Filed under: Spiritual Matters
The post I wanted to do today on the Armor of God, I need to do a little bit of double checking on, so today’s post is postponed till later this evening or tomorrow.
Sorry.
Acrid
Filed under: Applied Gaming
Today on the Real Life Application of Video Games, we will be taking a look at money and The World of Warcraft.
One of the key features of the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (or MMORPG) known as The World of Warcraft, is a place known as The Auction House.
Located in various high profile cities throughout the world in the game, these place offer a front for the buying and selling of trade-items, from pieces of scrap to extremely rare pieces of treasure from around the game world.
The auction house itself is reminiscent of eBay, with very rare items sometimes going for extremely low prices or pieces of junk selling for exorbitantly bank-breaking amounts of gold. It offers bidders the ability to see the most current price the item is going for, what the buyout price is for that particular piece, as well as an indicator for how long the auction has left before it is all over. There is even a handy feature which alerts potential bidders as to when they have been outbid on an item they are attempting to win or even a notification letting them know they have won (this usually has with it the actual item they were purchasing).
On the bidder side, you are able to choose what it is you have that you are wanting to sell, how much you want the starting bid to be, as well as a price of buyout (which allows instant purchasing of your item).
The Catch: Unlike in real life, the economy in a virtual world can fluctuate on a day to day basis. This leads to insane inflation on the values of certain goods over short term time frames. To go along with this is the factor is multiple gaming servers. Each server has its on economy which runs completely independent of any of the other servers that are available to play the game on. So if a person has a character on one server, selling item X, item X may be worth Y amount of money. Now this same person has a character on another one of the dozens of available servers trying to sell that same item X. The problem is that the current value of item X on this other server is Z.
Results: An unrealistic view can be made upon the uneducated of how economy and auction type situations work.
First, the economy of the real world does not fluctuate as drastically as that of the virtual world. While the economy can still drastically fluctuate over the course of a single day. It does not do so every single day like the economy contained within the virtual world.
Second, auctions in the virtual world don’t work like eBay. Many times you can bid for an item on eBay, but you do not have the simple option to buy the item at a preset price. Next to that is the functioning of a real life auction. Very rarely do you see an auction (with auctioneer and all) which allows you to simply buy something that is in the process of being bid on, as is possible in the virtual world.
On a more positive note: this system has taught value to many, as one must decide if one would rather take the time bidding….risking losing the item they seek, or paying an exorbitant amount of money to have it right away, or even more still on whether or not they should go and spend the time themselves to see if they can obtain this item out of their own hard work.
Finally, I have just finished completely over analyzing a completely pointless thing.
For some reason I have had The World of Warcraft on my mind quite frequently over the past week or so and it has led me to doing this ludicrous post about fake economic systems and auctions.
Well I hope you enjoyed my completely pointless WoW analysis .
-Take Care, God Bless-
Acrid
Filed under: Politics, Spiritual Matters | Tags: 2008, campaign, candidate, christianity, Christians, elections, Politics, President, United States
The Candidates are Coming! The Candidates are Coming!
The campaigns for President for the 2008 elections have begun. Candidates are touring the nation garnering support for themselves, trying to convince the masses to vote them into office so that they can sit in The Big Chair of the United States for 4 years. The problem many people face right now, is choosing a candidate. Each party has a minimum of 5 candidates running for the nomination for the 2008 election. Keeping the facts straight as to which candidate stands on which platform has become a dizzying juggling act for the mind completed and made more-so by the ever changing stances of key candidates on the most crucial of issues.
To help keep your mind on straight, check out On The Issues. This website has been dedicated to keeping straight every political position of every single political leader you can name in the United States, in order that you might be informed of the facts without having to siphon through biased website after biased website of slander or promotion of a single candidate.
So now you have access to the facts, but here is where it gets more difficult still. Who the heck should I vote for?
Well, I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, but I will lay out the best possible way you could decide on who to vote for.
First and foremost, which candidates are Bible believing Christians. Which actually walk the walk and vote or pass legislation based on defending the integrity of Scripture, as well as following the Scripture. I do not think that a candidate who claims to be Christian, yet clearly supports abortion should be in the White House, because they clearly are not following what they believe. Just as a candidate who professes to be a Christian but decides to stand for the Bible being taken out of schools and teaching only evolution is a similar case of not walking in what you believe.
[To add to this, I do not think that Mormonism is a branch of Christianity even though the Bible is a major part of the religion. The Mormon faith at its foundation has gone against scripture and even admit to it (without saying verbatim "Hey, we go against The Bible even though it's a major part of what we profess to believe." But this is a topic for another day and time. However, I would elect a Mormon before a Socialist as to the fact that a Mormon still holds to great values.]
Second, after you get through the qualification of Spiritual Beliefs, you are faced with other key political issues. The biggest issues I see are Homeland Security as well as the war. On issues of Homeland Security, I believe that the defense of our nation needs to be of highest priority to whoever wants to be eligible for President of this country. If a candidate is not finding it priority to keep us safe from terrorists and crime then they do not have the best interests of this nation in sight. As for the war, the United States has made a commitment in the past to doing what is right throughout the world. We have made a commitment in the Middle East and if we are to back out of that commitment then we have failed to follow through on a commitment we made and can no longer be taken seriously by the rest of the world.
