So since most of the stuff I talk about on this blog are either computer techy things and anime related things this blog post seems like a good idea.Anyhow let's start from the weakest to the strongest ones.I will split them into programmers and security hackers.Also those here are only from the anime I have watched,and the ones I bothered to remember.
18)
Baggis[Madlax]:
Bought a super computer he helped build with his students.Hacked the worlds strongest supercomputer with it and partly succeded.
17)
Yoriko Yunoki[Battle programmer Shirase]:
Got pwned by the 2 bad guys so she had to call for Shirase's help.Still apparently she is a child prodigy security hacker.
16)
Saitou Hideki[Battle programmer Shirase]:
Nothing but a comic relief sidekick to the bad guy.
15)
Ose Rintarou[Battle programmer Shirase]:
The big bad of that anime.He was beaten so hard that dropped him down here.
14)
Kona Furugoori[Robotics;notes]:
She leans more towards a programmer but she has latent potential for security hacking.Her masterpiece was a world popular video game that was used to bring down the big bad.The only reason she was not higher on the list was because her competitors in the anime were just ridiculously too overpowered.However she still managed to leak a video feed behind the big bad's back which was crucial to reunite the good guys.
13)
Friday Monday[Madlax]:
The big bad that outhacked Baggis.Generally he observes the whole world from his worlds strongest supercomputer.
12)
Alice[Kamisama no memochou]:
A security hacker.She is able to hack every camera,bankpretty much whatever possible in the world.In fact she can hack those to such detail that she is able to solve actual crime cases with that information alone.She is also actively trying to supress wars,end the poverty in africa etc...
11)
Mimi[Mnemosyne no musume]:
Her hacking abilities have proven to be very useful.No facility was safe from her.
10)
Katsuyuki Kamiyama[Mnemosyne no musume]:
A developer.Called the modern Von Neumann.Revolutionised computer science.Outsmarted Mimi.
9)
Itaru Hashida[Steins;gate]:
Definitely more a security hacker than a programmer.He did develop drivers for his and his friends inventions but that is probably all.However hacking one of the most secure computer environments in the world?A day of work,for him.Hacking it even further so they could use the Large Hadron Collider,even easier.
8)
Motoko Kusanagi[Ghost in the shell]:
A security hacker.One of her specialties is hacking into other people(as far as I remember,still she was pretty awesome but my memories of her are kind of cloudy).
7)
The laughing man[Ghost in the shell]:
Another security hacker.He does everything Motoko Kusanagi does except he does it twice as good as she does.No wonder she had trouble identifying him.
6)
Masami Eiri[Serial experiments Lain]:
With him the guys that are seriously overpowered start.He is a programmer.He developed the internet protocole version 7.In it he also developed a way to transfer a human soul into the internet.He was the big bad in that anime and could hack people with the blink of an eye.
5)
Lain Iwakura[Serial experiments Lain]:
A security hacker.She transferred her soul onto the internet.Took root privileges from Masami Eiri and did rm rf /home/Masami Eiri(to translate to non geeks she deleted him).
4)
Kou Kimijima[Robotics;notes]:
A developer who could as well be a hacker.He developed a augmented reality application which became a de facto standard(this is why you should not use closed source de facto standard programs :P )which he used to manipulate the world around himself.He also programmed his soul onto the internet.He hacked enough people to start creating a new world order.The reason why he is in front of the pair from Serial experiments Lain is that he even knew how to do a proper backup of himself on the internet :P .
3)
Shirase Akira[Battle programmer Shirase]:
Although it is implied he is a do it all he is a security hacker.Once he touches anything electronic the bad guy is stopped.He once blew up the worlds strongest supercomputer with a cell phone.The only reason he is not higher up is because he is from a humor oriented anime.However there are not many more places higher up than him.Kudos to him.
2)
Toshiyuki Sawada[Robotics;notes]
A hacker who spent several years undetected or at least unharmed right by the side of Kimijima Kou and his superhuman mind puppet.However his reat al masterpiece was the fact that he developed an antivirus against Kimijima Kou,and all that is even more impressive if you consider the fact that he did not have to hook his soul to the internet to do so.
1)
Yuuki Nagato[Suzumiya Haruhi series]:
Yep,a hacker.Or to be more precise an actual alien humanoid interface computer.She is very able to hack actual reality,time and space are her root privileges.
Keep in mind tha this is just made for entertainment and is in no way accurate,just my personal opinion.
[Update]Honorable mentions go to Kirito and Kayaba Akihiko,since I forgot to mention them.
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Why your browser sucks!
Alright just a small warning guys,this will be a bit of rant and there will be rude words.This does not mean your browser is bad in any way and that it does not have any good sides.I will just concentrate on the negatives.I have nothing against blind people or whatever I mention here.
Warning:expect large amounts of profanity from this point onward.And for bonus points PIRATE ENGLISH!
Firefox:Sure its free 'n open source but...Why th' hell be it in that pain spot between Chrome 'n Opera(Opera from th' barnacle-covered days) when it comes to weapons.It dont have many features but it takes up all th' freakin' resources,that's what I mean.Also what kind 'o dirty evil mind made it their policy fer all th' features ye need but don't have,just make extensions fer it?'tis not like extensions can slow below ye browser or even completely break it.
Warning:expect large amounts of profanity from this point onward.And for bonus points PIRATE ENGLISH!
Firefox:Sure its free 'n open source but...Why th' hell be it in that pain spot between Chrome 'n Opera(Opera from th' barnacle-covered days) when it comes to weapons.It dont have many features but it takes up all th' freakin' resources,that's what I mean.Also what kind 'o dirty evil mind made it their policy fer all th' features ye need but don't have,just make extensions fer it?'tis not like extensions can slow below ye browser or even completely break it.
Chrome/Chromium:Its true that 'tis browser be slim 'n fast,but does that mean it has to have every sin'le fuckin' bug in th' seven seas?I mean 'tis browser has more bugs than features.Unless ye count weapons as bugs.Seriously,who be th' code maintainer?Obviously a person who dont gift muck number 1 'bout bugs.Oh 'n th' user interface?It was obviously done by a blind person.'tis nice but avast, thar let's butt muck all our users wit' widescreens 'n put only horizontal menus.'n 'open wit''?Who needs that?
Opera:It used to be a great browser,a pair years ago.Basically someone made a 2 year plan on how to destroy 'tis browser.It had both speed 'n loads 'n loads 'o weapons.However,what once was th' fastest browser suddenly became th' slowest browser,unsupported by most websites.How did they muck 'tis up?They switched to a new engine,but dropped 90% 'o their weapons 'n th' new version still has no linux support,'n it has be 6 months fer fucks on a sandwiches sake.
Internet explorer: Fuahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahaha.whar do I even begin?They be slow as shit-barnacles that be fallin' below a turtle's ass.It was probably developed in a zoo,because their code be such shit-barnacles that it breaks below every second,it was probably developed by a sea monster which sat below on a keyboard somewhere in th' MS zoo.Their standards compliance was done by a zebra because zebras have long necks 'n can't spy wit' ye eye onto th' screen 'n that be why it displays websites differently than all th' other browsers do.All their innovations were copied from other browsers Fter 5 fuckin years.'n th' guy who approved Internet explorer 6 fer completion spend a lifetime in guantanamo as a punishment.And of course you support only the shittiest platform of all.
Anyhow,that is the gist of it.
Opera:It used to be a great browser,a pair years ago.Basically someone made a 2 year plan on how to destroy 'tis browser.It had both speed 'n loads 'n loads 'o weapons.However,what once was th' fastest browser suddenly became th' slowest browser,unsupported by most websites.How did they muck 'tis up?They switched to a new engine,but dropped 90% 'o their weapons 'n th' new version still has no linux support,'n it has be 6 months fer fucks on a sandwiches sake.
Internet explorer: Fuahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahahaahahaha.whar do I even begin?They be slow as shit-barnacles that be fallin' below a turtle's ass.It was probably developed in a zoo,because their code be such shit-barnacles that it breaks below every second,it was probably developed by a sea monster which sat below on a keyboard somewhere in th' MS zoo.Their standards compliance was done by a zebra because zebras have long necks 'n can't spy wit' ye eye onto th' screen 'n that be why it displays websites differently than all th' other browsers do.All their innovations were copied from other browsers Fter 5 fuckin years.'n th' guy who approved Internet explorer 6 fer completion spend a lifetime in guantanamo as a punishment.And of course you support only the shittiest platform of all.
Anyhow,that is the gist of it.
By Mario Kamenjak
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Pandakon 2013-good,good memories!
The attendance was much higher than it was anticipated. Ofc. this convention is still very very new so it wasn't like 10000 people,but still It was pretty crowded from the very beginning.There were enough cosplayers and they were all willing to take photographs.
Well at the beginning of the convention there were origami workshops.These were interesting,however I failed at my first try to make a origami swan.Then there was a lecture about japan its culture and it contained many pictures from Japan.There was also a lecture about the lolita subculture.There was a workshop about draing in the Japanese manga style.Also there was a workshop about the lolita style of clothing and a lecture about how to make bento lunchboxes.There were anime projections as well.
However I would say that the highpoint of the convention were the cosplay and outfit competitions.During that time the hall was full of people and it was sweaty...you know.But the weird thing is that after the cosplay competition a set of completely new cosplayers arrived.
After that there were karaoke.At that time I took the chance to go to the local student caffeteria to eat some dinner.When I came back karaoke was still on so I got out and chatted with my mates for a while.After the karaoke they announced the winners of the cosplay competition.One winner was decided by the jury,the other was decided by voting.Both of the winners totally deserved to win the competition.
After the winners of the competitions were announced all that was left was a j-pop/j
Also during the whole time of the convention you could buy,sell or exchange mangas and collectible items(from now on known as "loot").And I didn't get out empty handed.
So here are the photos from Pandakon:
So this is the loot i got from Pandakon.I exchanged my Negima volumes 1,2,3,4 for volumes 5,6,7,8.I sold 3 of my Death note volumes(4,5,6) and bought Pandora hearts volumes 1 and 3.I am especially fond of the fate/stay night excalibur key-ring,it has both the sword and the scabbard.
Here I took some photos with the most impressive cosplayer.Notice the gun?I wonder how many hours did it take to prepare this cosplay.Anyhow,she deservedly won the cosplay competition by vote of the public.She cosplayed as Seras Victoria from Hellsing and Hellsing ultimate.
This one is hard to see,but this is a Mikasa cosplay from Shingeki no kyojin(Attack on titan).
And here is a Suigintou(Rozen maiden) cosplay which I liked a lot.Too bad it didn't even get 2nd or 3rd place in the competition.
And here is me posing with the one and only L from death note!
A picture from the manga drawing workshop.
Two almost identical pictures of a Christa cosplay from Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on titan).In the cosplay competition she was the jury's favorite and she won first place.She totally deserved it.
This is a group photo of all the cosplayers after the actual cosplay competiotion.
This one is very blurry,anyhow,this was from a stall selling homemade pixel art merchandise.
A stall from an active anime community in Croatia.
