After a Nice Hiatus

Want to know what I've been doing? Nothing interesting really, but I suppose I should begin posting regularly again. Don't want my poor readers to lose interest again. I hate getting writer's block, and this round was an especially bad case of that. I suppose I should begin writing Magic card articles again, but before I end my 24 day hiatus, I suppose a nice imaginary card is in order:

(Just because I'm not typing blog posts doesn't mean I'm dead. How do you like my new Suspend card? Yes, I know it's lame.)

Notes: I know the card doesn't make sense, but I thought trying to use suspend would be more fun than using old methods. For non-Magic players, it's merely in a sense an uncounterable... um... Hiatus. I wanted to word it in a more non-Magic player friendly way, but even then I've already modified this card beyond even normal Magic borders, so I eventually decided to sort of to at least parody part of the original reminder text.

To be honest, I intended to write a far more entertaining piece:

Suspend 24 days - 0 (Rather than play this card from your hand, pay 0 and remove it from the game with infinitely many time counters on it. After that, remove time counters continuously from it. (You may continue with the game while you are doing this.) At the end of 24 days, remove all time counters from this card and play it without paying its mana cost.)

Further notes not to be put on the card: You do not actually have to place an arbitrarily large amount of counters on the card, A far easier alternative would be to record the time the card was suspended, and play it when the time has come. Note that in this case, Hiatus doesn't do anything useful when it is played, but rather when it is suspended. In a sense, this card affects the game while it is removed from the game, but when it is played, goes on the stack, does nothing and goes to the graveyard. What a worthless card!

Does Typing Speed Plateau?

I believe the typing speed that can be achieved will plateau at some point, especially when we are talking about the QWERTY keyboard. I have reason to believe that my typing won't get a lot faster than how I am typing now since I don't seem to be picking up a lot more speed beyond 60wpm. Of course, this is because I don't really practise writing English sentences besides this blog. Arguably, my typing speed is actually higher when it comes to day to day MSN conversation, but that's another matter. I remember once delving into how to break a plateau once I do come to it, and I found out about the Dvorak keyboard layout.

My typing speed seems to plateau around this level of 60wpm because I think this is about the speed I can maintain a steady accurate flow of typing without too much backspacing and stopping to let my hands rest. :P

Of course, it could actually be a lot higher than I have tested for. Needless to say, it can be quite amusing to look at your fingers move around the keyboard like mad as you attempt to keep up your typing to some crazy level. :D

Of course, typing speed will plateau. Of course, where it plateaus probably depends heavily on which keyboard layout you use. I'm quite sure your speed will reach far higher on Dvorak than it ever could on QWERTY. :P

Stupid Things I'm Doing While in Uni

1. Screw up assignments. - I did my assignment ahead of schedule, did everything according to plan, check my answers. Yet, I did not see a problem with one of the integrals. Today, when the lecturer just put up the question, without me even being told anything, I knew exactly what my mistake was. That was the most amusing thing that happened today.

2. Use the late entrance to get into class early. - The late entry in the Wright Theatre in the Medical building of Melbourne Uni actually provides faster access to the lecture theatre than the stairs inside, lifts and any combination you can think of. In other words, you will be in your lecture hall earlier if you take the late entrances.

3. Sleeping in classes. - Don't blame me! I don't even blame the lecturers. There's absolutely nothing wrong with their teaching this semester. But it's a habit of mine to get drowsy when I'm bored, and I get bored when they keep repeating material or cover material I'm already familiar with. At least I took the trouble to go to class. :D (OK. so maybe I'm to blame.)

4. Procrastinating. - I'm trying my best not to let procrastination get the better of me, but I'm not exactly going to do everything the moment I get it like Shockrave does. I lack the same amount of zeal he does for doing work. It's just not like cfgt to finish work too quickly. Of course, there was the programming assignment last semester that I finished the day it came out. But that was because I was bored and I was waiting for assignments for ages! This semester they're shooting assignments at me like bullets! I need my rest. :D

I've gotten a hell of a lot lazier compared to last semester. I'm going to suppose it's due to the fact that I'm getting a little less sleep now compared to last semester. I think I'm going to go back to my old sleeping habits again so that I'll have more energy to do stuff like rant, whine and blog properly. I have every intention of increasing my WPM by the end of the year. :D

(Of course, not doing programming probably isn't going to help me any.... :P)

Dice for Decision Making

I bought some small dice here. Besides game design, these dice here also serve an important purpose in decision making. It's like my magic 8-ball. :D

I roll the dice, find what random number shows up, and then I attempt to interpret those numbers to make my decision. I know it sounds pretty dumb, but it's pretty funny. :D

And yes, that is a macroeconomics book the dice are on. Imagine if all the policy makers in the world used my method of decision making: throwing dice. :D

Chapter 2 - 06: Awake Again

Kanya wakes up in an unfamiliar room. "That's odd. I thought I was following Cassandra onto the Aegis. And then, my memory is a blank."

"Ah, you're awake." An unfamiliar voice.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the infirmary on the Aegis. Apparently, you just collapsed on the floor after entering the Aegis. One of the crew members found you lying on the floor. We don't know what happened, and your files don't show any relevant medical history."

"I don't even know how I got on the ship."

"Either way, you'll be causing quite a fuss in the administration of the ship. Someone in security is going to get it for having the system allow in unauthorised personnel. Anyway, you've been given temporary clearance for the time being."

"Why?"

"For one, you just collapsed for no apparent reason. Another thing is that we want to do some study on you. We want to keep you in observation for about a month. After that, you can be on your way and board the Kirkor when we rendezvous with it in about a month."

"Becoming a lab rat, huh."

"We are for the most part, a TRi research ship. We aren't like the Kirkor, which is a military ship. You won't need to perform any military duties while you are onboard, but it is highly suggested you join the ordinary pilots during practice sessions so that you won't be too rusty when you get on the Kirkor."

Meanwhile, Erse had heard of the intrusion. She was already going through several screens of code and monitoring data in the security room.

"No visible difference in any of the information. This is going just as planned." Erse said to herself.

Pandora is actually behind her. "We have more important things to do now than monitor his progress. He'll be on the ship until we meet the Kirkor anyway."