Oppa Gangam Style - Memes are Powerful

First of all, if you have no idea what Oppa Gungam Style is, visit youtube for a second and see it for yourself.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.

Okay, assuming you've returned after that surreal experience, let me give this post a little context. 

About a month ago on NPR, someone brought up Oppa Gungam Style, playing a short clip of the song, and promising to talk about it later on in the broadcast.  At the time, I didn't think it was highly unusual.  After all, media outlets have been covering memes for awhile. 

No matter how terrible they are.
http://blogs.umass.edu/dlajoie/2011/04/05/assignment-on-viral-videos-its-friday-for-colbert/

 

My mother, a high school drama teacher, was in the car at the time, and said she would talk about it with her students later that week, which I laughed off as a joke.

A week later, she informed me that they had listened to the whole song.  In the middle of class. 

Okay, that is kind of strange, but then again they ARE a drama class, so it makes sense to expose them to unusual cultures and media in a way. 

It was only in the last two weeks that I realized how far this had gone, where, at two separate weddings, two completely separate DJs to two very different venues both opted to play the song.  

And people danced to it.  

A few days ago, in response to a rush of Justice Beaver fans trying to boost him to the Most Popular status on Youtube Music, Gangam Style fans attempted to beat them out and keep Gangam style at the top, where it had already been for awhile.

They succeeded.  

I choose to call him Justice Beaver both to reduce his google search results, and to make it a little more bearable to talk about him at all.

http://drawmeasmile.blogspot.com/2012/03/justice-beaver.html 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, Gangam Style is all of 5% in English, consisting entirely of the phrases "Hey, Sexy Lady", "You know what I'm saying", and the words "hey",  "eh", and "baby".  Most of the people who listen to it have no idea what it is even about.  (For reference, it's about an extremely unusual and flamboyant subculture of Koreans, though this is not the first time a culture has made such a product.)

This meme has power.  It has force.  It pulls people into it, and makes them a part of it.  And it is part of a growing trend in memes that saturate the media. 

It's also incredibly silly, and I'm not sure why I spent an entire post talking about it. 

That's just the kind of effect memes have on you.

Memes also do this.  Whatever this is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpJbAcMsyHc

Mann Vs. Machine Review

So lately, I've been playing the new TF2MVM Update.  And since I haven't written anything in awhile, I thought I'd give it a review.

I know what you're thinking, and yes, I could make the acronym longer.

http://www.gamefront.com/you-can-play-team-fortress-2s-mann-vs-machine-mode-now/

To summarize, the "Mann vs. Machine" update adds a new game mode to TF2 - a co-op mode where you and up to 5 other players face off against hundreds upon hundreds of robots. 

And when I say hundreds, I do literally mean hundreds.  And that is the least of your worries.  Along with trying to keep literally hundreds of robots from carrying a bomb to your drop point, there are hoards of rocket-spamming soldiers, multi-medic-backed heavies, giant walking bombs designed specifically to destroy sentry nests, giant versions of the classes you know and love with their weapons cranked up to 11, and massive tanks that, while not a direct threat, have such a massive hit point total as to make breaking them before they reach your base absolutely vital. 

And these guys.  Man, fuck these guys.

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Sniper_Robot

The good news for the players, though, is that they all get to buy upgrades at the start of each wave of robots.  So now your rocket launcher does 75% more damage, fires 40% faster, has a double-sized clip, and heals you for 25 hp on each kill.  

Even with these upgrades, Mann Vs. Machine is by no means easy.  I played a few rounds where no one could beat the first wave.  And it does not pay to spam a single class, because it seems the game spawns robots designed specifically to screw you over if you do. 

So there is a heavy focus on teamwork.  This being Team Fortress 2, you'd be forgiven if you thought coming in that was what it was already about, but standard play tends not to foster a spirit of teamwork so much as a spirit of animosity towards the other team.  Unless you're on a private server, you have no way of knowing who you're getting teamed up with, and it is difficult to form a team spirit when the only reason you have for working together is to wreck the other team. 

Especially with certain classes specifically designed to annoy other players, not that we're naming names.

http://rocketdock.com/addon/icons/21186

In Mann Vs. Machine though, you have a common goal - to beat those damn spam-happy robots.  And you genuinely need each member of your team to be cooperating if you hope to stand a chance.  Even on the lowest difficulty, if you aren't doing your part, it could be the difference between flawless victory and humiliating defeat.  

It works too.  Going in and playing a game of Co-Op, you find at first the same trash-talking teens who insist that you're playing your class wrong and demand you switch, even though they know you lose your upgrades when you do and it's four waves in.  But gradually, as you play and fight together, you start working together, and earn a respect for your fellow players.  I'm not even building up to a joke here, this is literally a full reverse of what you usually get in a TF2 match. 