Third – The United States Constitution. The Founding Fathers laid down in the original Constitution of the United States. If a candidate does not believe in following the original founding ideas of this country then once again they clearly don’t have the interests of the nation within their mind.
I have said all that I believe needs to be said on the issue of elections this coming year.
Feel free to disagree with me in part or in whole, either way I respect your opinion and uphold your right to speak as laid down in The First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
-God Bless, Talk To You Soon-
Acrid
www.OnTheIssues.org
Filed under: Strange Thoughts | Tags: anger, cussing, filthy, insanity, language, mad, rage, random, sanity
It seems that alot of people are really angry.
Why is that, is there really a good reason to be so angry about such random stuff all the time.
I haven’t been able to do something I wanted to. Something happened I didn’t like and I am brooding on it. Somebody said something that I didn’t think was smart. I don’t like somebody. I have the only right opinion.
All of these things seem to be the reasons people are so angry. It strikes me as very odd though as to the extent of the anger that some people have. Why is it that we have to be so incredibly angry about such stupid things.
So you weren’t able to do something you wanted to do. Yea that can be kind of upsetting, but is it any reason to go into a depressive downward spiral which leads into spouting of hate filled speech against others?
So something happened that you didn’t like…..MOVE ON….don’t let something bother you for so long that it makes you into an angry person.
Somebody said something stupid. Whoop-d-freakin-doo, people say dumb things sometimes….YOU say dumb things sometimes, get over it.
You don’t like somebody…..SO STAY AWAY FROM THEM, don’t force yourself to be near them or put up with them if you don’t like them, just give it a little distance and you will find that maybe they don’t annoy you so much anymore. If you don’t like somebody but you still stay near them and fake that you like being around them, then it’s your fault for putting yourself in that situation. It’s good and all to be nice to people, but sometimes you just have to have a little distance in order to keep a little peace….AND SANITY.
So you have the only correct opinion……is that so? Well I think that’s a stupid opinion. By the definition of an opinion you are entitled to think that. I won’t way your opinion is wrong if you treat my opinion the same way. Fact may prove your opinion to be right or wrong, in which case you may be smart or you may be really blind to the truth. Either way you are entitled to your own opinion, no matter how big-headed, selfish, or idiotic that may be.
I just don’t see a reason everybody around me is always in a foul mood, using foul language, and seems so angry. Life is good as long as you are breathing, so if you think your life is so terrible that you can’t find a single bit of joy anywhere in your existence…..seek counseling….seriously.
Sorry for the insane rant today, just feels like I am the only person here at school who isn’t cussing about how stupid something is or how unfair something seems to be. Am I the only sane person here??
Oh, wait a second, maybe they are all sane…..in fact….maybe I am everything but sane.
All the sudden everything seems to make sense.
Oh well, guess insanity is EVERYTHING it’s cracked up to be.
So anyway, I guess my rant can be disregarded….or take it for what it said….up to you. Maybe you are insane like I am and agree with me. If so…..that’s AWESOME! But I digress.
Talk to Ya Again Soon
-God Bless-
Acrid
Filed under: Spiritual Matters | Tags: Bible, christian, christianity, doubt, forgiven, forgiveness, God, hope, love, sin
You are flooded with doubt, you feel worthless, you feel you are the biggest sinner in the world and that God can’t possibly use you because of how bad a person you are.
Well guess what, no matter what, God can use you.
Want Proof???
- Noah got drunk
- Abraham was too old
- Isaac was a daydreamer
- Jacob was a liar
- Leah was ugly
- Joseph was abused
- Moses had a stuttering problem
- Gideon was afraid
- Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
- Rahab was a prostitute
- Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
- David had an affair and was a murderer
- Elijah was suicidal
- Isaiah preached naked
- Jonah ran from God
- Naomi was a widow
- Job went bankrupt
- Peter denied Christ
- The Disciples fell asleep while praying
- Martha worried about everything
- The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
- Zaccheus was too small
- Paul was too religious
- Timothy had an ulcer
- and Lazarus was DEAD!
So the next time you are feeling down about yourself and suffering from doubt about your usefulness to God, just remember some of these things and then smile, because God Loves You and has great plans for your life. If you are a Christian then all of your sins have been forgiven and God has a plan to use you no matter what you believe about yourself.
God Bless You,
Acrid
Note: This list borrowed from the Spartans, Covenants, & Sinners Blog that belongs to a friend of mine….all credit goes to him and wherever it was he got the list from originally.
For more information about becoming a Christian go Here.
For more information about God go Here.
Filed under: Applied Gaming | Tags: application, gaming, half-life, logic, orange box, teaching, valve, video games
I recently picked up the new gaming compilation released by Valve, known as The Orange Box.
One of the 5 games included in this compilation game is known as Portal.
