Visa Verse

In days longge past did kingedoms bolde defende themselves withe walles
Encyrcling theyer borders bryght with moats and rammpartes talle
Ye moderne wyrllde moore slyly slows unwelcomme immigrationne
Withe monstruss visa fees and complecks visa applicationnes

Origins of Explain

The word 'explain' comes from the Latin verb 'explanare,' meaning 'to make plain or level.' 'Explanare' is a compound word; 'ex' means 'out' and 'planus' means 'level' or 'flat.' It seems like 'planus' is the origin of 'plain' and 'plane' but not 'airplane.'

Antibacterial Soap Poem

I see a soap dispenser with a label that affirms

That its soap "Kills ninety-nine point nine percent of germs"

This is very well and good, but would this advert thrive

If it said "Leaves the fittest tenth percent of germs alive"

Knee-jerk Banana Response

Do you want bananas on your cereal?

If someone asked me that, there's a good chance I would say "no thanks" right away. It's not that I don't like bananas-- I like banana ice cream, my favorite dessert is made with bananas, and eating raw bananas isn't messy. I even like the taste of bananas on cereal.

I say "no thanks," then, as a habit developed over many breakfasts in highschool. I must have decided that breakfasts should be low-effort; no time for chopping bananas. Once I started turning down offers of bananas, there was no going back. My parents, however, kept kindly offering fruit for cereal probably until the day I left for college.

Saying "no" as a default response isn't restricted to cereal toppings. I've missed a lot of opportunities by saying no to things before properly thinking about it. Thankfully, new chances do appear, and by acknowledging my biases I can try and change them. If I had breakfast with my parents today, they would probably ask if I wanted fruit on my cereal. 

And I would say "no thanks," because really, who has the time to spend 30 seconds chopping up a banana?

Screenshot of the Day: The Witcher 2

A conversation with the troll under the bridge.

The Witcher 2 is a fantasy role-playing game in which the player controls a 'witcher,' a sort of superhuman monster hunter. I started playing The Witcher 2 almost immediately after finishing The Witcher, and it's the same game at heart; the player travels from region to region, fighting monsters, solving problems, and usually creating new, bigger problems. Many factions compete for the witcher's loyalty, leading the player to think carefully about what they're trying to accomplish and why.

This next paragraph is really boring: the combat system in Witcher 2 is probably the biggest change from the first game. Dodge rolls have been added, which I see as a disappointment. In the first game, directional dodges were acrobatic and required double-tapping a key. In my opinion, single-tap rolls are too easy to overuse in every battle-- they don't look right and lessen the need for creativity. I could, howeer, just be playing the game wrong.

All in all, The Witcher 2 is a solid RPG, more accessible than The Witcher and with a story that makes slightly more sense (so far).

Bus Driving Opportunity

How much difference can one decision make? Do you buy tickets to a famous artist's last performance? Do you go to that one party? Sometimes, an opportunity comes up and you know you won't get a chance do something like that again.

The other day, I was the only passenger on a bus and was surprised when the driver pulled over and explained he needed to go to the restroom. He left the bus running on the side of the road and I had a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a city bus joyride.

I didn't take act on this opportunity, but as with many things, I wonder what would have happened if I had tried to drive off. There may have been some security measure in place to prevent such bus thefts; buses apparently cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There are decisions to make every day that will change who I am and what my place is in the world. There's a lot more to be said about that, but for now, I'm happy to not be a rogue bus driver.

Windows 10

Windows 10 has come to town
To turn my UI upside down
The new start menu's pretty nice
Well worth the non-existant price