The Brain and God

Anyone who gets into studying about the brain realizes that what we are is determined by bunches of chemicals in your brain. Science shows us how everything works (at least to our knowledge) and influences what we do. Also the fact that medications can change how we think or feel, it is obvious that we are really chemical.

However, if you believe in God, as I do, it raises questions about "Well what is a soul?" and etc. Also, what about the Heaven that people see when they are dying? The "white light"?

No one really knows the answer to these questions, but various people, including those who mapped out our DNA mentioned that it was just too perfect and it could not possibly have happened by chance, there must be a God. The more and more I learn I also come to this conclusion.

Now this could get into a huge fight, but here is what I do, I just take a view combined of science and religion, and then apply it to today, and that is essentially how I do things. Religion gives you the good values, science gives you explanations, and then today lets you see how it all relates.

Above all, keep an open mind about things, I like to think I do.

Spring Break

Today we headed out and looked at the BODIES exhibit. Maybe you have heard of it? It has been traveling around the country for some time now, but we never got to it when it was in Ohio so when I heard it was going on down here I felt compelled to go.

Let me tell you, when it gets into your town or even slightly near you: GO SEE IT! It was amazing to see each and every part of the body, including full networks of blood throughout the heart and liver, all of the branch like extensions and it was just so beautiful. They also had an embryo room which showed the development in just about 5 week increments. It was amazing just how much happens so fast.

Then also I am working on a UserScript. I chose a UserScript as then users of any browsers supporting UserScripts would be able to use it versus a single extension for a browser. Since all I need is JavaScript I figure why not make it just a UserScript?

Enjoy your night everyone.

Optical Illusions

So I'm sure your friends have shown you things such as impossible objects, or "moving" still images, but I have an optical/sensory illusion that was so much more real.

I'm in Texas right now visiting my grandparents, and the ground is somewhat uneven, switching from up to down, left to right, with every step. However, it is done so smoothly that it actually creates a false sense of motion. You believe that the ground is moving, and at first I thought it could have been just some odd sensation from myself, but it turns out my brother was feeling the exact same thing!

Of course then, again due to my psych class I began analyzing the situation and decided things were happening because of the conditions mentioned above.

Anyways, flight down to here was pretty poor. We were in a very small plane, a 1x2 seating wise, the crew was harsh, however Texas itself is very nice. And as a friend says, here we are in the time-zone of "Texas Time" and it is always "High Noon."

Neurology is The Future

I'm pretty convinced I will be a great neurologist or psychologist. Ever since taking AP Bio and Psychology just about everything mind or brain related has come extremely easily to me. Part of this is probably due to a lot of the research I did before I took the class, but still picking up everything I feel pretty good about where I stand so far.

I know of many people who had no clue what to do after high school, what to study, or anything. I've taken these semi-specialized classes and really enjoyed the brain parts. We looked at some nerve cells today, quite amazing in my opinion. I really want to do nothing more than work with the brain.

Actually genetics I love too, and I had emailed Sam Rhine, a geneticist that I had gone to see a presentation by, he suggested I check out Neurogenetics, the best of both worlds. It is just a good feeling when you finally realize what your "calling" is.

I want to go into research so I would always be on the cutting edge of my science, also if any discoveries were made I could satisfy the narcissist in myself and get it named after me. The naming would just be a perk, what I'd really love is just discovering how stuff works. I want to understand the brain, people, everything.

One can hope, another can try, the last will do. I plan to do.

Oh Really Now?

So in somewhat of a heated debate on IRC, I decided to share my thoughts on the matter via my blog.

Downloading TV shows from a P2P source. Be it Limewire or a torrent, is it really that illegal?

Some, even many would say "Yes" because you end up getting ad-free versions of the content. Okay, I understand that one major way a television station makes money is through the ads. But what about if I came back with "Well you block internet advertisements, so you are technically also 'stealing' according to your own definition." Many internet websites gain revenue from the advertisements shown on their sites. When you block these, you then end up getting the content completely for free. How is that really any different than a video? It is the same basic principal just a different medium.

Others might say having it on your hard drive is illegal as if you download for free every week soon you will have enough to build an entire season, which they would sell in stores. Well, yes that certainly can be somewhat of an issue, but then what about everyone with a DVR or DVR-like device? They are actually encouraged to record TV shows and/or movies that were shown through a network and watch them at their leisure. You can fast forward or rewind (meaning ads could be skipped), and they are yours for as long as you want to keep them. How is this really any different at all? I suppose paying for the connection in the first place, but lets say I already pay for cable (which I do), but wish to watch on my own time. It actually is exactly the same, and DVR probably gives you a better quality version than most you could find.