It can be a little difficult getting into a server at peak hours, and Valve seems to have woefully underestimated the level of demand that the new mode would bring, but it is well worth giving a try.

Ah yes, one caveat though - if you're going in as a TF2 Pro and expecting to dominate, be warned that the strategy for Mann Vs. Machine is drastically different, and that you are being paired up with other people who are just starting.  And an Advanced wave is leagues more difficult than a normal one.

Good luck!

You're going to need it.

http://mygaming.co.za/news/news/42844-team-fortress-2-mann-vs-machine-co-op-mode-incoming.html

LIMBO vs Braid

Here is a piece of advice for all those aspiring to become a game designer - an interesting game mechanic, by itself, does not make for an interesting game.

To put this in context, I recently purchased The Humble Indie Bundle - a bundle of independent-developer video games where part of the profit goes to charity.  For $9.00, I got eight brand new games (one of which I already owned, so actually seven), and two of those games bear some striking similarities to each other.

I'd recommend it both for the games and for the really cool art
Source: http://blog.humblebundle.com/post/24135140832/introducing-humble-indie-bundle-v

Braid and LIMBO, besides both being indie games, star a singular male protagonist with realistic jumping prowess, as opposed to the traditional thrice-thy-height jumps of most platforming protagonists.  They are also puzzle-solving games, and while Braid's puzzles focus chiefly on the creative use of time-traveling in various different manners, LIMBO's puzzles utilize nothing but your hands and the environment. 

And while both games have very intricate puzzles, I found myself more interested in solving the ones offered up by LIMBO than I did by Braid.

Actually the least scary individual in LIMBO
Source: http://anotherdepressionvictim.blogspot.com/2012/02/still-in-limbo.html

What LIMBO offers that Braid lacks can be summed up in one word - Immersion.  LIMBO places you in a dark, shadowy world with no textual context, and never gives you a hint about anything going on in the world.  Each puzzle pushes you forward into a different part of the world, and your reward for completing each puzzle is seeing the next part of the world, which is never the same as the part you just left. 

Braid, on the other hand, gives you several books to read before the start of each level - literally, though each book is only a short peek into the "story" that the game offers, it is so far-removed from the events of the game that it is practically unrelated at all.  None of the levels seem terribly unique, or even much different than previous levels, so the only reward for completing each puzzle are various puzzle pieces, which you are meant to put together in order to solve more puzzles and supposedly unlock the end of the game. 

But I'm not interested in the end of the game, because I'm not interested in the rest of the game.  

I must give credit to their marketing team though. First three image results for a search of "Braid" on google

Source: http://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/

Braid doesn't draw me into the world, and that is why I will probably never revisit any of the time-focused puzzles.  I plan to finish LIMBO though.  I just got to the part where the factory is flooding with water, and I have to see what lies beyond that.  

140conf in Kingston

Been awhile since I dusted off the old blog. I figure I ought to start using this for business-related things like reviewing important conferences. Like the 140 conference yesterday in Kingston that I went to. So here we go.

So yesterday, I went to a 140conference. It was the first conference of its kind, and essentially it was about Social Media technology, which in college we were calling multimedia technology. Maybe if I start calling it Social Media technology, I will get more people who know what I am talking about, and less people trying to use the name Multimedia in places it should not be used.

The conference itself was a fantastic exercise. I was a little nervous at first because of not knowing anyone at the conference. This was only compounded by the fact that several people had used the conference as a way of meeting up after knowing each other for a long time on Twitter, which is something I long ago thought was pretty much a waste of time. This, it turns out, is the exact opposite of what everyone at the conference believed.

Turns out Twitter is a pretty big deal. Who knew?

Ric Dragon is, to my understanding, the man responsible for bringing the conference to Kingston, along with his wife Jen Dragon. I am assuming they are responsible because he was the welcoming speaker, and because everyone at the conference knew who he was. As a student who was mostly trying to learn more about his field, I felt a little in the dark about what was going on. In terms of learning what was going on locally in my field though, this entire conference was a rousing success.

Most of the speakers had something to say about growing your business. The first speaker, a young guy from South Carolina, I got to talk with during the lunch break. He apparently owns two programming companies and is developing app. Software for mobile phones. He is nineteen and he owns two companies. That is two more than I own, and four less years than I have. This is the biggest slice of humble pie I have ever been served.

This slice of Key Lime Pie is Public Domain. It is the only reason I used Key Lime Pie.

Since I said I would post this tonight, I do not have time to get twitter name permission from all of the conference speakers. If I had a little more foresight, I would’ve done this already. I also might have two programming companies. But I do feel that going to this conference was definitely a good thing for me, in the more common hindsight that I have. The speakers were insightful, the atmosphere was friendly, the bag lunches were a nice surprise mid-way through, and besides the earthquake that shook the East coast, the entire thing went very smoothly.