A stall selling voodoo dolls huh,huh :| :(.I am not sure what to think of it.
Those were nominated as the best cosplays.
And here is a group photo of all the cosplayers and outfit competition competitors.
Wow,lengthwise this is probably my longest post yet XD.
Written by:Mario Kamenjak
Sunday, 20 October 2013
Ubuntu 13.10 mini review{Updated}
Up until lately I have been using Ubuntu 13.04,and a few days ago I upgraded to Ubuntu 13.10.Now I will write a mini review of Ubuntu 13.10.
The problem with writing a review of Linux Ubuntu 13.10 is that there is not much to write about.Most of the changes were either bugfixes or were changes under the hood.
Standardly the new version brought new versions of everything:kernel,Libre office,gui...
I have had just a minor problem while upgrading.Since I have both KDE and unity installed I had to uninstall unity before I could upgrade,and later reinstall it.
Now let's talk about some bugs I have had in 13.04 and if they are fixed in 13.10:
-GPU overheating with standard drivers-This bug is still here.I have found a kind of fix.I basically have to shut down hybrid graphics from the bios.The problem with that fix is that my Radeon gpu is the one which is deactivated in that case.
{Update}
-With some toying around it can be fixed:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver#Kernel_3.11.x_.28Ubuntu_13.10.2BAC8-Saucy.29_and_Later
-I even installed the proprietary drivers without a problem like this:
http://rudrageek.com/linux-now-supports-hybrid-graphics-systems-ubuntu-13-10/
-Can't create online accounts-Luckily fixed.Now I can synchronize my g+,facebook,and whatever accounts into applications like shotwell,empathy and whatever I want.
-Luckily I did not find any new bugs yet.
Now let's talk about whatever small changes I have noticed in the new unity GUI.There were some new nice icons,nothing big.Also dash now finally supports smart scopes.It is basically a tool which you can use to search online websites without a browser and you search them together with your local programs and files.And those smart scopes are pretty configurable,you can disable them,leave them as they are or configure them in more or less any way you want.
And what is my verdict?It is an improvement over 13.04 and for now I plan to stay on it.
The problem with writing a review of Linux Ubuntu 13.10 is that there is not much to write about.Most of the changes were either bugfixes or were changes under the hood.
Standardly the new version brought new versions of everything:kernel,Libre office,gui...
I have had just a minor problem while upgrading.Since I have both KDE and unity installed I had to uninstall unity before I could upgrade,and later reinstall it.
Now let's talk about some bugs I have had in 13.04 and if they are fixed in 13.10:
-GPU overheating with standard drivers-This bug is still here.I have found a kind of fix.I basically have to shut down hybrid graphics from the bios.The problem with that fix is that my Radeon gpu is the one which is deactivated in that case.
{Update}
-With some toying around it can be fixed:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver#Kernel_3.11.x_.28Ubuntu_13.10.2BAC8-Saucy.29_and_Later
-I even installed the proprietary drivers without a problem like this:
http://rudrageek.com/linux-now-supports-hybrid-graphics-systems-ubuntu-13-10/
-Can't create online accounts-Luckily fixed.Now I can synchronize my g+,facebook,and whatever accounts into applications like shotwell,empathy and whatever I want.
-Luckily I did not find any new bugs yet.
Now let's talk about whatever small changes I have noticed in the new unity GUI.There were some new nice icons,nothing big.Also dash now finally supports smart scopes.It is basically a tool which you can use to search online websites without a browser and you search them together with your local programs and files.And those smart scopes are pretty configurable,you can disable them,leave them as they are or configure them in more or less any way you want.
And what is my verdict?It is an improvement over 13.04 and for now I plan to stay on it.
Monday, 7 October 2013
Music
So...for a while already I have wanted to write a post about music.I will write about which music genres I like.I will end with the ones I like most.
Keep this in mind:I am a normal(more or less) guy,those are just my opinions,I don't hate,judge,discriminate or even dislike other people just because they don't listen to the same music I do.
90's techno:Yeah,occasionally there are some good old school techno songs like voodoo people...
Classical/neoclassical:Sometimes I like that refined sound.Especially when the song/composition is a bit lively,or when it is quite dramatic.
Ska:This one happened accidentally.Ska songs were often played in a club which I liked to visit.All of a sudden I noticed that ska makes for some very relaxing background ambient music.
J-pop:I watch loads of anime,that came with the territory.After watchings tons of anime ending/opening songs you gotta start liking some of them.
Now let's go to the genres I like more...
Rock:A very very broad genre with multiple dozens of huge subgenres so you really have a choice.I am kind of at a loss of words here because most of us have a basic idea what rock is.The best thing about rock is how it is unpredictable,especially its tempo can range from slow mellow songs to fast hard rock songs.Plus it incorporates other genres I have or will mention in this post.
Punk rock:Oh yeah...I like its 'no fucks are given' attitude,its songs,its lyrics.Punk rock is...punk rock is about having fun,but it is just as much about being serious.There are those songs which are clearly just designed for having fun and then there are more serious songs.There is traditional punk rock and there is hardcore punk.Another thing I like about punk is that it often has very smart messages in its lyrics.
J-rock:I already said that I like J-pop,and I also already said that I like Rock.Well then how could I not like J-rock?Of course I like it,I love it.
And now my favorite genre...
Metal:I love it.Everything from it.Old school or new school.Traditional heavy metal or extreme metal.Black,death,gothic,symphonic,progressive metal...Basically when I listen to it I feel like that music has so much raw power,and almost like some of that power is transferred to me.Yeah,I know this last sentence sounded absurd but,we are talking about music.Metal also has loads of subgenres so it is hard to get bored of it.For me Metal is the opposite of boring,it is about excitement when the riffs are just great.
Anyhow,so much about that.I just hope you will be fair and not judge me because of the music I listen to.
Have a nice day :)
Keep this in mind:I am a normal(more or less) guy,those are just my opinions,I don't hate,judge,discriminate or even dislike other people just because they don't listen to the same music I do.
90's techno:Yeah,occasionally there are some good old school techno songs like voodoo people...
Classical/neoclassical:Sometimes I like that refined sound.Especially when the song/composition is a bit lively,or when it is quite dramatic.
Ska:This one happened accidentally.Ska songs were often played in a club which I liked to visit.All of a sudden I noticed that ska makes for some very relaxing background ambient music.
J-pop:I watch loads of anime,that came with the territory.After watchings tons of anime ending/opening songs you gotta start liking some of them.
Now let's go to the genres I like more...
Rock:A very very broad genre with multiple dozens of huge subgenres so you really have a choice.I am kind of at a loss of words here because most of us have a basic idea what rock is.The best thing about rock is how it is unpredictable,especially its tempo can range from slow mellow songs to fast hard rock songs.Plus it incorporates other genres I have or will mention in this post.
Punk rock:Oh yeah...I like its 'no fucks are given' attitude,its songs,its lyrics.Punk rock is...punk rock is about having fun,but it is just as much about being serious.There are those songs which are clearly just designed for having fun and then there are more serious songs.There is traditional punk rock and there is hardcore punk.Another thing I like about punk is that it often has very smart messages in its lyrics.
J-rock:I already said that I like J-pop,and I also already said that I like Rock.Well then how could I not like J-rock?Of course I like it,I love it.
And now my favorite genre...
Metal:I love it.Everything from it.Old school or new school.Traditional heavy metal or extreme metal.Black,death,gothic,symphonic,progressive metal...Basically when I listen to it I feel like that music has so much raw power,and almost like some of that power is transferred to me.Yeah,I know this last sentence sounded absurd but,we are talking about music.Metal also has loads of subgenres so it is hard to get bored of it.For me Metal is the opposite of boring,it is about excitement when the riffs are just great.
Anyhow,so much about that.I just hope you will be fair and not judge me because of the music I listen to.
Have a nice day :)
Sunday, 29 September 2013
End of summer 2013-report
Right now I am sitting in a train traveling to my right now favorite place in the world(Zagreb) and counting the last hours of my almost 3 month long summer vacation.It was a pretty average summer.
In June/early July I still had some exams left to finish.At the beginning of that exam period I was pretty pessimistic about it.I almost screwed up some things,so I was expecting a possible catastrophe like last summer.However in the end I actually even increased my total average,with some surprisingly good grades.Somewhere at this point I switched from Ubuntu 12.04 to Ubuntu 13.04.
In early July I finished all my exams so this is when my vacation actually began.I was afraid I could fail the last exam but I actually aced it.It was still a close call though because I did not have time to answer all the questions.Soon I started looking for a part time job.Because at 21 that was my next step towards independence.I did not really do it for the money(alright,maybe a little for the money),what I actually wanted was the experience.But while I was waiting to get a job I did not just wait while doing nothing,I tried to get some skills.At first I wanted to familiarize myself with the basics of the python programming language.I think I did learn enough that If I would ever want/need to get serious about it I would have a good starting point.I also tried to learn myself some Linux terminal commands.I had the same result as with python,a good starting point.This might have been the best period of my vacation.
I think I finished multiple dozens of Anime movies and series during July XD.Bakuman was great at that time.
August...I was still searching for a new job.I already had several job interviews under my belt and I already kind of knew what to expect.I still continued to slowly gain some skills.I think that that month I watched loads of computer security related tutorials and "how to" videos on Youtube.And at the end of August it finally happened :I found a job!!!!It's true that I quit after 4 days(because it simply was not going right,most of my coworkers quit as well),but I have to look at the positives.I gained that initial experience that I wanted so much and I learned that I can survive an 8 hour working day.So that was for me another step into adulthood.
In August,just like I did in July I finished loads of anime.Puella magi Madoka magica and Steins gate were great at that time.August was also very good.
September...Was kind of,well I spent most of my time helping out my parents.Sure nothing wrong with that,but yeah,I am not really a family person.I tried learning some Japanese Hiragana.Well I could have done better.I really did not have a lot of free time during September :( .I was hoping to spend 5 days in Zagreb but unfortunately I had to cancel that,because I was just too busy.So September left a bad aftertaste.
And here I am now counting the last hours of my vacation.Ultimately it was better than last summer which was mostly spent for learning for my HTML/CSS exam because I needed to take it a third time,but it was worse than expected.
I spent most of my time in a small town in my parents house. Unfortunately that small town is boring as fuck,so I spent most of my free time doing nothing specific and just being in my room. Occasionally I went to Zagreb for college stuff or for job hunting,those days were fun...
So what will I do with the remaining few hours of vacation?I guess watch some anime,sleep,wake up,experiment if I can jam my wifi signal with Kali Linux,paint,go shopping,eat...and then my first class of the semester will start so the vacation will be officially over.
Well that's just it.
Though I hope I won't stop blogging. I still have some blog post ideas in my mind.Maybe I won't post as frequently as I did during vacation,but hey I will try...
Friday, 20 September 2013
KDE vs Unity
So basically,once I installed my standard Ubuntu 13.04 a few months ago,the first thing I did was install KDE alongside Unity.I had some reasons why I did that.Well you will learn more about those reasons in this post.So since I have those two I decided to make a comparison between them.
