Well it finally was released, and it is definitely a huge hit already! This is going to be a trilogy set, and what was released was just the first races campaign which is the Terran (human) campaign. Starcraft 2 will consist of two subsequent expansion sets. The first, Wings of Liberty, has a single player campaign that focuses around the Terran as previously stated putting the player in the role of Jim Raynor, which is one the series’ main heroes from the original Starcraft. The first expansion set, Heart of the Swarm, is going to have a single-player campaign mode focusing on the zerg, one of the other races in Starcraft, and the player will be put in the role of Kerrigan the Queen of Blades, which is now the leader of the zerg after all the events of the original Starcraft unfolded. Kerrigan was once human and very close to Jim Raynor but she was left on a planet that was overrun by zerg and they took her and turned her into what she is now. I look forward to seeing what is to come in this expansion more than anything. The second and final expansion as of now, Legacy of the Void, will finish the story with a single player campaign centered around the Protoss, the other race in Starcraft. Blizzard hasn’t released any information about who the player would be assuming the role as under the Protoss campaign, which might mean the death of some of the main characters within the story before they reach the end of the trilogy.
My favorite part about Starcraft is the multiplayer gameplay. You can set up matches with friends online or just random people. It’s always fun to play against the AI but when you play against another person there are just so many more strategies and they don’t just follow a pattern of some sort. Then of course there’s always bragging rights after you’ve emerged the victor. These expansion sets that are coming out will add new content to each race for use in multiplayer matches, which could include as much from new units, abilities, and structures, and of course new maps!
Getting back to the single player campaign, for Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty Blizzard announced that there will be between 26 to 30 missions and that each expansion afterwards would have near the same amount. That means this trilogy will have up to 90 or more missions to play through in single player mode and get enveloped in the story of Starcraft! This will also allow Blizzard to create an amazing story experience along with a variety of unique missions and gameplay types!
If you’re a RTS (real time strategy) player then you HAVE to check out Starcraft and Starcraft 2! Take a look at their Home Page here.
Also if you want to read up on the old school Starcraft check out this link!
Lastly if you're hooked and want to check out some of the latest strategies then click here!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Shakespeare
So I’ve always been fascinated with William Shakespeare and his literature. Here is a list of several of my favorite quotes by Mr. Shakespeare.
“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
“Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.”
“As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.”
“Being born is like being kidnapped. And then sold into slavery.”
“Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war.”
That last one is probably one of the more famous quotes that most people have heard from “Julius Caesar.” However an even more famous quote from “Julius Caesar” would have to be the famous line in which Julius Caesar cries out, “Et tu, Brute?” as Brutus and company proceeded to stab him to death. An amazing read if I do say so myself. I can only hope that literature such as this will continue to be taught to today’s youth.
“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
“Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.”
“As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.”
“Being born is like being kidnapped. And then sold into slavery.”
“Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war.”
That last one is probably one of the more famous quotes that most people have heard from “Julius Caesar.” However an even more famous quote from “Julius Caesar” would have to be the famous line in which Julius Caesar cries out, “Et tu, Brute?” as Brutus and company proceeded to stab him to death. An amazing read if I do say so myself. I can only hope that literature such as this will continue to be taught to today’s youth.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Why Facebook is useful
Facebook is website that allows one to keep in contact with their friends and family, and it’s practically like a blog page. You can write daily comments on your wall and post what’s going on in your life. You can even keep up with current event through facebook. There are tons of things you can do with your very own facebook page too, like uploading your pictures from that camping trip last weekend or posting a video to share with everyone on your friends list that is a must see.
If you're not already on Facebook you should really check it out!
Being in the military it’s especially useful for me, I can keep in touch with all of my friends that I’ve made while overseas and that are still in the navy. I mean, I was all over the world while I was in the service and made friends in China, Japan, Thailand, and several other places, and it’s really hard to keep in contact with people when you’re that far away. But with facebook you can just add them to your friends list and then you’ll both be able to keep up with what’s going on in each other’s lives! One of the best parts about facebook is that it is 100% free! Check out more info here.
