« Archives in February, 2013
17
February

Reaper Quicky #41 – Shake It Up?

I find it amazing how some things become so viral with today’s society. Things like LOLcats, Kony, Gangnam Style, and many more internet memes have peaked the interest of a large number of people all over the world. Hell, even Google’s brain simulation found some interest in cats. It seems there’s a new contender in the viral world now. It’s called “the Harlem Shake“.

After some research, I’ve been able to find that the original idea was created and uploaded to YouTube by a group of 5 teenagers from Queensland, Australia known as “The Sunny Coast Skate”. Just from that, I personally can’t see how the Harlem Shake became so popular so quickly. Admittedly, it is a short video, so can be watched pretty quickly. Aside from that, I’m just confused by it.

What do you think? Do you think it’s a meme to keep track of? Or will it die just as quickly as it started? Leave your opinions in the comments below!

14
February

2001: A Space Odyssey

Last weekend my father found a copy of 2001: A Space Odyssey (remastered). For those that haven’t heard of it, 2001 is a science fiction film from 1968. The main story takes place in 2001 (as the name may suggest), with a focus on human evolution. Many of the scenes and visual effects are really advanced for its time. For example, there are a few sequences that include ships moving through space. Some of these sequences also include interaction with some of the characters.

I didn’t get to see the whole film (I decided to walk away for a little while, to do something else), however the parts I did see were interesting. The story started going a bit strange towards the end, and was a bit trippy. I liked it, though. The final two sequences were an experience that, to me, were very odd but also amazingly executed (at least, for an old film). I recommend checking it out if you can.

08
February

Reaper Quicky #40 – Bad Day to be an Australian Sports Person?

It’s never good to hear that a sporting star has been caught taking drugs. For example, the recent news about Lance Armstrong. However, this is nothing compared to some of the latest headlines. The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) has released a report stating there are “multiple players in multiple clubs across the number of codes” under investigation for doping. No names have been released (at least, not that I can find), however it has been stated that there are large numbers of players, officials and clubs who are doing the right thing and are clean.

I find it amazing that this scandal is so widespread. I never would have thought so many Australian sporting stars would sink to that level. I’m not really into sports, but I am going to try and keep up with the story as more information comes out. What do you think? Does it surprise you? Do you think it’s going to get worse? Or do you think it’s not as widespread as it seems? Leave your opinions in the comments below.

Robert

03
February

Feeding That Beast

I’ve been spending way too much time playing on the “Feed The Beast” server I set up (read about it in this post). Probably not the worst thing ever, since I don’t have much going on at the moment. I think it’s sort of stopping me from doing any of the other projects I would like to work on, though (ie. updating my websites). That said, about a week ago I somehow spent six hours coding! It felt really good to spend all that time coding something for myself, even though it was a pretty small feature out of the whole project. Unfortunately, since then, I’ve gone back to spending way too much time playing Feed The Beast.

A lot has happened on the FTB server, particularly within the past week. One of the other members on the server, a very close friend of mine, has started building up his own base and learning some of the mods that are included in the pack. He hasn’t done too much, but it’s a start. My own base has expanded quite a lot too, and I’ve almost finished clearing out even more space underground for the rest of what I want to set up.

This coming week, I’m considering spending the same amount of time that I played FTB this past week on coding. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to work on, since I haven’t planned anything out when it comes to my personal projects, but I have a few ideas in mind that should give me something to work on for the week. I guess I’ll find out how they go as the week progresses.

I think that’s about it for this post. Sorry if my thoughts seem a bit disorganised this time – I didn’t know what I wanted to write about, and just came up with this.

Thanks for reading.
Robert