1. Ease of use:
Probably the most important category.Unity has a great launcher with appropriately sized icons,it has the dash which is easy to navigate and it has the hub.Everything is a few clicks away.KDE on the other hand has pretty standard ease of use..A pretty standard taskbar similar(the one that windows 7 ripped off).Nothing special there.
Winner:Unity!
2. Startup speed:
People complain that unity is slow,but KDE is even worse.
Winner:Unity!
3. Customization and personalization:
Unity can be configured pretty nicely if you know how to do it...However KDE is unbeatable there.The most configurable interface right now.With enough creativity you could make it look like it was done on crack.
Winner:KDE!
4. Out of the box beauty:
Out of the box both are pretty good.It is just that Unity is a bit more composed,has a better default wall paper,a better default theme and some minor pluses.
Winner:Unity!
5. After customization beauty:
If you give it some effort you can really make your KDE interface shine.It has tons of effects,a multitude of great themes to choose.And you can pick colors for everything.You can move your task-bar into any side of the screen,even put it in the middle of the screen,you can change the size and shape of the task-bar both vertically and horizontally...
Winner:KDE!
6. Neatness:
The desktop in unity is as neat as its user.Nothing special there.However KDE has some features which allow you to keep your desktop neater.It has this kind of "fence" where your icons,folders and documents are.You will see it on the screenshot I will provide.
Winner:KDE!
Here is a screenshot of my Unity desktop.The only customisation here is the wallpaper:
1. Ease of use:
Probably the most important category.Unity has a great launcher with appropriately sized icons,it has the dash which is easy to navigate and it has the hub.Everything is a few clicks away.KDE on the other hand has pretty standard ease of use..A pretty standard taskbar similar(the one that windows 7 ripped off).Nothing special there.
Winner:Unity!
2. Startup speed:
People complain that unity is slow,but KDE is even worse.
Winner:Unity!
3. Customization and personalization:
Unity can be configured pretty nicely if you know how to do it...However KDE is unbeatable there.The most configurable interface right now.With enough creativity you could make it look like it was done on crack.
Winner:KDE!
4. Out of the box beauty:
Out of the box both are pretty good.It is just that Unity is a bit more composed,has a better default wall paper,a better default theme and some minor pluses.
Winner:Unity!
5. After customization beauty:
If you give it some effort you can really make your KDE interface shine.It has tons of effects,a multitude of great themes to choose.And you can pick colors for everything.You can move your task-bar into any side of the screen,even put it in the middle of the screen,you can change the size and shape of the task-bar both vertically and horizontally...
Winner:KDE!
6. Neatness:
The desktop in unity is as neat as its user.Nothing special there.However KDE has some features which allow you to keep your desktop neater.It has this kind of "fence" where your icons,folders and documents are.You will see it on the screenshot I will provide.
Winner:KDE!
Here is a screenshot of my Unity desktop.The only customisation here is the wallpaper:
And here is KDE.What you see there is how the wobbly windows effect works,once you move a window it becomes wobbly :).This one is heavily customized:
So its a tie with 3:3!
Monday, 16 September 2013
Anime conference in Zagreb:Pandakon 2013!
A few months ago I was asking myself if there are any anime related conferences in Zagreb,or at least in the vicinity of Croatia.The answer was of course,no more than 0!However,that changed,now there is one,but I will write about that one a few paragraphs later.
Back then a few months ago I even found a list of anime conferences in Europe.It seemed that the closest anime convention was in Belgium.Lol,no way,that's too far.
Ok,on that list were probably only some of the biggest and most succesful conventions in Europe,so I can probably guess there were conventions closer to Croatia.However we live in a hit or miss kind of world.Going out of the country just to visit some small conferences seems like too much.
However again,things have changed.Just a few days ago I was informed that some enthusiasts are trying to establish their own anime convention right here in Zagreb.I immediately started thinking,has the world finally come to its senses and started to bend at my own will?(lol,probably not)
Here is the official facebook page(unfortunately in Croatian,but you are still welcome even if you are not from Croatia):
https://www.facebook.com/events/504336189651664/
First of course the entrance fee:it's free :)(free as in free beer I guess XD).The conference will be held on the 27/28th october 2013,and it will be open from 12:00 until 03:00 the next day.
Now,what can you expect there...one word:
-movie projections
-karaoke
-cosplay
-outfit competitions with rich prizes
-j-pop
-j-rock
-anime soundtracks
-anime beauty salons
-creative booths
-manga trading
-merchandise trading
-and more...
And if that isn't enough I will be there.This might be your once in a lifetime chance to meet me.I mean,what else could you want?(ok that's enough joking).
But seriously now,this convention promises to be AWESOME!If you have the time you should definitely go there.I mean,this sort of thing rarely happens in Zagreb,or even in Croatia,and if enough people come,there will be another convention next year.And if even more people start coming this convention might grow and become even more AWESOME!
Back then a few months ago I even found a list of anime conferences in Europe.It seemed that the closest anime convention was in Belgium.Lol,no way,that's too far.
Ok,on that list were probably only some of the biggest and most succesful conventions in Europe,so I can probably guess there were conventions closer to Croatia.However we live in a hit or miss kind of world.Going out of the country just to visit some small conferences seems like too much.
However again,things have changed.Just a few days ago I was informed that some enthusiasts are trying to establish their own anime convention right here in Zagreb.I immediately started thinking,has the world finally come to its senses and started to bend at my own will?(lol,probably not)
Here is the official facebook page(unfortunately in Croatian,but you are still welcome even if you are not from Croatia):
https://www.facebook.com/events/504336189651664/
First of course the entrance fee:it's free :)(free as in free beer I guess XD).The conference will be held on the 27/28th october 2013,and it will be open from 12:00 until 03:00 the next day.
Now,what can you expect there...one word:
Awesomeness!!!!
There will be:-movie projections
-karaoke
-cosplay
-outfit competitions with rich prizes
-j-pop
-j-rock
-anime soundtracks
-anime beauty salons
-creative booths
-manga trading
-merchandise trading
-and more...
And if that isn't enough I will be there.This might be your once in a lifetime chance to meet me.I mean,what else could you want?(ok that's enough joking).
But seriously now,this convention promises to be AWESOME!If you have the time you should definitely go there.I mean,this sort of thing rarely happens in Zagreb,or even in Croatia,and if enough people come,there will be another convention next year.And if even more people start coming this convention might grow and become even more AWESOME!
Sunday, 8 September 2013
Why anime is not for kids only!
So the worst misconception and stereotype about anime is that just like 95% of western animation(cartoons) it is for kids only.That could not be farther away from the truth.How many times have people told you that anime is only for children?Well good news,it is not only for children.
Don't think I hate cartoons,as a child I loved them.Even now some spongebob,simpsons,south park jokes still crack me up.Btw. in this post most of the things that are animated but are not anime will be included into "cartoons".
Back to anime though.Modern anime even has separate genres for adults,like josei,seinen and well stuff like ecchi and hentai.
A year ago I also found this article on tvtropes(a great website btw.):
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimationageGhetto
The problem is that this article has been changed a lot since then,or I would rather say it was destroyed.It is missing the information I was looking four.Luckily I can still remember most of it.The next link is proof that the article was changed,because if you will read everything there carefully,it will not make sense:
http://www.animeforum.com/showthread.php?116207-Animation-Age-Ghetto&s=cfafb97fbd15dc00a942f122d99c30f5
So now I will try to remember what was written there and retell it in my own way.We have to go to the past a bit.The history of anime and cartoons between the 1940's and the 1970's.
In the 1940's/1950's anime and cartoons were both basically carbon copies of each other.Unlike todays cartoons which are aimed only at children,1940's cartoons were aimed to adults as well.Just like anime today they had adult themes.In fact cartoons were mostly considered to be a form of art,so you could win academy awards,without investing a lot of money.Back then you could make cartoons or anime without investing a huge amount of money into production.That is not really childlike,is it?
So what changed both the anime and cartoon industry?When did they split up into two diverse entities?
To understand that we need to mention the difference in tastes between adults and children.
Adults want/need:good animation quality,realistic animation,a good story,character development,good sound...
Children:don't care about any quality as long as they can spend some time.
So in 1953 color TV was introduced.For anime and cartoon producers this meant that in order to attract grown up audiences they had to invest more money into production.BAM,that is when things started to change and the so called "animation age ghetto" was created.
The cartoon industry decided to take the easy road.Children don't care about good animation quality,a good story and stuff like that.So by the beginning of the 1960's most cartoons were oriented towards children.This was done in order to cut production costs.Because with the introduction of color tv adults started to demand more and more quality.
The anime industry did not do the same mistake.They continued to improve the story.They continued to improve the animation quality.The anime industry instead continued to try to appeal to the more mature audiences.
In the 1970's the cartoon industry continued the trend that started in the 1950's.The 1970's were even worse because the first "30 minute toy commercials" have started at that time.
In fact we had to wait for the 1990's (The Simpsons to be more precise) to see the first signs of this trend slowing down.
This of course created the stereotype in western culture that everything that is animated is for children.
Meanwhile what was happening in Japan?
In the 1960's the traditional anime style of animation was established.That is when the anime industry became its own entity.That is when anime became what it is today.In the 1970's many modern animation studios like madhouse and sunrise were founded.This allowed a whole new generation of authors to enter the anime industry.The mecha subgenre was established.And then came the 1980's...
Here are some more sources.I found those while I was searching for the original text of the first source I mentioned in this blog post:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation
http://sdfeitherway.blogspot.com/2011/11/animation-age-ghetto-discussion.html?showComment=1378639522730#c2363120502267166652
http://storify.com/Mike_Jagger92/animation-age-ghetto
Don't think I hate cartoons,as a child I loved them.Even now some spongebob,simpsons,south park jokes still crack me up.Btw. in this post most of the things that are animated but are not anime will be included into "cartoons".
Back to anime though.Modern anime even has separate genres for adults,like josei,seinen and well stuff like ecchi and hentai.
A year ago I also found this article on tvtropes(a great website btw.):
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimationageGhetto
The problem is that this article has been changed a lot since then,or I would rather say it was destroyed.It is missing the information I was looking four.Luckily I can still remember most of it.The next link is proof that the article was changed,because if you will read everything there carefully,it will not make sense:
http://www.animeforum.com/showthread.php?116207-Animation-Age-Ghetto&s=cfafb97fbd15dc00a942f122d99c30f5
This is a quote from the old article before it was edited:
With standards lowered and budgets tightened, cartoons became little more than a drawn series of humorous gags devoid or blunted of emotional impact. Soon, it became unavoidable that the children's demographic became its target market. Although they were often funny and creative, their lack of concern for depth or strong characterization lent little room for adults to enjoy them. Furthermore in the West, animation was pigeonholed into a stereotype that they could only be successful if they were humorous.
In the 1940's/1950's anime and cartoons were both basically carbon copies of each other.Unlike todays cartoons which are aimed only at children,1940's cartoons were aimed to adults as well.Just like anime today they had adult themes.In fact cartoons were mostly considered to be a form of art,so you could win academy awards,without investing a lot of money.Back then you could make cartoons or anime without investing a huge amount of money into production.That is not really childlike,is it?