Then there are those who would say you are redistributing it, just as that is the nature of torrents. Well, if you set your upload to "0" (assuming 0 turns uploading off and doesn't make it unlimited), then there goes that argument. Also it is debatable if you are really redistributing as while you are downloading up until you are finished you don't have the full thing so it is quite a bit different from taking it off of your DVR and sticking it up on TPB or something.

So in the end, what is really wrong with it? Especially if you get a show like "House" which is freely shown over the airwaves on Fox. In that case you don't even have to pay for any TV service. Each side comes up with equally good arguments but in my opinion as long as using a DVR is legal, then so is downloading a TV show off of a P2P network.

Pokewalker

This is actually a pretty great idea.

The concept basically is that you walk around and your Pokemon that is on the Pokewalker will level up, and then you will be able to also find items. You can 'battle' wild Pokemon you find, and really it is just a great way to encourage kids to get up and move around. It is essentially an interactive pedometer.

Of course you could always just shake the Pokewalker to get "Watts" or whatever it is that helps your Pokemon level up, but where is the fun in that? Then when you sync it back up to your game you get a little summary of what went on from last sync, but of course in Pokemon terms. "Pikachu is happy and running about." "Pikachu decided to take a nap."

I'm going to be straight with you, I want one of these. Sure it is gimmicky, but it registers my steps and could be fun as a very simplistic Pokemon game. I have played the original Pokemon games, and then Gold and Silver as well, so I don't really want to spend more cash on a game that I already have, I just want this special pedometer.

It probably sounds silly, but if it wasn't too costly, maybe $5-$10 I would pick one up. Now if you play the game or know much about it you would say "Hey wait a minute Alan, you need a game to sync your Pokewalker with!"

And how right you are! My brother has the game and I could just sync with his, get some random Pokemon and just have fun with it.

If anyone knows where to get one, would be glad to know.

Classical Music

It all started when I had seen a collection of "Classical Music's Best" or something to that effect and I decided to get it. Let me tell you that this is amazing stuff. The entire sound of an orchestra and just all the variety there was. It was this entire music adventure.

I had originally found a taste in what I can only classify as "Modern Classical", which was used as many movie soundtracks. My personal favorites of this would have to be

• Michael Giacchino (Incredibles, Up)
• Danny Elfman (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, )
• Bruno Coulais (Coraline)
• Clint Mansell (Requiem For A Dream)
• Klaus Badelt (Pirates of the Caribbean)
• John Williams (Star Wars, Harry Potter)
• Hans Zimmerman (Other Pirates of The Caribbean movies).

These all are quite excellent and exciting. If you are looking for some good music, go for this stuff. And even if the term "classical" turns you off, still try either Danny Elfman or Klaus Badelt (My favorites out of those I have listed), as their stuff is pretty amazing, and if you liked the movie then you will probably like the music. Heck, even if you didn't like the movie the music still takes you for a ride. Have fun!

March Madness

I just want to say to anyone now that if you take part in this, or Fantasy Football then you can never call anyone else a geek.

Ever since I have seen more and more tweets saying "filling out my NCAA bracket", I decided to find out exactly how scoring and everything worked for this "March Madness".

From what I understand, and I could be wrong but I couldn't really find any real decent sources, best was an eHow article. Anyways basically I found it out to be like this:

• Make a bracket filled with various teams, lined up in such a way that the better of the teams get closer to the center of the bracket sheet
• Each level has certain point values, the closer to the center the more the point values are
• The more teams you correctly predict the outcome of the games, then the more and more points you get, increasing with each level closer to the center
• Whoever has the most points wins

It seems whenever I look way into one of these sports paper games I get disappointed as to find there isn't more to it. Maybe I just am the kind of geek who wants more to do. I don't know, I suppose lots of research could go into this. I might make my first bracket, could be fun. I'll find out.

An Antarctic Paradise

This is mainly a WTF post, so if that either entices you or pushes you away, feel free to make that decision now.
Okay good?

So maybe a month ago I had this insane dream, and I figure maybe I would share my dreams every now and then, especially when in my opinion they are just so cool.

I am on an expedition to Antarctica, and alone. The terrain is beautiful and suddenly I come across this creature that looks like it needs assistance. So I bend down trying to get a better look, then the dream fast forwards to this tropical city, but it is like a secret Antarctic society. The creature that I "helped" was a member of this society. It was bright and sunny, with palm trees and a few tall buildings overlooking the sea, however if you went too far out of this city then you would end up back in the frozen tundra.

