Monday, October 26, 2009

Rand0m - The Octopus Who Loved His Mr. Potato Head

Yeah, I know, long title, pretty much spoiled the whole thing.

Oh well, here's the story.


Louis the octopus clearly thinks two heads are better than one when it comes to toys.

The 1.8m-wide (6ft) creature is so attached to Mr Potato Head that he turns aggressive when aquarium staff try to remove it from his tank.


Octopus & Mr Potato Head
Louis cuddles his Mr Potato Head

The giant Pacific octopus was given the toy for Christmas and has even learned to dig out food hidden in a secret box at the back of it.

'He's fascinated by it,' said Matt Slater, of the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay, Cornwall. 'He attacks the net we use to fish the toy out every time we try to take it away.'

Mr Slater added: 'Octopuses are very intelligent and they like to be stimulated and busy.'


So there you have it, taken from this site

Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, that's actually a real picture of an octopus holding a child's toy underwater.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Rand0m - Darwin's Evolution Theory Proved Wrong!

To anybody reading this blog, let me first tell you a bit about myself.

I am Christian,
and I have moved over 5 times in my short lifetime.

Okay, so the second point may seem a little rand0m, but the first one has a bit to do with my post today (or tonight, rather).

For a while now, I've been trying to find ground to fight against Darwin's evolution theory, after I read a little blurb in Times magazine a long time ago (at least I think it was Time/Times... I saw it in a doctor's office somewhere). It said somewhere along the lines of "Darwin takes back evolution theory". Now, of course, Darwin had been dead for some time, but this piqued my interest.

So recently I did some researching, and I found this website.

While the site's name is bible.ca, it is not some bible-thumping site claiming false evidence against popular theories.
Rather, the people (or person) who post there actually take quotes from different scientists and pit them against each other (namely, evolutionists VS creationists).

I'm fairly certain that the things they say are true, but since it is considered a sin to lie yet lying is part of human nature, I cannot be completely sure.

Anyways, check it out, and comment on it. I want to know how you feel about a long-held belief being shattered by the very ones who helped promote it, once upon a time.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

First Review

Hi all, thank you for coming to my Blog.

Instead of starting with a review about a single game, I will do brief reviews of the games in the Halo series for Xbox (360)/PC

Halo: CE
The first Halo game, Halo: Combat Evolved, set the standard for console First Person Shooters (FPS). The original game for Xbox didn't have online play; Xbox LIVE was introduced shortly after the game was released, and it never saw an update to include LIVE play.
However, when the PC version of the game was made in 2001, it used a broadband connection to play online; dial-up users couldn't play, or if they could, they got a bad connection, since most users were using broadband.
I myself have both versions, however, my computer's hardware limits my play of the PC version.

*Note: There is also an unofficial update to the PC game called Halo: Custom Edition, which lets users use their own custom-created maps in online play; however, Bungie and Microsoft do not support this.
Custom maps, along with the Custom Edition, can be found at Halo Custom Edition Maps.

Halo 2
The second game in the series introduced newer, updated graphics - which pushed the original Xbox's hardware to the limit (proof of this is the lighting, which sometimes results in a 'ghost' image imprinted on your HUD) - new enemies (Brutes, Prophets), new weapons (Brute Plasma Rifle, Battle Rifle, Covenant Energy Sword, just to name a few), new locales, the ability to dual-wield certain weapons, and the removal of the Assault Rifle.

Most people would say the game was good until the end - meaning, the ending was terrible. After a long, hard game, you'd expect all your efforts to pay off, and for the game to end with a bang.
Instead, Bungie left us wanting more with its cliffhanger ending:
Admiral Cole and his crew detect an unknown Forerunner vessel leaving High Charity; Master Chief contacting Cole from within the vessel; the screen fading to black (if you finished the game on Legendary, then after the credits Cortana appears, ready to give the Gravemind, leader of the Flood, the answers he wants - leading some players to believe that she is on the verge of being rampant).
The Master Chief and Admiral Cole's brief conversation is as follows:
Cole: "Master Chief, you mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?"
The Chief: "Sir, finishing this fight."

*Note: There is also a version of this game for Windows Vista; however, some people patch it for XP. As protection against this, Bungie applied an update resulting in Xbox LIVE being disabled in the XP hack.

Halo 3
Finally, the "end" to the Halo trilogy, Halo 3 brings players High Definition graphics, a new game mode (Forge, the multiplayer map editor designed to try and replace the long-coveted map maker programs that PC players have always had), Theater mode (replay saved-game footage and take screenshots for upload to Bungie.net), new allies (The Arbiter and his Elites; Brutes, Grunts, Hunters, the Flood, and Prophets are still your enemies), more new weapons (an updated Brute Shot, the Brute Gravity Hammer, a new Energy Sword with a shorter lunge and a battery, and removable turrets, just to name a few), the re-introduction of the Assault Rifle (!), and more.
The new Assault Rifle is a little different from Halo: CE's MA5B AR; this new, sleek black weapon is the MA5C AR, which, when fired in short bursts, is more accurate than its older brethren.

Halo Wars
This is excluded from the Halo trilogy for two reasons:

1.It was not made by Bungie; it was developed by Ensemble studios, which disbanded and was split into four new companies: Robot Entertainment, Bonfire Studios, Windstorm Studios, and NewToy.

2.It is a Real-Time Strategy Game, or RTS, which is a top-down view giving you control of your units.

Halo 3: ODST
This was originally an expansion to Halo 3, but, because of all the new features and it has its own story, Microsoft made it a full-priced package. There are two versions: The first is 59.99 or 69.99, depending on where you shop, and contains only the game (two discs; the first contains Campain mode, Firefight mode, and Theater mode; the second contains the Xbox LIVE multiplayer components, Matchmaking, Forge, and Theater mode. The second disc holds all the Halo 3 map packs, as well as three new maps, Heretic, Citadel, and Longshore).
The other version is the Collector's Set, which has the game discs, a custom wireless controller with laser-etched patterns and wording, codes to unlock Sergeant Major Johnson for use in Firefight, and an invitation to the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta, when it becomes available.
You can also get SM Johnson and the Beta invite by pre-ordering the game from participating retailers (see Bungie's Website for more details). The Collector's Set is only available for pre-order and purchase at Gamestop/EB Games.

Halo: Reach
This game was revealed at E3 2009. Not many details were given, but a cryptic trailer is available at  the Halo: Reach Project page on Bungie's website.