So what changed both the anime and cartoon industry?When did they split up into two diverse entities?
To understand that we need to mention the difference in tastes between adults and children.
Adults want/need:good animation quality,realistic animation,a good story,character development,good sound...
Children:don't care about any quality as long as they can spend some time.
So in 1953 color TV was introduced.For anime and cartoon producers this meant that in order to attract grown up audiences they had to invest more money into production.BAM,that is when things started to change and the so called "animation age ghetto" was created.
The cartoon industry decided to take the easy road.Children don't care about good animation quality,a good story and stuff like that.So by the beginning of the 1960's most cartoons were oriented towards children.This was done in order to cut production costs.Because with the introduction of color tv adults started to demand more and more quality.
The anime industry did not do the same mistake.They continued to improve the story.They continued to improve the animation quality.The anime industry instead continued to try to appeal to the more mature audiences.
In the 1970's the cartoon industry continued the trend that started in the 1950's.The 1970's were even worse because the first "30 minute toy commercials" have started at that time.
In fact we had to wait for the 1990's (The Simpsons to be more precise) to see the first signs of this trend slowing down.
This of course created the stereotype in western culture that everything that is animated is for children.
Meanwhile what was happening in Japan?
In the 1960's the traditional anime style of animation was established.That is when the anime industry became its own entity.That is when anime became what it is today.In the 1970's many modern animation studios like madhouse and sunrise were founded.This allowed a whole new generation of authors to enter the anime industry.The mecha subgenre was established.And then came the 1980's...
Here are some more sources.I found those while I was searching for the original text of the first source I mentioned in this blog post:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation
http://sdfeitherway.blogspot.com/2011/11/animation-age-ghetto-discussion.html?showComment=1378639522730#c2363120502267166652
http://storify.com/Mike_Jagger92/animation-age-ghetto
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Foreign languages and how to remember them.
So,one day I was thinking about what were my talents.Not what were my skills,but what were my talents.Most of the skills I have acquired were not acquired by talent,they were acquired through tough practice.However,I am not a talentless person,I just never really got motivated to develop the talents I got.
My computer skills were gained purely by practice.I even think that a lot of my college friends have a better learning curve than I have.
However,let's go back to my talents now.I think I have two pretty good talents(maybe more,but those are the only ones I can think of right now).The first one is that I am great with foreign languages.I mean If I had tried I am sure that by now I could have learned at least 10 languages.I didn't because of laziness.The other one is my ability to surprise people,even myself,even if I don't try.I mean seriously there is nobody in my life whom I haven't surprised.Intentionally or not.Luckily right now I am more or less successful at limiting my surprises to positive or neutral surprises.I am filled with surprises.
Now,let's go back to foreign languages.The context being that I am in the process of learning Japanese.I have actually written the next parts a week ago on a forum,but the forum post was so good that I thought I could expand it into a blog post:
The good:My Japanese is good enough that if I started learning it intensively now that I could speak it pretty good in less than a year.Or watch raw anime.
The bad:If I continue with this speed it might take half a decade or even a whole decade.
I have tried watching an episode of hellsing the dawn raw,and I think I at least partly understood half of it.It was a few months ago.The truth is you can really learn a language just by consuming a lot of media in a certain language.I learned German when I was six just by watching German TV.Even without translated subtitles.I also think I learned more English by using it on the Internet or watching movies in English,and guess what I almost qualified for my country's national English competition.I was second in the Zagreb county and I will always regret the fact that I did not score 2 more points to qualify.And my German used to be even better than my English a few years ago.Yeah I guess I got my point across.Even children learn their mother tongue by listening to people around them.There is no such thing as genetic knowledge.At least that is what science says.You learn languages by using them,not by well "learning them manually".
The problem with that is that you also forget languages by not using them.College has proven that my English is not at its best.Because for some reason or another I am just not using it as much as I did before.Maybe I could switch to dubbed anime,but then I would have to quit on my Japanese so I won't.And my German is even worse off.I haven't had a proper chance to use it ever since they stopped airing German dubbed anime on German TV.But I am planning to enter a student exchange program,and I plan to go to Germany trough that program next year,so I guess I will have a good chance to renew both my English and my German then.
Another problem with this method is that it is not very good for learning grammar,unless you really stick to it.
That's it.Hope you had a good time reading this.
My computer skills were gained purely by practice.I even think that a lot of my college friends have a better learning curve than I have.
However,let's go back to my talents now.I think I have two pretty good talents(maybe more,but those are the only ones I can think of right now).The first one is that I am great with foreign languages.I mean If I had tried I am sure that by now I could have learned at least 10 languages.I didn't because of laziness.The other one is my ability to surprise people,even myself,even if I don't try.I mean seriously there is nobody in my life whom I haven't surprised.Intentionally or not.Luckily right now I am more or less successful at limiting my surprises to positive or neutral surprises.I am filled with surprises.
Now,let's go back to foreign languages.The context being that I am in the process of learning Japanese.I have actually written the next parts a week ago on a forum,but the forum post was so good that I thought I could expand it into a blog post:
The good:My Japanese is good enough that if I started learning it intensively now that I could speak it pretty good in less than a year.Or watch raw anime.
The bad:If I continue with this speed it might take half a decade or even a whole decade.
I have tried watching an episode of hellsing the dawn raw,and I think I at least partly understood half of it.It was a few months ago.The truth is you can really learn a language just by consuming a lot of media in a certain language.I learned German when I was six just by watching German TV.Even without translated subtitles.I also think I learned more English by using it on the Internet or watching movies in English,and guess what I almost qualified for my country's national English competition.I was second in the Zagreb county and I will always regret the fact that I did not score 2 more points to qualify.And my German used to be even better than my English a few years ago.Yeah I guess I got my point across.Even children learn their mother tongue by listening to people around them.There is no such thing as genetic knowledge.At least that is what science says.You learn languages by using them,not by well "learning them manually".
The problem with that is that you also forget languages by not using them.College has proven that my English is not at its best.Because for some reason or another I am just not using it as much as I did before.Maybe I could switch to dubbed anime,but then I would have to quit on my Japanese so I won't.And my German is even worse off.I haven't had a proper chance to use it ever since they stopped airing German dubbed anime on German TV.But I am planning to enter a student exchange program,and I plan to go to Germany trough that program next year,so I guess I will have a good chance to renew both my English and my German then.
Another problem with this method is that it is not very good for learning grammar,unless you really stick to it.
That's it.Hope you had a good time reading this.
Thursday, 29 August 2013
Stats again:a quickfire double
Two posts today :D
It is always easy to make a post about stats,now here is the first post about stats:
http://thebluedrag.blogspot.com/2013/02/of-statsand-mayonnaise.html
A lot has happened since the old times,I have reached new highs and new lows...
Now,let's go post by post on how many views they have:
C programming "Hello world"...detailed example-264 views
Where would I like to travel/live?-239 views
Off learning and stuff-174 views
Then I have skipped posting for about a month and a half and tihs is what happens:
Mini review of Ubuntu 13.04-460 views.
Seems good right?Well after this i made a pause of 2 and a half months and this is what happened:
Newsflash-17 views
And yet another one...Horror anime....-42 views
A bit about psychology...-29 views
Once read can (not) be unread :P-40 views
Employed...and unemployed again :(-18 views.
So as you can see I am fighting a tough battle to regain my readrship.I have no idea where to freely advertise this blog right now.
The top 3 web pages that generated the most traffic for me in the last month are:
Bug.hr-83 views
Facebook-29views
Myanimelist.net-20 views
Now by countries for last month:
Croatia 216
Usa 57
Mexico 34
Bosnia 21
Russia 16
U.k. 9
Poland 7
Phillipines 6
Australia 5
India 5
Now by browsers for last month:
Chrome 206
Firefox 85
Opera 50
Safari 47
Internet explorer 34
SimplePie 18
Mobile Safari 6
Mobile 3
CriOs 2
BingPreview 1
And now by OS for last month:
Windows 283
Linux 62
Macintosh 50
Other Unix 15
Android 11
Ipad 8
Iphone 4
Ipod 2
Now by country for the whole time:
Croatia 2123
USA 978
Bosnia 227
Philippines 172
Germany 135
U.K. 125
Serbia 121
Japan 91-nice,hope you continue to read me
India 65
Mexico 62
Browsers:
Chrome 2743
Firefox 1496
Opera 510
Internet explorere 279
Safari 151
Mobile safari 47
Simple pie 18
Arora 8
CriOS 7
Maxthon 7
Operating systems:
Windows 3299
Linux 861
Other unix 303
Macintosh 190
Android 68
iPhone 35
iPad 19
Android 2.3.7 5
S60 5
Android 2.3.6 5
And total views: 5.292
I hope you liked reading this!
It is always easy to make a post about stats,now here is the first post about stats:
http://thebluedrag.blogspot.com/2013/02/of-statsand-mayonnaise.html
A lot has happened since the old times,I have reached new highs and new lows...
Now,let's go post by post on how many views they have:
C programming "Hello world"...detailed example-264 views
Where would I like to travel/live?-239 views
Off learning and stuff-174 views
Then I have skipped posting for about a month and a half and tihs is what happens:
Mini review of Ubuntu 13.04-460 views.
Seems good right?Well after this i made a pause of 2 and a half months and this is what happened:
Newsflash-17 views
And yet another one...Horror anime....-42 views
A bit about psychology...-29 views
Once read can (not) be unread :P-40 views
Employed...and unemployed again :(-18 views.
So as you can see I am fighting a tough battle to regain my readrship.I have no idea where to freely advertise this blog right now.
The top 3 web pages that generated the most traffic for me in the last month are:
Bug.hr-83 views
Facebook-29views
Myanimelist.net-20 views
Now by countries for last month:
Croatia 216
Usa 57
Mexico 34
Bosnia 21
Russia 16
U.k. 9
Poland 7
Phillipines 6
Australia 5
India 5
Now by browsers for last month:
Chrome 206
Firefox 85
Opera 50
Safari 47
Internet explorer 34
SimplePie 18
Mobile Safari 6
Mobile 3
CriOs 2
BingPreview 1
And now by OS for last month:
Windows 283
Linux 62
Macintosh 50
Other Unix 15
Android 11
Ipad 8
Iphone 4
Ipod 2
Now by country for the whole time:
Croatia 2123
USA 978
Bosnia 227
Philippines 172
Germany 135
U.K. 125
Serbia 121
Japan 91-nice,hope you continue to read me
India 65
Mexico 62
Browsers:
Chrome 2743
Firefox 1496
Opera 510
Internet explorere 279
Safari 151
Mobile safari 47
Simple pie 18
Arora 8
CriOS 7
Maxthon 7
Operating systems:
Windows 3299
Linux 861
Other unix 303
Macintosh 190
Android 68
iPhone 35
iPad 19
Android 2.3.7 5
S60 5
Android 2.3.6 5
And total views: 5.292
I hope you liked reading this!
For the geeks:Building a secure pc part 1.
First,if you don't really like it,geeky techy stuff...I suggest you move on.Not that you aren't welcome to read it anyways but yeah...
Second,although I am a big security enthusiast,I am still a noob.Sure I know how to find information about the subject and I am well informed about it,but it is incomparable to real security proffesionals.
Third,this is purely theoretical,I am not actually setting this up myself and testing.
And yes,there might be a part 2 some day...maybe.Not promising anything.
Let's start with IT security.What even is that?
Computer security (Also known as cybersecurity or IT Security) is information security as applied to computers and networks.
The field covers all the processes and mechanisms by which computer-based equipment, information and services are protected from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction. Computer security also includes protection from unplanned events and natural disasters.
U got that?Great!Because it was copy pasted from Wikipedia!
Also you can split up IT security into physical and software security.Physical security is about securing the pc physically...from unauthorized access,theft etc...And software security is self explanatory.I hope to do a little bit of both.
And this is a sentence you should remember."Security through obscurity!"
This will be a general guideline on our software choices.Basically the more obscure your software is the less known security holes there are.Even better if you can make your own software.
Before we continue you have to know that there are no 100% secure computers.Even if you turned it off and put it inside fort Knox,someone might still launch multiple nukes at fort Knox.
Now,the most important choice.The choice of the operating system.Basically forget about Windows.Windows is just a big security gap.Billions of viruses and malware and exploits everything.And while you are at it,forget about macs too.They are just a little bit more secure than windows.Linux is good.There aren't any critical virus outbreaks for Linux,it has a well defined superuser system,and it is not bloated with potential security holes.
And there is nothing else...or is it?Yes,yes there is.Freebsd and other bsd like systems.Probably even more secure than Linux,built by "security freaks" for "more security freaks".Unfortunately I have never used so I will write this from a Linux perspective.
When choosing your linux distro make sure it has SELinux installed.You might check out the distro called "Kali Linux".Or if you are 1337 enough you might try to make a Linux From Scratch(a.k.a. LFS) distribution.
Anyhow,that is it for part 1.
Second,although I am a big security enthusiast,I am still a noob.Sure I know how to find information about the subject and I am well informed about it,but it is incomparable to real security proffesionals.
Third,this is purely theoretical,I am not actually setting this up myself and testing.
And yes,there might be a part 2 some day...maybe.Not promising anything.
Let's start with IT security.What even is that?
Computer security (Also known as cybersecurity or IT Security) is information security as applied to computers and networks.
The field covers all the processes and mechanisms by which computer-based equipment, information and services are protected from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction. Computer security also includes protection from unplanned events and natural disasters.
U got that?Great!Because it was copy pasted from Wikipedia!
Also you can split up IT security into physical and software security.Physical security is about securing the pc physically...from unauthorized access,theft etc...And software security is self explanatory.I hope to do a little bit of both.
And this is a sentence you should remember."Security through obscurity!"
This will be a general guideline on our software choices.Basically the more obscure your software is the less known security holes there are.Even better if you can make your own software.
Before we continue you have to know that there are no 100% secure computers.Even if you turned it off and put it inside fort Knox,someone might still launch multiple nukes at fort Knox.
Now,the most important choice.The choice of the operating system.Basically forget about Windows.Windows is just a big security gap.Billions of viruses and malware and exploits everything.And while you are at it,forget about macs too.They are just a little bit more secure than windows.Linux is good.There aren't any critical virus outbreaks for Linux,it has a well defined superuser system,and it is not bloated with potential security holes.
And there is nothing else...or is it?Yes,yes there is.Freebsd and other bsd like systems.Probably even more secure than Linux,built by "security freaks" for "more security freaks".Unfortunately I have never used so I will write this from a Linux perspective.
When choosing your linux distro make sure it has SELinux installed.You might check out the distro called "Kali Linux".Or if you are 1337 enough you might try to make a Linux From Scratch(a.k.a. LFS) distribution.
Anyhow,that is it for part 1.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Employed...and unemployed again :(
So basically yeah,last week I finally found a job somehow.I became a telephone sales agent!
The job was not bad really,the environment and company were nice.I met some nice people there.I even was lucky enough to grab the window seat!But after my finished 8 hours I felt a bit stressed.I guess that is what hundreds of phone calls do to you.
So why did I quit in the end?I guess I just could not sell anything.There were some borderline cases where I almost did it...but yeah.And there is also the fact that I planned to quit at the beginning of October anyways so.
Although I won't actively search for a job for now(because of college) I will apply if I find a very interesting job ad.
But,let's look at the positives.It was a nice experience to have.Now I myself have experienced what a work day is.I have also proved that I am durable enough to endure it.My communication skills might have improved.Also now I have time to develop some skills,which otherwise I would not have been able to do.
The job was not bad really,the environment and company were nice.I met some nice people there.I even was lucky enough to grab the window seat!But after my finished 8 hours I felt a bit stressed.I guess that is what hundreds of phone calls do to you.
So why did I quit in the end?I guess I just could not sell anything.There were some borderline cases where I almost did it...but yeah.And there is also the fact that I planned to quit at the beginning of October anyways so.
Although I won't actively search for a job for now(because of college) I will apply if I find a very interesting job ad.
But,let's look at the positives.It was a nice experience to have.Now I myself have experienced what a work day is.I have also proved that I am durable enough to endure it.My communication skills might have improved.Also now I have time to develop some skills,which otherwise I would not have been able to do.
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Once read can (not) be unread :P
This is an early morning post,which is quite rare for me.Lately I have become a night being.Well that is what happens when you are a college student during the winter/summer vacation
Last week of course there were many anime that I have watched.But the I will just give short reviews of four of them that were the best.Those were:Neon genesis evangelion,Puella magi Madoka magica,Mangirl(no it's nothing perverted) and Denpa teki na kanojo.
First Neon genesis evangelion.It is a classic from 1995.Of course since it is too old it would be unfair to criticise the graphics and sound quality.But for 1995 they seemed quite good,since obviously my eyes did not bleed out.The real strong point and perhaps the only weak point was the story.The story started greatly as it really pulled me in in the beginning,now spoiler warning.After that the story kind of started having 'monsters of the week' and at that point I was already waiting for the finale which...wasn't that good.It wanted to push the story towards some kind of existentialism but it failed in doing that.
The story is about a boy with a destroyed family who was tasked with saving the world against his will.
But still NGE was a good watch and now I know why many people consider it a classic.
Now about Puella magi Madoka magica.Since I have already watched quite many anime,I found myself puzzled why I did not watch that many magical girl anime?I mean seriously there are so many of them and yet I have almost completely ignored that genre up until now.So I tasked this anime with hooking me up with that genre.And I was expecting something colorful and happy.I was also hoping it would not be too girly for a manly man like myself.And yes it did hook me up.And no,it was not colorful(except the animation which was colorful) and happy,rather the story was quite delightfully dark.And no it was not too girly.The animation was splendid,except the characters heads looked a little bit like boxes(I don't know if that was supposed to be cute,but it failed).
The sound was great,especially the background music.
The story was the strong point here,really it was more dark and serious than I expected it to be.I liked the characters,all of them were so elegant,especially Mami.
As you can expect the story is about girls being magical girls.
This anime might be the best one of those 4.
Mangirl is nothing perverted.It is a story about 4 girls starting their own manga publishing magazine.Manga+girl.It is a comedy slice of life show with each episode lasting 4 minutes(intro included).Despite that they showed some of the processes of creating manga.It is maybe a little similar to Bakuman.
The animation quality was actually quite good.I did not notice anything bad in the sound.
Even though it was a slice of life comedy the story was actually progressing.The characters were likable.
Denpa teki na kanojo is mystery anime,that is one of my favourite genres,and of course it did not disappoint.The story is about a cute weird girl falling in a really weird love with the toughest delinquent in town and the two of them solving crimes.The girl has the brainpower and the guy has the manpower(meaning I could replace the both of them hahahaha :) ).It is a OVA with 2 episodes lasting about 45 minutes.In the first episode they are trying to solve a serial murder case,and in the second they are trying to solve a case which could turn into a murder case.The animation and sound were good but nothing spectacular.
Last week of course there were many anime that I have watched.But the I will just give short reviews of four of them that were the best.Those were:Neon genesis evangelion,Puella magi Madoka magica,Mangirl(no it's nothing perverted) and Denpa teki na kanojo.
First Neon genesis evangelion.It is a classic from 1995.Of course since it is too old it would be unfair to criticise the graphics and sound quality.But for 1995 they seemed quite good,since obviously my eyes did not bleed out.The real strong point and perhaps the only weak point was the story.The story started greatly as it really pulled me in in the beginning,now spoiler warning.After that the story kind of started having 'monsters of the week' and at that point I was already waiting for the finale which...wasn't that good.It wanted to push the story towards some kind of existentialism but it failed in doing that.
The story is about a boy with a destroyed family who was tasked with saving the world against his will.
But still NGE was a good watch and now I know why many people consider it a classic.
Now about Puella magi Madoka magica.Since I have already watched quite many anime,I found myself puzzled why I did not watch that many magical girl anime?I mean seriously there are so many of them and yet I have almost completely ignored that genre up until now.So I tasked this anime with hooking me up with that genre.And I was expecting something colorful and happy.I was also hoping it would not be too girly for a manly man like myself.And yes it did hook me up.And no,it was not colorful(except the animation which was colorful) and happy,rather the story was quite delightfully dark.And no it was not too girly.The animation was splendid,except the characters heads looked a little bit like boxes(I don't know if that was supposed to be cute,but it failed).
The sound was great,especially the background music.
The story was the strong point here,really it was more dark and serious than I expected it to be.I liked the characters,all of them were so elegant,especially Mami.
As you can expect the story is about girls being magical girls.
This anime might be the best one of those 4.
Mangirl is nothing perverted.It is a story about 4 girls starting their own manga publishing magazine.Manga+girl.It is a comedy slice of life show with each episode lasting 4 minutes(intro included).Despite that they showed some of the processes of creating manga.It is maybe a little similar to Bakuman.
The animation quality was actually quite good.I did not notice anything bad in the sound.
Even though it was a slice of life comedy the story was actually progressing.The characters were likable.
Denpa teki na kanojo is mystery anime,that is one of my favourite genres,and of course it did not disappoint.The story is about a cute weird girl falling in a really weird love with the toughest delinquent in town and the two of them solving crimes.The girl has the brainpower and the guy has the manpower(meaning I could replace the both of them hahahaha :) ).It is a OVA with 2 episodes lasting about 45 minutes.In the first episode they are trying to solve a serial murder case,and in the second they are trying to solve a case which could turn into a murder case.The animation and sound were good but nothing spectacular.
Monday, 5 August 2013
A bit about psychology...
Well I was thinking about making a post about some insights on some kinds of behaviors.I will talk about 2 topics:stubbornness and leadership.