I end up walking down the street and somehow offend one of the natives. They looked just like anyone I had ever seen, however there was something slightly different about them that I couldn't place my finger on. In this land, they have ruling over you, so I was sent to the combo jail/hospital. In this place, I see people who appear to be getting repair, but it isn't anything magnificent, it is more or less just a hallway with a room on either side, maybe some offices down the hall, but the white paint is chipping and the bright blue outside shines on in.

Then I realize while in the jail/hospital what makes these people different. They are made of clay, and that was the patchwork I had seen being done. After about a few times of this arrested cycle I go to see the doctor. He offers to make me clay, knowing forever I would have to stay here, but I would be sure to find happiness here and everything would work out. So I agree, and he takes out this bag as if it were a molding clay bag. I ask what is the difference between the types, he says some last better and the one he had was the best, so I took it.

We go into a room where I must then strip off my clothes and get into what just looks like a hot tub. The doctor pours the mix in, and then I feel just different. Have a little more pep in my step, but then see people who are still human being made fun of by clay people, and instantly regret my decision.

A dream that could mean a lot of things but most likely "Don't change yourself for others."

Going "Green"

So I finally bought a refillable water bottle. It carries 950mL, so about two of the .5L bottles I would normally take each day. Let me tell you, I like it quite a bit better, and it is cheaper. I either spend around $4 a week on regular water bottles, or I spend $4 for a one time deal. If I really want to get fancy I could buy one of those tap water filters and get purified water for close to nothing.

If you haven't done this already (it was somewhat of a fad sweeping through my school, but I ended up not losing anything to go along with it), go buy yourself a simple refillable water bottle, instead of wasting all of this cash on plastic bottles you do not need. And, the environment benefits too. Not that I am any green-freak, but if it saves me money and stops landfills from taking the place of  "highest elevation in Ohio", then yeah I'm down with that.

The Spring of Form

It isn't so much that I dislike the site itself, I find it a cool concept but haven't we had this already somewhat on websites where someone could say "Ask me any question here" ? Yet, every person out there signs up in hopes someone will ask them a meaningless question. I just don't need that EXTRA distraction.

Formspring is largely useless, and except for maybe that small business that is local only, you can't even set up a page for a major company due to the fact you would have so many questions coming in and it would just end up a mess to regulate. Plus, you don't even have to register or anything, or even give an email. I'll just wait for the bots that come and spam everyone, that wouldn't be too hard to write now would it? Oh yeah, and that would then suck for formspring since they would have to use CAPTCHA or something to regulate who can ask a question, slowing down the process entirely.

Again, on someone's local website if formspring for example just had code inserts for your page then I would say it is a neat little widget to put on there. However, they made an entire site out of anonymous questioning, which if not bots leads to "friends" leaving stupid questions and/or just spamming you. Yeah, that sounds like fun.

I keep getting the feeling that it wants to be the Twitter of something, but see, Twitter provides a great service and allows quick instant mass communication to be given to you, in limited space so you don't get overwhelmed, and just in my opinion actually has some sort of place.

The Power of Suggestion

Pay close attention in some public place, like school, the movies, or church.

Ever notice when somebody coughs, sniffs, takes a drink, or even has flatulence then others may join in? Writing this I yawn just simply thinking of that as an example. I'd be willing to bet you got some urge to do that, or maybe if I said just the word "breathing" you would become aware of it, or "blinking". Then of course you eventually put those thoughts into the back of your head and normal biorhythms take over again.

Ever since my psych and even bio class, I have been thinking more and more about why people do things and how people work. The body and mind are amazing to me, I just have this need to explore it and figure out how it works and why.

But we go and tend to copy what goes on around us, or maybe we think that we shouldn't disturb something anymore than needed, so we try to cough or sniff or drink within the nearest time of whomever started it.

This concept also was tested on the Mythbusters episode "Is yawning contagious?". It really is the power of suggestion, and maybe we just do it for comfort, as the cough or drink was always in the back of your head but once you see/hear it then it becomes your top priority.

And why did I think to write this blog post? Power of suggestion of blogger in the the most recent episode of House. You know, the one that has "Donna" from That 70s Show? Weird to see her in other roles.

And by the way, I just got word that the school will pay for my college next year in every subject, versus before where it was just a good chance it would happen. Also, the only things left in my way are the ACT, then of course the rest of high school.

A Little About Me and Her

Don't know if you saw my Facebook status or my Tweet, but I am going to college next year (Sinclair Community College) through PSEO. PSEO basically is like you go to college, but in addition you get high school credits and the high school pays for it, which by the way is a sweet deal for Sinclair as they actually make money off of this.

