Wikileaks Nominated for 2011 Nobel Peace Prize

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/us-norway-nobel-idUSTRE7202ZS20110301

It's official! The Wikileaks organization has been nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize! Many politicians may not see this as a good thing, but I for one think that it's fantastic that the global community is starting to warm up to these "revolutionary" activists. I hope this brings more positive attention toward Wikileaks, and I hope that more people will support them in their endeavors.

Assange Appeals Extradition

If you haven't been following the story of Julian Assange, he has been fighting extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes. Yesterday, he lost the fight for extradition, but he will be appealing this decision to the British government. I hope you will all support him in his political endeavors. Keep Wikileaks alive!

 

Croatia and Tunisia

Short post today. I have learned from some reliable sources that there are currently riots happening in Croatia, following in suit with Egypt and Tunisia. For those of you who don't know, Croatia had a bloody fight for independence in 1990, and has been tattered ever since. I wish the citizens of Croatia the best of luck in the upcoming months.

And the big news today about Tunisia is that the prime minister has stepped down! Ghannouchi, who had been pressured by citizens to resign in recent days, has finally given into pressure. I look forward to seeing who comes into power next.

Elder Scrolls V: Is the Hype of Skyrim Justified?

Judging purely from the outspoken nature of Skrim's (anticipation) fan base, one might be inclined to believe that this is the most anticipated release for 2011. In fact the rather outspoken fan base of Elder Scrolls appears to have been in circlejerk mode(...no offense fellas!) ever since the release of the in-game footage trailer yesterday. Should Bethesda be worshiped before the game is in hand?... Nope. It's too early to say how well the game will live up to our expectations. In fact, with expectations so lofty, it is only natural to be disappointed. So personally, I'm going to set the bar at Oblivion, and hope Skyrim can make the leap.

That is NOT to say that we shouldn't be looking forward to the all new game engine. It is unclear how much more powerful this new engine is, but generally it is safe to assume that new game engines represent improvements either technology or programming techniques. Elder Scrolls Arena, and Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall were exclusively PC games. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was made for the first-gen Xbox, followed by Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on the Xbox 360. Once again, Bethesda will be making a game for the Xbox 360, which means that they will be working with the same rendering power as they had with Oblivion.

Personally, I found that Oblivion underperformed on the Xbox 360 at points. When there were many dynamic figures in an environment, there was noticeable lag. Although this is understandable, it is unnerving to think that the next installment in the series will be similar in performance due to hardware limitations. (PC fans that are fronting top-end machines will not have this problem!)

Is the hype justified? Yeah... I guess it is. Fans more dedicated than myself can relate to the giddy feelings I get when I remember the hours spent becoming Neravarine in Morrowind. If this game is half what we want it to be, it will be an astounding success.

I look forward to supporting my favorite game developer, Bethesda.
I look forward to exploring the new world of Skyrim on 11/11/11.
I look forward to slaying dragons.
Most importantly, it's been too long since I've rocked out to the "Call of Magic" theme music.

CAN'T WAIT. 

North Korea and Drunk Drivers

The destabilization of the Middle East and the North African nations has spread to North Korea in isolated cases.

AsiaNews:

The wave of protests that began in the Mideast appears to have reached even North Korea. For the first time in the history of the Stalinist regime, groups of ordinary citizens have protested in three cities demanding food and electricity, sources say. The event is exceptional and confirms the economic difficulties, especially concerning food supplies, people have to face under the Communist government. According to South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing a North Korean source, demonstrations broke out on 14 February, two days before Kim Jong-il’s birthday, in the cities of Jongju, Yongchon and Sonchon, not far from the border of China. The State Security Department (the all-powerful agency under Kim Jong-il’s direct control) investigated the incident but failed to identify the people who started the commotion when they met with a wall of silence. “When such an incident took place in the past, people used to report their neighbours to the security forces, but now they're covering for each other," the source said. Korean sources told AsiaNews that this represents a crack in the prevailing mindset. “Different factors are at play. On the one hand, the country’s worsening economic situation is certainly one reason. The regime is in fact unable to feed most of its people. On the other, changes at the top are another as Kim Jong-un gets ready to succeed his father on the throne in Pyongyang.” The younger Kim is “feared by the population,” the source said. “He is viewed as bloodthirsty and mad. “Almost everyone thinks he was behind the military attacks against ROKS Cheonan and an island under South Korean control, which led to restrictions on humanitarian aid from the South. This has further worsened standards of living in the North. North Koreans are ready to do just about anything to stop the succession."

It is clear that the North Koreans are justified in their dissatisfaction with the services being provided to them. They're fighting for things that we Americans disregard, such as food and electricity. It really puts things in perspective, huh? I could talk about North Korea for a long time, but instead I'll talk about drunk drivers.

Recently, my high school teachers have been getting in a lot of legal trouble. The latest of these offenses comes from Mrs. Jennifer Stockard who was arrested for drunk driving last Wednesday. This woman taught me Algebra II my freshman year of high school. Although her last name was different back then, she was just as offensive. I was frequently harassed in class by this woman, so I admit that I was moderately pleased when I heard of her arrest. It feels as if I have been vindicated in a very indirect fashion. Call it Karma. Call it destiny... I call it Michelob Ultra. 

Hallo there!

Introductions are in order? I'm a college student studying physics at the undergraduate level.

What does that mean for you? It means that I can't relate to my grandparent's hatred for Jimmy Carter, but I can relate to the current events of my time. Issues like net neutrality and the protests in Libya that should be the center of focus for our generation, but frequently people are instead focused on the new health problem of Charlie Sheen. Who the hell is Charlie Sheen anyway?

Maybe I should get to the point. Current events are important, but so are diversions. Therefore, in this blog I will indulge both serious topics, and not so serious topics. Also, cats.