Well stubbornness.I used to be stubborn myself when I was a child to be honest.I still am sometimes when I feel it is the right thing or when I am around other stubborn people(I prefer not to be around them though).However even though I know that some positive stubbornness sometimes can help me progress in life,I have also learned that it can mislead me,which might eventually end up in bad decision making.That is why I prefer not to be stubborn when I am not around stubborn people.I have become a bit more easy going and like to stay cool.I also learned that sometimes it is easier to achieve my goals by other means.I understand the reasons why stubborn people are sometimes criticized.Basically it is because they are hard to deal with.However you should know that sometimes there are people who are stubborn even to themselves.Basically people who enforce their personal rules to themselves to a point where it might become ridiculous for someone who does not understand them(most people in this case).Some fictional and comedic characters which could be good examples for this are Barney Stinson from how I met your mother and Sheldon Cooper.Just look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgWYSdva8Jo
Now I want you to put yourself kind of in the head of such a person...
...Yeah,pretty terrible isn't it?I hope that now you feel for those people.
Basically most stubborn people kind of soften once they spend enough time in a non stubborn environment.For most stubborn people it is very probable that they inherited that from their childhood family.
I hope this will help you deal better with stubborn people.Or how to deal with your own stubbornness
Now about leadership.First I will tell you about my personal opinion about it,then I will tell you about the one thing a leader needs.
Basically this is how I prefer it:
1)A leaderless group of people
2)I am the leader
3)Someone else is the leader
Yes,I prefer no.1 because,it is the most rewarding one of those.To be able to trust someone that you will have fun with him and that he is a person of enough quality that he does not want to lead and does not want to be lead is a reward purely by itself.I would even say it is the pinnacle of peaceful cohabitation between people in the modern world.It is nice to be around people who can do the more or less right thing without being told so.It is true they are still human and can do mistakes but still...
Why don't I like no.2?Because being the leader is a burden I do not want.Why?I will tell you later.
Why don't I like no.3?I guess I am kind of a rebel...
Now,let's talk about no.2 again.Let's split leaders into bad and good leaders,but not on their ability to lead,instead we will organize them on the justification of their leadership.What is the most important quality a good leader has and a bad does not have?It is responsibility.Basically a good leader takes responsibility both for his decisions(especially for that) and for the actions of his subordinates.That is a cold hard fact in my opinion.If you are not man or woman enough to handle this then don't be a leader.A bad leader is usually a selfish egoistical,primitive bastard,and not the funny type or the one who is actually a good person behind a facade.There are situations when I take leadership,but as I said it is not what I prefer.I could handle a bad decision which affects my life more than it affects the lives of others,but I could not handle a decision which almost ruined someone else's life more than mine.I don't think I could look in the eyes of that person or look myself in the mirror for a while if I did something like that.I believe that is the right mindset for a leader.
Is this running away from responsibility?No.A responsible person knows when something is too much responsibility,that is also part of being responsible.
Well I hope you liked my little insight into this.
Well stubbornness.I used to be stubborn myself when I was a child to be honest.I still am sometimes when I feel it is the right thing or when I am around other stubborn people(I prefer not to be around them though).However even though I know that some positive stubbornness sometimes can help me progress in life,I have also learned that it can mislead me,which might eventually end up in bad decision making.That is why I prefer not to be stubborn when I am not around stubborn people.I have become a bit more easy going and like to stay cool.I also learned that sometimes it is easier to achieve my goals by other means.I understand the reasons why stubborn people are sometimes criticized.Basically it is because they are hard to deal with.However you should know that sometimes there are people who are stubborn even to themselves.Basically people who enforce their personal rules to themselves to a point where it might become ridiculous for someone who does not understand them(most people in this case).Some fictional and comedic characters which could be good examples for this are Barney Stinson from how I met your mother and Sheldon Cooper.Just look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgWYSdva8Jo
Now I want you to put yourself kind of in the head of such a person...
...Yeah,pretty terrible isn't it?I hope that now you feel for those people.
Basically most stubborn people kind of soften once they spend enough time in a non stubborn environment.For most stubborn people it is very probable that they inherited that from their childhood family.
I hope this will help you deal better with stubborn people.Or how to deal with your own stubbornness
Now about leadership.First I will tell you about my personal opinion about it,then I will tell you about the one thing a leader needs.
Basically this is how I prefer it:
1)A leaderless group of people
2)I am the leader
3)Someone else is the leader
Yes,I prefer no.1 because,it is the most rewarding one of those.To be able to trust someone that you will have fun with him and that he is a person of enough quality that he does not want to lead and does not want to be lead is a reward purely by itself.I would even say it is the pinnacle of peaceful cohabitation between people in the modern world.It is nice to be around people who can do the more or less right thing without being told so.It is true they are still human and can do mistakes but still...
Why don't I like no.2?Because being the leader is a burden I do not want.Why?I will tell you later.
Why don't I like no.3?I guess I am kind of a rebel...
Now,let's talk about no.2 again.Let's split leaders into bad and good leaders,but not on their ability to lead,instead we will organize them on the justification of their leadership.What is the most important quality a good leader has and a bad does not have?It is responsibility.Basically a good leader takes responsibility both for his decisions(especially for that) and for the actions of his subordinates.That is a cold hard fact in my opinion.If you are not man or woman enough to handle this then don't be a leader.A bad leader is usually a selfish egoistical,primitive bastard,and not the funny type or the one who is actually a good person behind a facade.There are situations when I take leadership,but as I said it is not what I prefer.I could handle a bad decision which affects my life more than it affects the lives of others,but I could not handle a decision which almost ruined someone else's life more than mine.I don't think I could look in the eyes of that person or look myself in the mirror for a while if I did something like that.I believe that is the right mindset for a leader.
Is this running away from responsibility?No.A responsible person knows when something is too much responsibility,that is also part of being responsible.
Well I hope you liked my little insight into this.
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
And yet another one...Horror anime...
Hhm after a 2 month long pause,well 2 posts in a row so far are kind of...well fast.This post is all about horror anime.Basically I will make mini review's of 4 horror anime.
1)Another:
Another is an anime about a class of middle school students.The students themselves are as normal as middle schoolers can be,but...Their class is under a horrible 26 year old curse which caused the deaths of hundreds of previous students of their class.
To be honest this might as well be the best horror anime out there right now.It has a thrilling story with a final plot twist nobody ever expected.
The visuals are some of the best I have ever seen.They are very realistic,and they fit the overall atmosphere of the story like a glove.Will they find a way to remove the curse?
The voice acting was exactly like it should have been for a horror anime.Perhaps the weakest link in the series was the opening song.The song is not bad but it just did not fit into the series.
http://myanimelist.net/anime/11111/Another
2)Cossette no Shouzou:
It is a story about art student Eiri Kurahashi who met the ghost of Cossette.A young girl who was murdered in the 18th century.Later it is revealed that he fell in love with Cossette and that he is the reincarnation of her murderer.Will eiri be able to erase the sins of his predecessors?
Cossette no shouzou is a great horror / romance anime.The main romance is between Cossette and Eiri.The visuals and the sound were certainly good but they were not the highlight of the series.
http://myanimelist.net/anime/514/Cossette_no_Shouzou
3)Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi:
Hmm how to start this one...Basically there is this invisible tree called Yggdrasil,the tree of all life.When women eat its fruit they become immortal.When men eat it they get super strength but loose their mind,and they are the only ones able to kill the immortal women.Is immortality a too long time to live?
Immortals are an excuse for well...lots of blood and gore.The best thing about this anime is that it is one of those horror stories that have a private detective twist.
I remember I loved the visuals.
http://myanimelist.net/anime/3342/Mnemosyne:_Mnemosyne_no_Musume-tachi
4)Hellsing Ultimate
A story about the vampire Alucard,vampire hunters and a war against nazi vampires.A bloody war with millions of dead people.Can the war be stopped?
An intense action/horror story about vampires.It has great raw visuals befitting of a horror story.As for voice casting,it has probably the best voice cast I have ever heard(including Norio Wakamoto and Jouji Nakata in the Japanese version and Crispin Freeman in the english version).
http://myanimelist.net/anime/777/Hellsing_Ultimate
Some other great horror anime include:
http://myanimelist.net/anime/4896/Umineko_no_Naku_Koro_ni
http://myanimelist.net/anime/150/Blood+
http://myanimelist.net/anime/1556/Kikoushi_Enma
http://myanimelist.net/anime/1571/Ghost_Hunt
http://myanimelist.net/anime/228/Jigoku_Shoujo
http://myanimelist.net/anime/7079/Ookami_Kakushi
http://myanimelist.net/anime/934/Higurashi_no_Naku_Koro_ni
Btw.how do you like the new design?
1)Another:
Another is an anime about a class of middle school students.The students themselves are as normal as middle schoolers can be,but...Their class is under a horrible 26 year old curse which caused the deaths of hundreds of previous students of their class.
To be honest this might as well be the best horror anime out there right now.It has a thrilling story with a final plot twist nobody ever expected.
The visuals are some of the best I have ever seen.They are very realistic,and they fit the overall atmosphere of the story like a glove.Will they find a way to remove the curse?
The voice acting was exactly like it should have been for a horror anime.Perhaps the weakest link in the series was the opening song.The song is not bad but it just did not fit into the series.
http://myanimelist.net/anime/11111/Another
2)Cossette no Shouzou:
It is a story about art student Eiri Kurahashi who met the ghost of Cossette.A young girl who was murdered in the 18th century.Later it is revealed that he fell in love with Cossette and that he is the reincarnation of her murderer.Will eiri be able to erase the sins of his predecessors?
Cossette no shouzou is a great horror / romance anime.The main romance is between Cossette and Eiri.The visuals and the sound were certainly good but they were not the highlight of the series.
http://myanimelist.net/anime/514/Cossette_no_Shouzou
3)Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi:
Hmm how to start this one...Basically there is this invisible tree called Yggdrasil,the tree of all life.When women eat its fruit they become immortal.When men eat it they get super strength but loose their mind,and they are the only ones able to kill the immortal women.Is immortality a too long time to live?
Immortals are an excuse for well...lots of blood and gore.The best thing about this anime is that it is one of those horror stories that have a private detective twist.
I remember I loved the visuals.
http://myanimelist.net/anime/3342/Mnemosyne:_Mnemosyne_no_Musume-tachi
4)Hellsing Ultimate
A story about the vampire Alucard,vampire hunters and a war against nazi vampires.A bloody war with millions of dead people.Can the war be stopped?
An intense action/horror story about vampires.It has great raw visuals befitting of a horror story.As for voice casting,it has probably the best voice cast I have ever heard(including Norio Wakamoto and Jouji Nakata in the Japanese version and Crispin Freeman in the english version).
http://myanimelist.net/anime/777/Hellsing_Ultimate
Some other great horror anime include:
http://myanimelist.net/anime/4896/Umineko_no_Naku_Koro_ni
http://myanimelist.net/anime/150/Blood+
http://myanimelist.net/anime/1556/Kikoushi_Enma
http://myanimelist.net/anime/1571/Ghost_Hunt
http://myanimelist.net/anime/228/Jigoku_Shoujo
http://myanimelist.net/anime/7079/Ookami_Kakushi
http://myanimelist.net/anime/934/Higurashi_no_Naku_Koro_ni
Btw.how do you like the new design?
