I am a big fan of Hexic for the Xbox360. Although my scores aren’t spectacular or anything I really like spending time playing trying to get a good score. While browsing the internet, I stumbled upon a picture posted by one of the people at the top of the leaderboard.
Here . . for anyone who has played Hexic before you will know how difficult it is to make 1 black pearl but look at that! Very nice indeed.
Working out, School, Games
It seems like I have been keeping busy these days. With school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I have been having to fill 2 hour breaks inbetween classes. It seems like I lucked out and have a break the same time as Arthur and Nick. That means I have something to do during my first break . . . go to the gym. I think if I can keep this up for a large part of the semester I will be seeing results, for sure! For my second break, I still have not found a good waste of time. Maybe I should actually focus this semester and try to get some work done during this time. I shall see, but so far it has been hanging around the CSSS closet and partaking in strange debates about nothing. Fun times.
My classes have been going along fairly well. So far, even though I’ve only had one class, I am most worried about CS340. The class just gives me a bad vibe and the first assignment is downright scary for someone like myself who hasn’t done a lot of algorithm analysis so far. I hope it isn’t as bad as I expect it will be. I have been having a really good time in Chinese 100. The class itself is fairly easy with all my prior knowledge. I am keeping all that knowledge on the downlow just incase they suspect me to be overqualified for the course. It’s always great when we are learning new Chinese words and I already know how to draw the characters for them. My other classes CS290, CS306, and Econ202 have also been off to great starts.
After school and before I goto sleep, I have been keeping busy playing Xbox360. I think Microsoft was brilliant when they thought of the Achievements. It gives me reason to keep playing games and to try to pass them 100% doing a lot of stuff I might normally skip. Thumbs up to them for that. Now if only they would fill the backorder on their retail training webpage and ship me a couple more games, but that is another story.
CSSS Arcade Night
CSSS Arcade Night @ Wonderland Arcade
-January 7th, 2005
-8:00-11:00
I had a really good time at the arcade night. I played a whole bunch of games, I really liked the idea they have at Wonderland with their Freeplay on all the machines. I’m feeling sore though . . My arms and hand are hurting from playing too much of the gun shooting games, and my feet hurt from trying to play DDR. One thing that I felt was missing was more shooter games. I would have liked to play some games like Raiden or 1943, etc. Another highlight of the evening was the pop and pizza. Mmmmm Pizzzzaaaa. Good night overall, big thumbs up!
Back to School
Back to school, back to school …
It is back to school time again. I am feeling very optimistic about the upcoming semester. I feel that even though I have a couple of more difficult classes, CS306 and CS340, I will be able to have an easier time. My favorite classes this semester so far seem like they will be Chinese 100 and CS290AF. CS290AF in particular will be a very interesting class. The class itself is not going to be like anything offered before, as it is taught in the lab. Nova is emphasizing partner work so that should work out well since sometimes it can help to have two heads trying to answer a problem. I feel that Chinese 100 should be a breeze since I already have so much knowledge on Mandarin. I am making sure to not get too ahead of myself and will reinforce the material I already know.
Happy New Year
I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year. Goodbye 2005, Hello 2006.
Playing Games
I have been playing my Xbox360 recently when I haven’t been working. It is a lot of fun but I could use some more games. I didn’t get any games for Christmas so I was stuck with Hexic HD, which is a really fun puzzle game. On Boxing Day, at Zellers I bought 2 games since all 360 games were $20 off. I got FIFA 2006, and Need For Speed Most Wanted.
I really like soccer so I thought FIFA would be a good choice. I have never owned a soccer game before so I’m still not sure what to expect. I have been frustrated so far with trying to control the ball good. . It seems like my players are passing even though I don’t tell them to. Other times, when I play defense I don’t know how to follow along with a player so I always end up sliding in and getting carded. I guess I just need to learn how to play a bit better.
Need for Speed Most Wanted is a good game. I always enjoy racing games so this one is doubly interesting with its single player story. Although the story is a little hokey I still find it interesting. I started the game off with the Cobalt SS, and switched to a Supra that I won from another rival after I beat him.
Also, from Microsoft’s training, I should have another two games coming along: Perfect Dark Zero, and Project Gotham Racing 3. I can’t wait for this order to finally get through. I imagine that there is quite the backlog with illegitimate people trying to get in on training prizes. The training program is only open to employees of elgible retailers. Which by the way means I am elgible. So the sooner that arrives the better.
I was also hoping to buy Call of Duty 2, and then today I was contemplating buying Dead or Alive 4. I guess I will have to see how fast I get through NFSMW. I still haven’t played any games online yet, but I hope to as soon as I get PGR3.
Merry Christmas
It is Christmas Eve and I think I have finished all my Christmas shopping for this year. I hope everyone likes the presents I got them. I wish everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Along with the Christmas break means I am working more. That means I am working during a really busy time of year. What I wish customers would understand is that if you are waiting for the last week before Christmas to do shopping you shouldn’t be expecting everything to be in stock. It really iritates me when a customer gets upset with me for not having something in stock. I just laugh in my head and try to explain that they will have to wait a couple weeks for it to come back in stock. Next week is going to suck. I am working 5 days, and also on boxing day. . 6:45am is going to suck. I guess I will get some more money now so that way I will have enough for the next semester of school that is starting in a couple weeks. I wish that these holiday breaks would last longer. I guess thats my fault for having such a late final.
Xbox 360 Gamercard
I added a cool gamercard from Xbox Live to my blog. You can see the information in the top right of the screen it displays all my information for Xbox Live. This is all to get me ready for the Xbox 360. Under my name on there you can also view my achievements. The whole thing is kind of cool, I hope that once I get the Xbox 360 I will be able to get a lot of the achievements and prove to everyone that I am good at gaming. Well. . prove to those who care.
Weird Christmas Houselight Videos
I thought these weird Christmas videos would be interesting to everybody. People sure do have too much time on their hands to be able to do stuff like this. They have lights on their houses that are choreographed to go along with music. It is really neat to watch and provides for surprising good entertainment.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
**Video 1 and video 2 are from the same house and are different songs. Video 1 and Video 3 are different homes and the same song.**
Next Semester
My next semester is already taking shape. My book list appears to be online at the university and I already have good news. Last time I took an Economics class (Econ201) , I downloaded the entire textbook, study guide, and solutions manual from the textbook manufacturers webpage. The good news comes from the fact that I downloaded the Microeconomics and Macroeconomics portions of the textbook. That means I already have the textbook for Econ202.
My other textbooks include an expensive book for CS340, Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis