So, I know it’s been awhile since the last update, but it’s been a busy time.  A lot of my time, more than I expected, has been spent on my video game project.  Documention is not very fun to create.  But, for the one person who actually asked about the game, our Phase 1 submission is posted on the main page of the game wiki.  As of now, I only have a Windows version of it for you guys to download.  And, it’s really not a game yet.  More of a tech demo.  As one friend put it, “Why is MegaMan running in the woods and floating?”  I honestly had no response to that.  Have fun with it.  A README is included in the zip file detailing how to install and play the game.  Go here for the game.

Note:  There are some known issues with the prototype.  The game will crash when you try to exit.  The background isn’t fixed in place like it should be.  Megaman runs very slowly.  The collision detection can be spotty at times.  The game can be crashed by repeatedly pressing the fire button.  All of these items are being addressed.  If you find any other items of note, please tell me.

So, today was the first day of classes for the fall semester. And, it seems to be off to a pretty good start. I don’t think Linear Algebra will be too bad and my Software Engineering class is shaping up to be one of the best classes I’ll take here at KU. We don’t have a final in the class, just pretty much a large project that we work on in groups over the whole semester. And that project is a side-scroller game. Sweet Sassy Molassy! So, as we go along, for the 2 semi-readers of this blog, I will post the files of our game for people to test and play if they so feel. And any ideas for a game would be welcome.

Yes, I was cheering for France and Zidane.  And yes, I was disappointed at his actions.  However, I think the action has been overblown, to some degree.  Yes, it was violent.  But this happens in every sport.  Look at baseball.  Someone throws at your guy, you are “required” to throw at theirs.  Getting hit by a baseball coming at 90 mph is not fun.  Hell, 70 mph sucks.  To me, that’s even worse than Zidane’s actions.  Just don’t remember him for this incident.  Zidane was an unknown to me coming into the World Cup.  And, through his play, he’s gained my respect.  I won’t remember him for the head-butt.  I’ll remember him for his inspired play against Brazil and Portugal, and the cool, collected PK in the final.  I feel sorry for France.  They out-played Italy most of the game.  Yet, they entered into the shootout without four of their best players: Vieira, Henry, Ribery, and Zidane.  It’s tough to win when those guys aren’t on the pitch.  I give all the credit in the world to Buffon, for his amazing save of Zidane’s header in OT.  Congrats to Italy, and let’s hope Zidane is remembered for his mastery of the ball, not his anger issues.

So the next to days will determine the 1st through 4th best soccer teams in the world.  I won’t say I told you so, but…I told you so.  While my England prediction didn’t quite pan out, France is now in the final match.  I know, I’m good.

Now, ever since I started paying attention to soccer, I’ve heard of Zinedine Zidane, but never really got a chance to watch him in action until this World Cup.  And let me tell you, I’ve been astounded.  He came out of international retirement and his play in the knock-out rounds has been simply amazing.  I initially starting watching the France games to see Henry, but Zizou has stolen the show, in my opinion.  I hope France wins the World Cup so that we can see such a great player go out on top.

The past few weeks have been interesting for me.  I’ve been working many less hours at my job in downtown Denver while working on Access databases at home.  Suffice it to say, my experience with VBA has been nothing but frustrating.  Spending hours looking on MSDN and forums to fix one syntax error is not my idea of fun.  But the database is coming along very nicely, so it’s not all bad.

The Rockies are still in first place int he NL West.  While it’s not the greatest record, they are playing really well.  I just hope the bullpen can hold up over the course of the second half.

Oh…did I mention that it’s my birthday in 4 days?  Bye bye teenager years.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been avidly watching the World Cup.  For me, this is really my first time to consistently watch top-level soccer.  I haven’t been a big soccer fan for very long, only about 4 years.  But I’ve really enjoyed watching this Cup run.  These are my thoughts so far:

1.  The U.S. has talent, but didn’t show up to play.  I have nothing against Claudio Reyna, but the U.S. doesn’t play well when he starts.  It’s a fact.  And Demarcus Beasley needs to get off his ego trip.  Get out there and play hard.

2.  Brazil is shaky.  Sure, Ronaldo is coming back into scoring form and Brazil has won all of its matches.  But how many times did Ghana have good chances?  Way too many for a team of Brazil’s supposed caliber.

3.  Since when did the Refs start becoming the determining factor in games?  The officiating has been rediculous.  The U.S./Italy game, Italy/Australia, etc. have been determined by the ref.  Let the players play a little.  It’s a universal constant in sports…the officials aren’t supposed to determine the outcome of the game.  Yet, these officials seems think it’s their job to determine a winner.

4.  Why isn’t anyone giving England or France a chance?  I know neither team has played particularly well, but both have a lot of talent and, with a small change of philosophy, both could erupt down the stretch.  I personally think England and France will both move on to the round of 4.

On to basketball.  I had a final in a summer class last night, so I missed out on the NBA draft, but from what I’ve read, I have to be wondering, what are the Denver Nuggets doing?  More and more, I’m wishing we had never traded for Kenyon Martin.  Not only is his contract really ugly and his play (when he even plays) sub-par, but we don’t have any first round draft picks.  This year, our only pick, in the second round, we traded away.  Which I can understand, since we drafted ANOTHER power forward.  But why did we draft a guy at a position where we already have 4 guys who play it?  I don’t understand.  We have Martin, Najera, Kleiza, and hopefully Nene who play PF.  And yet…we don’t have a guy who could hit a trey to save his life.

As for other teams.  I don’t like Chicago trading away Aldridge.  They needed a good low-post threat and they don’t get that with Thomas.  Sure, Thomas is an amazing athlete, but Chicago already has a couple of those with Gordon and Deng.

Could Paul Pierce and Allen Iverson really co-exist together?  I don’t know.  Paul Pierce is my favorite NBA player, but I don’t know if he would play the same with Iverson.  And Portland.  Well, until Portland shows me otherwise, I still think they stink.

Also, don’t look now, but the Rockies are still above .500, in second place in the West, and only 1.5 games back of the Padres.  Could this be the year we win the division?  Quite possibly.  Over the past 4 seasons or so, I’ve been down on the Rockies.  But I have to applaud the team for sticking with the youth movement.  I’m excited for this team for the first time since they went to the playoffs in ‘95.  Even if they don’t make the playoffs this year, next year could be something really special.

That’s it for my sports thoughts this week.  I’ll post more thoughts on the World Cup next week.

Okay, for any of you have taken Discrete Mathematics, I’m sure you’ll agree with me. For those of you who haven’t, don’t take it if at all possible. My greatest achievement in that class will be getting out of it with a C. With the final of that class still a week and a half away, I have a slight chance of getting a B, which would just be huge. However, I’m not holding my breath.

On the topic of school, less than two weeks remain before summer! Woo! I love the feeling of having summer starting to appear and the prospect of school being over for 3 months. I can’t wait to get back home to Denver. While Lawrence is a great town and I love KU, Denver is still my favorite city.

Right now, I’m trying to take 5 summer classes at community colleges with maybe a couple of online stuff. That’s a bunch of classes, I know. But they are in subjects that really interest me and should be pretty easy. However, I never realized how difficult it is to get enrolled at a community college. Neither Red Rocks nor Front Range will allow me to enroll in the classes I would like without sending them my transcript from KU and jumping through all sorts of hurdles. Maybe I’ll eventually get enrolled in those schools.

So, I’ve finally gotten around to looking for a new style for this site. During my journey, I came across this great theme. Hope you guys like it. Anyways, new updates should be coming soon.