Ignore the Terrorism and Carry On

I feel it worth noting, before you get upset with me, I am referring to you, the public, not the police and government officials. They should be acting to prevent terrorism, and most certainly not ignore it.

In light of the recent events in Woolwich, London, I have come to realise what the problem is here. The way the terrorists acted, to tell people to film them and so on, really goes to show that what they want is attention. And boy, did they get it. Within minutes ITV had gotten hold of footage of “Criminal A”, and the BBC, CNN and Sky went into full scare-tactics mode. Mind you, you can’t blame CNN and Sky, their ad revenue must more than double whenever something like this happens.

In Paris (France), last week a man shot himself in protest over the changes in Gay rights laws. He believed this to be the only way of getting his point across, but people didn’t fuss over it. They essentially took it in their stride, they didn’t plaster it all over the news, and in doing so they cut off the potential fallout of people asking what it was he was after. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is of an entirely different calibre of situation to London, but one can draw parallels.

The real problem is that they, the terrorists, did get the attention they were after. If people had Ignored it, If the News channels had given it a wide berth, perhaps just putting it on their scrolling ticker to inform people, then it would be given the same level of attention as other news, but still warning people of the dangerous situation that had happened. If people had not given so much social media attention to it, and left the word of mouth strictly to those who needed to get it across, say to worried family members, and the like, then the terror message would have went unheeded, nullifying the reason for the act of terror, and making them common murderers.

What people are doing, sharing the experience as it were, is justifying the means by which the terrorists got their attention. Not justifying the murder itself, but proving that murder is a good way of getting attention. This should not be so. Peaceful rallies over killing people in warzones take place all the time, and yet they get less coverage than this. Why? One would think the reverse should be true. People’s attitudes to these sorts of things need to change.

The government was right to convene COBRA, the police were right to use firearms, the reaction the official channels gave to this situation, were in my opinion spot on to what they should have done. However, the attention given to it by people was rather deplorable. When something this grizzly happens, people insist on getting more and more images an videos of it, but that’s what /r/WTF is for, is it not? They draw more and more attention to it, and unwittingly give the terrorists the satisfaction of a job well done. They are reaping entertainment off of the poor man who was attacked and, by extension, all of those grieving the situation.

So what am I saying to do? Forget it. Don’t forget the victim, victims deserve an empathetic response, however you feel that could be done, but forget the terrorist intent.If in the future if such a thing happens try and prevent it becoming so famous and interesting. Leave the management of terrorists to the Government. Don’t condone the terrorist actions, Don’t pay them attention, Ignore the Terrorism and Carry On with your lives as normal.

And yes, I know that strictly speaking, by writing this blog post I am going against what i believe is right. Stupid terrorism, always finding a way to get what you want.

The Name of the Doctor [Doctor Who s7 Spoilers]

Doctor Who s07be08 - The Name of the Doctor

The starting was OK. I’ll grant you that. I think this episode is meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary. However, I’m not sure shoving a bunch of old clips together really does it for me. And they really are just screwing around with retconning everything these days. Sure, it’s time travel, but you have to have limits.

Also, again with the Doctor’s secrets. In the past he was mysterious, of course. However now it seems he is just being given loads of secrets, all of which act as plot devices. Like "Doctor who?. Oh haha! That joke got old very quickly. Now: Trenzalore. This place has just suddenly appeared, out of nowhere (I.e. ever since these stupid story arcs started). The doctor’s grave. I mean, now you’re deliberately setting up places, for future story-lines. The opposite of retconning. Well, too bad. Can’t change it now. The doctor will die in battle. That’s the ending, revealed before it happens. Great storytelling, people!

Oh, as if we hadn’t had enough of the whole melody character. I mean sure, she’s the Doctors wife, but come on. I have begun to associate her with bad stories. a pity. Besides, she died, in the Library. We’ve seen her die, and we know her beginnings. Her character should have been removed when they had the chance. Props to Alex Kingston for keeping the character going, though. Must be hard.

Physics problem: When the doctor turns off the "anti-gravs", that is not how the Tardis should have fallen. It should have steadily accelerated, according to the planets gravity. Also, It’s indestructible, so should not have a cracked window. Also, the idea of the Tardis growing. What? Well, it has it’s own physics, I shouldn’t really complain.

Ah, the return of the great intelligence. It existed in the past classic series, and made a return this one. Less than spectacular, if you ask me. The Snowmen story was quite a god one for this character, but I’m not to keen on the way it was made. Something so powerful should surely know the consequences of meddling with the Doctor’s time-line. Paradoxes are bad. Even evil beings know this. Although, I am not an expert on this character, so perhaps my judgement is unfounded.