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Newsflash...
...Well I know I am not a super popular blog author but well...I haven't posted in a while.And I have wanted to post something for a while,I have waited at least for a month and a half.The reason why I did not do so was,well I did not have any ideas what to write about and I was busy with college.And I still have no idea what to write about.But at least I am done with college.I finished all my exams and even had a nice average score.
That is why I am writing this sort of 'newsflash' about what I am doing right now.
So anyhow I am looking for a summer job.If you are looking for a semi decent programmer or a bit more decent system administrator/IT student contact me at:mkamenjak@tvz.hr
Recently I have had a lot of time to watch anime.So I have completed Monster,Bakuman(season 1),Fate/zero(Season 1 & 2),Kanamemo,Higurashi no naku koro ni(whole series) and many more...but right now only those are coming to mind.The best out of those are probably Bakuman and Higurashi no naku koro ni.Bakuman was made by the same authors that made Death note.It definitely feels a little bit like death note except it has added romance,slice of life and comedy.It is a story about two teenagers who want to become pro mangaka and how they rise to the top.Right now I am watching season 2 of Bakuman and it seems to be promising.Higurashi on the other hand is kind of a harem,action,horror combination in the first season,but in the second season [spoiler warning] another character becomes the "main main" character[end spoiler] and it becomes more of a mistery,action,slice of life combination.The horror and harem elements are still there but now they are barely noticeable.
As for what else I have been doing.Well I finally switched to Ubuntu 13.04 for good.Basically I found a way to solve the problems I have had.I have also programmed a very interesting application,it is a multimedia suite for well,multimedia.You can find more info about it here: http://bdsoftware.co.nf/
I have began to relearn myself the python and C programming languages.I already know Java more or less.The application I mentioned above is made in Java.
Anyhow,Since I now have more free time I hope I will find a job and write more on this blog.
That is why I am writing this sort of 'newsflash' about what I am doing right now.
So anyhow I am looking for a summer job.If you are looking for a semi decent programmer or a bit more decent system administrator/IT student contact me at:mkamenjak@tvz.hr
Recently I have had a lot of time to watch anime.So I have completed Monster,Bakuman(season 1),Fate/zero(Season 1 & 2),Kanamemo,Higurashi no naku koro ni(whole series) and many more...but right now only those are coming to mind.The best out of those are probably Bakuman and Higurashi no naku koro ni.Bakuman was made by the same authors that made Death note.It definitely feels a little bit like death note except it has added romance,slice of life and comedy.It is a story about two teenagers who want to become pro mangaka and how they rise to the top.Right now I am watching season 2 of Bakuman and it seems to be promising.Higurashi on the other hand is kind of a harem,action,horror combination in the first season,but in the second season [spoiler warning] another character becomes the "main main" character[end spoiler] and it becomes more of a mistery,action,slice of life combination.The horror and harem elements are still there but now they are barely noticeable.
As for what else I have been doing.Well I finally switched to Ubuntu 13.04 for good.Basically I found a way to solve the problems I have had.I have also programmed a very interesting application,it is a multimedia suite for well,multimedia.You can find more info about it here: http://bdsoftware.co.nf/
I have began to relearn myself the python and C programming languages.I already know Java more or less.The application I mentioned above is made in Java.
Anyhow,Since I now have more free time I hope I will find a job and write more on this blog.
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Mini review of Ubuntu 13.04
Alright,currently I am using Ubuntu 12.04 as my main Linux distribution.12.04 was really good,even the graphics drivers worked correctly,it is fast and it is still working without hiccups.I have tested Ubuntu 12.10 but it failed because it had 2 bugs:
1)It sucked up my computers resources.Honestly,after 5-10 minutes of uptime my laptop became sluggish as hell.But then I thought,hey maybe it will get fixed if I just installed the graphics drivers,since the interface is all 3d and stuff,however...
2)...the drivers were not working.Whatever I did the drivers just refused to work.Probably because my laptop has Intel/ati hybrid graphics,which is a pretty rare combination.This is more the fault of the graphics card manufacturer since they are the ones making the drivers.The open source drivers were just too slow so the system was sluggish.
And now I am testing Ubuntu 13.04.And how is it?Well it is definitely an improvement over Ubuntu 12.10 because the resource bug was fixed.Now it uses marginally more resources than Ubuntu 12.04 did.The graphics drivers are still not working,but it is almost a non issue right now because the system is usable now.When I compare the user interfaces of 12.04 and 13.04 I can just say wow.Because the GUI is so much better.Even compared to 12.10 the GUI is better because 13.04 now has a new set of beautiful icons and the launcher was reworked,not in the way the launcher looks,but in the way it works.One little minus is that the workspaces now are turned off by default.
Also 13.04 now has a new and sleek updater.It is just there you barely notice it.If you just want to install your updates,you can.If you want to view all the little details about your updates,yes you can.
One bad thing I have noticed is that my laptop has shut down because of overheating while I was using Ubuntu 13.04.My laptop may have a hardware error,but it is enough to make me suspicious.This might be also because of the graphics drivers.Who knows,maybe it is just a random occurrence,it did not happen that often.
So to sum it up:
Pluses:
-many glitches fixed
-a new beautiful and even easier to use GUI
-many small improvements in general
-a push in the right direction
Minuses:
-workspaces turned off by default
-the whole thing still feels like "Work in progress" because it still has some glitches
-amazon searches are still present in dash.
So as you can see I have mostly just compared Ubuntu 12.04,12.10 and 13.04.
I mean I could have compared it to Windows 7 as well but naah.Both Windows and Linux have their pros and cons but I simply think Linux is way better than Windows,especially Windows 8.
So is 13.04 better than 12.04?
Maybe.
Will i switch to 13.04 as my main distribution?Maybe but probably not in the next few months.
What if I won't switch to 13.04 at all?
I will probably wait for 13.10 or 14.04(I hope not,that would be a veery long wait) or just switch to another Linux distribution.I mean Ubuntu is a fantastic Linux distribution,but I wouldn't be surprised if I found a Linux distribution I would like even more.I mean there are more than 700 Linux distributions out there.Anyhow there is actually a list of reasons why I am on Ubuntu.
If only canonical would make better business decisions.
1)It sucked up my computers resources.Honestly,after 5-10 minutes of uptime my laptop became sluggish as hell.But then I thought,hey maybe it will get fixed if I just installed the graphics drivers,since the interface is all 3d and stuff,however...
2)...the drivers were not working.Whatever I did the drivers just refused to work.Probably because my laptop has Intel/ati hybrid graphics,which is a pretty rare combination.This is more the fault of the graphics card manufacturer since they are the ones making the drivers.The open source drivers were just too slow so the system was sluggish.
And now I am testing Ubuntu 13.04.And how is it?Well it is definitely an improvement over Ubuntu 12.10 because the resource bug was fixed.Now it uses marginally more resources than Ubuntu 12.04 did.The graphics drivers are still not working,but it is almost a non issue right now because the system is usable now.When I compare the user interfaces of 12.04 and 13.04 I can just say wow.Because the GUI is so much better.Even compared to 12.10 the GUI is better because 13.04 now has a new set of beautiful icons and the launcher was reworked,not in the way the launcher looks,but in the way it works.One little minus is that the workspaces now are turned off by default.
Also 13.04 now has a new and sleek updater.It is just there you barely notice it.If you just want to install your updates,you can.If you want to view all the little details about your updates,yes you can.
One bad thing I have noticed is that my laptop has shut down because of overheating while I was using Ubuntu 13.04.My laptop may have a hardware error,but it is enough to make me suspicious.This might be also because of the graphics drivers.Who knows,maybe it is just a random occurrence,it did not happen that often.
So to sum it up:
Pluses:
-many glitches fixed
-a new beautiful and even easier to use GUI
-many small improvements in general
-a push in the right direction
Minuses:
-workspaces turned off by default
-the whole thing still feels like "Work in progress" because it still has some glitches
-amazon searches are still present in dash.
So as you can see I have mostly just compared Ubuntu 12.04,12.10 and 13.04.
I mean I could have compared it to Windows 7 as well but naah.Both Windows and Linux have their pros and cons but I simply think Linux is way better than Windows,especially Windows 8.
So is 13.04 better than 12.04?
Maybe.
Will i switch to 13.04 as my main distribution?Maybe but probably not in the next few months.
What if I won't switch to 13.04 at all?
I will probably wait for 13.10 or 14.04(I hope not,that would be a veery long wait) or just switch to another Linux distribution.I mean Ubuntu is a fantastic Linux distribution,but I wouldn't be surprised if I found a Linux distribution I would like even more.I mean there are more than 700 Linux distributions out there.Anyhow there is actually a list of reasons why I am on Ubuntu.
If only canonical would make better business decisions.
Monday, 4 March 2013
Off learning and stuff
This is kind of my story about how I changed,from being probably the most terrible student in my class to becoming a honor student.I did not really plan for it to happen,but it seems the potential for it was there.
And now something important:YES YOU F*CKING CAN!
Also you have to decide when will you start.Because you probably need preparation it should not be right now.Tomorrow,next week,next semester,next year,but you have to start once.
At one point I was at a pretty terrible situation,so I decided,just for the lulz that next school year I will really try to learn from the beginning.My biggest problem was perhaps that,I had a big concentration problem,so learning in bulk for anything longer than half an hour was either not efficient or torture.I just can't concentrate,even while I am typing this I am thinking of at least 3 other things to do.
And the I got the idea of the century...
I got the idea about this system(or you may call it a schedule).It has a lot of details so unfortunately you might get lost,and I am not going to even mention half of the details,but the important thing is that you get the general idea.
(sorry if you get confused)
Basically from 9:00 until 21:00 I learn 1(or sometimes 2) thing per hour,it completely depends on the subject I am trying to learn at that moment:
a)a theoretical subject-I learn one UNIT per hour,and I only learn those units which are going to be on the next exam.If the textbook is well made it is going to show you which parts of it are more important by either boldfacing them,putting them in colored brackets,underlined or all of those.If that is not the case try to get yourself a script,or try to determine by yourself what is important.I only learn those.
Also if you somehow got yourself the questions from last years exam(20 questions per hour),or the teacher gave you some pretty clear guidelines about what to learn I suggest you make your own script and learn from there.
b)practical subjects-including math...I copy one complete math example from my textbook.Or if I feel they are too short I copy two or more.If I think I already know one I try solving one.The same goes for all practical subjects like for instance programming,I compile & run one program,after a second of staring at the code,or if I feel like I can write it myself I first write it myself.
c)mixed theoretical-practical subjects-First i start doing things like in a),then the next time I will learn that subject I will do things like I do in b),then a),then b),a),b),...If it is easy enough I might do both a) and b) in one hour.
This way I learn on an average 15 minutes per hour,but multiple hours per day.
Also it might happen that you need to help out your parents or you go out of your home for a while(you go to school,go out with your friends,anything that will keep you away from home).Well if I am unavailable for learning for 30 minutes or more inside that one hour then there is no need to learn.For instance,I came back home from college at exactly 14:30,then there is no need to learn for me.