There are a lot of privacy settings within facebook as well, so if you didn’t want to let everyone see every little detail that you posted on your facebook wall then you could just control your privacy settings and limit the people who can actually see your profile, photos, and even set which parts of your facebook profile will be viewable. Thanks to the power of the Intenet, we are now living in a smaller world. There are now different forms of communications so you could get in touch with your friends and families effortlessly. It is just up to you how much information you would like to share and how much you would like to keep as a private detail. Here are some more of the tools that are available on Facebook.
If you're not already on Facebook you should really check it out!
Being in the military it’s especially useful for me, I can keep in touch with all of my friends that I’ve made while overseas and that are still in the navy. I mean, I was all over the world while I was in the service and made friends in China, Japan, Thailand, and several other places, and it’s really hard to keep in contact with people when you’re that far away. But with facebook you can just add them to your friends list and then you’ll both be able to keep up with what’s going on in each other’s lives! One of the best parts about facebook is that it is 100% free! Check out more info here.
There are a lot of privacy settings within facebook as well, so if you didn’t want to let everyone see every little detail that you posted on your facebook wall then you could just control your privacy settings and limit the people who can actually see your profile, photos, and even set which parts of your facebook profile will be viewable. Thanks to the power of the Intenet, we are now living in a smaller world. There are now different forms of communications so you could get in touch with your friends and families effortlessly. It is just up to you how much information you would like to share and how much you would like to keep as a private detail. Here are some more of the tools that are available on Facebook.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Getting a good deal on a used car!
So when you are looking to buy a used vehicle you should first off decide what your price range is and go ahead and if you need to arrange financing to do it. Make sure that when you set a price range you stick to it, you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. Also if you already know what your price range is that will help you out a lot when you show up to the dealership. It will keep the negotiations simple and if you’ve already arranged financing then that will put you in a stronger negotiating position since that removes dependency on that dealership financing. The next step is figuring out what type of cars you want to look into. Do you want a SUV, pickup truck, or an economy car? Also you might want to consider what model you want and figure out which best suits you. For instance if you are driving back and forth between Joplin and Branson all the time or your daily commute to work is 40 minutes or more then you definitely don’t want to be getting anything that just hogs up the gas. So sit down and do a little research on the types of cars that would interest you.
After figuring out what you want the next step would be to locate and test drive all of you choices. There are tons of different ways to find your wanted cars. First off you should jump on the online classified ads or craigslist. You can also just check in the newspaper, or even listings on college and business bulletin boards. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help from your friends and family, you want to use all the connections you have, they might know someone that’s selling your exactly what you want! Something else to keep in mind while you are out there is that when you find a car that is what you are looking for don’t just fall in love with it while you’re test driving. Instead you need to focus on evaluating it. You want to make sure that you’re actually getting a good deal and not some lemon that will break down on you after a few months, so check on a few things while you’re test driving like the cars acceleration from a stop or strange engine noises, making sure that the brakes are still good, listening for all those rattles and squeaks. These are just a few of the things that will help you be sure that you are getting the car you want at the price you want!
After figuring out what you want the next step would be to locate and test drive all of you choices. There are tons of different ways to find your wanted cars. First off you should jump on the online classified ads or craigslist. You can also just check in the newspaper, or even listings on college and business bulletin boards. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help from your friends and family, you want to use all the connections you have, they might know someone that’s selling your exactly what you want! Something else to keep in mind while you are out there is that when you find a car that is what you are looking for don’t just fall in love with it while you’re test driving. Instead you need to focus on evaluating it. You want to make sure that you’re actually getting a good deal and not some lemon that will break down on you after a few months, so check on a few things while you’re test driving like the cars acceleration from a stop or strange engine noises, making sure that the brakes are still good, listening for all those rattles and squeaks. These are just a few of the things that will help you be sure that you are getting the car you want at the price you want!
Tips for traveling overseas
Something to remember when you’re overseas is that it’s an entire different world out there from what you are probably used to. You might want to do a little research on wherever it is that you plan on taking a vacation or traveling to that way you don’t make a fool out of yourself when you arrive. So make sure you know what the cultural expectations are! This is one of the big ones because one of the best things anyone visiting a foreign country can do is to show respect. There are all sorts of different cultures out there and you might offend someone if you don’t read up on where you’re visiting. In some countries shaking with the wrong hand or even speaking out of turn is a huge problem. Another example would be Singapore because they are extremely strict when it comes to littering and you can get thrown in jail if caught, so just make sure you do a little research before you jump across that ever blue! Click here for several countries customs.
Something else that can be a mess is your documentation. There are different requirements from each country and some only allow you to stay for a certain amount of time. So get your passports and whatever else you might need and find out if there are any other requirements before you get there. Also you want to make sure that your shots are all up to date and check into if you need anything that you’ve never had before. You might be taking a trip somewhere that requires different immunizations and you don’t want to find out too late! Click here to can find out any sort of vaccinations you might need wherever you are going!
Now I don’t know about everyone else out there but personally I’m against credit cards, it is my opinion that they just bring trouble. However when you’re going overseas it might be a good idea to bring one along only as an emergency funding. You might come across an area that your card just doesn’t work and I’m sure that no one wants to be stuck in that kind of situation.
Lastly, be prepared for all the goodies that you’ll be bringing back home! That’s one of the best parts of traveling, isn’t it? To bring back all your souvenirs not only for you but family and friends! You want to make sure you have enough room to pack them up in your suitcase that you’ll be checking or that you can make room to take some of them on the flight with you in your carry on. And you just can’t fit that “must have” item in your suitcase or fit it on the flight with you then you could always just ship it back home, but this can be kind of pricy, so definitely save this as a last resort.
Well everyone I hope you all take these tips into consideration and enjoy any forthcoming vacations!
Something else that can be a mess is your documentation. There are different requirements from each country and some only allow you to stay for a certain amount of time. So get your passports and whatever else you might need and find out if there are any other requirements before you get there. Also you want to make sure that your shots are all up to date and check into if you need anything that you’ve never had before. You might be taking a trip somewhere that requires different immunizations and you don’t want to find out too late! Click here to can find out any sort of vaccinations you might need wherever you are going!
Now I don’t know about everyone else out there but personally I’m against credit cards, it is my opinion that they just bring trouble. However when you’re going overseas it might be a good idea to bring one along only as an emergency funding. You might come across an area that your card just doesn’t work and I’m sure that no one wants to be stuck in that kind of situation.
Lastly, be prepared for all the goodies that you’ll be bringing back home! That’s one of the best parts of traveling, isn’t it? To bring back all your souvenirs not only for you but family and friends! You want to make sure you have enough room to pack them up in your suitcase that you’ll be checking or that you can make room to take some of them on the flight with you in your carry on. And you just can’t fit that “must have” item in your suitcase or fit it on the flight with you then you could always just ship it back home, but this can be kind of pricy, so definitely save this as a last resort.
Well everyone I hope you all take these tips into consideration and enjoy any forthcoming vacations!
Friday, July 9, 2010
summer classes
I have to admit that I thought this summer would be really easy, I didn't really thing that two classes would give me any trouble at all but now that I'm halfway through I'm starting to get worn out. Sometimes it's just hard to keep everything balanced really, between work, college algebra, and this english composition class it's a little difficult. But I've always been one that likes difficulty, and I strongly believe in the fact that it'll only make me stronger and better as a person. I only hope that I can actually get through the summer with no problems and be able to look back on it and be proud of what I accomplished.
Things have been especially difficult as of late due to the fact that I had to move to a new location, and my girlfriend was in Branson so she wasn't even around to help move all her stuff. Luckily I had some friends that were lifesavers to help out with the move, along with my cousin which brought her truck!
What sucks the most is that I can't just up and take a week off and take a trip somewhere which is something that I really want to do. I'd like to just take a week cruise or something like that, even going snow boarding for a week would be a blast. But with everything going on during this summer there's just no time, so I suppose I'll just have to save up money for next summer and take several trips! Of course if I don't take two classes again next summer I won't get the full benefit from my GI Bill, they require me to be a full time student during the summer to get the full amount. I suppose it all just depends on how well I'm sitting financially next year. Wish me luck!
