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Showing posts from January, 2018

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part B - Kabandha

The two went on with their journey to find something and find a monster along the way. The monster threatens them They fight the monster eventually defeating it The monster asks them to dispose of him in a certain way so that he may regain his humanity The monster then gives him advice on their journey, specifically where to go to find help The Witcher theme could work well here as well The monster could be someone afflicted by a curse who then asks the witchers to free him of them The monster could also be someone coerced into helping the primary antagonist Alternatively, a sci fi theme may also work here The monster could be a human stereotypically infested by some alien parasite This could be the protagonists first contact with infestation This would be kind of similar to the zerg infestation in starcraft or the flood in Halo The terrans know about the zerg, but not that they can infest other species In Halo however, they humans know full well about th

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A - Thataka

Thataka They wenth through a dark forest with many beasts including a particularly terrible member of a man-eating, shapeshifting species of creature The chosen one challenges the beast He was reluctant to kill it and maimed it, but it kept attacking after turning invisible The sage urged him to kill it so he did The sage chanted some mantras and weapons appeared before him for the chosen one The weapons spoke to the chosen one and said they would do his bidding They then went to the sages hermitage and were welcome by the other sages They gave up some offerings Some demons attacked The chosen one called for his weapons and they appeared next to him He kills all the demons Could tell this story as sort of a hunt for a deadly beast the Witcher comes to mind could have a taken a contract out on this beast Rama Killing Thataka Source: Wikipedia References PDE Ramayana

Topic Brainstorm

Gods/Devas As I mentioned in a previous blog, one of my favorite games of all time is Smite. This game features gods from a few different pantheons, including gods from the Hindu Pantheon. The game gives a basic background on the gods tailored to the game itself. I am interested in seeing how well the designers interpretations of the gods match up with how they are classically portrayed. I think I would likely focus on significant battles they fought when retelling stories. Weapons of the Gods/Astra I have always been interested in weaponry. I greatly enjoy military history, and while this isn't quite history, I think it will still interest me. I have little to no knowledge on any of the weapons of the gods. I think I will likely focus on the roles these weapons played in significant battles, or how they came into being. Epic Battles Again, I really enjoy military history, so I think reading about these battles will be pretty exciting. I know nothing of the battles in the ep

Feedback Thoughts

5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like a Champ I really liked this article. It highlighted the very real fact that most people are bad at taking constructive criticism. But it also gives some solid advice to taking that criticism. Taking criticize is always something I have had trouble with. I am much better at taking it now than I used to be, but I could still be better at it. I really liked the point about being in a state of under-performing as opposed to having under-performing as a trait. I think this is a really important distinction to make. You can always improve at something you are bad at. Using Harsh Feedback to Fuel Your Career I think this article also gave some sound advice. I liked that it focused on having a positive mindset after receiving feedback. The point about creating incentives for yourself is a pretty important part. It isn't always necessary as in some cases improvement itself is all that is necessary to motivate you. But is other cases some extra motivati

Week 2 Story: The Village "Witch"

In the countryside of England resided a small village founded on a river. Most of the village folk were simple farmers; peasants whose families never had much to their name. The mayor of the village was a former soldier before he settled down to a quiet life of farming. He was a man well respected by the folk he presided over. However, he was a headstrong man, and when he made up his mind few things could change it. In the village also resided an old man. He was wise beyond his years. The village folk revered him, coming to him whenever they needed advice. Even the Mayor would come to him on occasion seeking advice. Witchcraft was a long-seeded fear in this part of the country, and when rumors of supposed witches behind found spread, a wave of paranoia spread with it. And even though no witch siting had been made near the village, the folk were still on edge. One day two of the villagers went the lake at the end of the river to fish. When they got there, they noticed a wom

Reading Notes: The Turtle and the King

The Turtle and the King Someone/thing is mistaken for an evil or scary creature. An authority sends for that thing to be captured. The prisoner is brought before the king and servants. Servants start coming up ways to kill the prisoner. Upon hearing a method that would not kill them and would be pleasant, the prisoner begs the ruler not to pick that option. The authority picks that option and the prisoner happily goes free. Takes place in some area where people can gather. The main character must be something ordinary, like a normal person. The person who suggests the benign punishment in the story was afraid of the thing they suggested. The initial accusation is due to some sort of a misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions. Similar to witch trials, except instead of the witch being burned, she outwits them into letting her go. The prisoner is the Witch. The king is a mayor of some sort. Servants could be townsfolk. Two townsfolk could have seen the supposed witch

Reading Options

Kali The first thing I want to read about is Kali. Smite is one of my favorite video games and I put way too much time into it. Smite is a video game that at the basic level takes gods from different pantheons and puts them into a ring to fight. For those familiar to the game genre, Smite is a MOBA, somewhat similar to League of Legends and Dota 2. Since describing this type of game would take a large amount of time and space, I am going to link this video by Purge (Dota 2 Personality) which does a great job of explaining the basics of Dota and by extension MOBAs in general since the basic concepts are very similar. Kali is one of the gods that is in the game as a playable character and one of my favorite characters in the game in general. She has a very unique play style which is one of the reasons she quickly became one of my most played heroes. Smite Kali Card Art Courtesy of Hi-Rez Studios Agni Similar to Kali, Agni is a playable character in Smite and one of my f