This accomplishes a few things:

• Away from high school, getting on with my life
• No longer in those sickening halls (oh wait this was the same as my first point)
• A "year" of college credit, or at least some free college (don't know how my college college will accept the credits)
• Let me work a job on my schedule/actually have a schedule where you can easily go to work (since classes can be custom picked for many times throughout the week)
• Let me pursue my interests even more

I can't wait for this, however there is one downside, I won't get to see a certain girl every day.

Her name is Paige, and we met at high school, Freshman year. Lately we somewhat "hit it off" and became really good friends and then a little more than that.

I'm not going to get too detail-y about us as most likely you have heard it all before from someone else, so I will just skip to what happened in the hall that shocked me.

I told her I was going to do PSEO next year, she looks sad and says "Awww" so I hug her. She then hugs me so tight and doesn't let go. This kind of thing really made me see how much I mean to other people, and just how powerful, well, love can be. It never hit me up until this point what all that stuff was about and such.

But don't worry, I will still make time for her and talk to her every night, it will just be a little different in terms of not being able to see each other every day.

Someone sure is growing up.

Artificial Coloring

Behind me in class this girl was eating some grapes. Completely natural, organic, right off of the vine grapes. They were the red/purple type as well, and she turns to her friend and asks "Are my teeth purple?"

I couldn't believe the question she asked, did she really think that it had some sort of artificial coloring? Has all of the candy we know and love made us think that any colored anything will leave a trace in our mouth?  It just shocked me that she thought it could happen, with something that is well, real food.

I know some natural foods can turn your teeth/tongue certain colors, but in terms of a grape I don't know if she thought that the "juice" inside was some sort of candy gel or what.

Is this where we are as a species, raised to think that all foods have these colorings and fake artificial everything? If so, people need a real wakeup call.

Call of Duty: MW2

MW2 for those of you who don't know is "Modern Warfare 2", the second installment of the "Modern Warfare" series.

Many of us have played the game, most have seemed to like it. I didn't really have too much time to play it until just recently, and it is pretty good for multiplayer. I have it on the 360, and was used to FPSs on the computer, but finally got over that barrier.

But then I wanted more of a challenge, even though I didn't have a great K/D ratio or had that high of a level, I just wanted to enjoy it more. I had a few of the speed 'perks' unlocked, as well as "Commando Pro", so I figured I would make someone who can essentially outrun bullets and leap out of nowhere onto people and knife them. I created that guy, and honestly you feel like a super hero.

Jumping from building to building reminds you of either super hero movies, or maybe Assassin's Creed, but you really can get going fast. The hardest part is aiming where you are knifing and judging how far away from an enemy before knifing can you be with "Commando Pro".

It is insane the specialties you can create in the game if you use all of a certain type, or even certain combos, lots of fun too. So go home and try it if nothing else, then for poops and giggles: Marathon (Pro), Lightweight (Pro), and Commando (Pro). If you have the pro version of Commando then you have no fear when leaping from building to building as you can't get hurt.

Also, I found that different weapons (as I had guessed) would slow you down. I stick to a machine pistol and assault riffle, just for the light weight even though I do not use them, they are just light. FYI, a riot shield, while may protect your back, slows you down greatly.

I apologize if you found the post dry, I had some great idea of what to write about, but then went to dinner, came back, and started playing - you guessed it, CoD MW2.

You Are Both Wrong

The religious vs atheists is going to be a lifelong battle, and then enter the joke of how religious will win in afterlife since atheists have no after life, but whatever.

This post is mainly what annoyed me so, but not with one group, but both the religious and athiest.

Basically this is how I think it breaks down, in the larger scheme of things:

1. Religious people go out and stick some billboards up, help out, donate, spread the Word of God. Sometimes they get carried away with this though.
2. Atheists like feeling superior and wish to have fun crushing what they call "fairy tales". So they go and stick up their own ads, tell others they are stupid for believing in a God, even form groups to act like a religion of anti-religion.
3. Religious people get mad that these people are posting their opinions up and passing it off as truth, so then they give a big hissy fit.
4. Atheists sit back and laugh enjoying the chaos they have created, but continue on.
5. Goto 1

This stuff always ends up badly, but what is my main point here is just to chill out people. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and don't try to drag someone down just because you may not be having the best time. Let people believe what they want, let people have their fun, but don't ruin stuff for others. Even if you don't believe, you should at least have some form of morals. And then if someone does rain on your parade, don't go whine about it, you should just "turn the other cheek". That is what you have been taught, so you should practice it.