Things have been especially difficult as of late due to the fact that I had to move to a new location, and my girlfriend was in Branson so she wasn't even around to help move all her stuff. Luckily I had some friends that were lifesavers to help out with the move, along with my cousin which brought her truck!
What sucks the most is that I can't just up and take a week off and take a trip somewhere which is something that I really want to do. I'd like to just take a week cruise or something like that, even going snow boarding for a week would be a blast. But with everything going on during this summer there's just no time, so I suppose I'll just have to save up money for next summer and take several trips! Of course if I don't take two classes again next summer I won't get the full benefit from my GI Bill, they require me to be a full time student during the summer to get the full amount. I suppose it all just depends on how well I'm sitting financially next year. Wish me luck!
SC2
I don’t know how many of you are gamers, but I’ve always been a really big fan of the RTS’s out there, and for those that don’t speak geek, RTS stands for “real time strategy.” I truly believe that such games stimulate the brain by making the player think in many diverse ways to get around his/her opponents defenses and keep up their own while their enemy is knocking on their front door.
One of my all time favorite RTS’s would have to be Starcraft, which was released in 1998. There are a variety of different game styles within Starcraft however the most common and usually favorite for all is just a deathmatch. In a deathmatch the whole point of the game is to destroy all of your opponents buildings while defending your own. You start off with a few men that will gather resources and build buildings and a command center which produces more of these same types of men. You eventually get enough resources to build other buildings which will allow you to produce more types of men which can be used to bring down your opponents base. There are also other buildings which can be used to increase the abilities of your units, which becomes very important later in the game. Last but certainly not least would be the defensive buildings which will auto attack air/ground units that have come to bring havoc to your base. There are three different races in which you can choose to play as, Zerg, Protoss, and Terran. With each race comes a whole different play style that you have to become accustomed to, which makes the game so much fun because if you get bored of playing as Zerg then there’s two other races that you can jump to till you feel like going back to the one you really enjoy! There’s a ton of information on starcraft alone that you find pretty much just by typing in the name in google, but here’s one of the main websites for more info! http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/sc/
But the main reason I brought up Starcraft is because at the end of July Blizzard is going to be releasing the new and improved Starcraft 2! Something I forgot to mention about starcraft was the Campaign mode, where you can go through the story of each race and play through a series of levels to find out what happens to that race at the end of the road. Well with Starcraft 2 Blizzard decided that they would break it down into 3 separate expansions. The first players will only have access to the Terran (human) campaign mode, but they’ll still be able to play all the classes in the multiplayer mode online. There are tons of new units and buildings and lots of new tricks to discover with each race. The most fun to be had with this game is just sitting down with some friends and going head to head till there’s a victor! Here’s some more information on this upcoming game of the year: http://us.starcraft2.com/index.xml
One of my all time favorite RTS’s would have to be Starcraft, which was released in 1998. There are a variety of different game styles within Starcraft however the most common and usually favorite for all is just a deathmatch. In a deathmatch the whole point of the game is to destroy all of your opponents buildings while defending your own. You start off with a few men that will gather resources and build buildings and a command center which produces more of these same types of men. You eventually get enough resources to build other buildings which will allow you to produce more types of men which can be used to bring down your opponents base. There are also other buildings which can be used to increase the abilities of your units, which becomes very important later in the game. Last but certainly not least would be the defensive buildings which will auto attack air/ground units that have come to bring havoc to your base. There are three different races in which you can choose to play as, Zerg, Protoss, and Terran. With each race comes a whole different play style that you have to become accustomed to, which makes the game so much fun because if you get bored of playing as Zerg then there’s two other races that you can jump to till you feel like going back to the one you really enjoy! There’s a ton of information on starcraft alone that you find pretty much just by typing in the name in google, but here’s one of the main websites for more info! http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/sc/
But the main reason I brought up Starcraft is because at the end of July Blizzard is going to be releasing the new and improved Starcraft 2! Something I forgot to mention about starcraft was the Campaign mode, where you can go through the story of each race and play through a series of levels to find out what happens to that race at the end of the road. Well with Starcraft 2 Blizzard decided that they would break it down into 3 separate expansions. The first players will only have access to the Terran (human) campaign mode, but they’ll still be able to play all the classes in the multiplayer mode online. There are tons of new units and buildings and lots of new tricks to discover with each race. The most fun to be had with this game is just sitting down with some friends and going head to head till there’s a victor! Here’s some more information on this upcoming game of the year: http://us.starcraft2.com/index.xml
Friday, July 2, 2010
New Me
Well I decided to cave in and I actually bought the new iPhone 4. I’ve had the same phone for the past five years so it was time for an upgrade. Although I really disagree with AT&T for putting a bandwidth cap on their data plans it doesn’t really affect me all that much. I’m not going to be using it all the time, plus if I’m connected to Wi-Fi then whatever I’m doing won’t count towards my data plan usage. I’ll just have to make sure that when I go somewhere new that I check and see if I can hook up to their Wi-Fi.