Time Strategies

Time management is something that has been very necessary for me for the past two semesters. These last two semesters have been incredibly busy for me so it has been important for me to make sure that I scheduled time to do my work. Unfortunately, schoolwork and studying have taken up the majority of my time these last two semester so actually having time to manage was a bit of a rarity, and time management usually just mean to me that I was focusing on my work instead of taking breaks. The Important Habit of Just Starting highlighted something that I find to be very true. Often times the most difficult part for me was just getting started. THE MYTH OF "TOO BUSY"  is an article that I found to be a bit shallow. I guess it works if you're unaware of what you are spending time on, but if you are the article offers nothing. If you don't plan out your day at all then taking the advice of article may be somewhat helpful, but if you put the smallest amount of tho

Technology Tools

I'm at least somewhat familiar with every tool talked about except website creation. I have had to use all of the tools for a class at some point or another. The blog use is the most recent seeing as this class is the first time I've had to use a blog. I like the organization of the course's website. Having each week separated makes it really easy to track what I need to do and when it is due. I think having a like to the assignment's page in the description of the quiz on canvas would be incredibly convenient. That's just a bit of nitpicking though. Spongebob Meme Courtesy of u/zyyp on Reddit

Assignments First Impressions

My first impression of the assignments layout is mostly positive. The two reading things is a little confusing to me, but I'm sure it will make more s3ns3 as the semester goes on. I'm also not really sure what the topics of the story writing assignment will be, but that will probably be made clear once we get the first assignments. I am not particularly fond of writing stories, but I don't dislike it either. Most of my stories will probably suck, but it is an opportunity to get better at it so we'll see how much I enjoy it. I am pretty indifferent about the blog comments. I am hoping we get some more clarification about the project soon since it is supposed to be worked on over the course of the whole semester. I am pretty excited about the extra credit assignments. I haven't been offered extra in more than one or two of my classes since my freshman year. This class is definitely structured way different than anything I am used to. It should be a nice change

Growth Mindset

I have never heard of Carol Dweck, but a growth mindset is something I am familiar with. This kind of mindset is something that started for me with video games and has since extended to other parts of my life. I used to get really mad and frustrated when playing video games whenever I lost. I constantly blamed my teammates, and in some cases my self for the loss. Whenever I started to take video games more seriously and tried to improve I began watching profession players' streams. I would look at their gameplay and listen to the explanations they gave for why they did things a certain way. One day I was watching a stream and someone in the chat asked the player "How do I win more games?" The player responded by saying, "First, stop caring about winning games. It does not matter if you win the games. What you should care about is getting better. That's what matters because if you get better you will win more games."  They went on to say that the best way

Introduction to a Hopeful Rocket Scientist

My name is Chris Weigel and I am a senior majoring in Aerospace Engineering. Initially, I came to OU wanting to be a Chemical Engineer. I have always enjoyed chemistry and still do to this day. Often my favorite parts of my classes are those that involve looking at the chemistry behind the mechanics. That being said, I switched to Aerospace because I realized how much I love aircraft and spacecraft. I am a member of the Boomer Rocket Team, an engineering competition team focused on building rockets for competition. Last year I helped build our rocket for the Spaceport America Cup which is an international competition. This was the team's first competition with more than 5 other teams competing. BRT Rocket Launching at Competition Courtesy of BRT Other than building rockets, I am an avid gamer. I probably play more video games than I should, but I'm having fun so I guess I don't really care. I primarily play Overwatch and Dota 2. I play a number of other games as

Storybook Favorites

Story 1: Ramayana Battles: The Trials of the Four Warriors I am not familiar with this topic at all, however, the title does a good job of alerting me to the topic. The introduction was somewhat engaging. I liked the author's note at the bottom explaining some of their creative choices and how their story differed from the original. The layout didn't really bring add anything to the introduction. I did like that they split one character into multiple. I feel like that extra step makes it seem more like a new story than simply a retelling. I really like having the navigation to the side of the page. It narrows the text space, making it more like a page in the book. It also eliminates a large amount of blank space to the sides of the text. I also felt like the title/background images helped to set the mood of the piece. They also help you visualize the characters as they are pictures of them. Story 2: Indian Horror I am not familiar with the topics. The title did a good job

My Favorite Place: Cocoa Beach Florida

Cocoa Beach, Florida is a place I would visit with my family most summers in middle and high school. My Dad works as an engineer for the Airforce and would often have business trips to the nearby Patrick Airforce Base. During the summer, he would usually take us along for a week or two. Cocoa Beach Pier Courtesy of Wikimedia Great weather, great food, and a great beach are a fantastic combination for a fun vacation. Plus, Cocoa Beach is just south of Cape Canaveral so we would occasionally get to see rocket launches. Falcon 9 launches from Cape Canaveral Courtesy of SpaceX  

Test

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