Now, the way that it was shown, him being killed in the past. It makes no sense to me. If killed in one place, he should surely stop existing in other places too. And all of these changes would happen instantaneously, because they already had happened. There would be no time lag, as indicated in he show.

The ending was odd. The doctor not only gave Oswin a leaf, to find the way out, but then came and got her physically. The leaf would theoretically exist only in his mind’s time-stream, so I’m not sure what it’s significance was. And I’m not sure how he could converse with his other selves, either. Surely these were, as he said, ghosts, and… I’m not very good with metaphysical metaphors in TV shows like this one.

Something I found interesting in this episode: I had to actually fast-forward parts of , and just skip them entirely. I rarely have to do this, but I’m glad I was watching it pre-recorded. It just lost my attention entirely at points. Not exactly a good sign.

Good parts of the episode: Glasgow, the perfect place for a sontaran! Found to be one of the most violent places in the UK. Some good humour. And the terrible mention of

"I like the new desktop" – referring to the desk top in the dream state

Terrible, yet funny. Also, the idea of embedding the drugs into the paper of the letter.

Also, the way the doctor’s journey was drawn, as a tear in time, was quite good. It is a 3-dimensional move, that changes, indicating the presence of a 4th dimension. It looks similar to the time-map used in the show "Primeval", and I like the way it was drawn out. I would also imagine that it would make a fitting monument for a Time lord’s grave.

I really do hope this is the end of the story arc, and maybe even the River song arc(fat chance, though), and they can go back to being normal by-the-episode stories. With a few multi-part stories thrown in for a good mix. Seeing how John Hurt portrays a perhaps darker doctor will be interesting too, as long as the stories are good, which I really hope they are.

• Story: 2/10
• Execution: 4/10
• Bonus: none.
• This Episode: 6/25

So… What did you think of this story, the story arc, or this series in general?

Code Geass R1&R2 – Lelouch of the Rebellion

Code Geass R1&R2 - Lelouch of the Rebellion

Code Geass is a wonderful Japanese anime, dealing with the struggle for independence of an occupied Japan. Lelouch gains a power called Geass, which lets him bend anyone’s will to his own.

I felt many things for this series. It’s idea of morals was very provocative. Many deaths occur in this series, both as a result of combat, and as tactical manoeuvres. There were even many accidental deaths as a result of Lelouch’s actions. Makes you wonder whether or not war is really worth it, in the end.

This is because, without planning, war has no purpose. Lelouch, for the most part, planned every move of his posse scrupulously. He anticipated the actions of his opponents, and often used that to his advantage. War is not like that. The people we leave in charge of our armed forces cannot plan this well. People do die for no reason.

Also, the wish of emperor Charles to remove all dishonesty. That was an interesting prospect, but I do feel that forcing such a thing on people would do more harm than good. That episode makes a good point that dishonesty, in a cruel way, does in fact help to move the world on. If people could be convinced to not lie when many people are at stake, however, that would be a good place to start. *cough*politicians*cough*

C.C. is an interesting girl, if she can so be called. She appears to be able to speak with people who are not with her, and I believe these are dead people, people who have passed on. I think, in fact, that it may well be Lelouch’s mother, for a large part of the show. Given that she was in cahoots with Charles and his grand plan to kill god.

This show also brings up the ethical issues of using other people’s will to aid in the good of the many. Is using one person, to death, worth it if there is a chance it could help better the world? This show seems to suggest that there might be, but in such a way that it still seems like a horrible thing to do.

One of the major things I feel was a clincher for the show was the ending. Lelouch planned it all out, right to the end. when Lelouch had himself assassinated, He riled people up to do better than he did. He forced them into making the world a better place. If he had not killed himself, if he passed rule on to the UFN, I do believe the world would not have changed one bit.

The soundtrack for this anime is brilliant. It has a wide range of music to show the different moods, from melancholic tones to dark and deep themes, through to more upbeat and happy beats. It sets the tone for the scenes brilliantly. In terms of the dubbing, I think it is done quite well. Especially Lelouch’s evil laugh. It sound a lot better in English than the original Japanese dub. Also, I don’t think they butchered any characters with the dub.

There are plenty of other points which are worth note, but I simply cannot cover them all.

• Story: 8/10
• Acting: 8/10
• Execution: 10/10
• Bonus: +1 for pizza, +1 for tech,
• This Series: 30/35

Have you seen code geass? What are your thoughts on it?

VBIG #9

YouTube Videos

Teaching! In minecraft?

Commander Hadfield unveils the new Canadian $5 polymer bank note, featuring the ISS.

100 Black Balloons get blown up by a pocket blu-ray laser.

Blogs, Posts and News

Studies have proven that males that spend their time reacting to the sexual advances of others are more likely to die earlier, and even find it harder to reproduce in later life.