This was the first 140 Conference in Kingston, and I think if it were being held next year, I would definitely return.

Twitter logo is a Copywright of Twitter. I do not own the Twitter logo, but for purposes of review I am using the logo under Fair Use. Twitter, as it turns out, is pretty cool. So I don't think that they business as a whole will mind.

Movie Review - Green Lantern

A hero who is handsome and rebellious finds himself at odds with the system. He is chosen by an alien force for a greater purpose, and after some awkward training and promises that he has been chosen for a very important reason, he has some doubt about his own ability. His friends help reassure him that he is great, while one is secretly planning betrayal. The hero fails to overcome his first major hurdle, but fares much better on his second attempt, and very nearly loses everything before taking on the incredibly difficult task no one ever thought he could do.

The funny thing about this is that I don't even have to come up with a movie to pretend I was describing all along. You can probably think of one yourself. The Matrix would be a good choice. As would the first Spider-Man movie. And the second. I've never seen the third, but I imagine you could work it in there too. Heck, I just saw Thor a few weeks ago, and it has the same formula.

Green Lantern is not a mind blowing departure from traditional action movie fair. In fact, it's almost to the point where it is parodying its own adhesion to the formula.

It works though. I grinned and laughed at the jokes that were made, and enjoyed the human-juxtaposed-to-alien interaction that stands for humor in these kinds of movies. If you thought that Peter Parker shouting "Shazam!" on top of a building while trying to get his web to work was clever, you will enjoy this movie (And for that matter, it does stay fairly true to the source material, according to my incredibly reliable Dad.) Just don't expect yourself to think very hard while watching the film.

Some minor complaints though; There are some obvious editing issues towards the end, and some unpolished bits that make it sub-par even as a B-ranking superhero movie, which is probably why critics are hammering it hard (IMDB 65%, Metacritic 40/100, Rotten Tomatoes 24%), but from an audience perspective, there's nothing truly terrible about the film, and you might even enjoy it, especially if you enjoyed the original. Just don't expect it to take itself too seriously.

Edit: Oh, and towards the beginning he has some family members that make him seem like an everyday man who just screws up in a very human and relatable way. They play such an important part in the movie that I completely forgot about them until just now, and nothing about the movie would change if they didn't exist at all. Also his father died when he was young. No word on his mother though, since she makes all of zero appearances in the film.

I Should Probably Change The Name Of This Blog

Seeing how I've utterly failed my original goal to write a page of something every single day, I should probably change the name of this blog so that I can keep updating it without the overbearing guilt of failing to finish my project weighing down on me each time.

A little of that is hyperbole. <.<; And a lot of it is melodrama.

So...I really don't know what else to call this blog. o.o I guess I should call it something that relates to myself...I'm a Gamer who likes to occasionally draw and write and post on message boards, I like to RP and I like things that are cute. And I also enjoy puppies and kittens, and the strange combination of the two in my head that is called a kuppy.

Maybe my blog name should be about Kuppies?

...Well, that is a strange stream of consciousness.

Why I Will Never, Ever, Ever Open an E-mail That Has Less Than Two Words In The Subject

So I just deleted about 243 different e-mails from my hotmail account today. While MOST of those e-mails were automatic notifications from Facebook, there was one other "type" of e-mail that raised my ire considerably just by seeing it in my account.

Frequently, repeatedly in fact, I get e-mails from family members in which the subject line is blank. It breaks my heart to delete all of them, because I am well aware that they may be entirely benign, but I will never, ever open a single one of them.

In fact, any e-mail without at least two unique words attached to it (I.E., not a date or a common greeting, you need a minimum of 15 characters as well) will never, ever be opened. And here's why.

1: It probably contains a virus.

If your e-mail has been hacked, there's a good chance that it is being used to send viruses out to everyone on your contact list, with the kind of subject lines that either do not exist or contain such generic things that they have no real substance.

2: It is probably spam.

I'm sure that your video of a water buffalo fending off a pack of lions until the entire herd comes back to kick their ass is incredibly awesome, but if I haven't seen it before, then your e-mail with the subject "Very cool!" is not going to get me interested.

3: You are not interested in sending me an e-mail.

People tend to think that they can get away with this in their subject line because "people don't even read the subject line" or "It's not as if it's an important part of the message "Or the most grating excuse, "It's just an e-mail!", when in fact, what you are telling me when you send this e-mail with a subject line that either does not exist or shows no creativity is that you do not care about the recipient at all. That being the case, why should I care what it contains?

So, for all of you who send me e-mails, for goodness sake, put some effort into writing a subject line! It doesn't have to be shakespearian, it just has to let me know that you aren't a spambot.