In portal, you are given a portal creating device which allows you to create two portals linking two locations which can be crossed instantly by running through the portals. Also in this game you can pick up and drop objects such as boxes, crates, broken robots and the like. Towards the end of the game, I was chatting online via Xbox LIVE’s voice chat with my friend James (SOG DMNHUNTR), because I was stuck at a point during the game and could not figure out where to go. He helped me out and we continued through the game together helping each other get through tougher parts of the game. We reached a room where we had to crawl through a vent that was in an elevated position on the wall, too high to jump up into and too small of an opening to be able to jump from any other position nearby to get in. What we needed was a box or something to climb up to a level where we could crawl into the vent. We struggled to figure out what to do because there wasn’t an obvious answer anywhere in sight. Then I hear James yell out “Dude, I got it!” He actually had retrieved a chair from a room nearby and used it as a stool to climb into the vent. That’s when it hit me, video games truly are implementing applications of real life.
Just this one instance, makes me believe that video games can actually be used to teach skills or implement logical thinking. Video games can truly be used in conjunction with education, logical thinking, as well as developing complex problem solving skills. Using Portal as an example, the game is all about problem solving. You are at Point A, and you are tasked with getting your way to Point B, a very basic concept but something that can become very complex when you add pressure switches as well as seemingly unaccessible ledges or doors.
I truly believe that video games can teach real life applications to people. Some would argue that video games teach you to kill people or to drive way beyond the speed limit crashing into people, but such stipulations in my mind are far-fetched and just the product of anti-video game agenda’s.
This segment will become a regular addition to the blog, so keep your eyes out for it.
See Ya Next Time
-God Bless-
Acrid
Here we go again with a new fractal for everybody.
Hope You Enjoy!!!
One of my all time favorite pieces. I love the starfish look it has to it as well as just the clean look of the picture as a whole.
Well I’ll be posting again soon.
-God Bless-
Acrid
Filed under: Strange Thoughts | Tags: change, cursing, cussing, foul language, soap, speech
You know, my opinionated post from Monday got me thinking about cussing even more, especially some of the comments I received on the topic.
When it comes to using foul-mouthed “four-letter words” (even though some of them are longer or shorter than that), it seems rather barbaric and stupid to even utter such words. In my opinion, it shows a lack of intellect as well as somewhat of a lack of education to utter such short and over-used words. These words are being used as early as middle school and elementary school, sadly I would know because I believe the 5th grade was the first time I uttered several foul words under peer pressure to do so. Many of these kids are learning these things from pop-culture as well as from their own households or from friends who have learned these words in similar fashions.
So here is the question, should an educated, self-respecting human being ever utter such vile and basic words which have been overused to the point where their original meaning is lost to many people today?
I am once again going to be an advocate for change! Stop using foul language, there are so many more things that can be said, even if it is just a simple euphemism for a terrible word, use it instead of the terrible word. Not only will this prompt you to come up with new words or sayings, but it will broaden your vocabulary and your mother won’t have to chase you down and wash your mouth out with soap.
-God Bless-
Acrid
Filed under: Uncategorized
I have decided I am going to change my blog post days to Tuesday and Thursday with artwork on either Friday or Saturday.
This decision is being made simply because I have more free time to be able to post on the above mentioned days which will allow me to give the blog posts my full attention instead of trying to rush to put something up, unable to give complete thought to what I am writing.
Sorry for any slight inconvenience to you, but I can guarantee it’s for the best.
-TTYL-
Acrid
Filed under: Spiritual Matters | Tags: Bible, christian, cursing, cussing, encouragement, language, Scripture, tongue
Today I just wanted to speak to all my Christian brothers and sister.
Every single day I see people walking around cussing worse than a rated R movie, and nothing positive comes from the mouth of ANYBODY, everything I hear is negative. It’s sad when even positive messages are tinged by cynicism, sarcasm, or even just underlying spite. I even hear many Christians doing this, or people who claim to be Christians.
Now, I have not always been the most clean mouthed person, sadly all during my Christian life, but I realize the damage I could have done to my witness to others as an example of somebody close to God.
I now truly believe that a Christian should not cuss….I mean, there are times where things slip, but we are only human, imperfect in every way except by the Eternal and Limitless Grace of Go, but for the most part, a Christian should not cuss.
Many would say a Christian should not cuss simply because he is using vile language, but I say it for another reason.
Look at it this way, cuss words are never being used in a positive and clean manner, there is never a time where a cuss word is used to lift somebody up, it is ALWAYS used to tear somebody down. As a Christian, I don’t think we should be in the business of tearing each other or any human beings apart through our language. By not cussing, and even asking people not to cuss around us, we can become an example to others, making them ask/think questions such as “Why doesn’t this person cuss?” or “What does this person have against cussing? Everybody else is doing it.” In this way we make ourselves an example to those who may know nothing about our beliefs, and this can be used as a springboard to teach others about what we believe.
Now, there will be persecution over such things seeing as how we live in the world of the lost, but we must stay strong, for peer pressure and disapproval may hurt, but isn’t the approval of God so much greater?
When it comes to things we should say, I promote that we say things like “God Bless You” or “Have a Blessed Day”. Simple, encouraging, and empowering.
God Bless You All,
Acrid
