is a special game. First of all the game is gorgeous to look at. I know its on the Wii but the manner in which the game is presented is amazing. I recently finished Xenoblade Chronicles and I thought that had pushed the limit on the graphics for the Wii, but Skyward Sword tops it in every way.
The whole game looks like an impressionist painting
The motion controls in Skyward Sword are the best I've encountered in any game. The one to one motion tracking makes every sword swing feel realistic and even routine sword fights that were tedious button bashing affairs in previous games now require thought to break through an enemies defense. Wildly swinging will rarely result in you not getting hit at least once (unless you are up against small fry)
The story is usual Zelda fare. Zelda goes missing early on in the game and it is your task to find her. Cue the field exploration (this time set in the sky as opposed to the sea or a field) and temples (each with a new gadget and an end boss). Although this sounds very familiar the control scheme and the artistic graphics always make it feel fresh.
The music is one thing I haven't really noticed as yet. Music has always been a strong part of the Zelda series. I have heard the Harp instrument in Skyward Sword is disappointing but I have yet to encounter this yet. I came across this fan made Zelda tribute album today which gave me a bit of a nostalgia trip, especially this song.
There is so much of this game I have not played and I think it could be the best game I have played for quite some time (and I play alot of games). I seriously I have loads of University work to do, but Skyward Sword is calling me...
The last episode of South Park ended on a bit of a depressing note, with Stan discovering everything is "shitty", his Parents splitting up and the overbearing message "We can't be bothered anymore". This left many, including me, wondering if South Park is finished. I think this episode answered that question and was also the funniest episode of the series to boot.
The episode continues on from the last with Stan waking up seeing and hearing everything as "shit". There are plenty of sly digs in this part including one about Terra Nova "Jurassic Park and Lost in THE SAME TV SHOW". Following a day at school and a counselling session with Mr. Mackie ("Don't be such a Debbie Downer"). Stan is diagnosed with Aspergers and is sent to a special treatment facility where he is given a special serum (or whiskey to you and me) to send him back to the "happy world he once lived in".
Have problems with social interaction? You need this special serum.
Meanwhile, Cartman cannot believe there is a disease called "Ass Burgers" and decides to play a trick on the school nurse by creating some ass burgers of his own. Unwittingly he creates the greatest tasting burgers available but cannot divulge his secret ingredient.
Cartman's secret recipe burgers become an instant success and soon the fast food giants (KFC, Pizza Hut etc.) gather together to figure out what Cartman's secret ingredient is. This scene is classic South Park not the most highbrow of humour but hilarious nonetheless.
"He's taking all the flavours from our food into some sort of 'gas'
and infusing them into his burgers."
The episode comes to a head in typical South Park fashion with the fast food corporations and Stan's 'friends' at the Asperger's clinic having a shootout outside Cartman burger. Stan subsequently learns to accept that things change and he doesn't want things to go back they were before. It is not long before everything is back to normal however with Stan's parents getting back together and Cartman Burger shutting down when everyone realises he was literally making ass burgers.
By the end of the episode everything is back to the way it has always been, with the possible exception of Stan requiring a regular doe of whiskey to get him through the day. I think this is a clear message to those who were worried for the series after the last episode that South Park isn't stopping just yet.
Having bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 Android phone last week (An upgrade from a T-Mobile G1) I have been spending a considerable amount of time playing with the large amount of apps and games available. I think the best one I have found thus far is the Strava Cycling App. I have only a limited experience with it but during the time I have used it I have been surprised by the features available and how well it works.
The app itself is very simple
Strava is a simple app that records the details of your ride (or indeed run). Simply sign up for a Strava account, turn GPS on, wait for the app to gain a stable GPS signal (Tip: Stand outside!) and press play and away you go. I did a quick 10 miles with the device in my pocket and returned to find Strava had accurately recorded my route, the distance, average speed, ride time and the elevation gain. I checked these figures against the cycle computer I have and they were identical.
This doesn't sound like anything special but this is not where Strava truly shines. Log onto the Strava website and you will find your ride data waiting for you. Enter your weight and the weight of your bike and it will calculate your average power and energy output. In addition to this you can view other riders that have cycled your route or tackled the same climb and it will rank you against the others and winners of each are awarded with achievements. I personally am looking forward to cycling the surrounding hills again to see how I fair against other riders.
The Strava app is available for Android, iPhone and Garmin GPS devices and I would recommend it for anyone who cycles. There is even a section on there for commuters. If the Strava community expands it could be amazing. You will see me using it via the widget on this site, I can't wait to get back out and cycle. If only my dodgy knee would stop giving me grief...