Scientists believe they may have found a way to reverse the greying of hair, and those who suffer from skin pigment disorders. Could this be the end of grey hair as we know it?

Images

   

Games, Apps and Interactive Sites

DROP – By Notch. 

A lovely little, simple, unity web game that lets you practice your touch typing. Turns out it can be hard to touch type when under pressure. This is a good game if you have some time to kill.

VBIG #10

YouTube Videos

A while back I brought up the world’s first 3D printed gun, well here is it’s test firing

This wonderful video demonstrates how the boiling point of water changes with height.

Blogs, Posts and News

Google’s YouTube will be rolling out a paid subscription service for certain channels. Essentially a pay-to-view service. It is coming soon, possibly out by the time this VBIG is uploaded to my blogs.

This new type of advertising might be more effective in getting abused kids to speak up. By using lenticular technology, it shows a different message to shorter people, i.e. kids.

Could world of warcraft, one of the most famous and successful MMORPGs out there, be losing it’s players? Statistics from activision may be indicating this is true.

Images

     

 

Games, Apps, Music and Interactive Sites

Musician Artist spotlight: Nicolas Dominique, Chillout/Trance/Electronic music. 

This polish musician is a great choice to listen to if you want original chill-out/trance/electronic music. This musician also does some very good remixes.

It’s hard to pick a favourite piece, but I might have to go with track #2 from "Power of the Night". And as a collaborative work, "The Final Farewell" is a great chill-out piece.

Incidentally, do not worry about the brony stuff if that doesn’t interest you, this music can be enjoyed by everyone.

Nightmare In Silver [Doctor Who spoilers]

Doctor Who s07be07 – Nightmare In Silver

I did not think this episode was as strong as it could be. I’ll put that out there right now. The Cybermen are basically becoming the Borg. They can upgrade anyone at any point, they can "upgrade" in-battle. It’s.. it’s going downhill. ALSO. PROBLEM. I saw a logo on one of the chest plates, a "C" logo, from the alternate universe Cybermen suit. WRONG.

Now, it mentioned "Cyberia". In universe prime, they originated on a planet from our solar system, called Mondas. I read up on my Cybermen lore before this episode, knowing things would be knocked out of whack. However, it did reference the Cybermen planning computer, that was all correct. And the doctor correctly used gold to disable the borg- cyber-implant, but he said that was because of the code. It’s because it inhibits breathing for the organic parts, not the code.

Also, the Doctor, when "possessed?", acted much too fluidly for my liking. If one was under control of a cyber circuit, i don’t think the body would act like that. Also, the cyber-planner was showing emotion. I.. I don’t even… No.

Now, seeing that chess game bugged me. Sure, the doctor plays that way. He distracts his enemy, but I don’t see a cyber-planner taking on someone in chess. And disarming an entire 3 million strong army for a few moves is ridiculous.

However, well done Warwick Davis. He played the part of an emperor brilliantly. Also, the supporting actors of the punishment fleet were great. They did give the impression of being a bit blundersome, and yet still willing to fight (albeit a bit cowardly, but then who isn’t when faced with the Cybermen?).

There was also a nice reference to the episode The tomb of the Cybermen, where all of the Cybermen are essentially in hibernation. It also showed them being revived which was a bit better than the black and white Cybermen pawing at cling-film.

One thing I feel could have improved this episode is if the Cybermen were a bit more co-ordinated. when marching, it did look to me as if they were ever-so-slightly out of step, as if it didn’t sync up with the "thud" of the march. Also, if the cyber-planner was given a bit more insight, rather than just personifying it as a doctor with a blinky silver smear on his face.

• Story: 6/10
• Execution: 5/10
• Bonus: eugh
• This Episode: 11/25

YBIG #8

YouTube Videos

Cmdr_Hadfield does some cool science!

Veritasium explains some rocket science with the aid of water jetpacks.

Ever wonder just what a DDoS attack would look like?

Blogs, Posts and News

There has been a call to bring in new laws in order to prevent the automated killing of humans. This law will aid in stopping the manufacture of robots capable of killing people without human control.

How much do you value your facebook friends? An app was created that randomly deleted friends, to see if users noticed a change. The app has since been taken down, but you can get the same effect by asking a friend to go onto your device and do the same. [A trusted friend, mind you.]

HD Moore managed to find that 310 million devices connected to the internet, possible some of your own devices, have extremely serious flaws in their security. Even devices of major corporations.

Images

   

Games, Apps and Interactive Sites

This site will show you just how far it is from the earth to mars, in terms of the pixels on your computer screen! Really puts things into perspective!