It is important that you learn from the start of the semester/school year.If all your teachers did on your first day in school was write one sentence down,you should learn and repeat that sentence until you get more stuff to learn.Also,once you had an exam from a subject,after that you probably have a blank slate in that subject,meaning you don't have anything to learn in that subject.Until you get something to learn in that subject you should learn other subjects.
You can take a break during important holidays.You don't have to learn on days like new year,christmas,old year,birthday...Or reduce your workload to something like once every 2 hours.
This is important:
Make a vertical list of your subjects,write them down on a piece of paper with squares.Once you finish learning one subject add a x or + beside it.The next hour start learning the next subject,after you finish it mark it with an x or +,and so on and so on,until you fill out the piece of paper.Once you do that take another piece of paper and change the subject order.
Three days before any exam that will affect my average,every second hour I will learn the subject of that exam.
And the best thing about this system how I call it is that it is modular.You can change everything I have written here,according to your needs and wants.You can even add your own rules to it.And remember,don't be too harsh on yourself and don't be too easy on yourself.
I hope I have helped at least someone.
And now something important:YES YOU F*CKING CAN!
Also you have to decide when will you start.Because you probably need preparation it should not be right now.Tomorrow,next week,next semester,next year,but you have to start once.
At one point I was at a pretty terrible situation,so I decided,just for the lulz that next school year I will really try to learn from the beginning.My biggest problem was perhaps that,I had a big concentration problem,so learning in bulk for anything longer than half an hour was either not efficient or torture.I just can't concentrate,even while I am typing this I am thinking of at least 3 other things to do.
And the I got the idea of the century...
I got the idea about this system(or you may call it a schedule).It has a lot of details so unfortunately you might get lost,and I am not going to even mention half of the details,but the important thing is that you get the general idea.
(sorry if you get confused)
Basically from 9:00 until 21:00 I learn 1(or sometimes 2) thing per hour,it completely depends on the subject I am trying to learn at that moment:
a)a theoretical subject-I learn one UNIT per hour,and I only learn those units which are going to be on the next exam.If the textbook is well made it is going to show you which parts of it are more important by either boldfacing them,putting them in colored brackets,underlined or all of those.If that is not the case try to get yourself a script,or try to determine by yourself what is important.I only learn those.
Also if you somehow got yourself the questions from last years exam(20 questions per hour),or the teacher gave you some pretty clear guidelines about what to learn I suggest you make your own script and learn from there.
b)practical subjects-including math...I copy one complete math example from my textbook.Or if I feel they are too short I copy two or more.If I think I already know one I try solving one.The same goes for all practical subjects like for instance programming,I compile & run one program,after a second of staring at the code,or if I feel like I can write it myself I first write it myself.
c)mixed theoretical-practical subjects-First i start doing things like in a),then the next time I will learn that subject I will do things like I do in b),then a),then b),a),b),...If it is easy enough I might do both a) and b) in one hour.
This way I learn on an average 15 minutes per hour,but multiple hours per day.
Also it might happen that you need to help out your parents or you go out of your home for a while(you go to school,go out with your friends,anything that will keep you away from home).Well if I am unavailable for learning for 30 minutes or more inside that one hour then there is no need to learn.For instance,I came back home from college at exactly 14:30,then there is no need to learn for me.
It is important that you learn from the start of the semester/school year.If all your teachers did on your first day in school was write one sentence down,you should learn and repeat that sentence until you get more stuff to learn.Also,once you had an exam from a subject,after that you probably have a blank slate in that subject,meaning you don't have anything to learn in that subject.Until you get something to learn in that subject you should learn other subjects.
You can take a break during important holidays.You don't have to learn on days like new year,christmas,old year,birthday...Or reduce your workload to something like once every 2 hours.
This is important:
Make a vertical list of your subjects,write them down on a piece of paper with squares.Once you finish learning one subject add a x or + beside it.The next hour start learning the next subject,after you finish it mark it with an x or +,and so on and so on,until you fill out the piece of paper.Once you do that take another piece of paper and change the subject order.
Three days before any exam that will affect my average,every second hour I will learn the subject of that exam.
And the best thing about this system how I call it is that it is modular.You can change everything I have written here,according to your needs and wants.You can even add your own rules to it.And remember,don't be too harsh on yourself and don't be too easy on yourself.
I hope I have helped at least someone.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Where would I like to travel/live?
Well, this post is a bit personal,yeah.Anyhow,these are my three favourite countries in the world.I hope to live in one of them one day,or at least visit them.Sweden,Japan and Russia.Ofc. there are many other nice places on earth,but for various reasons I like those.I will start with the easiest to explain.Also yes I think I would like the people of their respective countries.
Sweden-People in Sweden have it nice.A lot of people say that Swedes are the richest people on this planet.But what is more important to me is that Sweden is the most liberal country in Europe and in a lot of peoples opinions the most civilisationally advanced country in the world.Their crime rate is quite low.And yeah,they are quite technologically advanced,probably the most advanced in Europe.Swedes are known to be reserved,tolerable and generally fun loving.
Another reason why I love them is SWEDISH DEATH METAL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Dn02bR4pg
Japan-Well I grew up on anime.They are among the richest in the world.They are the most technologically advanced country in the world,just try googling "Japanese toilets".They have an almost "0 crime" society,they even have completely unguarded vending machines on every street corner.Also they say that in Japan every spring is like spring,every summer is like summer,every autumn is like autumn and every winter is like winter.I like that because in the last few years in my country the weather only switched from summer to winter mode(and I hate summer).I think I would like their culture and their people as well.Basically their children are taught from a young age to pursue their interests outside from home.In my country it is very unusual for children to be in after school clubs.While In Japan it is more unusual not to be in a club.They have sports clubs,literary clubs,"magic societies",computer clubs even clubs for just hanging around and being lazy,all those as official school clubs.
Russia-If I had to put it in one sentence I would say:"Russia is the most badass place to live in!"Just look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfZ1NyS6Mzw
Russia is the only place where you can find abandoned tanks in a forest:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7338097/200-Russian-tanks-found-abandoned-in-forest.html
That is badass.Of course in comparison to Japan and Sweden,Russia is quite different because it is not very economically and technologically advanced.However Russian economy was getting stronger until the global crisis came.Also I would love the Russian industrial/post-industrial landscape.It would be quite the thrill for me to explore their abandoned factories and buildings.Russians are widely known for their badassery and sociability.
Some other places I would like to be in:Germany(grew up on German satellite TV where I had anime translated to German),the Baltic,The rest of Northern Europe and if I had to pick a spot in any of the Americas I would probably go to Canada.I guess I just like the North.
My dream vacation would be a 6 month tour starting in North Europe or Japan,then traveling trough Russia by train and ending somewhere in North Europe or Japan,depending on where I started.
Sweden-People in Sweden have it nice.A lot of people say that Swedes are the richest people on this planet.But what is more important to me is that Sweden is the most liberal country in Europe and in a lot of peoples opinions the most civilisationally advanced country in the world.Their crime rate is quite low.And yeah,they are quite technologically advanced,probably the most advanced in Europe.Swedes are known to be reserved,tolerable and generally fun loving.
Another reason why I love them is SWEDISH DEATH METAL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Dn02bR4pg
Japan-Well I grew up on anime.They are among the richest in the world.They are the most technologically advanced country in the world,just try googling "Japanese toilets".They have an almost "0 crime" society,they even have completely unguarded vending machines on every street corner.Also they say that in Japan every spring is like spring,every summer is like summer,every autumn is like autumn and every winter is like winter.I like that because in the last few years in my country the weather only switched from summer to winter mode(and I hate summer).I think I would like their culture and their people as well.Basically their children are taught from a young age to pursue their interests outside from home.In my country it is very unusual for children to be in after school clubs.While In Japan it is more unusual not to be in a club.They have sports clubs,literary clubs,"magic societies",computer clubs even clubs for just hanging around and being lazy,all those as official school clubs.
Russia-If I had to put it in one sentence I would say:"Russia is the most badass place to live in!"Just look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfZ1NyS6Mzw
Russia is the only place where you can find abandoned tanks in a forest:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7338097/200-Russian-tanks-found-abandoned-in-forest.html
That is badass.Of course in comparison to Japan and Sweden,Russia is quite different because it is not very economically and technologically advanced.However Russian economy was getting stronger until the global crisis came.Also I would love the Russian industrial/post-industrial landscape.It would be quite the thrill for me to explore their abandoned factories and buildings.Russians are widely known for their badassery and sociability.
Some other places I would like to be in:Germany(grew up on German satellite TV where I had anime translated to German),the Baltic,The rest of Northern Europe and if I had to pick a spot in any of the Americas I would probably go to Canada.I guess I just like the North.
My dream vacation would be a 6 month tour starting in North Europe or Japan,then traveling trough Russia by train and ending somewhere in North Europe or Japan,depending on where I started.
Saturday, 9 February 2013
C programming "Hello world"...detailed example
So basically I thought why not to have a mini programming tutorial.The programming language we are going to use is called "C".Not C++ or C#.There is a big enough difference.
First what you are going to need is an IDE(Integrated Development Environment),unless you are pro and can program in notepad or gedit...In that case just skip this post.There are many good free IDE's but I would recommend Devcpp for Windows or Monodevelop for Linux(for Mac idk,try googling "C IDE for mac").Once you have that open a "solution",select "C console project" and give it a name.Click "OK" and double click on main.c and you are ready to go.Erase everything that was in the file because we are going to start from scratch.
"main.c" is very important,because this is the core file of your program and this is the only file of your program that is actually "running".All the other simply "attach" themselves to main.c when they are needed.
Now write this line into main.c:
#include<stdio.h>
Congratulations,you just wrote your first line of code,you are no longer a programming virgin.#include is the command which "attaches" files into each other.Unfortunately the link is not bidirectional,but you do not have to worry about that yet.stdio.h is called a "header file".You should think of it as "the library that has all the basic C commands".
Now press enter and write this:
int main()
{
int is called a "type modifier".As you progress you will learn more about it.Now,what is a function?A function is a batch of variables and commands and it usually does something.Every C program has a "main" function.It is the central part of every C program.The bracket in this case is the beginning of the function body.
Press enter and write this:
printf("hello world");
printf is the function which is used for telling the program that it should write something on the screen.The brackets and apostrophes are mandatory,whatever is between them will be written on the screen.The ; is used to tell the program that this is the end of that line of code and it is mandatory most of the times.You will learn later where it is not mandatory.
Now press enter and write:
return 0;
}
In this case the return command is used for stopping your program.It has some other uses though.The final bracket is the end of the function body.
Now it should look like this:
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("hello world");
return 0;
}
Why all those "enter's"?Because readable C code should expand vertically not horizontally.
Now somewhere in your IDE's menus there should be a "start without debugging" button.Press it.No errors?Good!In the console window that popped up you should be able to read a line that says hello world!
Congratulations you just finished your first program!Now google "c programming tutorials"!
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