I recently watched an old Channel 4 documentary series on the life of Charles Darwin (You can watch them here if you are interested). Most people will be aware of Darwin and the impact his work on evolution by natural selection made on society. What this documentary made quite clear is that not many people are actually aware of the detail in which he proposed his theory and the large amount of evidence that has followed to backup his claims. After all before seeing the truth about how life evolved, Darwin was religious too. For a man such as Darwin to turn his back on his faith the evidence must have been compelling.
Richard Dawkins
The documentary was a 3 part series presented by the well known biologist, author and outspoken atheist, Richard Dawkins. The first two parts present the evidence that all life has evolved from primitive micro organisms and branched off into more complex life culminating in the diverse array of life we see today. It also states that we humans evolved from the same common ancestor as chimpanzees and preceding that all apes. In fact we are Apes falling under the same evolutionary classification as all known great apes. It is interesting to see the skulls of early man shown as we evolved, each with small changes over the last (There is an interesting series on the BBC called Planet of the Apemen that shows some of our ancestors in detail). All of these findings fit together to well to be coincidence are backed up not only through fossil dating but also by thorough DNA testing that demonstrates the small changes in DNA as evolution progressed. So why do people continue to believe that we were created as we are now in 'God's image' it almost defies common sense. You need only look at the remnants of evolution such as the human appendix, blind spots in our vision or wisdom teeth. These features imply humans are far from perfect and why would a creator include them.
The third episode in the series focused on this head in the sand approach taken by religion when presented with human evolution. They dismiss the evidence to support it with ludicrous claims such as 'well you haven't seen evolution happening so It's not true!'. You could counteract this argument to say religion is false in the same way, the difference is there is absolutely no evidence to support God, apart from an extremely old book that may as well go in the fiction section with Lord of the Rings. I know i'd sooner believe in hobbits, elves and dwarfs as Moses parting the waves and Jesus turning water into wine. The person who I most sympathised with in the series of short interviews Dawkins gave was with the Archbishop of Canterbury. I got the impression that he was embarrassed to answer some of the questions that were posed, I think because he knew they were true but was unable to acknowledge them.
The part of the documentary that made me laugh was when Richard Dawkins was reading out his hate mail which mostly read along the lines of "I hope you f**king die slow blasphemer" and my personal favourite "I hope you get hit by a church van tonight and you die slowly". Is this the way of religion? to wish death on those that do not share your views? With some people it seems so. This is why Dawkins has been so vocal about religion in recent years because it breeds contempt for those who do not have the same faith and in turn violence.
I myself was brought up a Roman Catholic and was a regular church goer up until I was about 17-18, I would go every week and sometimes more than that. I didn't particularly enjoy it but I was taught it was the right thing to do and not knowing any better I did as I was told. Thinking back I wonder why that people have to worship every week, is it to appease 'God', is it to keep him sweet so you get a nice shiny seat in 'heaven'. The sheer amount of time spent learning about religion in my youth only to find out later that it appeared to be mostly nonsense does make me a bit angry. I can remember the exact moment that I became an apostate. When I was a 19 year old student I went to a Christian Union gathering mainly on the promise of free food. The food was good but the company was not. The stories I was told were ridiculous to say the least. One person supposedly 'fell off a cliff and was caught by God or Jesus'. What actually happened was that they luckily landed on a lower shelf, there was no meaning in it just a slice of good fortune, but no according to him it was definitely an act of God. Before this event he apparently didn't believe in God at all which makes it even more perplexing. I had been aware of most of the scientific principles that counteracted most religious views but had never really given it much thought, when confronted with this barrage of extreme religious nonsense it suddenly made sense. I can remember coming home and ranting to my housemate for hours about it.
I am still open to the option that there might be a creator somewhere that began the Universe and allowed the laws of physics to play out as the Universe formed, but I find it very unlikely. In any case I am convinced that life as we know it was not part of any grand design by an intelligent being. So I leave you with a couple of quotes that sum up my thoughts on the matter quite well.
"Imagine the people who believe such things and who are not ashamed to ignore, totally, all the patient findings of thinking minds through all the centuries since the Bible was written. And it is these ignorant people, the most uneducated, the most unimaginative, the most unthinking among us, who would make themselves the guides and leaders of us all... I personally resent it bitterly." - Isaac Asimov
"when one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion." - Robert Pirsig
This is my first blog post so i'll give a little introduction. My name is Steve and i'm a Computer Science graduate from the UK currently studying for a Masters. I'm on my summer break so i have a lot of free time so I decided to look at learning web design. I was looking at Web content management systems and came across WordPress which I think is amazing. I thought I may as well do a blog considering it is so easy to do and costs nothing.
I will be posting anything that I find interesting, which will usually be to do with science, sport or computing and anything I find funny.
So to start of with... I came across this video this morning and being a bit of a cyclist myself I thought it was quite amusing.
