Internet access issues

Well, I didn't get a chance to post anything yesterday because I was too lazy in the morning to come online, and at night the internet was down, so I couldn't. So I really meant to post, but I couldn't! Well, I've been pretty busy lately, and we're going to church pretty soon, so I'll see if I can post later tonight. But if I don't, you'll know why.

New video game looks promising

Will Wright talking at the 2005 Game Developer's Conference about 'Spore', which looks like it could possibly be the best video game ever. Just found this really interesting game online that was recommended to me by a friend. Check it out! It's a mixture of The Sims, Age of Empires, Risk, and Black and White. You're pretty much a god, controlling this single-celled organism when you first start out, keeping it out of the harmful bacteria's way, then when the organism (presumably the "spore") has grown enough, you can use an intuitive editor that's built into the game to "evolve" your organism by adding new methods of movement, weapons, mouths, feet, legs, arms...you name it. You eventually move up into a fish/ocean stage, then evolve your organism onto land. Once you've mated with a fellow organism, you get the option to become what is very similar to the role you play in Black and White. You get to evolve/control/edit multiple organisms similar to the one you just helped to evolve. It's really hard to explain, but I included a video (above) of the demo that was played at E3 this year that does a good job of showing you exactly what it's all about. Trust me, once you watch it you'll want to buy it. Now. But unfortunately, it's not going to be available until Feb of next year. Aaahhhh, well, we'll just have to wait until then.

"Controversial" BYU Professor

I came across this news article earlier today and was astounded to hear what these nutballs were saying. They think that 9/11 was "an inside job. Professor Steven Jones has found residue on the steel samples from the World Trade Center. We now know that it was taken down in a controlled demolition." But just who is this Professor? Well, he's a professor at BYU, and the university itself is trying to get him removed from teaching due to his radical and extreme "conspiracy theories" of 9/11. This is the same guy who also thinks that "the World Trade Center Twin Towers and WTC 7 were brought down by pre-positioned cutter charges."

Well, I have to question Mr. Jones' theories here. I personally saw video LIVE on CNN of a plane hitting the second WTC tower with such force that it caused the building to catch on fire. It was quite some time before the first building started to fall, clearly collapsing from the weight of the upper stories on the weakened framing and support structures of the building, onto the lower floors, which was enough weight to bring the tower down. The same was true for the second building falling down. Now, don't you think that if Bush really did want to blow up the World Trade Center, he would have just blown it up with explosives?

Oh, no. But this professor has found RESIDUE to prove otherwise, right? Well, he has indeed proclaimed to have found residue, but his findings have not been published in ANY scientific journals, which is a must for any groundbreaking data so that his findings can be reviewed by other scientists around the country, and have only been reviewed by his peers and friends. [Source: McIlvain, Ryan (December 5, 2005). Censor rumors quelled] Well, of course his friends are going to agree with him, they're all liberals as well, and don't think for themselves! Whatever he says comes straight from the heavens. No questions asked. Did anyone ever think that the same residue that he found might have come from one of the many businesses that were housed in the WTC towers? Might be a possibility, since the purported residue that was found had roughly 110 stories to be hiding on--in each tower.

Now he's trying to literally shove his controversial (a more fitting phrase might be "widely rejected") findings down his student's throats at BYU, and they're trying like mad to fight back. They're trying to get him removed from teaching, because he can't seem to teach them without trying to set in motion his flaky political agenda. I don't blame them. But comparably asinine groups like the ACLU are stepping in and trying to prevent that from happening. I do agree that everyone has a right to express their beliefs, just not when you're forced to take part in those beliefs, such as in a classroom. I had a severely right leaning AP government teacher last year, and he was not afraid to express his beliefs in the classroom. But at least he would allow anyone who had beliefs contrary to his to be heard by the rest of the classroom. But when the school has to issue public statements regarding this professor, you know that he's taking it a little too far:

The BYU physics department has issued a statement: "The university is aware that Professor Steven Jones's hypotheses and interpretations of evidence regarding the collapse of World Trade Center buildings are being questioned by a number of scholars and practitioners, including many of BYU's own faculty members. Professor Jones' department and college administrators are not convinced that his analyses and hypotheses have been submitted to relevant scientific venues that would ensure rigorous technical peer review." The Fulton College of Engineering and Technology department has also added, "The structural engineering faculty in the Fulton College of Engineering and Technology do not support the hypotheses of Professor Jones.".

[Source: McIlvain, Ryan (November 14, 2005). Prof. calls for 9/11 investigation]

So even if you don't agree with me somehow that maybe the buildings collapsed under enormous stress because two fully loaded, fully fueled 747 jets flew into them with an incredible amount of force, I would start asking questions about the credibility of his "scientific evidence" that "proves" otherwise. So please, in the future, and especially in college, don't just trust everything that comes out of some wacko's mouth. That seems to happen a lot more frequently with our friends from the left, so I would severely question anything that sounds out of the ordinary. Actually do some research and look into things before you turn around and regurgitate that same information, because it could turn out to be completely false.

Something started my creative blogging side...again

Coming home from church the other day I was waiting at the Schleisman/Archibald light, and this girl not too much older than me was in tears, barely able to look out of her eyes, and crying so hard that I could hear her with my windows up and the air on. I decided to roll down my window and ask if she was alright, and I was barely able to finish asking before the light turned green. She quickly said that she wasn't alright because her father had just died. I drove the remaining distance home, and on my way home I prayed for her and her family.

I then realized how much I miss my blogging days on xanga, and decided to go with Blogger, because I already use so many other things from Google, and decided that they have a solid reputation. I'm just hoping I'll commit to blogging now that it's become a little easier to do, and in Italy I can keep you guys posted. Well, dinner calls, so I guess that's it for day 1.