I’m also all moved into my new duplex, which I must say is a huge upgrade from my previous location. When I got out of the Navy I had to find a place that I could afford until my GI Bill kicked in so I ended up just living at Tanglewood, which are pretty run down apartments, but cheap. After my GI Bill kicked in when I started going to college I started looking for somewhere better to move to and was actually checking into Terrace Green Apartments which are extremely nice but they were so expensive that I figured it’d be cheaper to just rent a duplex. I looked into it a bit and found that I was right but when I started looking and talking to the landlords I ran into a little problem, my little kitten. Apparently it’s really hard to find a duplex around town that will let you have pets, at least that are available. Thankfully I found this one though and it seems like everything’s going to work out great! I was a little worried when I was moving in because I’m taking two internet classes this summer and I hadn’t done all my homework so I had to rush to get it hooked up, which ended up being quiet the hassle. I had AT&T’s Elite internet package but for some reason they couldn’t service my new location so I had to find a new provider, as we all now can be a tedious project. I wanted to get Cox Internet service since I have some friends that have it and I know it’s a good service, however I ran into the same problem, they don’t service my new location. I ended up just going to Cable One and found out about their Premium internet service, which is $10 more than what I was paying for at AT&T but it’s a 10meg connect instead of the 6meg I had with AT&T, and I figured it would be the best I could get right now and it’s a really good speed so here I am, a new Cable One customer. What was great that the person who lived here last had the same internet service I did and they hadn’t turned it off yet so they didn’t even really have to activate it or anything. I just hooked everything up and I was good to go! Unfortunately I couldn’t really do much of anything except all the homework that was due.
I’m also all moved into my new duplex, which I must say is a huge upgrade from my previous location. When I got out of the Navy I had to find a place that I could afford until my GI Bill kicked in so I ended up just living at Tanglewood, which are pretty run down apartments, but cheap. After my GI Bill kicked in when I started going to college I started looking for somewhere better to move to and was actually checking into Terrace Green Apartments which are extremely nice but they were so expensive that I figured it’d be cheaper to just rent a duplex. I looked into it a bit and found that I was right but when I started looking and talking to the landlords I ran into a little problem, my little kitten. Apparently it’s really hard to find a duplex around town that will let you have pets, at least that are available. Thankfully I found this one though and it seems like everything’s going to work out great! I was a little worried when I was moving in because I’m taking two internet classes this summer and I hadn’t done all my homework so I had to rush to get it hooked up, which ended up being quiet the hassle. I had AT&T’s Elite internet package but for some reason they couldn’t service my new location so I had to find a new provider, as we all now can be a tedious project. I wanted to get Cox Internet service since I have some friends that have it and I know it’s a good service, however I ran into the same problem, they don’t service my new location. I ended up just going to Cable One and found out about their Premium internet service, which is $10 more than what I was paying for at AT&T but it’s a 10meg connect instead of the 6meg I had with AT&T, and I figured it would be the best I could get right now and it’s a really good speed so here I am, a new Cable One customer. What was great that the person who lived here last had the same internet service I did and they hadn’t turned it off yet so they didn’t even really have to activate it or anything. I just hooked everything up and I was good to go! Unfortunately I couldn’t really do much of anything except all the homework that was due.
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